#LET ALONE EXAMINE HIS OWN MOTIVES AND PLAN

[fellhellion]

fans are always like why does goro’s plan re shido suck and have huge gaping flaws. man i do not know how to tell you he was ensnared in this bullshit at fifteen, was doomed to it from that moment onwards or else risk being killed and actively avoids introspection to bury the fact that he wanted other people and ESPECIALLY his father to want and love him despite every cruelty.

[yandere-genji]

Hi, big fan of your work!! Could you please do Yandere Genji or Cassidy snooping through their fem s/o's internet history to make sure she's been a good girl, only to discover she's been looking at all different kinds of sex toys?

tw: yandere, abuse reader is gender neutral

💚 Genji

What sets Genji apart from other yanderes is his method of keeping his darling under control. Genji works from a distant. Sure, stalking goes without saying, but his motive runs deeper than simply watching his darling from afar. Since his time in Blackwatch, he’s worked in the shadows. Honed the ability to use himself as threat to subdue enemies. Because when you realize he’s made you a target, it’s already too late. 

So he might not be by your side commanding your every move, but he’ll be there. The unsettling wind at your back, the shuffling of footsteps somewhere in the distance, the displaced objects in your home. He might confront you face to face, depends on what he has planned for you. But by technicality, you’ll have your own space. 

But is it yours, really? Because you can’t relax when you have eyes on you. You’re hyper vigilant, all too aware of any vulnerability you might expose. Still, Genji doesn’t have time to keep watch on you at every second. He has business to attend to from time to time. So when you do have those moments alone, you’re quick to take advantage of them.

Unfortunately for you, Genji is always sure to check up on you when he returns from his duties. He has a few excuses for this, namely that he wants to make sure you’re doing alright, that you’re safe. It’s thinly veiled, though, when he rummages through your delicates, unlocks your laptop and searches your internet history. It was only a matter of time until he stumbled across your unsavory interests, but he can’t help the smile that creeps on his face at the victory of unveiling them. 

When you come home, the atmosphere is uneasy, an eerie shroud weighing heavy at your breast. Small things had been misplaced in ways that don’t make sense. You flick the lights on in your bedroom, and you’ve seen Genji before, but never so close and in such an intimate space. 

He approaches you and you’re too stunned to even move. He holds up his hand and turns over a particularly impressive toy you’d had your eyes on, though the sight of it now has you ill at ease. 

“This one caught your eye?” your face burns red as he examines the toy in his hand, “You’ve indulged me this much, I thought I might return the favor.”

❤️‍🔥 Cassidy

If you’ve never had a helicopter parent, Cassidy is going to take a lot of adjusting too. He loves to baby you, always watching over your shoulder and keeping you on a tight leash. His trust is gained in drops and lost in buckets, so his vigilance all depends on your temperament. That being said, he is very generous in rewarding good behavior, the conditions of which involves varying degrees of eager submission. Just be a good baby, and you’ll have nothing to worry about. 

But it’s not the worry that gets to you. It’s the constant hovering, he’s by your side whenever he can be and watching your every move. You have to be his perfect little angel or he’ll be sure to correct you, and God does he take every chance he can get. The more you gain his trust, though, the more forgiving he will be. 

At first, he’ll shower you with little gifts like clothes or trinkets, he might even let you have some TV time. Then it’s trips to the park, picnic dates and even some restaurants, with the condition you never leave his side. Still, the outside exposure is dearly missed. And when he buys you a laptop, you wonder if it’s a test.

Despite his experience in a highly technical organization, Cassidy is completely oblivious to anything involving technology or computers. It was never a skill he had use for developing, his brute strength capable enough to render any other ability useless. So, he was handing the responsibility to you, trusting you wouldn’t betray him. 

And you didn’t, you were really good, especially when it was new and exciting. The little things were enough to satisfy you, watching YouTube videos, listening to your own music, or simply reading the news. It’d been so long since you had internet access. As time went by, you got a little bolder, messaging some friends and playing video games. But nothing could’ve prepared you for the urge you felt when Cassidy was sent out in a mission, leaving you all to yourself. 

When he was here, you had your fill of sexual attention. Honestly, you couldn’t get his hands off of you. Though it could be exhausting, it trained in you a need. Something you couldn’t quit cold turkey. And without Cassidy to satisfy that craving, you developed a terrible habit of browsing sex toys. 

And what a stupid habit it was, especially when Cassidy caught you red-handed on an early return. The way his smile beamed made you want to recoil into yourself, vanish right then and there. 

“Cassidy! I can explain!” your mind was already in the process of spinning some story, “There was this stupid pop-up ad, I didn’t mean to click it - actually I was clicking out of it, but the stupid track pad- Oh my gosh, I swear.”

You knew he was going to laugh, you were prepared for him to tease you, you knew it was going to happen. But the preparation wasn’t enough to shield your embarrassment. 

“Naughty thing, ain’t ya?” he purred, his lips curling in a wily grin. 

“Please don’t be mad at me,” you pleaded with big doe eyes you knew would melt him. 

“Oh, pumpkin,” he cupped your chin and circled a thumb over your lips, “Must’ve missed me bad. Let me take care of you.”

From then on, pandora’s box was open. Cassidy loves to see you embrace your sexual side, especially when he can take advantage of it. And your new interest is another opportunity to do just that. He’ll have you put 

 on display while he sits back and enjoys a nice cigar and cool glass of whiskey. 

[isfjmel-phleg]

I'm a big fan of those moments in stories where a character who has previously been utterly obnoxious lets a bit of the façade slip and you get to see for the first time what's really behind it and how they might be capable of growth after all--and you have to completely recontextualize your understanding of them.

For instance...

When Kon is introduced, he's a showboating egomaniac who is rude, violent, or inappropriate with just about everyone and has a massive sense of entitlement. There's an incident in which his showing-off leads to the destruction of a Daily Planet helicopter and the death of its pilot. Steel, who had to step in to deal with the problem, grabs Kon up by the scruff of his neck and gives him a severe talking-to. Kon's initial response is to get defensive and angry, but after flying off alone, he self-examines for the first time in his very short life and has to come to terms with his own selfishness (and goes back and apologizes later). This will be the start of a pattern for him: he often reacts in anger but he's also capable of rethinking and learning from mistakes. The attention-seeking is a role that he was created to play, and behind it there's a child with no guidance who wants to do the right thing but doesn't know how.

(Superman: The Man of Steel #23)

Bart is introduced trying to kill Wally on sight and, after getting his aging straightened out, proceeds to be a reckless, thoughtless, petulant nuisance. This is compounded by the fact that we see him almost exclusively from the perspective of Wally, who can't stand him. After Wally passes over Bart as his intended successor before a potentially fatal mission (it's actually a ruse to try to motivate him to learn), Bart and Jesse Quick spend some time together, and he opens up enough to reveal that he's determined to prove himself, he cares about Wally more than he lets on, and he still hasn't adjusted to not being in his own time. He's a displaced child from the future, transported to an era in which he is scolded and belittled for doing things according to the definition of normal he was raised with, which accounts for his near-constant frustration. And yeah, he could use an attitude adjustment, but he's not just being annoying to be annoying. He's even capable of loyalty, however begrudging, to the cousin who has made no secret of his disdain for him. There's complexity here.

(The Flash 1987 #98)

Thad is introduced as a villain and presented as such for most of his appearances--until we're given his narration during the time he spends impersonating Bart and we find out that his motivations are not limited to his murder mission. There are moments previously that hint at his being more pitiable than evil, but I think we first see what he really wants out of life after one of the social interactions that he loathes results in his managing to make "his" friends laugh. He's not just a supervillain bent on revenge; he's a kid getting his first taste of being liked and accepted on his own terms and realizing what he has missed out on his whole long, long lonely life. This complicates our understanding of him and makes his defeat in the climax more tragic than triumphant.

(Impulse #65)

Damian is awful when he first shows up. He attacks his father, refuses to follow even the most reasonable of instructions, loudly insists that no one can make him do anything, cusses out Alfred, throws a tantrum when his father won't let him have a laptop or a sword, insults and rejects food, steals the Robin uniform and goes out and beheads a criminal, tries to kill Tim, and generally behaves like a spoiled brat. It's made clear that this behavior is a product of his upbringing, with its horrifying combination of violence and indulgence. But the moment when we first see the vulnerability behind it is when Damian spills his mother's plans to his father and adds frantically, "See? I can be useful!" The ruthless assassin is really just a ten-year-old boy who is desperate to help the father whose respect he longs for. Given guidance and love, he could be better, and will be, but it's a long, difficult road there.

(Batman #658)

There are further examples, I'm sure, but these are the ones that stand out from what I've read.

[heizerux]

I don’t think Felíx or any other rich kid is a Senti and it’s possible that people can be real people

Again this is based on what I saw of “Emotion” and added to my thoughts/points, spoilers will be brought up here. Also I’m a non-believer of the Senti-Theory so if this upsets you I do apologize.

Felix referring to the moon as his sister could really just be an implication that it shares his exact feelings of anger toward control as that’s what he created it from. It’s the only thing that understands him. It’s like referring to a person as “my brother in arms” over a topic, battle or action.

Him releasing it can also be him giving up on his plan that got him there since he hurt people he didn’t mean to, lost Marinette and realized he had no “control”, of his new powers, and overall that he failed. Anger isn’t going to get him anywhere and he still ended up like he started, alone and the same.

Gabriel only recently started pitching ideas as well as important business with important people such as Kagami. And I mean within a year or so in the show.

Sure, he could have created kids for important people, but it couldn’t have been recently as he just now started getting closer to them and it maybe couldn’t have been 15/16 years ago as that’s how long he was on a search for magical artifacts (see Shanghai Special), and when he did find the peacock miraculous, he gave that to his wife as a gift. . . Whom kept it until she passed. (Also he maybe wasn’t a well known or fully established fashion designer when he had Adrien as we saw he liked to adventure and met Emílie that way. Sure that’s up for the debate, but it’s another possibility.)

I think if Gabriel really created kids for powerful people, It would be weird for him to give Tomoe a test drive of a miraculous combined with their new invention. It also looked like he recently filled her in, she accepted because it means business, and with added power. . . Well why wouldn’t she?

Also let’s examine Amelie. I think her behavior towards Gabriel would be a lot more different towards him had he and Emílie created Felíx for her and her husband. Given that’s her littlebundle of joy, she’d likely act very thankful and she’d likely already long KNOW he has a miraculous and he probably Hawkmoth/Shadowmoth. Sure she probably knows that now that she’s working with her own son, but she doesn’t act like like her son could disappear any moment. She’s rather very angry at Gabriel for his actions instead.

Now to those saying it’s canon. . . You guys are just saying that as I’ve seen. Of course it’s still based on these little implications the show plays but that’s what they are. Implications that could mean or point to ANYTHING.

Real things that could be asked that have been given to us are:

Why was Emílie interested in hunting magic treasures? Why was Gabriel?

What even is Gabriel’s upbringing? Is he self made? Why is he this driven by evil? Why would he choose to ignore Emilie’s actual wishes by deleting her videos?

What happened to Felix’s father? Did he have a good relationship with him? Felix hates Gabriel and his influence on control over his cousin but could it be Gabriel also disliked Felix’s father? Why couldn’t the Agrestes attend Mr. Fathom’s funeral? Was there tensions there?

This may be answered by more episodes, but assuming for now: What is Tomoe’s real drive? What’s the tension between Kagami and her mother? Because yes it’s “control” but it seems deeper by how Kagami said it’s “finally time” she speaks with her. (My bets are she caught on her mother is working with Monarch but who actually knows until we see more.)

So all this to say again: There’s bigger things at play and it’s not just “they’re sentis! It’s canon because a vague implication made it seem that way!”

Had that been the case that they are sentis, this episode would have played out a bit differently. Likely in the fact that Felix would have told them the “truth” and maybe would have given a speech about how they deserve to be free of their amok.

But it didn’t. Felix’s entire drive, motive, and speech was about how he does not want people in his life telling him or others like him what to do and how to live. (Notice his and his mother’s use of the word “monsters” towards specific people of power.) The same goes for heroes that say what’s right and what’s wrong. In Felix’s case it’s everyone, so he got rid of everyone except Marinette (whom he didn’t know was LB and honestly didn’t try to fight/deter him as Marinette but that’s another point.)

Anyways sorry this is long. This episode wasn’t strong evidence to me and seeing as Twitter is dying, I’ve not seen any creator or show writer even talk about this. Only fans claiming it’s canon but that’s on interpretation. Now if they do go ahead and confirm that yes, they are sentis, I’ll accept it but will think it’s such a cop out.

Adrien’s character is already a sad background in itself and I don’t see how confirming him as a Senti will matter to the plot or even affect the show. To me it doesn’t seem like that’s the direction they’re going for or even thinking about. It would just come off sloppy.

[aphroditestummyrolls]

🏅🌙 🧠

Hi 🥰 hello

🏅 What is something you recently felt proud of in regard to your writing (finished a fic, actually planned for once, etc).

I actually finished Keep You Safe! 🥹 I am so proud of that story! But, I’m also so proud of all of the stories I’ve written/started for Six of Crows. I still feel so compelled by my WIPs, and so motivated to write, even with the Focus Issues™️ I’ve been having. I’m really feeling good about my stories more frequently than I’m feeling self conscious, and that’s rare.

🌙  What time of day do you prefer to write? Why?

I used to be a morning writer— I just felt like my mind was clearest in the early hours. But now, I’m a mid morning to evening, equal opportunity writer, and I’m most likely to edit in the early morning.

🧠 What’s an idea you have that you can’t quite call a WIP yet?

I have ANOTHER “Colm discovers Jesper’s Ketterdam Life” fic in my brain, and it’s not outlined or written in any capacity, but it makes me INSANE.

So, let’s set the scene— this is a show verse story in which the ice court heist straight up doesn’t happen. Inej comes to visit fairly regularly. Nikolai’s pardon successfully got Matthias out of Hellgate and they are working their shit out. Wylan’s past came out shortly after they returned from Ravka when his father started sending letters to the Slat, and they became more genuinely threatening. Any animosity about his hiding his past has faded in the face of his life being threatened, and Jesper is just trying to keep him safe. They are so deeply in love.

The story starts about three months since Ravka and the Fold, and the crows are on high alert— recently, Jan sent someone to try to kill Wylan. It was a botched attempt, but Kaz is taking no chances. Wylan hates it, but he’s escorted by someone (usually jesper, because he would come hang out with him anyway) to and from his workshop. Kaz is taking this very seriously, and plotting the downfall of Jan Van Eck with each passing second. But in the meantime, they have to keep Wylan alive.

One morning, Rotty doesn’t meet him outside the workshop like they agreed. And Wylan is a little nervous, but decides to walk back to the slat alone.

Meanwhile, simultaneously, a man is wandering in from fifth harbour, trying his best to conduct his own search for his estranged son after the staadwatch proved useless. He’s starting to feel a bit hopeless, when he hears gunshots. He doesn’t even have time to wonder, because a young man is stumbling, running headlong into him, and when he grips the boy to help him stand, his hands come away bloody.

Colm is desperate to find Jesper, but he looks at this boy and he feels so terrible— he can’t be any older than Jes. He has to make sure he gets the help he needs, that he’ll be okay. But, when he tries to take him to the hospital, the boy insists that he take him to “the crow club— it’s closer. He, he might send someone to the hospital.”

So, colm takes this gravely wounded young man to the crow club. And finds more than he bargained for.

One day soon, maybe I’ll write this one out— it’s so fun, and juicy. I have so many ideas for it, as like, a slower, more angry and resentful “Colm and the Crows” story. One that really examines his dynamics with each of them. 👁️👁️

Thanks for playing!

[attorneys-against-court-violence]

For the AA ask game, 97, 16, and 5!

97.

Does the Steel Samurai really count as non-human if he's played by a human actor? My musings aside, it's a toss-up between the two best birds in the franchise: Polly and Taka.

Polly is the centre of the single funniest moment in the first game. He's not only cross-examined in a court of law but also retrained by the prosecutor in that trial to not ruin his plans. That moment was the biggest car-crash of a testimony which spoke volumes about both Manfred and Phoenix and it's fantastic. He even holds a bit of emotional significance, being named after Yani Yogi's fiance who left him while he was pretending to be brain-damaged and reminding him why he's even in this situation to begin with. The bird is pretty much the only one in his corner after that trial... yet he only serves to remind Yogi of what he lost and why.

Taka is similar, in that he's Simon's only companion during his incarceration & has strong ties to the event that lead to his situation. The difference being that, while Polly is pretty one-note and dim, Taka is sharp and feels like he has a mind of his own. He's ruthlessly loyal and helpful to Simon, acting as both a literal weapon against fools in court and a weapon against Simon's despair. He shuts down inferior birds in his presence, happily demonstrates his melodic screeching against an orca, looks surprised when Simon slams the desk, and accepts his affection and orders with no objections. I love him dearly.

16.

There aren't many culprits in AA that I'd trust with my coffee, let alone a prison breakout, though my money's on the phantom in terms of practicality. Long as he isn't still freaking out over his lack of identity, his training as a spy means he has a good amount of skill in escaping from capture. Second to him would probably be Shelly, but I'm dubious on how much he counts. Plus his expertise is more in not getting caught in the first place and from what I know? He hasn't broken into prison to shank Engarde yet. Maybe he has, though I wouldn't know.

5.

This is going to have to be a "so far" answer, so apologies if your favourite doesn't cross my mind!

But who to choose... there's a few I'd call top-tier in my mind...

My mind's on either Marlon Rimes or Damon Gant. They're both polar-opposites in terms of how they operate as culprits so it's difficult to say which one I think is better. Guess they'll have to answer for their respective trilogies!

Damon Gant is corruption incarnate. While Redd White had a strangle-hold on law officials through blackmail, Gant's corruption was internal. This was someone who worked in the police department doing terrible things to gain near absolute control over proceedings at the precinct. Someone who's willing to sacrifice others in the name of catching someone he suspected greatly but could not prove his suspicions with hard evidence. Having this man at the top of the food-chain and giving him strings to tie around the Chief Prosecutor is a recipe for one truly corrupt police force, especially with how they're liable to arrest people on suspicion alone. And the scariest part? He's a human being. He's a goofy old man who enjoys swimming, goes on lunch dates with other law officials, lends people money with no ulterior motive (at least I hope not). He's an incredibly selfish person, outright stating that he only cares about himself, but a person nonetheless. That doesn't change when the big revelation hits. There's no sympathy for Gant but he feels more human than a good few other culprits in the series.

Marlon Rimes is also fantastic for being remarkably human in his writing, though for different reasons. He is a man driven by intense grief and anger for the loss of Azura Summers. While the orca didn't kill Summers, the poor timing of her heart attack meant that the orca was held under suspicion for her death. Rimes had every reason to believe the orca had done it, and following that? Summer's understudy Sasha Buckler is training another orca with the same level of trust and love as Summers - trust that Rimes believes was misplaced. This is a tightly-knit group too, so Rimes was likely seeing a friend & friend of his love get close to what he saw as a murderous animal. It's not a series of events he wanted to see repeated, so he tried to get the orca killed... which resulted in tragedy as yet another person Rimes knew died due to the orca; the Captain rushing to save her from dying due to a lack of water to hold her weight. His assumptions about Ora and Orla weren't true - the revelation no doubt destroying him internally as he welcomed the death penalty - but it was reasonable at the time. He's not a bad person, nor a corrupt one. Rimes was a man who cared about the safety of his collegues and made a dreadful mistake trying to protect them & avenge Summers. Being redeemed at the end is only the icing on the cake.

Soooooo.... I suppose the best culprits to me are the ones that are the most human! Ini Miney would also make the cut in this regard, though two was already pushing it for the answer. I already pulled the double-answer stunt for the first question! Hahaha!

[batmads-ao3]

Across The Universe

Detroit: Yuri’s done the math. He done the research and the consideration and the planning. This will be his last year of competitive figure skating, and this time next year, he’ll be moving on to grad school. No matter what, though, Yuri hopes to hold onto Victor in any way that he can. Even if he has to compromise and change his own dreams to do it.

St. Petersburg: Victor is tired of compromising. Tired of having dreams deferred, of stealing moments in the off season and after competitions to spend time with Yuri. The way he sees it, there are only two options: keep Yuri in competitive skating, or find a way to stay by Yuri’s side after this year is through. Because if there’s anything that Victor knows for certain, it’s that he’s never letting anything come between him and his soulmate ever again.

But how far are Yuri and Victor willing to go to protect the other’s dreams? And with a whole universe separating them, will a soulmate bond really be enough to hold them together when it matters most?

**Part Three of the Defy the Stars Trilogy**

Soulmates!AU • College! AU(kinda) • Happy Ending

Read Chapter Twenty-Five here!

In which Yuri makes a friend while drifting aimlessly through Nationals.

Posting every Friday (ish), chapter preview below the cut

Celestino was back in Detroit. With nowhere to stay in the interim between the final and the Japanese National Championships, he’d elected to return to Michigan, spend the holiday with his family, and help give Phichit a little extra one-on-one time ahead of the Olympics in February. Which meant that Yuri was alone in Hasetsu to fend for himself, training wise. He knew what he needed to do to prep. He had already made arrangements at the Ice Castle to get ice time to train, outside of the odd hours he was inclined to show up. 

Admittedly, though, he wasn’t overly inclined to go skating at all these days. He’d had slumps, sure. He’d had moments of doubt and indecision when it felt easier to give up than it did to keep going, but in the end, a thirst to prove himself had always prevailed. As a kid, he’d admired Victor enough that he wanted to skate on the same ice as his idol, and then, once he met Victor himself, and Victor had shown an unwavering faith in his abilities, his motivation had changed to showing Victor he was worthy of that faith. And, he’d wanted to show himself that he was worthy of his soulmate, that he could stand on equal footing with Victor. 

But now he had skated with Victor both in competition and in practice, so he couldn’t fall back on his childhood motivation. And after fighting with Victor and losing Victor’s faith in him, he couldn’t continue towards his aspirations of proving himself to his soulmate, or worthy of his soulmate’s love for himself. He had nothing left to skate for, and with his season already on the downswing, he wasn’t sure it was worth it to keep trying. 

Hobble through nationals, sure. Limp through Four Continents if he was unlucky enough to be sent to represent Japan. Resign himself to the Olympics if he was assigned to the team again, fine. But World’s? He didn’t want to go unless he had to. He just wanted to do away with all of it. Tuck Victor and this love affair into his past like his favorite old skating costumes were tucked away in a box in the attic. There for him to examine on nostalgic days, but never to be picked up and worn again. 

In the end, he only went to the rink to practice because Minako burst into his room four days after he got home from the final and demanded to know why he wasn’t preparing for Nationals. So Yuri went, albeit extremely reluctantly. Practiced diligently without any heart. Yuuko kept giving him sad looks. Minako said outright that his programs had lost some spark, and poked and prodded to see what had happened to him at the finals, but Yuri always waved her off. 

Celestino was back in Detroit. With nowhere to stay in the interim between the final and the Japanese National Championships, he’d elected to return to Michigan, spend the holiday with his family, and help give Phichit a little extra one-on-one time ahead of the Olympics in February. Which meant that Yuri was alone in Hasetsu to fend for himself, training wise. He knew what he needed to do to prep. He had already made arrangements at the Ice Castle to get ice time to train, outside of the odd hours he was inclined to show up. 

Admittedly, though, he wasn’t overly inclined to go skating at all these days. He’d had slumps, sure. He’d had moments of doubt and indecision when it felt easier to give up than it did to keep going, but in the end, a thirst to prove himself had always prevailed. As a kid, he’d admired Victor enough that he wanted to skate on the same ice as his idol, and then, once he met Victor himself, and Victor had shown an unwavering faith in his abilities, his motivation had changed to showing Victor he was worthy of that faith. And, he’d wanted to show himself that he was worthy of his soulmate, that he could stand on equal footing with Victor. 

But now he had skated with Victor both in competition and in practice, so he couldn’t fall back on his childhood motivation. And after fighting with Victor and losing Victor’s faith in him, he couldn’t continue towards his aspirations of proving himself to his soulmate, or worthy of his soulmate’s love for himself. He had nothing left to skate for, and with his season already on the downswing, he wasn’t sure it was worth it to keep trying. 

Hobble through nationals, sure. Limp through Four Continents if he was unlucky enough to be sent to represent Japan. Resign himself to the Olympics if he was assigned to the team again, fine. But World’s? He didn’t want to go unless he had to. He just wanted to do away with all of it. Tuck Victor and this love affair into his past like his favorite old skating costumes were tucked away in a box in the attic. There for him to examine on nostalgic days, but never to be picked up and worn again. 

In the end, he only went to the rink to practice because Minako burst into his room four days after he got home from the final and demanded to know why he wasn’t preparing for Nationals. So Yuri went, albeit extremely reluctantly. Practiced diligently without any heart. Yuuko kept giving him sad looks. Minako said outright that his programs had lost some spark, and poked and prodded to see what had happened to him at the finals, but Yuri always waved her off. 

He felt lost, like he was drifting out in space like some forgotten satellite untethered from gravity, beyond his use, unable to send information back to Earth, unable to receive future direction. He wasn’t excited for Nationals, but he went. Got through practice on the first day, and then the second, and then survived the positions drawing on the third day. There were a lot of people there who were excited to see him. He smiled and took photos for them only because he knew Minako would yell at him later if he didn’t. But he felt guilty about it, because with all of their excitement and gushing about the Olympics, and where his career could go, and their unwavering faith that it would go on, he didn’t know how to tell them that he felt done. Dried up. Washed out. Ready to let go.

Continue on Ao3

[billconrad]

Creating A Book Outline

    I began my writing adventure by typing the first chapter. My lack of planning led to many issues, and I have since learned to start every book project with an outline. It saves editing time and results in a better story.

    I thought it would be an interesting exercise to describe my outline process. So… What is a book outline? It is a high-level plot summary. Once done, an author can review their concept and make radical changes. The result is a basic story framework that a writer can turn into an entire book.

    How much plot is needed to begin an outline? The writer should know the general beginning, middle, and end. The length is about a paragraph. There are formal methods of creating an outline, such as the flower method. Some writers use whiteboards, post-it notes, 3x5 cards, and circles with connecting lines. My method is chaotic, terse, and cryptic because this is how my bonkers mind works.

    I condense ideas into sentences that describe the base elements. The resulting difficult-to-understand mess has awful grammar and spelling. I encourage myself to explore, experiment, change, move, delete, and add during the process. The value of an outline is at this stage, and writers have complete freedom to make significant changes and push their concepts to the extreme.

    Once a basic outline exists, I repeatedly review it with questions like: Does the story make sense? Is the logic sound? Is this section necessary? Is motivation apparent? Are the characters interacting enough? Does the action need more conflict? Would rearranging the sections lead to more drama? Are readers going to understand the plot? Are there any unresolved issues? Is this story so good enough to be turned into a book?

    It is important to note that the character description parallels an outline. Character descriptions are an essential step but a different topic.

    When my outline looks good, it is possible to show/explain it to a beta reader to get feedback. This basic description is suitable enough to identify problems and provide feedback.

    This next paragraph is an outline section from my recently released fourth book. I intentionally did not clean it up to show my raw creativity. There are many apparent grammar errors, spelling mistakes, and run-on sentences. I understand this cryptic mess reads confusing, but it is clear to me.

    Go to Russia, (because force) find grace, difficulty with culture, wonder around woods for two days, find grubby apple tree, building remains, ponder life, gets feeling that grace knows I am looking but refuses to show herself. men at apple tree, take to china on weird Russian plane, (loud) taken to Chinese palace, describe, lots of servants, meet Chinese harvester, pincushion man, his history: land owner, horses, agriculture, gold mining, (not environment good) communism took much of it, now no land, still had gold, built relationship with communists, owns 3 party members, they leave him alone, has a lot of dirt on them. Ask questions, claims to have developed his secret process. angry james for letting the secret out. Angry at cleopatra, did not know grace, angry that grace told james secret, secret reserved “only for the divine, not worthless people like you.” pincushion man pressure james (threat to kill) to reveal total secret. pincushion man has years of experience with torture. James talk and they compare notes.

    Wow, what a rabble. However, from that mess, I wrote four chapters. The outline has a slight amount of dialog: “only for the divine, not worthless people like you.” That shows intent and what the character is thinking. I refer to one character as “pincushion man.” I did not have a name for him at that stage. My concept was that he was constantly using acupuncture, but when I tried to write that concept, it seemed silly, and I chose not to include it.

    How did I use this mess to write a book? Let’s examine the first sentence. “Go to Russia, (because force) find grace, difficulty with culture.” This is out of order. In my mind (not in the outline), I had this major scene planned “(because force)” meaning that people forced James to fly to Russia. Because I had already fully developed it, I knew exactly how to write it up and did not need details for the outline.

    For the next section, James needs to get to Russia. Details are required for the book, including buying an airline ticket, getting time off work, and budgeting. While I was writing this section, I kept in the back of my mind the next section, “finding grace.” (Grace is a character’s name, but I did not bother to capitalize the word.) This foreknowledge caused me to include all the necessary hooks, like background research about the local area where I would search for her.

    Now that James had landed in Russia, he encountered the typical difficulties of adapting to a foreign country, and I described these details. I wanted a big mistake to show James is fallible. Before James leaves his home, he “remembers” to pack a translation book. When he lands, he realizes he forgot this book. This step adds drama and shows James is not perfect.

    Let’s examine the most powerful part of an outline by pretending I identified a critical plot problem. The character James is not working. How can I fix him? What if we change the sex? How easy is it to make a major change at the outline stage? A straightforward word replacement: James to Jackie. Total time: five seconds.

    Let’s change the character’s sex in a completed first draft with a word replace. “James entered the room wearing his muscle shirt. He looked angry.” The replacement is: “Jackie entered the room wearing his muscle shirt. He looked angry.” Jackie is a woman who is called “he” and “his.” The other problem is that most women do not wear muscle shirts. So, this change requires more effort than a simple replacement, and even with lots of editing, the reader would think Jackie is an oddly masculine character.

    My outlines are about three pages long. As I write the book, I keep it on my second screen and refer to it as needed. An added benefit is using an outline reduces writing stress and makes the process more enjoyable. Now that I am better at creating them, they track 90% of the final plot. The missing 10% are details or issues found during the writing that require expanding or adding to the story. That is my chaotic process, and I hope you found it interesting.

    You’re the best -Bill

    November 18, 2023

    Hey book lovers, I published four. Please check them out:

    Interviewing Immortality. A dramatic first-person psychological thriller that weaves a tale of intrigue, suspense, and self-confrontation.

    Pushed to the Edge of Survival. A drama, romance, and science fiction story about two unlikely people surviving a shipwreck and living with the consequences.

    Cable Ties. A slow-burn political thriller that reflects the realities of modern intelligence, law enforcement, department cooperation, and international politics.

    Saving Immortality. Continuing in the first-person psychological thriller genre, James Kimble searches for his former captor to answer his life’s questions.

    These books are available in soft-cover on Amazon and eBook format everywhere.

[polhurl]

Zombie night terror underground passagway

Officer Carter: Yeah, where you running like that, hippie?Ĭhemist: (nervously ) Oh. Sarge: Slow down, Sir, Where are you running like that? Eventually, he bumped into two police officers who accompanied a forensic doctor in examining the dead body of a college girl who infected by Romero compound and successfully convinced the two to arrest him. Berating the mad scientist for the fate that befallen his customers, they soon interrupted by the zombie horde that reached the surrounding area, giving Chemist the opportunity to escape as his former pawn perished in the ongoing outbreak. The Chemist eventually captured by the Drug Lord who brings him to his lair. As if that was bad enough, Romero compound that polluted air because of its zombie carriers was either self-immolating or poorly burnt into crisp by the Drug Lord and his goons (using Molotov cocktails as opposed of extreme heat and electrocution) got mixed by the raindrops in the atmosphere as they reached the town's nearest cemetery, producing green fog that reanimated the deceased into another wave of undead. The former two were arguably most disturbing development at that point, as whereas the latter allowed a zombie to regain some of its lost intelligent to guide other zombies at the cost of becoming immobile, the former allowed a zombie to further spread the mutagenic compound in deadlier manner at the cost of its own life through either burst into shrapnel that damage things around it like frag grenade as well as infect anyone within the blast radius or spontaneously immolating itself to spread Romero compound it carry to the air. Meanwhile, the zombies were gradually mutating in the ensuing outbreak, developing abilities which worsen the threat they already pose thanks to exposure to Romero variants the Chemist spread throughout the town self-destructing, turning into a form dubbed as "Overlord", sprinting at high speeds, and jumping. Gloating his plans, the Chemist soon interrupted by the zombie horde that have reached the building, prompting him to flee and leave the guard to be overwhelmed by the undead mutants, taking his time laughing maniacally upon his out-of-control creations. random recipes based on the original one which could induce various mutations on the zombies as part of "clinical trials".Īs the chaos erupted throughout the town, the Chemist has completed the latest of his random Romero formula when the guard who stationed to guard his lab confronted him over the situation. He went so far manipulating Drug Lord to distribute the compound throughout the town as recreational drugs leading it becoming the ground zero of zombie outbreak and even concocted other variants of Romero via. Not much is known about the Chemist's background, let alone his motives, only that he developed a form of chemical compound called Romero that can turn those who exposed to it into mindless zombies for that sake. ~ The Chemist about his motives in enacting zombie apocalypse. My next random recipe, ahem, improved formula, is nearly ready. Unnamed Guard: Easy Slick! I'm just sayin', it's gettin' rough out there.Ĭhemist: Here we are. Why you wanna make people lose their minds?Ĭhemist: It's called 'clinical trials', you degenerate gun monkey. Unnamed Guard: Hey, Einstein! Your Romero is ****in' people up pretty bad.

[stellarlex]

What are your thoughts about Adrien/Cat Noir?

You got me started, so I won’t mince words.

Adrien is a pain in the ass.

The way the show constantly makes it seem like he’s in the right when he absolutely fucking ISN’T is something that has infuriated me for a very long time. The writing makes him seem perfect but he isn’t. He’s not even a good friend, and Marinette’s crush addled brain forces her to listen to his garbage advice even though she knows better and is more experienced in social matters.

This fucking kid has only been breathing fresh fucking air for a few months and somehow he’s suddenly a fucking expert on how to deal with bullies and manipulators. That’s how he comes off to Marinette with how often he lets Chloe’s shitty behavior slide or his dumb advice about Lila: “Making a bad guy suffer has never turned them into a good guy.” Or, “If you humiliate her he’ll just be hurt more.”

But Chloé gets to humiliate and hurt others with barely any consequences from anyone, let alone Adrien. And Lila just gets to publicly make fools out of anyone who believes her nonsensical bullshit. And it’s only appropriate to chastise them only AFTER someone has been humiliated, hurt, and even EXPELLED right Adrien?

And sure, I can acknowledge when Adrien has his moments of a spine but it never lasts and always falls through. People are constantly screaming “but his dad and his childhood and he’s so sheltered and can’t stand up to anyone !” but forget that he chose to be a superhero and fight evil and has stood up to people.

I mean he stands up for Chloé and Lila quite a bit no matter who they hurt. He had no problem standing up to Marinette and shaming her and the others when they were rightfully happy that Chloé, their longtime tormentor and bully was leaving. He gets to be sad that Chloé is leaving and shame on anyone who is happy about that.

He was so concerned that Chloé left hurt and humiliated, (which was her own fault for trying to lie about her school project and after the bullshit she pulled with the Bee Miraculous) that he didn’t care about how badly Chloé made others feel on a daily basis. They were rightfully relieved to have Chloé gone and to celebrate having some peace in school for fucking once.

He seemed to have forgotten about how she nearly killed a train full of fucking people to make herself look like a hero. How soon he forgets how Chloé sabotaged Marinette’s great uncle, how she treats Sabrina, how she broke into Marinette’s room and stole her diary to win a class president election, stole Marinette’s hat design and tried to frame her for stealing, how she broke into Marinette’s locker and vandalized her gift to Bustier. Just so many things.

But noooo. That’s not important. What’s important was that HIS FRIEND was sad and that all her bad behavior is negated and that they shouldn’t celebrate her leaving because SHE kept HIM company when he was kept inside his home. Nothing else matters Right Adrien?

And let’s not forget about Lila. I’ve heard so many bullshit excuses about why he won’t expose Lila and it pisses me off something fierce:

“He doesn’t know that Lila threatened Marinette!” “Marinette didn’t tell him about the threat!” “He can’t stand up for himself because he’s scared his dad will pull him out of school!” “He’s scared of Lila!” “But his upbringing” “But his dad!” “He doesn’t have evidence!” “His advice is right!” “He doesn’t know how dangerous Lila is!”

ALL. COMPLETE. BULLSHIT.

Especially that last one. There has been multiple occasions where Lila has proven how dangerous she is outside of being akuamtized but he still won’t expose her. The time she got Kagami akumatized and WILLINGLY helped Oni-Chan, was proven true by the horn on her head growing every time she lied. Adrien as Chat Noir saw this. Ladybug warned him. A FIREFIGHTER examined Lila’s ankle and basically said she was full of shit about her injury and saw Chat Noir chew her out over her willingly helping an akuma.

Still don’t know how the firefighter didn’t report that to the cops but then I remember that Thomas Astruc is shit and I say to myself, “Ah, that’s why.”

Adrien knew then especially how dangerous Lila was. He even warned Ladybug about her. If I was Ladybug I’d have said “Yeah, no shit. I tried to tell you that 5 minutes ago but sure.” But instead of outing Lila, he still says NOTHING and continues to let her lie and promise his friends things she can’t possibly deliver, continues to let her mess with his friends dreams because she’ll be “hurt more.”

When was this bitch hurt at school I wanna know.

Also, there’s the fact that Adrien has chewed Lila out multiple times about her behavior, so he’s not afraid to stand up to her. He’s even done it in public where anyone can hear him like in school. But he just keeps giving her chances. I was excited when he chewed Lila out after “Ladybug” but then that quickly went away when he said that he didn’t have any proof.

But he does have proof of her lying. He was there when Ladybug chewed Lila out about her lying. If he spoke up about that, they would believe him because he doesn’t have a motive to speak against Lila, like the way others were skeptical of Marinette’s claims because of her crush on Adrien. There’s also the fact that she lied to get into his house and got Nathalie and his bodyguard into trouble.

There is a picture she sent out to multiple people so she can’t rebut that. And then the whole shit about framing Marinette and the red butterflies. He should have spilled all the fucking tea but he still kept his mouth shut. If his little talk with Lila hadn’t panned out Marinette would still be out of school and she would look like some horrible villain and no one would doubt Lila.

But noooooo. Lila will be humiliated, she’ll be hurt. It wouldn’t make her a good guy.

Screw you Adrien.

As for Chat Noir....

*breathes in*

He needs to get a fucking reality check or he needs to not have a miraculous. Yeah. I said it.

Here’s a special message for him:

Ladybug said no. Stop asking her to date you. Stop trying to make plans or trick her into romantic situations with you. Don’t throw tantrums because she doesn’t tell you things or because she won’t do what you want. Stop goofing off during battles. Stop sacrificing yourself you absolute DUMBASS.

Sincerely, me.

It boggles me why he gets to do all the shit he does and has no fucking consequences. Marinette’s toe can’t even twitch without someone breathing down her fucking neck about being the bigger person or just chastising her for not living up to the standards of a Ladybug.

I’m looking at you Tikki.

But Adrien gets to just do all kinds of shit without a HINT of consequences as Chat Noir. It’s fucking WILD. But apparently to some it’s more important that he keeps Plagg because he’s lonely and he shouldn’t be trapped inside his house with Gabriel.

That’s not what a miraculous is for??!?!!?!?!! 🥴

And sure, Marinette has had some slip ups as Ladybug. But not nearly as many as Adrien has as Chat Noir. But like I said, Marinette gets blamed for anything by any and everyone whether she’s Ladybug or not. Tikki and Alya chastised her because she entered the game tournament to spend time with Adrien.

WHY??

She didn’t cheat, she entered fairly and played fairly and won fairly just like Adrien did. But because it was to spend time with Adrien it was wrong. Even Max’s sore loser ass admitted before he left that Marinette beat him fair and square. It’s a competition. He wasn’t entitled to have a spot. He even looked upset when Adrien beat him and Adrien had a worried look on his face. Tikki even chastises Marinette saying that there were better ways to spend time with Adrien.

But there WEREN’T.

Adrien’s time is so closely monitored that he barely ever gets time to spend with friends. That was the only chance Marinette had to spend time with Adrien. But of course Marinette gets the heat for it.

But Adrien gets nearly nothing when he causes Copy Cat because of his lie about Ladybug. He gets to throw a tantrum because Ladybug didn’t come to a picnic she never agreed to in the first place with no consequences. He gets to be upset about Ladybug having someone she loved and refuse to work together with her. And it’s all just glossed over.

But Marinette? Everything she does is always wrong. She has no choice but to be perfect or somehow the whole fucking world ends. And while it’s not right, Adrien only has to look perfect for his dad’s company. The amount of pressure isn’t the same. He gets to be carefree in at least half of his life, but Marinette is always under pressure and always judged harshly while Adrien gets to fuck up with barely any consequences or repercussions.

In conclusion, I’m so tired of this “sunshine boy”. You asked for this, and I delivered.

[the-hidden-pages]

Let Me Worship You: Part 1 - Zemo x Fem!Reader

The fact that this man is the one who dragged me out of my refusing-to-write-fanfiction grave and let me post old work while working on new stuff is...Impressive. Damn you Daniel Bruhl.

Synopsis: With all the horrible things you had heard of Baron Helmut Zemo, you hadn't anticipated just how badly he wished to win you over. To a further extent, you certainly hadn't anticipated how tempting it would be to give in.

No bad NSFW this chapter - this is the lead up to the main course.

You were not an Avenger.

Unsurprising, really, given what you perceived to be your lack of talent and marketable super-heroine prowess, and so when Bucky called you up asking for a favour, you were pleasantly surprised.

You had only met Bucky on the rare occasion he let you help him, often expressing that he viewed you as a worrywart, a particularly bad day of his leading to him accusing you of trying to be his mother. He later apologized, hearing your explanation that you wanted to help in any way you could, and since you didn't have a superhero serum or fancy suit or arm, you relied on what you could - your mind and your giving nature.

He must have remembered this conversation, because he brought you with him and Sam to what appeared to be an underground parking garage.

"What're you talking about, you wanna break Zemo out of jail? Where the hell are we Buck? Have you lost your mind?!" Sam was raving as you followed behind the two men, silent as you stew over what Bucky had told you.

Babysitting duty.

You were effectively on glorified babysitting duty of an incredibly dangerous criminal.

"James..." you hesitated when he discussed this with you, how could you not? "I don't know how useful I'll be here."

"Very," he countered, his voice dull while his eyes were pleading. "Sam’s an Avenger, I have the serum. But you, you're just a person. Zemo will be less likely to hurt and immediately betray you because of that fact alone."

"He's killed people who've been in his way before. Normal people."

"He won't kill you. I'll make sure of that."

A heavy sigh escapes you as Sam and Bucky continue to bicker about the logistics of breaking Zemo out.

"I don't like how casual you're being about this, it's unnatural - and - where are we man?"

"I wouldn't mind an answer to that too," you supply, but any answer is interrupted by the sound of a door unlocking.

The three of you turn to approaching footsteps, and find no one other than Helmut Zemo striding towards you, dressed in a prison guard's uniform.

Sam responds immediately, arguing to throw him back in jail, while Bucky tries to calm him down. But you can't help but stare at the man before you as he removes the cap on his head, arms raised in an attempt to calm the men down.

"If I may" his voice rasped, but he was stopped short by Sam and Bucky in unison.

"NO!"

Zemo nodded, looking away almost sheepishly. "Apologies," came the quiet response.

If it were any other situation, you would have laughed - those two had the dynamics of a married couple and they couldn't stand each other. And for them to completely shut down the killer in front of them was...incredibly funny.

But you had a job to do.

As the boys continued to bicker, you took slow steps forward towards the man now looking you up and down, trying to place your part in all of this.

"Don't mind them," you spoke quietly, not wanting to distract Sam and Bucky, but still intending to speak with the criminal. "They're having some troubles in paradise. You must be Zemo."

His eyes take you in, a small smirk beginning to form. "So I must. May I have the pleasure of your name, Liebling?"

You offer your name hesitantly, and he repeats it back to you, as though he were sampling what it might taste like.

"Beautiful name, thank you." He turns to face the two men still arguing, not noticing your introductions. "I really think I'm invaluable..."

"Shut up..." Sam warned, before turning back to Bucky, looking between him and you.

You nod reassuringly to him - this is necessary, if the super soldiers are to be dealt with.

A sharp sigh leaves Sam. "Okay. If we do this, you don't make a move without our permission. And she is watching you every step of the way."

Bucky interjects. "And if anything happens to her, you're going to wish we left you in that cell."

Zemo nods, looking to you once again. "Fair."

You tilt your head slightly, unable to read his eyes as they examine you. You brush it off, chalking it up to him appreciating not being thrown back into a cell immediately. "Okay Zemo. Where do we start?"

*************************************

Zemo wasn't sure of what to make of you, he realized as you were on the jet to Riga.

You weren't an Avenger, you weren't a soldier, super or otherwise. You seemed to just be a person, one constantly offering her help where she could, even when it was to her own detriment.

He also took note of how rarely your help was appreciated or reciprocated.

You would offer help any moment you could, carrying supplies, offering to fetch food, simply offering and ear to listen. You were quick to attempt to smooth over Sam and Bucky's disputes, and you would play along with the role Zemo would assign you without much question - anything to help, you would say.

You were kind, he noticed as well. Smart, and shrewd, and clearly with trust issues, but you were kind and polite. You spoke with him as much as you might Sam or Bucky, you offered him your trust under the promise he would aide you find the super soldier serum. With your kindness, he thought it might be easy to manipulate you, to slip away from the group, maybe even to ask you to join him.

But there was an issue with his theory, he quickly noticed - any attempt to woo you, attract you, win you...didn't seem to work.

He hadn't been at the task long, mind you, but he had hoped you would be impressed with the jacket, the Baron title, the jet, the offer of wine. Instead, you simply seemed uncomfortable. Come Madripoor, you were happy to play the part of eye candy to escape much attention, yet when he offered you to keep the stunning dress, shoes, and jewelry ensemble you simply waved it off, claiming that you'd reimburse him if he insisted on you keeping it. You were happy to dance near him, unable to hide your laughter at his moves, yet he offered you a drink and you promptly declined, claiming it unnecessary.

Zemo's brow furrows as he observes you, awake and quietly reading as Sam and Bucky both sleep on the flight.

"What's your motive, Liebling?" he questions, and you glance up from your page.

"Don't tell me the criminal doesn't trust me," you respond wryly, turning your gaze back.

"No, I don't mean like that," he shifts, leaning forward to continue to observe the woman that was his guard. "I wonder what keeps you going. Some are motivated by riches, and dreams. Others from spite and anger. What do you want from life, my dear? What causes you to wake up in the morning?"

You pause, looking up to search his eyes to see where this question was coming from. You weren't sure what game he was playing, and you weren't sure how to answer him either. You eventually look back down to your book, a small smile playing on your lips.

"Nothing wakes me up in the morning, given I rarely get to sleep most nights."

His brows furrowed as she goes back to her pages, eager for the conversation to end. Her difficulty doesn't seem to be that he's a criminal - she's spoken plenty freely to him, she agrees to his plans...

The difficulty, he begins to realize with a smile. Maybe he's beginning to see what the difficulty is after all.

*************************************

You weren't sure what to make of Zemo, you think as you lie awake at night in the Riga safe house.

This criminal coming out of nowhere, apparently being rich as hell, so far doing nothing to cause you to believe he would betray you (yes, Sam and Bucky were shocked by his killing of Nagel, but really? You weren't shocked) ...but what shocked you the most was how badly he seemed to want to win you over.

You could justify it, sure. You're supposed to be his guard, he's likely trying to get you to let your guard down so he can escape. Yet when he's so charismatic, the way he holds himself, that voice...

Your eyes snap open sharply.

You were attracted to Zemo.

The man you're meant to be watching.

No, you told yourself. You're just lonely, and he's the first man offering you attention in a long time. It doesn't matter that his eyes examining you makes you blush, that you want to run your fingers through his hair, that a quiet voice your head wished that he would kiss you when he pulled you aside with one arm, other hand aiming at a pipe in Madripoor to blow up some poor saps...

It's the heat of the situation, you told yourself. Your options are Sam, Bucky, and Zemo...

Trust you to pick the worst option.

But how could you not, your mind whispers. When he danced like a goofball in a club your heart warmed. When he sat, filled with confidence and righteousness in the jet, legs splayed enough that you could perch on your knees in front of him, worship him, pleasure him. When he left the bathroom this morning in that damned robe, the deep V drawing your eyes down his chest before you could help himself.

You groaned. Of all the thoughts to keep you awake, why did it have to be your assignment on your mind?

It was too hot, your mind was swimming, you knew sleep wouldn't come soon.

And so, you stood, wrapping your arms around your book and padding downstairs in a loose t-shirt and shorts. Zemo had said that you were welcome to whatever resided within the safe house, and you were ready to take up his offer and steal a cup of tea.

You weren't expecting to find anyone else still awake. And yet, you weren't fully surprised to find Zemo sitting in the kitchen, bottle of whiskey at his side, a glass in his hand. He looks up at the sound of your footsteps, a soft smile on his face.

"Good evening, Liebling."

"Zemo. Can't sleep?"

"Unfortunately, not." He leans backwards slightly, examining you. "Another sleepless night for you as well."

"So it would seem."

You take a seat across the counter from him, not wanting to sit too closely to the man you were just fantasizing about. You were good at keeping a straight face, but you wondered if you got too close if he'd somehow be able to smell it on you.

He pushed his bottle forward, cocking an eyebrow at you.

"Drink?"

Your finger caresses the binding of your book as you hesitate to find the words.

"Actually, I had come down to make myself a cup of tea, if you don't mind."

Zemo's eyes lit up slightly, and he stood, motioning for you to stay where you were. "Allow me."

"You don't have to-" you begin to protest, but he's quick to cut you off.

"Please, Liebling, let me spoil you."

The heat that washes over you is clearly visible, if his chuckle is any indicator.

Silence falls and you quietly open your book as Zemo busies himself over the tea. In mere minutes a steeping mug is delicately placed in front of you. You smile graciously and nod, though you falter slightly as he doesn't return to the other end of the counter - rather, sitting on a stool right beside you, inquisitive eyes not leaving your face.

"Can I help you with something, Baron?" you question, taking the tea and blowing on it to cool it down somewhat. His eyes follow your movements, before travelling to meet yours again.

You could drown in those eyes -

"Day after day you offer your help, sarcastically or not," he begins, leaning forward slightly as he rests his chin on his hand, examining you. "Who offers help to the helper?"

You take a sip of your tea, tilting you head. "I don't know what you mean."

"Your refusal of my gifts, your reluctance to let me even make you a cup of tea - at first I wondered if it was in distrust of me, Liebling -"

"Well, you have killed people."

He quirks an eyebrow, and you motion for him to finish.

"I realize now it's because you're uncomfortable being cared for. You spend so much time looking after everyone else, you give no one the opportunity to worship you as you deserve."

You choked a bit on your tea at that.

"I don't know that I deserve to be worshiped, I just...exist. And do what I can to help others."

Zemo leaned forward further, slowly, so as to not push you away in result. "We haven't been acquainted for long, my dear, but from all I've seen from you with Sam, with James, and with an undeserving man such as myself...the strength in your soul and the empathy in your heart...It alone rises you so far above the men and women placed on pedestals because of their supernatural abilities."

You lean forward to match, but your eyes have steeled over. "Your sweet words won't make me let you go, Zemo. I won't betray Sam and Bucky."

He didn't miss a beat. "I should be so lucky to be held captive by you for eternity, Liebling. I don't ask you to betray your friends on my behalf."

"Then what do you want from me, exactly?"

You should be very afraid. The man who singlehandedly tore apart the Avengers is staring at you as if you were a last meal, his knees touching yours, his hand finding its way to lightly perch on your arm.

You should be afraid.

Yet despite your better judgement, you aren't.

"I want you to tell me every one of your desires, so I might fulfill them. I want to see you stand tall in the finest clothes money can buy, to whisk you away to Paris, Vienna, Rome, every beautiful local this world has to offer, local that pale in comparison to the beauty in front of me. I want you to let me bring you tea, wine, food, chocolates, and anything else that might please you. I want you to relax against me, to feel the tension you've had all mission to wash away in the most luxurious bath of your life, while I wash your beautiful hair, while I taste every inch of you."

His voice had dropped to nearly a whisper, and you couldn't stop yourself from leaning forward more to hang off his every word. "I'm not a stupid man. I know it's only a matter of time before I'm back in a prison cell of some kind. And even if I weren't, you may not believe the sincerity of my words. But tonight, little bird, I want you to let me worship you."

Your eyes fluttered as his hand reached forward to cup your cheek, thumb caressing over your bottom lip. You had the strength to look him dead in the eye with one final warning.

"If this is a trick of any kind, Zemo, I won't hesitate to let Bucky rip you to shreds."

The laughter that leaves him fans over your face, drawing your eyes to his lips.

"I'd expect nothing less, Liebling."

His eyes still search your face. A gentleman, you realize. He's waiting for permission.

You lean forward to close the gap, slowly letting your mouth brush over his, tasting him for the first time, as your hand raises to card through the locks of hair in his face. Your body thrums with anticipation of what's to come, with the anxiety that this may be a dangerous move, with pure, undiluted arousal from his words.

Yet you break away gently, both hands cupping his face now as he looks at you, curious as to why you stopped, pleased that his initial seduction worked.

Your hands slowly travel down to his own, and you stand, backing towards the way you came when you first gave up on sleep for the night.

"Come on then. You want to show me what being spoiled is like?"

A grin curls its way onto his face as he spins you in his arms, twirling you so that your back is against his front, his arms around you, his breath hot in your ear.

"Little bird, I'll give you everything you crave and more."

[hereforhalstead]

Prove it

*Gif not mine, credits to the owner*

• Pairing: Jay Halstead x Reader.

• Requested: Yes.

“I’d feel a lot better if you let me walk you home/ If i asked you to stay, would you?”

• Warnings: swearing/ mention of drugs

• Summary: Jay insists on walking you home after a night in Molly’s but after seeing you with Adam he decides to tell you how he feels.

• Words: 2893.

• A/N :  Hope you enjoyed! Thanks so much for the request, I’m feeling motivated to get writing again due to all of the lovely messages and chats I’ve had over the past few days. Please feel free to send across any requests or prompts that you would and as always my inbox is always open :)

***

 “Cheers to no one getting injured on a drug bust for the first time” Adam announces as you all raise your glasses in amusement “Not even you Halstead, gotta be a first. Right?” he adds but Jay rolls his eyes and takes another sip of his drink “Listen, It’s not me you should be congratulating. Y/N is always the one who does something without thinking and gets herself hurt, you should be directing this at her” he tips his glass towards you and you give him a menacing look “Talk about beat around the bush” you mumble but Jay’s chuckle is enough to break your facade as you mirror his grin “Just saying” he shrugs and winks.

The team had just finished up on what felt like a month long operation, in reality you had been planning it a week or so but the observations and scoping out the area made it feel so much longer.  You managed to get the guy you were after and as Adam said, miraculously all of you had avoided injury which was definitely a first. His speech was clearly aimed towards you and Jay out of anyone, Jay was known for getting far too attached and close to cases which often blinded his awareness of danger. You were very similar in that if you saw an opportunity to help someone out you would take it, not weighing up the situation and resulting in you taking risks you probably shouldn’t. 

Because of this, you and Jay had each others backs. Of course everyone had everyones back but not in this way. You’d seemed to have grown a close bond due to you both being very similar in the way you work and think, often knowing what the other is going to do before they even think it. As much of this being a good thing, it has often not panned out as the other will take the first step to try and protect the other and things going south, you’d probably put yourself in more danger trying to prevent Jay getting hurt rather than a result of your own misjudgment. Jay was the same, not thinking about himself and would rather put himself in a compromising position instead of you - sounds twisted but that’s just the way your partnership worked. 

By this point, you’d had a few drinks but was cutting yourself off. You had an early shift in the morning and the thought of the pile of paperwork on your desk reminded you it was not something you wanted to tackle with a hangover. No one else seemed to think the same way, this was soon proved as Hailey made her way back from the bar with another tray of shots. “Oh none for me, I’m having a quiet one tonight” you excused yourself and carried on sipping the remainder of your drink.

“Yeah, I’m also out. Don’t want to be feeling rough with all that paperwork tomorrow” Jay winced and you laughed to yourself at how similar your thoughts always were. “Something you two aren’t telling us?” Hailey downs one of the shots and you almost choke on your drink “Are you being serious?” you question and she shrugs her shoulders with a click of her tounge “I don’t think it’s just me that thinks it, I overheard Kev and Adam gossiping the other day” you dart your attention over to a stunned Kevin who simply purses his lips and turns to Adam for him to defend “I-I.. Don’t know what she’s talking about” he stutters out “You couldn’t come up with something better?” Kevin mumbles under his breath and you shake your head “Nothing to report, right Jay?” you hand over to Jay who was quietly sipping on his nearly finished drink “What? Oh.. right” 

You smile back at Hailey but she doesn’t seem satisfied “I’m just saying, I don’t think he would run into a burning building for much but if you were on the top floor he would be sprinting up them stairs” Kim widens her eyes at Hailey who seems so casual about everything she is saying but you weren’t taking it as lightly and were now feeling slightly uncomfortable “Well on that note, I think I’m gonna head out” you place your empty glass back on the bar and hear them continue to bicker being you “Good one” Adam curses at Hailey who again doesn’t seem fazed “I’m just saying what we’re all thinking. You can’t tell me they’re both so oblivious to it as well”. Adam runs his hand along his jawline and stands to pick your jacket up which had fallen on the floor, you hear him mutter a soft ‘sorry’ which you acknowledge with a forced smile “I’ll see you tomorrow”. 

You shrug your jacket on and head for the door, slightly underestimating how cold Chicago can be and regretting not picking up a thicker coat. You start the traitorous walk down the road but feel your phone buzz in your pocket 

‘Stop walking and wait for me’

You squint to see who it was from and your heart slightly picks up speed when you say Jay’s name at the top of the screen, you come to a stop and turn to look over your shoulder. Not seeing anyone there you carry on walking but keep your phone in your grasp when it vibrates again

‘What did I just say Y/N..’

 You chuckle at the message and take another look behind you but this time seeing Jay a few steps away “you really don’t listen for shit do you” he greets and you scoff “Well, nice to see you too”. You carry on walking and Jay jogs to catch up and walks closely alongside you “Early night for you as well then?” you break the silence and he just nods with his hands stuffed in his pockets “Not as good when you’re partners not there” he remains with his eyes pinned to the path ahead and you feel the heat rise to your cheeks and are suddenly grateful for the darkness so he can’t see. You come to a stop and Jay turns back to look at you confused “You don’t live this way? In fact that way” you point in the opposite direction you’re walking and his eyes quickly dart back to you “You think I’d let you walk home alone?” he almost chuckles to himself but you don’t match his amusement “Jay, it’s not even 8pm and I’ve only had a few drinks. Thank you but I’m fine” you pat him on the shoulder and continue walking, you barely get a step away when he’s back by your side.

“I get that, but  I’d feel better if you let me walk you home “. You’re reminded that you still have your phone in your hand when you feel it vibrate, you look down to see Adam’s name flash up on the screen. You show Jay the screen and you can’t help but notice the way he seems to straighten up when he reads the name, you ignore this and answer the phone “Hey Adam” you chime and Jay vaguely hears him respond on the other end “Hold on a minute” you put the phone to your shoulder to muffle the speaker and so Adam can’t hear “Look, if I stay on the phone with Adam and walk home alone. Will that make you feel better?” you whisper to Jay who clears his throat and nods “Do whatever you want” he responds in a harsh but quiet tone before heading back towards the bar. “Sorry, as you were saying..” you turn your attention back to the phone call and carry on your journey home. 

**

The phone call only last a few minutes after Jay left but you made a note to tell Jay it was the full length of your journey home if he ever asks.. You step in the elevator to your apartment block and click the button for your floor, you grasp at the hand rail behind you and lean your head back on the mirror, you were shattered and just ready for bed. The elevator chimes and the doors open, as you exit and head for your apartment you find yourself rummaging around your pockets to find your key, you turn the corner and nearly jump out of your skin as you see Jay stood outside your door, leaning on the wall with his knee bent and foot resting below him. 

He sees your reaction and turns to face you walking towards him “sorry I didn’t mean to make you jump” he softly whispers as you turn the key in the lock “Maybe don’t wait outside my front door when I’m not expecting anyone to be there smart ass” you hit back, still not sure on his attitude when he left you earlier. 

You walk in the apartment and hang your jacket on the hook but turn back to see Jay still hadn’t moved “You coming in or did you come all this way to stand in the hall?” you question but head further in, leaving the door open. You pour yourself a glass of water and hear the door close and the floorboards creak as Jay walks over to join you “What’s going on Jay?” you ask as he leans on the doorframe and therefore making it difficult for you to get past “What did Adam want?” he tilts his head to question but you can tell he isn’t feeling as confident as he wants you to think. You exhale in a laugh and take a step towards him, you expect him to move but he stands his ground and remains in his spot. This forces you to step sideways out of the door, your body glides closely with his. So much so that if you had looked up as you passed him your faces would’ve been inches apart as he looked down at you. You huff and place your glass of water on the side and begin to take your shoes off by the sofa “Just wanted to apologize again for Hailey, I don’t know I wasn’t really listening” you trail off as you find your attention is now more on Jay’s actions and what he’s doing. 

It takes him a minute to turn from where he is standing and face you, you walk in front of him and lean the back of your legs on the sofa to examine him, his eyes flick up and down your body and you reach for your drink to try and act like you didn’t notice “So you’d rather have him keep you company on your walk home than me, I see” he confidentially takes a stride towards you and folds his arms across his chest. You can’t help but notice the way his arms bulge through the tightness of his shirt and struggle to keep your eyes on him and not roaming to admire them “Grow up Jay” you scoff but see him take another step towards you “what are you even doing here anyway?” you add but he remains silent. 

“If you’re just gonna stand and not say anything I’m gonna leave you here and go to bed” you stand from your spot and step away from him and towards your room. You’re stopped in your tracks when his arm latches onto your wrist to stop you “Hailey was right you know” he keeps his grasp on you tight, not in a way that it hurts but almost as if he was worried that otherwise you would walk off.

You open your mouth to speak but he soon cuts you off “I mean not about the fact there isn’t much I would run into a burning building for, as we know from past experiences that isn’t true” you laugh at the memory from when he darted back into an old house that had just caught alight because he had left his phone on the side but he seems to regain your attention “You know what, It’s late I should probably go” he releases his hold on you and you can’t ignore the emptiness you feel from loosing the tiniest bit of contact from him “You can’t be serious Jay. You can’t say that and then leave?” you both fall silent as you wait for the other to speak but you weren’t going to crack first.

“I didn’t plan on coming here Y/N. I didn’t think I would be standing here saying this to you but you were on the phone to Adam and instead of me heading home I found myself coming here to make sure you got home safe. I wish I didn’t care if you were on the phone to him when you walked home, but I do Y/N. I care that it’s me that you choose to keep you company and I’m the one to make sure you’re safe because quite frankly I don’t trust anyone else and especially you to make sure that you are. You’re the most caring person I know and honestly it terrifies me because I know you won’t stop at anything to make sure everyone around you is fine, even if it means that you aren’t and I’m sorry but it’s true”. The way his chest is quickly rising and falling from his outburst stuns you, you’d seen him loose control of his emotions before but not like this. He always struggles to hide his true feelings and shows alot of emotion, but in more actions than words and you never thought you’d see him act this way towards you. 

“That’s great Jay, just great. Here you are turning up at my door because you don’t trust me to keep myself safe. You’re my partner Jay you’re supposed to trust me an-” you begin to retaliate but yet again he is there to cut you off “I do trust you Y/N. I trust you with my life and I trust you a fuck tonne more than anyone else I know but I know you won’t stop at anything to make sure everyone else is okay, so is it so bad that I wanted to make sure you got home safe?” you find him now stood inches from you and you had absentmindedly mirrored his actions but tensely hanging your arms by your side, so rigid that you can’t bring yourself to move them “So what, if I asked you to stay. Would you?” you half heartedly laugh as you almost expect him to shrug if off and give you some funny look.

“Of course I would Y/N. Are you not listening to me? I would stay tonight, I would stay tomorrow. I would stay every god damn day if I could. I don’t wait you on the phone to another guy when it should be me, I should be the one making you feel safe and not anyone else” his tone and volume picks up again just when he seemed to be calming down and you curse yourself for making him react this way again. You take another step towards him as he tries to say something else, you raise your finger to his lip to stop him. His eyes flicker between your fingertip and then back to you in confusion but he doesn’t say another word. The desperation in his eyes as he scans your face makes your heart ache and you feel it alight something within you “Just don’t say another word” you bring your face towards him and place a quick kiss onto his skin “Take your anger out on me”. You run your fingertip along his jawline run your thumb along his bottom lip to place another kiss to the side of his neck “Y/N” he warns, his voice now in a low and much more serious tone.

“I mean it Jay, everything you just said. Prove it to me” you continue to trail light pecks along his skin and leading up the the corner of his mouth “Don’t start something you don’t want to finish” the way he grips at your hips makes you edge them towards him, earning a low moan to escape from his lips “Prove it to me Jay, prove why it should be you and no one else” you taunt as he locks his eyes with yours, he nudges at your legs which are positioned together so his knee slips between them “you have no idea what you’ve just let yourself in for”.

***

[firelxdykatara]

ppl love to forget that katara: 1. has her own taste, 2. developed around aang, he needed her for his development and vice versa, 3. ZUTARA IS SHIP BETWEEN AN OPPRESOR X OPPRESSED!!! Ignoring all of the development they had with their respective partners and the trauma Zuko caused Katara!!

In the infamous words of one Luke Skywalker: amazing. every word of what you just said was wrong.

It’s actually kind of ironic that you bring up Katara’s taste, since, throughout the show, we have examples of the guys she likes, to greater or lesser extents in canon--Jet (explicit romantic feelings on her part, word of god that jet was her first kiss--a kiss that would have been consensual, incidentally, something you should keep in mind for later) and Haru (she denies the crush, but that could just as easily have been because of the abomination he’d been growing on his lip rather than denying those feelings ever existed), both of whom have much more in common (in terms of both emotional and physical maturity, and physical appearance) with Zuko than either of them has with Aang.

Zuko’s book 3 hairstyle is almost exactly reminiscent of Jet’s, even, if not quite as floofy.

(This is probably in part because of Jet’s function as a foil of Zuko within the narrative, particularly given their book 2 encounters, which I think just further solidifies my point that, were it not for extenuating circumstances [like the fact that Zuko was introduced as an enemy and they had significant obstacles to hurdle before they could be friends], Zuko would have been exactly Katara’s type. Had they met under different circumstances, she could have been the girl he went on a date with in Ba Sing Se. Just something to think about.)

So, yes, we’ve established that Katara has her own taste. Her tastes seem to be boys with great hair who are taller than her, the same age or older, and of a similar maturity level.

Aang falls short (heh, short) on all counts. So it isn’t Katara’s taste in boys that led her to be interested in him. Hm!

Next, you claim that Katara ‘developed around Aang’--that she was necessary for his development, and that he was necessary for hers.

Let’s take a moment to examine that, shall we?

I will absolutely grant you that Katara was necessary for Aang’s development--only to a point, of course, but we’ll get to that later--but was he really necessary for Katara‘s growth? I suppose I could grant you this on a generous technicality--he did, after all, provide her with the means to finally leave the South Pole and find a waterbending master to teach her (although she wound up largely self-taught anyway). But that had nothing to do with his relationship to Katara and everything to do with the structure of the plot--Katara and Sokka find Aang (and he never would have gotten out of that iceberg without Katara’s own righteous anger, so even that leads back to her own power), and then they go on a quest to find teachers for the Chosen One and save the world.

The story could not have begun without first finding Aang and then providing means for the other main characters to travel with him (or, in Zuko’s case, chase him), but this has nothing at all to do with Aang’s relationship to Katara. Aang was not a mover in Katara’s developmental arc--if anything, he acted as an obstacle more often than not, his actions ranging from innocent but obnoxious (playing and flirting with girls rather than helping with chores like picking up vital supplies, leaving Katara to do all of the quite literal heavy lifting and keeping her stuck in the role of caretaker that she’d been thrust into following the death of her mother), to deliberate and harmful (hiding the map to Katara and Sokka’s father, a truly selfish action, regardless of his lack of malicious intent, and one for which he never actually apologized), to somewhere in between (”she didn’t really mean that” he says to the man refusing to train Katara because she’s a girl, when yes, she very much did mean that, and Aang was no help in finally getting the old codger to eat his words--Katara had to shove them down his throat her own damn self).

While Katara’s overall arc wasn’t exactly big and dynamic (like Zuko’s redemption arc), or in-your-face (like Sokka getting force-fed Respect Women Juice and his eventual growth into a tactician and leader), it was very much present and woven into her character--and Aang had almost no part in it. He provided her with the means to get to the North Pole, but left Katara alone to fight the patriarchy herself. He messed around while Katara took it on herself to do the chores and keep the Gaang alive, but he did almost nothing to decrease that burden so she could grow out of the caretaker role. (Contrary to popular shipper claims, Aang didn’t actually teach Katara to have fun. She already knew how to have fun. But she couldn’t indulge, because she had a responsibility to her family and her tribe, and later to her brother and Aang and Toph, and Aang goofing off and trying to get her to do the same only added to her burdens rather than subtracting from them.) He provided Katara with the necessary motive to learn to heal herself, but he certainly didn’t seem to learn from the experience of accidentally burning her, preferring instead to claim he was never going to firebend again, despite already knowing, at that point, that he was going to need to master fire along with the other elements to become a fully realized Avatar and defeat the Firelord.

He didn’t help Katara keep them alive during The Desert. (In fact, he ran off, leaving her to desperately try to keep Sokka and Toph from succumbing to the heat while worrying for his safety.) In The Painted Lady, Katara makes the decision to stall the Gaang and do what she can to help the Fire Nation villagers on her own--Aang agrees to help her when he finds out, but he wasn’t actually instrumental in her making that choice. The Puppetmaster was, again, Katara finding a master of her own, and having to deal with the fallout from that. And in The Southern Raiders, Aang was--perhaps unknowingly, if I’m being generous, because he is a child and could not reasonably be expected to fully understand the implications of what he was asking her to do or why it was impossible--actively impeding Katara’s development! She desperately needed closure, something he could not understand and actively belittled and dismissed. The only reason he relented in the end (but not without a condescending ‘I forgive you! Does that give you any ideas???’ parting shot lmao) was because Katara was planning to take Appa anyway, and letting her go (and hoping she’d just magically wind up doing things his way) was easier than trying to fight her on it.

While Aang’s existence was necessary for Katara to start down her own path, she needed neither his guidance nor his approval to follow it--and absolutely nothing would change about Katara’s arc if you removed their romantic relationship entirely.

Possibly because the only changes needed to do so would be to remove the two times Aang kissed Katara without her consent (which, hopefully, no one would actually miss), and the epilogue kiss (which was awkward and unnecessary to begin with, since ending the entire show on a romantic kiss as the final shot kind of missed the point of the story to begin with, but that’s another discussion). None of these kisses (which are the only moments in which Katara’s feelings for Aang are so much as addressed; do note that addressing them, or hinting that they needed to be, is not the same as saying she exhibited any sign of reciprocating them) altered anything about Katara’s behavior, her personal arc, or (and perhaps most critically) her relationship with Aang.

It’s that last point that is really damning, as far as ‘Katara obviously had feelings for Aang, she kissed him in the finale!’ goes. Because she didn’t ‘obviously’ have feelings for him. And the fact that he kissed her before the invasion and then she forgot about it (she literally had no idea what he was talking about during the play’s intermission until he reminded her that he’d kissed her) is pretty clear evidence that she didn’t actually have feelings for him. Not the kind he had for her.

I’ve been a teenage girl. I know what it’s like to be surprise!kissed by your crush. And I absolutely for a full fact know that I had not completely forgotten about that kiss three months later and had, in fact, spent most of my waking hours thinking about it and remembering it and trying to talk to him about it. Now, granted, I was not in the middle of a war, but even if I had been, I doubt I would have needed reminding about the fact that the boy I’ve supposedly been developing feelings for had kissed me and showed clearly that he had those feelings for me too.

At the very least, if Katara was harboring feelings that she was worried about approaching until after the war, her relationship dynamic with Aang should have shifted. But it didn’t. She acted the exact same way with him after the Day of Black Sun as she did before it--that is, as a mother figure and a caretaker, responsible for his wellbeing. (And it’s clear she never took him down off the pedestal she needed him to occupy, either--let it not be said that the unhealthy aspects of their relationship only went one way.)

And book 3 is, incidentally, where Katara went from being vital to Aang’s development to being detrimental to it--or, rather, Aang’s refusal to let go of his attachment to her (despite ostensibly having done as much at the end of book 2) was. Because despite having been told by, perhaps, the greatest authority left in the world on Air Nomad culture (even more than Aang, who had left his temple with a child’s understanding of his culture that was never able to mature because he got stuck in the ice berg while his people were wiped out) that he had to let go of his possessive attachment to this girl who never even expressed the possibility that she might harbor romantic feelings for him to begin with, after Azula killed him and Katara brought him back, he went right back into the mindset of Katara is mine, it’s just a matter of time.

And the narrative validated him for it.

Notice how, during Ember Island Players, Aang says the following (emphasis mine):

“We kissed at the invasion, and I thought we were gonna be together. But we’re not.”

First of all, if you go back and watch the scene, it’s clear it wasn’t a mutual kiss. Aang sprang a surprise kiss on Katara, which left her shocked and unhappy after he flew off. (The decision to have her looking away and frowning was a deliberate one on the part of Bryke, who wanted Katara’s feelings kept ambiguous. Heaven forbid you allow the animators to make it clear that this fourteen-year-old girl who was just kissed without her consent by someone she’d never once demonstrated romantic feelings toward might actually have some. Heaven forbid she have a little agency in her own romantic narrative. But whatever.)

Second, he says he thought they were gonna be together.

He thought.

He never once even asked Katara what she thought--or even how she felt. He just assumes. He assumes that if he kisses her, she’ll kiss him back and they’ll get together. He assumes that she must have feelings for him, even though her body language is closed off and she told him with her words that she did not want to talk or think about this right now, and kisses her regardless of those signals, upsetting her and leading her to storm off.

And the narrative rewards him, because despite the fact that they don’t have a single significant scene together after that second disastrous kiss, Katara just decides off-screen that she Does Love Him Really and walks onto the balcony to make out with him.

The upshot of all this being that, while Katara was indeed instrumental to a lot of Aang’s early growth and development, Aang was not necessary for her own arc, and their romantic relationship (such as it was) actively hampered Aang’s development in book 3, while removing it would change absolutely nothing for Katara (except saving her from some painfully embarrassing memories).

As far as your third point, I’m simply not going to get baited into explaining how reducing Zutara to an ‘oppressor/oppressed’ relationship is not only insulting to interracial couples irl (not to mention any other couple with a potentially unbalanced dynamic of societal power, since there are many more axis of oppression than just racial), but demeaning to Zuko and Katara, their personal arcs as well as their relationship development together.

However, I will point out that Zuko was not responsible for any of Katara’s trauma. She did not find violence and fighting in bending battles to be traumatic--in fact, she reveled in it. She enjoyed fighting against Zuko at multiple points (especially noticeable in their battle at the end of book 1), because she wanted to fight--she always had--and once she had the ability, she was ready to throw down with anyone who gave her the slightest reason. (Including, by the way, her own potential waterbending master.) Aang’s death at the end of book 2 was Azula’s doing, and while I think that contributed to Katara’s extreme reaction to Zuko joining the gaang, it was not something for which she actively blamed him, and it wasn’t something she believed would be repeated--she let him go off alone on a journey to find the original firebending masters with Aang well before she chose to forgive him. So she already trusted Zuko’s intentions and that Aang would be safe with him.

Finally, because this has gotten long enough already, I hope you now understand that Zuko and Katara getting together would not require ignoring any of their development with their canonical romantic partners. We’ve already established that Katara’s arc wouldn’t change in the slightest if all of Aang’s romantic advances were removed, and I haven’t even gotten into how Mai meant nothing in the grand scheme of Zuko’s development because I’m pretty sure that’s just self-evident. I mean, the video compilation put together by Nick showcasing Zuko’s journey throughout the series doesn’t include a single scene with Mai, though it does include several with Katara, and even Jin makes an appearance--because Katara, and even Jin, played key roles in Zuko’s personal journey, while his relationship with Mai happened entirely off-screen and her only real function was to showcase just how unhealthy trying to force himself back into the role of the Crown Prince was for him.

What development, exactly, is there between them to even ignore?

At any rate, I’ve gone on long enough--I hope you enjoy the fact that you activated my wordvomit trap card right when i was about to go to bed, anon, because I just spent two hours writing this instead. In case you’re interested in the TL;DR: at the end of the day, there was no meaningful, mutual development in Kataang’s romantic relationship, and those romantic feelings that did exist were largely one-sided and ultimately detrimental to Aang’s development in the final third of his overall arc. Meanwhile, Mai meant nothing to Zuko’s journey--rather like Aang’s romantic overtures, she could be removed from the show completely and nothing about his story would change--while Zuko and Katara were both vital to each other’s overall storylines, arcs and development. This, coupled with the fact that Zuko never actually traumatized Katara and, in fact, helped her achieve closure from the biggest source of her own trauma, means that Zuko and Katara have better and more believable build up that could potentially lead to a romantic relationship than either of them have with their canon romantic partners.

So no, anon, I didn’t forget anything--I think you may have, though. Perhaps a rewatch is in order? Make sure not to close your eyes for the back half of book 3 this time.

[valwentinefics]

Altruism Ch.1 (Zemo x Reader x Bucky)

A/N: Here it is ya’ll, my thank you for 100 followers series! I know 100 isn’t a lot in the grand scheme of things but I’m just a random girl who’s super insecure about her writing, so having 100 people who like it is really exciting for me! Thank you! 

This chapter is just setting things up, don’t worry there’ll be more romantic things in the next chapter onward.

Masterlist

Warnings: spoilers for tfatws ep 3

Y/n walked into the mechanics garage with soft careful steps, not sure if she had gotten the right address. She glanced down at her phone, double checking. Yep, this was the right place. The garage smelled of gas, the scent almost making her dizzy as she approached the bickering voices that bounced off the concrete walls. It took a few moments to recognize them, but once she did the tension slipped out of her body and she closed the pocket knife she had been wielding. She walked around a car and to the two men, who didn’t acknowledge her presence if they noticed it. 

“I don’t like how casual you’re being about this, this is unnatural.” Sam looked around, exasperated. “And where are we man, what does Y/n have to do with this?” He questioned, giving Y/n a small nod hello that she returned with a friendly wave.

Before Bucky had time to speak, the click of a door opening rang throughout the garage, turning everyone’s attention to the shrinking shadow of a man approaching, only to be revealed as Zemo once he pushed past the clear plastic divider. Sam looked shocked, moving forward swiftly to confront the man.

“Woah...woah, woah, woah! Hey! What are you doing here?” Asked Sam, held back by Bucky. 

“Did he not tell you the plan?” Asked Y/n. “Bucky you need to tell people your plans, it's rude to not.” Y/n scolded, feeling bad for Sam having to be shoved into this. She side eyed Zemo as he approached, side stepping closer to the arguing men to get away from him.

“I didn’t want to tell you because I knew you wouldn’t let this happen!” Bucky explained as if that was a good reason to hide something so big.

Y/n watched as Sam and Bucky bickered about Zemo, wishing she had the guts to say no to people. She was a pushover, and saying no to a friend just felt rude, especially a friend like Bucky who was for the most part alone. It was perhaps her fatal flaw, her inability to say no to someone in need. It made her a great nurse and an even better friend, but a not so happy person. Sometimes she wished she could just yell no to the next person who asked something of her, but the fear of saying to outweighed her need to have alone time to rest and feel better.

“If I may…” Zemo began to say something, taking off the prison guard hat. Y/n had to admit, objectively and not out of her own opinion, he looked good in the uniform.

“No!” Shouted both Sam and Bucky simultaneously, fed up with him already. Y/n could see why they needed her around now, they would lose their patience with him quickly.  

“...Apologies…” Zemo said, looking down. Y/n almost felt bad for him. Almost.

“When Steve refused to sign the Sokovia accords you two backed him. You broke the law and you stuck your neck out, for me. I’m asking you to do it again.” Bucky said to both Y/n and Sam.

“And I will Bucky, don’t worry we’re friends, I have your back!” Y/n smiled at him, wanting to turn around and leave. She really didn’t want to do this, but they were friends after all and that meant sticking her neck out for him.

“I really think I’m invaluable-” Zemo began, clearly not learning his lesson from the last time he spoke.

“Shut up!” Sam sighed, tired of Zemo already. “Okay if we’re going to do this, you don’t make a move without our permission.”

“Fair.” He replied

Sam looked at him, he also seemed like he didn't really want to do this “Okay Zemo… Where do we start?” 

Zemo smirked a bit before leading them through the plastic divider and to a room filled with many old and expensive cars. Y/n was too focused examining them to listen to what the others were saying, figuring she would just figure it out eventually. She walked around an old red car, admiring how shiny it was despite how long it must have been since it was driven. She was too focused on admiring it to notice Bucky's approach.

“Thanks, for saying yes. It means a lot.” Thanked the stoic man who put his hand on the side of the car, only to pull it away when Y/n gave him a pointed glare because he would smudge it. 

“Anything for you Bucky, you know that.” Y/n smiled at the super soldier. “But are you sure about this? About Zemo? He could turn on us at any minute.”

Bucky nodded. “I’m sure. We need him Y/n, he’s our best chance at taking down the Flag Smashers.”

Y/n sighed. To be honest she sympathised with the Flag Smashers, having just become accustomed to a new normal, only to be kicked out of their new homes and tossed onto the streets, but she didn’t voice her opinion to Bucky, she knew he’d disagree

“Whatever you say Bucky…” Y/n sighed, looking down until Bucky’s hand touched her shoulder. He was about to say something when Zemo’s voice interrupted and his hand jerked away.

“We’re going to need to scale a ladder of lowlives, first a mid level fence named Selbie that I still have a line on, from there we climb.” Zemo stated, holding a jacket and a light brown leather bag in his hands. He glanced back to the three people behind him, Y/n throwing Bucky a nervous smile before rushing to follow Zemo.

-

“So all this time you’ve been rich?” Sam asked as the four approached Zemo’s private jet. Y/n was shocked. From how he dressed last time she saw him, Y/n had assumed he was just a normal middle class man.

“I’m a baron Sam. My family was royalty until your friends destroyed my country.”

Y/n felt shame deep in her body as Zemo greeted his pilot and they boarded the plane. She didn’t know much about Zemo. She didn’t know his motives for doing what he did to her friends, but she did know that as a result of her friends actions his country was destroyed and she felt terrible. She sometimes at night still felt the pain of the wounds of the sokovian citizens burning into her skin as she took them from them. 

That was her power, to take the wounds from others and give them to herself with only slightly accelerated healing to compensate. Y/n became nothing but a glorified nurse to the Avengers, only receiving words of thanks for her efforts and nothing more, other than Bucky and Steve of course, they were above and beyond making sure she was okay, especially Bucky. She had long accepted that the other Avengers were too busy to truly make sure she was okay like those two had done, but it and the pain she could still feel from the Sokovian incident were both factors in why she retired after the Avengers own civil war.

She looked up from her lap, finding herself in the seat across from Zemo, who was watching her with his head slightly tilted. She must have been lost in her thoughts for a while as per usual, seeing Sam doze off and Bucky with headphones in looking out the window. Y/n crossed and uncrossed her legs, looking around the plane with nothing to do. She was too nervous to bite the bullet and start a conversation with Zemo. Luckily for her, he spoke up. 

“We’re going to Madripoor.” Zemo stated, his voice causing Y/n to look him in his eyes. “You seemed a little out of it while I was explaining it, I assumed you would like to know.” 

Y/n was hesitant to reply, not knowing if she should be having a conversation with him. “Thank you.”

Zemo took a sip of what Y/n assumed was champagne judging from the glass. “If you don’t mind my asking, what were you thinking of?”

Y/n didn’t see a reason not to tell him, letting out a small sigh. “I was thinking of Sokovia…” Zemo’s head tilt looked as if it was encouraging her to go on. His eyes had a strange way of making it seem as if she was the only person in the world when she spoke. “My power… I used it a lot back then… I tried to do the best I could to help the civilians.”

For a few moments  Zemo looked as if he was looking through Y/n and back at that day before replying, snapping out of whatever mindset he was in for those moments. “Your power. Is an interesting one, but I’ve always wondered… You do so much for other people. What do they do for you?”

-

Tag list: Let me know if you would like to be added

[happyselves]

Disaster qualification ( A Portimao story ) { Daniel Ricciardo x reader }

You were searching for your best friend Daniel in the paddock and garage of Mclaren, but he was nowhere to be found, you even asked a mechanic and some journalist. It wasn't his kind to leave like that and he wasn't answering his phone, but after that terrible qualification where he didn't pass through Q1, you weren't surprised. He needed a break, he was feeling pressure and anxious and you never saw him like that before, of course he knew that he needed time to adapt his driving style adn himself to his new car to make it one ,but he was starting to feel depressed as it wasn't going as fast as he thought. That's a thing you like in Daniel, he will always have that competitive side in him even after 10 years doing the job. His determination was always there, but he needed things to go as he planned otherwise he was starting to doubt himself and everything was starting to go downhill. You knew that he needed just a little push, a little sign that he was doing something good and he was evolving or going in the right way, it was a matter of time but he was so stubborn and impatient.

After more than an hour of searching for him you find his engineer who told you that he was quiet the whole debrief and just mumbled a quick " I'm going back to the hotel ". So that's where he was, back in the hotel, probably at the gym hitting the frustration away on some punching ball perhaps. His engineer asked you if you wanted to take the ride to go back to the hotel with them since he left you all alone in the paddock. You couldn't believe he let you there, even Michael. You needed to have a talk with him too after you find Daniel and scold him as well.

Arriving in the hotel lobby you ask at the front desk where the gym was and they show you the direction, but when you enter it, no trace of Daniel or MIchael, well there must be only one place he could be and you were heading to eat now. You knock on his bedroom door, once, twice and one last time before remembering that he actually gave you one spare key if you needed anything, you didn't really know why he did but right now you were glad he did as you opened the door. It was dark, all the countain were close and only an ambiance light was on, and then you find him, sitting on the floor, only wearing a long shirt and his boxers, the rest of his clothes messy on the floor. He didn't even look up when he heard someone coming in, perfectly knowing it was you, plus he was to focus on his big tub of ice cream that was already halfway through eaten. You silently sit next to him, your head laying on the edge of the bed, watching the ceiling. You didn't have to wait long for him to offer you his spoon for you to take some of his vanilla ice cream. Vanilla ... so cliche yet you knew that when he was feeling down it was always the one it would choose because it was a safe choice. You took the spoon and dug it in the melted ice cream before bringing it to your lips, where he finally looked at you.

" Are you here to scold me or to witness my misery ? " he asks you, almost lost in his mind as his eyes focus on your lips where some vanilla fell down the spoon, he licked his own lips as he was waiting for you to answer.

" I don't know, I was going to kick your ass for forgetting me at the track then ice cream came into the party so I guess you already know what I think of what you did, right ? " You were now going to sit straight in front of him.

" I fucked up ... " he was defeated, like he lost hope and belief in him and it never happened to him before, maybe once or twice in his career but not recently, not when everyone including him knows how great of a driver he is. It's like your heart broke at the sight of him like this.

" You know that didn't mean anything, you will be better tomorrow, I know you know it too." You tried to reassure him, putting your hands on his knees, searching for his gaze, but you felt it didn't really work this time.

" No, look at the reality, I still can't do anything in this car, I don't know why, that's not them it's me and I'm scared I won't be able to deliver what I promised them" Yes you definitely never saw him like that, the team wasn't really putting pressure on him, they knew he needed time and everyone one else, if there were someone to blame here, that would be the media here, you were sure of it, Daniel isn't someone to give up, even when it hurts, he take the punch and fight back silently if he needs to, showing everyone the flame he had in him the next day. The flame wasn't here right now, you were searching for it as he finally locked eyes with you, but it was nowhere to be found. How will you be able to bring it back ?

" Daniel ... look at me " you took the ice cream tub away from his hands to put it as far on the floor as possible. Your hands find his face directly after that, taking his cheeks in your palm to force him to face you.

" You are Daniel Ricciardo, you are not done at all and you will get up and do better tomorrow, this qualification didn't mean anything even your team isn't mad about it, Daniel don't start to listen to the media again, you know they are just trying to write on blank paper because they don't have better story to feed themselves with. You are better than this and you need to believe in yourself the same way I believe in you, otherwise you might just quit then and we both know you are not a quitter. " This long motivational sentence felt more like a declaration to your friend and by the way his eyes showed a bit of sparkle, you knew you had reached him there. His eyes were focused on yours and you felt they were piercing your soul making you suddenly feel very shy, your own cheeks blushing. You didn't let go of Daniel's face, blown away by how handsome he was in this moment, so vulnerable under your touch. The new emotion you were discovering of him was drawing new lines on his beautiful face, making him even more mesmerizing. Your fingers were caressing his skin like he was the most precious thing in the world. These tired lines make him slightly older than he was but you find it charming. His eyes shut at the touch and he let a long breath he has been holding for long leave his chest. Your index finds his eyelid, touching and examining every little detail of your best friend. You never did that before with him, with anyone else for that matter and it felt so intimate yet you couldn't stop and the most important thing was that you didn't want to anyway.

His hands find yours, placing them on top of it and taking them in as he opens back his eyes, his lips brushing your fingers to kiss them as what you find to be a thankful gesture.

" You always know what to say to me, no matter what you are always here for me even when I am trying to push you away far to not hurt you " His sincerity knocked you, was he thinking that he was hurting you ?

" You didn't hurt me Daniel, what hurt me is seeing you like this and not being able to do much to make you feel better, I want to do so much for you, that might sound selfish, but just to be able to see that beautiful smile of you, I would do anything " You were entering a dangerous category here and you didn't know if it was something a friend would say in normal term. The last phrase piqued his curiosity and you saw it had his eyes change radically.

" Anything ? " Your hands were still locked in his, he was caressing your skin with his thumb until the pressure felt more firm and he brought you closer to him, making you lose balance and almost fell on his chest. It was dangerous and you like it, you never thought of him this way but the possibility of something more with him just smash open a door in your brain. You didn't know if you should let everything go as it comes or stop it right now before it's too late. Your brain couldn't think at all, not like your pounding heart in your chest.

" anything ... yes " He didn't have the time to act before you close the gap between you two and catch his lips. It was just a peck but that was enough for him to freeze, not moving an inch before he realised what was happening.

That's where his lips react on their own and kiss you back, deepening the kiss, releasing all the passion he didn't know he had for you. The texture of your lips throwing him off the edge, the vanilla taste of the ice cream still on your lips. He let go of your hands to catch your thighs, making you uncross them to straddle him and being even more close to his body. Your hands find their perfect place on the back of his neck and head, playing with the dark curls of his hair. You feel like time has stopped and all the anxiety was leaving Daniel's body, you were like a medicine to him. Healing him from all his worries, nothing matters in this instant, not the race tomorrow or the qualification that he had today or even the consequences of it, just you ... only you. It took you all the courage in you to break the kiss and make him look at you, because he didn't know why you stopped it since it was feeling so good and so right.

" Daniel ... " The words were stuck in your throat, you didn't even remember what you wanted to say as his eyes laid on you, if you didn't know him better you would have said that he was very adorable, but no he was doing his puppy face with his swallowed lips from the kiss. .You know exactly what he was trying to do and it's not the change of dynamics in your relationship that will erase his behavior when he wants something. He wanted you to write on his face, he could even try to hide it and he didn't want to, that's why his hands were now finding their way sneakily under your shirt, like you wouldn't notice.

" You need to rest, we have all the time to continue << this >> another time, but it's late and you need to rest " You were poking his chest, making him giggle. If he was asking you if you wanted to continue this, you weren't sure that you would be capable of saying no, but he gladly asked something else.

" Then, stay with me, sleep in my bed tonight, just tonight ... I don't want to be alone " Puppy eyes ... again and your heart melts ... again. How were you able to resist him before ? Since your lips touch his it was impossible now, your brain wasn't thinking and your body couldn't be in total control around him.

" Okay I will stay ... if you promise me to behave '' He lifts his hands up in the air looking like an innocent baby, mimicking with his fingers an invisible zip on his lips.

You both got in bed, you borrowed one of his shirts and decided to only wear it with your panty. You fell asleep easily in each other's arms,but it's later in the night when you turn that you felt Daniel spooning behind you, grabbing one of your breasts with one hand, the other one grabbing you by the waist to get closer. His breath in your neck, sensing your scent before leaving some butterflies to kiss. He was definitely awake and was now lifting your shirt to feel your skin. You were in a state where you weren't awake but aware of what was happening. You tried your best to hide the smile that was forming on your face but it was impossible when your new lover was making it very clear he wanted you. Slightly opening your eyes, it was still dark outside which could only mean it was too early to wake up and that you should both sleep again, especially him since he had to race tomorrow and he couldn't lose sleep even if you both wanted to explore each other's bodies for the remainder of the night. You hummed a quick moan before turning to face him, you could barely see his figure in the dark but you could imagine how he was hungrily watching you. Touching his lips with your fingers you feel his teeth biting his down lips. He was definitely leaning toward your touch like he never had someone come in physical contact with him tenderly.

" Daniel ..." was the only thing your tired voice could say before the breath you were holding released itself. " You have the race tomorrow ", you poke his chest with your finger, trying to distance yourself from his warm embrace.

" I don't care, what matters to me now is you ", he caresses your cheeks from the palm of his head before letting it hang on the side of your neck. One movement toward him and your lips would meet again.

" You don't think about the race because you are tired, and that's exactly why I've made you promise to behave", you whispered that last part, thankful the dark was hiding your cheeks burning at the idea of him and you. After what felt like an eternity, but just a couple of seconds in real silence you heard him lick his lips and he moved away from you, putting a physical distance between your two bodies like an act of resistance from him.

" You're right ... ", it wasn't sadness or disappointment in his voice, more like his inner voice of reason making an apparition in his blurry thought,blind by lust until now.

" Trust me I want you just as much, I've just find you, we are finally on the same page, and I promise you that I am fighting just as much as you right now not to touch you and have you only for me ", you rambled and he shush you just as quick as your word coming out of your mouth.

A sigh came out of his mouth and you felt him sniffing his body on the back, his eyes looking at the nonexistent ceiling in the dark. He searches your hand to tranglying your fingers together and keeps the contact between you. You soon after did the same and you were now two idiots looking at nothing, your eyes not finding anything to focus on and they shut themselves to rest.

You fell asleep like this, side by side, holding hands, frustrated to not have given to the pulsion you both had.

The brightness of the room was what woke you, it was hard to open your eyes and when you did, the light and the tiredness of your eyes blinded your vision, a tear forming on the corner of one eye was soon to be wrapped away by a finger. His finger, he was awake, sitting on the side of the bed, already ready to leave for the paddock.

" Hello beautiful ", he said and his voice could be compared to that of an angel. " I've got to run for debrief but you can stay in a bit longer if you want, I ordered breakfast for you it shouldn't be long to arrive ", he was so careful, you hadn't really clarified the relation between the two of you, but was the word couple needed when he was already being so perfect ? You knew it wasn't an act for your new dynamics because he was already like that before. He kissed you on the cheek and stood up, you were already missing him and he wasn't even gone yet.

" mmh, give me an hour and I will join you ", your sleepy voice made him smile so bright that it was competing with the sun to know which one will warm your heart the most.

" See you there ", was the last thing he said before he disappeared in the hallway, closing the door behind him.

That day he end up p9 which was a huge work from him and the team after the knock out in q1 from yesterday. You felt proud of him even if he wasn't feeling the car like his own yet. You Saw him briefly after the race, when he offered you a hug and a small kiss on the lips, a kiss that felt like a thank you for always being there for him and putting his needs before yours. Thank you for being the best friend he needed, the ears who listen to his complain and the voice of reason in his head. The person that will make him feel better no matter how down he feel. You both didn't needed words to express how last night change everything in your relationship but not so much in your friendship. You were evolving together and it was only the beginning of something beautiful that didn't need an end. A book you start reading but never end because there is no end. The only end you knew so far was the promising end of the day. He took time to whisper in your ears before leaving for his post-race interview.

Yes it was definitely an end you were looking forward to indeed.

MASTERLIST

[inkweaver22-blr]

OKAY SO THIS STARTED AS A JOKE BUT THEN I JUST FELT THE MOTIVATION SO HERE'S A QUICK ANGSTY FIC ABOUT @ninja-knox-ur-sox-off's OC KEVIN KAY BYE

----------

Kevin didn’t know what he was doing anymore.

He hadn’t planned on crashing at his cousin’s place for so long. He had only wanted to stay a few days before drifting on to the next stop on the road of life. Just a short time to catch up and then move along before earning too much ire from Pigsy.

It was the waiter and his friend and the regular at the counter and the big blue guy that made him stay. No, that wasn’t quite right. It was how comfortable Pigsy seemed to be around them, and they around him.

There was this connection between the five of them. Of camaraderie. Of friendship. Of family.

God, when was the last time he felt like he was part of a family?

Kevin guessed that’s why he had stayed as long as he did. He longed for what they had. The jokes, the friendly bickering, the warmth and comfort.

He fooled himself into thinking that maybe if he stuck around long enough, maybe he’d be welcomed to join in.

Fat chance at that.

He knew he wasn’t the best at socializing. He made the wrong jokes or said the wrong things and now he was only tolerated at best.

Besides, what could he - lazy, loser Kevin - even offer to this family? They already seemed to have it all.

Pigsy was the breadwinner. Hard working and reliable. He doted on the waiter kid like any good father would and was good at giving advice. Kevin barely had a job let alone any sage wisdom to impart.

The regular, Tang, was the knowledgeable type. Seemed to know everything and was a bit smug, but had actually earned the right to be so unlike Kevin’s own false bravado. He and Pigsy already seemed sweet on each other so add another strike against himself for trying to flirt with the guy.

The waiter, MK, was the light. So full of optimism and joy and pure potential. Pretty much the exact opposite of Kevin when he was that age. Not to mention being the legendary Monkey King’s chosen successor. What use would he have for an old dead beat like him?

He might have been able to offer his skills as a mechanic, if that girl Mei hadn’t outclassed him in every possible way. Building her own motorcycle and using it to become a racing champion? Kevin had only had dreams of doing such things and only when he was too young to know better. She was so peppy and energetic that he got tired just listening to her talk sometimes. Pathetic.

The blue giant, Sandy, was at least polite in his dislike for him. Always cheerful and full of wonderful tips on improving one’s mental health. His tea was also to die for. If Kevin didn’t know any better, he’d think the big guy actually wanted to help him out with how often he invited him over to his ship. He was probably only doing a favor for Pigsy to get him out of the noodle shop.

Kevin could read the writing on the wall. He had overstayed his welcome the second day he was there. He had only prolonged everyone’s suffering on a slim thread of pointless hope that ultimately led nowhere.

So on his third week he had planned on leaving in the night. Why say goodbye when no one would miss him?

But then, the wrench happened.

The fucking wrench.

When he had picked it up it had begun to glow and then proceeded to grow four foot long and sprout extra prongs. Seven extra, for a total of nine to be exact.

Now Kevin had been a bit desensitized to all the mystical mumbo jumbo going on around the city lately, but he wasn’t too prideful to admit that he squealed like a little hoglet while this happened.

Once he had calmed down he had examined his newly transformed wrench. Now Kevin wasn’t a complete idiot, but it still took him a bit to understand the significance of a long metal weapon with nine prongs.

He overheard the stories Tang would tell about the Monkey King and his companions. He understood the basic concept behind reincarnation.

Of course he would be the reborn soul of perhaps the most disliked member of the journey. Just another reason to be unwanted.

He wasn’t sure why he stayed after that. Obligation? He was a reborn hero, so maybe he could be of use.

Stupid. Idotic. Foolhardy.

He only got in MK’s way and made everything worse.

Now he was here, on an airship speeding away from the city that had just been taken by some terrifying bone lady, holding his uselessly long wrench while his cousin yelled at him. Mei and Tang were tending to MK’s busted arm and were pointedly not looking in his direction. Even Sandy had a frown aimed his way.

At least it was better than the Monkey King staring at him like he had seen a ghost.

Kevin sighed as he contemplated the railing of the deck of the ship.

What was he even doing anymore?