#It is a glaring hypocrisy though isn't it?

[catgriffin]

Here's an adamsapple ramble since I've gotten sucked into this ship like jello in a straw

•initially I imagine Lucifer would be skeptical of Adam and I doubt Adam would even go to the hotel at first, I could see him trying to use the power he used to have, consistently forgetting he no longer has that power

•i imagine Lucifer and gang would figure out he's even in hell by Adam accidentally causing a big scene. You may be thinking, 'it's hell, everyone is causing a scene at all times' but you know Adams scene would stand out because he will be telling everyone who he is

•lucifer eventually drags him back to the hotel at Charlie's request, even though she's skeptical too

•eventually lucifer and Adam start learning to tolerate each other, I could see them bonding initially over their mutual hatred for Alastor. Both of them probably poking at alastor but Adam takes it too far and lucifer and Charlie has to hold one or both of them back from trying to kill each other

•eventually lucifer let's it slip to Adam that Lilith left him too. Either, Adam would laugh then feel bad for laughing when lucifer glares at him OR Adam would immediately feel bad, no laughing and they have a heartfelt conversation about how much lucifer loved her and how much wrong Adam did to her

•they both like music, Adam has his guitar, lucifer sings and has his violin(fiddle?). They would totally have a rock song duet together. Maybe lucifer would try teaching Adam to play the violin and in return Adam tries teaching lucifer to play guitar

•at some point lute will figure out Adam is alive and when she does she will point out Adams hypocrisy when they were just telling Charlie and vaggie how blasphemous their relationship was. Now not only is Adam friendly with lucifer but Adam is apparently not straight anymore(oops?).

•if Roo is a significant character in this show she might try to tempt Adam into a deal, telling Adam he could go to heaven with her power

•if he takes that deal then there will be a fight and in the end lucifer could have another stern but heartfelt talk. Saying 'I know what it's like to be kicked out of heaven and knowing you can't go back'

•also, at the end of season 1 we know lute is trying to send Lilith down to stop the hotel. If by that point Adam is already in the hotel he may try sticking up for them because if rehabilitation isn't possible then he's never going back

•maybe as hell is getting ready for the final battle of the series, lucifer goes to Adam and tells him 'you used to lead a powerful exorcist army, how would you like to lead a demon army?' Adam may be an asshole but he's not an idiot. He was a commander of a literal army, you don't get to that point easily. Not to mention he also convinced one of the oldest angels in heaven that the exterminations was a good idea in the first place. If he became the commander of a demon army he would be a very important and powerful figure in hell

[kiyomitakada]

Near should not be staring.

He had a plan earlier. He still has it, somewhere. All the puzzle pieces are in his hands but his fingers aren't working.

Mello still hasn't noticed him. Near's feet are rooted to the floor, even as his legs start to ache — he's not the best at standing still for any amount of time — and the stale air presses in. He stares. He is ten years old and very, very good at staring.

Mello is sitting in the pew closest to the cross mounted on the wall. There is sunlight warping through the stained glass windows; it brings out the darker shades of his flat-blonde hair. His head is bent, but not in prayer. Near knows this because he can hear the sounds of a pencil scratching quietly but furiously on paper. Most likely math homework. Mello hates math.

They have not been alone before. Not like this, anyway. Mello is always surrounded by friends, laughter brimming at the corners of his lips until he sees Near and it melts away into a glare. This Mello, silent and pensive, is not unfamiliar, but seeing him is usually a privilege granted to Near only for a few seconds at a time.

He looks — small, hunched over in the pew. Mello is twelve. The Wammy students are only separated into grades based on test scores, not age, and Near is obviously in the same bracket as Mello, but when you are ten years old sometimes even small age gaps feel insurmountable. Right now, though, he looks… human. Just another drop in the bucket that is Wammy's House.

He's beautiful. Near has always known this, objectively. But sometimes it hits him hard enough to bruise.

Suddenly the scribbling stops.

Near freezes. He isn't fast enough to step back.

"What the hell are you doing here," Mello hisses.

Well, now he's been found out, he might as well sit down. Near sinks to the floor. His legs scream in relief. "I am making a map of the orphanage."

"What, now? We've been here for years."

Near lifts his eyes to the ceiling. It's very pretty, sparsely painted with angels and cherubs. It's a shame it's never used. Wammy's House is not a religious institution, but perhaps Mr. Wammy had been powered by nostalgia for his own childhood upbringing.

Near doesn't believe in a god. He never has.

"I am updating my map."

"Well, this place hasn't changed," Mello says. "So."

Near waits for the go away, but it doesn't come.

"Do you stay here often?"

"Yes, Near," Mello says. It's rather impressive how he can make any word sound like an insult. "Because it's quiet, and I need to focus. But you're here now so I guess there's no point anymore." He stands abruptly and starts shoving his things into his backpack.

Near is briefly seized with an inexplicable need to make Mello stay. In later years he will learn this is fruitless, but he is ten and naive and already missing the version of Mello that is, apparently, not allowed to exist around Near.

"You don't have to do that," Near says. "I can be quiet."

Mello stops. Frowns. "What are you even gonna do here? You can check this place off on your map, can't you? Done. Finished."

"I want to inspect the walls," Near lies.

Mello drags a hand over his face. "What is wrong with you?"

This is the first time Mello has insulted something that Near doesn't actually do, which Near is a little gleeful about. "Maintenance is important."

"I can't believe you even found this place," Mello says. "Jesus. Where am I supposed to do my homework now?"

"I can be quiet," Near repeats.

"It's not about that! God." Mello rolls his eyes. Near does not point out the hypocrisy of taking the Christian deity's name in vain in a chapel, twice, though he wants to. "Fine. Do your wall-crawling, Spider-Man. I'm leaving."

"Will you come back?"

"No," Mello spits. "Because you know where this is now."

"I won't be in this room until next year," Near says. "The map is annual."

"So?"

Mello is usually sharper than this. "So no one will bother you for another twelve months."

Mello stares at him for a second. The light framing his face makes the blue of his eyes darker.

Near isn't sorry for being here. Near isn't sorry for anything, generally. But he is oddly, absurdly bothered by the idea that the Mello in this chapel will not exist again because Near strangled him.

"Why the hell do you care?" Mello asks, finally.

"I am pointing out a fact." Near presses a thumb into the ache developing in his knee.

What he wants to say is, would it be so terrible to exist in the same space as me? What he wants to say is, why can't we work together for once? What he wants to say is, do you like this place? Do you think this school is beautiful? Do you think it's killing us?

"Sure. Facts. You love those." Mello's face is blank as ever.

"Yes," Near says. "Are you going to—"

"I'm still leaving," Mello announces. "Have fun with your walls, or whatever."

"Goodbye," Near says, and doesn't look up when Mello slams the door shut.

[ @deathnotetober day 26: wammy's ]

[starry-bi-sky]

I am of the DPxDC belief/headcanon that any variation of Danny who grew up poor in Gotham during his formative years before moving to Amity Park would not be friends with Sam without friction at first. It makes things more interesting and imo allows for more exploration of different themes plus character growth for Sam that she doesn't really go through in canon.

(this doesn't only apply to a DPDC au where Danny grew up in Gotham poor, but it was the first thing that I thought of where this might happen considering my Childhood Friends au.)

Now Sam's a compassionate girl, it's one of her defining character traits, but so is her hypocrisy and judgy-ness. She's the Not Like Other Girls' girl. This is in part of the show's narrative framing that makes her out like this, unfortunately though its still showing how she is as a character since its consistent enough to be part of her character description. There are also times where the show's depiction of her activism makes it look like she's performative about it. All of this makes her dynamic with a Danny who grew up poor in Gotham very interesting.

Anyways, Sam is aware of her privilege to an extent, but still has her blindspots - glaring ones, in some cases. Her self-righteous attitude would not go over well with a crime alley kid Danny. He'd like her, at first, but then she'd do something to make him mad - personally I think her judging people for not being vegan would annoy him the most, or at least would be the breaking point for him, because it was only recently that his family started actually being able to consistently put food on the table at all, good food nonetheless. And being vegan is expensive.

Any other behavior he noticed from her he'd slowly stop tolerating - her judging conventionally attractive girls and automatically assuming they're vapid and shallow for being feminine. Her anti-capitalist beliefs start coming off as superficial at worst, and Danny would eventually figure out that Sam either came from a family that was well off, or that she wasn't aware if her family was experiencing financial struggle.

He would still be friends with Tucker, but since Tucker imo is still friends with Sam, they'd still run into each other often enough to butt heads. Sam's got a nasty habit of refusing to take responsibility when she's wrong, but when Danny is arguing with her, and counterpointing her with stuff she can't retort back at without compromising her own beliefs, then forces her to start reflecting on herself. Especially when Tucker eventually starts siding with Danny and agreeing with him.

Does sam genuinely care about her beliefs and philosophies? Survey says yes. However that doesn't mean she's not ignorant, and she definitely is at times throughout the show (like when she released the purpleback gorilla thinking it 'wanted out of its enclosure' despite the fact that it was endangered and in an urban area) and I think it'd be a real fascinating dynamic between Danny and Sam to explore.

This isn't Sam hate btw, nor am I trying to make her out like "the worst person ever" bc she's not, i wanna make that explicitly clear. Sam Manson has a lot of positive traits about her but she also has an equal amount of negative traits that I think should be explored, she is not immune to the character development.

[ellswritings]

Magic Bullet 1x04

Episode 5

“If Derek isn't the Alpha... if he's not the one who bit you... then who did?” Stiles questions as their teacher passes out the graded tests they all took. Fallon rubs her eyes tiredly, exhausted from how late she stayed up going to see Derek. She doesn’t necessarily regret going, but now she feels an unnatural anger towards the man. He told her to stay out of the way. It’s unbelievable. All she wants to do is help and make sure no more people die, and yet he makes it seem as though she’s the problem.

“I don’t know,” Scott answers.

Stiles sighs and sits back in his seat for the briefest moment before thinking of another question and leaning forward, gently smacking Scott in the back with the back of his right hand. “Did the Alpha kill the bus driver?”

Scott whispers, “I don’t know.”

“Yes,” Fallon answers at the same time, a small yawn escaping her lips.

The two boys turn to look at her. She’s sitting next to Stiles in the row over. She freezes, realizing she just answered a question she shouldn’t even have any context to. Stiles narrows his eyes at her, “How do you know?”

She shrugs, trying to cover it up. “Just a hunch, I guess.”

“You’re lying,” Scott furrows his eyebrows. “I just heard your heart beat. It went up. How do you know?” He reiterates the question.

The brunette sighs. There’s no point in keeping it a secret, “I saw Derek last night…” she admits. “After the bus driver died, I wanted to know what was going on. So I went to hear it from him.”

“Are you stupid?!” Stiles scoffs, throwing his pencil at her. “What if he killed you, huh? Then what?”

“Well, I’m sitting right next to you so, I wouldn’t know,” she replies sarcastically.

“You shouldn’t have gone alone,” Scott scolds.

“You did,” Fallon points out incredulously, baffled by his hypocrisy.

“But I can protect myself in ways that you can’t,” he insists.

“Y’know I’m getting real tired of everyone assuming Stiles and I are useless just because we don’t have magical werewolf abilities,” she glares at him.

“I never said you were useless.”

“Okay!” Stiles whisper yells, stopping the argument from moving forward. “Moving on…” he turns his attention back to Scott. “Does Allison’s dad know about the Alpha?”

Scott, feeling overwhelmed by the mini argument with Fallon, along with the incessant questions from Stiles, loses his temper. “I don’t know!” He replies in a loud voice causing the teacher and pretty much every student in the class to look back at the three of them. He tries to play it off by looking out the window while Stiles sinks down into his chair. Fallon simply smiles fakely at the onlookers who turn away from the awkward situation.

Stiles is handed back his test first out of the three and is satisfied by the "A" he received. Fallon gets hers next, a small smirk on her face as she reads “A+” with a one-hundred percent written next to it. However, Scott sighs loudly when he's handed his, which has a “D-” written on it, Stiles leans forward to look at it and mutters sarcastically over Scott's shoulder, “Dude, you need to study more!”

Scott slams his test down on the desk, shooting Stiles a menacing glare. Stiles scoffs defensively, pushing himself away from Scott. “That was a joke, Scott,” he explains. “It’s one test! You’re gonna make it up. Do you want help studying?”

“Yeah, we can meet at my place tonight if you want,” Fallon suggests kindly, despite their previous argument. “We can make our own personalized pizza’s and stuff.”

Scott sighs, “No, I’m studying with Allison after school today.”

Stiles grins suggestively and pats Scott on the back proudly, “That’s my boy!”

Fallon rolls her eyes, kicking Stiles from across the way. “I said it once, and I’ll say it again. Boundaries.”

Scott nods along with Fallon, sending Stiles a pointed look, “We’re just studying.”

“Uh, no, you’re not,” Stiles scoffs, rubbing his shin where the angry brunette just kicked it.

Scott frowns in confusion, “No, I’m not?”

Stiles rolls his eyes in exasperation as though it’s obvious to what he’s referring to. “Not if I’m forced to live vicariously through you!” He exclaims. “If you go over to her house today and squander that colossal opportunity, I swear to God, I’ll have you de-balled.”

“You seriously need to get laid,” Fallon says to Stiles, taking out her book and burying her nose in it. Their teacher gave them the rest of the period off to do homework anyway.

“I’m well aware of that, thank you,” he replies as if what he said is a good comeback.

“Okay,” Scott looks at them with annoyed eyes. “Just... stop with the questions.”

Stiles nods with a grin, “Done. No more questions. No more talk about the Alpha, or Derek…” he trails off, his eyes going unfocused as he remembers the intimidating man. No doubt recalling their last interaction in the back of the police cruiser. “Especially Derek… who still scares me…”

· · ────── ·𖥸· ────── · ·

Fallon makes her way over to the girls locker room after the last bell of the day. She likes being able to change in her own space for lacrosse practice because no one’s ever in here after school. The only time she usually has to share is with the off season soccer girls who only use it to get ready for training. The brunette walks over to one of the stalls, using the restroom before changing into her gear. She still has a headphone in, listening to her playlist to keep her mind occupied. She flushes the toilet before exiting the bathroom and washing her hands. She hums under her breath, watching as the water trickles down her skin.

“Holy shit!” She screams loudly when she looks into the mirror and sees a pale, almost dead looking Derek Hale standing behind her. He sways back and forth on his feet, his blue eyes looking more gray by the second. That’s when she notices the gaping bullet hole in his arm. Derek stumbles, almost falling to the floor, but Fallon rushes forward, wrapping his arm around her shoulder to hold him up. He’s a lot heavier than she thought. “What happened?” She asks, her voice laced with concern.

He grunts in pain, squeezing his eyes shut. “I was shot,” he manages to get out. Blood drips down his arm and off of his fingertips, leaking onto her shoes. She grimaces, but knows that her shoes are not the priority right now.

“I’m sorry, you got what?!” Her eyes widen as she moves frantically to have him sit down on one of the benches in the locker room. “By who?” She runs over to her locker, grabbing a spare shirt and a pair of scissors from her backpack. Her father’s words come into mind on how to take care of a gunshot wound. She cuts a long piece of fabric out of the material before going back over to Derek and creating a makeshift tourniquet. “By the way, this is gonna hurt, so brace yourself.”

“Wha–?” He lets out a low growl as she ties it as tightly as she can. The bleeding slowly slightly, but the wound still looks nasty. His eyes flash a bright blue for a moment before turning back to their normal color.

“Why aren't you healing?” She asks, looking over his form. A wound this small should’ve been nothing for the werewolf.

“I can’t,” he groans in pain. “It wasn’t a normal bullet. It’s different.”

“Like wolfsbane different?” She asks worriedly, remembering the different things she read in the book Stiles gave her.

Derek looks surprised by her second question, impressed by her knowledge. His head lulls forward and onto her shoulder, “Wolfsbane,” his voice turns into a whisper. “Need to find Scott. Where is he?”

“I don’t know,” Fallon answers, lifting him off the bench with a grunt. “We don’t have the same last class.” She manages to get them over to the door and out into the hallway. She eyes him sadly, trying her hardest to get him outside. Her arm wraps around his waist as another method to keep him up and secure. He’s trying to help hold his own body weight, but it’s no use. He’s fading, and fast. “C’mon Derek, stay with me,” she mumbles.

They barrel out of the exit doors and Fallon stops, looking over all the heads of the students to try and find Scott. She huffs as the line of cars is long and completely backed up. There’s no way she can get him anywhere safely on her bike, but her eyes brighten when she notices the blue Jeep sitting at the front of the masses of cars.

“Okay, I’m not seeing Scott, but Stiles is right there,” she assures him, starting to drag his limp body over to the vehicle.

“No. Absolutely not,” Derek denies, trying not to go in the direction Fallon’s forcing him in. “I don’t want help from your spaz head of a boyfriend.”

Fallon sighs, rolling her eyes as she continues hauling him. “He’s not my boyfriend,” she corrects. “And unless you wanna brave it out on my motorcycle, this is the best option.”

Derek doesn’t have time to protest as Fallon stops them right in front of Stiles’ car. She puts her hand up to stop him from going and her best friend slams on his breaks. He throws his hands up in annoyance, mumbling something under his breath as he moves to get out of the car. Horns blare from every direction and that’s when Fallon feels Derek start swaying again. “No, no, no, no, don’t fall! Derek, don’t fall!”

“I’m falling,” he whispers. His body starts leaning backwards, too far backwards for Fallon to keep up. She tries to use one last surge of strength to force him up, but it’s too late. His body's stature is no match for her. They fall into the asphalt with a loud thump. Both of them groan in pain and Fallon gets up, lifting his head to put on her legs so he has some way of sitting up.

Scott apparently saw the whole ordeal from the bike rack. He rushes over to Stiles’ jeep where his two best friends are taking care of Derek. Stiles is clearly the most pissed one out of the three of them, peeved Derek stopped him from going to play video games.

“What are you doing here?” Scott asks, blocking Derek’s view from the agitated students. They don’t need to see a dying werewolf in the middle of the school parking lot.

He tries to move himself away from Fallon’s lap, but his limbs are all too limp to get very far. “I was shot,” he gasps out, pointing to the hole in his arm.

“He’s not looking so good, dude,” Stiles looks at him warily.

“I wonder why,” Fallon says sarcastically.

“Okay, you know what? Now is not the time,” Stiles narrows his eyes at her.

Scott frowns in confusion, inspecting the injury. “Why aren’t you healing?” He asks the same question Fallon did

“I can’t,” he huffs tiredly, giving up and collapsing fully into Fallon. Blood seeps from his arm and into her blue jeans and she has to look up in the sky to prevent herself from being disappointed at her now stained clothing. “It was- it was a different kind of bullet.” He repeats the same story he gave to Fallon.

Stiles perks up, all of his supernatural dreams coming true. “A silver bullet?”

“No, you idiot,” Derek snaps irritatedly.

Scott looks as if he just put together something super important, “Wait, wait– that's what she meant when she said you had forty-eight hours…”

Derek’s eyes widen in alarm, “What? Who-who said forty-eight hours?”

“The one who shot you,” Scott answers.

Suddenly, Derek is hit with a powerful wave of pain that causes his eyes to flash bright blue, the same way they did when Fallon put the tourniquet on him. He grimaces in agony. When he opens his eyes again, they're continuing to flash back and forth between his werewolf blue eyes and his human green eyes. Scott looks horrified, his eyes darting around to make sure no one is watching before he mutters at Derek forcefully, “What are you doing? Stop that!”

“Scott, I don’t think he can,” Fallon whispers urgently. “He can’t control it.”

The boy looks at Derek, placing his hands on his shoulders, “Derek, get up.”

The line of cars start to get more impatient. As soon as they see people starting to get out of their vehicles to approach them, they realize that they need to get out of there. Now. Scott pulls Derek to his feet, the man wobbling from the sudden force. He latches onto Fallon once more, the brunette grunts but wraps her arms around his midsection anyway to keep him steady. Once she was sure they could move without collapsing again, she got him inside of Stiles’ jeep, placing him gently in the passenger seat. She huffs, realizing she’ll have to leave her bike here, but there’s no way she’s going to let Stiles handle Derek in the jeep alone. He’ll just have to take her back for her motorcycle later.

Fallon sits comfortably in the back, Stiles getting into the driver’s side. Derek sticks his head out the window, “I need you to find out what kind of bullet they used.”

Scott scoffs, “How the hell am I supposed to do that?” He asks, throwing his arms up.

“Because she’s an Argent,” he says. “She’s with them.”

Scott narrows his eyes, “Why should I help you?”

Fallon looks at him with an exasperated expression. Now is not the time for vendetta’s or looking for reasons to help someone. She sends her friend a begging look, but he doesn’t seem to notice.

“Because, you need me,” Derek answers in a weak voice.

Scott looks over and sees a confused Allison walking toward them and decides to wrap up this scene as quickly as possible, “Fine,” he sighs. “ I'll try.” Scott turns to look at Stiles, who's expression makes it clear that he's feeling very put-out at the moment. “Hey, get him out of here.

Stiles shoots Scott a death-glare, “I hate you for this, so much.” Stiles puts the car into drive and sets off just as Allison comes up. They’re speeding out of the parking lot, happy to get away from the angry crowd that started forming around them.

· · ────── ·𖥸· ────── · ·

Stiles drives the injured wolf and Fallon in his jeep. There’s a tense silence surrounding them, Derek grunting in pain while Stiles shoots him angry side glances. Fallon taps her foot impatiently as she stares at her text message thread with Scott. She has to have texted him at least eight times in the past twenty minutes. She doesn’t mean to rush, but this situation seems pretty dire. Like go there, find it, make up an excuse and leave kind of situation. Not go have a whole dinner with her family.

“What the hell is taking him so long?” Fallon grumbles, tossing her phone to the seat next to her. Her frustration is evident which only gets worse when Stiles smirks at her through the rear view mirror.

“Maybe he’s busy…” he wiggles his eyebrows. “Y’know gettin’ busy.”

Fallon cringes at the innuendo, “Are you serious right now?” She scolds him.

“Stop talking,” Derek seethes, closing his eyes tightly. They stopped flashing between blue and green which is a good sign, but the low growl in his voice is enough to make her sink back into her seat.

“I’m just saying,” Stiles defends himself. “Maybe he hasn’t done anything because he’s having fun. Which is what we should be doing rather than lugging dead wolf meat around,” he chides. That stupid smile appears on his face again, “I mean, I could totally see him and Allison–”

“Stop!” Derek shouts at the spastic boy, dangerously close to striking him in the back of the head.

“Okay, you don’t need to be yelling,” Fallon directs at Derek, staring at him through the mirror. “So why don’t you stop talking and sit there squirming in pain.”

He looks back at her, fury in his irises. “Shut up.”

“Hey, you need us a hell of a lot more than we need you,” Fallon narrows her eyes. “You came to me to save your ass, remember that? You’re the one bleeding out.”

Stiles nods, “Yeah, and uh speaking of that, try not to get it all over my seats, kay? We’re almost there anyway.”

“Almost where?” Derek hisses, turning his attention away from the brunette in the back. His hand is still covering the wound, blood slowly seeping onto his fingers. The tourniquet is still doing its job of slowing down the bleeding, but judging by his half-lidded eyes, it’s not going to do any good for much longer.

“Your house,” Stiles says, his voice calmer than it was a second ago. He slows to a stop when the traffic light ahead turns red. There’s no one else on the road with them which makes having Derek in the car less difficult. No one to explain their actions to.

“What?” Derek’s head snaps over the boy. “No, you can’t take me there.”

Stiles looks at him incredulously, “I can’t take you to your own house?”

“Not when I can’t protect myself!” Derek argues.

Stiles huffs angrily before turning his wheel roughly. He pulls off to the side of the road, turning off the jeep as he faces Derek fully, his nostrils flaring. “All right. What happens if Scott doesn't find your little magic bullet? Hmm? Are you dying?”

“Not yet,” Derek shakes his head.

“I’d really prefer it if you didn’t,” Fallon mumbles.

“I have a last resort,” he reveals, groaning loudly when another wave of pain hits him.

“What do you mean? What last resort?” Stiles yells.

Derek pulls his sleeve up fully, exposing the wound in all its glory. Fallon hadn’t seen the whole thing, only what his ripped shirt permitted. Stiles flinches violently from the sight while gagging, “Oh, my God. What is that?” He averts his gaze, looking out the window. “Oh, is that contagious?” He gasps. “You know what, you should probably just get out.”

“Stiles start the damn car!” Fallon yells at him. “He’s dying, I’m pretty sure he doesn’t need you making a bigger deal of it.”

“Listen to your girlfriend,” Derek adds menacingly.

“Again, not dating,” she points between her and Stiles.

“Hey! Alright, I don't think you should be barking orders with the way you look, okay? In fact, I think, if I wanted to, I could probably drag your little Werewolf ass out into the middle of the road and leave you for dead.”

Silence.

“Start the car… or I’m gonna rip your throat out… with my teeth,” Derek growls menacingly.

The two boys stare at each other for a solid minute or so before Stiles finally reaches for the keys, sliding them into the ignition. Fallon exhales softly, melting into her seat as she thanks whatever force out there stopped a fight between Stiles and a man twice his size.

· · ────── ·𖥸· ────── · ·

Fallon bites her nails anxiously as she and Scott text back and forth. Derek’s not looking too good, Scott. Have you found anything?

His response comes back short. Need more time. She puffs out an irritated breath. That’s the only response she’s gotten from him in about two and a half hours. The sun is already set and it’s starting to become dark out. The sky was an ombré of red, orange, yellow, and blue as the night approaches. Fallon feels terrible for Stiles and the fact he had a full tank before this fiasco started. They’ve been driving around all day. They had no idea where to take Derek. Stiles’ house was obviously a no go as his dad is the sheriff and would probably lose his mind if he found out Derek had been there. They can’t take him to Scott’s either as Melissa would freak out if they snuck in unannounced again.

“Why can’t we just take him to your place?” Stiles suggests.

Fallon shakes her head, “My dad’s off tonight.”

“But he’s fine with Scott and I being there all the time,” Stiles shrugs.

“Because he knows you both,” Fallon counters. “We could probably get away with it if your dad didn’t tell him about all the crime life here,” she sighs. “But he does. So my dad knows what the almost dead werewolf here looks like,” she says, eyeing up the man in the passenger seat. “And let’s just say he wouldn’t exactly be keen on having an almost murderer in his house.”

“Thanks,” Derek shoots a glare her way.

“I’m not the one who reported you to the sheriff,” she reminds him. “Your issues are with him,” she points to Stiles, “and your bestie beta who’s currently finding the magical bullet to save your life.”

“I am going to claw your eyes out if you don’t keep your mouth shut,” his eyes flash blue in her direction.

“Take my ears off while you’re at it,” she suggests sarcastically. “That way I won’t have to hear you complain about everything.”

“I’m so confused whether you like each other or not,” Stiles furrows his eyebrows.

“Not,” Derek answers while Fallon says, “It’s complicated,” at the same time.

The two passengers jerk to the side as Stiles rapidly pulls over once more. He picks up his phone too fast, almost dropping it in the process as he brings it up to his ear. “Oh thank God,” he breathes out. “Did you find anything… Well, what are we supposed to do with him?” He groans.

Fallon leans forward, gripping Stiles’ chair, “What’s he saying?”

Stiles swats her away like a mother would her child. Fallon scrunches her eyebrows, leaning back in her seat offended. “And, by the way, he’s starting to smell,” there’s a short pause. “Like death.”

Derek sends Stiles a withering glance before turning to look at Fallon, “Do I really smell like death?” He questions.

“Are you sure you want me to answer?” She snarks with a quirked brow. “Wouldn’t wanna make you claw my eyes out or anything,” she mocks his previous statement. Derek clenches his fists as he stares at her and she just smiles fakely. “And yes, you do smell like death.”

“Yeah, and they won’t stop arguing like freakin’ children. I feel like I’m running a daycare here. They got along for like the first hour and then all hell broke loose,” Stiles complains. Both Fallon and Derek resist the urge to physically harm the boy in some way. The crease in Stiles’ forehead deepens at whatever Scott says, “What about your boss?”

Stiles throws his head back into his chair before holding the phone out for Derek to take, “You’re not gonna believe where he’s asking me to take you.”

Derek ignores him, taking the chance to talk to Scott. “Did you find it?” He waits for Scott to explain what he’s been doing for the past almost three hours. “Look, if you don’t find it, then I’m dead, all right?… Then think about this-- the Alpha called you out against your will. He's gonna do it again. Next time, either you kill with him, or you get killed. So, if you wanna stay alive, then you need me. Find the bullet.”

· · ────── ·𖥸· ────── · ·

The jeep rolls up to the animal clinic, taking one of the many empty parking spaces by the back entrance. Fallon tells Stiles to go find the key to unlock the building and that she’ll get Derek. She runs around to the passenger side, opening the door for the man. They resume their position from earlier at the school, his arm haphazardly draped over her shoulders and her arms securely fastened around his waist . She drags him towards the door, Stiles holding it open as his phone buzzes with another message from Scott.

“Please tell me he found something,” she begs, panting heavily as she goes to set him down in the back room.

Stiles furrows his eyebrows, “Maybe…” He looks up from his device to glance at Derek, “Does Northern Blue Monkshood mean anything to you?” He asks.

Derek nods, his head flopping slightly so Fallon lifts it up. “It’s a rare form of wolfsbane. He has to bring me the bullet.”

“Why?” Fallon queries as they finally reach the table. She pushes his body against it so she’s not holding him up entirely on her own.

Derek looks up at her weakly, “ ‘Cause I’m gonna die without it.”

Fallon’s heart drops into her stomach, “Crap…” she mumbles with a shaky exhale. She turns to look at Stiles, “Tell him to get here. Now.”

The threatening sound in her voice has Stiles scrambling to send Scott the message, informing him of the scary look on Fallon’s face. Derek begins tearing off hit clothing, ripping off his leather jacket smoothly before pulling his shirt with one hand over his head. He discards them by throwing them across the room before collapsing against the table once more. He lays his arm out for display, the bullet hole being a strange blue color, no doubt a reaction from the wolfsbane that’s slowly inching towards his heart. The blood dripping out of him is now black while the same color veins stretch up his arm from the wound.

Stiles bites his fist at the sight, gagging as he tries not to vomit all over the place. “Okay, you know, that really doesn't look like anything some echinacea and a good night's sleep couldn't take care of,” he waves off optimistically, wanting to get out of here as quickly as possible.

Fallon smacks him, “We are not leaving him, Stiles. He’s dying.” She shuffles through Destin’s things, trying to find some sort of surgical tool. “What we should do is get the bullet fragments out and try to stitch it up.” Working in the hospital has some perks. She might not legally be allowed to perform such a procedure, but nothing about this screams concern for legality.

“That won’t work,” Derek shakes his head which stops her from looking. “It’s already in my system. When the infection reaches my heart, it’ll kill me,” he breathes out.

Stiles rolls his eyes, “Positivity just isn’t in your vocabulary, is it?” He snarks sarcastically.

“Why don’t you try being shot in the arm,” Fallon quips back at her friend.

Stiles throws his hands up with an exhausted scoff, “Who’s side are you on?! One minute you’re arguing with him and telling him to die, the next you’re yelling at me! Make up your damn mind!”

Derek rips off Fallon's tourniquet, interrupting their argument as he attempts to replace it with a blue elastic band. She watches as he goes to tie it with his mouth and stops him. He glares at her as she takes it from him, a glare which she reciprocates before helping him put it in the same spot the other was. “If Scott doesn’t get here with the bullet in time– last resort,” he pants while looking through the drawers.

“Which is what?” Fallon questions.

He pulls out a small saw making her and Stiles grow paler than him. “You’re gonna cut off my arm.”

“Me?!” Fallon shouts, about ready to go along with Stiles’ plan and run out of there.

“No,” he denies before glancing at freckles. “Stiles.”

“What?!” He screams the same way Fallon did. “No. No, no, no, no, no, that’s not fair! Why do I have to do it? She’s more heartless than I am, she can do it,” he points.

Fallon scoffs and goes to rip him a new one, but Derek cuts her off. “No, Fallon needs to hold me down.”

“Why can’t I do that?” Stiles throws his arms up.

“Because looking between the two of you, I can tell her arms won’t snap if I start to push back,” Derek insults. “I need someone with muscle to be able to keep me from squirming.”

Stiles looks more than offended, “I- I have muscle,” he counters.

Derek sends him a pointed look which makes the boy shrink in on himself. Fallon takes a nervous step forward, standing next to Derek as she gets ready to hold him down. I’ll just close my eyes, she tells herself. I won’t get nightmares. This’ll be fine.

“What if you start begging me to let go and it’s too late?” She asks him, her concerns growing with every second she stares at the saw.

“That’s not gonna happen,” he answers.

“How do you know?” She scoffs. The black veins in his arm are starting to become much more prominent. “What if you try to tell me to let go because you’re bleeding out and I don’t hear you? Then you die from getting your arm sawed off. I don’t want to watch you die.”

Derek leans further into the table, “It’ll heal if it works.”

Stiles eyes the saw with a sickly expression. He swallows thickly, shaking his head. “Look, I don’t know if I can do this,” he admits, his overactive imagination not doing him any favors.

“Why not?” Derek says impatiently.

Stiles looks at him like he’s stupid, “Well, because of the cutting through the flesh, the sawing of the bone, and especially the blood!” He lists off exasperatedly.

“You faint at the sight of blood?” Derek asks incredulously.

“No, but I might at the sight of a chopped-off arm!” Stiles screeches in response.

“All right, fine. How about this– either you cut off my arm, or I'm gonna cut off your head,” Derek threatens.

Stiles rolls his eyes, “Okay, you know what? I'm so not buying your threats any–” Derek cuts him off by yanking him forward by the collar of his shirt. Stiles’ eyes widen as he tries to get out of his hold. “Oh, my God!” He gasps. “Okay. All right. Bought. Sold. Totally. I'll do it. I'll do it.”

Derek let’s go of him, the boy pushing himself away from the older werewolf. He turns to say something to Fallon, but she can see the distant look on his face. “Derek, what’s wrong?” She asks attentively. Instead of answering, his cheeks puff out and he lurches forward. Her eyes widen and she tries to take a step back, covering her face with her arms. His mouth flies open and black projectile vomit comes out of his mouth, splattering all over her. She gasps as the hot liquid drips down her body.

Fallon exhales with a small whimper. She shakes her hands, some of the vomit flinging off of her fingers. “It’s fine…” she tries to convince herself. “Everything’s fine… I didn’t even like this shirt anyway.”

Stiles' jaw hits the floor, his own bile rising in his throat. “Holy God, what the hell is that?!”

Fallon turns to Stiles, her facial expression is blank. “Stiles,” she wipes her cheek. “Do what he says.”

“But–” he goes to point at the saw.

“Now!” She screams at him. Despite the vomit all over her, she walks behind Derek and gets a good grip on him. She holds his arm in place and glares at Stiles, “Do it, now.” She orders, nodding towards the saw.

He grabs the saw for a moment before looking up to protest, “Look, honestly, I don’t think I can–”

“Just do it!” Derek and Fallon yell at the same time.

Stiles jumps at how scary their symphony of voices sound together. “Oh, my God. Okay, okay…” He starts the saw, a loud sound accompanying it. He starts putting it towards Derek’s arm, “Oh, my God.... All right, here we go…”

“Stiles! Fallon!” Scott’s voice rings through the clinic.

“Scott?” Stiles looks hopeful, glancing away from the death tool in his hand.

When Scott runs in, the first thing he sees is Fallon practically pinning Derek down while Stiles holds a miniature saw to his arm. His lopsided jaw goes slack, “What the hell are you guys doing?”

Stiles turns the saw off, stepping away from it with a relieved smile. “Oh, you just prevented a lifetime of nightmares,” he thanks his best friend.

Fallon steps away from Derek, every step she takes coming with a small ‘squelch’ sound. “Speak for yourself,” she grumbles.

The older man looks at Scott eagerly, “Did you get it?” He asks, searching for any sign of the bullet.

Scott reaches into his pocket, pulling out a small bullet and handing it to Derek. “What are you gonna do with it?” The brunette girl asks, wiping her face off with a towel she found near one of the kennels.

Derek holds the bullet up, “I’m gonna–” he stumbles, his speech much weaker. “I’m gonna–” Out of nowhere, the cure Scott worked so hard to find falls out of his fingers. Derek collapses, hitting the ground roughly as Scott and Stiles try to go after the bullet.

Fallon drops to her knees, eyes going wide as she stares at Derek’s unconscious form. She cups the side of his face with her right hand, shaking his shoulder with the other. He doesn’t move. “Derek! Derek, come on, wake up!” She pleads. Scott and Stiles are babbling in the distance, but she can’t understand a word they’re saying as her entire focus is on the almost dead man below her. Her eyes scan his body and her breath hitches when she notices his chest isn’t rising. She puts her fingers to his neck trying to find any sign of a pulse. It’s there, but not very strong. The weakest pulse she’s felt. Fallon wracks her brain for any kind of medical information she’s learned from the hospital to wake him up.

Her eyes lighten up as she leans forward, opening his mouth to see if there is any blockage. She notices chunks of the black vomit he spat at her earlier blocking his airway. She sticks her pointer and middle finger in his mouth, swiping out the liquid. She then quickly turns him on his side before putting her hand into a fist and hitting him in the back as hard as she can. His eyes shoot open, blue flashing across them as he coughs more blood on Fallon. She cringes but keeps patting his back to make sure all of it leaves his system.

“I got it!” Scott screams. “I got it!”

Stiles looks at Fallon with shock on his face, “Where did you learn how to do that?”

“The hospital,” she utters out quickly, bringing Derek to his feet. “I’ve seen Melissa do it on a choking baby. Obviously with much less force, but same principle.”

“Give me–” Derek gasps in pain as he takes the bullet from Scott’s hand, biting off the tip to expose where the gunpowder is. He empties it into his hand before pushing it forcefully into the wound. He howls loudly as blue smoke starts floating up from the gunshot hole. His face turns red as he falls back to the floor, writhing around in pain. His back arches upwards as he tries to fight against screaming anymore than he already has. Fallon watches in awe as his wound begins to heal at a rapid pace, the black veins slowly disappearing until the injury is completely gone.

“That… was… Awesome!” Stiles exclaims with a clap of his hands. He pumps his fist in the air as if they just got off of an amusement park ride. “Yes!”

“I’m gonna hit you,” Fallon tells him blatantly. Stiles’ face falls, but he knows better than to continue testing her. She walks closer to Derek, sticking her hand out to help him off the floor. “Are you okay?” She asks genuinely.

Derek accepts her offer, using her to get himself up. “Well, except for the agonizing pain…” he says sarcastically.

“I’m guessing the ability to use sarcasm is a good sign of health,” Stiles comments, crossing his arms. Derek sends a death stare his way making Fallon rolls her eyes as she moves away from him and over to where Stiles is standing.

“Okay, we saved your life, which means you're gonna leave us alone. You got that?” He instructs Derek. “And, if you don't, I'm gonna go back to Allison's dad, and I'm gonna tell him everything–” the threat is cut off by Derek who looks absolutely appalled by what he just said.

“You’re gonna trust them?!” He narrows his eyes. “You think they can help you?”

Scott shrugs his shoulders, “Well, why not?” He yells loudly. “They’re a lot freaking nicer than you are!”

Derek surges forward angrily, “I can show you exactly how nice they are.”

· · ────── ·𖥸· ────── · ·

Fallon sighs tiredly as she parks her motorcycle in front of her house. Her eyes are practically closing as she trudges through the front door. Stiles had taken her back to the School to get her bike after Derek took Scott to show him how “evil” the Argents are. She closes the front door, a small click echoing behind her.

“Where have you been?”

Fallon flinches as the light to the living room suddenly flicks on. Michael is sitting in his chair in the living room, a book in his lap with a reading lamp sitting beside him. She looks like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming vehicle.

“I asked you a question,” he says. “Where have you been? It’s two in the morning.” His voice is more than just concerned or worried. He’s disappointed.

Fallon places her helmet on the kitchen counter before turning back to her dad, “I was out with Scott and Stiles,” she answers.

“Doing what?” He continues questioning. “You all know there’s a police enforced curfew, right? None of you should be out this late, especially on a school night,” he crosses his arms as he walks over to his daughter. “You didn’t text, call, nothing. I had no idea where you were. Now, normally I don’t care because I know you’re responsible, and ninety percent of the time you’re with the boys. But with everything that’s going on, the murders, the dead bodies, you need to start being more communicative.”

“Dad, all we did was drive around,” she defends. “Stiles wanted to go get food and stuff after school, so we went and did that and just hung out around town.”

“Really?” He asks, disbelieving every word coming out of her mouth. “Just eating and driving around?”

“Yes,” she shrugs.

“Then why not shoot me a text?” He lifts an eyebrow. “I don’t think that’s too hard, do you?”

“No,” she sighs, getting tired of this conversation already. “I’m sorry. Next time I plan on being out late, I’ll let you know what I’m doing.”

“Oh no,” Michael shakes his head. “There will be no next time. From now on, you will be home by the enforced curfew time. If the boys want to come over and stay the night, you know I have no problem with that. But you will not leave this house anytime after that, do you understand me?”

Fallon scoffs, “Dad, are you serious?” She says upsetly.

“Dead serious young lady,” he nods. “I don’t want to leave my shift at the hospital getting a call from Noah saying that they found my daughter's dead body somewhere in the woods. It’s dangerous out there, Fallon. I’m not going to allow you to engage in reckless behavior. I’m your father. It’s my job to keep you safe. You might hate me now, but it’s for the best,” he shuts his lamp off, setting his book back on their shared bookshelf in the living room. “You can complain about me all you want to the boys, but I’ve made up my mind,” he walks over towards the stairs before glancing back at his daughter. “Now go to bed. You still have school in the morning. You get to deal with the consequence of being tired.”

She watches after her father, shock written all over her face. She just saved a man’s life and pretty much got grounded at the same time. Michael is a very easy going parent. She got lucky in the dad department, and she knows that. Seeing and hearing him talk to her like that isn’t common. They usually don’t have issues to this extent. They have a mutual trust. But if he’s really that worried that he’s willing to confine her to the house, she’s going to have to listen to him.

Or get a lot more creative on how to sneak out.

[thejojolands-moved]

Hey, I need to step in and say this, but Warriors Fans you have got to be more critical of what y'all say and reblog. WC has a big, glaring misogyny problem that needs to be discussed. I'm beyond pleased that we are talking about it at this point honestly, we need to have these conversations and condemn some of the messages these books are sending to kids. However, a lot of y'all aren't critiquing misogyny, y'all are spreading radfem talking points and I doubt it's on purpose. This isn't an attack, I am simply asking y'all to be mindful.

I often see posts that want to address misogyny, typically by juxtaposing characters to show how women tend to be antagonized or men may be unfairly praised. What happens though, is instead of simply condemning hypocrisy by showing that those actions are all good, bad, or grey, what people instead do is say that "all women are inherently good/all men are inherently bad." Obviously, replacing human terms with cat ones. That isn't combating misogyny, that is perpetuating radfem rhetoric.

I'll give an example of what I mean using a hypothetical. Molly and Male Cat are both bad, they do the same bad things to other cats and are in very similar circumstances. (IE, they are both ableists.) Molly gets hated an appropriate amount for being bad, but Male Cat tends to not get enough flack.

A post critiquing misogyny would say something along the lines of "Molly and Male Cat are both very similar and need to be treated the same. They both do awful things and need to be equally criticized."

A post that would be spreading radfem rhetoric would be something like "Male Cat did something bad, you excuse a tom for doing this but not Molly. Molly should be excused, she's a woman she didn't do anything that bad. Especially when you compare it to the constant suffering men like Male Cat put women through!"

The first is asking for women to be treated equally. The second is stating that men are inherently cruel while women are inherently kind. It doesn't help that while the idea of sex/gender determining morality is rotten to the core, it is also in fact misogynistic. The idea that men are inherently stronger, crueler, and more prone to violence while women are gentle, kind, and victims is rooted in misogyny. It is just while your male misogynist may frame it as good that men are "inherently violent" and bad that women are "inherently weak", radfems instead frame it as good that women are "inherently good-natured" and bad men are "inherently cruel."

So please, for the love of god read a bit deeper before you post. I know it may feel like you are fighting against misogyny but you are not, you are only changing the brand. I know a lot of people want to do their part and share what people are exposing or talking about, maybe even throw their two cents in. However, you aren't being helpful if the expose on misogyny or uplifting of women is seasoned with harmful ideas like that. I love y'all, but be mindful.

[nevergonnabemuchmorethanweather]

What's your favorite and least favorite thing about each main character on BTVS and Angel?

I can really only answer this for BTVS. I have seen Angel, but not recently, and it just doesn't resonate with me the way BTVS does. Turns out, when there's no Buffy, I don't care.

Buffy:

I love so much about Buffy Summers that it's hard to pick a true favorite trait. I'm going to go with her intelligence because it's so often overlooked even though, in many ways, she's the smartest character on the show-- and the one who actually uses her brain when everyone around her is being utterly irrational and falling for every trick in the manipulative villain handbook.

My least favorite thing about her, by far, is what a doormat she can be sometimes. It's so frustrating watching her take so much shit from her friends and family and forget her own strength over and over.

Giles:

This is difficult to articulate, but I like that Giles chooses to be one of the good guys despite clearly having the capacity not to be, and how his own moral grayness gives him an understanding of the nuances of human nature that the others lack.

My least favorite thing about Giles is his emotional cowardice and immaturity. He does so many harmful and downright stupid things trying to run from his feelings. He never quite learns to put on his big boy pants and deal with his issues, and his being decades older than the rest of the cast makes it really glaring.

Willow:

I love it when Willow cuts down to the core of a situation and exposes everybody's bullshit. Her rant to Giles and Angel in Reptile Boy, reading Faith for filth in Choices, and shutting Parker down in Beer Bad are some of my favorite moments with her.

My least favorite thing about her is that she's actually incredibly self-centered and entitled a lot of the time. She expects the world to stop for her when she's in pain and when she thinks she's right, she's not interested in what anyone else has to say or silly things like basic human rights and autonomy.

Xander:

His bravery. Despite having no powers and no particular skill set, he ends up accomplishing some pretty impressive things through sheer balls and determination, and it's hard not to respect that. Trust me, I've tried.

My least favorite thing about him is almost everything else about him, but I guess that's kind of cheating. If I had to sum it up into one trait, I think I'd say it's his blatant hypocrisy that bothers me the absolute most. He doesn't even try to live up to the standards he sets for other people.

From here on out, my take on who is and who isn't a main character is going to be pretty arbitrary. For instance, I'm not including Tara, even though I adore her, because I couldn't think of anything bad to say about her and that probably means she wasn't fleshed out enough to be a true main character. If I skip a character you wanted my opinion on, I'm always open to more Buffy asks!

Dawn:

Her loyalty. My girl does not mess around when you mess with the people she cares about, and she doesn't play that 'don't take sides' crap. If you hurt someone she loves, you're going to hear about it. I know, I know, Empty Places, but she was clearly being manipulated there and if you look at her behavior overall, she's absolutely a ride or die and I love it.

Her expectations, especially of Buffy, are extremely unreasonable sometimes and it causes a lot of misery all around. I don't count it against her too much because it's a pretty normal teenager thing, but if there was one thing I could change about her, it would probably be that.

Angel:

His insight. He's very good at channeling his own emotional turmoil and self-loathing into understanding others-- usually Buffy, but not always.

His martyr complex and constant self-sabotage are super annoying. Though I love him, I do totally understand people who can't deal with his Man Pain.

Spike:

Devotion. I have all sorts of problems with him but he does have a capacity for sacrificial love that transcends all else-- including soullessness and demonic influence.

And my least favorite thing about him is really just the flip side of that same trait. He's simultaneously creepily obsessive and eye-rollingly sentimental and dramatic.

Thanks for the ask!

[darkenforcer]

man... glad he's happy, but why's he have to be so obvious about it?

"...yeah, right. too busy trying to keep the damn thing still, is all," though that clearly isn't the case if the nigh motionless bundle is anything to go by, or the swordsman's involuntary flicker of warmth as he turns his face away.

half-expecting dar to have jumped at the chance for glory himself, yuri nudges him lightly, "you're such a sap, y'know that?" hypocrisy at its finest. "works for me."

(was that a muffled 'get a room' he just heard...? nah, must've been his imagination).

wham! they leave two inky doodles of their weapons upon its forehead, side-by-side. if that wasn't satisfying enough, their accomplishment triggers a rumble across the arena, hedges rearranging to form a straight path toward the exit.

oh, right--! the cat flops to the ground with a sudden unfurling of his sash. it offers no pleasantries, only a final, testy glare before sprinting away (feeling's mutual, pal).

"that was... anticlimactic, but i guess it's fitting after our crummy performances. can't complain about that last stunt, though, we work surprisingly well together."

and now that it's over -- dar conveniently within revenge's reach -- yuri can do this..! thumb wettened, he reaches over to wipe a glob of pie filling from the other man's cheek, seemingly indifferent as he brings it to his lips and licks it clean.

then a heel turn to top off his mockery, repede in tow, "celebration dinner's on you, by the way! our star player earned it, and you still owe me for breaking your fall."

an almost proud huff escapes as he watches yuri's form disappear behind the hedge. despite their banter they really do know how to pull themselves together as a frightfully effective team, don't they? he's going to ignore the shifting of weight behind him, his tail entranced by his own uplifted mood.

in better news, he doesn't hear the scuffle of hisses anymore and can only assume the swordsman kept to his word with ease. "if only it could of started this easy," he muses, but has to stop that train of thought. despite the mishaps he's kind of... enjoyed this. it made them meeting up again more enjoyable, too. even if his entrance was a bit much.

bringing his hands up he gave his face a quick slap; a palm against each cheek. back into the moment, this isn't done yet!

as he turned to finally get a move on the sound of approaching paws caught his attention, perking up at the sight of repede backtracking. "aww, ya came to get me, did ya?" ( why do i feel it wasn't your idea, though. ) a thought he'd keep to himself behind a growing smile.

"alright, boy. lead the way!"

with repede's aid he's able to navigate his way with ease -- and sass free! -- to the other side of the hedge, his partner and the bundled up furball coming into view. he was expecting to see a smudge of ink upon the cats fur already but, to his surprise, there wasn't a trace of anything once he got in closer.

"don't tell me ya were waitin' on me? i'd have thought ya'd go and steal the glory already!"

playful as he wanted to be about it, there's a pleased twitch in his ear and a short wag from behind. he's a little too pleased to make any note of either, though. now! readying his own stamp in hand he closes the distance, raising the stamp above the cats forehead. "now that i'm here, we'll mark it together then. tuck a win under each of our belts!"

[gralunaisland]

Part 2 of "Why Gray is NOT a Tsundere"

(An Anti-gr///via Post)

[Links to Part 1 and Part 3 are linked here.]

Refuting the @f*ckyeahgr*via post:

Again, this is the post I read that tries to prove Gray is a tsundere which I will be analyzing and countering to prove that Gray is in fact not a tsundere.

Anyway, first, I will say I agree with the Anon that suggested this to me all those months ago. This post seems to be quite reasonable at first glance, at least compared to other Pro gr///vian arguments which tend not to be.

However, I gave it careful thought, and I believe I have a response to each of their points.

Also, remember, as I said in Part 1, I refer to the Pro gr///vian writer of this post as "Author", and their quotes are in orange. Lastly, this post is the longest of the 3 parts so be prepared.

Onto the Author's post:

"Yes, there is a difference [between being a tsundere and not returning someone's feelings]. But, it’s a shame when shipping preferences get in the way of people seeing obvious character traits for what they are."

This is what Author basically starts out by saying, and it's really a baffling thing for a Pro gr//vian to say.

I mean... in the nicest way possible... look at the pot calling the kettle black.

Pros are literally the ones whose shipping preferences get in the way of them seeing juvia's glaring, painfully obvious traits (flaws, they're flaws) for what they are (again, flaws).

The hypocrisy is pretty baffling to me, even if it's accidental.

Because Pros just ship Gray and juvia together with no real thought as to the healthiness of the relationship, they usually flat out ignore her toxic traits:

from the stalking ("she only did it a few timessss" or "it's not stalking, she's just watching the guy she likesss even if she's following him across the country without his knowledge"),

to the emotional manipulation ("noo she wasn't making Silver's death all about her and her selfish love of Gray, she was just apologizinggg", ignoring the fact that she never said sorry and ignoring the fact that she said she had no right to love him but she continues to “love” him afterward because she didn’t actually believe that, she just wanted Gray to make her feel better even though he’s heavily grieving right now etc.),

to the ignoring him whenever he is obviously uncomfortable or when he literally rejected her ("nahhh his clear rejection of her and her feelings was just a red herring, he obviously just adores her, no doesn’t mean no, and consent is all subjective anyway" etc.),

to ignoring all his boundaries ("awww isn't it so sweet that they lived together after FT disbanded?? let's just forget the fact that she trespassed, refused to leave, and then tried to sleep with him" etc.),

to creating creepy merchandise all with Gray's face on it and using it to get off ("heyyy, don't kink shame! it's perfectly healthy to do this even if the person she based all the merch off of doesn't know she's doing this and doesn't like her back" etc.)

etc. etc. etc!!!

I'm sorry, Author, but you are describing yourself when you're trying to call out Antis. Your adoration of the ship gr///via blinds you from seeing juvia's obvious traits as what they are, detestable, as well as from seeing that Gray is a victim here, not a willing participant and most certainly not the bad guy here.

But let's continue.

Author moves on by claiming Mashima proclaimed Gray's "tsundere-ness" himself by highlighting it on the manga cover with the words "You've never seen Gray make this face before!", as if that proves the face Gray was making was tsundere. I also found another translation of what I think Author was referring to on the gross title page of juvia for 413 Days, which says "This will be the first time Gray shows this side of himself", which would directly contradict certain things that this Author says that I will get to later on.

To be honest, the face he makes actually does look pretty tsundere, if we're just going to focus on looks. He's frowning with eyebrows furrowed, and he's got a slight blush on his face.

However, Gray was probably only making that expression because of a combination of being ashamed of his "harsh treatment" (aka rightful treatment) of juvia from that particular day (because he's a nice person and actually he wasn't even being harsh now that I went back to read the stupid chapter), being ashamed that he "treated her badly" when she was "just trying to be nice", being grateful for something cheerful on a dreary day, as well as being embarrassed again that it was juvia, the girl who's made it abundantly clear she desires him and pesters him who was cheering him up despite how much he's told her off.

I'm thinking it's mostly that last thing as the reason why he makes that particular expression. He's a big softie, and yet he's been setting hundreds of boundaries for juvia-- rightfully so-- so it definitely pains/embarrasses him to actually enjoy something she gives him.

In that case, it makes perfect sense why he 'hasn't made that face before' because this is the first time he actually appreciates something juvia does for him.

All that makes abundantly more sense than him “trying desperately not to let anyone know that he likes juvia", which is the whole point of the classic tsundere face where they pretend to hate the person they like in the first place by the way, especially when in the next panel, which Author shows, he's smiling, and especially since he's alone and has no one to prove it to, least of all juvia who isn't even there.

Then Author brings up Erza witnessing Gray smiling and wearing the scarf, saying she "passed by with a knowing smile on her face", as if that proves anything? I honestly don't know what they thought they were proving here, really, because yes, Erza saw Gray wearing the scarf, and she smiled with a blush on her face.

Uh... Like we care what she thinks??

I absolutely hate Erza when she's butting into Gray's personal "love life". On a different occasion, she berates Gray for not giving juvia a clear answer, even though he's made it clear to anyone who's not an imbecile that juvia's actions bother him, basically saying it's his fault that juvia keeps pestering him, actually victim blaming him even though he was just being a nice guy to juvia. She literally encourages juvia's insane and just plain inconsiderate behavior towards Gray and supports her through it all. She really shows that her true loyalties lie with helping juvia ruin his life rather than with the man whom she's been friends with since childhood. Erza is the one who tells juvia she has to give him a gift since it's "their anniversary". If Erza was really Gray's friend, then she should know that that day was the anniversary of Ur's death. But noooo she still puts juvia up to bothering Gray even though she knows how Gray reacts to juvia's antics and even though by then he'd already rejected her. And even if she didn't know that it was Ur's deathday, then after learning, she should've been supporting Gray, not juvia. Oh gosh, the words Erza spouted to juvia while she was crying for ruining Gray's day:

"Besides, I don't think Gray was bothered too much by your gesture. It's just one day. If lives were lost today, then today, lives were also born. How important each and every day is... depends on how important you feel it is to you."

This made me want to rip the red hair out of her head. Not only does she spur juvia on to bother Gray even though she knows Gray already rejected her, she tries to make juvia feel better (instead of comforting Gray) by basically saying, "don't feel bad for annoying Gray on the most important and saddest day for him. People die and are born everyday, so Gray should just get over it."

Onto the next point:

The next thing Author looked at was the panels where juvia made bread with Gray's face on them.

"Prior to that, we had people pointing out that Gray was completely contradicting his own rejection, by being obliging towards Juvia, with his very tsundere-ish line of “Well, since you went to all this trouble…” while BLUSHING and taking one of her breads (who blushes when they eat bread?)"

What's absolutely hilarious is that a total of five people had blushes on their face in the two panels Author showed. Blush does NOT equal romantic feelings every time it shows up in manga. If it did, then not only did Gray and juvia have romantic feelings in these panels, but so did Cana, Mira, and Elfman. Uh, "who blushes when they eat bread"?? Maybe ELFMAN who literally has blush on his face when he says, "This tastes really manly!" as he eats juvia's bread???

Need I say more on this point? No? Good.

Anyway, onto Author's point of pointing all this out, remember, Gray isn't a mean person.

He's actually never been mean to juvia; he's not mean to people in general. One example is when he was so apologetic and felt so bad that he'd accidentally hurt Mirajane's feelings when he thought a drawing was childish. The closest thing he's gotten to being mean is his rivalry with Natsu, but it's shown time and time again that that's just surface level rivalry and fooling around and that he actually cares about him. Baking bread takes time and effort, which he recognizes with his words (which accounts for the "very tsundere-ish line"), and it's among the marginally less creepy things she's tried to give him, so why wouldn't he accept them, especially since he's nice?

Accepting something she made is not akin to declaring that he actually likes her. He's probably only blushing because she's embarrassing him like usual in front of the whole guild. He's also sweating hard, which shows that it's probably stress from the public humiliation too. Gray's never liked juvia's over the top antics, especially how she's not subtle in public about it, and her baking him bread with their faces on it is definitely embarrassing.

Onto the next point:

"And then there was the 366 moment that he initiated (gripping her hand and intimately telling her he was with her) which again was completely contradictory towards his previous words of rejection towards Juvia, and obviously had romantic implications behind the moment. I mean, how do you go from this (and mind you, the official translation was even harsher than this, as he said refused/rejected, rather than “No thanks.")"

"To this?:"

I'm confused how Pros have the audacity to show Gray's rejection and then to pretend like it didn't matter at all. Notice how they even mention that the official translation was harsher? Gray was making it completely clear that he didn't reciprocate juvia's feelings, without any hint of the classic tsundere blush and stammering, without any of the unease and uncertainty. He was laying it all out in the open. He wasn't even being cold in the tsundere sense; he's not being cold by firmly setting boundaries and by making it clear he doesn't consent to being treated like this by juvia. Why can't they just understand that no means no?

As for the second scene, Gray has always been there for his friends emotionally and physically. Remember in the Phantom Lord arc where Erza was collapsing against his chest in defeat and he held onto her? Remember when Gray was physically supporting Lucy as she used the Book of End? He expresses concern for his friends through physical means many times over the anime, and this time with juvia would be no exception. Just because he lays his hand on juvia's hand, a girl who's a part of the guild he loves so dearly, a girl whom he still considers a friend even though juvia shows time and time again she's not willing to be friends with him, doesn't mean he loves her; he's merely supporting a worried, stressed comrade of his.

Him being kind to juvia and him loving juvia are not mutually inclusive. In other words, him doing the former doesn't necessitate the latter. He's just a kind person in general, as I've said many times, and if you can't see that he's a kind person in general, are you even a fan of Gray's? Honestly, I wouldn't think many Pros are fans of Gray because of how toxic this ship is for him, but I'd love to hear how they reconcile it in their mind.

Onto the next point:

"And Gray’s tsundereness does not just apply to Juvia. He has a HISTORY of being tsundere with people. The first arc he participated in within the series (the Lullaby arc) flat out established him as tsundere, when he acted as such with Natsu, by not wanting to directly tell him to not die (see the embarrassed blush):"

"And before you say, Natsu was acting similarly, no. Natsu has NO PROBLEM telling Gray in the Galuna Island arc to not die. That’s the difference between Gray and Natsu. Natsu has no problem directly showing how much he cares for people."

Well, honestly good for Author, they show that they realize being tsundere doesn't just apply to romantic interests.

Rather than him being tsundere here, though, I think this is literally just a case of "boys being boys". Guys just don't tend to be very emotionally vulnerable. It's not a secret that most of the time Gray and Natsu butt heads. The times where either of them tells the other that they actually care for each other are not often.

Here, Author, you state that you can't say Natsu was acting similarly here, however, I disagree, because while, yes, Natsu made it clear in a very dire moment when Gray was about to kill himself through Iced Shell that he didn't want him to die, in this moment, Natsu acted the same exact way that Gray did, flushing and then quickly turning away, breaking eye contact. I don't think either of them are being tsunderes, they're just not used to showing how much they care for the other on a regular basis, and for guys, it can be especially embarrassing to show it.

You say that's the difference between these guys, that "Natsu has no problem directly showing how much he cares for people", but I mean, think back to the Phantom Lord arc where Gray fights your precious juvia, where Gray declares loudly and proudly that he'd die to save Lucy from them. I'd say that's plenty direct, especially since juvia (though she's an idiot so I wouldn't put much purport to this) mistook his passion for romantic love for Lucy. Also think to how viscerally and visibly angry Natsu, Erza, AND Gray were when Sabertooth's Minerva was brutalizing Lucy in the GMG, and how both Gray and Natsu ran out onto the field in front of everyone to catch her. These are only a couple of examples, but Gray has no issue showing how much he cares for people, even publicly.

It's just more awkward for him to tell these things to his dude friend, especially with a dude friend he bickers with jokingly for the most part, especially when the situation isn't exactly dire yet.

Onto the next point:

"Another example of Gray’s tsundereness was when he first met Erza. He acted tsundere with her too, being antagonist towards her, while obviously caring about her feelings, but trying his best to hide it:"

I feel like here, Author is just misreading it, which I don't blame them since they're only looking at these panels, but to get the full picture, they need to look beyond these panels and at the entire chapter/episode. If you do, you'll see that Gray doesn't "care for Erza's feelings" as soon as he meets her. He's actually annoyed by her and fights with her and picks on her from the get-go because of how standoffish she acts.

He's not acting tsundere here; he's genuinely surprised to see her cry for the first time. He's totally thrown off guard since he's used to her just putting 'em up and fighting him back. He definitely wasn't prepared for her to show her vulnerable side. I don't think the trembles and the nervous sweats show him desperately trying to hide any semblance of sympathy, I think he's just seriously surprised by this turn of events and is woefully unprepared and nervous to deal with a pretty girl crying, and then of course he has to deal with expressing his sympathy, but I definitely don't think hiding the sympathy was the first thing on his mind or even the first instinctual thing he did. The first thing he did was ask her why she's always on her own. He immediately dives right into the deep questions, showing his natural kind side.

Author segues from that into:

"In fact, Gray makes a speech during the TOH arc about how Erza has to be in FT so she wont cry. Do you think Gray EVER told Erza any of this? Not likely."

Sigh.

I'm sorry, but a guy not telling a girl that he doesn't want her to cry doesn't mean he's a tsundere. You see, being a tsundere means you normally act cold and harsh to someone. Gray doesn't with Erza, he just jokes around with her and is usually scared of her, but he's showed plenty that he actually cares for her. Just because he doesn't tell her all his heartfelt emotions about how much he (platonically) loves her doesn't mean he's being a tsundere. I think people forget how guys are in general, not that they act as a monolith, of course, but it's a definite theme amongst men to be more closed off with your emotions, which doesn't necessarily mean you're actively hiding them and covering them up by acting mean and cold like tsunderes do.

In addition, I've already said in Part 1 that you can't take "not talking about your feelings" as equaling tsundere because again, that would mean most everyone in the Fairy Tail universe is a tsundere because no one talks about their feelings all the time except in dire straits like what is depicted in the picture above.

Another segue:

"But again, in comparison, Natsu has no problem saying things directly to Erza in the very same arc, and crying in front of her. Natsu can be immature sometimes, but he’s no tsundere. Gray, however, IS."

IIII just don't get it.

Without even trying to attack them, I honestly feel like Author hasn't read or watched most of Fairy Tail. At the very least, they’ve forgotten most of it. Gray cried for Ur right in front of Natsu, Happy, and Lucy in the Galuna Arc before Natsu ever did. He cries again in front of them when he sees Ultear's sacrifice. And of course, Pros would never forget Gray breaking down crying at his father's grave. And he has very plainly shown how much he cares for his friends on a regular basis, literally in every arc. His anger and his passion to protect them is honestly on full display every fight.

I've already addressed this earlier in this post anyway, but anyway one last thing before I move on, I just have to say that Gray is such expressive character that I am quite actually baffled that viewers could see him and immediately think he's a closed off, harsh, cold-acting tsundere. In my next watch through, I'll be sure to pay more attention to those moments where Gray is being super expressive so I can list them all off, but seriously, that's what these Pros need to be doing, to actually take some time to analyze Gray's behavior and his responses to juvia's actions. Maybe then they'll realize how off-putting and toxic she is, and that maybe before Gray was brainwashed by Mashima, he reacted in a way that made sense and was honest considering those facts.

Onto the next point:

"And of course, he acted like a little brat with Ur, and lashed out at her, even though she was like a second mother to him, and took care of him. But, of course he cared for her, even before her sacrifice. He was just hurt. As Ur said, there was darkness in his heart because of what happened with Deliora, and she sealed that away for him, but his tsundere quality remained lol. ^-^"

Oh goodness... This point actually made me sad...

Now Pros are trying to say that “the only reason why Gray would possibly reject juvia's disturbing advances is because of how Deliora traumatically scarred him by taking away everyone he loved, which made him into a tsundere”?...

I am almost at a loss for words...

This is beyond delusional. How could they just completely ignore juvia's glaring, toxic, abusive faults and go right to "Oh, well trauma is the only reason Gray wouldn't wanna shack up with someone as wonderful as juvia-sama despite the fact that she ignores consent, she ignores privacy, she ignores Gray's desires and goals, she hates everything he loves, and she just wants herself to be happy"??? This is legit juvia-level delusion, and it's a bit frightening.

I also hate that Author reduced the immensely and deeply and irrevocably traumatized Gray to just “acting like a brat” as well. It’s awful. It just goes to show you how lots of Pros aren’t Gray fans at all, just juvia fans.

To be honest, though, despite all that, this is the closest we've gotten to Gray acting like a tsundere. Here, he does act harsh and temperamental, and he took out his anger and his anguish and his hurt that he got from losing his family on Ur, despite him clearly caring for her at the end and being heartbroken that she sacrificed herself for him.

However, I still don’t think this is an example of Gray being a tsundere.

If I were to split hairs, one could argue that it was this moment where Gray started to care for her, or at least realized it, after seeing what lengths she was willing to go for him, and therefore, he wasn't just acting cold to hide his familial feelings towards her, though I will admit that's probably a reach.

To go a different route, though, this just isn't a case where, quoting one of the definitions of tsundere, "They will occasionally let slip their warm and loving feelings hidden inside. They hide their feelings due to being shy, nervous, insecure." All 3 definitions say it's a gradual process of showing warmer feelings, but right up until the very end, Gray was completely hostile towards Ur. There was nothing gradual about the abrupt wake-up call that was Gray realizing that his mistake would cost this woman, whom he should've felt gratitude towards, her life.

And clearly, Gray was only acting harsh and cold and temperamental because he was just misdirecting his negative feelings at Deliora towards Ur. As a little kid, he didn’t have great control of his emotions, as little kids don’t, and with the great loss he had, he needed an outlet, a scapegoat, and he settled on making Ur his emotional punching bag. He hated Deliora, he hated life for taking away everything he loved, so he projected that hate onto the only person he could express that hate towards: Ur. Acting harsh and cold and temperamental doesn’t mean you’re a tsundere: it could just mean you’re a traumatized individual who desperately needs an outlet to express your grief and anguish. Gray wasn’t “being a tsundere” because “that’s his character trait where he’s just socially awkward and therefore can’t express his feelings”, he was just lashing out at the world that wronged him so badly.

[[And remember at the very beginning of this post, where I said I'd get back to something? Well, it was the translation of the 413 days quote where it said "This will be the first time Gray shows this side of himself" with the picture of Gray making a "tsundere" face. If we're going to take Mashima's word for it, wouldn't it not make sense that Gray has always been a tsundere since he was a kid, as Author suggests here and in the chapter where kid Gray confronts kid Erza, and yet he only acts apparently like a tsundere for the first time in the 413 days chapter?

Something isn't consistent with the facts, and I believe it's Author's assertions. How could Gray “be acting like a tsundere, being a tsundere,” throughout his life, and yet he only starts to act like it in 413 Days?? Either way, it doesn't matter to me because I don't think Gray is acting like a tsundere in 413 days either, nor here with Ur nor with Erza, but it just goes to show how even the text itself disagrees with Author, and it shows that Author’s conclusions are not actually coming from canon material.]]

I'd definitely have to rewatch it and get more insight on it because it's already been a year since my last rewatch, but these are my thoughts on it for now. Please do give me your thoughts on this, or on anything, dear readers!

Anyway, even if Gray was acting a mite tsundere here, and that's a huge if, that doesn't necessitate that Gray would stay that way his whole life, especially considering the impact Ur had on sealing the darkness for him.

To wrap this portion up, I find it rather nutty that Author decided to take Deliora's trauma as the reason for Gray's supposed tsundere-ness, and that they even acknowledged that Ur was sealing away the darkness, and yet they decided to cherry pick what the trauma affected and what part of the trauma stayed and to claim that Gray's now a tsundere in his romantic and platonic pursuits (despite him showing he's definitely not at the very least in the latter case). I wish I knew a psychologist who could analyze Gray (though I've heard from a friend that they showed juvia's profile to a psychology professor and they came to the conclusion that she's actually insane which is fun.)

Onto the next point:

"He even acts tsundere with Lyon. He insults him and is antagonistic towards him all the time, and sees him as a rival, but he clearly loves him like a brother (and in fact, Lyon is the same way, as we saw how broken up he was when Gray died)."

Again, Author doesn't understand the bond of bros. I'm like this with my own brothers: insults are the norm even though we love each other. I think this is how most young guys are too actually. Maybe Author hasn't been around enough guys to understand that.

I suppose that's focusing too much on "personal experiences", but I don't know how to mention it besides saying that that's just the culture of many young men... I don't know what Author expected, that all the guys who aren't tsunderes would have heart-to-hearts on the daily about their feelings and how much they love each other?

But anyway, about what they said. I think Author's words here even agree with my stance on this subject. "He insults him and is antagonistic towards him all the time, and sees him as a rival, but he clearly loves him like a brother". You see... Isn't a tsundere supposed to be warming up to their person of interest? Immediately after their fight on Galuna Island, they showed they did still care for each other. There wasn't really anything gradual, they just had to settle this "disagreement" and to settle the long-standing resentments.

What's more, you have to stay logically consistent, Author.

You said before "But again, in comparison, Natsu has no problem saying things directly to Erza in the very same arc, and crying in front of her. Natsu can be immature sometimes, but he’s no tsundere" and yet you say here that Lyon is the same way (i.e. is a tsundere) like Gray.

Thing is, Natsu has the same exact dynamic with Gray that Gray and Lyon have; they insult, they bicker, they brawl, and they have each other's backs. And yet you acknowledge that Natsu is definitely NOT a tsundere, so why the heck is this proof that both Gray and Lyon are tsunderes? They both make their own feelings clear when it counts, just like Natsu. It's not like Natsu, whom as you mentioned is totally fine with declaring his feelings for his friends, says all those heartfelt things in regular day-to-day life, just out of the blue, like "Erza, you mean the world to me", or "Lucy, I would die for you a million times over," or "Happy, I'd give my left nut to be your friend forever" etc. etc. Gray, and even Lyon for that matter, will say those heartfelt things when the moment is right, just like Natsu does.

AGAIN, by this faulty definition, everyone is a tsundere. Because Erza knocks Gray's and Natsu's heads together on a regular basis, but she loves them, and generally does it for their own good. Lucy will tell the boys to put a sock in it if they're getting out of hand or will send them flying with a Lucy kick for intruding in her house, but she also loves them dearly. And Happy will say the most out of pocket stuff, especially to Lucy, and yet this is all in good fun. They're not purposefully acting harsh or cold, especially not to hide the fact that they actually love each other, and especially not because of a character trait that makes it particularly hard to express their true feelings, they're just acting as friends do in light-hearted times. For the most part, they just hang and chill and laugh as friends should, and what's more, they really do build each other up, even if it's through insults that get Gray and Natsu fired up to compete with their magic.

(No one better bring up juvia and say "oh well juvia also jokes around and doesn't actually hate other girls" because she's never joking in the slightest and she actively tries to drive other women away through her glares and her muttering and tries to demean them for daring to be in the same vicinity as Gray. Nothing about what she does is uplifting, the only feelings she's feeling in these moments are misplaced and manic jealousy, prejudiced hostility, and severe insecurity, and she literally shows that she legit would wish harm on others just so she could get near Gray, and has actually tried to kill women who get too close to Gray as well as Gray himself, so this is NOT the same thing. That's no friend.)

Almost done:

"Again, he is HARSH and TSUNDERE towards those he cares the most about. He has insulted Natsu, Lyon, Ur, Erza (calls her a monster) and JUVIA. And, he also is embarrassed when his true feelings come to the surface, and tries hard to keep them private. He doesn’t want people to know HOW MUCH he cares, and because of that, he rarely talks about his feelings to anyone, let alone directly to the person he’s having those feelings for. This is classic tsundere behavior. "

This is the same quote that I'd shown in the very beginning (in Part 1).

Something I'm just noticing now is that Author specifically doesn't include Lucy in the list of people he cares most about. This could be one of a few things or even all of them, but a common trend I've seen among Pros is that they're threatened by Lucy's healthy and solid relationship with Gray so they try to pretend they're not the best of friends.

Another reason for not including her might just be that Gray's relationship with Lucy just doesn't support their narrative. He's definitely not mean to her, though he does keep her vanity in check sometimes, but he shows that he cares for her even from the beginning, from being willing to stake his life to rescue her, to making sure she got home safe since there was a stalker following her around, to, again, since I love this scene so much, the GMG scene where he runs out in front of everyone to catch her and save her from more injury, to his and Lucy's heartfelt conversation after the Avatar arc, to how much time they spend together talking and hanging out. Nothing about his actions towards her is tsundere, so Author can't include her in the list of people Gray loves most because it doesn't coincide with their argument, like so many other things.

Anyway, moving past best girl Lucy reluctantly, I'd love to learn the reasons why Author thinks Gray's cared about juvia "the most" since the beginning. Remember, this Author has been trying to prove Gray's had this tsundere-ness since he was kid in order to prove that all of Gray's rejections of juvia are simply him being too uwu shy uwu to admit he actually loves her and that he's actually liked her this whole time. I've been talking about this in some wonderful recent asks I've gotten, how juvia is quite decidedly not Gray's type considering all the women he's cared about in his life, and I'd genuinely want to hear what reasons Pros could think up that would explain what made Gray fall for the crazy, selfish weirdo who doesn't care about friends like he does, and who certainly doesn't care for Gray's emotional and psychological well-being.

As for the rest of this paragraph, I've already talked about how not talking about your innermost feelings with people on a daily basis doesn't make you a tsundere. I've repeated myself enough.

The last pertinent bit and Conclusion:

"That’s why I also think that anyone at this point who sees Gray’s actions as someone who simply does not return Juvia’s feelings, is someone who is letting their bias cloud their judgement. The evidence for Gray’s feelings towards Juvia has been mounting since at least the Tenroujima arc. To not see where things are clearly headed between them, is just to be in denial. By all means, ship what you like, but don’t deny a blatant character trait, because you don’t like what it implies for something you don’t ship."

I hope my readers could tell me if I'm letting my bias control how I look at all these scenarios. At one point, I was struggling to put my thoughts to paper so to speak, so this post could definitely use some polishing and outside critiques.

In all honesty, though, I don't think I'm letting my bias cloud my judgment. I did my best to look at each instance objectively and to try to stay consistent with my reasoning.

I personally think this Pro as well as Pros like them are letting bias cloud their judgment in terms of how Gray is literally being emotionally, psychologically, and physically abused by juvia and by their contrived, unhealthy, toxic relationship.

Their last words are kind of aggravating, to be perfectly transparent. They are definitely entitled to their opinion. I for one can't complain because I have similar feelings about certain Pros myself. However, it's just insane the amount of hypocrisy in this last paragraph. I've already mentioned the hypocrisy once in this post, but man, cast the first stone, will you? So many Pros continue to be in denial of just how damaging this relationship is for both characters, really, and some Pros would just rather point fingers at everyone else who has even the slightest issue or who points out the slightest discrepancy or criticism and claim we're the crazy ones.

We always knew where the ship was going to be headed (cough headed to hell) because of the might of the Pro fandom. Obviously, Pros wouldn't accept anything less than marriage with 55 babies between the two of them. (Yes, hyperbole, you get my point.) I for one am not in denial that they're an item now in 100yq. My argument is simply that Gray hasn't loved juvia all this time, that he hasn't been a consenting and willing participant in juvia's madness that she calls romancing, and that the only reason he's with juvia now is because of the infinite manipulating and peer pressuring and gaslighting that happened up until this point. That, and Mashima's awful writing and similar peer-pressured self when it comes to this forsaken ship.

All I have to say is, in the words of this Pro Author, don’t deny a blatant character trait. Don't deny juvia's toxicity and abuse. Don't deny the harm she's inflicted upon Gray's psyche. And then we can finally really have a talk on why you support her.

Here's the link for Part 3 of this post!

(Feedback on anything in this post is appreciated!)

[incorrectbatfam]

What are your thoughts on the Batman: The Knight comics?

Spoilers under the cut since it's relatively new

Batman: The Knight is a 10-issue retelling (spanning from January to October 2022) of how concept of The Dark Knight was conceived. It focuses on a young Bruce Wayne in the first handful of years after his parents' murders. I'll be honest, going into it I was a little like "whatever" because we've had countless iterations of Bruce's backstory and at the moment it seems like DC is oversaturated with Batman compared to other heroes, but while this isn't the most original take, the storytelling format coupled with the artwork makes it among the more memorable.

I like how the first issue starts with Bruce trying to channel his emotions into a productive way to help Gotham, but it quickly comes out in ways that aren't as helpful as he thought (with folks like Alfred helping him see that). His fighting/training is intercut with flashbacks of therapy sessions with Hugo Strange. This makes for a good setup because it shows how his noble intentions are confounded by his youthful recklessness.

Issue #2 is a continuation of Bruce learning his Batmanning skills in Paris. I also like how this issue addresses the hypocrisy of vigilantism—he's committing crimes to stop crimes. He also has to learn to be more independent because his whole life, he's been far too dependent on Alfred. I'm kinda meh on the kiss at the end, though I view it as foreshadowing for his future relationships, namely Selina. Also, I love the little details of the past like Bruce owning a Razr and the artwork being reminiscent of the late 2000s.

#3 is where we start really diving into the psychological aspects of Batman. It shows that Batman wasn't an easy decision and we have these glaring moments of self-doubt that, understandably, Bruce would have. Because, as the comic put it, how do you stop monsters without becoming one? The detective work itself felt a bit lackluster but the show-don't-tell of Bruce's trauma and the emotional kick to the solar plexus makes up for it.

I'm not as big of a fan of #4's cover art because it doesn't have the same feel as the first three but that's whatever. Story-wise, I think it's a nice take on Bruce's ninja training but there's nothing too special there. It feels like a transition comic and I was hoping to see more of Ducard. It also reminds me a bit of Batman Begins, but overall it sustained my attention and made me look forward to what he's gonna do next with his new skills.

#5's cover art feels like Carmine Falcone should be in it even though I know better. Not sure why. Anyway, Bruce is now in Russia on an espionage mission. Even when he's in a vulnerable place, we still see Bruce pulling together everything he's learned to outsmart Anton. Also, Bruce was ~this~ close to kissing a man. Half the fandom already knows he's some flavor of queer but I like having another piece of proof for when I inevitably get into an argument with another cishet neckbeard at a convention.

We all know that later in life, even with the batkids, Bruce has these walls around him that take a lot of work to chip away at. Well, in issue #6, we see these walls start to build up. Bruce wasn't always a hardened control freak. The opposite, in fact. He fails to consider the consequences of breaking the rules. We see this portrayed as a flaw in other comics, like when the Gotham Rogues continually break out of Arkham or evade the system, but this issue illustrates how that's not Bruce's fault, it's the system that's supposed to take care of the villains after he turns them over. We see Bruce losing faith in the system and relying more and more on himself, which leads to the popular lone wolf portrayal of him later on. I enjoy not just the nuance, but the details that show how someone like him would become closed off.

(Not a fan of the cover art in #7 that's just me.) This issue is where we explore Bruce's early relationship with Zatanna. She plays a smaller role but it's interesting nonetheless. We see Bruce experiencing magic and he even has the opportunity to acquire it, but he ultimately decides against it. He does a good job of placing boundaries on what he's willing to do, and at the same time it highlights why he trusts people like Zatanna and Constantine more than other Justice League heroes. Also, the humor feels very on-brand.

The training part of issue #8 felt a bit short for my liking, but I still enjoyed where the story went. This issue in particular felt more like it was about Anton's journey to becoming Ghost Maker, so while I didn't expect to see that in a Batman origin comic, it provided some interesting and necessary context for that character. For Bruce, I really like how this highlights that the battle for justice is just beginning, even though we've seen him endure so much already. With abstract concepts like justice, it's hard to picture the uphill battle, but toward the end of this issue I finally start to understand the magnitude of what Bruce is up against.

Issue #9 came out a day ago so it's the freshest in my memory. Bruce's globetrotting is finally over and he faces his real test against Ra's Al Ghul himself. We finally see everything come together to make Batman. We also get to see why Ra's Al Ghul was seeking Bruce in the first place with the incorporation of The Still. The pacing felt a bit off to me because with all the detail they're packing about how Bruce navigates the league of Assassins, it's hard to believe this is the second-to-last issue (I think there should be at least one more). The artwork also felt a little inconsistent at times but it doesn't detract from the story (the coloring is great though). Overall, this issue sets the foundation of the relationship between the Waynes and the Al Ghuls, even providing a possible connection to Damian's storyline.

The last issue comes out on October 18th. I'll definitely be reading it, but I might not remember to review it here so if you want my thoughts, shoot me a reminder.

Overall rating: 84/100. Not the most original retelling, but a detailed and fascinating spin on what we already knew. Also a good starting point for Batman newbies.

[anamericangirl]

I'm going to try here to put into words my immense frustration with the "pro-choice, my body my choice" crowd who demand access to abortion all the way up until the baby is born and then celebrate mask and vaccine mandates because it's really bugging me right now and I need to vent. Feel free to ignore this.

The hypocrisy in that group is real, it's ugly, and it's inexcusable.

They are willing to use every argument in the book to justify abortion (even though a good argument for abortion literally doesn't exist) and it all boils down to this: it doesn't matter to them whether or not the fetus is a person. Because it is inside the body of the mother, she gets to do whatever she wants to it. This, they say, is freedom of choice. And this freedom of choice comes before the life inside her.

Now let's switch to how they argue for the covid mandates. Specifically, vaccine mandates (but goes for mask mandates too). Covid is deadly (so they believe) and freedom of choice doesn't apply here and isn't important because mask wearing and vaccines are potentially saving lives. Nevermind the realty that you won't know if you spread covid and you won't know if a person who contracts it is likely to end up hospitalized or dead. The knowledge that there is a small possibility of this happening is enough to them to celebrate these mandates and call you a murderer if you don't comply.

Anyone with a brain can see the glaring hypocrisy right there. But I'm going to explain it if anyone who actually subscribes to this set of beliefs reads this.

In an abortion, you are always killing someone. The goal is to kill a baby. And you say it doesn't matter since the baby is inside the woman and that means she gets to choose if the baby lives or dies. And more then that, you claim this choice is a human right.

But with covid, mask and vaccine mandates are fine because it could stop you from maybe spreading the disease to someone who might to spread it to someone who might spread it to someone who might spread it to someone who might spread to someone who might spread it to someone who might get it and might die. Freedom of choice doesn't matter in this case because there is a potential you might spread a flu that most people recover from to someone in a small minority of people that could possibly die if they get it.

In abortion, someone will die. They will be killed as a direct result of your decision and we know exactly who will die. With covid we don't know if you'll spread it or that someone who gets it from you will die or if you're involved in a chain of spreaders and someone dies it can't be traced back to you.

So if covid mandates are ok because it could have a teeny tiny potential to save someone from dying how come abortion restrictions aren't ok even though they do save someone from dying?

Abortion and pregnancy are both things that involve your body, but a vaccine is an injection into your body. If freedom of choice is so important that you can kill a baby to preserve it, then it's important enough that people should be able to choose not to get a vaccine or wear a mask even though you believe somewhere down the road it could possibly stop someone from getting a bad case of covid.

You are not about saving lives and you are not about freedom of choice if you advocate for abortion and for covid mandates. You're just a hypocrite with no real values.

[chlorophasmic]

A growing smile should've sank your stomach. Unfortunately, it does something else. Closer to the lurch of the yank- more aggressive, now- that rattles your thoughts in the few seconds it takes to regain your bearings, thrown onto a ride you don't remember strapping in for. This stupid.. power play, handsy after weeks of nothing. What the hell?

It's not supposed to be like this. Two days with Futurekat and this guy's already acting like the same fucking brat, down to the hypocrisy.

"You're in no position to teach me anything, you were barely even schoolfed yourself. But fine, I'll hazard an attempt." A flash of fangs on the final consonants, teeth clicking dangerously close where they hover over vulnerable fingers. "Is it for choking me out? That doesn't seem conducive to the happy classroom you're trying to usher me into. I can't learn a damn thing if I'm asphyxiated."

Nowhere close to it, but you get the feeling participation comes from equal footing, which certainly isn't the case right now, though you make a point of holding a glare. Pissed that you're fighting again, that he tricked you out here just for it, and that he thinks he can waltz right in and start up old habits when you'd already explained the trouble! That he's just so fucking.. stubborn.

Maybe you are, too. There's no other excuse for why you'd step up to that bait.

The dig about assumptions feels like a dangerous path down into the wrong kind of argument, so it's easy to push aside in favor of continuing to watch his every expression. The way he halfheartedly fights back against it before looking up at you all pissed off isn't promising, but... Maybe it's something?

When you think about it for a second though, you realize he still hasn't actually asked you to let him go. Wouldn't that be the first thing you'd demand if someone grabbed you by the collar against your will? The thought has you smirking as you look down at him, now starting to understand that this is just his pathetic attempt to fight back against his own feelings.

As if you were going to let him off the hook that easily.

"There's a difference between showing up and actually participating in the conversation." Another yank for emphasis, as if your annoyance wasn't already abundantly clear by this point. "You're still wearing this, so I thought you might need a remedial course in what it was meant for."

[fractalobsessed]

almost done with s13 of my rewatch and like,,,i'm thinking about s13 gabriel. gabriel is avoidant, always wants out, always walks away (just like his father) and he's ashamed of that even though he'll never say it, even though he plays it off. it's at the core of the personality he's built and it could only ever be his downfall. gabriel's aversion to the grand narrative's conflict(s) and shame about that aversion are exactly what keep him in the narrative when it matters most.

when sam first tries to reach out to gabriel after gabriel has been rescued from asmodeus, sam tells him that he's not like his family, not like his father. sam tries to relate on that level, to reassure. sam knows that family is hell (literally). he knows that gabriel doesn't want any part of it anymore. sam understands that gabriel, as always, just wants out — but then, of course, sam has to admit that he (sam) never could escape.

fascinatingly and horrifyingly, given how the show started, sam twists that crushing inevitability into a good thing, a moral. sam says that his family needs him and that this is what he was put here to do. despite this — participating in one's family against one's will — being what sam just acknowledged that gabriel avoids above all, despite sam putting this very thing forward as common ground between them, now it's noble. it's what's right, not just what's inevitable.

this is always the speech in spn, isn't it? it's the same speech they used on gabriel back in s5. the world needs you. your family needs you. that justifies anything. when the world, when family, demands, one must cave — and like sam, gabriel always caves. he holds out until he can't anymore and he's right back where the story wants him, more or less.

when gabriel initially refuses to help in s13 and walks away, cas tells him that he can't turn his back on their father's creation, and gabriel is so very aware that their father did just that and that he's making that same choice (again). he's bitter. he says "if dad can do it, so can i" — but he resents his father for walking away, for not doing anything about his brothers fighting or about the state of the world, so how could he do the same? the hypocrisy is glaring. it eats him up.

by the time we get to 13x20 and the whole loki bit, gabriel is lost and clinging to whatever shreds of purpose and sense of self he still can. he feels like crap in more ways than one, not least of which is the gnawing shame of walking away again, of being purposeless and alone again. yes, he makes a deal to help sam and dean in exchange for their help with his little revenge quest, but when he faces loki? what loki says to him? [hamilton voice] if you stand for nothing, gabriel, what'll you fall for? everything loki says hits its mark and hurts.

gabriel can't in any kind of good conscience walk away from that without stepping up and doing something about his family's mess, about the world on the brink. that's thee moment, the emotional impetus, that pushes gabriel back into the narrative. and from then on, gabriel is so,,,doomed.

[itsclydebitches]

Oh I just had a horrifying thought. Based on how the interaction between RWBY co and Oz went, If they ever have him and Qrow reconcile, its going to be the exact same isn't it? Him being the only one apologizing even though Qrow punched both him and Oscar.

Most likely, yeah. We have no reason to believe that Qrow would be written as more mature and open-minded than the other 8+ people involved, not after the show had him straight up lie about how Clover died. If Qrow isn’t allowed to accept some of the responsibility for a comparatively minor character, why would we think he’d accept some responsibility for the character the story hated on for three volumes, four if we count Yang’s accusations in Volume 5, and who has already been made to shoulder all of the guilt for this conflict himself?

Looking back, getting an apology for the punch was always a lost cause. The group clearly didn’t care that it happened, were slow to react when Jaune had Oscar up against the wall, Ruby took a headshot at a potentially aura-less Cordovin, Weiss arrives at the mansion armed against her brother… the group is now quite happy to excuse any and all violence against allies (trusted friends, family, political allies, etc.) provided they think they deserve it. And, sadly, we’ve seen lately that the show isn’t at all concerned with the moral nuances of these situations either. Actually, it’s not even nuance at this point, it’s straight up ignoring glaring, undeniable factors like “Qrow teamed up with Tyrian” or “Whitely is a minor your mom begged you to protect” or “Emerald was literally trying to kill Penny an hour ago.” Regarding Qrow’s situation with Ozpin, we’ve got the same problem as with Ruby: they’re both damning him for keeping secrets while they happily keep their own. Qrow kept everything else a secret from the group too, from magic existing to the war he was fighting. He kept the personal secrets of his semblance and ability to transform. He was there in the room when Ruby told those same lies to Ironwood, later absolving her (and thus himself)of guilt and continuing to help her maintain that deception, which included telling all of Mantle about Salem without mentioning her immortality. Qrow helped do to a city what Ozpin did to him, yet I have absolutely no doubt that this will be ignored. Or, if it's brought up, everyone will handwave the hypocrisy away by saying that Qrow is one of the established good guys, so it's fine if he does the supposedly morally reprehensible acts.

The problem with the Ozpin apology scene is that it builds off the feelings immediately post-vision (which are already uniform and incredibly narrow), rejecting everything else that has happened across nearly three volumes of content. It ignores the assumption that the group just needed time to cool down, that Ozpin saved their lives in the airship, that when push came to shove they repeated his choices (the biggest factor here), that they’re supposedly learning how hard it is to trust others, that they’ve now seen firsthand how powerful—terrifying—Salem really is, that they’ve told the world about her without any plan for mitigating the repercussions (what Ozpin was trying to avoid), and that Ozpin was just kidnapped same as Oscar was, helping him to both escape and turn two villains to their side (however stupid that was). But no one cares about any of it! Literally nothing Ozpin has or has not done in three volumes matters. The group isn’t grateful for what he’s done to keep them safe. The group also isn’t frustrated with how long he chose to stay away. Whether positive or negative, they have no new thoughts or feelings on the matter, nor do they think differently from one another in any regard. Notably, the apology from Ozpin comes after Ren has learned not to question the group's decisions, otherwise he likely would have taken Ozpin's side: we weren't ready for this, we made awful decisions with lasting repercussions, so are you honestly surprised he didn't want to tell us everything when this is the result?

Absolutely nothing has changed with Ren back to the status quo and everyone else has never left, so there’s no reason to think that Qrow would be any different. Especially when, beyond the Clover situation, we have the problem of Qrow ignoring that Ozpin exists, in the same way that the group mostly ignored Qrow’s existence throughout Volume 8. Does Qrow want Ozpin to come back? Does him deciding not to drink mean he’s come to terms with Ozpin’s secret? Did he see Clover as a replacement? Does he long for his mentor again like Ironwood did? Does he think Ozpin might have been able to help talk Ironwood down? Does he care whether Ozpin and Oscar made it out of Mantle? We have no answers because the most emotional work Qrow gets it silently shouting the names of his nieces at the volume’s end. That's it. Everything else is relegated to a revenge quest that disappears because Robyn (again) states that Qrow is better than the evil Clover. Does that remind us of any recent speeches Qrow gave to Ruby? Even if the show were interested in exploring the complexities of this situation and how views should have changed after months’ time to think on things and numerous, life threatening events having gone down… we have no foundation for that work. Qrow can’t easily go up and apology to Ozpin for his part in all this when, for three volumes, the most he’s mentioned Ozpin is to say that he’s a worse person than Ruby. That is by no means a hopeful or logical setup.

[turinn]

A Night Out

Mammon x GN!Reader

Summary: Mammon discovers a club holding a night to celebrate human culture, and decides maybe his human could use a little of that. Fluff, alcohol consumption, cuddling, Satan being a bastard at the end. A/N: This is my first Obey Me fic!! I’ll admit, I don’t know Mammon that well as he’s not one of my best boys, and I’m not even sure where the idea for this came from. It just popped into my mind, and I’m not one to turn down inspiration. I can’t make promises for characterisation, but I tried my best! Also I know literally nothing about nightclubs I just made shit up sorry.

"Hey, MC!! Open up will ya?" You groaned, pulling yourself out of bed. Mammon better have a damn good reason for nearly knocking your door down at... okay it was only 8PM, but still! Sometimes you just wanted an early night. You probably should've learned by now that that was far too much to ask in this house. You paid no mind to the fact that you were in your pyjamas, or the fact that they weren't the most modest of clothes. It was a warm night, so it didn't even register in your mind that you would be showing Mammon far more than he bargained for when you tugged the door open and glared at him. "What is it, Mammon? I don't have any money." His cheeks tinted pink at the sight of you, but the last comment brought his composure back just fine. "Why d'ya have to assume I'm after money? I'm here to do something nice and ya throw it in my face!" You rolled your eyes at his theatrics, though your interest was piqued. "It's a fair assumption, isn't it? Anyway, what do you want, then? I was about to sleep." "At 8PM? Laaaaame. Listen, when ya hear what I have to say, ya won't be worrying about sleep!" Mammon grinned at you, taking a few seconds to realise that your silence was an indicator for him to continue. "There's this club having some kind of event- ain't the kind of place I'd usually be seen dead in but apparently theres some kind a' market for human culture here, an' they're capitalising on it. Figured ya might be interested." His grin only got wider, he looked so proud of himself for thinking this up. Truth be told, it did interest you, if only to find out what exactly demons trying to hold an event based on 'human culture' looked like. Considering the sheer size and diversity of humanity and it's culture, creating anything both inclusive and cohesive sounded borderline impossible. You nodded, shutting the door and reappearing a few minutes later fully dressed. Mammons cheeks seemed to get even pinker, though he would never acknowledge it. Your club attire was vastly different from your casual wear, and he had not been expecting you to look so good. "Coming...?" The question seemed to bring his brain back into his body, causing him to realise you'd walked past him and were waiting at the top of the stairs. 

The walk there was pleasant, warm evenings in the devildom were often quite nice, and spending time with Mammon when he wasn't scheming or trying to scam someone was something you'd grown to enjoy. Hopefully, things would stay that way.

The club in question was tucked away down an alley, honestly a little skeevy-looking, and you couldn't help but think that if Lucifer saw Mammon bring you here you'd be greeting him hanging upside down the next morning. Luckily for both of you, it was just the two of you. Before long you had a drink in your hand, though you couldn't identify it just from looking. A quick sip told you it was your favourite, and you briefly wondered how Mammon knew what drink you tended to go for when you went to clubs back home.

Honestly, you had to give the club its due. They seemed dedicated to making sure your senses weren't too thoroughly abused- the lights were bright enough to see while dim enough to keep the atmosphere and the colours changed often, but they weren't harsh at all and the music was loud but not deafening- and indeed to the theme. While most nightclubs around the world had similarities, the club had seemingly gone out of its way to at least represent some different cultures. All of them would be near impossible, but you hadn't been anticipating much of an attempt at all. The songs played varied in both language and genre, while keeping the upbeat tempo generally expected in a club; the drinks menu, which was extensive, offered an almost flooringly wide range. Given you'd been expecting some trussed up version of a generic western nightclub- something no different to any place in London you'd pay out your ears to get into only to leave an hour later because the music was shit, or some drunkard had tried to steal your phone- this was rather impressive. You grinned at Mammon as a song you knew and loved came on, and dragged him out to dance with you. With the drink not yet kicking in, you weren't as bold as you could be, and stood a few feet away from him, singing along quietly while you danced. Mammon really, really wanted to dance with you properly. His hands on your hips, you smiling at him, preferably leading to your lips on his a little later on- but admitting that? That he wanted to dance with a human? That that was his entire reason for even bringing you here? Never. He had a reputation to uphold! He was in luck, though. A few drinks in and another song you absolutely adored and you were all over him. Or at least, thats how he’d tell the story in future. In truth, you'd simply stepped close enough to him that he got the hint and put his hands on your waist, hoping the lighting was low enough that you wouldn't notice his blush. From this close, the grin on your face was even more brilliant, your laughter and occasional gentle singing reaching his ears easier, and... well, he thought everything about you was beautiful. Not that you'd ever hear it from him.

As the night wound down and the alcohol started to make you more sleepy than anything else, you hooked your hand in his and dragged him home. Your cheeks were still red from the drinks and exertion when you stepped into the light of the House of Lamentation, and the notes of tiredness he could spot in your eyes somehow added to your overall cuteness. Kissing you was pretty much the only thing on his mind as you turned to him and thanked him for the evening, but before he could make his move you'd turned back and headed up the stairs, hand still in his. He noted it was his room you made a beeline for, not yours, and the two of you collapsed onto his bed in unison- which made the fact that you somehow ended up lying on top of him super odd, but he wasn't about to complain. "I had a really good time tonight. Thank you, Mammon." "'Course ya did, you were with me." Your soft giggle was the sweetest sound he'd ever heard. "Hey... this was a date, right?" Sincerity and hope filled your eyes as you waited for an answer, and his heart clenched. Did you want this to be a date? "I mean... if that's what ya wanna think then sure, it was a date." That blinding grin graced your features once again and you pressed a soft kiss to his cheek, doing the same to his other when he didn't pull away. His eyes darted around the room, looking anywhere but you as he flushed, and it wasn't until he made eye contact with you again a few moments later that you finally planted one on his lips. Were this some corny romcom, he might've said he felt like he'd somehow ended up back in the celestial realm (he'd never admit he was thinking it), for all the joy that filled him when you did so. He stuttered for a moment when you pulled back, but you gave him no time to begin boasting to save face before you settled into his arms and let sleep overtake you. Mammown as more than happy to join you, a soft smile gracing his features. His human was so cute.

Waking up the next morning, his D.D.D had blown up with notifications from the House of Lamentation group chat. Just his luck that the reason for such activity happened to be a picture of the two of you sleeping that Satan had snapped earlier. He'd have to have words with his little brother about respecting boundaries and learning to knock. (The hypocrisy of such a lecture was lost on him.)

[neptunetheplanet7]

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 - 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

DM ME IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE PUT ON THE TAGLIST!!

;mikasa ackerman x fem!lesbian!reader

;modern au, band au

word count: 1.6k

warnings: swearing, arguing

italics means flashback/memory recall

listen to the music masterlist

prev | next

The party ended but the yelling didn't stop. It had been about an hour since everyone left and about three since Eren saw Jean last. You were picking up a mess in the kitchen with Eren when he slammed his hands on the counter.

You jumped up and your eyes snapped towards him. His head was lowered and his breathing was ragged.

"Eren?" You made your way to his side of the room and placed a gentle hand on his arm. He turned to face you.

"Sorry." He wrapped his arms around your waist and pulled you in for a hug. Your hands around his shoulders while his head rested in the crook of your neck. "When will they stop?" His voice was muffled against your skin.

You sighed, "I don't know. I hope soon or before Armin gets home at least." Your right hand carefully made its way into his gnarled hair.

He let out a huff against your shoulder. "Let's try to get some sleep, Eren. We can stay in the basement tonight, yeah?" You whispered. He nodded and pulled back.

The yelling coming from Mikasa's room grew louder as you passed the stairs. You opened the basement door and followed Eren down the stairs.

"You can take the bed." You offered and slumped on the couch. Eren nodded and waved sleepily while heading to the basement bedroom.

The next morning Armin had woken you up in a panic. "Y/n! Y/n, wake up!"

"What? What's going on?" You sat up, alert now.

"Mikasa's gone! Jean said she only left a letter. What the hell happened last night?" Armin's eyes were wide and he was visibly stressed.

"Mikasa's what? What do you mean she's gone? She can't be gone. Where's the letter? Did you read it?" You stood and gripped Armin's shoulders.

"Jean has the letter. She wasn't here when I came home and he was sitting on the stairs with it in his hand."

"When did you get home?"

"Maybe fifteen minutes ago."

You let go of Armin and scrambled up the stairs as fast as you could. Your eyes darted around for Jean when you saw he wasn't on the stairs like Armin had left him. 

"Jean? Jean where the hell are you?"  You were panicked.

The air started to feel stale as you racked your mind for an answer. Where was Jean? Where was Mikasa? Why did she leave so suddenly? What was in the letter? Would you get to find out? When will she come back? Why didn't she say goodbye?

You walked fast-paced through your house, searching for Jean. When you got to the kitchen, you noticed a stray piece of paper on the counter. You picked it up and realized it was what you thought it was.

Mikasa's tear-stained letter was in your hands.

"Dear friends, I'm leaving. Expect not to see me for a long time. I have a lot to think about. I can't be in the band right now. Not like this. Jean- I don't want to see you. Eren- I hope you'll forgive me. Armin- Go see the sea. Y/n- If only you knew. With love, Mikasa."

Your hand had come up to your mouth while processing her letter. Tears spilled down your cheeks as the realization sunk in. She was really gone and you had no idea when you'd get to see her again.

"Y/n, wake up. You fell asleep. We're at your house." Sasha nudged you and you were brought back to reality. Somewhere along the road, you and her switched spots so now you were on the passenger side.

"Ah, my neck hurts." You said bitterly while rubbing the spot your neck was previously, and unfortunately, resting on the door.

"Yeah, that's what happens when you fall asleep in a car," Connie spoke as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. You flicked his forehead. "Hey, what'd you do that for?" He clawed at his head.

You said your goodbyes to the two and entered your house. It was now late afternoon, and Eren was back home.

"Where the hell have you been, tootsie? You look awful." He pointed his spoonful of Nutella at me in disgust. 

"Thanks, Eren. You're a real charmer." You gave a sarcastic smile before grabbing a spoon and joining him on the counter. "I've been out with Sasha and Connie. Where have you been all day?"

"Mind your business, L/n." 

You scoffed as he shoved the Nutella into your arms. "The hypocrisy." You muttered.

"Why isn't this house clean?" He looked at the living room and raised his hands in mock outrage.

"I'm not a cleaning lady! If you want it cleaned so badly, do it yourself!" You twisted the Nutella cap back on the container and tossed your spoon into the sink.

"But whenever I do it, you say it's wrong!" He whined.

"Eren, the dryer sheets go over the dryer and the detergent goes over the washing machine! What is so hard to grasp about that? That's how it's always been! But you probably wouldn't know, since you never do your own laundry." You clutched the counter in annoyance. 

"They're both on the same shelf! What's the issue?" He said, exasperated.

"What are you two on about?" Armin sauntered into the room and sat on a kitchen stool.

"Eren can't clean for shit."

"Hey!" He glared. You stuck your tongue out in his direction.

Armin laughed lowly. "You guys bicker like an old married couple."'

"How dare you say that! I would never marry him! Gross!" You made vomiting motions and fake retched.

Eren smirked. "Well, if things don't work out between you and Mikasa, I'm always around." He tittered.

"Eren, I'm literally gay." You deadpanned.

Armin let out a hearty laugh. "She's got you there." They grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl and bit into it.

Before Eren could respond, the kitchen door opened to reveal Jean out of breath in the doorway. "Good evening fellow friends!"

"What's your deal?" Eren raised an eyebrow, referring to Jean's drenched form.

"It started raining. Pretty harshly." Jean wrung out his coat over the stairs.

"Sucks to suck!" Eren's hand slammed on the counter while the other was pointed at Jean.

"Any news on Mikasa?" You asked gingerly.

"Not anything new. As far as I'm concerned, I'm still picking her up at the airport tomorrow," Jean reassured. 

"Should we throw her a welcoming party or something?" Eren suggested. Everyone looked at him like he was a moron. His eyes narrowed. "Why are you staring at me like that?"

"Are you crazy? She left because of what happened at a party! Why would she want one now? Do you want to drive her away again? Mikasa has never been the party type, anyways." You exclaimed while crossing your arms in front of your chest.

Eren put his hands up in defense. "Sheesh, it was just an idea."

"Yeah, a real dumbass idea." Jean seethed.

To prevent a fight, you interjected, "We have this whole house to clean. If you want a good welcoming gift, you'll help me clean it." You gestured to the several messes in your line of sight.

Eren shifted his glare to you. "Where do I start, then?" He gritted his teeth.

"You can start with your filthy room, and then the basement since you're down there the most." You smiled sweetly and quickly spoke up again before he could protest. "Jean, you can do your room and the rooms on this floor, not mine though. Armin, you already keep the waterfront looking great, but if you could do a sweep-through of the deck that'd be awesome. Also, can you do the office upstairs? I can do everything else."

Everyone nodded and started to clean their designated areas. You went upstairs to finish Mikasa's room and then start on the others. You had already finished with your room. You stopped in front of her door and took a deep breath. Here goes nothing.

Several hours later, the four of you were slouched on the couch, mindlessly staring at a random movie on tv. Jean had tried his best to get comfortable but just ended up upside down. Eren was lying down with his head in your lap and his legs sprawled over Jean, much to his dismay. Armin had a blanket around himself and was leaning on you whilst trying his best to stay awake.

It was close to midnight and you all had a big day ahead of you. "I'm exhausted." Eren groaned from your lap. 

"I second that." Jean lazily raised his hand in the air.

"Me too. I'm headed up to bed. Goodnight everyone." Armin yawned and made his way up the stairs, occasionally tripping on their blanket.

"So am I. Eren get your scrawny legs off me!" Jean hurriedly tried to shimmy off the couch.

"Shut up, horse face! Don't tell me what to do." Eren grumbled while lifting his head off of you. You stood up after him. He sure was a pain when he was tired.

"Goodnight to you losers. Sleep well." He said groggily while going to the basement instead of his actual room. You stretched and headed to your room.

"Aren't you going to get up, Jean?" You rubbed your eyes sleepily.

"Yeah, you go on to bed." He waved you off while struggling to get off the floor. You chuckled softly.

After you got changed into your pajamas, you collapsed on your bed with a heavy sigh, taking a look through your old texts with Mikasa one last time.

posted: 8/25/21

neptunetheplanet7© 2021

no reposts, edits, or modification to my work by anyone other than me.

[eryiss]

Summary: Freed and Gajeel were total opposites in every way, only connected by the guild. When they were forced to train together under Makarov's orders, they expected antagonism and mistrust. Instead, they were given a lesson in how quickly opposition can turn to attraction. The issue: let the budding relationship simmer away, or let it explode. [Freed x Gajeel Multi-chapter]

Notes: Hello everyone. I’ve been wanting to write something longer for this couple for a while, and this idea seemed quite fun. I hope you all enjoy it and maybe I can convert some of you to living Freed x Gajeel. Happy reading.

Links: FFN, Ao3, Chapter List

Chapter One - Makarov's Idea

As he walked towards the guildhall, Freed kept looking up at the moon.

The nights sky was cloudless and gave him an unhindered view of stars and the moon. It was a beautiful sight, but made him frown a little. The moon was large and nearly in its fullest state, a concern for the time of year. It had been some time since the full moon had coincided with the longest day of the year, and it seemed like it was going to happen again this year. The brimstone in his blood seemed to fizz at the idea, and he quickly looked away.

At his side, Laxus bumped his shoulder to get his attention. His frown told Freed that the dragon-Slayer had seen his concern, and he smiled to comfort the man.

"Nothing to concern yourself about," Freed assured him. "I've got it under control."

"Make sure you do," Laxus instructed. "No missions until it's over, right?"

"Of course," Freed nodded.

Laxus seemed to think the matter settled at that, but Freed wasn't so sure. The entirety of the guild - or at least those not already on missions - had been called to the guildhall that night. Makarov hadn't explained why he wanted everyone present, but it was entirely possible that they would all be dragged away on a mission and that Freed would be forced to act as if everything was normal. So promising that he wouldn't go on any missions was more wishful thinking than anything else.

Still, if he did have to go on a mission, he could handle it. Six years ago, it had taken him by surprise. Not this time.

"Let's take bets," Bickslow, unaware of the hushed conversation, stated mischievously. "Fifty-fifty odds of it being either a world ending disaster we have to deal with, or some weird competition so he can perv on the gals again."

Laxus winced at the second option, but didn't deny it.

"It better not be the second one," Evergreen huffed. "But knowing him, it probably will be. So I'll put five hundred jewels on that."

"Nah, it's been too long since we all nearly died," Bickslow shrugged. "Five hundred on the world ending. You two sticks in the mud gonna get involved?"

Freed had stopped listening to their conversation moments before, and found his worries back on the sky. The full moon had been scheduled in exactly one week, and it meant trouble for him. He should be making preparations in case he lost control of himself; this was all a distraction. He should leave town, just in case.

His team looked at him in concern, but remained quiet.

As they approached the doors, Freed's mind remained preoccupied. A hand clasped onto his shoulder and jerked him back, and he realised it was Laxus. He frowned, only then realising he had nearly walked into Gajeel Redfox. The dragon-slayer glared at him, arms crossed to highlight his biceps. He didn't have much else than his physical strength, Freed supposed, so he had to show it off.

"Idiot," Gajeel spat at Freed, and Freed nearly scoffed at the hypocrisy of the word. If either of them was an idiot, it was not Freed.

Gajeel was walking into the hall before Freed could retort.

"God, who put a stick up his ass?" Laxus muttered as he shook his head. He looked down to Freed again, looking worried. Perhaps he hadn't believed Freed's assurances as Freed had hoped. "You need to go back? He ain't taking over yet, right?"

"No, I was distracted, that's all," Freed assured him, but none of his team looked happy. "I'm in control of myself. But I've got plans on how to approach the demon should I need them."

"Can we help?" Evergreen asked.

"I'll ask if I need it, but I don't suspect it'll happen," Freed placated them. They were still unconvinced. "You needn't coddle me, I'm fine. Particularly when there's apparently a fifty-fifty chance that the word is ending. Though, I'm putting five hundred jewels on the competition."

Apparently, the mention of gambling, broke the ice.

When they got inside the guildhall, it was more crowded than normal. All the tables on the lower level had been taken, and as such they were forced to climb to the S-Class balcony and sit there. None of them particularly minded that, and they waited for a short while for the rest of their guild mates to file in and settle, drinking and talking as they did so.

Eventually, Makarov walked onto the stage and stood before the crowd of wizards. After a few shouts for them to be quiet, the room fell into silence.

"Thank you all for coming," He began after clearing his throat. "I'm sure you're all wondering why we're here."

"For you to creep on us," Ever mumbled, and Bickslow snickered.

"Fairy Tail is a guild with its bedrock founded on the principles of friendship. We work so well because we work together. Whereas other guilds maybe have one or two teams, we have many," Makarov explained, gesticulating as he spoke. "It makes me so proud that you've forged these relationships and implemented them into your working lives. Your friendship and love allows you to work together to fight harder and become stronger, side by side as friends. I'm immensely proud of you all, but as of late I've noticed a problem with your work."

He paused, and Freed rolled his eyes. Everything was so dramatic with him.

"While you're very good at working with your own teams, you sometimes struggle working with the guild members you're unfamiliar with," Makarov continued, as if this statement were a tragedy. "And sometimes your teams won't be available, and I don't want you not taking group jobs because your regular team isn't around."

"Starting to think I bet on the wrong side," Bickslow grumbled, taking a drink.

Freed found himself only half listening. Whenever Makarov made an announcement there would be a lot of preamble that Freed didn't particularly care to listen to; not when he had bigger problems to deal with.

Perhaps, if his demon did become more powerful under the moon, he could rune himself into a cage of sorts. That might work, though perhaps physical manacles and shackles might be more practice. His team would be able to help with that, most likely. They wouldn't be happy about it, but Laxus had seen first hand what could happen when the demon was allowed to take over without restraint. He would understand.

No. He was worrying for nothing. The demon was under control now. Besides, he should be listening to his guildmaster.

"So, to broaden your opportunities, I've come up with an idea," Makarov grinned. "For the next week, you'll be split into pairs that you don't normally work with, and you'll spend all of that time training together. These partnerships will be random, and by the end of the week you'll be fighting side by side in a tournament to prove how well you can work together."

Hm, maybe a distraction would work better than restraints. Makarov's idea was flawed to the point of pointlessness, but a week of training might wear his body out to the point his demon wouldn't have the energy to take over.

"And, I'm sure you're all thinking why you should care about this, so there's a prize set up for the team who wins," Makarov was grinning wider now. "Fifty thousand jewels!"

That sent a rush of excitement and talking through the guild. Freed found himself wondering where the money actually came from.

"That's not all. The fights will be ranked on teamwork, cohesion and communication, and at the end of each fight you'll get points based on how well you did," Makarov was running his hands together. "And the team with the least points will have to do a punishment, and the winners decide what it is!"

"Goddamnit," Bickslow mumbled, handing money to Evergreen. "Always about punishments with him."

"If you knew that, then you should have bet smarter," Evergreen laughed.

Freed ignored his friends, leaning back and watching as Mirajane brought out a large, ridiculous top-hat. It wasn't difficult to guess that this was how Makarov intended to randomly choose the teams; pick them out of a hat. Maybe Laxus was right and his grandfather was turning mad, but he seemed to be enjoying himself so Freed had no place to complain.

He would simply drink his beer, watch the chaos unfold, and use the oncoming disaster as a distraction.

——

Gajeel swallowed down his beer with a scowl on his face. When Makarov had called this meeting, he had known that whatever the old crow had to say, it would piss him off. When Makarov had made his announcement, Gajeel had been proven right.

A whole week with some random wizard seemed pointless. Gajeel worked alone, and only teamed up with people when needed. This wasn't going to work.

Fuck, it was such a waste of time! He could be doing jobs and earning his rent instead of fucking around with a stranger, trying to embrace Makarov's ridiculous mantra about the importance of friendship. Or if he wasn't making money, then he would have at least liked to relax and take some time to rest. He didn't want to make a new friend, he wanted to eat, sleep and maybe find a guy to take to bed. None of that would happen with some Fairy Tail mage hanging around his neck.

"Our first team is," Makarov began as he rummaged through the stupid hat he'd had made. "Juvia and Natsu!"

Dammit! Juvia was one of the few people he could have tolerated. The other was the bookworm, and Makarov would probably say them working together wasn't in the spirit of things.

Still. At least the salamander had to work with someone who extinguished his fire. That was funny.

"Kickass!" Natsu yelled into the crowd, standing up and pumping his fist in the air because he lacked self control. "We're gonna dominate!"

They wouldn't.

"If you'd like to meet up and discuss your plans then now's the time," Makarov stated, and Natsu was making his way to Juvia immediately. "And now it's time for the next team up," He reached into the hat again. "It's Evergreen and Lucy."

No loss there. Maybe he and blondie could have been okay, but Gajeel wasn't pissed the chance was gone.

Lucy looked up toward the balcony and waved at Evergreen a little intimidated. Evergreen looked resigned, but after some nudging from Bickslow, made her way down the stairs and started to talk to the woman. Gajeel absentmindedly wondered if the two had ever had a conversation, because they looked awkward around each other; painfully so.

Fuck, that was going to be him, wasnt it?

Maybe he could convince whoever he was paired up with to lie and say they trained when they just spend the week alone. But then there was the tournament, and the threat of some random punishment, and Gajeel had already been humiliated after losing the guild-wide race and having to dress like an idiot; it wasn't happening again if he could help it.

"Next up," Makarov reached into the hat again. "Bickslow and Gray."

"Fuck yeah, some eye candy at last!" Bickslow yelled, and people laughed. Gajeel rolled his eyes, watching as Bickslow leant over the banister and looked towards his teammate. "Wanna make a deal, every time you strip, I strip."

Gajeel could see Gray avert his gaze as if bored, but he was red in the cheeks. They were even redder when Bickslow tossed his shirt towards him, both men now partially stripped.

Well, at least he wasn't with that idiot. The two of them would be a mess.

Many other teams were announced, and Gajeel found himself more and more annoyed each time. The partnerships made no sense, most of the time their magics wouldn't compliment each other, and Gajeel knew that it would end in disaster. At best, half of the partnerships might end up having a fight with each other, and at worst people would get hurt because they just didn't work. How the hell did Makarov think this was going to work out?

Maybe Gajeel should have slunk out and not attended the meeting. He was running out of money for rent, and his landlord was a bastard just waiting to kick him out, so it made sense for him to get a job. Maybe if he left now he could avoid it altogether.

"And next we've got Gajeel," Makarov shouted, and Gajeel cursed. "And Freed."

Oh fuck no. Absolutely fucking not!

Gajeel was not working with that stuck up prick. A guy like that had clearly never worked a day in his life, probably grew up in a fancy ass house and only got into guild work because it was a trend to slum it with the other wizards. Everything about Freed - holier than thou - Justine screamed pampered brat. He would probably throw a fit if he got dirt under his fingernails. He was the damn opposite of a man like Gajeel, and he knew he'd struggle not to murder the spoiled shit before the week was over.

Could he even defend himself? He had magic, but as far as Gajeel knew, that only worked when he had time to prepare. Hardly practical in the heat of battle, and what would he do without it? He wouldn't have the balls to use his sword as a weapon, Gajeel was pretty sure of that, and he looked like a gust of wind could take him out.

Fucking dammit. The salamander was better than this!

He damn near walked out of the guildhall then and there, because he couldn't deal with an egomaniac freak for a week. But, as he went to move, he saw the egomaniac freak walking towards him, and he was not going to allow Freed to think he was running away. He turned in his chair to meet the man's gaze but didn't make a move towards him. Freed could come to him, not the other way around.

Soon, Freed was in his space, standing above him. His expression was as unimpressed with the situation as Gajeel felt. At least they could agree on one thing.

He looked up to meet the mans gaze. Freed was… taller than he thought.

"I think it's fair to assume neither of us want to do this," Freed said rather than greeting him. Gajeel was right, he was a dick. "And I expect that the way I train myself won't be the same way you do, so likely there's a chance we'll come to blows, so I have a proposition."

Huh, maybe Freed was gonna suggest they lie and only pretend to train together. Gajeel would agree, but make Freed squirm first. "Yeah?"

"If we went somewhere and tried to train how we both normally do, it would be an act of futility," Freed explained. "We have six days to work together. I propose that for the first three days we train however I wish, and you follow my instructions. For the latter three days, we train however you wish and I will follow your instructions. That way, we both get three days of training ourselves in a way we know works, and the week won't be a waste of time entirely."

Huh.

That wasn't what Gajeel had thought, but he could deal with it. He had to admit, trying to find a way that would work for them both would not work, so this meant he'd at least have three days to improve himself.

"Fine," He grunted. "But I wanna go first. You're gonna drag me to some library or something like that, and that's a waste of time. Might as well make it a rest day after some actual working out."

Freed sighed, as if dealing with a child, and Gajeel nearly kicked him in the balls. "If you insist,"

"I do."

"Well then, I'll see you on Monday."

"Guess ya will."

That was it, and Freed turned to go back to his table. Gajeel emptied his drink, then grinned. Three days where the asshole had to do as he said; that was interesting. Freed probably spent his life being pampered and spoiled, but not with Gajeel. Nah, he was gonna work. Gajeel was gonna put Freed through hell and love every damn second of it.