#First thing I've wrote on my own in awhile

[billy-hardgrove]

One time.

He only came to visit him in the hospital the one time.

In the months following the incident at Starcourt Billy had been bed bound in his hospital room. He had barely survived, his body nearly ripped asunder; and the only visitors he was allowed were family, or people in the “know” of what really happened there.

Which was fine with him, he didn’t imagine many other people would have come to see him.

For the first two weeks Max was a no show, and he couldn’t exactly blame her. But one day she sheepishly poked her head in through the door, and as soon as she saw Billy’s broken body she burst into tears and barely left his side.

They argued a lot. About dumb shit. And it always put a smile on his face.

Steve was there as soon as he was able, as soon as he’d healed enough to walk without getting light-headed. He was another near permanent fixture to Billy’s bedside. They talked, they watched TV, they read together, they sampled the hospital food and bitched about it. They had started getting close before everything went to hell, and Steve seemed adamant on picking up where they left off.

The rest of the party visited from time to time. At first he thought they felt some sort of obligation to come and see him, because of Steve and Max, but over time they began to pop in on their own. They’d bring him snacks, or fill him in on what was going on around town during his absence. And even though he had zero inclination in playing their nerdy little game, they still helped him build his own character. He had no idea what any of it meant, but they said he was a Fighter, and for some stupid reason that had choked him up.

Even Susan came at least once a week. She was worried he wasn’t eating properly there, and they had developed a… silent agreement that she would come in, dry wash his hair, style it a little, and then leave; all without saying a word.

She was far from being a mother to him. But she was getting there. It actually felt like she cared.

But of all the people in his life, the one person who should have been there the most was there the least. And it hurt. It hurt so fucking bad. Despite everything they’d gone through, he still thought his father would visit every day. He had to, right? It was his responsibility.

But he only visited the one time.

Two months after Starcourt, two months stuck in a lifeless, clinical room. Two months of lonely nights filled with the sounds of echoing footsteps out in the hall, and the constant beeping of the machines keeping him alive. Only then did Neil come to see his son with news.

“We’re leaving Hawkins.”

“Huh?” Blood rushed to his head, he’d sat up too quickly upon hearing that. His father had that same cold, stern look on his face he always did. He didn’t repeat himself. “Wh- where? Why didn’t Susan say anything? Max?”

“They’re not coming with us.” The color drained from his face, and his heart sank into his stomach. Why did that hit him so hard?

“What are you talking about? Why…?” Some of that old fire ignited inside him, his brows furrowing into the meekest of scowls, but one that Neil still picked up on. The older man narrowed his eyes and approached the side of Billy’s bed, the teen shrinking back against the pillow propping him up. The reaction was enough for Neil to ease up. Even now he had to remind Billy of his place.

“They don’t want to leave. They want to stay in this… cursed town.” The corner of Neil’s mouth twitched up into a sneer, an expression that Billy recognized in himself. The thought of being anything like his father made him sick to his stomach, he had to turn away, stare out the window at the expanse of reds and oranges streaking over the early evening sky. Of course, Neil came near the end of visiting time, spend as little time here as possible. “This place has been nothing but trouble since we got here. It almost killed you.” There was no concern in his voice, he was merely stating a fact; not lamenting the fate that almost befell his son.

“I like it here.” The words stumbled from Billy’s mouth and took them both by surprise. His head jerked back around to Neil, eyes wide with anticipation, unsure how the older man would take that.

“Excuse me?” His voice was quiet. Still. That calm before the storm that Billy was all too familiar with. He so rarely actually raised his voice, his rage was always expressed in other ways. The sort of ways that left Billy black and blue.

“I said I like it here. I don’t wanna leave.” As he stared into his father’s eyes his mind flashed back to that night. Glaring defiantly up at that mass of flesh and teeth. He took on a literal monster. It tore into his body, broke his mind in half. It did far more damage than the man before him ever did. So why was he still so scared of him?

“You’re my son, and you’ll do as I say.” Another step closer to the bed, closer to Billy. His eyes instinctively darted down towards his father’s hand; already clenched into a fist. He wouldn’t… not here. He couldn’t get his son to lie away the extra bruises this time. “Susan and Max can stay here and rot for all I care. I thought you wanted to leave.”

“Don’t pretend like you’re doing this for me!” He snapped, his head spinning from the sudden lurch upwards; his own fists gripping tightly at the bedsheets, the only thing protecting him from his father’s rage. “Shit got fucked again and you want to high tail and start again! I know people are saying the mall fire was my fault.” The accusation brought a grimace to his face. Arson. Better that than the truth, right? But the fact still remained that he was being blamed him for the death of all those people. It was the only reason his father wanted to leave. To get away from the shame. “Surprised you want to take me at all.”

“I don’t.”

All that previous bravado was gone in a second; Billy’s eyes wide, his ears ringing.

“...What?”

“I don’t want to take you. You’re eighteen now, I could just leave you here. Susan seems content enough making you her problem. I think I’ve suffered the shame you bring long enough.”

Billy’s mouth opened, but all he could manage was a croak from his throat as it desperately choked back a sob. This wasn’t real. His father wasn’t actually saying all of this. He couldn’t.

“I was trying to do the right thing. But if you want to stay here? That’s just one less thing for me to worry about. One less mouth to feed.” The older man took a deep, exasperated breath and rubbed a hand over his face; a quick glance over his shoulder towards the door before he looked back to the blonde and gave him a look that almost stopped his heart.

Cold. Uncaring. There wasn’t even a trace of love in that steely gaze. No violence. No anger. Just a tired man who had so flippantly washed his hands of his own son right then and there.

“D-Dad… I-” He had to cut himself off again, the tightness in his throat gripping him again. He could already feel his eyes getting wet, but he was well practiced in holding back his tears. “I don’t… understand.” A coldness crept over him, one he hadn’t felt since his time under the Mindflayer’s influence. This was a trick, it had to be. The damn thing wasn’t dead, it was still-

“You can change your mind. You can follow me, if you like. But know this: if you do? You’ll obey me without question. I’ve given you far too much freedom here, and look where it’s gotten you.” The older man stared down his nose at his son, the look of disdain on his face was at least a small comfort for Billy. Something more familiar. He would rather his father be disappointed in him than feel nothing at all.

“Yes sir.” There was nothing else to say, was there? He wanted to stay, and Neil wanted to go. Hawkins felt as though it were in his veins now, as much as the black blood that still invaded his body. This place had changed him. Could he go anywhere else? Maybe he belonged here now, with the other freaks, the other ghosts, the other monsters. The real ones.

Not the one standing next to his bed.

No other words were spoken. No goodbyes, no protests. Just the sound of those heavy footsteps as they walked out of Billy’s room, out of his life. And when the door clicked close he finally broke. At first just a single tear ran down his cheek, and then that sob finally pushed up from his chest like he was about to be sick. And he began to cry. A pillowed snatched up and clutched to his chest, face buried into it as he balled and trembled.

Why did everyone leave him?

They were his parents. They were supposed to love him. But now they were both gone.

At least that night, there was another sound to keep him company. His quiet, muffled sobs and hiccups as he cried himself to sleep.

[marthawrites]

"don't shut me out. please"

I hope it is not too late for me to join the celebration ☺️ Congratulations! 💕👏🏼

Thank you sooososo much! You are such a gem and I appreciate all of your fandom love more than you know! I did my best to include a (one shot appropriate) slow burn, angst, and a happy ending. I hope you enjoy this ride MWAH!

Summer's End, Autumn's Beginning

Modern Aemond Targaryen x fem reader

Word Count: 6.3k+

About: A chance encounter with Aemond leads to a whirlwind of emotions. Over the next few months you both fail, in yourselves and in the relationship, and learn from the mistakes.

Includes: Chance encounter, age difference (references to Aemond x Alys) mentions of cheating, allusions to cheating, angst, second chance romance, and smut featuring vaginal fingering, possessive sex, and unprotected protected vaginal sex

Note: Hello lovely reader! This is the longest piece I've wrote in quite awhile - whew! I also feel like it's one of the more ambitious one-shot fics I've worked on/completed. Reader is non-descript. As always, please, enjoy!

read part 2 Between the Covers here

-

I.

There were two things tied for number one on your five-year goal list.

First, be out of your city apartment (preferably as a home owner and not a renter)

Second, have a dog. 

They went hand in hand. One couldn’t happen without the other. So, it was a hard tie and you weren’t willing to budge on either. Until then, to take the edge off your self-proclaimed animal loneliness, you volunteered at a local shelter two nights a week. Mondays and Wednesdays.

While your day job wasn’t a doctor, lawyer, or professional athlete – ones that your family pushed you to have while growing up – it still paid decently and had the potential for career advancement. And! You were able to live on your own. Not having a roommate was worth the dry job description. Besides, your boss was fair and most of your co-workers were friendly; a win win, really.

Tonight, Monday, you finished your shift, went home to change, then headed out to the shelter. Even though it was all volunteer hours you valued punctuality and did your best to get there around the same time each night.

“Hey! You made it!” Arryk called out to you when you stepped inside the building. Chaos sparked all around. He did a great job running and maintaining the schedule, and with the help of volunteers alongside regular staff, it was, more often than not, smooth sailing. Tonight, however, it appeared quite the opposite.

“Hey! Yeah, a few minutes later than usual, sorry!” You said as you walked over to him.

He waved a hand brushing off your apology. “No worries. We had a few people call in today. So, since being short staffed we’re definitely running behind. I know you normally help bathe the dogs with Baela tonight, but can I ask you to do something else instead?” He winced slightly with his question, unsure of your answer. He knew how much you loved Baela and cleaning the dogs!

You squinted at him suspiciously. “Why are you looking at me like that?” You asked, crossing your arms. “You know I won’t administer shots. If I could get over my fear of needles I’d be a veterinarian and not an office worker like I am!” You scrunched your brows before one, all on its own accord, arched up dubiously.

“Ha!” He laughed. “No no no, I know. We have six dogs that need walking tonight. And I don’t think Targaryen can handle all of ‘em.”

“Helaena? She’s back?” You asked, eyes bright with surprise.

“She’s still away for that college trip. It’s her younger brother, Aemond. Have you met him before?”

You’d heard Helaena talk about him, of course, but you’d never met him. Shaking your head, you peered around the shelter looking for anyone else with the Targaryen tell-tale silver-blonde hair. No one caught your eye. “I haven’t. But, I don’t mind.”

“You are a lifesaver!” He praised. “He’s down the west hall getting them ready. Depending on how long you're here afterward, there might be another couple who could use a second walk. Terriers. You know how they are.”

“Happy to help, Arryk!” He was a good guy. You’d always liked him.

“Aemond’s tall, towheaded as the rest of his family, and has an eyepatch. You can’t miss him.” And with that Cargyll switched tasks and got right back to work.

Turning and walking down the west hall, you were happy to say, chaos began to fizzle out. This hall had the larger dogs; no wonder Aemond wouldn’t be able to walk all six at once. Even with the slow turn of summer to autumn sunset wouldn’t be for another three hours. Assuming all went well you’d be able to walk the second batch of dogs, too. 

Down the aisle were five opened doors with each respective dog ready for their walk. Their leashes were hooked onto the door so they couldn’t run amuck. You patted and scratched them, earning yourself more wagging tails, a few happy barks, and some excited licks. Looking to the end of the hall you saw someone who you assumed was your evening walking partner. He was kneeling, talking soothingly to a great big senior hound, while clasping the final buckle of their harness. “Hello, uh-, Aemond?” You called out feeling slightly self-conscious. 

Still kneeling, he turned his head to look up at you. Any softness in his single eye quickly hardened to match the rest of his sharp features. “Hey,” he said, caught off guard by your presence; someone he’d never seen calling him out by name. “Is there something I can help you with?” Slowly, in a single fluid motion, he stood up and the aged dog kept his eyes on him the whole time, panting happily.

Whoa. He was tall. And, at first sight, incredibly good looking: dressed in casual black clothes, long silver hair tied into a braid, with a scar along the left side of his face that you had to tell yourself not to stare at. His mouth was a unique shape, too, and you weren’t sure if he was merely waiting for a response or if he was smirking the tiniest pout at you. “Hi,” you said again with a nervous laugh. You told him your name. “Arryk sent me. Said you could use some help with the walk tonight?” ‘Play it cool, dummy. He’s really handsome, so what? He could be a huge asshole. Play. It. Cool,’ your inner voice said.

Did he have a mechanical eye beneath his patch? The way he looked at you, then, made you feel like he read your thoughts. “Ah. I could certainly use the help,” he said smoothly with a small curve of lip, turning his attention to the three dogs at the front of the hallway. “Wanna take those three?” He asked, looping the big dog’s leash around his wrist. “I mean, you can have any of them as long as I get this guy. He’s my favorite.”

Your pulse raced a little too fast. Clearing your throat, you smiled in an attempt to ease the butterflies in your belly. “I don’t mind. Why is he your favorite?” You turned and began to unclasp leashes from their doors; happy tips and taps of claws growing louder at the pups’ excitement.

“Reminds me of my girl at home,” Aemond replied, adoration clear in his voice. “Big and old, a little stinky, a little slobbery. The best kind, really.”

“Aw, that’s very sweet. I don’t have any pets. I get my fix here,” you laughed. Holding all three dogs in one hand, you pulled the door open with the other. Except, it didn’t open. On instinct, you tried again hoping Aemond didn’t notice.

He strode up next to you with the rest of the dogs in tow, smirking at you for real this time, as he said, “it’s a push door.”

You knew it was a push door. Fuck. He gave you a knowing glance over his shoulder as he walked out, waiting for you to follow along.

II.

You didn’t see Aemond on Wednesday and you couldn’t deny your disappointment when you left for the night. Come to find out you two had been volunteering at the same place for months – only on different days. He tended to be there Tuesdays and Thursdays. 

Monday had been a chance encounter. One you couldn’t shake out of your head. 

Before leaving tonight, however, you took a selfie with Aemond’s favorite old hound. You’d exchanged numbers but hadn’t an excuse to strike up a conversation. Yet. Now, with the selfie as an excuse, you opened a fresh text thread and sent him the photo along with:

Someone missed you tonight! 

While buckling up in your car and getting ready to reverse out of your parking spot, your phone dinged with an incoming message:

Very cute. Will you be there on Monday? Maybe Cargyll will assign up walking duties again.

Your belly flipped. Truthfully, you weren’t expecting him to message back – especially so quickly. Before you could stop yourself you sent back:

Yup! See you then?

And he sent:

I’ll find another excuse to be there. 

Feeling a little bold, you replied:

Excited to see you again! You have these adorable dimples when you smile. Maybe I’ll see those, too?

When nothing came through for a few minutes, you feared you might have gone too far. It was just a little innocent flirting, right? Nothing bad? And then:

Maybe so. See you Monday.

Smiling, you didn’t send anything back. It’d be your luck to say something dumb and rub him the wrong way. 

During your first walk, as soon as the ice broke, you both clicked really well. Hopefully – just maybe – things would flow like that again. The connection you felt, something akin to a liveware, couldn’t have been one-sided. He had to feel a spark of it, too; even if just a little.

You drove home, made dinner while facetiming one of your friends from uni, and when she asked about the spark in your eye you told her about your friend Helaena’s younger brother.

III.

“I seriously cannot believe you’ve never seen The Lord of the Rings. The Hobbit trilogy was a little silly, but watchable. But you haven’t even seen that?” Aemond asked clearly aghast at your lack of understanding his reference.

Tonight, you both got walking duty again and neither of you complained. And, this time, he regarded you with a softer look in his eye than his original sharp glance. He was dressed in dark casuals again and you hated (loved?) how good he made them look. His hair was in a bun and his eyepatch stayed firmly in place. You wanted to ask him about it but weren’t sure if you should try it yet. Instead, you rolled your eyes and laughed. “You’re making it sound better and better the more you talk about it.”

“That’s because it’s the best.” The dogs pulled both of you along and you had to walk brisker than normal to keep up with them and Aemond’s longer legs. He seemed unaffected by it.

“So, you recommend I watch it?” You asked playfully.

“No,” he started, very serious. “I recommend you read it first and then watch the movies.”

If you had more breath in your lungs you’d have giggled – not laughed, but giggled. Something about the way he said it, and the totally serious look on his face, tickled you. “Will you watch them with me?”

The question appeared to catch Aemond off guard. He looked at you, lingering over your pinkened cheeks and smirking lips, before finally making it back to your eyes. Just when he opened his mouth to say something in reply, a completely unrelated thing stole his attention. Sometime during your bantering you’d made it back to the shelter, and a tall dark-haired woman called out, “there’s my sweet Aemond. I’ve been trying to get a hold of you and you haven’t been answering your phone.”

If you thought Aemond attractive, this woman made him look like any regular ol' Joe. She was elegant, warmed by a late summer tan, and had raven dark hair cascading down her back; truly a vision of enchantment. When she sauntered to him and pressed her body to his, you felt like a voyeur watching the embrace.

“Alys,” Aemond breathed quietly. “What do you want?”

“You know what I want,” she answered as she trailed manicured fingers across the front of his chest.

She had a timeless look to her, the kind that concealed her age. She could have been anywhere from twenty-five to fifty, you thought. You really hadn’t a clue. All you knew, now, is that you should finish your task alone.

Aemond’s throat bobbed as he swallowed. Posture tense. “I told you I was busy tonight–”

Before you could stop yourself you cut him off with an awkward wave. “See you later, Aemond.” And, with that, you walked inside before you overheard anything else they might be saying to each other. Turning to glance over your shoulder one last time, you were met with a look of deliberate triumph from Alys; she had the greenest eye you’d ever seen. 

It was haunting.

Driving home, you felt stupid. Aemond was just a guy you just met. It was silly to think someone like him would be single and even sillier to think your innocent flirtations would be working on him. You had half a mind to delete his number. Or, at the very least to delete the short message thread of your texts.

Instead of making dinner like you normally did, you called in delivery and facetimed with your friend as you waited. She immediately knew something was off and you were quick to tell her everything that happened.

Twenty minutes passed and you were starting to feel better. It’s not like you two hooked up or even kissed. It was just a chance meeting with playful banter. Nothing to get shook up about. “Food’s here. Thanks for listening to me. I’ll talk to you later. Love you!” You said as you got up to answer the door. 

When all else failed, your favorite food could always make you feel better.

Turning the tv on and sitting down amongst your couch pillows and blankets, you were getting ready to dig in when your phone rang. 

Aemond. 

Your insides did a weird flip and hunger disappeared entirely from your mind and belly. Should you answer? Let it go to voicemail? Turn the stupid thing off and completely ignore him? Right before the final ring, you decided. “Hello?”

“Hey,” he said, immediately sounding relieved. “I’m sorry about that. I wasn’t yet ready to call it a night with you.”

“It’s no biggie,” you replied. Lying. “I didn’t want to interrupt anything–,” you paused, searching for something else to say to soften the edge of your voice, “–the dogs were getting tired anyway.” God. It sounded stupid even to your own ears.

Aemond sighed through the phone. You wondered if he slid his hand down his face or through his hair. It sounded like he did. “No. Alys is… it’s complicated. She’s my ex and–”

“ –you don’t have to explain anything to me,” you said, cutting him off. “Really. It’s fine.” Despite it being a phone call, you tried to smile as if it would blunt the dismissal of your tone.

“I mean it,” he said. “I really wasn’t ready to say bye yet. What do you say you skip your regular Wednesday night plans and grab a milkshake or something with me?”

Your insides flipped again but for an entirely different reason this time. You knew it: the sparks definitely weren’t one sided. The firm set of Aemond’s jaw and the rigidness of his shoulders flashed once more in your mind’s eye. Since your break up with your long-term boyfriend you’d been on a few dates, but none of them lead to anything worthwhile. With how you and Aemond clicked, however? This date might lead to something more than a hook-up (or, attempt at a hook-up. Some men truly had no game). “Are you sure…?” You asked after a moment. “You and Alys looked pretty comfortable–,”

“ –I’m sure,” it was his turn to cut you off.

“Alright then. Let’s do it.”

IV.

It'd been two months since your first milkshake date with Aemond – the first of many dates. It was a guilty pleasure of yours and apparently one of his, too!

Your first kiss, first time meeting his elder dog, Vhagar, and first time meeting his family were all memories you cherished. 

The more you learned about Aemond’s relationship with Alys, the more you understood it "complicated". Including Targaryen drama, Targaryen business, and a list of other things you had a hard time following. It didn’t matter anymore, though, Aemond reassured you. Things were done between them and he only wanted you; proving it to you with fingers and mouth until you begged for a break.

A lesson you learned from your last relationship – one Aemond learned from his, too – was to be careful with love. As much as you genuinely enjoyed him and his company, a barrier stood between you that neither dared yet to cross.

Love.

Each day you fell for him a little more; you were scared to admit it. The scar of heartbreak healed slowly. Could you truly trust Aemond with that part of yourself? With the very essence of your heart? It’d been two months and you still weren’t entirely sure.

If he felt the same he’d say something, right?

Autumn blanketed the lands with brisk air, rainy days, and rolling fog. As days grew short and nights long, you and Aemond spent more time at your apartment or his quarter at the Targaryen estate. Your apartment was the clear favorite. Living alone had its perks: never having to worry about nosy family or friends who showed up unannounced.

And thank God you didn’t live with anyone else. 

"Mmh… fuck, baby, I've been thinking about this all day. I can't get enough of you. Let me make my girl feel good," he said against your mouth as one of his hands moved up the inside of your thigh. "Are you wet already? I bet you are," he chuckled, fingertips tracing your slit. "Mmm… I knew it. Your clit is sooo needy, isn't it?" 

Shit. Those hushed words, the glint in his eye, his rasped tone… you happily indulged him in whatever way he wanted. And him, you. Fingers, mouth, cock, he quickly learned what tricks made you melt. 

As much as he loved having you ride him, or bending you over, his absolute favorite was fucking you into the mattress. You sprawled out beneath him, hair messy and fanned out around your head, legs wrapped tight around his waist, fingernails on his body… he could never get enough of your blushed face beneath him, trembling and arching as he pushed you to peak after peak.

Your sheets had never been cleaned so often in your entire life.

It was particularly rainy today and you were both finished with everything on your to-do list. Aemond sat on the floor in front of you as you lounged in your overstuffed chair. You told him you'd read the Lord of the Rings as long as he read it to you. He didn't even pretend to be annoyed by your bargain. He read to you from his own collection, claiming he liked the worn feeling of the pages better than a new book's pages. 

Like any proper reader Aemond started with The Hobbit. You enjoyed it more than you thought you would. More so than the story, however, you enjoyed him reading aloud to you – he had the loveliest voice. You were about half way through The Fellowship of the Ring and the story continued to get better.

But, all afternoon, Aemond's phone never stopped going off. It seemed like every few minutes it would ping with some kind of notification. "Who's blowing you up?" You asked, annoyance creeping into your tone.

Stopping mid sentence, he looked. "Alys," he sighed as he scrolled through the various messages. 

You tried to not look over his shoulder to the texts. You really did. But there was something about Aemond's shift in posture, and the air around him, that made you suspicious. "What's going on?" You asked in your best nonchalant manner.

"She's asking if I have some of her clothes at my place still," he answered and you swore you saw pink spread atop his cheeks.

That caught you off guard. "Why would she have clothes–"

And whatever else you were going to say was abruptly cut off.

There, in a new string of messages, was the single text line, "I miss you, baby boy," followed by at least three photographs of Alys in lingerie and various stages of undress. 

"What the fuck Aemond!?" You asked, anger and hurt instantly warming your blood. "What the hell were those? Are you fucking joking?"

"I have no idea why she sent–"

" –is that why she left clothes at your place? Couldn't let her go for real? Jesus Christ I can't believe you." Anger flushed your face and bittered your words.

"Listen, please. Hear me out, bab–"

" –oh fuck off, Aemond, you don't get to 'babe' me around anymore. In fact, just leave."

He looked as hurt as you. And shocked. A hundred emotions played across his chiseled features. "No, really. Let me explain," he pleaded with eye and tone.

You weren't having it. You were cheated on before and he knew it. It made your own hurt cleave even deeper. You really fucking liked him. Maybe even loved him. And this whole time he had you and Alys? "I'm seriously about to get really fucking angry. Leave. Now."

He stood and left. Silent fury screamed around him like a whirlwind. He didn't even give you one final look over his shoulder.

He shut your door with a deliberate click.

You curled up in your blanket alone as fat ugly tears streamed down your face. You couldn't be bothered to grab a tissue for your snotty nose. 

Aemond's leather jacket was still draped over the back of your couch and his book still lay on the floor. Your crying somehow turned uglier at the realization.

Eventually you dozed off. With Aemond, you always had your phone on silent so you didn't hear all his missed calls and texts.

V.

The following month went by in a blur; you drowned yourself in work. You also stopped volunteering because you didn't want to give Aemond the opportunity to meet you there. By some feat of strength you ignored all his attempts at talking – and by proxy, apologizing.

The only thing you said to him was a single text:

I need time. Please understand

Part of you wondered how it affected him. His calls and texts became sparse until they eventually stopped.

Helaena asked where you'd been and you felt horrible lying to her. So, you didn't. After telling her the story she sighed and asked if you'd want to grab tea. You agreed. Meeting her at a local cafe allowed you to air out your feelings; laughs and tears alike. She was kind, and sweet, and supportive without being passive. She loved her brother but knew he had many of his own issues. You'd been friends for over a year and this was the first true heart to heart you shared.

Upon returning home you picked up the Fellowship and tried to read from where Aemond left off. But, it wasn’t the same without him and it only made you cry. Again.

VI.

The following morning, despite your car's newer model, it barely wanted to start for your drive to work. By a stroke of luck you made it there fine. And, made it back home that evening, too. But that was the end of your luck. It needed to be picked up and taken to a shop until a mechanic could see it.

Carless, you had to rely on Uber or public transportation. Yuck.

A few days of stress passed and now you were done for the week. Thank God for weekends. Unfortunately your groceries were extremely low and you would need to make a trip in the morning. You sighed and used it as an excuse to order pizza.

After waking up and a breakfast of (the last, and past its sell-by date) packet oatmeal you got around to make the walk to the nearest grocery store. Knowing you'd be walking home, too, the list was small. Carrying bags up two flights of stairs was hard enough, much less carrying them home a mile!

On the way back it started sprinkling. Great. Just great. You started walking faster with hopes of making quicker time than your leisurely stroll to the store. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, you heard your name called. Was that…? Stopping in your tracks you looked across your shoulder to the side of the road and saw none other than Aemond. You knew his car and voice anywhere. You didn't have to see yourself to know a dozen emotions played across your face.

"Hey," he said gently, his own features a mirror of yours.

"Hi," you said.

"Why are you walking in the rain with groceries?"

Slumping your unintentionally scrunched up shoulders, you sighed. "Stupid car died on me and it's been with the mechanic for almost a week."

He smiled softly. So soft. The outside of his seeing eye crinkled and emotion rushed to your chest. Your gut. "You're way too good to be walking alone. Let me drive you home at least?" 

You didn't resist. How could you? "Alright. Sure. Just dropping me off though, okay?" Guilt panged your chest. Did he feel it too? Could he read it on your face he knew so well?

"Alright," he answered, expression falling just slight. You might as well have stomped on his foot with how it affected you.

I miss you. I love you. I'm sorry. Can we try it again? Can I hold your hand? God I love your hair in a ponytail. You smell good. Did you see the trailer for that new horror movie? I miss you. I love you. I'm sorry. It all turned around your head like a fucking rotisserie chicken. It shouldn't be so hard to say any of those things to him. But it was.

You didn't say anything on the short ride home. Neither did he. His right hand flexed a few times and you wondered if he was having a hard time, too.

"Can you get it all upstairs?" He asked as he pulled into an empty spot and parked, looking across to you with horribly concealed emotion.

"Yes, but…," you trailed off momentarily, trying to read his face. "I still have your book and jacket. Wanna come up and grab them?" You asked hopefully.

He killed the engine faster than you could blink. "Yes! So that's where they've been. You could have mentioned it sooner," he said slightly accusingly, grinning at you with a spark of playfulness.

Leading the way upstairs to your apartment, you unlocked the door and disappeared inside. After placing your items down and grabbing Aemond's, you turned to look at him standing in the doorway. He leaned against it. Waiting. Quiet. He glanced around with a wistfulness that made your throat tight. You watched him watching you and your home until the air became awkward – was it half a second, a few seconds, longer? You weren't sure. 

Slowly you walked over to him. Your gaze flickered up at him as you handed his things back. "Were you ever going to tell me the truth?" You asked. "Did you think I really wouldn't find out? Why did you stick around if I wasn't good enough?"

He blinked. Taken back. "You never even gave me the chance to explain." His jaw feathered before it tightened. His eye hardened.

You grabbed the door, fixing to close it on him. Now that you started talking – unloading pent up questions which kept you tossing and turning at night – you couldn't decide if you wanted to slam it on his face or yell. "I told you how I was cheated on! And you did it anyway! I trusted you, Aemond." Your voice thinned, sounding shrill even to your own ears.

One of his hands braced on the door so you couldn't close it on him. "So this is your revenge then, huh? Punishing both of us? Why don't you trust me?" Hurt and fury simmered in the lovely hue of his eye. A storm. No, a hurricane. "Alys and I have been done for months. Months. Even before you and I met. I'm sorry for what she did but I can’t control what she does. She was playing her wicked games trying to sabotage us– you and me. Don't shut me out. Please." 

He pleaded, every pore and line of his face begging for forgiveness. As each word came off his tongue they clicked into place in your head. He meant it. He was telling the truth. Before you could stop yourself your fists balled into the front of his shirt, pulling him down so your mouth crashed up to his. "You mean it?" You asked through the kiss.

Instantly he leaned down into you, and instantly he held onto your waist pulling you deeper against him. His other hand cradled the side of your face daring to curve along the shape of your skull. "I mean it. Yes I fucking mean it," he answered against the kiss; breath stealing yours away until it left you in a little moan.

You pulled him inside and shut the door, locking it. You moaned as he nipped and bit at your neck. Your heart thumped wildly. He sucked at the sensitive skin, again and again, pulling away just before leaving a mark. "God, Aem,” you whimpered. Goosebumps covered your body. The only thing on your mind was him.

"Fuck, I missed you. I missed you so much." His hands were somehow all over you all at once. His mouth trailed, and dragged, and kissed over any exposed portion of your skin. He happily pulled off layers of your clothing to expose more and more of your soft, warm, saccharine flesh; intoxicating him. After weeks of your separation the last thing he wanted to do was to push too far too fast.  “Can I take this off?” He asked before taking your shirt off.

“Yes,” you replied breathily. “Fuck it. Take all of it off. I missed you too. So much,” you said as you helped pull his clothes off, too. He pushed you against a wall. You kissed. Heavier, and hotter, and hungrier. You pushed him against a wall. 

He gasped as he smirked. “I love when you act all tough when we both know I can have you squirming under me in minutes,” he growled, pupil swelling. The dimples at the very corners of his mouth betrayed his amusement, however, as he once again pushed you against the wall. You were both only in your underwear, now, and his lean body on yours had you aching. “My tough girl… how quickly do you think it’ll last when my fingers are in you?”

“Why don’t we find out?” You asked defiantly, knowing damn well it wouldn’t last long at all. By now you were both down the hallway and your bedroom was only a couple feet away. You needed him. Now. And judging by how fucking hard he was he needed you too.

The next moment went by in a blur and before you could catch yourself you were sprawled out on your back atop your bed. Aemond made quick work of moving you both inside, and made quicker work of pulling your panties down. He groaned as your thighs immediately spilled open for him. He dragged two fingers up your slit and circled your clit with your arousal. “Shit–,” he hissed. “Never make me wait so long to have this pussy again. Do you understand me? Never,” he said as he worked your already swollen clit. He played with it just how he knew you liked it and your cunt’s tiny wet sounds sent his cock throbbing. “Answer me.”

Tension built in the low muscles of your belly. Your legs began to tighten already – one of the tell-tale signs of your approaching climax. How the hell could he push you there so quickly? “N-never! Ahh-h never again!” You replied, voice light, and sweet, and tantalizing as any sin Aemond ever knew. “Please, Aemond, I want to cum…!”

He shoved those same two fingers into you. “Good girl,” he said as he curled those fingers. “This pussy is mine. All fucking mine. Give it to me,” he said huskily as he worked them in and out of you. It was sloppy and wet. Borderline obscene. Each time he slammed his hand against you he was mindful to press the heel of his palm against your clit and your mound, knowing how the extra pressure sent your pretty toes curling.

You cried out his name as your eyes clenched shut. The tension in your belly snapped and a wave of glorious bliss washed over you. Sweat sheened between your breasts and along your lip. You arched, quivered, shuddering in the aftermath of his intensity. 

Aemond’s mouth crashed to yours and you threaded your fingers through the roots of his hair. It was still in a ponytail and you had no mind to take it out, you just had to pull him deeper into the kiss. He tasted the salt of your sweat and groaned. “Relax your pussy, baby, you’re clenching me really hard. It feels amazing but I don’t wanna hurt you pulling out,” he said tenderly, nuzzling his nose into the crook of your neck.

“Sorry,” you giggled. “Just feels too good.” You tried to steady your breath and relax as he laid beside you, continuing to kiss your neck and shoulders. When your spongy walls finally eased around him you were sad to feel him withdraw. Stress melted away from your subconscious and you wanted to thank him for the pleasure. You wondered if your eyes said it while he looked at you.

Leaning up, he discarded the final piece of his clothing and sighed in relief as his cock sprang free. He got between your thighs and looked down at you hungerily. “Look at you all doe eyed already. See? I knew you couldn’t stay tough for long,” he said, smug, as he lined up with your drenched cunt. He held one of your legs up against him, and you pressed the other against his side. 

When you left for the store this morning you had no idea your afternoon would go in this direction.

He pushed into you. Inch by inch he sunk into you and soon he was as deep as he could be. A moan escaped both of you, and a throatier one left him when his free hand tugged at your bra. It was one that clipped in the front. He popped it open and rocked into you as soon as your tits spilled free. "You're so sexy like this."

With your body already sensitive from your first orgasm, and now with Aemond building a rhythm between your thighs, you weren't going to last long. "You feel so good," you purred, eyelids heavy. "Fuck I missed you."

Another sound left his chest and when you wrapped your legs around his slim waist you swore you felt goosebumps pebble all along his skin. Or, maybe those were your goosebumps on your legs. Whatever the case, Aemond leaned forward and kissed you again. "I missed you too," he rumbled. "Gonna let me fill this pretty pussy with my cum again?"

You two made good use of your birth control and you weren't about to deny him – or yourself – the pleasure of being thoroughly fucked and stuffed. "Y-yeah," you stammered, smiling.

Aemond mumbled something incoherent into your neck, and if your brain wasn't foggy from his perfect fucking cock you might have caught what he said. 

He leaned up and supported himself on his forearms, pressing his forehead to yours. "You're my girl. You're my fucking girl. You're my fucking girl," he repeated again and again until the pace of his thrusts grew sloppy. Somehow the sloppiness of it, the neediness and urgency of his voice, sent emotion swelling in all of you.

Heat collected and grew out from your spine, webbing throughout your entire body. You clung to him desperately. You rolled your hips up into him and shamelessly grinded your clit against his pelvis as he drove in and out of you. It was all too much. You crumbled beneath him and let orgasm take control of you. The depths of your body squeezed and convulsed around him, holding him tight and soaking the fullness of his length with your slick. He never stopped or paused his thrusts. 

His own peak followed. Once he was as deep as he could be he released everything he had into you. He stayed there, both of you panting through little moans, until he no longer twitched between your stretched walls. Slowly, he pulled out, and slowly, his seed dribbled out of you. Grinning, he rolled onto his back and scooped you against him.

"Let's stay here like this all day," you mumbled happily, fingertips trailing up and down his abdomen and chest.

"You'll get no argument from me," he said.

Quiet minutes passed and the sound of his heart nearly put you into a trance. "I'm sorry for how I acted," you finally admitted.

All the while he'd been petting and trailing his fingers through your hair. He didn't stop as he answered, "and I'm sorry for not trying harder." He kissed your forehead and held you tighter.

"Let's try it again. For real this time. With the titles and commitment and everything."

"Are you asking or telling me to be your boyfriend?"

You smirked. "I'm suggesting."

Returning your smirk, he pulled you atop him so you could straddle him. "You're all mine," he said with a dark eye. "My perfect girl." 

Leaning down, you kissed and nipped his bottom lip. "Are you already hard again, Aemond Targaryen?"

A chuckle rumbled somewhere in his chest as his touch dented into your hips to hold you at just the right angle. With a roll of his hips he pushed himself up inside you again. "Whose cock is this?"

You gasped, eyes darkening with another round of lust. "Mine."

"That's right. Yours. Not anyone else's. It's fucking yours."

You rode him until your tits were covered in fresh hickies and you were filled with another load of him.

Yours. His. The second chance you both needed.

-

Thank you so much for reading! If you enjoyed, please consider a follow, and/or reblog, and/or letting me know as it all makes me vvvery happy! ♥

To be added or removed from the taglist, hit me up!

Masterlist

Main taglist: @watercolorskyy @melsunshine @girlwith-thepearlearring @arcielee @barbiedragon @dreamsofoldvalyria @chompchompluke @fan-goddess

Aemond taglist: @darylandbethfanforever9 @bellaisasleep @aemondsblog @khaleesihel @sirenofavalon @sahvlren @doublesparrows @aemonds-fire @nikstrange @abbyandizzysmum @lost-and-founds @castellomargot @okfashionista @avidreader73 @snh96 @boofy1998 @evermorre

[athletearrhythmia]

Needles coming up again

First wanted to reference back my thoughts on this from awhile ago:

but I also wanted to say some of the comments I'm seeing around aren't oriented to harm reduction, they're just tearing down people who engage in needle play and post it. Which is not going to save anyone. It's going to galvanize and sequester folks which will cascade into riskier behavior.

I guess what gets my goat about it especially is why I've pulled back from a good number of folks, which is engaging in dark cardio play as a means or extension of self harm. People know this stuff is dangerous and stupid, you don't need to remind them. That's not going to "wake them up". Some people by comparison just... like doing it. Neither case will respond to this approach.

I don't offer a definitive solution, i just don't vibe with yelling at people. I appreciate things like folks declaring that they'll disengage from the content: that I think does something.

So here's my additional thoughts to tack on to my last post:

If your perception of reckless behavior is that it doesn't matter because your life is so bad or meaningless that the consequences can't make it worse, you're depressed and you need help. Getting help isn't easy. But you need it.

If you feel a strong desire or need to do this for sexual gratification, you need to find healthier outlets. I struggle with this immensely myself. I'm open about liking and engaging with this content and some of its creators. The best I can do for myself is dark roleplay or using already existing content, and playing with generally safer dark play (which will always carry its own risk). The ideal would be to not find it gratifying. I don't know how to.

You should never engage with someone whose relationship to you is conditional on risking your health-- people you actually talk to or "fans" of your content. Anyone pressuring you to play with needles, especially when you're on the fence or have expressed you don't want to, doesn't have your best interests in mind. If you walk back wanting to do it, regardless of if you ever have done it, avoid the people who don't support your decision.

I'm never not going to end a public discussion of needle play without reemphasizing its danger. The possible bad outcomes are catastrophic and there's almost no way to mitigate the risk.

I'll add as well that the community has an obligation (IMO) to make sure newer or younger participants know how dangerous this kind of play is. Don't allow people to stay naive.

[askthefamous8]

Even if I haven't been very active lately, 9 years is still pretty significant- happy birthday to the blog!

So like Percy up there I'm gonna do so dome reflecting. This blog's where I've often done that for some reason, but here's the tl'dr for blog related stuff.

• I would like to keep drawing stuff but feeling generally unsure in myself, and I'm wondering if all the years of fandom harrassment have caught up with me • I have one big project in mind, I've been dipping my toe into what I'd need to do it. No spoilers but it was one of the first things I played around with this series, so do with that what you will • If I can keep myself drawing, I want to use more of the original source material since I'm struggling with original ideas. So stuff like redraws, hOpEfULlY even animatics, just like what originally got me so into trains yknow? Because that's fun and sparks joy. And that always goes down a treat with you guys so bonus • As always I appreciate you guys not coming after me for being so inconsistent

The rest of this is me doing what Percy's doing in the drawing and reflecting, as there is indeed much 2 think about. It's also a little sad and venty so, there's your warning there.

.

Ok so obviously a busy year, we moved into our new house that we actually own, I spent most of the year planning our wedding, and then got married. Big stuff. Also! I came off antidepressants in the summer. I've been on them for...basically as long as this blog, 6 months after I started it I think. Which also means I'd been on antidepressants my entire adult life. Feels like a big deal and I guess I'm still adjusting.

Another big thing, but sad, is that my dog died about two weeks ago. If you follow me on twitter you'll have seen her but she did make an appearance here a few Halloweens ago

I got her when she was 13 and had her 8 years after that. So that's been difficult. Unrelated to that (probably), but I just feel...really mediocre. And before you point out the obvious, this has been present even before I came off antidepressants. But yeah just... mediocrity. In myself as a person, how I look, what I draw, my whole life really (barring my marriage thankfully). What have I achieved? I'm 26, I'm not working, I don't feel well, my art isn't good (I don't think so anyway- like yeah it's technically fine I guess but it's not, and has never been, very stand-out or impressive). And lately art doesn't bring me the same joy it once did, and I'm wondering if all the years of harrassment from this fandom (mostly the twitter side, tumblr's been pretty good to me) has finally caught up with me and put me off the whole thing. Or worse, that I just don't have as much of an interest in it anymore. I don't think I'll ever be like "ok yep I'm officially done with this blog" because I'm so stubborn but idk. I want to make things and be creative, I want to make more train art, but it doesn't feel the same. I don't know what's wrong. What do you listen to? What you want vs what you feel? I still enjoy train stuff, I love going to Awdry Ex every year. It's been like this for awhile. It's not even like I have a strong feeling of what I'd rather be doing as far as careers go. And even if I did, oh yeah I'm sure my two degrees in animation will be very relevant in another field (sarcasm). I feel adrift. My sails are open but there is just no wind. Planning my wedding gave me something to do and work on and just, feel useful but now that that's over I feel lost again. Losing my dog, who had become the center of my life because of how vulnerable she had become, hasn't helped.

On the more creative side of things, I also don't really know what to do with this blog's story either. The show's ended as far as most people are concerned, and I kiiinda wrote myself into a corner because once Thomas turns 18 he's going to leave for university, and that sets off this whole arc with James but basically the problem is it involves characters leaving and for some reason that feels like a no-no here. Don't get me started on the timeline lol. But Thomas works on a railway on Sodor, that's how it has to be...right? I guess I'm sort of at a crossroads of, ok do I want this to be close to the source material, and thus easily digestible to newcombers? Or do I want to make it more and more my thing and distanced from the source material? I doubt there's many new people coming since the series ended. And even then, there's a lot more humanization artists around now than when I started, so it's not like I'm filling a niche anymore. Just to be clear it's fine and also good that there's more humanization artists, variety is good, I just don't feel as "needed" anymore (which is 100% in my head and not an actual role that belongs to me or something). I started this blog when I was 17, so my interests and what I relate to have changed obviously. The character designs certainly have. It's never followed a super rigid story plan, but the core of it has always been the central cast doing things on Sodor. I however have always had a scene/project/animatic/whatEver in mind for when this 'series' would '''officially''' ''''end''''. But then what comes after that? I've always tried to run this blog like they are Real People that You interact with. But in real life there is no ending to the story, there's always more stuff to come. You get married, and it's wonderful, and then life goes on. The credits never roll. So maybe that's what I'm having trouble coping with...the progression of time. Ah, my old nemesis. I've always had trouble with letting go of things. There's nothing to say that I couldn't still draw stuff after the series "ends". I guess any story after Thomas leaves could be like... a sequel series or a spin off or something. Spin-off of a spin-off. Famous 8 All Grown Up. Famous 8 Qurter Life Crisis. Who knows. I certainly don't.

I've also been really into an original project unrelated to this but those don't get as much attention and while I'd like to do something with it one day, I don't feel very confident in being able to make that happen right now. But you know... as far my as art not being super spectacular goes... I think my individual talent has always been is my ideas, like the writing side of things. And then brought to life with my art, which normally isn't anything to write home about but is good enough to convey the idea and be not-awful to look at, lifts both of them beyond what they were individually. Maybe that's what I should focus on. Maybe that's wishful thinking.

So....idk. Idk what I'm doing but I'm trying to be gentle on myself and just let myself continue to drift, to heal from this heavy loss, and then in the New Year I'll try and pick myself up. Then there will be no more big once-in-a-lifetime events coming up, no more just-moved-into-a-house-and-oh-no-there's-a-bunch-of-things-that-need-attention-NOW scenarios, and no more big holidays for awhile. I guess we'll see.

If you read all of this I am so sorry but also thank you for reading my ramblings. And thank you for being around, whether that's been for a few months or for several years, but especially if it's been several years

[brights-place]

do you mind doing a Branch x rock troll reader?

Branch dating an Rock troll! S/O

Pairings: Branch X Reader

Warnings: None

A/N: Sorry for the late post I've been kind of busy hon! anyways take the request! <33

- He met you when poppy introduced you to him since you were going to be helping him expand the structures of pop village - Branch would be confused at first when he realize he likes you - You slowly started to bond after awhile of hanging out and him learning about your genre as he told you about his back. - It's known pop Troll is extremely happy, strives happiness and seeks fun above all things which is so like them but its also true that they are prone to absolute panic when things go wrong, often overreacting in a comical way - But branch didn't have that atrribute well he had the panicking bit but the happy and fun part? that was... uhmmmm yeah no - Branch takes awhile to open up to you especially after well The Rock world tour - I mean come on! Barb was leading an world tour and all the crimes she has committed has changed his whole view of rock trolls though he is trying to welcome them slowly - This Dude Is Autism Coded you can’t change my mind! (I’m autistic) - Attempted world domination, Attempted cultural genocide, Hate crimes, Terrorism, Piracy, Malefic, War crimes, Crimes against trollkind, Mass invasion, Mass kidnapping, Serial grand larceny, Mass brainwashing, Unlawful imprisonment, Abuse of power, Conspiracy, Psychological abuse, Extortion, Minor arson, Assault and battery, Mass property destruction, Attempted mass slavery, Corruption, and Public endangerment! He has an whole list of crimes that were committed by barb

- Though after awhile of hanging around you he couldn’t help but feel relaxed and allowed you to touch stuff in his bunker

- He Let you meet Gary and you are the only one allowed to hold Gary and know everything about him. (Gary from trollstopia if you know)

- Branch enjoys how you listen to him when he rants about things

- You were so worried when he said he would drink his own sweat which you told him not too and is unhygienic

- After awhile he would notice subtle things about you and would learn more about you and your hobbies which poppy pointed out was kind of weird for branch since he never does that for other trolls a lot but him doing that for you? Poppy smirked - He fell for an ROCK TROLL! - This man was so confused and questioning himself as you were standing in front of him telling him about your new song that you wrote and were gonna preform with Petra, Romper and Rose - He was an pop troll... you were an rock troll you were different!

- Branch would listen to you about speaking about your genre and you listen about pop genre aswell - You two would do duet songs of rock songs and pop songs but if you could convince him to sing rock songs with you he would try... It turns out he’s good at it

- You teach him some Rock n Roll greetings and handshakes which he got used to

- He did the handshake infront of poppy doing the rock n roll greeting handshake with Riff and Barb who laughed and they told him where you were which made branch flustered

- Poppy stared at him with sparkling eyes squealing questioning if you two were dating which you weren’t… Yet!

- If Branch ever found something that would suite you for example some studded belts or leather braclets he would think of you and would buy it

- Whenever you meet up he would always have an gift that reminded him of you

- His love language is Acts of Service, Quality time and sometimes Gift giving

- Though he wouldn’t mind some affection from you since whenever you see him you hug him tightly

- Introvert X Extrovert type of bond!

- You are his opposite and that’s what he loves about you

- Your smile your laugh and yes you may be different genres but he loves you so much because of it.

- Your comfortable in your own shell and you help him to become comfortable with himself aswell!

- branch is thankful for you though you mainly come to his bunker then he comes to volcano rock city since he finds it hard to breathe due to well the lava and Asch along with the foggy presence

- Though he will visit if you can’t come if your sick or your doing an show

- He stared up at you when you were on stage signing while playing your guitar while maintaining eye contact with him

- After the show was done you rushed to him hugging him squealing excitedly glad he came to see your show

- He couldn’t help but stare at you with an spake in his eyes which you returned before leaning in kissing eachother with an smile on both your lips

- Barb coughed into your hand as you giggled while branch hid his face in your shoulder grumbling

- “Love you” Branch muttered as you smiled back “I love you too”

reblogs + comments are appreciated ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡

©brights-place 2023 — do not repost on another platform, copy, translate or edit my works! if you fit my DNI list please don't interact!

[hellothisisangle]

I've rediscovered your work after awhile and was wondering if you'd ever return to TDIAHM

Yes! Eventually…

Tacking on this ask to get into more detail:

I wanted to rewrite it for a long long time, like even while I was still actively working on it.

If anyone remembers, the first TDIAHM stuff I posted was very loose, doodles, just situational (mostly) comedy comics on canvas. The “story” was the characters interacting with each other, and maybe there was a little bit of crime idk so many years ago right?

And to my surprise people liked it! I got contacted by Webtoons and they wanted a legit comic, fulltime. I said I could do it. I tried to work out the details, wrote as much in advance as possible, but things caught up to me. Not just the timeline of the comic, life in general.

I went on a couple hiatuses, survived a fire that burnt our neighbor’s house down, moved around, attempted to continue the comic best I could, scrounged for ideas that wouldn’t take too much time so I could actually live my life, it was affecting my relationship with my partner cause it’d take me like 80+ hours a week to finish, it was all so janky, I did it alone with a stressed brain and my tools/art are not streamlined for this work, then we lost some family members.

It was just all too much.

People grow and change. And looking back, I can’t be proud of the corners I cut and what I delivered. But the thing is I still love the idea. The characters and the world. I know I can do better and I will. On my own time. Which in a perfect world is how the creative process should go.

I’m actually done with the writing. Legit ending and everything. There wasn’t one before, so that’s something! What’s to come now are the parts that make any series consistently an easier load- a collection of assets like sheets for characters, objects, backgrounds. It’s gonna take me a bit, but we’ll get there 💪

Thanks all for bearing with me!

[liveontelevision]

Hello friends,

Sorry about the lack of content recently, I've been running kinda low on energy :,) but I have some little treats, never fear.

Here's a short Vox thing I wrote awhile ago, it's angsty it's kissy, it ends with a cliffhanger. Classic fic by me.

I meant to turn it into a full thing, and I just might later? We'll see

CW: Smoking and smooching

Human | Vox x Reader

You cringe, scrunching up your nose when the familiar scent hits you. You approach the TV-headed demon, who was lounging on the large balcony of the Vees' Penthouse. Or was it lamenting?

"Yuck. You still smoke here?"

"It's Hell, doll. It's not like it'll kill me. Can't even feel the high anymore, actually."

"I guess not.. Then why do you even smoke? If it doesn't affect you?"

"Eh. I don't know. Try not to think too hard into that shit." A comfortable silence falls between the two of you.

"Can I bum one?" With a mocking scoff, he reaches into his pocket to pull out the pack. In a thoughtless decision, you place the cigarette between your teeth, pulling his face in your direction and inching impossibly close to him. He seemed startled by your sudden attack.

You hover just in front of his lips, lighting the end of your cigarette with the cherry of his own.

That was definitely an interesting move for someone with absolutely no history of smoking. As you inhale, you choke up and immediately cough out the rest. Vox is only watching you, a smile tugging at his lips while you cough up a lung. Your eyes water and you let out a whimper before propping your arms against the railing.

"Smooth." He comments.

"W-Watch it." You snap back.

You do manage to draw out a smoother hit, looking down at the city that, ironically, seemed so lively.

All that time went to waste. All those years you'd spent chasing over this CEO, being a part of the paparazzi, stalking the media for any buzz, passing his building when you have the time.. had the time. The fact that he's seemingly replicated his dream headquarters in the center of the underworld seemed like a Hell in itself. Constantly mocking you for never getting your big scoop. For wasting your life on him.

You couldn't help but approach it at first. You reluctantly enter the stores and offices that surround the first floor, inspecting all his products. You didn't recognize him at first. I mean, he has a TV screen for a head. His voice is what gave it away. His charismatic facade and sauve persona he uses on any television program. That's what you recognized. Apparently those are skills that stick with you after death.

He found you eventually. You'd been residing on the barren side of Hell. It was cozy. Not everyone had family members with them, you were just the lucky few. Your sweet grandma was here. Sinners who are visibly older seemed to be avoid by most clear-minded demons. Why bug them? And what kind of decisions did they make to end up here and survive for so long? They probably don't even remember why they're here. But some seemed to remember their lives.

Your grandma recognize you almost immediately. She was quick to take you into a part of hell that seemed to bypass the cities and dangers. It, of course, had its flaws. The Hellborn rodents were bothersome, but it somehow managed to be peaceful on its own.

It didn't last long, though. Extermination Day finally caught up to your little home. You have no idea how you survived, it was a miracle. but you were the only one. You started appreciating your aftlife in another fit of irony. You're nearly immortal, maybe it's time to give the city a try.

"Thanks for taking me in, too. You didn't have to do that."

"I can't leave my favorite stalker on the streets." He nudges you, having to lean down a bit to do so. He was towering. You let out the softest chuckle, leaning into his touch, despite it's teasing motivations. You sigh, taking another drag.

"Wait these aren't Valentino's smokes, are they?" You hold it over the edge, ready to flick it from your fingers, if that's the case.

"Definitely not. I wouldn't give you those if you asked." You hum at his words, releasing a puff of smoke. "But, uh.. let me know if he offers you any, alright?" You let out a little laugh and nod.

Your comfortable silence was broken, with the end of your cigarette. You let it crumble to the ground, stomping it with your nice business shoes. Vox rolls his eyes, shooing you away.

"Don't ruin those, they were expensive." He mutters.

"Well I would've been fine if you didnt essentially set my wardrobe on fire." You scoff.

"Your wardrobe? Was a bunch of country bumpkin dresses with poofy sleeves, doll. Even Vel was ready to get rid of that mess." The silence overcomes again. The breeze coming from the sheer height of the building seemed refreshing. You looked up to Heaven. How cruel of them to put it in sight.

"I really thought that was it. That life was short and then you die. That there was no point in trying to get rich and famous as long you were doing something you liked."

"So you liked stalking me?"

"Fuck off, Vox, you know what I mean." You couldn't help but smile. "How could I have wasted all that time on you? I could've been building my skills. Maybe I wouldn't be mooching off of some big shot like you if I did." You looked away, not willing to make any eye contact while mentioning him.

"Hey, you know I don't mind.. you can't prepare for death." He reaches out, he's not sure why, maybe to offer you some comfort. Maybe he just wanted to see your face, again. You darted away from him unknowingly, making his hand recoil.

"But, I mind! I don't want to rely on you. I should be able to do this by myself, I came here the same way you did, I had the same chance to get to where you are now." You huffed, embarrassment from your confession turning your face red. "But I just.. I didn't. I keep wasting my time..."

A cool touch hit your cheek, and before you know it your head had been turned to face Vox. He kept his claws holding your chin upwards, despite your attempts to pull out of his grasp.

"Stop it. There's nothing but time here. Listen, I know this isn't exactly what you had in mind, but- for the first time in years.. I feel... human, again." You blink slowly at him, not exactly minding his touch at this point. "And that's because of you." You hated getting flustered, but his words alone caused you to tense up. He felt your jaw clenching in his hand, bringing him back to reality. With a quick release, he brings his fist to his mouth and clears his throat.

"So.. yeah. Don't get it in your head that this is some sort of.. sugar daddy thing. You're free to do whatever you want. You can do whatever you want. And- you uh.. you're always welcome back." You stare at him for longer than you'd like to admit. Looking for some kind of excuse for your gaze, you hold your hand out for another cigarette. He gets the memo after awhile.

You place it between your lips and before you get the chance to think, his hands are back on your chin, bringing your face close. He mirrors your actions from before. It startled you, the cigarette falling from your lips and rolling off the balcony floor. Both your eyes follow it for a moment, before looking at eachother and sharing a little laugh.

His own cigarette falls from his lips. And with his hand still on chin you're pulled into an expected kiss. The sight of his dazed eyes when he finally pulls away only leaves you wanting more. But.. you can't. You pull away with a sullen look and step away from balcony. Without a word, you leave him alone. He's lost yet another independent spark. His heart can ache later. For now, he's cursing himself for letting anyone see that side of him, again.

♡♡♡

Womp womp

Love the pics where they knew eachother in life 👌

Taglist:

( @vififofum / @thornwolfy235 / @tinywolfiegirl / @chipper-chip / @bat-boness / @misfitgirlwrites / @nayomi247 / @lonelynmisunderstood / @escapistoftherealworld / @b4ts1e / @hamthepan / @kyo-kyo1 / @looking1016 / @polytheatrix / @littledolly2345 / @lillianastuff / @yourlocalcryptidbee /@0strawberrysorbet0 / @themageofblood / @jayyyayaysblog / @floralsightings / @azmosposts / @8har0ley8 / @actuallyspiderwoman / @sirenetheblogger / @christineblood / @kaytemchugh / @cimadreamer / @simpdevil66 / @azmosposts / @m3ow1 / @acrazyartist / @redfoxwritesstuff / @4k1to / @meesachan / @corvusskid / @alientee /@xx-spooky-little-vampire-xx / @alon3lylov3r /@sapphireravensworld / @mjmdragons / @catticora / @the-maladaptivedaydreamer / @carrie0-1 / @shamblezzz / @cassandras-nest )

[according2thelore]

I've had this little idea in my head for awhile but that last ask about Ls!Sam and Es! Dean really made me want to revisit it and share.

So i had this dumb little thought awhile ago.

It starts with es!Dean trying to kiss ls!Sam for whatever reason, and Sam pushes him away because he and ls!Dean promised, no stealing any firsts away from their younger selves.

And so younger Dean is pushed away, and he looks devastated, but more then that he looks scared. Panicked. Like he thinks he just made the biggest mistake of his life, letting Sam(any version of sam) know his fucked up feelings.

And Sam, already knowing what's going through deans head, is quick to be like "I want to kiss you! I do!" And younger Dean just eyes him, like he thinks he's lying. So Sam keeps explaining. "I want to, but you can't. If I- er, if younger me found out that I stole our first kiss, something I've been pining for since I was a kid? It would destroy, uh..." Sam winces, trying to work around how to word it, "...Me." He shakes his head. "What I'm saying is that your Sam needs that kiss first.

Dean doesn't look entirely convinced, but he's calmer now, not so panicked anymore. Though he still looks like he's ready to bolt if he needs to.

Sam sighs and keeps going, "Look. I feel the same way ok? I've felt this way about you for ages. But your firsts should be with him, not me. Not yet." He shakes his head, "I know it seems easier with me because I'm more developed-" He doesn't miss the obvious way Dean's eyes flick to Sam's chest. He bites down a scoff, typical Dean, "But I promise, he'll be thrilled to hear you tell him you love him. He wants to kiss you, needs it really. So-" another sigh, then a laugh. "Kiss him first. Then come talk to me when you've got it all figured out."

ANYWAY this isn't really anything. I don't remember exactly what inspired this but I know that this whole thing came from seeing people talk about Sam's tits, and I started think that the term "developed" tends to reference women's bodies as they get older. And I just thought that Dean automatically looking at Sam's chest when he says "developed" would be hilarious. That's really the only reason I wrote this whole thing LMAO

Idk if this would even fit anywhere in your es/ls verse, and I dont expect you to do anything with it lol, but I just thought the idea was funny and you might appreciate it. I assume we're all Sam titty enjoyers in this house, including and especially Dean Winchester LMAO

(Excuse any errors, I wrote this up in like 5 minutes without double checking much lol)

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA

omg i LOVE this--consider it canon!!!!!! :) or "canon," ig, since we're all just kinda messing around!

this has EVERYTHING i love!!!! AHHH!

tiny (steamy) addition, bc the "not yet" and "come to me when you've got it all figured out" got me thinking!

hope you enjoy and THANK YOU for sending it in!!!!!!! your brain, your genius...and for five minutes?? DAMN!!! thanks again! :) <3

-lizzy

"hey. sammy." sam looks up, and sees younger dean striding towards him. sam puts a paper in the book he's reading to hold his place, alarmed.

before sam can ask what's wrong, dean has rounded the library table, and stands in front of his chair. sam tilts his chair out, hands coming up to check for injuries, but--

hands in his hair. sam is tugged forward, up, and--

dean's lips are on his. dean...devours him. dean kisses him like a starving man, tongue on his bottom lip begging entry. sam opens--dazed, unable to deny dean in anything, any version of dean, so used to opening for his own dean when he's half fucked and delirious that he doesn't even think about it.

dean whimpers, tilting forward, sliding between sam's open thighs. dean's tongue is wet, hot, and slides against sam's own with heady determination. sparks skitter across sam's scalp as dean pulls sam further up, closer.

he makes a wounded noise when sam's hands come up to his hips, one of his hands wrapping around dean's waist like it's nothing, covering his entire flank. sam starts to kiss back--barely, tongue at dean's bottom lip--when he comes back to himself.

he uses his grip on dean's hips to haul him away, dean fighting him every step of the way and leaving wet, sucking kisses on sam's mouth as he pulls away.

"what--" he starts, dazed. dean's heaving for breath, mouth pink and bright and eyes glazed over like sam's been sucking his cock, not light kissing.

"we talked yesterday. worked it out. kissed him first." dean pants, and leans back in. the words register. he talked to sam. he kissed his younger self. hope and pride start to bloom in sam's chest, and he knows he's starting to smile from the way dean's eyes go soft and adoring. his thumb lands on sam's bottom lip, eyes going dark from how wet it is. "not stealing anything." he swears.

dean swoops back down, and sam has no time to stop him, dean kissing him with reckless, passionate abandon. he doesn't know what sam likes yet, he realizes, so he's throwing everything at the wall. it's endearing. and messy.

sam pulls back, trying to stay on track.

"i should--ah!" sam starts, but dean nips at his jaw, making sam jolt in his arms. "let me talk to dean, first, okay?"

he needs to talk to dean first. he's not stealing a first kiss, or a first makeout, or anything, but sam is not going to risk his relationship with his brother over this.

dean is not listening, and tries to come back to sam's mouth. sam starts to stand, taking control of the kiss, tongue licking into dean's mouth in a way that has dean legitimately humping forward into sam's thigh. by the time sam is standing, his head is bent low over dean, whom has stretched up and cradles sam's jaw between his hands.

sam lets his mouth go, and dean's lips are practically red, swollen a little with the force of sam's kiss.

"shit--sammy." dean pants, loosely rolling his neck to the side and pressing his chest up into sam like he's a swooning maiden on the cover of a bodice ripper.

sam acquiesces, pressing his lips to the thick tendon in dean's neck, gently. no teeth. not yet. even when sam's body screams for it, the tender, delicate, unmarked skin above his jugular.

dean whimpers like a wounded animal, hands tightening on sam's arms.

"okay?" sam repeats, stronger this time.

"shit. sammy. fine. yes!" dean pants, and sam smiles, rewarding him with a kiss that dean sinks into like a warm bath. dean's fingers tilt so he can scratch at sam's stubble, and sam smiles into his mouth.

fuck. he's going to rip this kid apart.

[comfortlesshurt]

2024 Skyler Wrapped

Little 2024 update because my ass can never get enough statistics! (I enjoy the writing, but I fear my true love is math.)

Anyway, skip this post if it will bother you reading about a year of someone else's achievements! I will totally understand. Literally jerkin' myself off under the cut on this post, my dudes.

This year's new fics (in order of date first posted):

Ratings and TWs can be found at the links. Please check the TWs before reading!

09-Jun-2024: 5 Times Lance Doesn't Matter +1 Time He Finally Does (my first fic after an 18-month break!)

01-Jul-2024: Smiling 'cause you're used to it (a house that's always haunted) (first fic where I truly let myself go wild & write for my own dick & no one else)

03-Jul-2024: Chemicals, chemicals in my brain (where'd you go, where'd you go anyway?) (first time writing the fluffy part & enjoying it)

01-Aug-2024: Nowhere to call home (so I'll pack and run away) (first time completing a writing challenge on time)

10-Sep-2024: What are you wondering? (What do you know?) (I hate this one actually, but I wrote it this year so we'll just give it..... shortest fic I've written in AWHILE)

15-Sep-2024: On it, yes, indeed (on it, watch me bleed) (ugh opposite problem... I loved this one! but there's nothing really standout about it, I guess. just accept that I love it even if it doesn't have a Special Thing)

14-Oct-2024: 5 Times Keith Relies on the Blade +1 Time... (first time creating something to celebrate a fictional character's birthday. also first OCs with more than one line of dialogue, I think)

07-Dec-2024: With talk of love (as I make-pretend) (first work for a gift exchange! whole new scary experience for me!)

22-Dec-2024: Maybe this thing works out (if I'm lying too) (longest thing I have EVER written and shared. the inspiration for this thing is endless, I fear)

Stats I thought were interesting:

I wasn't actually back in fandom until June 3rd, 2024, so all the AO3 stats are based on the difference between my snapshot of that date and my snapshot on December 31st, 2024. Not a huge difference; it's just chopping out all the January through June interaction with my Spider-Man stuff that was already up since the last time I took a stats snapshot before that was 2021.

Published in 2024: 92k words, all VLD!

Written in 2024 but not yet published: 188k words, also all VLD

General new stats in 2024: 128 new work subs (we're so back), 20k new hits, 1.2k new kudos, 94 new comment threads (and i happy screamed at every single one), & 339 new bookmarks (and i crept through every single one with comments or tags attached... like a creep...)

New finished works: 7

New unfinished works: 2

Top artist for title lyrics this year: Those Who Dream at 16 unique titles (1 work title & 15 chapter titles)

Word count range for 2024 published fics: 527 (complete snippet) to 26k (WIP)

Most common additional tags: Keith-centric, POV Keith, Hurt/Comfort (these are surely surprising to you....)

Number of times I used the word 'just' in published & unpublished fics this year: 993 (0.355% of all words I wrote were this word.......)

Other milestones: first time writing someone who was Not My Blorbo and having fun with it, first time writing without it being an escape from something terrible, first shipfic, first time participating in a fandom event where there would be Consequences if I'd backed out, first explicit content posted on my main account, closest I've ever gotten to finishing NaNo* with one single project, first time c*mm*ssioning art for my fics, first time learning you have to censor the word c*mm*ssion to avoid getting scam bots in your tumblr DMs (just a huge milestone year actually)

New word count for this year technically doesn't beat my previous record of 315k in 2021, but 1) I was only employed full-time for 5 months of 2021 so I had way more free time then and 2) I didn't write a single word in 2024 before June 3rd, so 280k in 7 months of 2024 feels like a lot more than 315k in 12 months of 2021.

Also since literally no one IRL cares, some non-writing achievements I'm also proud of for 2024! Going in rough order from earliest in 2024 to latest:

Quit the most abusive job I've ever experienced

And immediately got my first job in my intended career field

Finally coded an AO3 stats tracker after 6 years of having it in the back of my mind

Grew my first ever eggplant (it was very small....)

Paid off my car

First semi-solo business proposal presented with a base price totaling more than all of the bids combined that I supported over 2 years at my last job

Made new friends I love <3

Acquired an unquenchable thirst for vld merch....

Went to my first con

And finally as of today, I'm under 89% of my original mortgage balance & on track to own this thing in half the original loan term! (praying this series of words doesn't wake up the sugar daddy bot again, he LOVES when I discuss my mortgage)

Also, some shoutouts for the year! In order of when we first met:

@zelandiangelo for being one of the few OGs I know still around and always being so nice to talk to and supportive. ;_; In case anyone's forgotten, they're the one who convinced me to write and post my first ever hurt/comfort fic and sucked me right back into fandom after I'd been clean for like... six years at that point.

For the record, there are other OGs and I'm glad to see them around! We're just not as close (but you can change that in 2025 ;) )

@hurtwithabitofcomfort for also being crazy supportive through all the fandoms I've been through. I didn't get to shout 'em out last year since I wasn't active on Tumblr then, but they're the one who kicked off me getting back into writing in 2023. I know I didn't SHARE anything from 2023, but they made me see how much I loved writing again around that time when the rest of my life kinda sucked and I was giving up on everything.

@perpetuallylatetothefandomparty for their incredibly nice comments! Deadass, I probably would've just posted my first one or two fics of this year and disappeared for another year or two if they hadn't been such a constant presence this summer, hyping up all the gen fics I was working on then.

@voltrohgodwhat for being so easy to talk to and being the kind of friend where either of us can like... disappear for a month and still be totally cool with each other. Also for sharing WIPs that still haunt me on a weekly basis because they're so unique and good ;_;

@existwound for being too intimidatingly cool for awhile but STILL hyping me up. If you've liked anything I've posted in the past three months or so, you've probably got Astra to blame for brainstorming it with me, letting me ramble about it, giving me fresh ideas when I'm stuck on something, or hyping it up.

@langst for always yapping to me about Klance and ALSO hyping up my WIPs and letting me ramble about ideas. Also special shoutout to El because she got me back into writing sprints and that is the source of a LOT of this recent word count. There is something so special about getting to stomp people's asses as you write.......

I'm not gonna harass all the writers I like who aren't like... people I talk to regularly, but even though this has been a VERY light reading year for me, there's a whole little list of VLD writers who I read over and over and like... instantly got motivation to write on my own fics afterward. If you've been in any of my 2024 fic rec lists, it's you... you are my motivation....

(Also, I am OLD and don't have my incredible teenage memory anymore, so if you see me add someone to the shoutouts later, no you didn't and I'm SORRY for not remembering in the first place.)

And final thing! Goals for 2025!

500k written in 2025: Just a little above my daily average in 2024 when you account for the 5 months I wasn't writing this year. The goal is to keep up the pace I've had since June 2024, but extend it through the full 12 months of 2025. Might be a bit of a reach but hey, I'll be happy to get anywhere near 500k in a year, so it works!

Start posting In Love and Death by the end of 2025: I'm running SO behind on where I thought I'd be with this project when I started, but there is no excuse for this to not be close enough to finished to start posting by the end of next year. Mark my words.......

Continue posting work I love: I fell out of habitually writing the last time because I was writing based on what I thought other people wanted to read and holy shit, it is so much easier to write what I want to read. So I'm gonna keep doing that in 2025. In 2024 we moved between gen whump, semi-shippy whump, and shippy non-whump, and I enjoyed them all because that was what I felt like writing at the time. I'll slide between them all as I feel like it again in 2025.

Prioritize my mental health online: I've mostly gotten through it fine, but every burst of bad mental health that affected my writing this year was a direct result of continuing to follow people who are just plain assholes and ruining my mood for no good reason when I'm trying to enjoy scrolling my dash. In 2025, I'll be reminding myself more often that no one is talented enough to make up for being a dick, and I will be more brutal with the unfollow and block buttons for anyone who's making my fandom experience worse.

[beautifulpersonpeach]

Not gonna lie, this whole thing really sucks. I think I wrote a message awhile back about the very cool feminist angle of the Plus Global Auditions Invitation video, I'm an SNL Army and was new to watching kpop very closely and was so sold by that video. I thought - 'this company is really different.' Going public with a company f*cks a lot of things up, it happens all so often, and often it's the people and the ethos that gets messed up the most. It's frustrating to see this devolution. Because I was really excited by what MHJ was being given space to do at BH/Hybe. Though, as a fellow art school student, I am shaking my head and serious side-eyes at how she says things like 'I'm an artist, I don't know how to read contracts' (obviously I'm paraphrasing) - it's clear Hybe knows she's got the goods but she's not playing by their game anymore. The response and flood of crazy comments and hate at BTS is frustrating but expected, but just such a waste of time all the same. I've also never thought BH and then Hybe were super super smart and long-gaming everything (don't come for me Bangtan U fans) I think they were lucky and scrappy and skillful and making cool things happen moment to moment. Later on they got better at the strategic planning, sure. I don't know. They may need a good kick in the pants to remember that's what makes them great at what they do. But still, I hate the idea of MHJ being cooked even if she seems like a real pain in the tush to work with. Because technically, she's what got me to really buy-in to what BTS & BH were doing in the first place.

***

Yeah, it's a shitty situation.

To be fair, I think at the start, Bang PD was trying to do something different and 'forward-thinking' with HYBE. He sought out good talent going by the hires he did in 2019/2020, managing to onboard creatives like Min Heejin and Zico. Zico already incorporated his company to manage himself before Bang PD approached him, which is probably why he owns ~24.5% of KOZ - his sub-label in HYBE.

But with Min Heejin...

She had partnered with 250 - a popular DJ in Korea and NewJeans' main producer, since she left SM in 2018. He runs BANA (a creative collective) but she'd wanted her own label since the start.

Bang PD knew this, and wanted her for HYBE, so it's likely he made all sorts of promises to get her on board without awarding her a single share. Almost as soon as key creative decisions had to be made post-Global Plus audition, they both clashed, but HYBE as a company was less than 1 year old and it appears Bang PD and MHJ still had good relations... which was kinda easy since he still needed her creative output and wanted to see what she could do. So they let her make her own label: ADOR, and keep NewJeans even though according to Min Heejin, HYBE executives and Bang PD thought her concept and style of music for them would be impossible to sell to k-pop stans.

They expected NewJeans to fail or flounder. Instead, by 2023 NewJeans had become one of the top 5 most valuable k-pop IPs in Korea. If my guess is right, by that point she had no shares in ADOR, no agreement with HYBE's indefinite non-compete clause. She could walk anytime and I'm sure a lot of people wanted her.

Then HYBE approached Min Heejin with the shareholder contract to give her 20% of the company. It's a classic 'carrot and stick'. The carrot was easy to see. Apparently offered her the shares at a very low price, apparently Bang PD even lent her the money to buy it, for a valuation that HYBE considered more than generous, he was in her KakaoTalk chats buttering her up with those godawful emojis lmaooo. He was selling that shit hard. The stick in the contract was the poison pill which essentially tied her to HYBE for as long as they want her.

Perhaps she was aware of the pill and signed any way because at that point they still had good relations with Bang PD and HYBE in general. But according to her, Bang PD kept wanting more control over NewJeans the more successful the group became. Realizing she had to do something about the poison pill, she sought to negotiate, and as is typical in these sort of situations, you fight greed with more greed.

Asking to bump up the multiple on the options from 13x to 30x is frankly ridiculous. For a male CEO I can see it being considered... maybe, but for a woman? In Korea?

I'm sure when the other suits at HYBE heard that's what she was asking, at least one of them almost had a stroke. The logic is simple though: start crazy high and end.. just high. If HYBE was looking to exert more control over NewJeans (for example, every sub-label and group in HYBE changed to using 'bio-paper and ink' for their albums starting in 2023, to help HYBE meet their ESG targets. The only company that's not made the switch yet, is ADOR. Given how carefully MHJ controls branding and album design for NewJeans, I can see this minute detail being a massive thorn lol)... anyway, if HYBE was indeed looking to gain more control, the fact that they'd have to pay 30x if MHJ exercised her options on a whim, would serve as a very strong deterrent.

Given what I understand Korean corporate culture to be like, I doubt she had any friends in upper management to start, but with a demand like that, practically all of them would turn enemies in a heartbeat. It's the sheer audacity lmao. My guess is she would've eventually negotiated down, at least once she was assured real creative independence from Bang PD. But at some point, rather, quite predictably given this is corporate Korea, the need for control and the egos involved decided she had to be cut loose now and perhaps taught to not bite the hand that feeds her.

It's not a sentiment limited to the suits at HYBE. It's followed her since SM and the general public would hate it too, which is one reason I think it's only a matter of time before the narrative switches again to HYBE's favour. I promise you, most regular men in Korea would go red in the face, eyes bulging out their heads, drool and spit shooting out like projectiles, at the thought she would dare to demand such a thing. And in a way they'd be right. It's an insane amount of money for female creative in Korea, but I think given everything else, it also seems like a gamble she was taking as a means to an end. A simple negotiating tactic, given what she keeps highlighting as her main goal - unimpeded and full creative and managerial control.

Bang PD wants to build a 'forward-thinking' company comparable to Western conglomerate juggernauts like SONY and Warner Music, but I don't think these Korean men have the chops to do it right, just yet. I've had that impression of Bang PD for a few years now. He's been getting results, but they are inconsistent and he's got the biggest 'surety' in a sense with BTS, so he's been fine, and will continue to be fine for a few more years at least. But if they are messing up this spectacularly with their first female executive and one of their most valuable IPs, over... an options price negotiation?

And they want to pretend to be better than any other corp in Korea?

Lol.

Anyhoo.

I sympathize a bit with how you feel, but as a Korean woman, I guess I'm numb to it. There's a reason I've never chosen to work in that country, there's a reason why the birth rate is nearing the negatives. It's really unfortunate, and I'm sorry you're seeing a prior expectation you had getting blown up this way. And this latest hatefest on BTS has been quite ugly and isn't near done yet. This whole situation is gross, and even more so when the motivations behind it are so... banal and backwards.

But these are undercurrents that are too simple and boring for the average stan. Burning the witch who is responsible for masterminding the demise of a virtuous group is far more exciting. And so that's how the story will go.

I just hope that by some miracle, NewJeans turns out okay and manages to thrive after this. Because in all of this mess, they will deal with the implications the most and for the longest time.

[rookinthecrownest]

2024 Writing Round-up

Was tagged by the lovely @soupandsorcery ~! Just took me awhile to get to it hehe.

words posted: 47, 168

additional words written: well, that's kind of it...haha. I don't have anything else written right now :')

grand total of words: 47, 168

fandoms: dragon age

highest kudos: Bedtime Stories for a Demon, with 43 :)

highest hit oneshot: I haven't posted any oneshots yet to AO3 but this post of mine (a WIP from The Day the World Disappeared) has like ... 400+ notes somehow ... does that count?

new things I tried: Does writing in general count? :')

fic I spent the most time on: Probably my Rook in Fade Jail fic, The Day The World Disappeared. Thinking through the regret prison and trying to put my own spin on it has been...a challenge for sure.

fic I spent the least time on: The first chapter of Bedtime Stories for a Demon. I wrote that shit in a few hours in one night and posted it and the rest is history LOL

favorite thing I wrote: Yeah, I'm pretty damn proud of that first chapter of Bedtime Stories for a Demon despite spending the least amount of time on it comparatively.

favorite thing(s) I read:

To Write Love on His Arm - by ScribbleScrabbles; Alistair/Trevelyan fic. Absolutely incredible. Based on the premise that Alistair and Trevelyan have been communicating through marks on their arms since he was 14. So good it made me cry. My comfort fic I reread endlessly.

Murder of Crows - by @nightingaletrash, About Alessia De Riva, a bastard of King Fulgeno and her life in the Crows under Viago's tutelage. Really hooked me on the first chapter and her story seems so interesting. Excited to read more!

First Light - by absoluteTomFoolery. Probably the best Gale x Tav story I've ever read. Tav has such a unique backstory that blends in SO well with Gale's it's actually insane. God-tier level writing and plot development. This is THE Gale/Tav fic must read for anyone who loves that ship

writing goals for 2025: Ahhhh hmmm... I would say maybe improve the quality of my writing in general. I always feel like it sounds repetitive/stilted. Maybe plot out my stories/fics a bit more so I don't get stuck and write myself into a corner? Write more in general?

new works: I only have my 2 fics up on AO3 so far bc I'm new :') They're linked in this post if you want to read them.

--------

I'll go ahead and tag @novarunestone @dell-amor-te @thewardenisonthecase @juneiper-art @lightan117& @hawkeish but as always consider yourself tagged if you see this and want to do it :') No pressure as always <3

[sunnydayroleplay]

Hiya Jack! How are u! I missed you so much! Where have you gone?

Jack speaking, and here are your reminders sunspot!~

- If you're 18- DNI, this is a NSFW post and so is the game it is based off of. This is an 18+ community.

- Those under 18 interacting not only jeopardizes your own safety and well being , it jeopardizes mine, and the creators of the games.

- (As well as moral/ethics.)

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

! Sunshine Insider Information !

This post includes:

-Jack speaking/ Jack POV.

-Fourth wall breaking potentially??

-Wholesome :D

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

Hey sunshine! I've been as dandy as a sunflower in the summer! I missed you all so very much.

I've been all sorts of places, but one of them I haven't been to in awhile is well... here! Although I haven't been present for a long while, thank you all! Reading all your sweet messages and comments really remind me lots as to why I do what I do!

I also particularly enjoy reading all your requests and seeing what you come up with! However there are some...hm.. what's the word... concerning requests, I'd like to also remind you some basic ground rules. Ain't nothin' wrong with being a rule follower! It's good to be a leader, but sometimes it's better to be a follower.

Now, number on- I... hold on-

(insert comical searching sounds for stuff in tiny ass bag)

Language!

(my bad)

(insert comical searching sounds for stuff in tiny a██ bag)

Better- Oh! Here we go!

Ahem, here's a few thing's and rules I wrote down! Take notes my sunrises and sunsets.

Sunny Day Roleplay Rules and Reminders!

1. Please read the pinned comment and look at my boundaries there.

I'm tired of the amount of people who continue to disrespect my wishes and are actually trying to threaten me. I know I'm not the best writer/blogger, or the most popular, but the amount of people who ask me beyond inappropriate questions or make continuous requests to the point I have to block and report is unreal. I don't mean to be rude, but please. This is the main reason I had to take a longer break than last in the first place. I can't get things out as soon as you send them. And I cannot reply back to messages as soon as you dm them. I have a personal life too, my life does not revolve around this account.

2. CHILDREN DNI

I cannot stress this enough, the amount of literal ELEMENTARY school children I see following me or dmming my other SDJ accounts is unreal. At this point I don't even care if you're 13-14 (I do, but listen and don't twist my words) but if you're 9-12 on the internet talking with absolute strangers about NSFW shit? You need to put the iPad down and please go to bed. It's painfully obvious and it makes me and albeit a shit ton of people uncomfortable. Please, just stop.

3. To that one group of people. You know who you are.

Stop spamming me photos of James Corden on my twitter while I'm at work or sleeping. Thank you-

Uhm...Sunny?

What, Jack?

That amount of profanity is-

Have you seen what you partake in this account content wise?

But-

Exactly.

Anywho, that's going to be all for today! Have a happy, healthy sunny day, and be sure to eat well and drink water. And remember sunspot, I'll always be here for you.

[consult-johnhwatson]

Many New Beginnings

I hardly feel I deserve so many. Multiple times in my life have I made some truly, awful, mistakes. In the past I always found myself trailing after Sherlock, and being fulfilled in ways I never thought would be possible again after Afghanistan. The very first time I was caught up in the shadow that was Sherlock, I ended up following after him - after he continuously abandoned me! I might add - only to save his arse.

So, for a long time, our relationship was as follows; He might give me a vague hint on where he would dash off to next, I'd scurry to catch up, only to find if he would have waited for me or communicate with me, the situation would have went far smoother!

I'm not sure when it started changing, or originally. If I had to pin point, it might have been around the time we first got up close and personal with a Mr. Jim Moriarty.

Sherlock must have realized, the value in communication. Something that, on surface level we managed well. On a deeper level, you've all seen us struggle with ourselves emotionally. We only grew closer, until-

The fall, everyone loves to dub it.

I had fallen into such devastation by this betrayal of trust and communication, the only thing I felt I could once trust in Sherlock, I simply forgot that this man was suffering the same as I was. That he was completely alone for those two years as well.

Only, I wasn't truly alone. I met Mary, and I would not be here today without her. I know that. So would it be a crime when I say to keep it polite about her? I loved her and she was my life. Just as much as Sherlock is my life.

Sherlock forced me to accept his apology that day in the train, but it was as genuine as I can be. This anger's always been so hard to ignore, it would come out at Mary, and it's only grown over time. Sherlock would always try to communicate, he always spoke to me. Even if it was something so unbelievable, I trusted him. For awhile, he understood. He couldn't run off without me.

This was years ago still. I know it all started declining after... Well, Culverton Smith. I wonder if I properly wrote up that case, there was so much we would love to have forgotten. Sherlock and I.

I almost lost him, and not only by the hand of Mr. Smith.

Our relationship since, has been rocky at best. I never gave up, and in his own ways neither did he. Somewhere, we fell back into this dynamic. He runs off without me, and I let him. Neither of us would have been able to tell you who started it, but relationships are 50/50, you know.

When I finally had, so hesitatingly, just gotten this relationship? I wasn't prepared, but I'd have been out of my mind to not accept what we'd always worked on wanting.

Only to see him run off with Mr. Jim Moriarty, the man who single handedly started our path of love and destruction. The fall is a sore subject, a raw wound barely treated. I was so overwhelmed with - I wasn't there to protect him! - danger, betrayal, mistrust, lack of communication, all over again!

I said and did things that are unacceptable, and I'll be remorseful for them for as long as I live. This anger, I can't guarantee I'll get rid of it completely, and I've found I was in need of professional help in this regard. It may still come out, but I am working on this. We are working on this. I am working on making sure this will not be a repeated event; but this includes working on the communication between Sherlock and I again.

I stepped back to work on this, on myself, but now I am willing to open up and look back on this space. Where we can go forward, together, in this new time. I hope that, while it's not been a long amount of time, but two months away from this all has really helped thus far. I'm happy to be back here with you, and to grow by Sherlock's side once more.

[suddencolds]

3, 12, 13!! for asks

Thank you for the ask!!!! ❤️ These are really good questions, I'm excited 🥹

going to answer #3 last and under the cut because... my answer to it is 📜📜📜📜📜

12. a trope you’re really into right now

from a recent wip: a sick character feeling self conscious about their illness + wanting to hug the other character for comfort, but feeling a little too embarrassed to get too close... their love interest figuring this out and offering up that physical affection with utterly no reservation or hesitance :) ❤️

13. a fandom you’re thinking about writing for

I've enjoyed a lot of media as of late, but nothing has really caught my eye recently in the snz sense. I think it's been awhile since I've been properly into fandom? T.T that said, if anyone writes for Fr//ier//en or Om//nisci//ent Read//er's V//iewpo//int, I'll definitely read it🧎‍♀️

also! There's a book I'm reading currently where one of the characters is... 😵‍💫😵‍💫 (I need him to catch a cold expeditiously). But I'm only like 90 pages in... 360 left to see if he does something irredeemable that turns me off from him 🫡

3. how you feel about your current WIP

ohh my gosh... I'm going to talk about yvverse bc that's perhaps the most on topic for this blog 😭 (I am putting all of this under the cut; please do not feel pressured to read it)

to be honest, I've strongly considered never posting another installment for the series (even though I know—and have known for awhile now—how I want it to end). it's not out of any dislike for the series... actually, I feel like I've gotten (almost) everything I've wanted out of it? the last installment (AO pt2) is something that took a lot out of me... I can say now that writing it felt uniquely like I was putting my heart on the line. in short: 1) I am content with what I have; 2) I'm maybe disproportionately scared of ruining something I'm proud of; 3) writing this series has become quite lonely.

ultimately, I've asked myself many times: in choosing to end the series here, would I be claiming a personal victory, or would I just be prematurely giving up on something I still care deeply about? it's something I've gone back and forth on, that I feel uncertain about still.

when I posted FMT pt1 way back in January 2023, I didn't have any expectations for the series at all. but I think for a year and a half it became the thing I cared about most—it was my first proper attempt at a novel. it was also one of the first times I felt like other people cared about something that felt so deeply personal to me. I think when other people told me they liked it I felt like, I don't know. I felt really really happy, in a way I don't even know if I can properly articulate, and in a way that felt so wholly irreplaceable. I don't think I've felt like that since.

WIP-wise: I have written quite a lot that I don't know if I'll ever post: some of it directly after AO chronologically, some of it much later on. there's a small scene that I wrote that I might post on its own at some point, as a somewhat-detached mini-oneshot? I don't think I will ever post the series ending, but who knows? maybe something down the road will make me change my mind. :') (I am so sorry for using your ask as a jumping off point to unload these thoughts omg... I was thinking of never saying anything, of just silently letting the series sit unfinished. though, I'm not sure if this information is interesting to anyone 😭)

[ Fic Writer Asks ]

[moon-language-0]

10 Questions for Writers

wasn't gonna do this bc i thought nobody probably really cares about this stuff but since i got double tagged by @meidui and @sunnysideprincess here goes nothing:

1. how many works do you have on AO3?

32 and climbing!

2. what’s your total AO3 word count?

ugh i had to go into my stats to find this number (hate looking at stats) but to my surprise that number is a whopping 816,828! (if added to my ff.net word count that figure grows to 1,062,375 🤯)

3. what fandoms do you write for?

stony exclusively, though i opened up to the idea of writing for steve and/or tony paired with any mcu villain for marvel trumps hate, and now i'm writing a steve/loki (with steve/tony as endgame) fic that's more fun than i would've anticipated! (x) still wouldn't call myself a "multishipper," though -- more of a serial shipping monogamist ;)

4. do you respond to comments? why or why not?

i do! sometimes i'm a bit slow to respond for various reasons (e.g. when people angels comment on my WIPs i like to reply when/right before a new chapter drops), and on a few occasions i've belatedly encountered comments that i forgot to reply to (😱) that i'll immediately rectify, but i very much want to encourage people to keep leaving them. a single comment—even short/sweet ones!—can be like rocket fuel to my creative drive -- and as someone who finds myself running on empty and trying to get by solely on fumes from time to time, getting that boost in my inbox is truly priceless.

5. have you ever had a fic stolen?

not in whole but in part :(

6. have you ever co-written a fic before?

i don't even know how that would work!

7. what’s your all-time favorite ship?

currently steve/tony. once upon a time it was spock/kirk, and the flame burned so brightly that it troubles me to wonder how it ever managed to go out. i collected vintage zines. i made insanely thoughtful fanmixes (one of which i recorded onto cassette tapes one-at-a-time by hand through a painstaking process and distributed to a few like-minded folks, with hand-drawn cover art and liner notes!). i read AMAZING fic that changed my brain and yet i never wrote a single thing! i made a secret spacehusbands clubhouse underneath a pool table during one long and otherwise unhappy summer. i even made spirk-themed patches and pins that sold quite well on etsy, and turned one of my large back pieces into the central design of a fully decked-out jacket (which was made specifically to wear while loitering around disneyland while baked). here's some photographic evidence of all of the above:

8. what are your writing strengths?

smut-crafting is the obvious answer, but i flatter myself to think that i also manage to tap into a particular kind of haunted beauty that hovers about, casting its ethereal moon-shadow over all the most poignant relationships; something i've been obsessed with in life, that i'm compelled to pursue further in writing.

9. what are your writing weaknesses?

keeping it short. my punctuation can get pretty erratic sometimes. also, this might be a cop-out of an answer since it can be interpreted as a 'strength' but it really can throw me for a loop: i tend to let the characters tell the story 'they' want to tell rather than keeping a tight hold on the reins and sticking to my own agenda -- this can lead me off my intended course, for better or worse! as a storyteller i'm a bit of a pushover—always open to sudden inspiration wherever it might issue from—and steve and tony are such *strong* personalities that this openness can be a problem when i 'channel' them.

10. first fandom you wrote for?

harry potter. i was a bit of a snapewife for awhile there (don't judge). ff.net has been having some server issues so i recently logged back on to download my 245k unfinished epic from 2012, and found over a thousand people had left comments! some people were calling it a "masterpiece" and/or "the best fic [they] ever read [for that pairing]" which made me doubtful, so i skimmed over some of the story expecting it to be cringey but uhhh... it actually holds up? i mean, 2011/12 was quite a time for me: i was simultaneously finishing my thesis on "fandom, fanaticism, and religious fervor" and can recall having full-on religious experiences of my own while writing that [truly 'inspired'] fic, so i guess i was onto something after all!

some of these folks have already been tagged but i'm whispering a soft 'hello' into the ears of @carsonian, @soliloquent-stark, @pia-bartolini, @avengersnewb, @tinystark616 & all writers who aren't as averse to mirror-gazing as i can be

[call-me-copycat]

I'm so mad! I saved the ask sent to me, but it disappeared when I went to check on it! I do hope they know that I finished it, but now I'll make sure to screenshot every ask when I get them so this doesn't happen again!

Hello and thank you for your request! Please don't ever worry about being too much, I love writing complex stories, they're my favorite!

I'm very sorry this is so late, I've been rather busy for awhile, but lately I've been cranking out as much writing as I can! I sat down and wrote for 4 straight hours, so I'm sorry if it feels a little rushed!

Also, I don't know if it's okay with you or not, but I made it a little horror themed, it's not the main theme, but it's still there in case you didn't want that (๑////๑)

Please feel free to pop by and request whenever you'd like! It makes my day! (ृ´͈ ᵕ `͈ ृ )

♡ ••┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈•• ♡°°°♡ ••┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈•• ♡

Declaration of Distortion

Welcome! - Introduction and request rules (if you want me to write for you, or if you want to know who I am)

▶ Characters: Mentor Aizawa & Gender-Neutral Reader (platonic) + Shinso & GN Reader (platonic)

▶Genre: A little bit of horror+ some fluff sprinkled around

▶ Summary: A courageous reader with striking white wings and a powerful quirk falls victim to a malicious mushroom spore quirk. Along with many others, they are ruthlessly mind controlled and forced to battle numerous heroes, and their own mentor Aizawa, a formidable hero in his own right.

▶ Warnings:

- Some body horror if you think about it

- Unconsented Mind Control (Not Shinso)

- Decay/Rotting flesh (for a moment at the end)

- Blood/Wounds (Not too graphic)

- Paranoia/Mental Instability

- Infection due to process of a quirk

- Per the request, the reader has wings

- While there is no romance, there is still platonic love

▶ Word Count: 15,420

(The Mother of all my stories. My phone/Tumblr crashed a total of 13 times while trying to post this. In case you didn't know I only have a budget phone that works similar to a brick)

"Ready... Start!"

Upon hearing Eraserhead's signal, both you and Shinso lunged forward at the same time, fully content with the goal to bring the other down.

It was a muggy day, the clouds always filling the sky and casting their shadows over the little seaside town. Wet droplets of the previous night's rain still clung to the blades of grass that you all were training on.

Aizawa had recently taken you under his wing alongside Shinso, and had been training the both of you excessively for the past few weeks in order to prepare the two of you to join alongside him during patrol. He was being extra cautious, as he knew that underground hero work was much more hazardous and unpredictable compared to regular hero work, and he wasn't going to lose either of his students.

Worried for the both of your guy's safety, Aizawa wanted to implement extra training and taught you many techniques in case things were to ever go south, too filled with paranoia to recognize the signs of exhaustion the two of you were dealing with due to the extra work.

Watching the both of you train with stern eyes, Aizawa was beginning to notice large improvements, not just in one but in the both of you. Shinso no longer went straight ahead when fighting or throwing a punch, and you no longer tripped over your wings nearly as much as when you first began.

The wings were your entire quirk, and oddly enough you didn't really use them to fly (no matter how much you trained, you struggled to stay aloft), but they were rather a mix of offense and defense. Large and white, they had the ability to solidify into metal, creating a sort of shield to protect you and others if needed, and- in a similar manner to Hawk's quirk- the individual feathers had the ability to shoot off as projectiles. Although they weren't nearly as sharp at his, they still gave a nasty sting as they flew with the speed and force similar to that of a bullet.

Currently, Aizawa was having you both train on hand to hand combat without the use of quirks (although you didn't believe it was all that fair at Shinso was allowed to use his metal staff). The reason being Aizawa wanted to check up on the progress the two of you were making, wanting to determine the place you were at so he could adjust future training lessons accordingly.

As soon as Aizawa gave his order, Shinso lunged and swung his staff at you immediately, trying to catch you off guard. It was in vain however as you tilted your head to the side which made him miss, combined with the fact that you had to swerve your body to the side as well to dodge his additional kicks.

Frustrated, he swung his leg up at your head, and in an act of panic you grabbed onto his ankle to keep it from making contact. This in turn caused you to fall to the ground on your stomach as he lowered his foot, and you nearly got jabbed with his staff as he stabbed it down at you like he did earlier.

You went to attempt to stand up again, as it was commonly known that whoever was on the ground was most vulnerable. Shinso knew this as well, and fought to keep you down by putting his staff under your leg and flipping you over and onto your back so he could gain the upper hand, since if you were on your stomach then your wings would protect you and only serve to get in the way. Irritated, you tried jumping up onto your legs, only for your jump to be interrupted by him swinging his staff at your head, which kept your upper torso on the ground as you needed to dodge, while your legs were bent in a sort of crab-walk pose.

*Kind of like this (this is what I went off of)

Contorting your body so the staff wouldn't make contact (you knew from personal experiences that it hurt severely), you moved to the side as he lunged at you again with the staff, and this time you grabbed it to keep him from moving it. When he went to pull it out of your grasp, you clung on and used it to your avantage to get up from the ground again, the extra weight on the end of the staff causing Shinso to lose his grip. Throwing away the staff so Shinso couldn't get it, you looked directly at him (trying not to laugh at his exasperated expression), and the two of you went to lunge at each other again, but right before the either of you could get a hit in you both instantly halted as Aizawa blew his whistle, indicating he had seen enough and that the exercise was over.

You had both succeeded Aizawa's expectations, and so he decided that you two were ready to accompany him on his patrol. Although paranoia still clung to his thoughts, Aizawa knew that you were well trained enough to protect yourselves in case of an accident. He had seen the effort that you two put in when it came to surpassing his training checkpoints he made when it came to teaching the both of you, and he certainly wasn't going to turn a blind eye to the sheer exhaustion that you suffered since you were pushing yourselves.

On the walk back to the dorms, Aizawa began to explain what things you and Shinso should expect when it came time for the mission. As he listed off the numerous precautions and emergency procedures, you couldn't help but get lost inside your own mind, the beauty of the post-storm environment radiating a calm tone.

The sun was beginning to set as it was late in the evening, you all had been training together as soon as school was let out, and in a way you were grateful that the weekend was tomorrow (although you knew chances were you might end up training even more).

The golden rays of the lowering sun were making their way through the numerous plants and buildings that filled the UA campus, everything glittering with a lovely shine from surfaces that were still wet with drops that were caused from the recent storms that had been going on lately. Birds made their way overhead every now and then, and the air was quiet and calm, the only sounds filling the air being Eraserhead's monotonous voice and the light steps the each of you took.

You were currently balancing on the slightly higher edge of the sidewalk, hanging your arms out to the side in the shape of a "T" to help you balance further as you walked and listened intently to Aizawa speak. Shinso was walking beside you, grumbling to himself everytime your wings got in his face (you knew he didn't mean any harm- besides, you liked messing with the guy).

As Aizawa continued the mundane speech about hero safety and villain techniques to look out for, something he said caught your attention.

"- of course, a student isn't expected to completely fix the situation themselves, but it is worth noting that all student interns are given high expectations. Now that that's out of the way, let me explain the mission that we're going to be looking for."

Aizawa turned to look behind him at the two of you, face hardened and serious. The once light-hearted mood plummeted and took a more solemn face instead, and you hopped down from where you were standing, going beside Shinso.

"This case is more of a serious one compared to what the others are working on. Lately, I'm sure you've heard from the news about the numerous missing people, yes?"

Upon reviving two silent nods, Aizawa continued, arms crossed and fatigue pressuring him persistently.

"Now, we don't know anything about what these missing people have in common, only that they were by themselves and didn't arrive back where they were heading. Another thing they all had in common was the fact that they disappeared away from any witnesses and cameras, meaning that whoever is behind this knows what they're doing and is actively planning it out."

Shinso raised his hand, speaking right after Aizawa paused.

"When I saw that case on the news, didn't they say that all the victims had some kind of strong quirk? Maybe-"

Aizawa cut him off, shaking his head.

"Sorry, but that's just a rumor. Looking over each of their files showed that most had weak quirks, with only a small handful having semi-useful quirks. Some were even quirkless, so that crosses out that idea."

When you thought back on it, you realized that you had indeed saw a news report on this particular case, but it was so vaguely described that you didn't really see any difference in it from the other numerous cases that had happened in the past. Nothing really stood out to you, and you were surprised that Shinso had even paid attention enough to remember it.

"We thought it was a lost cause, with cases popping up randomly without pattern and without a targeted victim, it was nearly impossible to try and get close to solving it. But recently, a woman that had fallen victim to this mystery fortunately had a tracker implanted behind her ear since she was prone to wandering off because of her unstable mental state." Aizawa paused, letting you both take in the info since he was worried he was coming off too fast.

"So that means... We can track down the woman.." you began.

"And possibly find out where the others might be as well." Shinso finished for you.

"Bingo. Tomorrow, get plenty of rest during the day because we'll be starting as soon as the sun sets, and my work schedule is often unpredictable and can leave us working throughout the night and until the sun rises again. I'll explain what we'll be doing beforehand, and feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Better safe than sorry."

When you made you way back to the dorms, it finally hit you. You were finally going on your first mission tomorrow! Too filled with nerves and excitement, dinner was one of the last things crossing your mind as you went up to your room instead, politely greeting your classmates beforehand.

You stayed up most of the night contemplating on what might happen, and what things you might run into. Sleep was non-existent, and you wanted to make sure that you were mentally prepared and to especially make sure you wouldn't slow everyone down. Shinso and Aizawa were rather talented at keeping themselves hidden in the shadows, but you struggled to keep of up with their abilities at times, your wings that normally held you up high being the thing that slowed you down and limited your abilities.

With newfound determination, you took to the internet to look up how others in the world delt with their wings, as it was pretty common to run into someone with some type of them, always a little different from each other. You found a few online blogs that helped you understand the limits and anatomy of wings, but none that specifically stated how to sneak around with them. Regardless, you still were going to help in any way you could, and so all night you stayed up preparing.

It wasn't until an alarm went off on your phone that you realized it was morning, and when you went to open your curtains a bright stream of sunlight hit you directly in the eyes, cementing your realization. Since you spent all night awake, your body and mind were both exhausted from the intense training and lack of rest. After eating a quick meal and greeting your classmates once more, you finally succumbed to sleep, allowing yourself to fly away in the dark depths of your mind.

"Bzzt..."

"Bzzt..."

"Bzzt..."

Grumbling, you opened your eyes to be greeted with nothing but pitch black darkness. For a quick second, you almost went back to sleep as you thought you set your alarm incorrectly, only to immediately jump up at the realization.

A quick knock on your door further helped you remember what was planned, and Shinso's voice spoke up right after.

"Turn off your damn alarm, it's been going off for ages. Also Sensei said he wants you to get ready 'cause we're leaving in an hour."

And with that you concluded that he must have left, before scrambling for your phone to turn off the repeating tune coming out of it.

After getting into your hero outfit and grabbing your duffle bag full of supplies, you left your room and went down to the common room in search of Shinso. Once you made your way down there, you instantly saw Shinso and Aizawa both already there, Aizawa sitting on the couch and Shinso standing in front of him, both holding a conversation that came to a slow when you came into the picture.

Embarrassment rushed through you as you began to think that you were the last one finished and that they were both waiting on you this whole time.

"Sorry if I'm late, I didn't know we were supposed to get up earlier. It won't happen again."

Aizawa cocked an eyebrow, "You're not late? You and Shinso are both on time. That gives us enough time to prepare and possibly get some breakfast in the both of you since you're still children who don't just run on a stale cup of coffee like me."

Ah, that made a little more sense, Shinso must've just finished up a bit earlier than you did. You blamed your awkward conversation on your nerves, not knowing how to get them to calm down.

"I know a good shop around here that's still open, it's run by an old friend of mine, so he'd know why we're there since I've been going there before going on patrol or on a mission since I first started."

You and Shinso nodded again, and as you all walked out of the dorms Aizawa began to catch on to your nervousness. Leaning over so he could get closer to you, you noticed this and listened.

"You know, Shinso's just as nervous as you are. He just doesn't show it since he's worried about coming off as weak." Aizawa whispered to you in an attempt to reassure you. Your eyes widened at this and looked at Shinso who was walking ahead of you two, completely oblivious to the conversation.

"Don't worry about a thing, kid. I've seen you train, you'll be okay", Aizawa reassured, patting a firm hand on your shoulder before walking off to lead you all.

This news helped you understand that you weren't the odd one out, and your nervous thoughts calmed down a little upon realizing this.

After waking for a bit, you and Shinso were brought to a little food stand, being run by only a single elderly man. Upon noticing Aizawa and the two of you behind him, you noticed his face light up.

"Shota! How are you, my old friend?", Turning to look behind Aizawa, the man took a glance at you and Shinso standing behind him. "And who are these little ones that follow you like a duckling would to their mother?"

He had a warm, friendly smile, and didn't seem the slightest bit tired when compared to the dark night sky. Though he spoke with a bit of an accent, you found that he was still easy to understand.

"They're students of mine. We're going on a mission soon and they needed something to eat."

Once again, slight embarrassment caused you to warm as it sounded like Aizawa was referring to little children when speaking about the two of you even though he's seen the work you put in to train. Turning to Shinso, you noticed that he was unbothered, simply scanning the little sign that advertised all the foods that the man made with a look of disinterest.

"Oh, yes! Young ones need to eat, it's very important! I'll make something for them, know anything you'd like?"

"I'm good."

And with that, you followed Shinso and sat down next to him on a bench that was placed behind the food stand.

After getting some warm soup to fill your stomaches, Aizawa led you to his office at a special institute for underground heroes, seeing as he never bothered in getting an agency of his own even though he's been offered many times in the past.

Once you both arrived, Aizawa went over the plan with you and Shinso, trying to get you both as used to how things ran over there as a real underground hero as possible.

After about 20 minutes of going over the plan, the hour of prep time you had initially started with was almost up, and things had to be started soon.

The plan was set. Since missions normally don't get solved in a day (especially mystery ones such as the one you were assigned), the first day would typically be a simple search for any clues and witnesses, just gathering as much information on the topic as you can. The 2-5 days after will typically be when things start getting put together, and any days after that would be when direct action will take place.

This was a rough template to go off of as every mission is different than the other, but Aizawa needed to give you guys something to go off of for reference.

Aizawa had pinpointed the target's location of the lady that had the tracker implant, and found that she was in a cave of some sort, possibly since it would be a smart hiding place seeing as that cave in particular was deep and had been infamous in the past for getting people sick due to the mold and mushroom spores that filled it.

With this newfound information, you three geared up and trecked to the forest, minds sharp and clear, ready for anything that was thrown at you.

It was quite a walk there, and by the time you reached the forest your legs were starting to feel a bit sore, but nevertheless you continued on, pushing past overgrowth that tickled and scratched at your legs.

Aizawa was walking in front of you with the tracker in his hand and was focusing intently on it while his other hand pushed the meddlesome plants to the side as he walked. Shinso walked to the side of him, trying to do what he can and show off any skills of his, although all that the two of you could do at the moment was simply walk and follow.

Watching Aizawa for any signs of being near the location, you both came to a stop when he did, looking around for any signs of a cave. Despite looking around, all you saw was lots of plants and other undergrowth, and not the slightest sight of any cave nearby.

You saw Aizawa do the same thing, look around and shake his head in confusion. He turned around and walked back to see if he missed anything, you and Shinso following obediently. Aizawa shook his head again, muttering to himself as he turned around as walked back again, this time Shinso spoke up.

"What's the matter?"

Aizawa stopped and sighed, turning the tracker towards the two of you. Looking at the blinking dot and the one that indicated you three, it seemed as though you had already reached the cave. Looking up, you still didn't see any signs of a cave nearby, and now worry was starting to eat away at you.

Aizawa grumbled, "I don't know if it's bugged or if someone purposely messed with it. If we don't find anything then we'll have to go back."

Your stomach dropped when he said that. You had been looking forward for this mission for the longest time, and now there was a possibility for it to end before it even started?

Seeing the other two begin to make their way back, you panicked and tried catching up to them. However, your wings weren't fit for the forest as it was dense with growth from the recent storms that had been happening lately.

Your wing got caught up on a vine, and the thorns caught onto it further as you tried pulling it away. Tugging with all your might, you ripped your wing free, only to fall flat on your face, sliding a bit from the tugging.

Aizawa and Shinso heard the commotion and turned to see you fall, rushing to go help. Trying to stand up and not get any further entangled, you stepped back from a cluster of sticky plants, only to feel a dip behind you, sending you falling backwards as you were on the top of a slope.

A little like that ⁠(⁠･⁠◡⁠･⁠)⁠/

You heard Aizawa and Shinso shout your name, sliding down skillfully after you so they can help. You slid on your back, hardening your wings so they'd protect you as you continued down the slope. The ground was still damp, and the wet soil and plants made a perfect mixture for sliding a long ways down without stopping.

You finally slid all the way down into a sort of ditch that had stagnant water sitting on the bottom, but luckily for you the numerous plants that swallowed the bottom of it protected you from the water and provided a soft cushion for you to fall onto.

Landing upside down, you struggled to get back up onto your feet as your hardened wings stuck into the wall of the trench. Tugging them out, you finally managed to sit up into a crouch. You heard Aizawa and Shinso calling out to you, and just as you were about to call after them, something in the trench caught your eye.

There was an oddly shaped cluster of plants on the wall of dirt, and nowhere else. You would've brushed this away normally, but maybe since the adrenaline was still coursing through you it made you extra alert.

Standing up and patting the dirt and crushed plants off of you, the reached over and hesitantly pulled at the plants, only to see that they were purposely tied and braided together to create a net or mesh to cover something when you took a closer look.

Now confident that something was up, you pulled off the net cover, and found the entrance to a large opening in the wall. You had found the cave.

Looking behind you, you shouted to the other two, "Guys! I found it!". You wanted to run towards them, but stayed since you didn't want to lose track of the cave.

Aizawa was the first to shout, "Found what?!"

Behind him, Shinso was panting as he slid down the rest of the slope next to Aizawa, careful to not accidentally fall into the ditch like you.

They made their way to where you were, and Aizawa skidded into the ditch where you were without hesitation, immediately going over to you and checking you over for injury. Shinso slid in a little more hesitantly after Aizawa, and went over to you to flick you on the forehead.

"Idiot. Only you can slide down a hill and into a wet ditch."

You rubbed your forehead, then remembered and gestured to the opening you found.

"Look! "

"What is it?" Shinso asked jeeringly.

You huffed a bit, not in the mood to deal with his teasing.

"It's the cave! I found it, so we don't have to go back!"

Aizawa silently approached the entrance, and looked down at the tracker to see that the dots perfectly aligned this time. He rubbed the back of his neck, still a little apprehensive due to the glitch out that happened earlier.

"I don't know... How would we know that this is the right cave? We don't have any proof..."

You picked up the tied plant mesh and gestured for Aizawa to take it from you.

"I found this covering the front so it would be better hidden.."

Aizawa looked closer at the plants, and found truth in your words. He handed it to Shinso so he could learn from it, to which he just muttered "Huh, you did find it".

Aizawa grabbed the small bag he had brought along with him, and pulled out three different sized respiratory masks that had facial guards, as well as three headlights that went on the top of the masks.

You each took a mask and put it on, along with attaching the flashlight to your heads and walkie talkies to your waists. Gloves were also given to protect your hands anything dangerous in the cave, and so if the police needed evidence then your DNA wouldn't be on the scene.

Taking a deep breath to calm your nerves, you looked at the entrance of the cave, dark and menacing, as though it was an open mouth waiting to swallow you down it's throat.

Aizawa patted your shoulder, and when he saw that it didn't calm you down very much he did something he normally wouldn't do; he held out his hand and let you hold it for comfort. He didn't want to baby the either of you, but something about the look of fear and panic across your face made him feel a little bad and made him worry that he was starting you both off a little fast.

With Shinso on one side and you on the other, the three of you turned on your lights and began to descend into the open cave.

As you delved deeper into the cave, you noticed your worry went away bit by bit as you began to see how pretty the cave looked on the inside. Glowing bugs sat across the roof of the cave and shimmered as each bug would flicker their light, and you took notice of the numerous glowing mushrooms that lit up the cave in a hazy purple glow.

You tried letting go of Aizawa's hand as you felt a little more confident, only to immediately grab it back as you worried you had lost them for a second. He squeezed your hand in response to let you know you were okay, and you tried your best to be as useful as you could, just like you wanted to earlier yesterday.

You all eventually walked into a rather open area of the cave, filled with the glowing purple mushrooms that made it nearly useless to have your flashlights. With the light helping him see everyone, Aizawa let you and Shinso walk around to look for any clues you could find. Unbeknownst to the two of you, he was on high alert as he sensed something felt extremely off. He couldn't scrape away the feeling from his mind that something wasn't right, and so he wanted to make sure you were safe.

You walked around, marvelling at the little puddles of water and stalactites, making sure not to touch anything that wasn't a clue. You walked around and looked behind the edge of another opening in the open area, trying not to walk too far off so Aizawa could still see you.

You looked around and shined your flashlight wherever you could, and upon seeing a ripped green sweater your blood ran cold. Shaking, you ran the flashlight up the sweater and saw other pieces of ripped clothing and small drops of glowing purple liquid surrounding the whole thing.

You felt nothing but fear as you stood there, chilled to the bone as the thought of an actual threat made its presence. With trembling arms and frozen blood, you still moved the light further over the scene, and what you saw made your breath hitch and every thought in your mind stilled. For a split second, time was non-existent, frozen just like the blood that ran through your veins. You felt weak, like a small child. You forgot everything. Where you were. Your quirk. Your training.

Everything was forgotten in the frozen second as true fear hit you for the first time. Because what you saw was the woman, unconscious and bruised, but alive. And next to her, a man with glowing purple mushrooms clinging to his skull, eyes devoid of emotion and pupils, instead the only thing in his eyes was a bright glowing purple that seemed like nothing but two empty holes that sat on his face. His clothes were tattered, much more than the lady's, and he stood with a crouch, like a beast of sorts. His mouth was agape, constantly in motion of slight opening and closing, as if an internal hunger always gnawed at his mind, even when he was resting.

And when you made eye contact with him (it?), that seemingly empty head of his bursted with action as he lunged at you with a likeness of that of a loaded spring, as if he was waiting for his next victim to come across his territory. He had moved faster than your mind could comprehend, and still it didn't help that your legs were frozen and your mind was full of fog.

It was only when his chilled fingers scraped against your mask that you began to move. You threw yourself back and tried to scream for help, only for the man to grab your throat and throw your head against the wall, letting go only to let you slide down as warm pulsing pain shot throughout your head.

You clutched your head in pain, and the man lunged for you again, grabbing your ankle and sliding you towards him, hungry mouth still moving and empty purple eyes looking for another pair to join his. Fear moved you this time, and although you were too panicked to think properly, you still had the energy to try to move yourself back and away from the thing antagonizing you.

Everytime you tried to get up he would just try to grab your mask, so you stayed on the ground and tried scooting back to where Aizawa and Shinso were. You couldn't use your wings on the ground, as that was one major downsides of your quirk.

Deciding that you needed to get out of there, you tried to throw yourself up and run out, but as you attempted to jump up the man threw his weight at you, slamming you down again, this time coming at you with a large rock in his hands.

Seeing his empty eyes and dead emotions, you looked up in pure terror as tears ran down your face, the thought of death consuming you. He slammed down the rock on your mask, cracking and breaking it, and you snapped. If you were going to die, then you'd take the risk. You screamed out as loud as you could, screaming with your throat until it was raw and sore, begging for help with all you had in your lungs.

Aizawa and Shinso weren't too far away, and so when they heard you scream they immediately thought of nothing else but getting to where you were. Every part in their bodies was on high alert, and Aizawa noticed you weren't in the same open area anymore, cursing himself out for not paying better attention to you. Every thought coursing through his mind was only you, you, you.

He thought back to earlier, about the scared student who had to hold his hand in order to make it into the cave, about the student he had been training and worrying about for so long.. Now, all his fears and worries were coming to life, much to his horror.

Aizawa heard you scream again and followed where it was coming from, giving a quick signal to Shinso to follow. He ran behind one of the turns and came across a sight that would most likely burn into his head for a long time.

He saw a man crushing a large rock into your mask, and knew that once the mask was gone then that would be your skull. Rage filled his mind, and he saw nothing but red as he lunged his scarf at the man with more violence than needed.

Aizawa completely wrapped the man in his scarf and swung him into the cave walls with crushing force, before tugging the man towards him and landing a solid punch directly to his face then harshly kneeing him in the gut. The man was beyond unconscious after this, and the largest glowing mushrooms atop his head had fallen off in combat while the smaller ones were still clinging to him. His nose was definitely broken, and Aizawa was sure he might've accidentally broken his ankle when swinging him, but he didn't care as he believed it was well deserved.

Wasting no time, Shinso ran over to you after the man was taken down, and Aizawa joined him. Aizawa pulled out his first-aid kit, wiping down and bandaging a deep gash across your arm, and pulled out a smaller temporary respiratory mask, replacing the mangled one immediately.

You were conscious at least, but you were still stuck in a state of shock, not comprehending what was happening. Shinso laid your head in his lap as Aizawa cleaned a cut on your head, wiping some tears as the medicine stung.

"You did good, kid. You did so very good. Let's get you out of here, okay? "

Aizawa looked to you for a response, worry filling his mind as he mentally beat himself for taking his eyes off of you. It wouldn't happen again, ever.

"C'mon kid... I need a response.. something, even a nod.."

You were still trembling in Shinso's arms, but this time you attempted a nod, immediately regretting it as a burning pain shot through your head. Still, Aizawa got it and took it as a signal to get you two out of there. He wrapped the man up with extra rope that he had on hand so he could have his scarf back, and checked the lady for a pulse, relieved upon finding a steady one and minimal bruises.

He marked the coordinates of where the two were, and called the police so they can handle the rest. For now, Aizawa was only concerned about you, and carried you out with Shinso walking by his side.

The police quickly made their way to the coordinates given to them, and as Aizawa tended to you on the slope above the cave, Shinso let him know that he saw police officers arriving. They apprehended the man, and decided to send him to the hospital for treatment for his broken nose and ankle. As they were dragging him out of the cave, you noticed that his eyes weren't purple anymore, probably since he had a quirk cancelling bracelet on.

He was awake again, and this time he yelled in anger and desperation that he didn't do anything as the police tied him up for the hospital. It disgusted Aizawa, to have seen him try to murder his timid student right in front of him and then try to claim innocent.

Yes, Aizawa was used to villains and criminals doing this all the time, trying to say they didn't do something they very clearly did before, but this time was different since it was a direct attack on someone he cared about.

As you watched the man get taken away, you couldn't help but notice how heavy your eyelids seemed, as though they were weighted drapes trying to close. This was accompanied by a warm and painful throbbing that seemed to push against your skull, the adrenaline wearing off and letting all the pain you endured loose.

Eventually your world went dark, although you couldn't tell exactly when it did, as it just happened at some point in time. While asleep, you felt warm and fuzzy, as though the darkness surrounding you was a hug that enveloped you entirely in its kindness.

Simply drifting through the darkness, you let it's familiarity carry you wherever it wished without care. The edges of your sleep began to fade, and as your slumber began to deteriorate you heard an unknown voice ring out from the vast darkness.

"Please... p-please.. I w-want to go home..."

It was an unfamiliar voice, one that sounded timid and scared, and upon hearing you wanted nothing more than to help whoever was attached to it.

As you turned and tried to reach out your hand to help, the final borders of your sleep wore off and you woke up.

Blinking open your eyes, the first thing you noticed was the light. When you passed out it was still pitch black. The light was muted and soft on the eyes, coming from a single window to your left that was covered with curtains.

I hope that helps, I'll be using this setup a lot for future stories! (⁠ ⁠ꈍ⁠ᴗ⁠ꈍ⁠)

Your brain was still rather foggy from waking up, and your whole body ached from overwork and the attack.

Right... The attack...

You started remembering things little by little, struggling a bit extra for some reason as your mind was refusing to cooperate with you. Blinking a bit more, you looked around to distract yourself from the pain, nearly jumping out of bed upon seeing Aizawa's sleeping form sitting in an uncomfortable-looking chair that was placed right next to your bed.

Seeing all the machines in between you two and the white walls, you decided that you must be in a hospital or at least something similar. Looking down, you realized that you were in a hospital, as instead of seeing your hero outfit you saw it was replaced by mint green hospital gown.

Now that you knew you were in a hospital, you started to wonder why you were there. Was it the hit to the head you took? The gash on your arm? You hadn't the slightest clue.

"Oh, you're awake now?" Startled, you turned around upon hearing Aizawa's classic fatigued voice, and saw that he was awake- albeit looking a little tired (since when had Aizawa ever looked completely awake?).

"How're you feeling, kid? That was a nasty hit you took.." Aizawa gestured towards your head with his eyes, and you felt around your head in confusion, wincing when your hand came in contact with the bandages that were wrapped around your still sore wound.

"Maybe.. don't touch it.", Aizawa offered, gently grabbing your hand to lead it away from your wound. "It's still healing, but Recovery Girl can come over and speed it up for you."

Feeling a little nauseous and sore, you still asked "how long have I been asleep?"

"You passed out in my arms last night. You were brought over to this hospital by ambulance, and I rode with you to make sure you be okay. I guess I fell asleep alongside you."

Looking at nothing in particular, you squinted your eyes at the blank white sheets in front of you, pain beginning to rush through your system just as it had done the night before.

"You need me to get a nurse?"

You simply shook your head a little, the warm throbbing degrading your thought processing from taking place, the only thought in the head being that you wanted nothing but the pain to go away.

Soon enough, a nurse came by and administered you some pain medication and the pain was quickly soothed away, finally allowing you to rest.

Sighing in content, you leaned back in your bed, body and mind still exhausted from the weeks of intense training and the attack on the mission.

A knock brought both of your attention to the door, and a nurse opened the door to allow Shinso in, shutting it once he was fully in the room.

He walked over to where you were laying, you having went back to closing your eyes after seeing who it was due to the fatigue taking control of your worn-out body. You heard him sigh and some rustling as well.

Curious, you opened your eyes the best you could to see Shinso reaching into his backpack and bringing out a plastic bag that looked like the one you'd get from a convenience store, before wearily placing it on the table next to your bed.

It seemed that Shinso was just as tired as you were, the mission having taken up most of his energy and worry taking up his night as well, making it a fight just to get to the hospital to check up on you.

"I thought I told you to stay home for the day, why're you here?" Aizawa asked Shinso, with no real bite to his tone.

"I wanted to check up on them... Also got some snacks for while they're here.." Shinso replied while motioning to you laying in your hospital bed, fatigue and exhaustion resonating through his voice. As you looked at him it seemed as though he was struggling to purely stand up, swaying lightly from side to side.

Aizawa huffed out a bit, "you're exhausted, kid. You can talk a bit but I'm sending you home right after, okay?"

Upon receiving a curt nod from Shinso, Aizawa excused himself so he could go get a coffee from the vending machine down the hall, still tired himself.

So many worries flew across his mind, what was supposed to be a simple learning mission turned into an unpredicted attack and with one of his students ending up in the hospital, even though they were under his watch.

Aizawa had checked with the police to see if they got any info out of the suspect, but they just reported he was stubborn and denied everything that was asked of him. Regardless, he was put in prison after a quick trial deemed him guilty. Although... Aizawa couldn't help but believe that the mission went a little too fast, that it was almost a little too easy (minus your condition).

Upon making his way back to your hospital room, he noticed you and Shinso both fast asleep, with you slouching down from where you previously sat, and Shinso who was seated on the only chair that Aizawa had been sitting on earlier, resting his head in your lap on his crossed arms.

Chuckling to himself, Aizawa went over to the window and peeked out over the city for a second, just for the view, before going over the small couch that sat in front of your hospital bed, folding his arms and resting similar to the two of you.

• • • • •

After that, Recovery Girl made her way to the hospital that you were situated at and used her quirk on you to speed up your healing. After another day of rest, you were finally released from the hospital at the end of the same day you were healed.

Although it was the end of the weekend and school was to start the next day, Aizawa instructed you to stay at the dorms and rest until you felt fine enough to go back to school. With all the rest and recovery you had gotten to do in the hospital, you attempted to head to class as soon as the week started. However, you were promptly stopped by Shinso, who had been sent by Aizawa to make sure you stayed and rested for at least a day, especially since it'd be beneficial for Shinso to stay for a rest day as well to get his energy back up.

"Look, I don't want to be here, either."

Shinso had told you while you crossed your arms and refused to look at him, slightly bitter that your friend would go against you. You didn't mean anything serious as it was all mainly for show, and Shinso knew this, it showed by the smirk that he had on his face.

"Then why're you here? Why bother stopping me?" You rebutted.

He just smiled further, leaning back into the common room's couch cushions as he answered.

" 'Cause... First of all; I'm tired as hell, there's no way I'd make it through a school day, even if I wanted to or not."

Looking over at you this time, he continued.

"And second; free day. Even better that it's Aizawa Sensei that gave it to us, he rarely does stuff like that. "

You grumbled, but didn't argue back as you had nothing to state. You supposed he was right, but still, you wanted to be back in class.

After waiting patiently, your perseverance was rewarded with finally being able to go back to school again, and you were a little relived that things were finally getting back to normal.

You went through your day like normal, going to classes, doing your work, eating lunch, talking with your little friend group, and so on.

Only, something felt... Off.

You couldn't put your finger on it no matter how hard you tried to trace where the source of the feeling was coming from, but you knew it was there.

It started the same day you were allowed to go back to school, now at night, as you and Tokoyami did the dishes for your classmates, Mina trying out one of her "foolproof" dishes of hers in the background. It was a calm, quiet night, one that normally was something you'd look back on to calm yourself when doing something nerve-wracking.

That's when you heard it.

"ple-please... light... I can-cant't take it anymore..any-anymore.. "

Startled, you paused your washing and looked around at your friends to see if anyone had said anything. You just saw Mina whining over her spilled food, Iida helping out Ojiro with his notes, Denki and Sero playing a racing game in the common room... Everything looked fine, but you couldn't shake off what you had heard.

"Everything alright? You look a little pale.", Your friend, Tokoyami stated, now also having paused his washing to look at you with concern. He had seen you stop washing and swivel around without warning, eyes darting around your classmates rapidly- liked a crazed animal.

"O-oh, yeah, I'm just feeling a little tired. I-I think I should head to bed soon.", you lied. You didn't know how to tell Tokoyami your concerns without sounding like a maniac.

He looked at you once again, not fully believing you, still giving you a polite nod regardless as you caught on to his disbelief.

"Well... You had better rest up then. Have a nice night.."

You gave a nod of understanding as you caught on to his doubt, and went to the elevator to go up to your room. As you watched the doors close, you suddenly felt a chill going up your spine, and tremors shook your body. You couldn't for the life of you find out what was wrong. Cold chills wracked your body, climbing from your fingers and toes up to your torso and eventually claiming the rest of your body, and nausea made itself known even though you knew you hadn't eaten anything odd.

Paranoia began to claw at your thoughts. Was it an infection from the wound on your head? Or the one on your arm? Did you overwork yourself, should you have stayed at the dorms for another rest day?

As these thoughts and worries began to distract you and cause you extra anxiety, you were caught off guard by another voice again. This time it caused you to completely black out as it spoke, and your mind seemed to fill with fog.

"I... can't... breath... I-I don't... I can't... I n-need to... to..."

To?

"My-my... daughter... please...she's sick..."

You don't have a daughter though, so who is this?

"I'm sorry I ... couldn't help... I-I'm sorry I.. l-lost..."

Who lost? What'd they lose?

"I... I-I wanna... go home..."

...

So many crying, broken voices tore their way into your mind. Drilling through the little cracks they caused, they ripped apart your very being with their sorrow, all the voices blending together to create a somber harmony of the broken that cried for their freedom, that grieved for their losses, that worried for their loved ones.

It hurt, hearing these voices cry out and plead for help, just as you had done when you got caught up in the attack. These were the kind of voices that had nothing to offer, but everything to lose. The kind to cry out when pushed into something they didn't wish to be a part of. The kind that was actively losing their energy, but still begged in hopes of getting a response.

And you wanted to be that response. But you couldn't move, your body was frozen in place as the voices begged for action, and you were chained in place of you subconscious as they each bombarded you with their melancholy and pain.

You don't know when, eventually the voices stopped when you felt a tapping sensation on your head. Finally being able to open your eyes, you were relieved to be in control of your own body again. You met eyes with a worried Shinso who was standing in front of you, and you realized that you had at one point gotten off the elevator on your floor right before zoning out. He was shaking you slightly, left hand holding your shoulder, the right gently tapping your head.

Once you moved your eyes, Shinso let out a sigh, his panic alleviated now that you were back again. You turned to him, still a little foggy about what had just happened.

"Geez!... What on Earth were you daydreaming about?! You were standing there for like a solid 10 minutes, not moving an inch." He was exhausted and exasperated, confused as to why you weren't acting yourself.

You felt frozen all around, but still worked up enough energy to force yourself to muster a simple yet stiff "sorry.."

Shinso rubbed the back of his neck, still a bit freaked out, but now feeling a little guilty over his freakout once your pathetic response hit him. "It was kinda freaky if I'm being honest .. but I'm glad your back. Just, don't pull that again, okay?"

You attempted to give a nod, but seeing how stiff and frozen you felt it was barely noticable. Shinso noticed something off with you, and his suspicion rose again at your weird behavior.

"Something wrong? You're not really acting yourself.."

For some reason, the fog in your brain clouded the thought of telling Shinso about the weird event that had just taken place, and you only recited what you had told Tokoyami earlier, before stiffly walking off to your room.

He knew something was wrong, but Shinso decided to chalk it up to just you being anxious after the attack, as HoundDog had told him that students normally act odd for awhile after their first missions and attacks, as they're still preparing themselves and aren't used to the daily amounts of stress that heroes typically go through. As much as his inner conscious screamed at him to not ignore it, Shinso didn't want to make matters worse by trying to fix something he knew almost nothing about, so he decided to let you have your own space for some time.

That night you struggled to grasp even the tiniest threads of sleep, an intense battle between mind and body. Your head grew foggier with time, and you would constantly switch between feeling cold and numb to hot and burning. Not a single scrap of peace and recollection graced you with its presence, no matter how much you fought to collect it.

You were always in a state of motion, flipping and floundering in your bed, trying to make yourself comfortable enough so you could possibly go to sleep. As more time passed your mental state began to crumble, coherent thoughts and logical beliefs disappearing as the heavy fog claimed more and more of your mind. Until eventually you were just a cold, empty-headed version of yourself, still confused and now scared for what small remains of your mentality remained.

You made a silent promise to yourself that you would definitely get Aizawa's help in the morning, as you eventually passed out from sheer exhaustion.

The morning sunlight that hit your eyes and the singing of birds that met your ears seemed a little... too calm. At least when compared to what you went through last night. Speaking of, as much as you tried to remember everything that went on last night it just wouldn't come to you. You fought and struggled, eventually going out with a sigh before you went to get ready for the day. Bits and pieces still clung to your memory, but you could only recall tiny fragments at a time. Still, you held onto those pieces with as much mental strength as you held so you could reassure yourself in the future.

Sitting in bed, you braced yourself when you slid out and stood up, only to become confused in the process when nothing came at you. No dizziness, or numbness, or heat flashes. Nothing. Well, nothing but the mind fog that still gripped your mind with an iron fist. It felt odd, because on one hand you felt great, no random back pains or headaches or morning fatigue, nothing. But that's the other hand, as you didn't feel yourself in the process. You moved simply because your muscle memory of your morning routine kept you going, and you felt as though you couldn't force a single new thought to appear in your own head.

For once, your mind was silent. Empty and vast, with little bits of your personality desperately holding on to what they can.

Of course your classmates noticed something was wrong, as you wouldn't just go silent on them so abruptly and without a meaning behind it. But, they understood your kind nature, and they understood that you most likely needed some time to yourself after the attack. Shinso could only describe the situation to the best of his ability, and even then, that was enough to invoke a sense of horror to your normally upbeat classmates.

And so that's why nobody said a thing. That's why not a word was said when you didn't fill in your notes during class, that's why nobody went to check on you when you didn't grab your lunch and instead sat at a table zoning out, and that's why nobody tried to interfere with you when you hadn't spoken a single word all day.

Except for a few, that is.

Shinso had gone up to you during lunch, and attempted to get you to eat.

Gently pushing his lunch tray so it was a little closer to you, he motioned for you to take something.

"You not hungry?.."

You sat there, eyes wide and soulless, and gave him nothing but a simple shrug before letting your shoulders sag down again. You wanted to say something, but you didn't know what. You couldn't know, it was like trying to come up with an answer in math class to a problem you couldn't solve. You hadn't even the slightest clue as to what to say, mind too heavy and foggy.

"C'mon..." He nudged you with his elbow, trying to cheer you up with a little smile of his. It quickly fell from a lack of response.

Sighing, he just scooted closer to you and ate his lunch in silence, getting increasingly worried about your abstract behavior.

After that, Present Mic tried to entertain a smile onto you after English class, telling some of his favorite jokes and stories, often laughing at himself (though it was mostly to try to help crack a smile out of you).

He just smiled a with a saddened expression in his eyes and patted you on the shoulder as you walked off to your next class, his smile dropping and turning to a gloomy sigh when you were out of view. Truly, he was worried when any of his students were down in the dumps or just plain sad, and it was a natural instinct of his for him to try to get them to cheer up again.

The whole day seemed to pass by in the blink of an eye for you, going from waking up to hearing the last bell ring for the day. You felt even foggier than normal and now it seemed as if your head was actually the same weight at a chunk of lead, struggling to stay awake, let alone keep up with everything going on.

Everyone filed out of the class, calmly chattering to their friends, while you still sat calmly at your desk. That's when you felt it. A similar snap that felt like the one from earlier when you were about to lose everything in the attack.

You knew you couldn't go on like this, and so you forced your way through the thick and heavy fog, standing up on wobbly legs and stiffly made your way to Aizawa's desk. It felt almost as if you could collapse any second, but you weren't going down without a fight.

You knew it had something to do with the cave. It felt like a puzzle left uncompleted, the photo never making itself known. Something somewhere was screaming in the depths of your head with all its might to go back to the cave. That the answer was there.

Aizawa looked up from the papers he was grading, noticing you stop next to his desk and just look at him with large, blank eyes. Aizawa's an observant man, of course he knew you weren't acting yourself. He was actually going to question you about it at the end of the day when he was finished with everything just to make sure nothing behind the scenes was going on. He understood the difference between being sick, being in shock, and then being whatever it is you were dealing with. But, to his surprise, you beat him to it.

"I...", You started, voice timid and airy, a stark contrast to how it normally was. You grew frustrated, not realizing why it was so difficult to get your words out. It was like trying to run underwater, as if you were forcing yourself though something thick and vicious holding you back, forcing you to struggle against it. How did it get to this?

You met eyes with Aizawa, and instantly you knew that he somehow understood. He may not have known what was going on exactly, but somehow he understood you were struggling with your words, with your mind and so on.

"I... ", You started again. "I... feel.. funny. " After a quick pause, and a nod from Aizawa, you continued. "The... Cave. We need... To go again..." This time his eyes widened slightly, and you knew you probably caught him in surprise with that.

"The cave?" He asked, voice gentle on comparison to his stern monotonous tone that he normally uses with everyone that. "Why? To check again?"

"Yes... The... Cave. The cave. I can't- just... please..."

That's all you could muster, all the energy seemingly evaporating right from you. Nothing more would come out no matter how much you fought, and so you just hoped that he agreed.

Aizawa looked down to the ground at nothing in particular, seemingly thinking about his decision. He looked around, then back at you before sighing and leaning back in his chair. The cave... Why'd you have to want to go back to the cave? There had to be a reason, you were terrified of it...

After much mental deliberation, Aizawa nodded his head a bit, looking back at you again, deciding on just trusting your word. You were an honorable student, you got good grades, were kind to everyone, and never really went out of your way to break the rules.

"The cave... Alright. " As much as the fog consumed your mind, you still had enough energy to have your eyes widen in surprise. "We'll go back, check and do some inspections, but I can't promise we'll find anything, kid. If we don't then we'll just have to call it a day, alright?"

Giving a stiff nod, your hope grew.

Later that night, Aizawa couldn't help but feel that something for horribly off with the whole situation. Nothing seemed to add up, and if anything it just made him ask more questions rather than answering any of the ones he had beforehand. He was worried, not only for him and his students, but also for you. Especially for you. He almost had half a mind to send you back to the dorms for more rest, but he noticed that during training you were at the top of your game, just as you always had been. He just realized that you must've been stuck in your mind all day, noticing your dazed looks during class and empty eyes during training.

Something didn't add up... It was nothing but a mess he wanted to be done with. But when it involved the safety and sanity of one of his students, he knew he had to get dirty to clean it up.

It was impulsive, but at that moment he felt that he had to go now. When you asked to check the cave again, he saw something in your eyes. Something like a ticking clock, counting down the inevitable moment something happens. Something that certainly wasn't good. A timer of sorts, he supposed. No... Aizawa felt that he was going insane over the whole thing. There was nothing to read in between the lines of something that didn't exist.

He had told you and Shinso that you would be going to the cave again for a check over in two nights, but nevertheless he still decided to change it to that night instead. The confusion wouldn't stop until he knew he wasn't crazy and wasn't worth worrying over nothing, so moving it earlier wouldn't hurt anything but your sleep schedules.

And so, that's how you found yourself walking alongside Shinso and Aizawa through the same forest that you all had done earlier. The same chopped up plants were there, luckily they hadn't had much time to grow again and block the path so you ask could walk without stumbling, and this time the walk was easier as you all knew what to expect now. The same tree stumps that stuck out and tripped your feet earlier were now skillfully avoided, the rabbits that would dart out in a blur no longer spooked you, and you all walked with more confidence in each step.

It was darker this time though, as last time the full moon was out and lit everything up, it now having disappeared behind the thick layer of clouds that filled the chilly night sky. The ground was still damp, and the air was cool against your already chilled skin, but you didn't notice either, as your full focus was simply trying to put one foot in front of the other, mind still heavy and clouded.

You were gripping onto Aizawa's jacket for support and so you wouldn't get lost, and he let you only under the fact that he was also concerned about you in your foggy state. As you walked through the forest, the you noticed that the voices head gotten louder. Each step lead to an increase in their cry, and as much as you hated hearing the horrible cruelty, it seemed to draw you in. Almost as if something was pulling you towards the direction... Each step made your mind foggier and your body colder despite the cool wind, and with each step it felt as though there was something tugging on your mind, trying to bring it down into something soft and warm.

It seemed so hard to resist, but you still continued your fight against the temptations through nothing but sheer will. The warmth was so kind and inviting to your frozen and stiff body, but you still attempted to tear away from the claws that tried to drag you down.

You don't know when, but during your internal battle you all had reached the cave in no time. What snapped you out was Aizawa placing a respiratory mask over your face for you, and you tried to reach your hand up to put it on yourself, only to panic as it didn't move despite your intentions.

This was unnoticed by both Aizawa and Shinso, and you didn't have much time to worry about it before the temptations came back and the struggle continued. Still fazed, you groggily grabbed Aizawa's hand before you all descended into the cave, and he looked over at you to make sure you were okay before you all stepped in, armed with your lights and masks.

"Listen because I'm not going to explain it twice; we're just here to double check everything. If something's wrong, let me know ASAP, and in case something really bad happens there's numerous of heroes patrolling around here that I can call for help"

Aizawa quickly explained as you all made your way through the dangerously familiar dark cave. The voices were practically screaming right next to your ears, so you missed what Aizawa said entirely. Nothing felt right. Everything spun in circles as you let go of Aizawa's hand, trying to make sense of what was going on.

"Alright, but is there anything specific we're looking for, or is it just anything at all?" Shinso questioned, also going alongside Aizawa when it came to wanting to find the reason behind your life behavior.

"No, nothing specific, just anything you happen to run into... " Aizawa answered, looking around to his side.

"Also, I want you to keep an eye on [Name], they've been really out of it lately, so we can't afford another attack."

Shinso's eyes widened. "I thought you were watching them.."

Aizawa's eyes shot open as he quickly spun around to where you were once standing behind him, now nowhere to be seen in the large, dark cave.

"Shit! I really am an idiot!" He exclaimed in worry as horrible memories of the first attack remained fresh in his mind.

Immediately turning back to Shinso, Aizawa shouted, "listen, you can look around but stay in the area! I'm going to look for her since she couldn't have gotten far. And please, for the love of god, don't wander off, and yell if you need anything!"

Aizawa was already running down the tunnels before he even finished his sentence, leaving Shinso to himself while Aizawa focused on finding you before you got you lost.

As he ran throughout the tunnels, something clicked on his head. Your hero in training tag. All students had one, and they all had trackers in case the student got lost or kidnapped during a mission. Perfect.

Thanking whatever higher beings that were out there, Aizawa practically ripped out his tracker from his pocket, seeing two different color dots on it, one for Shinso and one for you. He was so focused on finding you that Aizawa didn't notice Shinso's blinking dot rapidly chasing after him.

Looking up, Aizawa was initially relieved when it said you were just around the corner, but it quickly dropped and turned to alarm when he actually saw you.

Unconscious and mask ripped off and broken into pieces on the ground next to you, Aizawa couldn't help but panic and his senses all heightened as he looked you over. However, that was the least of his concerns. What he really was focusing on was the glowing purple mushrooms that clung to your head, glowing with a beat that seemed to match the pulse of your heart.

Nausea made its way to his system, but Aizawa remained stone faced as he tensed himself for attack.

Crack

A cracking of something behind him gave him all he needed before turning around only to come face-to-face with another person, glowing mushrooms also growing atop their head. It looked like an average man you'd see walking the streets, having on nothing but a tattered white T-shirt with blue basketball shorts and one sandal, the other seemingly missing. His eyes glowed a hazy purple, but Aizawa's heart dropped as he looked behind the man.

There were more of them. Lots of them, all average-looking people with glowing eyes and mushrooms on their head. His heart dropped even further and his blood ran cold as Aizawa realized that these were all the missing people, and that they couldn't have been coincidentally waiting there for him at that exact moment. Then it hit him.

It was a trap.

Mine fully alert and panic now fueling his legs, he promised himself that he'd come back for you as he side-jumped onto the wall and over the crowd that was grabbing and lunging at every bit of him. Aizawa cursed, as he had to leave his scarf back at the dorms due to the tight tunnels.

He dashed through the thin tunnels, throwing himself around as he searched for Shinso to make sure was was okay. Feeling a hand grab his shoulder, he ripped it off of him and swung them from behind, slamming them into the ground without as much force as Aizawa had liked due to his panic.

Shinso wheezed, hitting the ground hard with a thud, landing on his back.

"Kid! You know you can't surprise me like that! I thought I told you!" Aizawa growled a bit, although his tone didn't match his elated expression.

He pulled Shinso back up with ease, the boy in turn staggering a bit after the hard hit, but stabilizing quickly after from having taken many similar hits during training.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you or anything. It's just, I was looking for you because I think I found something." Shinso was still out of breath, but he breathed and then started again. "I think we fell for a trap!"

Aizawa turned behind him and Shinso followed, a look mixed of fear and surprise on his face as they both saw the huge crowd of mushroom people chasing after them.

Aizawa pushed Shinso in front of him, giving him the single command that beared the weight of their lives: run.

With that being said, the duo stormed out of there, there being just too many to fight. Swerving left and right to dodge the incoming attacks, they took turns with one leading and the other pushing back the hoard. The tunnels grew wider as they pushed on, and it seemed the entrance was coming up, but they were once again ambushed.

Coming from the other side of the cave, another hoard came barging in and blocked the way, crushing their hopes of getting out of there. But what shocked them most of all was seeing you among the group. Your eyes were a little lighter purple than the others, but you still had the all too common mushrooms clinging onto your head just as well.

Shinso could only look at in shock, refusing to look into your terrible empty eyes where there should've had their original shine to them. It was awful, really. The dead weight settling into their stomachs as they were blocked from all around. The absolute loss of any hope of escaping. The snuffed flame of their still disappearing predictions and being replaced with a sense of hopelessness as they realized that soon they'd be a part of that crowd.

Aizawa was still, a single thought in his head.

"Shinso... This is my fault. I should've done a better job at looking out for the both of you. Now, because of me one of you is gone and the other is soon to be the same.."

Shinso shook his head, tears of frustration growing in his eyes as he refused to admit defeat.

"It's not your fault! None of this is... It's someone else's doing! You did all you could, right?! You called for help and we still ended up like this! We tried, we got this far, we can't give-"

Aizawa cut him off, a heavy expression gnawing at his features as a shadow covered his face.

"No, I haven't done all I can yet. I'm going to get you out of here, whether that be at my expense or not."

Shinso shook his head at his teacher's words, still denying the fate that awaited them. In an act of desperation and anger, he looked to all the empty-eyed people, shouting at them while trying to use his quirk so he could have something, anything.

"You can hear me, right?!" The empty faces didn't flinch.

"What do you want from us?! What could you possibly gain from taking my friend away?!" He cried out, fear and desperation now beginning to settle on his mind as the crowd looked at him while getting closer, empty and stiff.

"GIVE THEM BACK!" Shinso yelled out one last time in a fit of rage while looking at your blank face, sparking you to lunge at him without warning.

It felt as though time was frozen again. The air felt thick and jellylike as your cold fingers grasped the edges of Shinso's mask, purple eyes mirroring his as he could only look in shock.

Without a single moment of hesitation, Aizawa launched himself in-between you and Shinso instead, and you took the bait, hands clawing at his face and tearing the mask off him instead, scratching him in the process.

It was over for Aizawa now. He knew that. He inhaled the spores, now he lost the game, and it was only a matter of time. A matter of time.

Time...That's right. The clock was still ticking, he had time.

Without sparring so much as a single second, he grabbed your collar and pushed you out of the way without any harm, and quickly did the same to all the grasping hands that ached to infect the fresh faces. Grabbing Shinso by the arm, Aizawa led him through the crowd without much care for himself now that his cards have been dealt. These were regular people, people who never trained a day in their life besides maybe going to the gym, people who never thought of fights and violence, but rather just living their lives. Aizawa was a trained and hardened pro, he understood he had a good hand dealt to him.

But there was power in numbers, that was certainly true. He never understood a saying more than that one as he struggled to guide Shinso out to safety, using himself as a human shield against the hands that aimed to infect. Time was ticking...

It was a sea of people, pushing and shoving at all sides around. Purple eyes and glowing mushrooms crowded the tunnels, and Aizawa could only hope the entrance was near. It was hard to tell because as he pushed through the people would only follow.

With Aizawa giving one last shove that ended with a couple people falling to the ground, Shinso pointed out an opening that Aizawa practically threw them both into. There was no sigh of relief, because the crowd surged forward, catching them both off guard with the unpredictable mass movements.

A million hungry hands reached in their direction, like a wave of flesh coming to crash down upon them. The constant loss of hope and fear of infection was beginning to get exhausting.

Aizawa's muscles were sore and burned with white hot agony, but he still needed to give his all while he still could. Before he eventually would join the crowd. It was the least he could do, ensure that at least one of you three made it out and spread the word.

Purple eyes, glowing mushrooms, a million hands... It all seemed inescapable...

"BANG!"

A sudden sound shot through the air, and the man closest to the two immediately crumpled to the ground as red flew through the air from his ankle. A few more shots were heard and an opening was made wide enough for the duo to pass through as several more people crumpled to the ground like the first.

Aizawa led Shinso, and they found standing at the entrance of the cave the hope that they had been losing all night. Because there stood a large group of a random assortment of heroes that came to their aid. And finally, the thought of loss was lifted from their minds.

They made their way out, still tense as the battle was far from over. The infected had followed Shinso and Aizawa all the way outside, and now in a grassy opening in the dimly lit forest, a battle was being held by the heroes in an attempt to restrain as many people as they could.

As Snipe ran over to check on Shinso (the only student there), Aizawa collapsed, weak and without any energy due to the fight and the spores that were quickly taking over from how long he was breathing them in.

He rushed to check on Aizawa after finding Shinso to be okay, but Snipe and Shinso both panicked when a hero next to them also collapsed, along with another further away, and then two more to the opposite side.

As more and more heroes collapsed, most having coughing fits, Aizawa came to a dreadful realization. Each hero that collapsed didn't have some kind of mask, while the few left to help did. And he understood.

That they were fighting a losing battle.

Because of his mistake. Again, he ruined more and more with his recklessness.

Hero after hero collapsed, some catching on to the pattern and masking early, others catching on too late and falling to the ground in a coughing fit while they attempted to protect themselves with pieces of cloth from their costumes or spare masks they had on hand.

It was an appalling sight, to see the empty eyed win so easily by simply existing, while the heroes that had trained for so long and hard lost while fighting with all they had in them.

So few were left standing as the sun's rays began to peak overhead, a painful irony that life kept going despite the losses and wins of those that lived it. Everyone that could move called in for more backup while trying to help the fallen and also attempted to restrain weak alongside all that. It was too much for too little people.

Things only kept getting messier as Aizawa had kept trying to fix it, and now he wasn't the only one paying the price, but also many, many others were as well. Aizawa refused to give in to the infection until he had fixed what he had done. It was the least he could do.

However, something took a turn. As the sun rose, everyone who was infected lost their mushrooms and thus they got their mind back once the sunlight reached them. This was only discovered as an infected woman who was pushing back a struggling and weak hero suddenly went still before falling to the floor, unconscious.

Once this was discovered, those that still had the energy and their abilities led or pushed the infected people into the spots where the sun shone, causing the tables to turn in the battle with the newfound information. Better yet, those that were fighting the infection had it removed from their system as soon as the sun met their head.

Aizawa attempted to stand after the sun sunlight reached his body, but he had to quickly catch himself as his knees almost buckled, and he found that although he was no longer infected, he was still dealing with the after effects such as what he was dealing with currently; all his energy seemed to have seeped straight out of him, leaving him weak and vulnerable.

Still, he fought the exhaustion and forced his legs to stand. He had to find you, wherever you were. He knew you were outside, and he knew Snipe was watching Shinso. Goodness, he just hoped you were okay. After looking around through the chaos and clumps of people, Aizawa finally spotted you, unfortunately hiding away under the shade of the trees and still very much infected.

There were almost no infected people left, and so most heroes turned to you upon noticing this. However, everything went still and silent upon noticing a large shadowy figure standing behind you. The figure stepped out and into the light, causing several gasps as people finally got a look at who was behind this whole thing.

It was a lady who had long dark hair and was covered all over in different kinds of mushrooms. She had a horrible expression on her rotting face, and it was discovered that the mushrooms were growing only where she was decaying. Aizawa felt no fear when he saw this lady, only pure, unadulterated, rage. He had no clue who this lady was, only that she was the one responsible for this whole mess, and that she currently was the one controlling you right in front of Aizawa.

It was quickly discovered that her control was stronger when there were less people being controlled, and as you were the last one, that meant you were at her bidding no matter what it was, sunlight or not.

She looked over to Shinso and scowled upon seeing him fine and untouched.

"I recall earlier... You were asking what I could possibly gain by taking your friend from you?... " She spoke to Shinso, who wasn't that far away from her. Her voice was deep and raspy, and as a result it barely understandable, but it still resonated with everyone around. All was still and everyone was silent and on edge as she was basically holding not only a student hostage, but also everyone around as she had complete control over you and now your quirk as well.

Shinso shot a sharp glare at the lady. Seeing an actual villain with a quirk similar to his... All the bullying and relentless stereotypes that were forced onto him growing up... It was all because of people like her...

And now she was holding his friend under her control. He couldn't stand the sight. Unheroic thoughts plagued his mind at the moment, as he couldn't help but feel a deep seated rage beginning to boil in him. But he was stuck. He couldn't move and risk you getting hurt, or anyone else either.

Aizawa watched the interaction, wondering if he could sneak in with using his quirk and end the whole thing. Some heroes around him caught on to this while still staying silent.

"I'd like to know!" A man, a new and young hero stated from far away, a telepath spreading the message.

"You're nothing but evil, using innocent people to your bidding! Doesn't it make you sick? To act in such a manner?" He declared confidently.

"Nice try. " She simply stated, eyes slanted and an expression that was tainted with an evil sense of joy and merriment. Everyone froze as she turned and looked Aizawa straight in the eye.

"I can hear all of your little friend's thoughts. Erasure? Sorry, but that won't stop my spores..."

She looked at Aizawa with a gloating expression that was mixed with her own rage.

"How does it feel?!" She exclaimed, causing the alert heroes to tense.

"To have lost control of those that you love?!" She asked, and at that moment Aizawa noticed that the victims weren't chosen at random. They each were related to a hero somehow, but weren't directly one themselves. This was an attack on the heroes the whole time. From the inside out...

All over, many heroes were still weak and recovering from the infection, and those that were masked had little energy left from being the sole protectors and fighters. She knew what she was doing this whole time.

"Lemme tell you this... When my friend was sick and dying from a burglar's quirk, did any hero come to save her day?" No one spoke a word.

"No. And so all was up to me... I didn't know... My quirk would just speed things up... I didn't know... " She looked down at her hands, trembling sightly as if she was still remembering the day she lost her closest friend.

"I know what it's like to lose control! To lose someone you love... But you heroes don't! You never did! You never attempted to help, you didn't even try to save her!" She shouted, voice growing more raspy with volume.

She grew quiet, and heroes all around looked at each other. No one had the energy left in them to fight anymore, and backup was still too far away. Aizawa looked up at you with worry, your eyes still empty and mushrooms still glowing atop your head. He needed to get you to safety.

"That's why...", She looked up, face now devoid of any earlier emotion, just like her puppets.

"I need to show you what it's like."

And with that, she raised her hand towards Aizawa, and in the blink of an eye, you were shooting forward at him.

His eyes grew in surprise, not predicting a direct attack being sent on him. He could barely stand, let alone fight. Shinso attempted to throw himself in your way, but you hardened you wings and closed them around yourself like a cocoon, before shooting them open again with enough force to send him flying.

Snipe, although reluctant to shoot one of his students, still knew what he had to do. Looking down, he saw he had two bullets left, enough for each ankle or arm if he could make it.

He aimed in between the crevice of your wings and shot once. The bullet sped through the air, but before it could reach you, it fell to the ground in between the two of you after a sharp "clink" was heard, and he realized it was your hardened feathers. He tried again but the same thing happened, and this time you sent a speeding feather at him, hitting his sleeve and pinning him to a tree with several more.

Following this, Aizawa could only attempt to use his quirk as you expanded your metal wings, them glowing a beautiful pure white that radiated a deadly beauty. It did nothing, but he stayed strong and held on as he watched you raise several fatal feathers in the air.

He closed his eyes awaiting a sharp pain, but never felt anything. Aizawa tensed, and opened his eyes upon hearing a vulgar curse coming from the mushroom lady who once stood triumphantly, now clutching her bleeding arm and abdomen.

He saw you, also clutching your bleeding head, standing tall and no longer infected.

You turned to him, eyes now their original color and mushrooms gone from your hair, and gave him a large, joyful smile. He could only stay frozen in surprise, but before he could say anything you turned back to the lady who was attempting to escape.

She brushed her hands on the trees in an attempt to colonize more of her mushrooms, but it was too bright for them to grow and they could only get to about a hair's width before shrivelling and dying. It was pointless for her to do, and you steeled your wings once again and sent out more feathers at her departing figure. She got hit in the backs of her knees, her Achilles tendons, and the back of the neck before getting pinned and retained by surrounding heroes after she crumpled.

While that was going on, Aizawa forced his burning muscles to cooperate and limped over to you, and when you noticed you ran over to him to meet him halfway. Shinso jogged over to the two of you as well, disappointed in himself for not configuring l contributing more, but relieved you were okay.

Aizawa grabbed you before your could speak and just held you in a tight hug for a solid second of silence, to which you didn't mind. After letting go, he had to ask, "how?"

You chuckled a bit, knowing exactly what he was asking.

"Your quirk helped snap me out for just enough time to send one my feathers at my head which helped to give me more time free from her control which I used to send at her ". You rubbed the back of your neck, not used to all the attention. "I guess her quirk lost control when I hit her. I can't explain it, though. I suppose I just got lucky.."

After that, several ambulances and an armored criminal hospital truck showed up, and everyone got a check up. Those in the worst conditions were given first treatment, and you were one of these people with the opened wound on your head. Shinso was alongside you, as he broke his right wrist when he got flung by your wings, but other than that, the two of you were okay. Aizawa didn't have any major injury, but was still given plenty of pain relief and sent on his way.

The whole event had involved so many people that it got put in the news. That's an understatement, it was all over the news. Your classmates thought it was the coolest thing, and were glad you ended up being okay.

The cave was inspected by a team of crime-scene containment and contamination experts, and they were able to remove every single trace of the lady's quirk, down to the smallest spore. Still, the cave was filled so no one would be able to go in it ever again.

The man accused earlier was apparently the first to be controlled, and he was sent as bait for the heroes so they'd lose track of her. He was given a formal apology of the court and proper payment for the whole incident. The innocent victims were also given payments as well, and they were hospitalized and sent under a strict quarantine for a month. This was too ensure that no missed spores had the chance to grow and spread.

Since you and Aizawa were infected at some point, you both were put under quarantine as well, although you simply weren't allowed to leave the dorms for a month, however your classmates happily entertained you (much to Aizawa's dismay).

During that month, you and Aizawa got to learn a lot about each other, and it drastically boosted your confidence when it came to fighting. Aizawa was glad for your successes, and he definitely looked forward to seeing you grow up.

Shinso wasn't placed under mandatory quarantine, so he was able to go back to school when he was finished resting (properly). Although he was a bit jealous that you got a whole month to yourself.

The mushroom lady was healed by prison doctors and sent over to Tartarus where she'd stay permanently with all the other villains. Since she had a powerful quirk if used right, she had to have a constant surveillance and checks to make sure her quirk cancelling bracelet was working properly.

• • • • •

Some time had passed since the incident, and before you knew it you were starting your second year of upper secondary school (highschool) with your classmates.

It was the first day of school, and waiting for you and Shinso at the gates was none other than Aizawa no himself. He saw your expression and chuckled a bit, asking "Nervous?".

You shrugged your shoulders. You weren't scared like you always were in the past, but you didn't know what the future was going to hold. It was out of your control.

And so Aizawa did something he had only done once before. He offered you his hand.

Smiling, you accepted it and all three of you walked together, beginning another year.

A/N:

Ahh! That took so long! But I enjoyed writing it very much!

(🎀ơ ᎑ ơ)

This is to make up for the small breaks I've been taking (I apologize for that, exams are here, I've been looking for a job, and my mental health hasn't been the best..)

NOTE: I don't think I specified this, but the voices reader heard was due to the mushroom lady's quirk, which created a sort of hive mind. That's also how she was able to read your mind when infected.

One last thing, please request if you want! I don't judge, and I promise I see them all! I just ask for patience is all ꒰˶ฅ̀•ᗜ•ฅ́˶꒱おけ〇

Thank you for being here, I hope you have a fantastic day!

年2023/月03/日08

Reblogs and any feedback are very much appreciated! (Seriously, it's the only thing keeping me going sometimes)