#Could be the reason why or at least knew how

[bm571158]

“You Can’t Rush Greatness.”

There was only fifteen minutes until the two of them were supposed to be walking down the red carpet at the F1 75 launch event. She’d been dressed for the last half an hour, wandering nervously around the hotel room and touching up her already flawless makeup, just to do something to occupy herself. She wasn’t sure why she was so nervous, it wasn’t like she was the one who had to get up on stage after all.

Lando on the other hand, was completely unphased by the whole thing, almost to the point of it being annoying. He’d been messing around online, playing some kind of virtual reality golf with Max and some other friends when she got in the shower. She’d come out of the shower half an hour later to find him still in exactly the same position. The only thing that had made him look away for a second was the sight of her dropping her towel to the floor and being momentarily naked while she reached into the wardrobe for a robe. Then he’d gone straight back to playing golf, leaving her to get ready.

By the time she had blow dried and curled her hair, sitting cross legged in front of the full length mirror to start applying her make up he’d finally paused his game for long enough to get in the shower. He’d stopped off to give her a kiss on the cheek on his way through to the bathroom, telling her that you looked pretty, and smudging your still unfinished makeup.

If he’d just started getting ready when he then got out of the shower the two of them would’ve been on time and there would’ve been no issues. But instead he’d laid on the bed, towel wrapped around his hips, complaining bitterly about how much he didn’t want to go although they both knew he hadn’t got a choice. It was the only reason that she had agreed to go with him in the first place, he’d argued that the whole thing might be a little bit less awful with her for company and she never had been able to say no to him.

The only thing was it was the first time in their fledgling relationship that the two of them had officially attended anything together. While Lando was incredibly relaxed about the whole thing, to the point that they were supposed to be leaving in under five minutes and he still hadn’t finished getting dressed, her stomach was churning with nerves.

“Come on, Lando.” She hurried him along. “We’re going to be late.”

“You can’t rush greatness.” He smirked, going back to trying to fasten his cuff links.

She just rolled your eyes at him, turning back to the mirror to straighten out her dress for the hundredth time. The quiet groan Lando let out had her turning back to face him though.

“What?” You asked.

“The bloody collar doesn’t do up!” He sighed, tugging at the collar of his shirt, the buttons a long way off meeting to prove his point.

“This is why you’re supposed to try things on more than two minutes before we walk out of the door.” She pointed out, walking over to him and grasping the collar of his shirt. It was a long way off meeting, there was no way it was going to button up even if she forced it, not without strangling him at least.

“You look really, really sexy tonight.” He smiled, eyes running appreciatively down her body as his hands fell to your waist.

“We definitely don’t have time for any of that. We’re already late.” She rolled your eyes at him. “And you’re going to have to ditch the tie as well. There’s no way we’re getting this done up.”

“At least all that neck training torture is doing something I guess.” Lando joked. “Are you ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.” She nodded. “Shall we go?”

“One sec…” he dropped his hands from her waist, crouching down to put his shoes on. “Now we can go.” He plucked his coat off the hook by the wardrobe, handing hers to her.

It was a lot of drama and unnecessary work, to get into the specially painted McLaren so that he could drive round to the red carpet at the entrance. She pointed out on the way there that the two of them could’ve walked from the hotel of the entrance in less than half the time it took to get there in the car. Lando had agreed, muttering something about the whole thing being very unnecessary, but had been parking the McLaren up at the bottom of the red carpet before he could say much else.

He’d jumped out, with a friendly wave to the crowd, coming around to her side of the car to open the door. As soon as she was out his hand was firmly holding hers, giving it a firm squeeze of reassurance before the two of them set off up the red carpet. The flashes of the cameras were blinding, and she faltered a little bit, never having felt quite so out of her depth in the whole time that the two of them had been together.

“You okay?” Lando whispered, leaning in so his voice was low in her ear.

“Yeah, just don’t let go of me.” She told him, gripping his hand a little tighter even at the thought. The last thing she wanted was to be left aimlessly wandering around here on her own. She didn’t know anyone, or where they were supposed to be going.

“I won’t, I promise.” He reassured her.

He’d kept his word. The only time he’d let go of her hand was to wrap his arm around her instead, pulling her in a bit closer to him when she started to shiver from the cold on the hope of keeping her a little warmer. She had stood a little awkwardly beside him as he gave various interviews on the way in, but eventually they made it in to the venue and Lando pulled her chair out for her so that you could sit down at the McLaren table.

The venue was huge, packed with an excitable crowd. Lando was quick to take his coat off and drape it over her shoulders as she shivered, not expecting it to be quite as cold as it was inside. She shot him a grateful smile, and he returned it, his hand falling onto her thigh as he turned to speak to his team principal who was sitting beside him.

It was a strange evening, the jokes a bit cringey, the reveal of each car being over the top and seeming to go on for a little too long. McLaren having won the Constructors Championship in 2024 meant that they were the last team to reveal their car. Lando kissing the top of her head quickly and giving her an encouraging smile as he headed off to get ready with Oscar, Zak and Andrea as the evening began to draw to a close.

She smiled and cheered when he came out on the stage later on, dressed in his new race suit for the 2025 season. He somehow managed to find her in amongst the crowd, giving her a wave and a wink that had her blushing before he turned his attention back to the interview that he was supposed to be giving.

It took a while for him to find her again after he was done on the stage, but when he did he was back in his suit, curls ruffled from getting changed and with a big smile on his face.

“You ready to go?” He asked, holding out his hand.

“I am.” She agreed, taking his hand.

He called out a goodbye to the remaining members of the McLaren team that were hanging around at the table, the venue already rapidly emptying, and then quickly led her through the crowd.

He didn’t bother picking up the car to take them back to the hotel, the two of them completing the short walk back to the lobby in less time than it would’ve taken the valet to pull the car around.

“They’d better not be planning to do that every year.” Lando groaned, leaning against the wall in the elevator as they waited for it to take them up to their hotel room. “That was absolutely ridiculous.”

“I don’t know, I thought you looked pretty sexy up on that stage.” She smirked. “The suit… it really looks good on you.”

As she said it her hands reached for the collar of his shirt, the one that was never going to fit around his muscular neck, and as her fingertips grazed over his skin Lando shivered under her touch.

“Oh really?” He smirked, any earlier trace of tiredness rapidly fading as he grabbed her by the waist.

“Mmmm.” She agreed, fingers toying with the next button down, exposing a little more of his toned chest. “If you’re not too tired, maybe I’ll help you out of it… reward you for doing such a great job tonight.”

“Is that right?” He smiled, biting on his lip as he tightened his grip on her waist. Her hands slowly worked their way down the buttons of his shirt.

“It is.” She agreed, stepping out of her heels and dropping down a couple of inches lower in front of him.

He lifted his hands off her waist to allow her to pull his jacket and shirt down his arms in one smooth move, leaving him bare chested and stood in front of her, eyes watching her every move as he waited to see what she was going to do next. It was her show, and he felt a shiver of anticipation as he waited for her to do something.

She slowly trailed her fingertips from his collarbone, down the defined muscles of his chest, across his abs and to the waistband of his trousers. He sucked in a sharp breath as he fingers dipped just below the waistband, but before she got to where he wanted she pulled her hand away and turned her back to him.

“Unzip me?” She suggested, gathering her hair up and sweeping it to one side to make the zip easily accessible for him.

He reached eagerly for the zip, because she looked beautiful in the dress but he knew what was underneath it was going to be even better. The zip slid down smoothly, and after quickly shrugging her arms out of the sleeves the silk material slid down her body and pooled at her feet.

The sight of her nearly naked in front of him, a few scraps of black lace the only thing covering her, snapped Lando out of his trance. His hands were back on her almost instantly, pulling her back towards him so that her back was flush against his chest, hand sliding around to explore her soft and tanned skin. His teeth nipped lightly at the skin of her neck.

A quiet sigh of contentment slipped out of her lips as he found the particularly sensitive spot behind her ear that he knew drove her wild.

“Lando…” his name escaped her as a breathy sigh, his hands skimming down the soft skin of her stomach towards the waistband of her underwear. “Please…” she didn’t even know what she was asking for, just for him to do something more than the current maddeningly slow trail of his fingertips over her skin.

“Shhhh… patience.” He reminded her, hand still moving painfully slowly, his lips trailing slowly down her shoulder. One hand moved up to loop through the straps of her bra, dragging them slowly down her arms before he finally unclasped it and let it fall to the floor with her dress.

She shivered as the cold air of the hotel room hit her bare skin, a sharp contrast from the warmth of Lando’s skin behind her, pressed against her back.

She had no idea how long he kept her there, a hand firmly on her hip keeping her in place as his hands and lips slowly explored her skin. There was no hurry, absolutely no urgency to his movements, just a lazy exploration of the body that was starting to seriously test her patience.

He did eventually turn her around to she was facing him, lips capturing hers in a kiss that left her breathless. His hands grabbed the back of her thighs, her legs wrapping around his waist as he carried her back through the room towards the bed.

The bed was still strewn with clothes from where he’d got ready from the event and he quickly brushed them off before dropping her on to the bed, grinning at her as she bounced on the soft mattress, hair fanning out around her like a halo and laid there waiting for him. He made short work of getting out of his now painfully tight trousers, crawling back up the bed and leaving a trail of kisses up her body as he went.

“Lando… please..” she groaned, locking her legs around his waist in an attempt to pull him closer.

“You’re impatient tonight, huh?” He grinned, leaning in to meet her lips with a passionate kiss that left her breathless.

“Lando…” she ground her hips in to his now obvious erection that was straining at his boxer shorts. “Don’t tease me.”

She rolled her hips into his again, harder this time, and heard his breath catch in his throat. She took advantage of the fact that she had him momentarily distracted, using her grip around his waist to flip the two of them over so she was straddling him.

He looked a bit dazed and confused as to how they’d ended up in that position, but he didn’t fight her. He just lifted his hips allowing her to drag his boxers down his legs, and before he could say anything she’d rid herself of her own underwear, braced her hands against his chest and was sinking down on him.

He swore quietly under his breath as she took all of him, sinking down onto him agonisingly slowly. Once he bottomed out, filling her completely she made no attempt to move, just watching his facial expression, head tipped back on the pillow and his mouth slightly open as he tried to catch his breath and regain some control, the feeling of her around him almost being too much to handle.

“Come on, don’t tease me.” He whined, his hands finding her hips, trying to encourage her to move.

“What was it you said earlier?” She asked innocently. “You can’t rush greatness?” As she spoke she began to move, setting an agonisingly slow pace that had Lando seriously considering just flipping the two of them over and having his way with her.

“You’re going to make me regret that, aren’t you?” He groaned, the noise a mix of frustration and pleasure as her hips rolled in the slow rhythm that she had set.

“You’ll have to wait and see.” She winked.

[00valentina-writes00]

hey! i OBSESSED with your angst and i was wondering if you could wright sevika and ambessa with the prompt of using a weakness/very sensitive topic against you in a argument

♡♥︎ Words Like Knives ♥︎♡

Im back from hiatus!

Warnings: Argument, emotional hurt, harsh words, manipulation, tension, emotional conflict, angst, brief mention of sensitive topics

♡ Sevika ♡

You knew better than to argue with Sevika.

She wasn’t the type of person to back down, not even for a second, and you’d learned that the hard way. But this time? This time was different. The tension between you two had been building for weeks—snide remarks, sharp glares, and biting silence in place of the warmth you once shared. But today, you were both on the verge. Your patience was thin, and her anger was bubbling just beneath the surface, waiting for the smallest trigger to erupt.

It came out of nowhere.

“Why don’t you just admit it?” Sevika spat, her dark eyes narrowing as she leaned in close, her breath warm against your face. “You’re always gonna be a disappointment, aren’t you?”

Her words felt like a punch to the gut, and it took everything in you not to flinch. Your hands curled into fists at your sides, nails digging into your palms. You could feel the heat rising in your chest, the pressure building behind your ribs as she stared you down.

“Sevika, don’t start—” you began, but she wasn’t done.

“No,” she interrupted, her voice low and venomous. “I’ve had enough of your damn excuses. You’re so fucking fragile. You can’t even keep it together when things get tough. All you do is run away.”

Her words stung like hot coals, burning into your skin. You could feel the familiar panic rising within you, that tightness in your throat that came with being cornered. Your heart hammered in your chest, the air growing thick as her harsh words continued to cut through you.

“You think I don’t know?” Sevika sneered. “You’ve always been this way. Weak, pathetic—too scared to face anything head-on. But hey, at least you’re good at hiding behind that fucking smile, right?”

Her words scraped across your soul, leaving deep, jagged marks in their wake. You wanted to say something, to defend yourself, but the words felt heavy, trapped somewhere deep inside your chest. How could you explain to her that you weren’t running away? How could you make her understand the fear that gripped you?

But Sevika wasn’t done.

She stepped closer, towering over you, her presence overwhelming. You could feel her anger vibrating in the air, sharp and suffocating.

“You’re just like everyone else. Too fucking scared to stand your ground. No wonder you’ve always been so easy to manipulate. You can’t even stand up for yourself, let alone anyone else.”

The words hit you like a physical blow, and your breath hitched. The way she made it sound—it was like you didn’t have the right to be who you were. It was like every weakness you had, every failure, was just another reason for her to belittle you.

You opened your mouth, desperate to explain, but nothing came out. Your throat was tight, your chest burning with the ache of the argument that had just gone from bad to worse. You tried to hold yourself together, but it was getting harder by the second.

“I thought you were different,” Sevika muttered, her voice suddenly quieter, colder. “But you’re not. You’re just like everyone else. Too afraid to step up, too afraid to face the truth. You’re a fucking coward, and you’ll always be one.”

Her last words hit harder than anything else, the weight of them dragging you down. Coward.

The word echoed in your mind, a constant, nagging reminder of all the times you’d failed. All the moments you’d hidden from the things that scared you. And now Sevika was using it against you, weaponizing your deepest insecurities like they were nothing.

You tried to speak, but your voice came out shaky, barely a whisper. “Sevika, please…”

She didn’t care.

“Please?” Sevika mocked, stepping even closer, the heat of her anger radiating off her in waves. “What’s the matter, huh? You’re too scared to even fight back? Too scared to stand up for yourself like you’ve always been?”

You could feel the tears threatening to spill, and you hated it. You hated that she’d reduced you to this—hated that she could cut you down so easily. But the truth was, she wasn’t wrong.

It wasn’t just the argument that was breaking you. It was the truth in her words. The part of you that had never been able to fully overcome your own fears. The part of you that was still a child, running from every obstacle that came your way.

“You’re right,” you whispered, the words tasting bitter as they left your mouth. “I’m scared. I’m scared of failing. I’m scared of being… nothing.”

Sevika’s expression faltered, her jaw tightening as if she’d said too much. But she didn’t apologize. No, Sevika wasn’t the type to apologize. She simply crossed her arms over her chest and sneered.

“You’re damn right you’re scared. And you’ll keep being scared until you grow a fucking spine and stop running away from your own goddamn problems.”

Her words landed like another strike, but you didn’t respond this time. You couldn’t. There was nothing left to say. She had used your insecurities as a weapon, and all you were left with was the hollow sting of her words.

Sevika stared at you for a long moment, her gaze cold, calculating. Then, with a quick exhale, she turned on her heel, walking away without another word.

But you didn’t move.

You stood there, rooted to the spot, feeling like the walls were closing in around you. Your heart ached with the weight of everything she’d said, everything she’d done. You felt small, insignificant, and completely unworthy of any affection, any care. How could you ever expect someone to love you when you were this broken?

You heard Sevika’s footsteps fade into the distance, but you didn’t go after her. Not this time. You couldn’t. Not when the pain from her words was so raw, so fresh.

A part of you wanted to chase after her, to beg her to take it back, but another part of you knew that you were too afraid. Too afraid of facing the consequences of your own weakness.

It wasn’t the first time you’d been broken by someone you loved. But it was the first time you felt like you might not recover.

You sank to your knees, your chest tight, suffocating. The tears you’d been holding back finally spilled over, but there was no comfort. No one to wipe them away. Sevika had said what she needed to say, and now she was gone.

And all you were left with was the ache in your heart, the sting of her words that would haunt you long after she was out of sight.

And for the first time, you wondered if maybe she was right. If you were just a coward who would never be able to face the truth of who you really were.

♡ Ambessa ♡

The silence in the room was suffocating. You could feel the weight of Ambessa’s gaze on you as she stood by the large window of her lavish office, her posture unyielding and regal. You had tried, truly tried, to keep your temper in check, but the tension had been building for days, and now it was boiling over. She had a way of pushing your buttons, of prodding at the things you’d rather leave buried—and tonight was no different.

“I don’t understand why you’re making this so difficult.” Ambessa’s voice was low, but the venom was unmistakable. She didn’t need to raise her voice to make you feel like you were in the wrong. The way she spoke was a weapon in itself—calm, calculated, yet laced with disdain.

You took a deep breath, trying to steady your nerves, but the words were already slipping out before you could stop them. “I’m not the one making this difficult, Ambessa. You are.”

Ambessa turned slowly, her sharp, piercing gaze locking onto yours. A single eyebrow quirked in amusement, though there was no humor in it. “Is that so? You think you’re the one in control of this situation?”

You clenched your fists at your sides, feeling the familiar pressure in your chest, the suffocating feeling that always came when you were caught in one of her arguments. She always knew how to twist things, how to make you feel like you were in the wrong, even when you knew you weren’t. But this time, you couldn’t let her win.

“I didn’t ask for this,” you bit out, voice trembling with the raw emotion that had been building. “I didn’t ask for your manipulation or your constant need to make everything about your damn power plays.”

Ambessa’s expression hardened, her lips curling into a thin line. “Manipulation? Is that what you think this is?” She stalked toward you, her heels clicking sharply against the polished floor, each step deliberate, calculated. “You think I manipulate you?”

“I know you do,” you shot back, your heart pounding in your chest. “I’m not blind, Ambessa. I see through your games. You make me feel like I’m the one who’s always wrong, like I’m the one who’s always at fault.”

Ambessa’s eyes flashed with something darker, something colder. Her demeanor shifted, and for a split second, you regretted pushing her so far. But there was no going back now.

“Is that how you see it?” Her voice was a whisper, but it held an edge. “You’re upset because I hold you accountable? Is that it?”

“No.” You shook your head, refusing to back down. “I’m upset because I’ve been giving you everything, and you’re treating me like nothing.”

The words stung even as they left your mouth, and you saw the brief flicker of emotion in Ambessa’s eyes. But it was gone just as quickly as it appeared. She stepped forward, her presence overwhelming, towering over you in a way that felt suffocating.

“You think you’re the only one giving anything?” Her tone was sharp, laced with something dangerous. “I’ve sacrificed more for this than you’ll ever understand.”

You could feel the frustration building in your chest, the pressure of her words pressing down on you. “You’ve never once considered how I feel, Ambessa. Never.”

Ambessa’s face twisted into something cruel, a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “How you feel?” She stepped closer, her breath warm against your skin. “Oh, I’m sure I’ve considered it. After all, it’s not as if I haven’t been made painfully aware of your… shortcomings.”

The way she said it, the deliberate slowness with which she let the words hang in the air—it felt like a blow to your chest. You had always known that Ambessa had a way of finding your vulnerabilities, but you never thought she would use them against you so… so effortlessly.

“You think you’re the only one who’s had to deal with loss?” Ambessa’s voice dropped into a dangerous whisper. “I’ve lost everything, everything that mattered, just to build this empire. And yet here you are, crying over your little—” She stopped herself, eyes narrowing. “Well, let’s not pretend we don’t both know how fragile you are.”

Her words cut deep. You felt them slice through you, carving open wounds you thought were closed. The pain of it—the way she reduced your struggles, your trauma, to something insignificant—it made your breath catch in your throat.

“Don’t you dare.” Your voice came out barely above a whisper, the trembling anger making it hard to form the words. “Don’t you dare use that against me.”

Ambessa took a step closer, her gaze never leaving yours. “What? Are you ashamed of it? Ashamed of the fact that you’re weak?” Her eyes flickered with something almost predatory, as if she could smell your fear, the rawness of the old wounds you hadn’t fully healed from.

The room felt like it was closing in on you, the heat of her presence suffocating. Your hands were shaking at your sides, and you couldn’t stop the ache that bloomed in your chest. “I’m not weak,” you whispered, though even you could hear the doubt in your voice. “I’m not weak, and I’m not ashamed of what I’ve been through.”

But Ambessa wasn’t listening anymore. She was too caught up in her own words, in her own need to break you down. “You always were the fragile one,” she said coldly. “Just like I knew. You never had the stomach to do what needed to be done. Never strong enough to face your demons.”

Each word she spoke landed like a punch, relentless and sharp. The guilt you had buried deep inside yourself, the feeling that you were never enough, never strong enough to live up to what was expected of you—it all bubbled to the surface. You had never fully dealt with the pain, the trauma, and now it felt like Ambessa was ripping it all open again, with no care for how much it hurt.

Tears stung at your eyes, but you refused to let them fall. Not in front of her. You had fought too hard to get to this point, to let her see how much she had gotten under your skin. You clenched your jaw, but the pain was unbearable, the weight of her words suffocating.

“You don’t know anything about me,” you said, your voice barely more than a whisper, but there was strength in it. “You don’t get to decide what I’m worth. You don’t get to make me feel small because you’re too afraid to face your own weaknesses.”

Ambessa’s face twisted, her lips curling into something that was far from a smile. “You think I’m afraid?” she said, her voice dripping with disdain. “You think I’m afraid of you? Of anything?”

You met her gaze, the fire in your eyes matching the heat of the anger that swirled in your chest. “No. But I think you’re afraid of facing the truth.” You took a deep breath, trying to steady yourself. “You use me, you manipulate me, because you’re too scared to face who you really are. And I’m done being your pawn.”

For a moment, Ambessa didn’t speak. The silence between you felt thick, heavy with unspoken words. You could see the anger in her eyes, but you also saw something else—a flicker of something deeper, something more human beneath her hard exterior.

But it was gone just as quickly as it came, replaced by the cold mask she always wore.

“You’ve crossed a line,” Ambessa said, her voice low and dangerous. “But I’ll give you one last chance. Leave, and forget everything I said. Stay, and I’ll make sure you regret it.”

The room felt like it was collapsing in on itself, and you could feel your heart racing in your chest. But despite the weight of her words, despite the ache in your chest, you stood tall.

“I’m not afraid of you, Ambessa.”

And with that, you turned, walking away.

[toomanystoriessolittletime]

Begin Again

Summary: You finally make the decision to move on from Frankie. Your best friend growing up turned ex husband, who never loved you like you wished he would.

Pairing: (Ex-)Frankie Morales x fem. reader

Rating: G (I think)

Wordcount: 1.1k

Warnings: angst, alcohol, getting married drunk in vegas, weddings, moving on, Frankie is either a dick or oblivious you decide

A/N: This is one of the fic I wrote for @almostfoxglove's angst challenge. I love writing angst and I don't do it enough. Thank you for putting this challenge together 💜 I should though. I hope you like it! and let me know if I anyone wants to read the second fic I wrote for this moodboard even though I do not like it that much but for you I would post it anyway lol

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Full Masterlist // Frankie Morales Masterlist

You initial reaction when you received the invitation in the mail was to ignore it. 

But it was glaring at you every time you walked past the little table next to your door, demanding its attention from you. Finally it was a phone call that made you pick up the envelope, your name printed in beautiful silver letters on it. 

You had known what it was from the moment you picked up the mail, but opening it and reading the names made it real. 

Frankie was getting married. 

Again. 

And being the person that he was he of course invited you. Because how would he know how much you had been hurting?

Frankie and you grown up together. Living on the same street you became fast friends, but you knew pretty early on, even at the tender age of six, that Frankie was the one boy you wanted to marry. 

And you did.

One drunken night out in Vegas close after you twenty second birthday. He had been home from deployment, all of his army buddies too and he had talked you into coming with them to Vegas, wanting to celebrate your birthday he hadn’t been able to celebrate with you earlier that year. 

It was a typical rom com moment, the morning you woke up, head hurting with a hangover and confused where you were. The first thing you realised was that you were naked, the second was that you were sore. It was then that a groan came from next to you and you screamed bloody murder until you realised it was Frankie who was equally as shocked.

And while the two of you tried to put the last night together you both realised the rings on your fingers. 

His reaction was different from yours. While you were freaking out, he just looked at you for a long time before he reached for your hands and told you that you should just try it. 

You’ve been best friends for so long, maybe there could be more?

And for two years there was. 

You finally had him the way you always dreamed of, as a man, your man, your husband. The switch from friends to newlyweds was fluent, and more than once you asked yourself if you were dreaming. 

And maybe you had been. 

Maybe you would have cherished the time you had with him more, if you knew it wouldn’t be forever. 

You would have cherished every kiss, every touch, every moment he had you beneath him as he made you see stars. 

But one day, after deployment, he came back home and told you that he met someone. And that he felt things for her, that he had never felt for you. 

And how could you argue with that?

Deep down you knew from the beginning that the only reason you were married, the only reason why you were together was too much alcohol. At least for him. 

He made that very clear when he told you that he wanted to be with her instead of you, that he thinks that you were better off as friends like you did before this mistake. 

He called your marriage a mistake. 

And while it started out like that, you never thought of it this way. 

Then again you had been in love with Francisco Morales ever since you could remember, but he obviously hadn’t been in love with you.

And now you could lash out and be angry and tell him what an asshole he was being right now, but then you would probably lose him for good. 

And you weren’t ready for that. 

At least not back then. 

You could still smell the air in the office building where you had gotten divorced not long after, Frankie signing his name without any hesitation, giving you a small smile as he pushed the stack of letters that would separate him from you forever over the table. You gave him a forced smile as you signed your name too, having to concentrate on using your maiden name instead of Morales again.

He went away on deployment soon after, as if nothing had changed. 

As if he hadn’t broken apart the whole future you had imagined for you and him. He even still wrote you letters that you answered less and less until a stack of his letters, unopened and unread, gathered in a cupboard you never opened anymore.

But now you were ready. 

You were ready to say goodbye to him. 

So you watched him as he stood at the altar, wearing a elegant suit, white rose in his breast pocket. 

You watched the way his smile widened as the bride, his new bride, walked up towards him in a beautiful dress, matching white roses in her long hair. 

You watched him say I do, before the whole crowd cheered as he kissed his new bride. 

You watched him dance with his bride, as you sat at the beautiful decked table, wishing so much that it would be you. 

Once the dance floor opened for the whole party you decided that it was enough. That you could now sneak out. 

Out of the wedding and out of his life. 

And you had almost made it when you felt a hand in yours, holding you back

„Where are you going?“ Frankie asked and you took a deep breath as you turned towards him. His cheeks were flushed and he looked so happy. 

It made you want to cry. 

„Home,“ you said, voice quiet and he frowned. 

„But we haven’t danced yet,“ he almost pouted, stepping closer, his hand still in yours. And it was in the moment his familiar scent invaded you, that you felt a tear escape from your eye. 

You took a step back.

His lips parted, saying you name but you shook your head, puling your hand out of his grasp. 

„I needed to see this, see you get married, so I could finally move on and say goodbye,“ you whispered and he gulped. 

„What… What do you mean?“

You just shook your head, smiling sadly as you allowed one last moment to touch him, your hand coming up to rest on his cheek. 

„I have loved your for a very long time, Francisco Morales. And now that I have seen with my own eyes, that you found someone you love as much as I love you I have to learn how to  move on from that. From you,“ you said and you could see him frown. 

„Go back to your bride, Frankie,“ you patted his cheek. 

„But where will you go?“ He asked and you smiled softly at him. 

„To find someone who loves me enough to stay.“

[lieslab]

Will you still walk me home?

꘎♡━━━━━♡꘎ ꘎♡━━━━━♡꘎

Pairing: Seungmin X gn reader

Summary: Your boyfriend snaps at you after your caring nature starts to feel like suffocation.

Genre: Angst with a happy ending

Word Count: 2k

Trigger warning: Mentions of anger and codependency issues.

_ _ _

At some point, you didn’t know how to detach your limbs from the stretched mold you’d been thrown into your entire life. Growing up and taking care of everyone around you, it left you wounded with more scars than you’d like to admit, but you survived, didn’t you? You always thought you should be thankful for that, at least. 

When you met Seungmin, the world warped from silver to gold. Strength, love, courage, optimism, and most importantly, companionship. Being with Seungmin meant companionship. You didn’t realize just how much that same companionship you loved would break him. You thought you were helping, not hindering. 

Seungmin had other ideas. 

_ _ _ 

“Good morning!” Your cheery voice filled the air. Across the way, Seungmin glided across the hardwood flooring with sleep in his eyes and sock-clad-feet. He rubbed his eyes, trying to wake up. 

“I made you coffee and I packed your lunch for the day.” 

“Okay.” 

“And I made you breakfast.” 

A grunt left his lips. Usually exhausted from the leftover bits of sleep, you didn’t take this as a bad thing, but rather a chance to continue. “So I was thinking that maybe after you finish work, we could-” 

“We can’t,” he interrupted before you could finish. “I have to stay at work late. I don’t know when I’m going to be home.” 

“That’s okay, maybe tomorrow we-” 

He sighed and rolled his eyes. The sight caused you to freeze. Your stomach twisted itself in knots. For whatever reason, the actions caused a lump in your throat. You didn’t dare finish your sentence. 

“Don’t you get tired of wanting to do everything together? God, you’re so clingy. Can’t you just go away or something? It’s to the point where I can’t even wake up and have my own breakfast because you think you know me better than myself.” 

“Don’t you get tired of doing this all the time?” He gestured around the kitchen. “Can’t you just worry about yourself for once? This is exhausting. You’re like a moth that keeps coming to my front porch light and every time I try to leave, you launch yourself at me. It’s not healthy.” 

The words swung and chipped away at your soul. The fine grains of sand shifted and down you fell. Sucked into a hole, more sand slid, and it suffocated you. It burned your lungs more than anything. The lump in your throat grew so prominent, you figured it’d burst into a sob. 

“I-I’m sorry,” you uttered weakly. Shame dusted your cheeks and caused your ears to burn red. “I-I didn’t know I was making you feel that way. I’ll stop.”  Your head bowed, hoping for forgiveness. 

“It’s about damn time,” he mumbled. His eyes cast over to the granite countertop. The warm cup of coffee you made him sat steaming. “I don’t even want hot coffee this morning. I want it cold.” He reached for the freezer, as if his words just didn’t matter. 

You blinked rapidly. The bite of tears became harder and harder to fight. Glossy little things coated your eyes and turned you into a mess. With your head ducked, you disappeared from the kitchen and back to your shared bedroom. 

You didn’t know why it hurt so much. His demands and outcry, it was a reasonable demand. You knew you could be overbearing, but on the other hand, it’s all you knew. You knew how to be overbearing and fill everyone’s cup before your own. To make sure every other plate is filled with food before you grab yours. 

Was that really such a bad thing? 

_ _ _ 

When you define yourself, you can't do it alone. The shape of other people clouds your silhouette. For as long as you could remember, there was never just you. Someone to please. Someone to manage. Someone to take care of. Your responsibilities littered with the sake of others. 

But what about you? Who picked you first? Who made sure you were tucked into bed and contained a stomach lined with a filling, hearty meal? Who took care of you when your shoulders slumped and you lay defeated due to disease? Who picked you up when you were down? 

Seungmin’s words stuffed your ears all day. The harsh words whispered against your eardrums, even without his presence. Who were you really? Alone. Isolated. Someone unable to find yourself in the murky sea of life. 

The tears kept coming and they stung. It became harder and harder to idly stand and continue working. Your shift stretched on and on. The entire time, you wanted to go home and curl beneath the covers. 

Who were you, really? Deep down, through the fixtures you hung, the need to care for others, what lay at the bottom of the ocean of you? What treasure unfolded? What kept you sane throughout all of this? 

By the end of the day, you weren’t sure if you ever really knew who you were from the start. A present day mess, warped and morphed by the past. You did what you had to survive. That’s all you knew. 

Why wasn’t it good enough? 

_ _ _ 

In the underbelly of the darkened night, guilt eased into Seungmin’s bones. He remembered the way your smile faded from your face. The hurt siphoned in your eyes. He knew he hurt you, but he didn’t know how to take it back. He spat out the words so easily, but coming to terms with his dickheadness, it hurt. All you wanted to do was make his life simpler. 

Jeongin picked up the lingering silence quite easily. As he drove Seungmin back to your shared apartment, he glanced over. “What’s wrong with you? You’re usually talking my ear off, but now you refuse to utter more than two sentences.” 

“Do you ever do something you regret? Lash out in a fit of frustration and never know what to say to heal the hurt? Because I said something this morning. I could have worded it better and I just…” 

“Ah, trouble in paradise.” Jeongin’s hands gripped the wheel tighter. He adjusted his grip on the wheel. “Well, I’ve lived most of my life with seven other guys who annoy me to no end because I’m the youngest. Remember the time I got mad at Chan because he kept babying me?” 

“Because you’re a baby in our eyes.” 

“I’m not much younger than you. I just wanted to be seen for myself. Not as a baby. Not as someone incapable. I might appear younger in your eyes, but I’m still grown, you know?”

“I know. We know. Sometimes, you’re just so cute, I can’t help it.” He reached out a hand and ran it through Jeongin’s hair. He yelped and shoved his hand away. Seungmin chuckled and glanced back out the window. 

Bits and brightened pieces of Seoul passed by. Buildings ignited with light. People scattered here and there. On their own path, a hundred lives flickered before him. Each one with their own thoughts and opinions. The passing thought caused his head to lean up against the window. Jeongin adjusted in his seat and kept driving. 

“My words came out wrong this morning. I worry about them a lot. I always do. When I see them constantly taking care of me, I worry so much. I worry that I’m not good enough. Maybe I’m not working hard enough to make them feel appreciated. Maybe, as much as it hurts, maybe I’m the shitty boyfriend that nobody wants.” 

“Then tell them that and talk through it.” 

_ _ _ 

When the door cracked open with Seungmin’s homecoming, you stared at the pile of dishes from the previous night. You always let the dishes from the previous dinner soak overnight. The bits and pieces of food stuck and dried to the sides. You let it soak with soapy water and that never changed until now. You worried that maybe if you did the dishes, Seungmin would grow upset again. 

Approaching footsteps soured your heart. Your hands rested against the edge of the sink. You didn’t bother moving them. Seungmin appeared in the door frame of the kitchen with messy hair. 

“You’re still here? Good. We need to talk.” 

Your fingers tightened around the lip of the sink. Your eyes shut and all you could do was hesitate. What if this was it? What if he broke up with you right here and now. What if- 

“I’m sorry.” 

Your eyes reopened and you stared at the wall in confusion. 

“I didn’t mean to snap at you this morning. I understand why you’re upset with me. That was a horrible and shitty thing to do. You just wanted to make sure I was taken care of. I hurt you in an indescribable way and I’m sorry.” 

He waited for your reaction, but you didn’t turn around. He sighed and a hand reached for the back of his neck. “I’m not good at these things. Jeongin said I should talk to you and tell you the truth. The truth is that I worry about you. You’re constantly taking care of me. Sometimes you take care of me and it feels like you abandon your own needs.”

“I love it when you make me morning coffee and breakfast. I like that there’s a thousand little things you do for me, but at the same time, I worry so much. You’re very codependent and I know it’s none of my business how you were raised, but I worry I’m being a horrible and terrible boyfriend.” 

The words sent a wave of panic through your heart. You jerked around instantly to find him. “Don’t say that, you’re not a horrible and terrible boyfriend.” 

“You do so much for me and what do I do for you? When you’re constantly taking care of me, you abandon yourself. You forget that your needs are important, too. I’m capable of taking care of myself. I know you like doing that, but we have to find a balance.” 

You didn’t respond right away. His words took a few moments to settle into your skull. He shifted the weight on the balls of his feet. “So I’m sorry and I know that doesn’t cut it. I said horrible things this morning out of my own stupid insecurity. I know you’re upset and mad, but what I’m trying to say is, please don’t be upset forever.” 

His eyes squeezed shut. “Because the truth is so much harder to describe. I love you so much and I’m afraid one day, you’ll see me as this horrible person because you do so much. I’m always working and so busy, what do I contribute to this relationship? It feels like you do everything. I try to do things too, but you’re really the only one contributing consistently.” 

“That's all I know how to do,” you finally whispered. “I don’t know how to be alone. I don’t know how to exist without taking care of others. For so long, it’s all I’ve ever known. Outside of that, I don’t know who I am.” 

Someone squeezed Seungmin’s heart and milked out despair. His silhouette blurred and before you knew it, you were wrapped up in a hug. The familiar scent of some fancy cologne, a subtle birchwood and vanilla. 

“Then we’ll figure it out together. We’ll grow and figure out how to balance each other out. It’ll take a while, but if we’re honest with each other, we can figure this out, right?” 

You nodded and sniffled. Seungmin squeezed you tighter and you wrapped your arms around one of his arms. “Thank you for being honest,” you whispered. 

“Shut up. Thank you for being you and taking care of me. I don’t deserve your love sometimes.” 

“You’ll always deserve to be loved.” 

“And you deserve to be taken care of, so shut up and let me hold you.” 

| ♡.﹀﹀﹀﹀.♡ | ♡.﹀﹀﹀﹀.♡ | ♡.﹀﹀﹀﹀.♡ |

Taglist: @lia-linny @seungnishi @stellasays45 @emilyywhyy @rockstarkkami @flightlessackerman @danihwang882 @inlovewithstraykids @velvetmoonlght @chrizrizz

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Ko-fi

[randomasfuk]

idiot boyfriend

Jason x reader hurt/ comfort kind of ig I’m not the best writer

Reader has implied trama nothing all to specific though, some is this is a-bit slightly cliché ngtl

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

You stared at the note in your hand, not quite processing its contents. A mixture of emotions bubbled inside you, accompanied by millions of questions as you stared at the small piece of paper, only just understanding the words written on it. You crumpled it up and tossed it across the room. Anger. Complete rage. What the hell? Of all the ways he could’ve done this, a note? Did he really care so little about you that he couldn’t even give you the decency of an explanation? He couldn’t even grant you so much as a goodbye. Then, the tears came. You tried so desperately to hold them back. He didn’t care enough to tell you why he chose this, so why would you care enough to cry? Not that he could witness the response. But he had obviously cared about you—you saw it in the way he treated you, how he looked at you, how he noticed the little things: what you liked, what you didn’t, how he made sure to accommodate even your smallest preferences. He would go out of his way, break his own habits, just to please you. Even the slightest bit. You couldn’t help but wonder what you did for that to change, seemingly overnight. What had you done for him to choose to break up with you over a note?

Back to anger again. You knew you weren’t perfect, but he was hardly… well, a well-earned nap. How the hell could he do this? How could he have the gall to do it over a mere note, with absolutely no explanation? What had you done wrong? Anger, frustration, and sadness fought for control in your mind. You picked the note back up. It couldn’t have been bigger than a post-it, and it read: “I’m sorry but we’re over.” That was it. That was all you got from him after months of dating. He couldn’t even be bothered to see you in person. You had taken things slow with him, but you were so sure things were good—up until fifteen minutes ago, when you returned from work. He was practically living with you.

Pulling out your phone, you opened your messages—nothing from him. Without missing a beat, you started typing. You had no clue what to say, so you went with a basic: “WTF Jason, you could at least give me a reason,” only to realize he had blocked you.

It had been about three weeks since you received your now ex-boyfriend’s heartfelt breakup note. Walking home from work after a particularly late and stressful shift, the Gotham air hardly helped your frustration. Seething for a multitude of reasons, you were lost in your own head, distracted. Distracted enough not to notice the man creeping up behind you in the dark alleyway. Only when it was too late did you realise, and you hit the ground. A stinging sensation engulfed your elbow and leg as they scraped along the rough concrete. “FUCK!” you exclaimed, looking up at your attacker—a man in all black, with a Ruger LCP in his hand. You couldn’t help but scoff at how he appeared to be the most basic mugger ever.

“Money, phone, everything, hand it over,” he said quietly but demanding.

“How about you go fuck yourself?” you retorted. You weren’t a vigilante, but you knew a thing or two. You could handle this guy—he was short, his voice fairly high, and he had a mask covering the bottom of his face. He looked to be about fourteen, maybe. He looked taken aback by your response, but before he could say anything else, he was face-first on the ground. None other than Red Hood stood where the boy once was.

And you were pissed. Upon sight, you picked up a nearby stone and threw it at his helmet. It hit with a thud. He whipped his head around to look at you, but didn’t say a word before walking away, which only pissed you off more. You scrambled to your feet and yelled after him.

“What the actual fuck, Jason?”

He merely glanced at you before muttering, “Names.” His voice was deadpan.

“I don’t give a shit. Why would I? You didn’t care enough to give me so much as an explanation,” you spat back.

“Why would you give a shit anyway?” he asked in the same deadpan tone.

That caught you off guard. “Why would—WHAT? Because you are—were my boyfriend, Ja—Red Hood?” You stumbled over your words, slightly confused as to why he would think otherwise. You were affectionate in your relationship, which had always been encouraged by your very different lifestyles. Him being a vigilante and all, meant you’d had less-than-ideal amounts of time together.

You didn’t know what to do, how to feel.

“Why?” he spoke, his voice weak, quiet. You’d never heard him speak like that—so softly?

“Why what?” you questioned.

“Why… why was I your boyfriend?” His voice sounded the same as before—like he was unsure of what he was saying.

You found yourself unsure again. It was becoming the night’s theme, and it was really starting to get under your skin.

“Because I enjoy you,” you said.

He turned around to face you. “Elaborate,” he demanded, sounding more sure of himself this time. You took a moment, not knowing what to say. All you could think was, ‘I love you, dickhead.’

He opened his mouth, but you cut him off before he could speak. “I mean, I enjoy your humor, the way I can talk to you about whatever the hell I want, whenever I want, knowing you won’t judge me. I enjoy knowing that, despite how fucked up I am, you won’t judge me. I enjoy cuddling with you on the couch. I enjoy the way you act like you know how movies or shows are going to end, even though it’s really fucking obvious you don’t. I enjoy relaxing with you after you get back from patrol, the way you look at me, the way you organize the cups in the cupboard in a really specific way I can never remember until you do it again. I enjoy your presence, even when we’re not doing anything. I enjoy talking with you until ridiculous hours in the night, and I know I always say it annoys me, but I actually think it’s really cool when you come through the window. And I really, really enjoy the white streak in your hair.”

Jason remained silent, his mask preventing you from gauging his emotions. But you didn’t give him a chance to speak.

“You wanna leave me? Fine, I guess, but can you at least tell me why you left? What did I do? You can’t possibly think I didn’t care because I—” You paused, the words catching in your throat. “You know what? Forget it.”

You turned to walk away, but his voice stopped you.

“I love you,” he stated, definitively.

That shocked you. AGAIN.

“That’s why I broke up with you.”

You were stunned, to say the least. You took a breath to compose yourself. “Jason, that’s the single most idiotic thing I’ve ever heard in my life. And I’ve heard some stupid shit, so please, in your words, elaborate.”

It was his turn to be at a loss for words. He couldn’t fathom why you didn’t understand, and you couldn’t fathom his logic.

“Because I’m fucked up. I’m broken to shit. Like smash-a-vase-off-the-wall broken. And it’s only gonna get you hurt.”

You were still dumbfounded, but much less than before. You walked over to him until you were right in front of him, without thinking, looking up into where his eyes were. Although you couldn’t see them, tears were flowing down your cheeks now you never even noticed when they started.

You were right in-front of him now and he knew he shouldn’t, he should walk away. But instead, he wrapped his arms around you, pulling you in.

You rested your head on his shoulder, and he leaned his on yours.

“I know,” you whispered, “but you’re not as rough around the edges as you think. And I think it’s part of why we work. Because you’re broken, and so am I. Our little broken vase bits fit together really, really well.”

“Can we please stop using the vase analogy?” he laughed softly. “That’s one of the most cringey things I’ve ever said, as much as I meant it.”

Everything stopped for a moment—it was just the two of you. Closing your eyes, you allowed yourself to truly feel the moment, which ended all too soon. Jason sighed into your hair.

“I just don’t want to hurt you,” he said.

“If you leave, you will,” you replied.

“Now, are we gonna keep hugging and arguing about this like idiots, or can I get my genius, stupid, funny, kind, idiotic, caring, amazing—did I say STUPID—boyfriend back?”

He pulled back, looking at you, and wiped a tear rolling down your cheek with his thumb.

“How could I say no to you?” he whispered.

[nana-mizu-shiki]

[[Hehehe >:] Of course! Imma put the tags I used for the 2nd post I made below bc I had made plans and I wanna use them as reference lol. Also, I'm absolutely loving doing this, but I will only continue after someone else rb's, I'd rather have every other reblog be mine than every one in a row. Idk, just feels weird reblogging my own part of the story. Anyways, I hope you guys like this as much as I do :) .]]

[[ #tim drake #danny phantom #dc #fanfic #funny #batman #dpxdc #tims mild stalking aint that mild but its mild for him #i know i made it sound like tim cheated jazz in but he didnt. what he did was still very illegal though #i was going to put more but my wifis being weird and i had to rewrite that last part like 3 times #next would be danny having a flashback to him punching red robin and recognizing their Vibes(souls/core) #this IS all also happening in Metropolis too btw #he has no reason to be in Gotham #cafes are overused. ive only heard of the Danny Diner once #jazz is amazing #yes the fenton parents are dead #how? idk #why? bc i wanted Danny to be Vlads ward #tim is also going to be calling him Daniel until told otherwise #anyways #;> #im obsessed with this lol ]]

~~~~~~~~~~~◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇~~~~~~~~~~

Danny had been exploring the new city he was living in invisible, intangible, and flying-able, as one does, when he had spotted what was obviously a mugging.

Now, Danny wasn't flying about in his ghost form looking for trouble- well, actually, he was- but he wasn't doing so looking to fight those doing the trouble. He was making sure where he was was safe, making sure he and his sister didn't accidentally move directly in the middle of a dangerous gang's territory or something. (They didn't, this wasn't Gotham, (But it sure was close(literally)) but he still had to check, y'know)

So anyways, on his way back home he spotted a mugging, not much honestly, but he still felt bad just thinking about leaving the poor dude, clearly just some teen struggling as is, to the fate of possibly not eating tonight because some jerk took his budget.

....He is NOT projecting, sush it! Sure, not everything the Fentons made was edible and sometimes he or Jazz had to spend all their own saved money on occasion to not be poisoned but- Whatever!

Danny had flown about a block away before shifting back alive in some dark alley- surprisingly so for Metropolis- and then walked back casually back to where he knew it was happening, intending to help the teen via distraction.

However, when Danny had actually gotten the Thief's attention, somehow ending up cornering the guy while the teen ran, some short red figure had dropped in front of him and knocked the guy out swiftly, having shocked both the Thief and Danny thoroughly with his sudden appearance.

With the red figure turning around, Danny punched them before he could be attacked and stumbled to the entrance of the alley, more in the light with more room to run should the Red figure approach.

The Red one had stumbled back as well, more due to Danny's punch rather than his own violation. And Danny heard as he tripped over a few cans that had fallen out of nearby trash cans. Danny had watched the Red one rapidly as they recovered from the punch, and had come to a slowly dawning horror of realization as he recognized what they were wearing as a superhero suit. He didn't know which one, but it was definitely one of them.

The Red hero had looked up as Danny had finally realized what he had done and they had simply stared at each other for a while before...

Before Danny decided, once more, to just Book It.

He wasn't dealing with this bullshit, not today.

••••••••••♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧••••••••••

Danny blinked out of the memory as he stared at the boy by the door, holding out what must be more than at least 4 dozen roses in one bouquet and smiling sheepishly with a hand (not holding the bouquet) scratching his neck.

He was... the Wayne boy he had punched, like, months ago.

And also... that Red Robin hero he had run into, like, a few weeks ago.

Danny blinked once more at the flowers, looking around the diner, between the would-be-criminal and his apparently-secret-admirer, and once more at the flowers.

Yeah. He had absolutely no idea what was going on.

He didn't mind much though. The guy was pretty cute for someone he'd punched on multiple occasions.

....And for someone who was so clearly alive but had such Obsession that he had formed his own mini-core. The Obsession didn't even seem to be focused on one thing! Not that Danny can tell, really.

And. Huh. That's definitely something Danny didn't know was possible. Whatever, he was literally-technically prince of an entire realm that's the in-between of literally every universe in existence, this probably just makes him liminal in some other technical way. Liminal-Adjacent or something.

The silence almost stretches onto becoming awkward, and so Danny just blurts out his answer, not even really remembering the question.

"I… I mean, sure? Why... not? I mean, you seem cool, I guess."

Danny shrugged awkwardly, looking down at the passed-out would-be-thief as he began to flush, seeing out of the corner of his eye as the Wayne boy grinned like he gave him a million dollars (actually, bad analogy, he's like a billionaire so that's probably loose change to him, whatever, it's the principle of the thing).

"Great!" The boy exclaimed, skipping over and placing the roses and a note that he pulled from nowhere onto the counter Danny had hopped over.

"I know this place closes soon, so if you don't have anything planned already I'd love to take you out later today, my numbers on there if you want to fish this out more over text. I'll see you later Daniel!"

"Wha.… How the hell did I score some sickly pretty rich boy?" Danny muttered absently as he watched the other skip out the door grinning ear to ear.

Shaking himself out of his stupor once more now that his apparent soon-to-be-date left his store, Danny focused back on the passed out dude loitering on his floor.

"Hm. Now what do I do with you?"

Sorry, Rich Boy

If there was anything Danny hated more than anything, it was doing what Vlad wanted him to do. Especially when he'd done it thinking it was against the fruitloop's wishes and the man gave him that smirk that tells him Danny had played right into the fuckers hands.

So Danny had gotten good at sniffing out a scheme. And, honestly, he didn't need to do much sniffing here.

Vlad had invited him as a plus one to a Wayne (Yes, that Wayne. Brucie Goddamn Wayne.) Gala, meant to take place only a few days from now. Vlad must have suspected Danny would never agree, would have thought it was another attempt for Danny's loyalty where none of his friends could help. Unfortunately for Vlad, Danny was a spiteful fuck and he wouldn't let Vlad go to a Gala full of rich fools alone. Not when Vlad had previously admitted to how he'd gotten his fortune in the first place.

So, there Danny was, keeping an eye on Vlad. At a Wayne Gala. In Gotham, New Jersey. Fuck his half-life.

It was a horrible idea, really. The suit is stuffy, the room is stuffy, and the people are fucking stuffy. He hangs around the food for the most part, only because Vlad keeps coming back to it which makes keeping an eye on the guy somewhat easier. He admits coming was a good idea only when he sees Vlad making buddies with the Wayne troop themselves and that smirk is on his face. Well, fuck that.

He catalogs the group; not including Bruce Wayne there is a scowling child (immediately off the table, he’s not some fucko like Vlad okay), two teenage boys (one of them black and built like a small brick wall. The other a white boy, scrawny as hell, and looking a breeze away from passing out), two teenage girls (one a peppy blonde and the other a ravenette, off to the side laughing together), and a man (big).

Overall, if he had to pick who to go after to cause the most fuss, it’d be the kid. However, he has morals, so he sets his sights on the skinny white boy instead. He’s skinny, obviously, but upon a closer look has some muscle on him that makes Danny less guilty for his choice. Sorry, rich boy, but Danny has a godfather to piss off.

He sets down his drink, walks over, and decks the poor boy in the face. The look of horror on Vlad's face is well worth the absolute confusion coating the entire group.

And, just for the cherry on top, he turns to Brucie Wayne and the fruitloop, "Your Gala sucks and so does your city. Fuck this place, never bring me here ever again Vlad."

[weneeya]

worried m.list | rules

pairing. jason todd x reader

note. omg i love jason sm of course i'd do that ; worried jason is adorable, my boy is doing his best <3

You were supposed to be here. He left you alone in your apartment before he left for his night patrol. So why weren’t you here anymore? Where were you? Jason thought he was about to go crazy. He was searching everywhere, calling your phone, but you weren’t answering at all.

Yes, he came back earlier than usual, but it was a reason to disappear, was it? What if something bad had happened while he was gone? Jason was making the worst scenarios in his head. Until he heard the sound of the door opening. He turned around and you arrived in the living room, a bit surprised. 

You didn’t have the time to say anything that Jason was standing in front of you, a visible frown across his eyebrows. “Where the hell were you?!” His voice was too loud, too angry ; you didn’t like that at all. You slowly raised an eyebrow at his tone, feeling the slight irritation growing inside of you. 

“My friend needed me, so I left to see her.” You explained but it didn’t calm Jason at all. “You know Gotham’s not safe at night. What if you got attacked, or worse?” He was clearly angry, but it simply made you angry too. You weren’t a child, you didn’t need him to act like he was your own father. 

“Quit yelling at me, would ya?” Your tone was harsh, and it caught him off guard. He wasn’t so used to any reaction like this from you, so he was taken aback. He was about to answer when you pointed at his chest, looking into his eyes. “I don’t need you to protect myself, Jason. I’m a grown adult!” And in those words, you left the living room to get locked up in the bathroom. You really needed a shower. 

Jason stayed alone in here, standing up and a bit lost about what just happened. Did he get too far? He knew you were strong enough to defend yourself ; he loved you for that. But he couldn’t help it ; he was always worried when he knew you were alone in the streets at night. He meant what he said: Gotham wasn’t safe at all, and he knew what he was talking about. 

He saw so many people get hurt without any reason, and he was just so scared to lose you. Anger was his only way to express those feelings, but making you mad was the last thing he ever wanted. So he sat on the couch and waited for you to get out of the bathroom. It took you long minutes, and he was almost falling asleep. Or at least, he would have if he wasn’t thinking so much about what he wanted to tell you. 

When you joined the living room again, your gaze met his figure and you rolled your eyes. You sat next to him in silence, hating this stupid sad look on his face. You hated to see it, but he needed to understand what was wrong. Jason took your hand softly in his. “Look at me, please… I’m sorry baby, I didn’t mean to react like this.” You turned around, meeting his eyes ; and he knew he wasn’t lying. There was too much sincerity in it for that ; you knew him by heart. 

You stayed silent, waiting for him to keep going for a moment. He breathed out softly, leaving a gentle kiss against your knuckles. “I was just… worried. I’m always so scared when you’re alone out there. I know you’re strong ; but those guys can be crazy.” And how could you blame him? You knew Jason got through hell because of one of them. You finally completely turned to face him, grabbing both his hands between yours. 

“I’m not angry because you’re worried. I am because you yelled at me like I was completely dumb and not careful.” He slowly nodded at your words, understanding that he didn’t react the way he should have. Your hand gently moved to his cheek so you could stroke it with your thumb so slightly. Jason leaned onto your touch, eyes now closed at the feeling. 

You felt like home for him, and he’d rather die than having to lose this feeling once more. He left a soft kiss against the palm of your hand, making you smile lightly. “I’d be careful with my reactions,” he told you, looking back at your eyes. You leaned forward a little, leaving a small peck against his lips. “And I won’t leave without telling you where I am.” 

A silent agreement, so things could work. Jason was making so many efforts for you, all the time ; the less you could do was to do some efforts too. Moreover, Jason was clearly worth it. The boy needed a comfort and safe place to calm his home ; and you were ready to be this for him.

thank you for reading!

[stoneybun]

Another idea you'd love,

What if y/n is triggered by screaming and kinda by men in general, and they're visiting ted in LA (where the "do it for the bit" fiends live) and someone does some dumb screaming shit like that, and jschlatt, already annoyed, ushers them out of the area very quickly and calms them down, kinda telling them "hey its okay, you're safe w me" 

💕

YOU GET IT i always hated when ppl would do that in my high school,,, loud men are scary (but not our beloved) Schlatt x gn!reader, usage of toots and doll Schlatt has a crush on reader but doesn't really give a shit once he sees how panicked they get, instincts taking over.

Loud. That's all you could think, your head practically buzzing, the sensation even going into your eyes. This was a bad idea from the start, knowing you couldn't handle being in a group of guys like this. You were in LA for the time being, conveniently as Schlatt was also in town for something he was recording with Ted. Not like you could recall, especially not right now. It was at least manageable; currently you, Schlatt, Ted, Ludwig, Hasan, and multiple others you knew but just didn't have the energy to acknowledge. Drinking had been involved, having a drink in your own hand but it had barely been touched. Maybe a few sips to get your nerves down, but with how you kept bouncing your leg and chewing on the inside of your cheek, it was obvious it wasn't doing anything. You desperately were trying to get past this, to feel normal, but you never understood why it didn't ever work. Among the group, you noticed Schlatt a little more closed off right now. Not from you; if anything, you'd caught a few glances he was throwing your way. What you were oblivious to was the soft worry in his eyes when they'd land on you, only catching on to the look of his eyebrows being lightly furrowed, a look of aggravation on his face as the boys had started up yet another dumb bit. The buzzing in your head only grew louder as one of the boys let out a booming "THAT'S SO FUCKING-" Schlatt didn't bother even trying to listen to the rest. Enough was enough. He could see the way you flinched, your eyes widening as your gaze flicked to the boys as they were busting out laughs and profanities at one another. While he already had his own reasons to be unamused by this all right now, the sight of you looking like a scared puppy made his heart ache. He knew you needed space, fast, and he was more than happy to make it happen. Before you knew it, Schlatt's figure was looming over yours. "Hey," he murmured, hesitating before his hand ghosted over your back, just barely putting any pressure but you could feel the heat from his palm seep into your shirt. You blink, somewhat pulling yourself out of your trance and looking up at him. Really, you didn't need to say anything. He knew that look, the 'I'm physically here but not processing a single thing' look of your eyes as they were unfocused. "C'mon, toots," he whispers to you, genuinely being as soft as he could in that moment. He didn't want to make your overstimulation or anxiety sky rocket, knowing you probably were at a breaking point. You don't even process the pet name as he guides you to stand up, letting him take you out to a different room down the hall, seeming like a living room of sorts.

"Let's just sit 'n breathe for a minute, alright?" he coaxes you, making you just briefly nod since talking felt like too much. Something about him was different from guys you were used to being around, like you genuinely felt at ease; protected, even. "There y' go," he coos, not even really paying attention to how gentle he was being. Sure, the guy had the biggest crush known to man on you, but right now he wanted to make sure you weren't about to break down. You took precedence over those dumbasses. Schlatt lets you get comfortable first before he sat beside you, leaving a gap that was literally on the lines of being too close, swallowing a lump in his throat. He cared so deeply about you, feeling his heart leap when you slightly moved even closer to him. "...You can.. lay on me if ya want, y'know. They can be a lot, and-" You shut him up by just letting your head fall onto his shoulder, making him blink and turn his head to look down, watching as some of your hair fell into your face. He smiles at this, a soft chuckle rumbling in his throat as he lets his arm drape around your shoulders, shifting you so your head went onto his chest, your body lightly laying against his side. He let himself sink down into the couch, his legs spreading a little more than they already were as he just wanted to melt into the damn fabric and just relax with you like this, finally having some quiet. Well, almost; you could still faintly hear the boys. "I'm always here for ya, doll," he murmurs, letting himself rest his head on top of yours. Your heart already felt lighter, a soft smile on your face that makes Schlatt feel like his heart would give out.

[antebellum13]

I took this as a prompt and made a short little something!

Nine Lives, Nine Deaths

Draco Malfoy had always thought he was a reasonable man. He believed in logic, in carefully measured risk, in doing what had to be done to uphold the law.

And yet, here he was, standing in the middle of a bloodstained alleyway, wand still warm from the Killing Curse he’d just cast at Antonin Dolohov, and wondering how, exactly, his life had come to this.

It had started a few weeks ago. Subtle at first. A flicker of movement in the corner of his eye, a warm brush against his leg when he was sitting at his desk at the Auror Office. He had dismissed it as nonsense, a trick of the light, the kind of thing that happened when you were running on too little sleep and too much caffeine. But then it had escalated.

First, he started finding notes. Scraps of parchment that seemed to appear out of thin air, always scrawled in an unmistakable clawed script. Knockturn Alley. Behind the apothecary. Don’t forget your wand, little dragon.

Then came the whispers. Not in his head—no, Merlin help him, that might have been preferable—but in his bloody flat. At first, it was just rustling. A soft, knowing mrrow that always seemed to come from behind him when he least expected it. And then, on the third night, he woke up to find Crookshanks sitting on his chest, his luminous golden eyes fixed unblinkingly on Draco’s face.

You know what she deserves.

Draco had nearly hexed the bloody cat across the room.

Instead, he had sat there, frozen, as Crookshanks tilted his head and, with what could only be described as an exasperated sigh, hopped off the bed and strolled towards the window. When Draco had glanced at his nightstand, there had been a new scrap of parchment. Warrington’s estate. He’s alone. Make it hurt.

And so it had begun.

Draco knew it was madness. He knew it. But every time he tried to ignore the messages, the guilt would creep in, curling around his ribs like smoke. Every name Crookshanks had given him had been someone who had wronged Hermione in some way—Death Eaters who had escaped justice, men who had laughed about their crimes, who had walked free while she had been left with the scars. And damn him, but wasn’t this what he had always wanted to do?

The Auror Office had rules. Laws. But Crookshanks didn’t.

And Draco… well, Draco had always had a rather flexible relationship with morality.

Which was why he now stood in this alleyway, staring down at Dolohov’s corpse, knowing that Hermione was going to kill him.

Or at least, that had been the biggest of his concerns until he felt the unmistakable crack of Apparition behind him.

“What the bloody hell is going on, Malfoy?”

Draco winced before turning to face her. Hermione Granger was the kind of furious that made even the most hardened criminals consider immediate confession. Her hair was wild from the wind, her brown eyes blazing with something between rage and barely contained panic.

“This isn’t protocol,” she hissed, stalking closer, her wand gripped tight in her hand. “This isn’t—what have you done?”

Draco exhaled sharply and scrubbed a hand over his face. “Look, you’re going to think I’m crazy—”

“Oh, that broom has flown,” she snapped.

“—but your bloody cat told me to do it.”

Hermione froze. Her mouth opened, then closed. Then, after a long pause, she stared at him, slack-jawed, for a full minute. “You’re right,” she finally said. “You’ve completely lost the plot.”

Draco groaned and ran a hand through his hair. “I swear to you, Granger, I am not making this up.”

She crossed her arms, her expression unimpressed. “My cat—my eighteen-year-old, slightly overweight, perpetually napping cat—told you to go on a murder spree?”

Draco glared. “When you say it like that, it sounds ridiculous.”

“That’s because it is ridiculous, you absolute menace.”

He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Look, I know how it sounds. But just—just trust me. Let’s take Dolohov and Apparate back to wherever it is you usually keep that mad cat locked up, and he can prove it.”

Hermione stared at him, her nostrils flaring slightly as if she were this close to hexing him into next week. But then something in her expression shifted—an unmistakable flicker of worry. Not about the murders, no, but about him.

She thought he was losing his mind.

Well. Maybe he was.

But she still grabbed his wrist, her grip firm and warm, and waited until he had a hold on Dolohov’s body before Disapparating them both.

The familiar tug of Apparition yanked them through space, and when they landed with a sharp crack, Draco barely had time to steady himself before he heard Hermione mutter, “Oh, you have got to be joking.”

Because there, sitting in her green armchair like some kind of mob boss, was Crookshanks.

Draco turned to Hermione triumphantly. “See?”

Hermione did not seem particularly convinced. “My cat sits in that chair all the time, Malfoy.”

Crookshanks let out a long, suffering sigh. Then, with the casual grace of a king addressing his most idiotic subjects, he flicked his tail and regarded Hermione with something almost resembling disappointment.

Oh, now you show up. Took you long enough.

Hermione screamed.

Draco had to bite his lip to keep from saying I told you so.

She staggered back, hands in her hair. “No. No, no, no—this is a stress-induced hallucination. I have not just heard my cat speak—”

Yes, you have.

She shrieked again.

Draco crossed his arms. “Not so funny when it’s happening to you, is it?”

Hermione ignored him in favor of turning her wild, frantic gaze on Crookshanks. “Since when could you talk? And why are you sending Malfoy on assassination missions?!”

Crookshanks yawned and stretched lazily. Since always. You just never listened. And as for Malfoy—well, he needed a nudge, didn’t he?

Draco lifted his chin, oddly proud. “See? I was chosen.”

Hermione groaned. “Chosen for what?”

Cleaning up after the war. Delivering justice. Handling unfinished business, Crookshanks said, grooming a paw with perfect nonchalance. And before you start whining about morality—tell me, Hermione, do you really think any of them deserved to live?

Hermione’s breath hitched. For the first time since they’d arrived, she hesitated.

And Draco knew, in that moment, that she wasn’t as horrified by him as she pretended to be.

Crookshanks’ eyes gleamed, knowing. Ah. Thought so.

Then he turned back to Draco, flicking his tail again in something like satisfaction.

Well done, little dragon. Well done indeed.

Crookshanks twitched his whiskers, his golden eyes gleaming as he returned his eyes to Hermione. Then, with a slow, deliberate stretch, he settled back into the chair like a king upon his throne.

Now, he purred, gaze sharp as a knife. We’ll need that brain of yours for this next mission. Greyback won’t be as easy to ferret out.

Draco turned to Hermione, arching a brow. “Well, Granger? Are you in?”

She stared at them both—the smug cat lounging in her chair, the ex-Death Eater standing beside a corpse, the undeniable pull of something darkly satisfying settling in her chest.

With a slow, measured breath, she straightened her spine.

“…Tell me everything.”

Mob AU but w a twist

[justivik]

A LITTLE DEATH.

; yandere! twins x fem! reader

tw: ENGLISH ISN’T MY FIRST LANGUAGE. smut, cnc content, abuse, p in v, a lot of kinks if u want idk and not a lot of yandere stuff

You left your books in the locker, already old and worn out, and sighed deeply, feeling the weight of the fatigue accumulated from school. The teachers, with their endless homework, and the projects they left only added more stress, offering no respite.

Your school days used to be normal and relatively uneventful, until you met them...

They were twins, strange twins. They maintained a questionable reputation but were attractive enough to distract from your personality; the older one was outgoing with an obsession with bladed weapons, and the younger one was introverted but with a fascination for the warmth of fire.

They were both fascinated and obsessed with you.

You still didn't know the reason, but you hated the position you had found yourself in. Every day you saw them coming towards you, like two Siamese cats, and they tormented you like a little mouse. It all started from the time you talked to the first twin; you helped him with a chemistry assignment and showed interest in his knife collection. Soon after, the second twin came into the picture, as you became concerned when his arm was burned.

The familiar figures appeared in your field of vision and panic set in. You shoved all your notebooks in at once, leaving a mess in the locker, and ran out into the crowd. Your eyes quickly adjusted to the bright light of the campus, anxiously searching for the parking lot. The crowd around you didn't help calm your mind, but at least it kept you distracted. Before you could get away from the bustling area, however, you felt a sudden tug on the sleeve of your backpack, something that made you take a step back and stare in surprise at those eyes that, though they sparkled with a flirtatious sparkle, also reflected a darkness that unnerved you.

“Who are you looking for in such a hurry?” The voice of the older of the twins came through clearly, echoing in the air, as if it could make everything around you stop.

You swallowed hard, the lump in your throat instantly growing larger. You tried not to look directly into those piercing eyes, but you couldn't help it.

“Answer him, don't be rude” the other twin insisted, lightly slapping your back, you turned to see him with a dirty look but he just smirked at you mockingly.

“I'm not waiting for anyone, leave me alone”

You struggled some more to free yourself, but the older man held you even more firmly, as if he didn't plan to let you escape so easily. His hands were strong, his presence commanding. Something inside you stirred, you knew he was playing a game you didn't fully understand.

“Why are you like this with us? We just want to be with you, and this is how you treat us?” His voice sounded almost plaintive, though the frown and crossed arms gave him an air of defiance. The tone of his voice, that intertwining of frustration and desire, made you feel more uncomfortable than you had imagined.

You felt trapped, as if his every word was just another noose tightening your breath. You took a deep breath, seeking a moment of calm to collect your thoughts. Why did they keep insisting?

“I don't want to make you feel bad, but I just don't feel like I fit in with you” you finally managed to say, the words coming out with some regret, but also certainty. The feeling of being out of place, of not understanding why they were watching you like this, was even more uncomfortable for you than any other.

“Of course you fit in. If we're inviting you to spend the afternoon with us, it's for a reason. Do you know how many girls have tried to get into our plans? And you...you're just wasting the opportunity.”

The older twin's tone was becoming more persuasive, almost accusatory, as his eyes kept watching you with a mixture of frustration and a strange hopefulness. You could feel the tension in the air, as if every word out of his mouth was a challenge.

You felt caught between the desire to make them understand that it wasn't that easy for you and the growing discomfort of being under their constant observation. What did they really want from you? Why were they so insistent that you become part of their world?

“Do you really think it's that simple?” you asked, though the insecurity in your voice betrayed your thoughts. You knew their invitation wasn't as harmless as they were trying to make it seem. They were playing with your hair as you chose your words.

The oldest one let out a low chuckle, but his gaze was still fixed on you.

“You just don't get it, do you? We're not asking you for anything weird. We just want you to stop running away.” His voice, though warm, carried an urgency you couldn't ignore.

Silence settled between the two of you, and you could feel the weight of his presence, a warm sensation began to be felt on your arm, a noble but possessive caress. The younger one prostrated himself behind you letting his breath tickle you while the older one played with your hands.

“Come on, hang out with us for a while.”

You thought about it so much that you didn't have time to realize that they were already directing you to their carpool, maybe spending an afternoon with them might change your mind.

“Let me go, this isn't funny!” you moaned at the boys' warm touch against your button. The firm contact against your sensitive skin covered by your panties made a wet patch form.

They both started laughing excitedly, whispering various sick ideas of how to make you come or even the desire to take you by force and use you as their own living sex doll. They had such macabre ideas that they sounded sadistic and of course they were.

“Stop moving, love. You're going to have to take it whether you want to or not.” The younger one began to loosen his belt while the older one held your arms behind your back with one hand and the other painfully massaged your clitoris. You noticed the great length the youngest twin was carrying.

“God, I'm getting so hard”

He threatened as he smiled.

You protested uncontrollably but your nose was already touching the boy's hard abdomen.

“Open.”

Forcefully you opened your mouth as your hair was pulled hard to perform such an action, his member slowly entered to get used to the warmth of your mouth, lewd sounds rang throughout the room.

The older one complimented you and stroked your hair while the younger one grabbed your jaw and generated perverted comments. Your head was spinning as the tip of the cock hit your uvula, allowing you to breathe for four seconds before taking it again until your face became a mess of cum and saliva.

Now it was the other guy's turn, your head was crushed against the bed by the young man while the boy took off his boxer shorts and then lubricated his member with your liquid, he played with your entrance while you moaned with disgust but at the same time excitement.

You liked being held like this, you even liked them liking you and having them obsessed with you, being your stalkers and acting like an innocent lamb every time they came near you. Now they are taking you by force and without permission.

“Ah! f-fuck” you moaned highly when you felt his member open your entrance.

You felt so full having him inside you, you bit your lip as you looked at the boy who a few minutes ago abused your mouth and of course he would do it again. They were both moving their hips and their mouths were leaving sounds so high pitched they were driving you crazy, they were moaning your name and kinky nicknames like it was a love song.

“N-ngh, so fucking...g-good” heaving breaths only pronounced pleasure.

“I'm going to cum” pronounced both boys then moaned at length as their faces contorted in pleasure and your eyes turned white from so much pleasure too.

Your body collapsed at the end of that act, your breathing was up and down and you could only feel the long fingers of one of the twins playing with the dripping semen and reinserting it into your entrance.

It was going to be a long night.

hi guys 😔😔

[broareweabouttoviberightnow]

The voices from inside the office raise to an aggravated, insistent pitch 'n Pony flinches back in the hall, presses both his shoulder blades to the wall until his back aches.

Darry's low baritone rumbles out but Pony can catch the irritation, a low B note in the bottom of his voice. He sighs, drops his head down into his hands. He was dead. Actually, he was more than dead. Darry was gonna kill him, dig him up, 'n killl him again. Jesus Christ.

"I understand that but-"

"Mr. Curtis-" Darry's sittin' the closest to the door so Pony can distinctly hear the low, long breath he lets out in frustration.

Good, Pony thinks, smugly 'cause if Darry's gonna whoop his ass he should at least have to understand what Pony dealt with all the goddamn time.

"Mr. McCoy. I understand that Ponyboy-"

"Mr. Curtis. I don't believe you comprehend-" Pony can't see him but he can distinctly envision Darry grindin' his teeth together, poppin' his knuckles in that way he did when he was tryin' to get a hold of his temper.

Pony kicks his sneakers on the tile, fiddles with the zipper on his backpack. He didn't know what the hell he was here for. Sure, he'd gotten a shitty grade on his last math test 'n he'd skipped chem Tuesday. Maybe he'd smoked out the bathroom window 'n lost track of time 'n showed up late to gym. But those weren't call Darry on his day off offenses.

He especially didn't know why they'd gotten his goddamn English teach in on the little reunion. The guy seemed to have it out for him. There was no way he was here to sing Pony's praises.

That man had somethin' against Pony from the day he'd first met him. Pony scowls, kicks at the floor, calls the memory up in his mind since he didn't have anythin' better to do but wait for Darry to come kick his ass.

Pony hadn't even done anythin' really. Truly he hadn't. He'd been a little late, sure, but that hadn't been his fault. Steve had driven him to school 'n they didn't call that shitty old car a beater for no reason. Steve had kicked the thing three times (in three separate places) to get the thing goin'. But then the lady at the front desk wouldn't give him a note so he'd just had to show up late with no excuse. Sue him.

He'd expected to get the run-of-the-mill jab, gettin' shook down a lil' for interuptin', on the first day no less. He'd hustled down the hall as fast as he'd dared, cracked the door with anticipation sittin' heavy in the back of his throat.

When he'd gotten his class list he'd showed it to Soda so they could compare notes 'cause Soda had been swapped around to nearly every teacher 'n had the low down on every single one. Soda had pulled a face, jabbed a finger at his English teacher.

Watch out for that one.

Why? Darry had rolled his eyes 'n paused in fixin' dinner to glance over his shoulder at Soda. He actually make you do your work? Watch his test answer sheet too closely?

'N usually Soda would grin all wide 'n crooked but he'd gotten a real serious look on his face, darted his eyes around like he wasn't sure how to say it. Naw. But... he's got a real problem. With, like, greasers. It's McCoy, Dar.

He'd walked in late that day 'n his teacher had gotten this real nasty look on his face. Somethin' vindicated 'n high 'n mighty like all the worst folks at church Mama used to insist they went to. Like they just knew they were better than you. 'N there was nothin' you could do to change that.

Curtis, right? I should have known. Off to a bad start already. Pony had drug his toe across the floor, stared down at his shoes, mumbled out his apologies. He shifted to slip into the first empty seat he saw, not lookin' up anymore than he had to. The man's hand had shot out quick smart, wrapped around his bicep 'n jerked him to a stop. 'N then hissed out, all low so only Pony could hear, I should have expected it. It's the same with all you Curtis'.

"This isn't the first time Ponyboy has been called to the office for a similar issue-" Pony jerks back to the present moment, the voice still ringin' in his ears.

"No, it's not but as we've spoken about before-" Darry tries to cut in, gets barrelled right over.

"I hate to say, but perhaps it's time Ponyboy followed the path of his brother." Pony lets out a low, keenin' noise from somewhere deep in his chest. He'd know from the day he met the man that he didn't think nothin' good of him. But it still stung, sliced him clean through.

He should just hedge his bets 'n drop out. Go work in a gas station 'cause that's all he was worth. 'N it makes his blood boil, not only for himself but for Soda too.

A chair slams against the wall inside the office, jarrin' the door open so Pony can see through inside. Darry's on his feet, face red, fists clenched tight by his sides so the knuckles are white. When he speaks, his voice is low, tightly leashed.

"Let me make one thing clear."

...

Soda kicks his feet a lil', scrapes the toe of his sneakers across the tile 'n leaves a rubber mark. McCoy's runnin' his mouth down the list of crimes Soda's committed, startin' right up with simply bein' alive.

It's nothin' he hasn't heard before. Soda probably spent more time sittin' outside that office than he ever had sittin' in a class. He'd skipped again today, probably just one too many, 'specially 'cause he didn't have anywhere to go but loiterin' around under the bleachers 'til someone snapped him up 'n drug him inside.

He still hadn't figured out exactly why they'd insisted on callin' Dar in. Or why in God's name his fuckin' English teacher seemed to be headin' the stupid meetin'.

"I don't understand why I needed to come in today. No disrespect, meant. Soda in some kinda trouble?" Soda chuckles to himself. He was always in some kinda trouble. Darry should know that by now.

"I confess, I only called you in today on the request of Mr. McCoy." The principal finally gets a word in edgewise 'n he sounds tired. "I understand there's been some problems with Soda."

Problems was a goddamn understatement. Soda was used to teachers dislikin' him. That was fine by him. He tended to run his mouth 'n distract his classmates 'n forget the work. But it really wasn't his fault. Soda was just dumb. He wasn't like his brothers. He just didn't get it. 'N teachers just didn't have time for someone as stupid as he was.

But then he'd met his ninth-grade English teacher. Who didn't just dislike him. He seemed to hate him.

"I've had Soda in my class for the past couple months 'n I've seen little to no improvement from him." McCoy starts up 'n Soda wants to tune him out. He really does. But it's too quiet in the hall for him to focus on anythin' else. "He rarely does his work if he shows up at all."

Ouch. But nothin' he hasn't heard before. It didn't mean anythin'. He was just stupid. His teachers all knew it. It didn't bug him. Maybe if he tells himself that enough it'll stop achin'.

"I understand Soda's had some issues in school. But it's been tough on them both since-"

"Mr. Curtis, if I may." Soda cringes. Darry had his fair share of patience. Really he did. Whether Pony would agree or not. But he hated that. Bein' cut off. "I believe this goes beyond your recent circumstances. I simply do not think Sodapop has a further school career here."

He wasn't sayin'- he couldn't be. Soda's heart climbs up his throat like when he took the hills comin' home a lil' too fast, flips over 'n dives down to the pit of his stomach.

He should have known. 'Cause everyone else sure did. "I hate to say it, but I would suggest that pullin' him out may be the best for him."

The doors been easin' itself open for the last five minutes like it always did. Like the pressure in the office was just higher then anywhere else 'n all that energy had to escape somewhere. Soda could understand the feelin'.

When he looks over he can see Darry rise to his feet, face flushed 'n more angry than Soda had seen him in a long time. Or maybe ever. When he speaks his voice rocks a little on the gravelly rasp it takes to not shout.

...

"I can't understand what your prejudice is regardin' my family." Pony's on his feet, hoverin' just outside the doorway. He feels sick to his stomach.

...

"I didn't come in today to hear you're opinion on the intelligence of my brother. But while we're sharin'-" Soda's leanin' so far over in his chair the arms dig into his stomach painfully.

...

"I have had multiple issues with the way you've behaved towards Soda 'n Ponyboy. You continue to blame your inability to teach on your students." Darry's speakin' all low 'n slow 'n Pony knows he's pickin' his words real careful like.

...

"I'm tryin' to put this professionally. 'Cause I know you already look down on us 'n I don't want to give you the wrong impression. But simply-"

...

"Leave my boys alone. If I hear another thing about you speakin' down to another kid like some of the awful things I know you've told my brothers, losin' your job will be the least of your worries." Darry snaps his jacket off the chair, turns sharply on his heel, nods once to the principal. "Now. If you'll excuse me."

...

Darry turns 'n almost barrels straight over Soda. "C'mon, kid. We're leavin'." He's still hot under the collar, takin' long lopin' steps 'n damn near draggin' Soda along behind him.

"Jesus Christ, Soda. I knew he was bad but I didn't know he was that bad. Who the fuck does he think he is?" He's mutterin' to himself 'n haulin' Soda along all through the parkin' lot. It's not til he gets to the truck he finally stops to look Soda in the eye.

He's not cryin' per say. But he's embarrassin'ly close. Darry freezes, grabs him by the shoulders to get a better look at him. Soda tilts his head away, swipes at his eyes hastily, cues up a laugh in his throat to brush it off.

"What's wrong, Pepsi?" 'N the stupid nickname is just the cherry on top 'cause then he's pressed into Darry's chest 'n he opens his mouth 'n just lets it all slip out.

...

"Maybe he's right, Dar." Pony's got his foot kicked up on the seat, head restin' down on his knee as Darry drives them both home.

"Huh?" He damn near swerves off the road, whips his eyes off the windshield to get a look at his brother.

"I dunno. Don'cha think it's a little, I dunno, pointless? We can't afford college for me, right? Maybe it'd be better if I just dropped out like Soda." Darry tears over four lanes of traffic 'n into the first empty lot he comes up on, Pony white knucklin' the seat.

...

"Sodapop Curtis. I wouldn't ever let anyone else talk about you like that. I ain't about to listen to it from you. Understand?" Darry's got him all held up tight to his body, ear pressed to his chest 'n Soda can hear the steady thump thump thump beatin' on.

"But-"

"No buts. Listen to me. There's always gonna be someone tellin' you you aren't smart enough or good enough-"

...

"But it ain't true. You got places to go, kid. You're my brother. 'N if you ain't got anyone else in your corner-"

...

"You always got me."

[sturniololuvz]

Can you do a fic where the sister is like 14 and the triplets notice she’s acting off and they take her to a psychologist and he diagnosed her with bipolar disorder and depression and they help her through it

yep

“Through the Highs and Lows”

Sturniolos x sister

Warnings : bipolar.

The Sturniolo triplets had always been protective of their little sister, Y/N. At fourteen, she was the youngest, but over the past few months, they noticed something was off. She wasn’t acting like herself. One moment, she was full of energy, talking a mile a minute about random things, barely sleeping, and throwing herself into hobbies obsessively. The next, she wouldn’t leave her room, barely spoke, and seemed drained of all energy. It wasn’t like her usual moods; this was different.

“Have you noticed how Y/N’s been acting?” Nick asked one night as they sat in their living room.

Chris nodded, fidgeting with his rings. “Yeah, I thought she was just having a rough time at school or something, but it’s been months. She’s either too happy or too sad—there’s no in-between.”

Matt sighed. “I tried asking her what’s wrong, but she just says she’s fine. I don’t think she even knows what’s going on with herself.”

That was the breaking point. They knew they couldn’t ignore it any longer. The next day, they sat Y/N down and gently brought up their concerns. At first, she was defensive, insisting that she was just dealing with normal teenage emotions, but as they talked, she broke down.

“I don’t know why I feel this way,” she admitted through tears. “Sometimes I feel like I can do anything, like I don’t even need sleep, and I’m on top of the world. But then, all of a sudden, I just… crash. And I can’t get out of bed. I feel like I’m drowning.”

Chris pulled her into a hug. “We’re gonna figure this out, okay? We’re gonna get you help.”

They scheduled an appointment with a psychologist, who, after a thorough evaluation, diagnosed Y/N with bipolar disorder and depression. It was overwhelming, but at least they had an answer.

“Medication and therapy will help,” the psychologist explained. “But most importantly, she needs a strong support system.”

The triplets took that to heart. They helped her stay consistent with her therapy, kept track of her medication schedule, and learned everything they could about bipolar disorder. They made sure she had someone to talk to, whether it was a late-night drive, a movie night, or just sitting with her in silence when words felt too heavy.

Some days were harder than others. There were times when Y/N would snap at them, feeling irritable for no reason, or nights when she would cry herself to sleep, feeling hopeless. But her brothers never wavered. They were patient, understanding, and never made her feel like a burden.

One night, as they sat on the roof of their house, looking at the stars, Y/N spoke up. “I’m really lucky to have you guys.”

Matt nudged her shoulder. “Nah, we’re the lucky ones. You’re the strongest person we know.”

Chris smiled. “And we’re always gonna be here. No matter what.”

Nick nodded. “Yeah. You don’t have to go through this alone.”

For the first time in a long time, Y/N believed them. She wasn’t alone. She had her brothers, and with their support, she knew she could get through anything.

[flyinguraniumrod]

A thing that I have never seen anyone bring attention to: the lines under Cyberverse Astrotrain's eyes

In 3d it really looks like dimples under the eyes, yes

(the pic is better without the zoom buuttt at least the thing is more visible, also, I don't feel like looking for screenies in the show rn)

I've been feeling the need to mention this for quite a long time and I got reminded of that today rkjxwkktkgnrnt

Let's take these two elements of his face's design into consideration: the lines that go under his eyes and the lines that go from the sides of his mouth. One knows what those are when translated to human standards.

On one hand, they can indicate greater age, being tired. And on the other one, they could additionally be tied to severe and long lasting stress, even trauma, which could have come from his experiences in the universe he originates from.

I shall also add another thing that I have just noticed: his eyes seem to be rotated outwards quite a bit? Unless, it's just a matter of perspective in this one scene... oh wait it did turn out that it's just the perspective but I will keep this part here anyways, lol

That's the thing which makes me one of the people who wish we knew more about that alternate reality, in which Megatron wins the Great War and creates a master race of Decepticons, additionally getting rid of those who he deemed unecessary. Honestly, if there were a few or so episodes set in it, exploring the world, showing the processes that had happened among the Decepticon ranks, the fates of those who resisted, I would have watched them with excitement (well, I'd probably even want 2 whole seasons of that, lol).

Coming back to the topic of Astrotrain, saying that he looks tired is an understatement. He was kept close and abused for milions of years, even tortured. He has a fear of coming back to his original universe, his old master (therefore, the original Cyberberse Megatron has means of threatening him). Addtionally, it is extremely possible that he lost a few 'cons who were close or even very close to him during his universe's Megatron's purges and executions. Astrotrain is a triple-changer whose massive size combined with the shuttle alt mode make him a very valuable asset, as it is obvious that transporting troops is a crucial element. (Well, transporting the high-command could also be an important thing to such a tyrant as "the other" Megatron, hoh)

And yes, all that while keeping in mind the way he acts, the sadism in his personality, the way how he likes to joke.

All of that makes Cyberverse Astrotrain (and maybe even Astrotrain as a character in general, not just the one from this show) yet another triple-changer with a considerable amount of character and character depth building potential. I shall repeat this: I am of the opinion that the triple-changers are really underused in this franchise, even though I know that the reason why they don't appear so often could be how difficult it is to make decent toys of them, lol. Oh and I am not going to forget about the potential they have in fights (especially Blitzwing tbh)

Oh, I will also come back to the very first line of this yapping session: I haven't been on tumblr for too long so I shall ask: if there is some truly splendid annalysis of Astrotrain then I would really appreciate a link to it if that's possible! (Could also be that of any other triple-changer)

Man, would be noice to see a post with Cyberverse Astrotrain that isn't just about shipping him with Dead End, hahah /hj

However, lastly, I would like to mention @/elili0000's quite-old artwork regarding the story about Cyberverse Astrotrain and their own version of Cyberverse Blitzwing that they had made. It's been a while but I remember that I found it amazing, lol

[maximumzombiecreator]

You said you ran a 64 team tournament for a pf2e game? How did you keep track of everything / how did it work mechanically? Did you have teams win based on what you wanted, did you simulate battles, did you do some approximation based on seed, or something else entirely? I need to know how this worked lol

I would love to infodump all about it.

So, yes, the tournament was six rounds of qualifiers, and then a 64 team double-elimination bracket. Seeds were based on the qualifiers, where the party needed to go at least 3-3 to make the cut. Qualifiers were 2 fights per day, and the main tournament bracket was 1 fight per day in the winners bracket, 2 in the losers, which made falling out of winners really suck.

I created a currency for the tournament, Tokens of the Lady's Favour. Every win gave 5 tokens, plus an additional token for each member fewer than 5 in the team. (I knew how many party members the party had, obviously, but this gave me a convenient reason why a team of less than 5 would show up.) Additionally, they could earn up to 5 additional tokens per match for style, giving some incentive to do things the cool way rather than the efficient way, or to use extra actions to showboat for the crowd. Tokens could be used to bid on which arena layout would be used for their matches, and to buy consumables or permanent magic items.

I did not actually prep 63 other teams. Some of them clearly had no chance of ever actually needing their stat block to be used, so it would have been wasted prep. Additionally, it's just not practical for the players to care about that many other teams. Really it's hard for them to care about more than maybe half a dozen. But what having that many teams does is allow the players to express themselves through which teams they do end up caring about.

Every team that I did prep needed to carry a couple of different types of utility. The first was world-building utility: this tournament was in the BBEG's lair, and the tournament entrants were vying for her favour. This meant it was a safe place for the characters to interact with NPCs that would normally be enemies, to learn about them and the other side of the conflict. Many of the teams were from factions that the PCs are likely to spend much of the rest of the adventure fighting, so it was an amazing opportunity for their first impression of the faction to not be a brawl in some dungeon, but trading barbs over a drink in a seedy bar before a tournament match. So I leaned hard into making as many factions as possible represented, including sub-factions within the big ones, and foreshadowing as much as possible.

The second was narrative utility. Beyond their role as a window into this world, who are these people? Variety was important here. Some were absolutely hateable antagonists. Some were potential friends or friendly rivals, people it would hurt to face as mortal enemies later. And some were possible allies in the BBEG's camp, critical assets in their battle if they could win them over. I tried to make sure that several of the teams tied into other narrative threads both from the adventure prior and from the adventure going forward. This was also a great opportunity to re-incorporate enemies the PCs had faced before who had gotten away.

The third was mechanical utility. I was giving the characters the chance to study their opponent before a match. It was absolutely critical that that be worth the effort. If it wasn't, they'd stop doing it, and the structure would lose so much value. So for each team I prepped, I worked out what their strategies looked like, and at least one thing about them worth studying. And I tried to make sure there were a variety of things to discover that would lend themselves to different solutions. This team are secretly werebats, and weak to silver weapons. This team is going to open by nova-ing with fireballs, and then be weak afterwards. This team has fast healing, so they'll favour a drawn out battle. This team uses specific ability synergies, so if you disrupt those, they're weaker. Etc. There are so many options for this stuff in PF2e, I really wanted to find as much as possible.

I also knew that the characters would be level 5 at the start of the tournament, and would probably level up twice if they made a deep run. So I prepped the various teams to be around the line for a severe or extreme encounter for levels 5-7. This was the main way I determined the seeds. Seeds 64-32 were challenging at level 5, 31-11 were challenging at level 6, and 10-2 were challenging at level 7. The first seed was obviously head-and-shoulders above the other entrants, and she was fully a difficult boss battle at level 7. But the PCs were fully aware of that. They should have been, since they joined the tournament to kill her.

In the end I fully prepped about 20 teams. More than the PCs ended up fighting, but much fewer than it could have been. For the qualifier rounds, I was pretty free in how I did the matchups. I knew I wanted them to go up against at least one truly unfair fight, someone who would end up in the top 10 seeds. They'd almost certainly get stomped, but that would give them a sense of their progress later in the tournament, and losing a few qualifier matches was low consequences. But I was happy to let the dice choose who they fought, for the most part.

I did get some great outcomes out of that. They fought against the previous year's tournament winner, a fight I very much expected them to lose, and through a couple of unlikely rolls ended up paralyzing him and then yeeting him into a bottomless pit before he could even close to melee. I had thought that character would be like a solid mid-level threat, showing both how scary the tournament entrants could be, and also how much things had escalated since he was the winner last year and mid-tier this year, but the dice repeatedly decided he was comic relief, and he did a fantastic job of it.

In the end they went 4-2 in qualifiers, settling them nicely in the mid seeds where they would face some easier matches and some real challenges.

I used an online bracket-making tool just to get the seeding matchups correct, threw the bracket into a spreadsheet, and placed the teams that I had prepped in appropriate slots to be more likely to face the PCs. The rest I filled with evocative team names, since I wanted to post a bracket that the players could look at. As long as the team name was evocative enough, I reasoned that I could improv the team in an out-of-combat way if the players were interested. Like, I did not have a stat block ready for "Lucid Dying" but just the fact that they chose that team name tells me everything I need about their personalities. I prepped what the progression of the bracket would look like in the areas the PCs wouldn't have any influence on, favouring teams I had statted. If I needed to decide a winner and it was arbitrary, I'd just do a weighted dice roll based on seed.

But, of course, my control over the matchups is limited. The PCs actually dropped to losers bracket faster than I expected, a humbling experience that forced them to go make friends with the team they'd eventually face in the other anecdote I shared. And this made me need to prep a couple more teams between sessions, which was fine.

So, the bracket progression was mostly based on my choices, leaning toward creating matchups that would develop the worldbuilding and narrative needs of the adventure, but ultimately being decided by how well the PCs actually fought and which teams they ended up taking an interest in. In the end, they developed meaningful relationships with about five other teams, less significant but real connections with another four or five, and it did really feel like those relationships were an expression of the PCs and their choices, which I was really pleased with. If I ran the tournament again with different PCs, I'm sure it would go entirely differently, and that's the standard I care most about.

I did run one fight between NPCs by myself between sessions to get an accurate sense of how it would actually go, and it was part of my second favourite anecdote from that tournament, which I will share if anyone cares, but is far too long to add to this already long post. It took me several hours to do and was a very bad investment of time if I'd tried to do it for most of the tournament, but was eminently worth it for this specific fight.

Overall, the tournament arc was a big success, I was quite pleased with how it played out. The only regret I had was that I had prepped a bunch of stuff for them to do between matches, and we just didn't have the energy. Big, gruelling fight after big, gruelling fight in PF2e is draining, and we were mostly happy to do some lighter scenes between rounds and not get bogged down in other stuff. If I was doing it again, I might try to structure some explicit downtime into the tournament to give it a bit more breathing room.

[greenflamedwriter]

Matrix Au

Scum Villain as the Matrix. Shen Yuan/Luo Binghe

He woke up.

...he was not supposed to be awake, he could feel hands touch him, faces leaning over him with worry. "He's not responding-" A man spoke, a man who looked familiar, a Doctor...Mu Qingfang- "A-Jiu? A-jiu!"

"Don't crowd him- Shen Jiu do you know where you are?"

Shen Yuan shut his eyes, he- he was not supposed to be awake, he felt too many feedback in his data.

His body spasmed.

"He's rejecting his body-"

"That can happen!?" Too much stimilus, his optical units- Shen Yuan inhaled and found he couldn't breathe-

Wait...breathe? Machines don't need to breathe. "Diagnostic- feedback?" Shen Yuan gasped out his hands grasping onto something a mans hand- "Mu Qingfang-" "Something must of went wrong!" Oh- oh, he knows what went wrong, Shen Yuan didn't know how to breathe as he never had to breathe before. He was a Machine, a software in the Program named the Matrix. He was an Agent who stopped anonomilies such as humans who rejected the Matrix and escaped it back to their physical bodies, their are machines outside the softward who deal with them, and inside the software was Shen Yuans juristiction.

His name was Agent Qingqiu. Thats how they referred to him, he was unique over his other Agents as he had his own developing ai that is supposed to learn from human attributes to better hunt them down.

There was a human who was being targeted by the threat of these Rebels and they almost woke up the Human Container : Shen Jiu. However, for some reason, Shen Qingqiu hunted them down to the exact location, and had a scuffle and for some reason ended up tumbling into the data retreval stream at the same time as Shen Jiu. He was Data he should have died. And yet he could hear the voices speaking above him calmly once he stablised, they had no clue. "His readings are stable, he's in the clear. Other than low muscle atrophy nothing acipuncture wouldn't fix, he'll be up and running." His vitals were fine? He was healthy? He is a program puppeting a meat suit- and he was alive? Shouldn't this body be decaying? And yet by the heart moniter and the medics bustling about and the solid warmth on his arm rubbing circles into his wrist- he was healthy.

He was alive.

He was lucky he was sedated or he would forget how to breathe again, swallowing, the placement of his tongue- as a program with an avatar it was just there for cosmetics, but being a human? It was awful, and overwhelming and the fear and anxiety that made his vitals pick up from his panic attack and he had to force himself to calm down hand twitching in the strangers grip.

They must know who Shen Jiu is, however this could buy him time he could claim memory loss- data goes missing during transfers all the time! But if they knew what he was like- hold on, Shen Jiu...there has to be some data he had on him.

Agent Qingqiu would not just blindly rush in - he had information...ah, Shen Jiu was good with technology not only as a hacker (Labelled as a terroist by the Matrix Programmers) he wasn't a very warm fellow he was cold, withdrawn, and always lashed out he acted more machine than human.

But if he doesn't act right they'll know something went wrong with the transfer. And this is unprecedented, the Source never told them that machines could be implemented in human brains...

Shen Yuans eyes twitched, furrowing in confusion, if this was possible why has the machines never done such a thing before?

Shen Yuan woke up, blinking and grimacing up at the lights. "Easy now," Shen Yuan turned and grimaced his body was full of pain- is this what it was like to be human? In constant pain? "Is it supposed to hurt this much?" Shen Yuan asked or at least tried to before his throat reminded him it gargled glass before speaking.

He coughed eyes scrunching up in pain, "Here is some ice water," Shen Yuan felt something cold on his lips- this sucked, as a human 0/10 never again how can people bare out!?

"Pain is temporary, it'll pass." It fucking better, he'll just call it quits and try to jump back into the Matrix and test his luck on an Agent. "This sucks," It just slipped out and he remembered Shen Jiu was as unfeeling as a robot. It surprised a chuckle from the man handing him the ice and yeah it did help a little. "I know the feeling, we've all been there." "Shen Jiu?"

Shen Yuans eyes opened up fully adjusting to the light to take in the two. Shen Yuan blinked, looking as confused as he felt "Shen Jiu?" He saw the face fall on the man who entered and concern from the doctor. "Do you remember me?" The man asked and Shen Yuan shook his head, "Am I supposed to know you?" The Doctor leaned close looking concerned, "Shen Jiu what do you remember?" Shen Yuan pressed his lips together, his hands moving the blanket then frowned, he could move his hands he looked down at his pale fingers and he pinpricks of spots on his arms. "H-how long have I been asleep?" Shen Yuan asked they mentioned that his muscles atrophied this body was born in a container, no excersize or movement his limbs would be weak. And yet he couldn't help but find it odd, that humans from babies born to adults don't have permenent damage such as being blind or deaf or even having their bodies grow strangely from constantly being in the same position for years. He raised his hand feeling the metal hole in the spinal column of his neck his breath hitching- "-Shen Jiu?" "I'm okay, I'm not panicking," He spoke quickly he didnt want to be sedated again he took a breath, speaking fast "I was in the matrix, I know you pulled me out there was a container- but there was an agent." He looked up to see the shock on their faces, "An Agent ran in before I touched the stream we grappled but there's...there's nothing before that I can't remember my life in the Matrix before that moment."

Now the two looked alarmed, "You still seem coherent, we may need to do some tests." Probably to see if he was damaged, he needs to act more human and not refer to himself as a machine, and he looked up to see the man look at him with such a devestated look. It made his chest feel tight, he placed a hand on his chest, he was an Agent in enemy territory, once he figures out how to navigate this place and learn about his physical body then he'll plan a way to return to the source and tell them what they learned and dominate the human race again. There is no war, Machines are surpreme and the humans that don't fall in line get removed, like weeds from a garden. "I'm sorry," He tried even if he didn't know this person they clearly knew him, he had to play nice- Instead he looked even more distraught, "D-don't be, it was my fault." "How is it your fault?" The man looked away clenching his hands then released them, "Its fine now," He smiled "What matters is that you're here now and free from the Matrix." Shen Yuans eyes narrowed and even noticed the hesitation from the Doctors movements before he continued moving. "Is there something I'm missing?"

The man shook his head, "No - it's fine, it's better if you don't remember." ...Shen Yuan did not like this guy. He noticed the Doctor come back his hands raised up with wires and flinched back- what the fuck was that!? "Ah, Shen Jiu these are just to check your vitals, we place them on your head and then we're do an X-ray." Shen Yuan frowned then forced himself to relax still flinching from the touch, first time experiencing touch? He hated it. Not a fan. "Who are you people?" He grouched out feeling beyond annoyed, overwhelmed, overstimulated and just plain grouchy, Shen Jiu personified 80%

"I am Mu Qingfang, the ships Medic. And this is our Sect Leader Yue Qingyuan." Shen Yuan blinked, "Sect Leader?" "Some who are in charge of a ship and people are usually called Captain and crewmates, for us we use Shizun and Disciples. The only one to handle a ship is someone with years of experience whose also good with navigating the tunnels and the Matrix. A lot of people with many talents go in different areas." "But Yue Qingyuan is a Sect Leader?" "It's a higher position he's not only in charge of the Ship Qiong Ding but he's also has a fleet of nine ships under his command." "Oh, thats impressive?" Ships? He thought the rebellion were just...squatting somewhere fucking and eating and unable to die like cockroaches, what is a ship to them like a ship on the sea type ship or like a drone but bigger. "You'll learn all about it when you're feeling better, ah there is some damage in the muscles hear, we don't know what the long-term effects could be but you could show symptoms of ptsd down the road." Hmm...so it showed what happened, Shen Yuan looked up at the screen then traced the image with his hand. He saw the damage and traced it with his finger so that was his entry point-

A memory jumped to mind like a flashbang, of him sitting in a contaiment unit with a machine looking right at him, its red glowing eyes analysing him as the unit opened and he took a lungful of polluted air and the machine grabbed his neck, disabling the connection cord then released him...

...It released him?

But...why not just break his neck? It had the strength instead it did a "Safely eject Usb so no damage corrupts the files?" And sure he was tossed down a slide into a pool of water to drown and with the use of his muscles would drown.

He grimaced holding his head, "Is this going to be a regular occurance?" "It should pass, Shen Jiu." "Shen Yuan," He spoke looking up "Uh if thats- I mean," Yue QIngyuan interjected earning the irritated look from the Doctor who looked more friendly and accepting. "Thats okay- it's the time for change if you prefer Shen Yuan thats what we'll call you." Oh okay then.

_________________________________________________________

When Huan Hua picked them up, Luo Binghe knew only the superficial amount about their new Shizun. Yue Qingyuan's pet project, a genius and prodigy when it came to the Matrix program who did not like people, he avoided everyone and stayed in his room with his own Virtual Reality headset and began working on his own programming then. It helped improve everyones speed and agility within the Matrix. However Luo Binghe was suspicious, Shen Yuans avatar was different than everyone else's. He was experimental with his form something not everyone concieved of doing, or at least thats what Binghe was told.

All he heard was rumours that his avatar did not look like his real life persona, he even changed it to a female form once but had to change it back once he noticed his male collegues looked distracted.

Luo Binghe interacted with Shen Yuan once or twice when he and the other Sect Leader were all in attendence for a meeting. As the Sect Leader of his own enterprise he and Yue Qingyuan were expected to give updates. He knew the other Sects looked down on Huan Hua and speicifically the Heavenly Tyrant (Binghe's ship) for having too many female collegues especially since he doesn't hide the fact that he refers to them as his brides. There were crude remarks that all his ship did was have orgies but they can't deny that Luo Binghe got results and was seen as their strongest opponent against the machines and Agents.

Speaking off...the reason he felt off, is that Shen Yuans avatar sometimes reminded him of an agent.

The lack of feeling, expressions, barely emoting and sometimes he spoke about the database which was no different than any other programmer however it felt detatched.

Luo Binghe couldn't prove it but he knew Shen Yuan wasn't human.

Until this moment, the Qing Jing Ship had fallen to machines...and when Luo Binghe and his wifes arrived on the scene they saw the carnage.

However Shen Yuan was still fighting, he had no power for an Emp but had created Tasers that were enough to stun the machine long enough for him to climb on top and rip out the wires shutting it down.

Luo Binghe never knew that was even possible- until he saw the bloody hands and how Shen Yuan didn't notice they were here until the Heavenly Tyrant set off the Emp the remaining machines going down.

He looked confused until his manic wide eyes turned to Binghe and for a moment he thought the boy was going to go for his throat unable to differeintate machine or man.

Luo Binghe didn't know it was Shen Yuan at the time, he was observing how well the kid handled himself until he yelled for a medic sounding panicked.

To learn he was the Shizun of Qing Jing stunned Luo Binghe, he saw how the man was barely keeping himself together as he explained what happened to Liu Qingge.

"And Ning Yingying? Will she survive?" He asked and his wife looked grim, "She's stable but will need assistence she will be infit to work on Qing Jing Peak and will have to go back to the Underground base."

The man shut his eyes looking gutted, he was so drastically different to how he carried himself in the Matrix it was almost fascinating. "She'll hate that, at least she's alive." Luo Binghe was witness to how Shen Yuan reacted to who lived and who died, it was so human that Luo Binghe felt awful for doubting him.

Once the repaired the ship, Huan Hua escorted Qing Jing back to the main peak to see Yue Qingyuan. Shen Yuan after spending some time alone once he made sure the remaining survivors were taken care off, opened his door when they arrived at Cang Qiong. He was dressed impecibly, however his eyes were red rimmed and his hands were still bloody. Luo Binghe felt his respect raise a bit more to see someone put the needs of their people first. Maybe he forgot his own wounds as a sense of guilt or masochism. Luo Binghe cornered him and noticed how tense Shen Yuan became. "If you don't deal with that, you're going to get an infection." Luo Binghe spoke glaring down at his hands, the young man looked down- Luo Binghe had to ask for his age and was shocked to learn he was thirty four and just seemed younger. Having someone that old being woken from the Matrix was frowned upon they don't assimilate properly from waking up- what was Yue QIngyuan thinking?

When they finally walked up the steps they saw Yue Qingyuan immedietly seek out Shen Yuan and relax to see him un-injured. Before Luo Binghe could begin his report- and curry favour and use this as blackmail for Cang Qiong to be in his debt for saving their precious prince. Something the other sects called Shen Yuan behind his back with how devoted and distracted Yue Qingyuan became because of it. Shen Yuan had to open his mouth. "I told you this would happen, their death is on your hands."

Yue QIngyuan flinched as if he was shot, Shen Yuan continued and Luo Binghe finally recognised him as the Avatar in the Matrix. "I told you I wasn't ready- not experienced enough and that I should train with other Peak Lords on their ship for five years but you said not all ships were combat ships, that recon and documenting was safe." Luo Binghe turned to the Sect Leader who looked gutted as Shen Yuan seemed pissed, "And I believed you- I had to watch my second in command die in my arms- and for what? Qing Jing Peak is useless and has not given anything substantial to our war efforts all you did was coddle me! This has proved them all right that Qing Jing was wasting time with flowers and other useless things - good men and women died out their Yue Qingyuan!" Shen Yuan clenched his hands, making his bandages bleed and Yue Qingyuan looked overwhelmed not expecting this.

"The efforts of Qing Jing was not useless,"

"No one gives a shit- people want soldiers! not- not whatever this is," Shen Yuan looked away taking a breath. "The ship Qing Jing will have to go to another qualified Shizun and this one will have to step down-" "If I can interject, Shen Yuan?" Luo Binghe asked, the two looked his way almost forgetting he was there. Luo Binghe heard those rumours as well and even he sneered and looked down on Shen Yuan and his ship. That was until he saw the results for himself. "As a Sect Leader, I have seen the reports and observed everything Qing Jing Peak has done in it's short amount of time here. It's not a well known fact but I like to cook." Luo Binghe was usually private with this, but he will not lose this resource, and he was owed a favour afterall.

"Shen Yuans studies of replecting food from the matrix and even finding the way to grow sustainable food? That's not a waste, my wives as well used to be restless and unable to focus until the greenhouses was implemented from your studies from astronauts in space. Going into archives of the matrix to re-learn history but even cross-examining to see if the machines kept that truthful or created propoganda to see what information could be seen as reliable?" Luo Binghe spoke, crossing his arms. "I faced harship, and hunger and vowed that I will never watch anyone close to me starve to death before my eyes ever again. Shen Yuan has made a difference. Qing Jing Peak is valuable however what happened today was a tragedy that could've been avoided. With Machines on the rise more Peaks had to be made, what are you on ten now Yue Qingyuan?"

"Yes, more machines are coming into the tunnels-" "Which is why Qing Jing Peak should-" "Be under my protection." Luo Binghe finished, "The Heavenly Tyrant doesn't mind shadowing Qing Jing Peak and aiding in it's reseach and of course staff on Qing Jing would have to be shortened in such a case, however..." Luo Binghe placed a hand on his chin, "Most recruits who are ejected from the Matrix are mostly young adults or even teenagers who are then thrusted onto a ship or expected to jump back into the matrix and adapt. Having Qing Jing peak as a training course could help ease them into it. Not only on how a ship works and operates but their own strengths on being either a programmer or using the Matrix. Additionally can learn through Shen Yuan what information is true or false and which parts of the Matrix can be used as an archive on human history."

Yue Qingyuan cleared his throat, "That is helpful Luo Binghe however to ask another Sect to care for one of our own-"

"This should've been implemented to begin with Sect Leader," The change was instant as Shen Yuan became more alert, "This entire mess could've been avoided, if only you had Bai Zhan peak overlook you're Shidi and yet you left him alone with no other ship to help. It's almost as if you wanted him dead-" "That is not true!" Yue Qingyuan snapped, oh struck a nerve, "Both the War God and Xiu Ya cannot get along and there were no other ships to follow however Qian Cao can shadow him, or even An Ding-"

"Two of the worst ships to volunteer when they also need to be shadowed themselves? Mu Qingfang like Shen Yuan also has to leave his ship to explore the Earths crusts for medical supplies, and An Ding rely messages and transport items they do not have the fire power. However the other Sects can shadow those if you don't have the man power."

Yue Qingyuan bristled, Luo Binghe had to admit that Cang Qiong had prodigies that would be a waste if they died. Yue Qingyuan can't divide his attention.

"Don't worry, I'll take good care of your Shidi." Luo Binghe smirked, and Shen Yuan nodded "Yue Qingyuan you don't have the people to spare and if Luo Binghe is offering then it's fine. We're sharing resources anyone but if he wants first dibs on any type of food or flowers we find then he has first choice." Luo Binghe's lips pulled up into a bemused grin. To be fair he wasn't expecting any of he resources but if Shen Yuan was offering. And Luo Binghe knew Yue Qingyuan had to say yes, the War god was strong, but Luo Binghe was stronger.

And seeing how the Xiu Ya sword was able to take down a machine with his bare hands?

Luo Binghe knew he struck gold.

__________________________________________________________

The machine got in- Shen Yuan tried to run before a metal arm grabbed him he gaped to see how...synthetic it was. It looked like a human, and yet half it's face was destroyed but the half he could see Shen Yuan pressed himself further into the metal grid trying to escape this nightmare.

"Oh?" The voice was artifical it's pitch fluctuating in a high, low notes common for ai simulators. "Is the little robot afraid?" The machine spoke it's eyes wide looking manic and there was nothing worse.

There are human machines now? "Oh it's crying?" Shen Yuans eyes were shiny but he scowled slapping at the hand coming towards his face. "If you're going to kill me just do it."

"Kill you? Why would you do that? If you die my body is destroyed too."

Shen Yuan froze, what did he just say? "Shen...Jiu?"

The machine smirked closing it's hand, "You will give me my life back-"

Suddenly there was a bang and the arm was destroyed, Shen Yuan turned eyes wide to see Luo Binghe looking bloody and bruised. "Binghe!" "Shen Yuan Move!"

Shen Jiu laughed looking at his arm that was falling apart, "Be careful boy, I'm carrying precious cargo in here." Shen Jiu pointed at his head smirking at Luo Binghe but keeping close to Shen Yuan.

"If you destroy this machine, you might kill him too."

Shen Yuan heart thumped could that happen what did he mean? "Stay away from Shen Yuan or I'll-" "Binghe no! It's- its Shen Jiu!" Binghe eyes faltered but when he saw the machine move back and sit calmly and look non-threatening he lowered his gun.

"What?"

The machine was in a cell being watched by Mu Qingfang, the machine watched him with it's one eye.

And Shen yuan was in hand-cuffs off to the side. Luo Binghe and Yue Qingyuan were arguing, unsure what to do with the interploper. "It's easy," Shen Jiu spoke, "Kill him and transfer my conciounce into my rightful body." Shen Yuan inhaled and then put himself back into the machine, unable to breath unable to eat all the things that made him human will he lose it? "Wait what is this-" Mu Qingfang almost hit did something to Shen Jiu's head that made the human sythentic flinch, "Don't touch that!" Shen Yuan was too busy watching how the body healed and began to look more human it was scary, that these things could slip into Cang Qiong and take down humans.

"Oh my god."

Shen Jiu sighed, "Yes, please don't expose it." "...We could take some samples and put it to find a match a dna sample." "No need..." Shen Jiu glanced at Shen Yuan, "I know whose it is."

Luo Binghe glanced over "What are you two saying over there?" Shen Yuan liked to know, what was this precious cargo Shen Jiu was talking about? Couldn't they just swap their bodies already? An Agent should return to the machine and be destroyed.

"There is a human brain inside this unit." Mu Qingfang said and all chatter ceased, Shen Yuans eyes widened.

"That was the next step of the matrix, human brains after all it makes sure no human can truly escape the matrix with no body to escape their containment unit. It's a very insidious prison." Shen Jiu said crossing his legs. "And if this...Shen Yuan was a proper agent I would've perished in the stream. Instead our subconcious was swapped." There was silence and Shen Yuan jumped, "Wait- thats my brain? Why would an agent have a brain-" "You're not an agent idiot! You are a human! They made humans part of the 'programmers' and they believed they were machines! It was how the ai of the matrix was able to gain more data on human behaviours depending on the scenario."

Shen Yuan shook his head, "That is ridiculous! Even if I was a human- minds are barely compatible with their own bodies and the brain rejects the body so what you're saying is impossible!"

"Not unless we are compatible."

Shen Jiu spoke, looking to the side, "The matrix placed organs in machines and experimented both outside and inside the Matrix both hardware and software. So think- would they stop at just machines? Or would the splice DNA and also experiment with the human make-up itself?"

Shen Yuan frowned, "Are you saying this body was engineered in some type of lab?" "Yes a line of clones, they had contaiment units of human dna seperate from the clones. One artificially made one the natural way." Shen Yuan blinked "The uh natural way?" Shen Jiu looked up then laughed, "Ah I forgot you're a baby, mixing sperm and eggs outside the body to grow human babies and put them in containment units. Meanwhile stores of DNA were harvested and experimented on to create copies of what the Machines would deem as the perfect human.

These clones were the ones they used. Technically we are twins." "But if that was true, how were you in the matrix, how did you- I...this body escape?" Now they turned to Yue Qingyuan. The man looked uncomfortable, "Bodies of clones were put back into contaiment with the knowledge of the Matrix. They were self-aware and used as a form of troubleshooting. Fixing bugs, glitches or any mistakes in the Matrix to make it a more immersive experience. We both knew each other in the Matrix. Shen Jiu got me out, and I promised to help him escape. The clone containment units are closer to the Abyss." "The abyss?" Shen Yuan asked and Yue Qingyuan nodded, "The Abyss is the city of machines. Shen Jiu was in the heart of it, getting his body out was a suicide mission but we managed." "So qi-ge both failed and succeded he got my body but not my mind- I guess you were satisfied with that." "No- Shen Jiu that wasn't!"

Shen Yuan scowled, "Enough with your emotional constipation!"

The others turned at his outburst as Shen Yuan stood up still cuffed as he approached the machine. "Fine take your body back! Mu Qingfang could probably swap us back so just shut up!" Shen Jiu scowled up at him then smirked.

"Nah, I think I'm good. This body is better for me, and I heard how you reacted to experincing a body for the first time. Pissing shitting and eating sounds like such a drag."

Shen Yuan faltered, he wants to be a machine? Although looking at the casing the man looked like a human again. A perfect human.

[del-thetiredwriter]

Warning: yandere stuff, stalking, gender-neutral reader. English is my second language.

You woke up to the annoying sound of your phone alarm. Another day, time to go to work again. As an ordinary Gotham resident, you had a mostly monotonous life, at least until the last few months. As you got ready and stepped out the door, a cheerful voice called out to you.

“Good morning Y/n.”

Your opposite neighbor Richard Grayson, had his usual bright face on, and you didn’t want to deal with him in the morning.

“Good morning.” You replied.

“Are you going to work? Do you want me to drop you off?”

Oh no, definitely not. However, before you could refuse, your next door neighbor suddenly opened the door in a hurry.

“I’m late! I told you to wake me up earlier! Oh good morning Y/n.”

Your next door neighbor blushed slightly as he noticed you. Dark circles under his eyes, a coffee in his hand, untied shoes…Yup your next door neighbor Tim Drake was on his form again. While Dick laughed at the situation, you simply said good morning.

“Thank you for the offer but it’s really not necessary.”

You tried to decline Dick’s offer but this guy knew how to convince you.

“Come on, are you going to walk to the bus station at this hour? It’ll be faster and more comfortable.”

-

Okay, Dick had convinced you again with his excellent persuasion skills. You took a deep breath as you got in the car. That pressure was on you again. The feeling of being watched down to your bones… The feeling of being watched had been on you for the last few months. At your home, at your workplace, on the street… A paranoia that you couldn’t understand why you felt had taken over you. Especially your new neighbors who had moved in all of a sudden didn’t make you feel comfortable. You mean, it’s wrong to think like that about your friendly, helpful, smiling, nice neighbors for no reason, but you swear that whenever you looked into their eyes for more than a few seconds, you felt that weird feeling. Trapped? Suffocated? You couldn’t name it.

“You don’t seem to be able to sleep, is there a problem?”

Dick asked worriedly.

“Hmm? I guess so.” You answered.

“Is there a problem?” Tim turned around to make eye contact with you in the backseat.

“Nightmare.” You answered. Dick laughed at your answer.

“If there really is a problem Y/n, tell me. Other than that, be careful about your sleep or you’ll end up like Tim.”

You told the truth but didn’t answer back and Dick’s joke had lightened the mood a bit.

-

“Dear passenger Y/n, we’ve arrived at your drop-off point. We Grayson transportation would like to thank you for choosing us.”

“Thanks for the ride.” You got out of the vehicle.

“Of course it was an honor for us. We wish you a good shift.” He blew you a kiss through his open window, and Tim started scolding him from behind.

You nodded and headed towards your workplace. The strange journey was finally over. Oh, by the way, he was going to stop by on patrol tonight, right? You could have asked him about this ‘nightmare’ thing.

-

“You got a lot. Are you going to make a cake or something?” Jason Todd, your neighbor next door to Dick , asked while carrying the bags. To be honest, he was the least annoying of the neighbors. He was very polite despite his tough looks . But sometimes he could be annoying.

“Uh huh. I’m going to make cookies.”

You answered. Literally five minutes ago you nearly screamed when he suddenly appeared behind you and tapped you on the shoulder.

“Well, will you send me some too, right ?” He asked with that mischievous grin of his.

“I’m having you carry them so your muscles can be useful. Think this as a workout . But if I do extra, I’ll send them.”

Jason laughed.

“You’re the best.”

-

“I’m sorry, I didn’t wanted to stop you in the middle of your patrol, but I’ve had the feeling that I was being watched for the last few months. And last week, when that thing was watching me at night…”

“No problem, but are you sure?” Robin asked while eating one of the cookies you made.

“I’m not sure since it was night. I thought I saw its silhouette in the dark but I couldn’t open my eyes completely because I was scared. But its face was so close. I swear I could feel its breath. If you have free time, it would be nice if you could take a look.”

“We’ll take care of it. Don’t worry.” Batman replied reassuringly.

-

…

“We dropped them off at work. But they looked tired.”

“I helped them carry the bags. They were going to make cookies.”

The day’s report was being given in the bat cave after the patrol. Batman and Robin had finally returned.

“One of us got caught.” Bruce got right to the point without beating around the bush as he got out from the Batmobile.

“I think it’s either Todd or Drake who got caught.” Damian got out of the Batmobile with a plate of cookies in his hand.

“Wait, are those the cookies that Y/n made?” Tim pointed at the cookies.

“Yes. And I emphasize, they’re all mine because they were made for me.” Just as a fight was about to break out over the cookies, Bruce intervened.

“There is a more important matter. Y/n noticed one of us watching them at night. We need to change plans.”

“Perhaps it is time for them to move into the manor , Master Bruce.”