#This puts his life in danger more than once and endangers his team

[headfarintheclouds]

VALORANT: Iso As A Boyfriend HC

Quick Disclaimer ! These are my HC about how I think Iso would be as a partner ! I might be writing a fanfic inspired by one of those in the future :) Also please forgive any gramma mistakes, English is not my first language !

He is not big on PDA, matter of fact he rather not show his affection to you in public at all. Not because he doesn't love you or anything, but because his past as a hitman was a dangerous one. He has made many enemies during that period and would rather die than endanger you like that.

And while he doesn't show his affection to you outside, he makes it up to you behind the closed doors. As soon as you step into his bedroom, he would swoop you up and drop you on his bed. He loves to cuddle you, enveloping your smaller form with his arms. For him it was as if he was protecting you from all the bad in the world, plus he loved to press soft kisses on your forehead and the crown of your head. Good luck trying to escape him through, that man is 6'3ft and pure muscle.

You steal his hoody all the time and he doesn't bat an eye. He likes the way it looks on you. In his eyes there is nothing more adorable than you in his clothes.

He makes you a special Playlist for when he's away on a mission.

Buys you gifts ! There is no rhyme or reason to it really, he just wants to spoil you. You tried to tell him he doesn't need to spend that much money on you, to which he replied: "I have enough of it to spend it on someone I love." and that shut you up really quickly.

He gives you private 1 on 1 lessons in Marksmanship. He wants you to be prepared for anything and everything so he takes his time teaching you. Super proud whenever you land a successful headshot !

Speaking of shooting. He refuses to let you go alone on missions, even if there is five people on your team he will convince one of them, or Brimstone, to give him a place in it. And then during the actual part he will follow you like a shadow, ready to take out anyone who dares step too close to you. Good luck to the unlucky fuck that dares shoot at you, his Arena is set and ready and so is he.

He takes you out to hotpot every once in a while. Mostly to secluded areas where he knows it's safe and he can trust the workers there. He's a massive foodie and loves exploring new dishes with you, it makes Iso feel closer to you on another level.

His grandma adores you ! He introduced you to her during your guys vacation time when he took you to his hometown. Iso was pleasantly surprised about his grandma accepting you so quickly.

He's not the jealous type, or at least he liked to think that. That was until Neon invited all of the younger agents out to a club in the city nearby the HQ. You were dancing on the dancefloor with Jett and Neon, having the time of your life when suddenly you felt two hands garbing you by the waist. Turning around you saw a stranger, grinning down at you with visible hunger in his eyes. Before you, or the girls could react Iso was on the scene. He didn't say anything but put his own hand on your shoulder, gently prying you from the strangers grip. You couldn't see it, because your back was turned to him, but his eyes started to glow a vivid purple. A silent threat to the man in front of him to back off. You can bet your ass, he was standing next to you for the duration of the whole party right after the incident.

I hope it was alright for my very first post :) I am taking requests for Iso if you guys have anything in mind ^^

[amemoire]

Just me compiling some notes about Kinich don't mind me:

He was noted to be one of the few people that has won the pilgrimage several times. While in the AQ there are also others who have ( i.e. Mualani, Chasca, etc. ), they went out of their way to note this in a live letter. And we can still assume that number is relatively small because we as the players will only meet people important to the plot.

In addition to the above, his skill speaks for itself when you have a whole group of people willing to switch to his team without problem just because its him.

He's died at least once during the Night Warden Wars— stated himself during the AQ. This is noteworthy to me because it keeps him on a very human level rather than making him into an unbeatable, untouchable person. He even lost the recent pilgrimage because of an injury sustained during the team competition. He's vulnerable, he makes mistakes. Or you can take it to mean that he might've put himself at risk for the sake of another any of these times.

He cooks, he cleans, he grows crops, sews, does the laundry, etc. etc. His tragic background and lack of adults to help him as he grew up meant that he had to learn all the household chores at a VERY early age. By the time he was seven, Kinich was on his own and refused to accept anyone's help or kindness. Not because he was stubborn, but because he'd already adopted the mindset that everything in the world came at a cost.

His character trailer implies that he's both skilled with a variety of weapons and will utilize anything he can to his advantage— being that one of the ' weapons ' was a selfie stick. The others were his claymore, a sword, and a pair of dual blades. He's crafty, adaptable, and seizes the opportunity. It's likely that he prefers two-handed weapons that can also be held in one hand when needed.

Being from the canopy, there's his interest in sports— both extreme and not. But to be honest, he prefers the extreme. They're more stimulating and the sense of danger brings about the feeling of freedom his people believe in. Normal sports might seem boring in comparison and he's admitted to finding something new once that happens. Mountain climbing, cave diving, bungee jumping, surfing, etc. If you name it, he's tried it. If he hasn't, then he will later.

He's been crowned dance champion— supposedly. This fact came from Ajaw, so it's fair to cast doubt. However, since when has Ajaw ever willingly offered Kinich some kind of praise ? I think this statement is most likely true and he was indeed being humble about it to avoid dancing. But even if it is false, we can still safely say he can. Music and dance are a vital part of Natlan's culture.

Life is more important than any kind of payment. He will always prioritize the life of another and has a strong disliking for anyone that would seek to endanger that life. With zero tolerance for poachers, bullies, and the like, no amount of mora can win him over. And getting to settle the score with them— whether its through himself or Ajaw— is all the payment needed.

He prefers his good deeds to remain in the shadows. No one has to sing his praises, in fact he's prefer they don't. Kinich has little interest in making a big deal about his actions and always keeps hush about anything he might've done. For example, Kachina had to find out from elsewhere that he'd dealt with her bullies before they were even friends.

He's so SO incredibly the mom friend. While he's not good at offering comfort or encouragement, he's observant and accommodates for others where he can. You can look at a couple of his voice lines for this where he's looking out for you and reminding you to take care. During the AQ, Mualani even knew that she could count on him to wake her and Kachina for the pilgrimage. Their exchange strongly suggests it wasn't the first time he'd had to do something like that.

EDIT:

Idk how I forgot to add this but he is ENTIRELY self-taught !! He never had someone to train him when it came to tracking, hunting, weaponry, and using the grappling hook. ( And for much of the housework after his mom left ). Instead, he learned on his own through sheer observation of others. And now he's lauded as one of the best in the nation.

It's implied during his story quest that he's the ONLY ONE to have inherited the Malipo name in 500 years. When Huni and Toba are talking to Sanka about who the name has been passed down to, they only mention Burkina and Kinich.

Taking the web event into canon consideration, Kinich is not only highly skilled in tracking and hunting saurians but also in raising them from egg to newborn.

[killerfrostisme]

A/N- I always thought that not knowing what happened directly after Lucy’s little announcement to leave the company was a crime against humanity, and recently with the release of the show, I have pretty much been brimming with inspiration and creative energy. So I thought to myself, why not put all that good stuff to good use instead of pining over existing Locklyle stories and watching all my favourite scenes from the show. I present to you an angst filled Locklyle story centred around the immediate aftermath of Lucy’s decision to leave the company in THB.

The italicised parts are taken directly from The Hollow Boy by Jonathan Stroud.

“-I’m resigning at once from Lockwood and Co.”

“So much for me enjoying this bloody cake,” said George.

The silence was deafening. And then everyone started clamouring in all at once. Well, by everyone she meant, George and Holly.

“Are you leaving because of me?” (Holly)

“Why are you leaving?” (George)

But she wasn’t listening or paying any heed to what they were saying. She had her eyes (and ears) set on only one person. And he was just staring at her with an unreadable expression, his eyes giving away nothing. She knew that ideally, she should have talked to him before she told the whole team, instead of suddenly springing it upon him. In a perfect situation that was the procedure followed in all agencies. But there was nothing ideal or perfect about the situation. In an ideal scenario, an employer would not be ready to give up their life for their employee, or the employee wouldn’t have lost control of their Talent to the point of almost endangering the employer’s life.

Suddenly, without warning-

“Why don’t we go for a walk, Lucy?” he asked, already getting up and moving to the hall, to get his coat. He said it in a not quite assertive manner, but definitely more of a statement than a question. She nodded, and followed him out, ignoring the accusatory and confused looks George was shooting at her and the downcast expression on Holly’s face.

It was a beautiful day outside, with the sun shining brightly, a rare occasion in dreary Britain. Clouds were gazing down prettily while birds were chirping. It seemed like a picture-perfect day for new beginnings.

But Lucy was not feeling it. Lockwood hadn’t even looked at her once, and was wordlessly walking next to her. Where they were going, she had no idea, she left that entirely up to him.

They reached the end of the road and took a sharp left, heading towards Arif's.

Tucked away in a little nook opposite Arif’s, squashed between a boutique and a pharmacy, there was a tiny, nondescript coffee shop called Jitterbug. It was an extremely small enterprise with barely enough space for a couple of tables and a counter. Yet, it was almost always packed. It served the best coffee Lucy had ever tasted. With a pang, she remembered she introduced Lockwood and George to it. They had spent a merry afternoon laughing as George tried to see how many ginger biscuits he could stuff into his mouth. Apparently, Lockwood was feeling nostalgic because without looking to see if she was following, he led her straight to it.

The bell jingled as they walked into the coffee shop, her nose breathing in the familiar smell of coffee and doughnuts. Lockwood seemed keen on snagging a table far away from the window, since he was leading her to the darkest corner of the place.

They sat down and ordered their drinks (black coffee for Lockwood and a caramel latte for Lucy) and she braced herself for the onslaught of questions that Lockwood would throw at her. Lockwood steepled his fingers over the table and gave her probably the most probing gaze he’d ever given.

“Why”

It was a simple question, yet so difficult to answer. There were so many layers in the answer, that she felt dizzy trying to unravel them all.

“My Talent is too strong, I can’t control it. I’ll put you all in danger if I-” she began.

“Rubbish.” he interrupted her, putting his hand up, palm facing her. “Please don’t insult my intelligence. You and I both know that’s not the reason. You’ve always been able to control your Talent before so why don’t you tell me what’s really going on?”

She stayed silent. The minutes that passed felt like hours. Their drinks arrived. She couldn’t tell him the truth, that she was petrified he was going to throw himself into death’s arms just to make sure that every part of her was safe and sound. She couldn’t tell him that deep down she had a feeling that the Fetch’s prophecy would come true, and he would die trying to save her. And the worst part was that he’d probably greet death like a long lost friend. She could not (would not!) let that happen. If that meant putting some distance between them, well so be it.

Even if it did feel as if her heart was tearing itself apart.

Lockwood sighed, and she was jolted back to the present. “Is this about Holly?” he said in a somewhat tired manner. “I thought things were improving, and I told you, you two complement each other.”

She felt a flash of annoyance flare up inside her. Why did everybody think that Holly was the only reason she was leaving? Granted, they (she) had caused the whole Aickmere’s devastation, but then everything that had to be yelled and screamed had already been done that dreadful night. Now, it was more of a quiet resignation. Something which everyone should be able to see, instead of asking her about it every two minutes.

“No,” she said evenly,“it’s not because of Holly.”

“Is it-” Lockwood began, somewhat hesitantly, “is it because of me?”

Well. That was unexpected. How on earth was she supposed to respond to a direct question like that?

“What makes you say that?” She said, taking a scalding hot sip of her drink. It burned the whole way through whilst going down her throat, but she relished the discomfort. It bought her time in trying to desperately think of an answer to his not-at-all-loaded question.

“You’ve been avoiding me, ever since that Fetch incident.” he said, looking at her intently, gauging her reaction. “You might think that I haven’t noticed, but I have. And if I’m deducing right, and if Holly is not the reason you’re leaving, then it must be something that happened there and it’s somehow related to me. So, why don’t you do us both a favour and tell me what it is? Because Luce, whatever it is I promise I’m going to help you. But I need you to open up for that.” He finished his little speech, by reaching out over the table and clasping both her hands, tightly in his.

Okay, she hadn’t expected that. She had expected him to charm her into staying or to grill her until she gave a satisfactory answer (which granted, he was kind of doing) but she had not expected him to establish physical contact with her, even if it was just holding her hands. Because that was something Lockwood seldom did. Everytime he came close to it, he always drew back and pulled away.

“No,” she lied, pulling her hands from his grasp. Touching him was dangerous territory. She might crumble and start blubbering like a moron about all her fears revolving around his death. “It’s not related to you either. I told you, it’s my Talent. It’s too strong. You saw what happened at Mrs. Wintergarden’s house. My Talent was controlling me, not the other way around. I am scared about what could happen. It’s best if I remove myself from the company, and not endanger your life…or the lives of others.” she finished, grabbing her drink and gulping it down in one smooth sitting.

Lockwood listened to her monologue in silence, his face becoming stonier by each word she uttered. “What happened in Mrs Wintergarden’s house was not because your Talent had all the power and you didn’t, it’s because you prioritised your empathy for the ghost over anything else. That is something that we can help you with, Lockwood and Co. We’ll always have your back and we’ll make sure you don’t go trying to talk to ghosts again. Leaving the company is not going to solve it.”

“At least I won’t put your lives at risk.”

Lockwood threw his hands up in exasperation. “Fine, you quit,” he said, “but what happens after that? Will you give up this profession altogether or join another team and as you so eloquently put it, ‘endanger their lives?’” he asked, a sharp edge to his voice.

“I won’t join another team.” she said, massaging her temples, “I’ll freelance.”

“ I see,” he said coolly. “And when do you propose to leave?”

“As soon as possible.”

“Well, I’ll grant you your wish then,” he said in a slightly scathing voice, getting up from the table, leaving his coffee untouched, “you can leave and we won’t bother you again Lucy. Good luck with everything.” He turned around and walked out of the coffee shop, after stopping at the counter to pay for their order.

Lucy sat at the table, feeling like her whole world had just been turned upside down. She felt her emotions bubble to the surface and closed her eyes, finally letting the first tear fall.

A/N- Thanks for reading and hope you liked it! Posted the same on Fanfiction.net under the story Moments in Time, so come say hi if you want:)

[rosavulpes]

The sight of the two boys leaning up against their classroom windows with joy upon spotting both of their fathers waiting to take them back home similarly wouldn't escape Vegeta's attention .

He wouldn't smile back like Goku did , his response being only to nod in silent affirmation to his son that he'd be waiting here at the front gates to drive him back home once the the school day was done , and when Trunks was ready to leave . He wasn't going to pressure him to do so like he normally would have done in order to get back to his own personal training as quickly as possible .

Prior to this , and even now still . He'd never been one to worry about whether or not Trunks would make it back home safe and sound after the school day was done . He'd trained his son at a young age on the principles of combat , and even though they didn't spar as often as he'd like them too, he still made sure that Trunks kept his strength up as to not lose progress . Thankfully this had been an easy conversation on his end with Bulma ( As long as Trunks kept his grades up ) as time had already proven more than once that new threats would always be just around the corner ... and regardless of how strong he himself became , his time on Earth was limited . One day he would pass on to the next life , most likely be sent to the underworld at that .

He wasn't going to try and pretend like his past sins could be washed away by the changes he'd undergone since first coming to Earth . Nor would and should Frieza's direct influence on his life be counted as an excuse, but nonetheless the responsibility of defending Earth would fall on Trunk's shoulders just like it had his future counterpart .

He knew he could also count on Blake as well but ultimately , being of a different home world , he couldn't blame his daughter if she were to put the needs of her own world first if it were ever endangered . With Frieza still being somewhere out there in the Universe following the reward of resurrection he'd been given by Beerus following his contribution to their victory in the tournament ? It wasn't as if just by fighting with them on the same team he'd turned over a new leaf like Buu had . Blake had every right to be cautious in protecting Remnant .

Trunks would need to be ready to do so ... even if it meant the burden of responsibility fell solely on his children's shoulders .

Eyes would be drawn to the sight of Kakarot , standing upright amongst the growing number of parents arriving to pick up their children . Not an uncommon sight for him but , he couldn't help but wonder what was going through the other Saiyan's mind at the moment . Certainly , he too was thinking of all these things right ? Especially after they'd won in the tournament of power . Whose to say that the Omni King either one , ten , twenty , or even a hundred years down the line might host another tournament to stave off boredom ? and as one could imagine , participation by all the universe would be mandatory , not optional .

He dare not speak of them openly , even under his breath but ... the Omni King , while omnipotent , acting on top of looking like a child ? It made him unpredictable , and even more so dangerous . What he'd seen thus far affirming his beliefs .

Looking away from Kakarot altogether , he was certain that the other Saiyan could already feel his presence here . No need for actual formalities in greeting one another .

As the school doors opened , and the children began to flood out into the front yard area . It wasn't long before Trunks ran to him , a hand reaching down to affectionally ruffle the boy's hair as Vegeta took his backpack off of him to carry it to the car for him . 

Their walk back to the car stopping only when Vegeta was certain that Goku was within earshot as he inserted the keys to unlock the doors . 

" Kakarot , Trunks and I will be making a stop on our drive to get something to eat if you and Goten would like to come join us "

Vegeta ( Capsule Corp ) would be paying for it of course .

The murky waters beneath them churned in response to the potent shockwaves that were created each time their fists , legs , and elbows clashed against one another .

The cracking of thunder following them as streaks of white energy chased after them into the upper atmosphere of the planet as their fight moved into the dark clouds .

As chaotic as the world around them had become as a result of their fight , it was easy for him to push the ambient sounds , and sights out of his mind . Regarding it as little more than white noise . No matter the storm around him , as long as he didn't allow it to get inside of him , he would weather it through .

The world around them had descended into pandemonium as a result of them fighting without any restrictions . The ambient ki they were both putting out at their current level , and releasing against one another with their attacks helping to spawn storms , earthquakes , and more across this world .

This mayhem was the reason why they'd chosen to fight somewhere far away from their respective homes . It'd be unacceptable for them to do this anywhere else where there was a possibility someone could have gotten hurt or worse .

Separating from one another after another long bout of clashes , he found himself taking a more defensive stance this time , focusing on his breathing . Re-centering his mind , and focus . Widening his stance as he waited for her to try and make the first move to continue their duel .

Though as time continued to pass , she remained still . It was evident enough by their haggard breathing that they were both nearing the point of exhaustion after hours of intense brawling . Their battle auras , once flaring high with golden energy at the start were now starting to become translucent . Weakened . Losing it's signature resplendent shine , the bio electricity that once outlined their bodies in the darkness becoming sparse , fleeting .

Assuming a more casual stance now , the Saiyan Prince moved to wipe off the small spot of scarlet from his bottom lip . Standing tall as he smirked .

" It's about time we wrapped this up . I can already tell you're on your last legs "

( Me ? You're the one that looks like you're about to keel over . You still think you have it in you to finish this ? Or is this just another way of asking for a break ? )

Laughing at her retort , Vegeta widened his stance once more as he brought his palms forwards to face her . A sphere of ki spawning between his gloves , pulsating as he started to amass his energy into what would be his final attack .

She'd soon do the same , taking on a different pose however . While his pose was simple , hands extended directly forwards with his palms facing outwards to her . Her pose would involve retracting her hands , bringing them back up to her shoulders . One hand layered atop the other .

Her golden ki soon changing in color to violet , bio electricity returning to life as she began to charge her ki . The ambient electrical energy she was outputting soon paralleling that of the planet's atmosphere .

The ground beneath them shaking itself loose , ascending into the skies around them as gravity seemingly turned in on itself . The dense ki output by both fighters wrecking further mayhem as their voices soon began to rise above it .

" Final ... "

( Burning ... )

" ( FLASH ! ) "

As their worlds faded away to white , the ensuing implosion created as their ki beams clashed against one another breached well past the upper limits of the planet's atmosphere . The bright light ascending out into outer space as their duel finally came to an end .

Hours later , with their duel having been concluded . Vegeta had bid his daughter farewell as she returned to her world of Remnant as she had business to attend to there . With the prince himself departing the ruined world to return to Earth as he too had pressing business awaiting him there as well ... in the form of an angry Bulma that would scold him for the rest of the day if he were to arrive late in picking up Trunks from school .

He didn't need to be reminded of it ... he'd already been keeping the time well in mind since he'd gone out to train with Blake .

Taking care of his son , was something he didn't intend to take for granted any longer .

As such , the Prince was already home . Teleporting inside their home thanks to the use of the Instant Transmission Technique he'd learned some time ago .

He was initially against the idea of using the technique completely but ... as his daughter had reminded him . Just because he'd previously only ever seen Kakarot use it , did not mean that it had always been his . The technique had been created by the Yardratians of this Universe , and Kakarot had learned it from them . Even so , it was a technique he didn't intend to use outside of combat .

Materializing within Bulma's office . She was barely disturbed by his sudden arrival , her attention focused solely on the computer monitors in front of her .

" I'm off to pick up Trunks "

Speaking as he walked towards the door to leave , he raised his hand up in affirmation of her comment to clean himself up first . His wounds would heal quickly , but his clothes ? Well that needed changing .

Was his training done for the current moment , there was little desire to dawn on another set of battle armor . Instead ... he opt for casual clothes . Intended to spend the afternoon with his son once he'd picked him up .

Stepping into the shower , unfurling the length of his tail from his waistline . He make use of his tail as a makeshift belt while changing . He wasn't fond of letting it drag behind him , so using it like this in place of a belt felt more natural for him .

As he headed down into the brief's manor garage , he'd grab his keys to start up the earthling transport ship Bulma had taught him how to use . It hadn't been hard for him to learn how to properly pilot this craft , he'd learned how to pilot all manor of starships in his youth after all .

Starting up it's engines once he'd gotten inside , the gates to the garage lifted for him once he moved forwards . Allowing him to speed on outwards towards Trunk's school . He'd be early yes , but better to be early than late . Besides , the benefits of being early was not having to deal with other earthlings all causing a line while they waited to pick up their own children .

Parking his vehicle alongside of the front entrance . The Prince took the keys out of the ignition . Stepping outside , walking up towards the front entrance , and putting his hands into his pockets .

Now came the wait for Trunks to come out ...

@kxkarot

[picturetoburnnn]

Home Is Where You Are - b.b. x reader

pairing - Bucky Barnes x Reader

word count - 4k

warnings - the usual angst and language !!!!smut, 18+ only!!!!!

a/n - this is my attempt at a comeback after my last flop. ive never written a smut before so yeah that's cool. this is a month and a half in the making -- i hope y'all enjoy it. i love you guys so much

tags - @cxddlyash @thewxntersoldier @calpalirwin @bibliophilewednesday @givebuckyhisplumsnow

“What the fuck was that, Y/L/N?” Tony’s angered voice filled the small cabin of the quinjet.

“I’m sorry--” The words weren’t even halfway out of her mouth before the tech mogul was on her again.

“You almost got us all killed!”

“But we didn’t! It turned out okay, in the end, and Steve--”

“Captain Rogers was able to work his way around your mess, and thank whatever God there is, he didn’t endanger any more civilians than you already had.”

“I didn’t mean--”

“No, no, no.” He made a ‘shut up’ motion with his hand. No one dared interrupt, even the other teammates aboard the jet. “This is not the time for you to speak. This is the time for you to shut your ass up, and listen for once in your goddamn life.”

Never before had Y/N, or anyone on the team, heard Tony so furious at a partner.

“You think it’s okay because you escaped unscathed, but look around you! Natasha has two bullet wounds, Pietro’s nearly critical, and Barnes looks like he was dragged to hell and back, and it’s only because he was a super soldier that he isn’t on a stretcher right now! You are so -- so careless with your life and others, that I don’t think you even realize how many people could have died because you weren’t paying attention!”

“Tony,” Natasha began, “it’s really not--”

“Yes, Nat, it is! I won’t go having my life put in danger because she--” he pointed a deadly, armored finger in Y/N’s face “--was selfish.”

“That’s enough,” came a quiet voice. Almost every head turned to face the speaker (even Wanda, who was loyally crouched beside her wheezing brother). James Bucky Barnes met all of their eyes. “She’s not Parker. You can’t chastise her like a child. Lay off it.”

“You, out of everyone here, Barnes, have the most reason to be pissed.” Tony waved dramatically, finally averting his gaze from the trembling Y/N.

“And I’m not. We all make mistakes. Give her time to fucking breathe, Tony.”

“Her time to “breathe” should have been before she opened the fucking floodgates of hell and set loose a million--”

“I know.” The quiet voice interrupted Tony, and the cabin fell silent again. The billionaire’s head spun to face the screw-up in question.

“I know I messed up. I know I hurt you all, and I’m sorry. It was unacceptable, and I failed. I recognize that. Please, can we just get home now?”

Tony spared a quick look over at Bucky, who leveled a death glare at him.

With a sigh, Stark turned back to the pilot’s seat. “This isn’t over.”

The rest of the plane ride home was suffocatingly silent. No one dared even breathe in Tony’s direction, afraid they may set him off again.

Upon landing, Y/N was among the first off the jet, making a beeline for the residential floors. Wanda, her best friend waiting for her at the receiving bay, looking utterly confused as the woman raced past, not even giving a hello. Barnes brushed her off, attempting to follow Y/N.

Before Bucky could say a single word of reassurance to her, the door to her apartment was slammed shut. He could hear the locking mechanism click into place. His heart ached for her. No one had seemed to notice that the mistake she had made was because she was protecting a small group of civilians. Or that she had put herself in front of the business end of a gun that was aimed at a child. No one, it seemed, except Bucky, realized that there was more to today’s events than just a mistake.

He’d never dared to say the words aloud, but he always found himself migrating to Y/N. Team meetings, movie nights, charity galas -- he somehow always found himself near her, as if his body knew that she could provide him some sense of safety amongst everyone else. Neither of them ever addressed it, but he was sure she’d had to have noticed by now that the century-old sharpshooter was constantly around.

Bucky gently tapped his knuckles twice against the door. He could hear her muffled cries from inside, and could practically imagine how she sat curled up on her bed, tucking her face into pillows to muffle the sound of a shattered will.

“Doll?” He called softly. The whimpers quieted. He pictured her sitting up straight at the sudden intrusion of noise. “Y/N are you okay? Do you want to talk?” God, the words felt so strange coming from his mouth. He was never good at being comforting. It went against everything he’d done for the past century, it felt like. His whole soul was begging him to talk to her, to make her feel better.

The door remained shut, and he was met with silence. With a sigh, he resigned himself to tying again in a few hours.

“I’m here if you want to… talk, Y/N. I won’t let you be entirely alone in this.”

Y/N listened for his footsteps to fade away before flopping her body back down onto the bed. Tears continued to flow quietly, and she couldn’t help but rethink the day over and over and over again.

“FRIDAY,” she questioned quietly. “Is anyone awake?”

“The only signatures not in their rooms is Mr. Stark, down in his labs. Would you like me to alert him for you?” Came the automaton’s response.

“No, no,” Y/N hastily insisted. “That’s fine. Thank you, FRIDAY.”

I’ll go down there, she decided. Yeah, I’ll go and talk to him like adults, now that we’re both calmed down. It’ll be fine.

Her footsteps echoed down the haunting halls as she slowly made her way to the sub-level laboratories. Bracing herself mentally, she prepared to knock on the doors, before she heard a voice inside that made her freeze.

“I don’t know what to do, Pep.” She heard Tony say. “I’ve given her so many chances and it’s just gotten worse. I don’t see anything else I can do to make her see I can’t let her be on the team anymore.”

Y/N never heard Pepper’s response. Tony didn’t want her on the team. That was all she could think.

Tony wants you gone, Tony wants you gone, Tony wants you gone, Tony wants you gone.

It was too much.

Minutes later, she found herself hunched over her desk, a small lamp illuminating the paper and pen she shakily held. Tears slowly made their way down her cheeks as she wrote.

To my team--

I’m sorry. I should have realized before now that I am not made for this life. I tried to help but I’ve only ever made it worse. I’ll be going now, somewhere I can’t get in the way again. I never wanted to cause you pain, but I can see now that that is exactly all I’ve done.

I promise I won’t be in your way again. I won’t make the same mistakes that lead to three teammates being injured. I never meant to be the burden you never asked for. Hopefully, without me, missions can be completed more safely and effectively.

I did my best, but unfortunately, I’m just not made for this life. By the time you’ve found this letter, my room will have been emptied and my suit returned. This is the best way to move onward.

Please, don’t try to find me, not that you’d want to. I know about the trackers on my car and on my phone, so rest assured they will be left behind. You can have them back.

I wish it could have ended differently. I really do wish you all the best.

Y/N Y/L/N.

By the time Y/N had finished packing her room, the compound was completely silent.

The robotic voice seemed to understand what was happening. “If they ask,” FRIDAY began, “I am incapable of deceiving the inhabitants of the compound. I am fundamentally obligated to inform them of your whereabouts should they request them.”

“Which is why--” Y/N grunted as she hoisted up a bag full of her belongings “--you don’t get to know either.”

The larger items, she could live without. She was sure the sound of her car starting would awaken someone, but the hope was that whoever it was (likely Wanda, as her room was just above the garage) would assume it was merely a midnight drive to clear her mind. She’d stop the car a few miles away, walk the rest of the way to the train station, and from there…

Well, she didn’t exactly know yet, but she’d figure it out. She always did.

So she left the note on her desk, with her phone beside it. Opening the front door, she turned and took one last look at what used to be home. With a steady inhale, she walked out, into the night.

~~

An angry yell across the compound was everyone’s wake-up call.

“Stark!” Bucky embodied every bit of the old Winter Soldier when he walked up to the billionaire with murderous intent in his gait.

“What the hell is your problem, Tin Man?” Tony questioned defensively, discreetly calling for his suit.

“This is your fault.” A paper was shoved in his face.

“Bucky,” Steve’s voice was almost unheard behind him. “What is that?”

“Y/N’s gone,” the brunette spat over his shoulder as Tony snatched the paper from his hand. “She left last night, said she was a burden. Now, who--” he pointed a deadly finger over his shoulder “--would have made her think that, if not the guy that was fucking yelling at her like a child yesterday.”

“Well obviously,” the brunette snapped, “this wasn’t my intention. I didn’t want her to leave. I just wanted her to--”

“To what, Tony?” Steve interrupted. “I was there, you consistently told her she wasn’t good enough, and all but said she shouldn’t be on the team.”

“I never--” he stopped himself as the realization dawned on him. “Son of a bitch. She heard me. I thought I imagined it, but she was there. She must have heard me on the phone last night. I was tired and didn’t mean what I said.”

Bucky was deathly still, eerily quiet as he whispered “What. Did. You. Say.”

“I… I said I couldn’t let her be on the team anymore.”

~~

Bucky was restrained, told he was suspended. Assaulting an Avenger, they said, was a bad idea when his pardon was already so tedious. They’d look for Y/N, they told him. Just sit down and relax, take a break, she’d be back before he knew it.

Bullshit.

He’d never be able to relax until he knew where Y/N was. She was his peace, and without her, he would be in endless turmoil. He couldn’t wait for them to find her. They didn’t know what to look for. He’d have to find her himself.

~~

Three days of searching. Three days of studying every file in existence that even mentioned Y/N before he found what he was looking for. Twelve years ago, before she even started training of any sort, her grandmother had passed away, and in her will was a small piece of property in the backwoods of Vermont.

I’m coming, doll.

~~

A knock rang out against the silence of the cabin, jolting Y/N out of her reverie. This cabin was twenty miles outside of town, and far enough back in the woods that you couldn’t find it by accident. Especially in this pouring rain. Slowly, she crept towards the door, daring a glance through the peephole. A gasp shot through her as she wrenched the door open.

"Bucky?"

As soon as he laid eyes on her, he felt like he could breathe again. He immediately went to wrap his arms around her. "Oh thank god you're okay," he breathed, tugging her frozen body to his chest.

"Wh-what are you doing here?" She pushed off of him, and she swore the raindrops that fell from the ends of his hair looked like tears.

"I… We need you. Back at the tower, I mean. Come back to us."

His heart dropped as she scoffed. "Yeah right. You all need me like you need a bullet to the brain. I'm of no help to you all. The team doesn't need me, in fact--"

"I need you." His heartbroken reply cut off her tangent. "I need you like I've never needed anything before. You are the light of my days, and it's been so, so dark since you left. I could barely focus. I need you."

Thunder clapped, and Y/N swore it was like a scene from a movie. The man she'd been craving for so long, come to beg for her back in the pouring rain. It was too good to be true.

"Don't," she whispered, trying to keep her voice from breaking. "Who told you? Nat? Wanda?"

"Doll?" God, he sounded so clueless. It almost made it worse.

"Don't play with my emotions like this. I know they told you to come get me under any means necessary, but this--" she cut herself off with a sniffle, holding back tears as her voice broke "--this is just cruel."

"Y/N that's not what I'm doing, I--"

"Because I have loved you too long for my emotions to be used like some bargaining chip."

The soldier swore he could feel his heart crumble as she stepped back. “Doll--”

“Don’t call me that,” she whispered, deadly quiet as her eyes locked on the ground. “Don’t say it if you don’t mean it.”

“Y/N,” he breathed, stepping closer. She stepped back again, crossing the threshold into the cabin. “Please, just listen to me.”

“I don’t want to hear you telling me all the things I would have died to hear a month ago. Don’t say them to me now because you want something from me.”

“I just want you to come home.”

“That’s something I can’t do, Buck.”

He wasn’t quick enough to stop the door before it shut in his face.

“Y/N!” He shouted against the wood panel. The rain continued to bear down on him, soaking his already wet clothes. “Y/N please,” he begged. “I can’t go back without you. Missing you this week tore me apart. Don’t ask me to do it again. If I have to sit on this doorstep for the rest of time, I will, if it means I’ll be near you.”

She could hear him banging his fist on the door gently. “Just… don’t ask me to leave, Y/N. I won’t go back without you. I need you. I need you like the air I breathe, I need you more than anything. Please. If you only listen to one thing I say, listen to this. I have been in love with you for God knows how long now. And even if you ask me to leave, I’ll still be in love with you.”

The door slowly creaked open. Y/N’s eyes met his frantic blue ones.

“Do you swear you mean it?” She asked hesitantly, quietly, scared of the answer.

Instead of answering verbally, Bucky surged forward, hands gently cupping the sides of her face, bringing his lips to hers.

At that moment, Y/N couldn’t bring herself to care about the water droplets on her entryway. She didn’t care about the fact that he was absolutely drenched in rainwater and his clothes would soak hers. God, as long as he kept kissing her like that, she couldn’t have a care in the world.

His lips moved perfectly against hers, as his metal hand steadied her jaw, keeping her in place. His flesh hand traveled downward, looping around her waist, ensuring she stayed against him.

When she pulled away, he angled his forehead against hers. Panting, he finally answered her question. “I mean it, with every bone in my body.”

“Good,” she mumbled, before pulling his lips to hers again.

The pair stumbled inside, Bucky kicking the door shut behind him.

“Bucky,” she moaned against his lips.

“I know, love,” he soothed, breaking away from her lips just to press kisses against every inch of skin he could. Her cheek, her nose, her forehead, that little spot behind her ear that seemed to make her go wild. Anywhere he could reach. His hands reached down to the back of her thighs. “Jump for me.”

She followed his instructions and couldn’t help but notice how large his palms were against her leg, not to mention the delicious chill that came with the left hand’s grip. She felt herself being placed on the counter as his tongue slipped back into her mouth. “D-down the hall,” she breathlessly mumbled. First door on the left.”

Bucky quirked an eyebrow teasingly. “Can I show you how much I love you, doll?”

Y/N nodded her head excitedly.

“I need your words, doll.” He drew back from her entirely, leaving her sitting on the counter without his touch, except for the hand under her jaw that kept her eyes on him. “Do you want me to take you to your room and show you how much I’ve missed you? Do you want me to show you how much I love you, keep showing you until you can’t walk? Yeah?”

“God, please, yes, Bucky. Yes, yes, yes.”

He smiled as she tugged him back to her, jumping off the counter. Her hands grabbed his hips, yanking his body closer to hers as she stumbled backward. Somehow, they made their way to the bedroom, her knees buckling as she hit the bed frame.

When she fell, he fell with her, arms caging either side of her head. Y/N couldn’t help but let out a giggle at their current position, half of each of their bodies dangling off the bed. Bucky drew back, just looking at her.

“What?” She breathed, a trace of laughter still in her tone.

“Just… You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

His words made Y/N break out into a furious blush. Despite the shyness, she dared herself to beg “Say it again.”

“I love you.” He kissed her neck.

“Again.”

“I love you.” His lips pressed against her pulse point.

“Again,” she requested breathlessly.

“I love you,” he whispered against her lips, just a breath away. The tension was killing her.

“Promise me?”

“I’d give you the world if I could,” he mumbled just before connecting his lips to hers.

In a flurry of rushed motions and flailing arms, clothes were discarded one by one. First her shirt, then his pants, on and on until they both laid bare before each other.

Dangerously slowly, his metal hand traveled south until it laid above her mound.

“Doll, you’re so needy for me,” he teased, running a finger through her slick.

“Buck,” she moaned. “Don’t tease me.”

“You sound so nice begging,” he smirked, lips hovering above hers. “Do it again. Tell me what you want.”

“Please, Bucky. Your fingers -- I need your fingers.”

“Shh, it’s okay, doll,” he soothed, gently pushing in one finger. “I know what you need.” Pumped in and out until it was joined by one more, then another.

Soon, he had three fingers knuckle-deep in her warmth, and when he curled them up she let out the most delicious moan.

“Oh-- oh my god, Buck, don’t stop.”

He winked as he slinked downward. “Never.”

With that, he took her bud into his mouth, and that was when she truly erupted. Her moans, mixed with the salacious sounds of Bucky in her heat filled the room as her hands found their home twisted in his locks. Pleasure built up in the pit of her stomach as she cried out. “Oh, fuck--”

He twisted his wrist just right, and then he was hitting that little spot every single time. Without fail. Paired with the way his tongue was moving against her clit… she was done for. His free hand pinned her hips down as her thighs tried to shut around his head. “Buck… Bucky I’m right there, I’m gonna come, I--”

His eyes met hers for just a moment, and Y/N could have sworn she saw the bastard wink at her before he moaned into her.

The pleasure was too much. “Oh, oh my god, I’m coming, Bucky I’m--” she was cut off by her own moans of pleasure. Bucky, ever the gentleman, worked her through her orgasm, his lips and fingers and tongue never ceasing.

“Too much,” she moaned. “Baby, it’s too much.” She had to pull his head away from her core, and even then he tried to dive back in. Ever so slowly, the super-soldier kissed his way up her body. The moment he surpassed her neck, Y/N’s hands grabbed the sides of his face and tugged him to her lips once more. “You’re,” she breathed between kisses, “really good at that.”

“I’m good at more than that,” he grinned smugly. “I can show you everything I know, if you wanted.”

She whined as she tugged him back down. It was safe to say, neither of them got much sleep.

~~

The light streaming through slightly open curtains was what woke Bucky up. He vaguely registered the weight against his right side. It was real. Last night wasn’t a dream. He’d found her, he’d talked with her, he’d made love to her.

Her form gently rose and fell with her breaths. It was enough to make Bucky realize she’d been awake for at least some time. “Good morning angel.”

Y/N’s silence was louder than anything said. Rolling over, Bucky propped himself up on his elbow, admiring Y/N as she stared at the ceiling.

“You have to go back,” she realized quietly. “You’ll have to go back to the compound. They need you, Buck.”

“Hey,” he soothed, tracing her features with a cool finger. “I’m not going anywhere without you.”

“I don’t want to go back, James.” A hint of dangerous anger seeped into her tone. “I’m not welcome there anymore. It’s not my home anymore. This is my home.”

“You are welcome there,” he breathed sadly.

“You didn’t hear what I did.” The soldier was sure he felt his heart break as her eyes watered. “I almost killed you. You’re still hurt, so’s Nat and Pietro. And Tony-- Tony doesn’t want me there. I understand that. I won’t go back home, James, and you can’t ask me to. You have to go back but I can't."

At any other time, the use of his first name from someone so close would have made him flinch. "He didn't mean it," Bucky pleaded as he reached a hand to cradle her face, his thumb stroking her cheek as his fingers tangled in her hair. "I promise you doll, he didn't mean it."

"How can you know?" The broken whisper echoed in the silent morning.

"Tony--" Bucky stopped himself with a sigh. "He doesn't always say what he means or means what he says. He… for all his faults, he does care about the team. And you're a part of that. When he saw you were gone, he… he hated himself, love."

"That doesn't make it any better, Buck--"

"And I personally beat his ass for having the audacity to make you feel like this."

The crack of a smile across her face was a good sign; she was beginning to get it.

"Doll, you…" He flipped back down, onto his back beside her. His fingers searched for hers and linked his pinkie to hers.

"Yes, Buck?"

"You keep telling me that I have to go home, but it's not home without you there. It's not home without your smiles, your laughs. I can't be at home if you're not there. You're my home, Y/N."

The pair sat in silence for a while, side by side staring at the ceiling, before the quiet whisper of "Okay" passed her lips.

Bucky immediately rolled himself over, holding himself above Y/N. "You'll come back?"

"Only," she started defensively, "If Tony apologizes. Then yes, I'll mmph!"

She was cut off by Bucky's lips and she could feel him smile against her.

The truth was, she would go if he asked again. She would go anywhere he asked. He was her home, as she was his.

Masterlist Found Here

[pyroclastic727]

Luz’s love language and what it means for the season finale

Content warning: discussions of Luz’s depression and suicidal tendencies

The Owl House is back!--and it’s a lot more depressing than before. While the adventures are just as deadly as the last season, this time our lovely Luz Noceda is being affected by their trauma-inducing qualities, and now she has depression. 

This is largely reflected in the series itself. During Separate Tides, virtually every discussion is about the loss of powers. The townspeople deprive Eda of money and publicly humiliate her for her lack of magic. Luz goes bounty hunting for money to deal with magic. Luz literally tries to commit suicide in that cave, to get money that would somehow offset the debt of ruining Eda’s life.

Then we get to Escaping Expulsion, and things don’t brighten up. We meet the abusers--sorry I meant The Blights--and get a firsthand look at the source of Amity Blight’s fears. They spend the entire episode trying to kill Luz, because she doesn’t have any magic. Then Amity delivers a lovely speech about wanting to be a better person, while alienating her entire family and pretending to be crushed to death for an audience--yet another example of a character cutting ties and being publicly humiliated in order to express their love for Luz.

Overall the tone has become much darker--not in the way that there’s more eyeballs in places we shouldn’t have any, but in the way that Luz genuinely doesn’t believe she deserves to be loved, and the only way the message gets through to her is when other people copy her suicidal behaviors.

The issue, you see, is that she’s been showing signs of that for a while-- I just didn’t know how far Owl House was willing to take that. One of my analyses from last year points out that Luz demonstrates and understands love via acts of service--which is why she’s always throwing herself into dumb situations, and why she really appreciates when Amity ditches her friends to join her Grudgby team. 

Season Two takes it a step further. In the ultimate act of love, Eda lets the curse overtake her and basically gives her life in order to let Luz get out of there in one piece. Luz didn’t come out unscathed, though, because now she’s seen that the best way to show affection is by suicide. 

And she does this.

A lot.

You see, Luz doesn’t think she deserves love. She asserts this throughout the season. So these last two episodes have consisted of the people around her trying to piece her back together. Eda delivers the most amazing speech about self-worth--and while it’s the type of speech to frame on your wall and read every morning, it’s not quite sinking in for Luz. 

That’s part of why Amity’s heroic display of love hits Luz so hard. Amity isn’t doing what she usually does, and trying to hold Luz’s hand for a minute at a time. This time, she threw away her relations with her parents for Luz-- a much more dangerous version of cutting off Boscha for the grudgby team. That’s why Luz blushes, that’s why she stammers a reply. Amity put her life in great danger, signing herself up for a much worse fate from her parents (as they’re now fueled by revenge) and, for that moment, agreeing to get literally crushed by an abomination. 

You can also read all of this as a metaphor for how homosexuality is frowned upon by capitalist society and condemns you to public humiliation and ostracism in order to support the one you love, but that’s not what we’re discussing today. We’re discussing what this means for the finale.

Because here’s the thing. If Luz wants to show love, she has to do some grand and heroic gesture. If Luz wants to do something grand and heroic in the Boiling Isles, she has to have magic. That’s part of why she’s so damn suicidal lately: that’s literally the only thing she has power over. That’s the only thing she can do.

But there’s one thing that people haven’t taken into account yet. You see, magic is a force that’s shrouded in mystery, that’s granted to certain people via biological factors. It’s a privilege based on species. But at its core, magic is just a science that has yet to be understood by the people of the Boiling Isles. Luz, Eda, and Lilith have an ability that no one else on the entire island has: they know how to use glyphs.

Now, let’s say that everyone loses the ability to use bile sac magic, and glyphs are the only magic remaining. 

That would give Luz an edge, right?

If glyph magic is all that remains, that means Luz can be the one to save Amity, instead of the other way around. As the person who’s been practicing glyphs the longest, she’d be the most skilled and the most capable. 

She wouldn’t have to endanger herself to prove the lengths she’s willing to go. Not when she has an ability beyond what most others can do.

But that’s not reasonable, because why would everyone lose their magic? It’s not like there’s one person who is capable of restricting magic, and if he chose, he could take everyone’s magic for himself...right?

Oh, right. Emperor Belos.

You can check my post on covens as a capitalist metaphor for my full discussion. At the time, I read the capitalist metaphor as a statement on the world and nothing more. But now it has chilling implications.

You see, the point of capitalism is for one person to accrue all of the money for himself and force everyone else to work for him. Belos is this person, this monarch who takes the power of others. He’s building a portal for something, I don’t know what. That’s not the important piece here. 

What’s important is that, once he has that portal open, does he need the covens?

Does he need his exploited labor force? He’ll have an army of abominations, so there’s no point in having any skilled fighters. So anyone who wants to use war magic loses that ability. At the season 2 ending, if he wants, Emperor Belos can take every kind of magic in the Boiling Isles.

Which makes sense, right? He outlawed wild magic for a reason, and it’s like Eda said. If it’s wild, Belos can’t control it. 

But Luz, Eda, and Lilith have wild magic in their control. They’re the only ones who can. So if Belos takes all the power for himself, if he becomes a god among men, there will still be three people who can stop him.

And one of them is willing to do anything to justify her existence. Luz Noceda stop at nothing to take Emperor Belos down, and give wild magic to everyone.

[merakiui]

Okay okay okay I’ve been thinking about this for a few days now here’s my list of genshin boys most likely to least likely to become a yandere and why:

-xiao. Millennia of suffering and he meets somebody who makes the pain dissipate? Hell never let go.

-diluc. People have died in his arms, he can’t risk losing another loved one... it’s not like he doesn’t have the wealth and resources to keep his beloved by his side.

-Childe. I think he’d be the most dehumanizing yandere - he treats you almost like a child (haha) as be manipulates his way into your heart. And god knows that he gets what he wants.

-albedo is obviously in the top half of this list. We’ve talked about his yandere tendacies before so I won’t relist them but jeez get this boy some therapy.

-razor. Now this sounds surprising but after years of protecting his Lupical, do you really think he’d let somebody he loves and sees as helpless wander alone? I feel hes less captor and manipulative and more of a stalker if he becomes a yandere

-venti. Freedom is his entire world, but can he let his beloved have freedom if it endangers them? One of the most manipulative ones on this list, except he has no clue that he’s doing it.

-kaeya. Maybe you’d gotten to close to one of his secrets. Maybe you’d figured out something he wanted to die. It doesn’t matter much now, all you know is that you were tried and declared guilty by the knights of favonius and were sent into a dungeon protected by the Calvery captain himself.

-zhongli. Has the yandere desires, but refuses to give in. He’s loved and lost so many times over the years and he figures he doesn’t want to take that away from his beloved.

-chongyun. I’ve gone back and forth between him and xingqiu for this one, but I feel like these last 3 are all pretty much tied for not being a yandere. However, if he met someone who could somehow null his congenital positivity than he might move up on this list...

-Xingqiu. He has a strong sense of justice and honor, the idea of manipulating, stalking or god forbid kidnapping his S/O is appalling to him.

-Bennett. Literally just tryna vibe. Devotes as much time as he can to make sure any relationship he has is healthy.

So basically:

Everybody on this list: *frothing at the mouth, thinking of ways to keep their S/Os with them*

Bennett, Chongyun, Xingqiu and to some extent Zhongli: what the fuck

Your list... Simply amazing. Now that I’m thinking about it, I’m beginning to wonder where other characters would sit on the list. Mainly Scaramouche though aha oops Anyways, please never stop sharing your thoughts!! They are so GOOD!

Xiao’s backstory and past is just perfect material to fuel his yandere desires. He’s suffered for so long and has never really experienced positive emotions, let alone love itself. The poor adeptus is always brooding on his own and here comes his darling, bright and happy and just...perfect. They’re like a glimmering star in his murky darkness and he wants to treasure them. There’s no way he’s going to let go of the feeling he gets when he’s with them, nor is he going to let them leave his side.

It makes sense that Diluc would also be at the top of that list. He’s got the making of a yandere, especially considering all of the people he’s lost in his life. Now that he’s found someone so important to him, he can’t risk losing them. It would destroy him if he found out that his darling got hurt or was even killed because he wasn’t taking enough precautions to keep them safe. He’d definitely blame himself if something like that happened.

Childe, pspspspsp!!! The power this man holds... Omg he makes for such a terrifying yandere. On the outside, he seems warm and disarming—just your normal, happy-go-lucky kind of guy. He’s not dangerous at all! No way. But under all of that falsified charm is someone who knows how to pull strings. He’s a Fatui Harbinger, so of course he has the means of getting you wrapped around his finger. It’s not all that hard when he’s got money, power, and strength. Plus, when he wants something he’s not going to stop until he acquires it; Childe lives for the thrill of chasing after you and it’ll be even more fun once he catches you. Someone should send me more thoughts about yan!Childe!!! orz orz

Albedo also qualifies as a neat yandere! Something about yanderes who are into science is just...fascinating to me. It’s also cool because Albedo’s rumored to be a homunculus, so that adds to the intrigue! Albedo has the resources to get what he wants as well. It won’t be all that difficult, and if it proves to be challenging he can just think of other solutions to pacify his darling. He is a researcher, after all, and a good researcher seeks to find the best solution to a problem.

Razor would be a feral yandere. He’s more action than words. He doesn’t put much thought into what he does because it feels more like an instinct to him. He’s just protecting his Lupical. There’s nothing wrong with that! So why are you acting so difficult? D: 

Like you said, Venti’s not aware of his manipulation and he just does it because it works. His belief that everyone deserves freedom is probably what really holds him back. He doesn’t want you to feel caged, but that feeling is practically inevitable since he’s always hounding you. Venti is a very suffocating yandere and he doesn’t even realize it.

KAEYA! KAEYA! I love the idea of Kaeya having some sort of blackmail on you—something so bad that you absolutely can’t let the world see. And so he uses that to keep you quiet. If you did stumble upon one of his secrets, he can’t possibly have you running that pretty mouth of yours. But if you do end up spilling his secret, it’s only fair that he shares yours, right? An eye for an eye, as some would say. Kaeya’s very smooth and calculative when it comes to handling blackmail. Whenever it feels like you’re trying to one-up him and possibly escape, he’ll flirtatiously remind you of the power he holds over you. Blackmail is rather compelling, is it not?

Zhongli does have the motive to be a yandere, as you pointed out, but he’s a strange case. On one hand, it makes sense that he’d want to protect his beloved at all costs, but on the other he’d probably be aware of these unhealthy tendencies. Although he probably uses the idea of a contract to keep your relationship going, even if it’s clear you don’t want anything to do with him. But if you do, that just makes it easier on him! 

NO BECAUSE I THOUGHT THE SAME FOR CHONGYUN!!! Not the yan!Chongyun piece rotting in my drafts for a month or two now ehehee I had some thoughts about Chongyun but never bothered posting it for some reason. Anyways, I do think Chongyun has potential to be a yandere! As you mentioned, his congenital positivity can become an issue and he doesn’t want that to seriously affect his daily life. So he’s probably very pleased to find someone who can nullify that positivity. It’d be similar to Xiao’s case; Xiao likes someone who can be the light in his dark world. Chongyun falls for the person who can null his congenital positivity and is someone who he gets along with. 

The only way I can see Xingqiu being a yandere is if he wants a noble, storybook romance. Okay, that sounds strange, but consider it! He’s a huge bookworm who probably doesn’t exactly experience romance aside from what he reads in his novels. Although he doesn’t dabble in the romance genre all that often, he does like the idea of being a hero and sweeping someone off of their feet. So when he meets you—another fellow bookworm or maybe the two of you are thrown into an arranged marriage—he just feels an undeniable connection. This must be some form of fate or a sixth sense. Maybe he can be the main character of his own story! You’ll just have to cooperate and you can be the valiant knight’s love interest!

Bennett’s vibes are so nice. How could he be a yandere? He’s just too sweet and pure. He’s really just here to chill and gather an adventuring team full of great friends! But if anyone has any thoughts...please share them! 

That’s it. I’m writing about Scaramouche even though he’s not on the list. Please, why do I simp so much for him? Anyways, we don’t know nearly enough about Scaramouche to determine his backstory or past. But he just oozes yandere! Most of the Harbingers are probably the same, to some extent. He’s like Childe with all of the power and resources, but whereas Childe relishes in the chase Scaramouche refuses to put up with it. It’s just way too inconvenient for him. He’d rather catch you when you least expect it and then keep you for himself.

Gosh, he’s a very determined and possessive yandere with a strict agenda; this man probably cheats in order to get you. He’ll send his underlings to do the work in his place. They’ll stalk you and report back to him and it isn’t long before he learns of your friends, certain family members you’re close to, and even where you live. It’s terrifying, but this is Scaramouche we’re talking about. For someone so short, he sure knows how to intimidate and beat fear into those below him. Good luck to the poor soul who catches his eye. 

I must thank you for making that list! It was lots of fun to consider their mindsets and behaviors as yandere. :D

[reids-rendering-reality]

Criminal Collar

Summary: Spencer meets Y/N’s ex-boyfriend and renowned criminal consultant for the White Collar Crime Unit of the FBI, Neal Caffrey.

(A/N: this is a cross-over between White Collar and Criminal Minds. There are no spoilers for WC and you don’t need to have watched it to read this. Also, I know I made Neal a little meaner than he is, but it fits better with my storyline oops)

Type: angst, with the end being fluffy and a little smutty

Warnings: mentions of criminal activity, insecurity, jealousy, making out

Word Count: 2.4K

Reader’s POV

I joined the BAU about one and a half years ago, after leaving the White Collar Crime Unit of the FBI. Honestly, I was kind of glad when Strauss requested my transfer and my new team suits me way better. Especially because I’ve started dating Dr. Spencer Reid 6 months ago and he makes me really happy. However, I guess luck wasn’t on my side this week.

Like it always is when things like this happen, it was a regular day at the FBI. I was working on some paperwork at my desk before JJ would brief us on the new case in half an hour. That was when Hotch appeared from his office.

“Y/L/N, can you come into my office?” he said looking down at me into the bullpen. When I just looked up at him confused for a moment, he continued “now, please.”

I got up slowly, exchanging a few worried glances with Spencer before walking into his office.

“Agent Burke from the White Collar unit has requested you to go downstairs and consult on a case,” Hotch said in his typical ultra-serious voice.

“Do you know what case this is? I am working on this team now,” I said, a little worried that I would have to return to the WCU.

“I don’t know. But don’t worry, you won’t be transferred again. Head down now, we’re leaving in an hour. Spencer will brief the case to you on the jet,” he said while mustering my anxious stance.

When I returned to the bullpen, I quickly organised my desk so that I could leave for the jet right away.

“What did he want?” Spencer asked, suddenly standing next to me which made me jump a little.

“WCU needs a consult on a case, but I’ll be back in time for take-off,” I said, avoiding his eyes and getting ready to leave for the elevator.

I walked past Spencer and didn’t turn around once, but I could feel his eyes on the back of my head. Not only his though, I felt the entire team stare me down as I disappeared into the hall.

 The rest of the week was relatively eventless – for the BAU at least. I gave Burke his consult on the case and headed to Texas with the others. The case was not too difficult or straining.

When we returned to the office, it wasn’t even late. It was midday, and everyone was chattering about happily in the elevator. But when the elevator doors opened, the mood shifted completely. Right there, in the bullpen, sitting at my desk, I saw a figure in a black fedora. My breath hitched and I could feel Spencer look over at me. When we exited the elevator, the figure turned around and revealed his face.

“Is that-“ Morgan began baffled.

“Neal Caffrey,” I finished a clear sour undertone to my voice. Both Morgan and Spencer looked at me weirdly. It was unusual for me to talk in this way, I don’t think they have ever heard it before.

I pushed open the glass doors and hurried away from the others towards the man sitting at my desk.

“Y/N/N! So nice to see you again,” he grinned up at me as I approached him. I could still feel the four pairs of eyes burning into the back of my head.

“Neal, what are you doing here?” I said, my voice even more furious than before. At the same time, my mind was racing about how I would explain all of this to Spencer and the others later.

“Can’t we just talk like we used to? I saw you in Burke’s office on Monday,” he said, still grinning and making no move to get out of the chair.

“Fine, come with me,” I walked away towards the conference room, hearing him following behind me in his typically slow and casual stride.

 Spencer’s POV

I felt my jaw being open during their entire interaction and quickly shut it as they entered the conference room.

“What was that all about?” Prentiss asked curiously.

“That’s Neal Caffrey, the criminal consultant down at the-“ I began to explain almost automatically.

“I know who he is, but how does he know Y/N and why is he here?” Prentiss interrupted me.

“Well, Y/N worked down at the WCU before she was transferred here. I heard a rumour from a friend that works there. Apparently, Y/N was dating him during her time there and when a case ended badly for them, they suspected that she couldn’t work there with him anymore. He did some scandalous things that not only endangered the reputation of their entire team, but also the entire FBI. Some say, Y/N was in on it and didn’t tell anyone. But after a couple of examinations, she was transferred here instead because Strauss thinks she’s invaluable to the FBI,” JJ explained to all of us.

“She dated a criminal? Damn, I never would’ve expected that from her,” Derek said and looked up to the conference room and then said a little more quietly, “quite a change in her type since she came here.”

I looked at him incredulously, before looking at my hands and fidgeting with them.

“Did you know about this, Reid?” Prentiss asked me.

“Me?” I looked up again, “What- uh- no, of course not!”

“How did you not know that your girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend is one of the most famous white-collar criminals?” Morgan asked.

“We haven’t really talked about that stuff,” I said quietly, “it’s not like I would’ve had anything to share.”

“So you’re telling me, you’ve never had the uncomfortable talk about exes with her? For a genius, you do not have a lot of experience with relationships,” Prentiss said, her tone almost joking.

“What do you think they’re talking about in there?” I tried to deflect the topic of conversation away from me while looking up at the conference room, where Neal was just closing the blinds.

 Reader’s POV

“So, why did you come here?” I asked, closing the door to the conference room behind me as Neal looked around.

“Surely you miss the WCU. This place is dark and gloomy. The cases are grim and the undercover operations aren’t nearly as glamorous. Plus, I’m not there,” he grinned at me. I couldn’t help but chuckle at his attempt at flirting with me.

“Cut the crap, I left the WCU for a reason. Don’t make me ask again: why are you here?” I could feel my annoyance rise.

“I’m here because of you. I just want to talk to you. We haven’t seen each other in so long, I wanted to catch up a little,” he paused, walking around the table, “you can’t tell me you haven’t missed me.”

“I haven’t,” I said.

Before I could continue to speak, Neal continued, “right. Like I would believe that,” he looked out the window into the bullpen where the team was standing, trying not to stare too obviously, “but then again, here’s that lanky boy. He keeps looking at you in a certain way. Is he your boyfriend?”

Neal glanced at me for a moment, before turning his attention back to the window and closing the blinds with a bright grin.

“That’s none of your business. My life is none of your business anymore. You put me in so much danger without even caring about the consequences. That’s why I transferred here. So please, just leave me alone.”

He now walked over me in casual strides. I mustered him, the memories resurfacing at the sight of him in that typical classy Italian suit, with a pin on his tie. He was always dressed so properly. But the way he behaved was just the opposite. Yet, a tiny little part of me looked at him and saw that attractive man that I had fallen in love with over the years working with him.

He stopped when he was standing right in front of me, brushing a strand of hair out of my face.

“Y/N, don’t you think it’s time to let that go? That was such a long time ago.. I’ve changed, you know?” he looked into my eyes with a sincerity that I would’ve believed one and a half years ago. But working at the BAU taught me a lot about reading people, seeing typical communication and manipulation strategies. I wasn’t falling for his lies anymore.

“Is that all you came here for, Neal? Trying to get me back? Because I won’t ever go back to you. I’ve moved on and I realised that dating you, to begin with, was a huge mistake,” I said with the most confident tone I could muster.

That last part wasn’t entirely true. While he did hurt me, my reputation, and everything I stood for repeatedly, he still was a part of me. We had been in a relationship for years. There were so many good times that I had to let go for my well-being.

To be convincing with my words, I walked past him, towards the door, “it’s time for you to leave.”

After a little bickering back and forth, he finally walked out of the BAU. I could see that the team had left, only Spencer was still sitting at his desk, working on some paperwork. He was waiting for me to go home together, just like always. The sight warmed my heart; Spencer was so good to me.

But of course, Neal wouldn’t just leave without a bang. Walking past Spencer’s desk, he stopped for a second and said, “take care of her. She obviously needs you to get over me.”

Spencer looked up at him with wide eyes as he spoke and didn’t even respond before Neal had left into the elevator. Spencer turned his head and looked up at me.

 We were on the way home to my apartment, just like always when we returned from a case. We sat there in silence, Spencer’s eyes focused intensely on the road as he was driving.

“Spencer?” I asked softly looking over at him. He just gave a tight-lipped hum in response.

“Can we talk? I assume you have questions, but you haven’t said anything yet.”

He cleared his voice before responding calmly and quietly, “I just didn’t want to discuss it at the office. There isn’t anything to talk about. I know about one of your exes now.”

“But what he said to you. And everything. It must-“ I huffed, “you look like it bothers you. Don’t you want to share what you’re feeling? Maybe I can help you process.”

Spencer gave me a quick glance, seemingly ignoring my concerned face with a cold expression.

“What do you want to hear? Do you want to hear how I keep thinking I’m not good enough for you, regardless of what happened today? How that just made me feel worse? Do you want to hear about how embarrassed I was when JJ told us that he is your ex-boyfriend and I, your current boyfriend, didn’t even know about it? Do you want to know about all the other things I’m imagining you hiding from me? How my mind is racing with all my insecurities that you already know about because I tell you things that bother me while you don’t?” he said, his voice getting louder and louder with each question while his grip on the steering wheel tightened.

“Do you want to know about how Morgan even commented on the fact that he is so different from me and your type has changed a lot? How do you think all that makes me feel? When it isn’t coming from you?” he continued angrily.

I didn’t know what to say. To be honest, I was a little speechless. I thought it would bother him, but not like this.

“See? That’s why I didn’t want to open up. It’s not like you have anything to say about it anyway,” he said, his tone ice-cold.

The rest of the car ride was silent. My mind was racing with things I could respond to him, but nothing came to mind. When we arrived at my apartment, I was surprised that he parked the car. I had assumed that after that speech he would just drop me off and go home alone.

Before I could move, Spencer had turned towards me and taken my hand into his gently.

“Can I come inside?” he asked softly, his demeanour completely different from before.

“Yes, of course, Spence,” I replied gently.

Upstairs in my apartment, we sat on the couch together.

“I’m sorry for snapping at you earlier. I’m just really bothered by it. He is everything I’m not. He is attractive, charming, has a good style, and even just muscles. He is-“ Spencer began, but I cut him off.

“and he is a criminal. Listen, Spence, I completely understand how you feel. But, behind his attractive mask, there is so much more, that just isn’t attractive. To me, his personality wasn’t attractive. He didn’t treat me well and only cared about himself. He only cared about the lifestyle he wanted to lead and he could never let go of his criminal past.”

Spencer just looked up at me from his hunched position with his big brown puppy eyes.

“Plus, just because he is attractive doesn’t mean you’re not. God, I think you’re so hot. Your face, your hair, those sweater vests. You’re completely different from him, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t attractive. And when you use that big brain of yours to solve cases and explain things, that no one else knows and that most people don’t even understand. I think you’re incredibly attractive. And your intelligence is very charming, and-,” I began to ramble about all the things I loved about him.

But before I could continue speaking he had grabbed my face and kissed me on the lips passionately. His lips moved against mine, as his hands entangled in my hair. I almost moaned into his mouth as his tongue found mine and my hands reached for the back of his neck.

When we pulled apart, he was breathless and said with a slight pant, “so you think I’m really hot, huh?”

And I didn’t know how to respond to that in any other way than to just slip onto his lap and kiss him again.

[247megamania]

Anyone else think it’s weird that Alfendi admitted to shooting someone and suffered virtually no consequences? No? Just me? Well I need to get this off my chest so I’m going to make a post about it. 

Let’s define the apparent facts of the case. DCI (Detective Chief Inspector) Alfendi Layton went alone without his team or superior’s authorization or knowledge to apprehend Keelan Makepeace, who was a suspected serial killer. The two men ended up on a tower in a castle in the rain with their guns drawn on each other. Alfendi shot Makepeace twice, killing him, and Makepeace shot Alfendi once, putting him in a coma for an unspecified length of time.

Alfendi probably faced criminal charges for the death of Makepeace. He even tells us in game that when he woke up from his coma, he went to court and confessed to the shooting. To see how this would play out for him, let’s compare it to a real life case.

In 1998 in the UK, a man named James Ashley was shot and killed by police in his flat. The police were there on a raid, having received information that there were drugs and a gun in the apartment, and to arrest the man in question for his possible involvement in a stabbing. James Ashley was unarmed and not aggressive. The officer who shot him faced murder charges but was acquitted on grounds of self defense. If you want to read more, check out the Wikipedia article, it’s very interesting. 

Given that Makepeace not only had a firearm but was wielding it at the time and actually shot Alfendi, getting Alfendi off the hook on the basis of self defense would be pretty simple, and that’s likely what his lawyer did. Whoever his lawyer was. Probably not Pheonix Wright, who would have pursued a not guilty verdict no matter what his client said. 

So Alfendi didn’t have to go to jail. But that doesn’t mean he got off scot free. His actions would have been scrutinized by his superiors and would have reflected very badly on him. He left on his own to chase down a dangerous criminal, an action which endangered him, his team, and the criminal. He did not respond to Justin Lawson’s explicit instructions to stand down and engaged in an extremely stupid stand off with an armed suspect, throwing protocol completely out the window. As a result, he was demoted from DCI to DI (Detective Inspector) and stuffed in a back office, which is where Lucy finds him at the start of Layton Brothers: Mystery Room. A fairly light punishment, all things considered, but perhaps his near death was taken into account when the decision was made.

After the truth of the matter came out, would Alfendi be restored to his previous rank? Probably not. It was proved he didn’t kill Makepeace, but no acceptable explanation was discovered for why he took off alone. We still don’t know why he did. Alfendi either doesn’t remember or won’t tell us, and Justin just says that he was trying to be a hero. People probably thought he was glory-hungry, impatient, or obsessed. Maybe he was. But I like to think he was smart enough not to try to chase down a known serial killer in a mysterious abandoned castle alone, at least not without a good reason. Here are my theories:

1. Justin manipulated him into going ahead alone in order to frame him for the death of Makepeace. This one is tricky to pull off but not impossible. Maybe Justin discussed the raid with Makepeace beforehand, making the serial killer believe that he’d arrange a way for him to escape. Then, when Makepeace and Alfendi were just where he wanted them, he betrayed and shot Keelan but was unable to bring himself to finish off Alfendi. I like this but I think it gives Justin too much credit. I think the majority of what happened at Forbodium was improvisation rather than planned.

2. Keelan (by threats or by trickery) manipulated Alfendi into meeting him there alone. Maybe, since Alfendi was the one to solve the case and identify Makepeace as the killer, Keelan wanted to meet and kill him in person. Or maybe Makepeace took an interest in the son of the illustrious Professor Layton, going so far as to wear the trademark orange shirt with brown jacket for the event. This would be cool because it means Diane was echoing her father when she blackmailed Alfendi into coming alone to Forbodium for her “tea party”. She forced him to knowingly walk into a trap. Wouldn’t it be neat if her father did the same thing? 

3. Alfendi discovered on the day of the raid that someone was sabotaging the investigation. If he told Commissioner Barton about the saboteur, the raid could get called off, allowing Makepeace escape to kill again, but if the raid was allowed to proceed as planned, the saboteur could manipulate the situation to ensure Makepeace’s escape or death. Alfendi honestly thought his best option would be to bring Makepeace in himself. That was the only plan he could think of where he could be sure no one would die. It didn’t work, obviously, but it was worth a shot (no pun intended) (nevermind pun absolutely intended).

What are your theories? I’d love to hear them. Thank you for reading this long post and have a fantastic day.

Edit 1/22/22: I fixed a typo and added a phrase.

[itsclydebitches]

Rewatching RWBY there's this chilling lack of empathy through the volumes that I used to just wave off. Yang has no empathy for Tai, Blake is just entirely about what Blake needs, Weiss almost kills a woman at a party and her takeaway is 'my dad is mean so I'm going to run away'. Qrow sinks hard into depression in vol. 6 and Ruby's reaction is to yell she's never needed him. No one has EVER helped a civilian. It's so prevelant. Knowing how 7&8 go really changes the earlier writing.

I think there was a great deal of well-written empathy in the early volumes — after all, this cast was designed as the kind, well-meaning heroes — but that care was expressed almost solely within the group itself. Ruby sits by Jaune in the hallway and says "Nope!" to his self doubt. Weiss offers Ruby a hand up after she fails to kill the death stalker. Yang seeks out Blake and gets her to open up about what's bothering her. Now, I want to emphasize that there's nothing inherently wrong with this. It actually makes perfect sense. These are our main characters and they're written as peers co-habiting the same space. Of course whatever emotional growth we get, which automatically includes moments of compassion, would be directed towards each other. Similarly, the dynamics originally introduced — that of teachers and parents — likewise (rightly) puts the burden on the adults to provide the comfort, not the other way around. Port snaps Weiss out of her arrogant mindset. Ozpin reassures Ruby about her leadership worries. Tai is there to support his daughter when she's recovering from a lost limb. That's the natural order of things, so to speak.

The problem, to my mind, begins to occur when the group exits those dynamics. They're no longer students, they're licensed huntsmen. They're no longer kids, but equals who never needed adults in the first place. They're no longer doing things for themselves and their friends on personal downtime, they're doing them for the community at large as a profession (to say nothing of the world-altering war they've insisted on shouldering responsibility for). That's what a huntsmen is meant to be, a defender of the people, not someone who uses that power for personal interests alone. All of this is a huge change from where we started out: cutesy kids going off on comparatively low-stakes adventures because one or more of their teammates are invested, only just beginning to realize that they're signing up for a job where their desires come second (that fireside conversation at Mountain Glenn).

This change invites — demands, really — that the audience read them differently too. Qrow's spiral in Volume 6 is a good example of this. If Ruby is demanding to be treated not just as an equal in terms of maturity and experience, but also as the primary leader of this group, then the viewer expects her to treat her uncle as an equal too, not dismiss his hardship. I've seen numerous fans defend that arc with some version of, "He's her uncle. He's supposed to take care of her. He's failing" but that, according to the show, is no longer the dynamic. Qrow is now just a member of Ruby's team, someone she's responsible for as their leader. It's easiest to see the problem if we switch out Qrow for any of the other members. If Blake developed a drinking problem, do we think Ruby would just shout at her until she magically got over it? If Jaune endangered the group, do we think they'd all be angry about it, rather than trying to figure out the source of what caused the mistake? We don't even need to think hypothetically for that one because we saw it on screen. Jaune attacked Oscar and drove him off, not just threatening him, but arguably endangering the whole team by requiring a search party. Fans have long insisted they had to steal that airship right then because being in Argus was too much of a risk, but if we buy that reading (which I personally don't, but), then that means Jaune made things exponentially worse by forcing them out into that super dangerous city, rather than allowing everyone to stay hidden inside. He made a massive mistake which, according to the logic of Qrow's arc, should be met with frustration, disdain, and eventual demands to get over his anger at Ozpin or ship out. But, of course, he received nothing but concern. Yang was worried about him, not Oscar. The search becomes about his grief for Pyrrha and his team's willingness (as well as Pyrrha's family member) to provide more comfort. Suddenly, the tendency to express care solely towards those within the group becomes a flaw the story won't acknowledge.

And then it spirals. The thing to remember is that no single act here is bad on its own, especially when we consider that yes, we want flawed characters. Rather, it's about the pattern. Ruby is allowed to get mad at Qrow for his behavior and chuck her scroll in frustration. She's human. I'd be crazy frustrated too. However, if Ruby is meant to be written as a caring, sympathetic character, she should not only respond to the situation with frustration, yelling, a refusal to listen, and demands that he follow her lead, no questions asked. We can, and should, acknowledge that Weiss was the victim during that party. Her father was hurting her, the woman was beyond insensitive, Weiss was triggered in regards to a horrific event, and her power acted on its own. However, if we want to write Weiss as a compassionate, mature huntress to-be, she should acknowledge that she nearly killed someone — even an asshole someone — and vow to work on her control because she's not willing to put someone in danger like that ever again. Both of these moments have a "They could have been handled better" response attached to them — the former more-so than the latter imo — but these moments are made far, far worse due to later events in the show, events where the characters are cruel without any justification attached. Weiss didn't mean to attack that woman, but she did mean to ignore Whitely and threaten him with her weapon. So once we see that, it informs our understanding of what came before it. "Oh. The fact that Weiss never reacted to nearly killing someone isn't just a bit of missed potential, it's an early indicator that she... doesn't seem to care. If she endangers people, threatens people... that's fine with her." The group has a right to be frustrated with Qrow. The group did not have the right to magically steal Ozpin's entire life story, assault him, and blame him for the world's problems until he felt his only course of action was to run from them. So when we see that it becomes, "Oh. The fact that the group treated Qrow so poorly isn't just a one-time mistake born of a stressful situation and young adults being out of their depth in regards to alcoholism. They really will just abandon anyone the moment they start making mistakes." Anyone outside of their group, that is.

To say nothing of how all of these moments interconnect. Yang's recovery isn't just about getting used to not having an arm, it's about getting used to having a new one. Weiss' party isn't just about nearly killing someone, it's about not committing manslaughter because someone else stepped in. The Volume 6 arc isn't just about trying to escape with the Relic, it's about trying to get it somewhere safe. Fans frustrated with Ironwood's treatment don't harp on these details out of some desperate attempt to make him look good post-murder spree, rather, they recognize that he's a character that's been around since nearly the beginning, originally written as a good guy, and thus has accumulated a number of key connections with the cast. So when none of those connections are acknowledged during an arc about trust... that makes the group look very uncaring. Yang doesn't care that he gave her the arm, Weiss doesn't care that he saved her from hurting/potentially killing someone, Qrow doesn't care that he's trusted Ironwood for years (in a rival-bros way) and that they've been heading towards him this whole time. And when Ironwood begins to spiral, they don't do anything to try and help him, let alone acknowledge that their own choices, that lack of trust and empathy, had a hand in getting them here. "But it's not their responsibility to fix him!" Isn't it? Even a little? Just as human beings seeing an ally struggling under horrific decisions and circumstances? Sure, they don't have to try... but that doesn't make them look very heroic to my mind. And we can't even shrug that off by simplifying things with, "Well, Ironwood is evil now so who cares about him." They simultaneously don't care about finding Qrow who is missing, then captured. They don't do anything to try and find their missing teammates, with the exception of sending May to do it instead. They don't help the army fight off the grimm. Don't try to make sure Pietro and Maria had portals to escape through. Barely hesitate when the newly resurrected characters goes, "Kill me. That's the easiest thing for everyone." And these are just a few of the big ticket moments. It doesn't even begin to cover all the details we get that paint a picture of, "Wow okay. They just really don't care about people outside the group, huh? I mean, they say they do, in a life-or-death way, but they're not putting forth effort to show it on a daily basis."

And if you pick up on all that, if you acknowledge how much the group has changed based on where they started out, you might wonder when in the world that started. Surely we didn't just flip a switch around Volume 6. So you re-watch early stuff and, sure enough, there are moments that feel like setup for what's to come later. Not intentional setup (quite obviously), but a lack of care towards details across the series that, once the dynamic changed, became far, far more pronounced. Characters should be at least somewhat recognizable from start to finish, especially characters who have only experienced about two years of in-world time, so if we now get to see Ruby blandly commenting on all the people who are dying, or Weiss using her weapon as a means of coercing her little brother into doing what she wants, or Yang and Jaune dismissing Ren until he gives in to their point of view... we're going to look for the beginnings of that behavior early on. As you say, we were able to wave all those little details off due to a number of important factors. Now though? Now they feel like they hold a lot more weight, simply by virtue of that early material proceeding what we have now.

[tenthgrove]

La Squadra with a reckless civilian S/O? Probably just one that's probably a more "act" before "think" in most cases and probably gets himself into trouble (major or minor) a lot?

Go to Dumb Baby Jail

La Squadra x Reader (GN), Romantic, SFW

Formaggio- Well, aren't you just adorable! Formaggio loves how feisty his new Amore is. Their antics always make him laugh. If you ever get in trouble with Passione over your stupidity, for instance, you insist on walking with him while he's meant to be stalking a target and someone sees you, he expertly brushes you off as one of his associates to stop you being seen as a liability. Passione's records are shit, anyway, so it's not like they'll find out. Your hijinks always earn you ruffled hair and an amused laugh from your boyfriend.

Illuso- For someone who loves to feel in control of the situation, his brain just fucking short-circuits whenever he sees you do something dangerous. Prosciutto drags an intruder into the living room saying he caught them listen in on Risotto's phone calls and it's just Illuso's new partner. He legitimately doesn't know what he's going to do with you. Illuso sees no choice but to bribe you into calming down with your crazy schemes. What will it take to make you behave? New clothes? More dates? Illuso is digging into his pockets.

Prosciutto- No. None of that. Prosciutto is not letting you endanger your life through your own stupidity. Any reckless behaviour is immediately met with firm reprimand, not least your attempts to tail him while he's on his missions. Sometimes he has half a mind just to drag you home and tie you to the bed, after some of the stunts you pull off. By default, Prosciutto wouldn't want to even tell his S/O what it is he does for a living, but after your curiosity leads you to find out for yourself, he sees he has no choice but to answer your questions, lest you conduct your own investigations.

Pesci- As much as you worry him (which is a lot, by the way) your poor boyfriend cannot bring himself to stop you. Saying no to someone just isn't something he's good at, so when you drive right on to the driveway of Passione HQ to pick him up from a big event, a case of "oh, okay sweetie, how kind of you." Prosciutto tells you he really ought to reign you in, for your own good if nothing else, but deep down, Pesci likes your spunk. He feels safe with you.

Melone- Melone's reaction is mixed. On one hand, he appreciates such an inquisitive and explorative partner (after all, it makes for excellent parenting skills) but on the other hand he really can't have you risking your life. Melone's a fairly cautious person himself, preferring to keep his distance from targets wherever possible and give his juniors orders remotely. He will explain to you logically the risks you incur, and encourage you to tell him when you want to achieve something so he can see if there's anyway for you to get it without risking certain death.

Ghiaccio- Oh god no. Ghiaccio really can't handle this right now. With a personality as anxious as his there's no way he's going to be okay with you risking even minor trouble. If you climb any more fences to steal Passione money because 'who are they gonna call, the police?' he might actually scream. Please stop, he's begging you. Thinking you must be bored, he takes you out more. This has the added affect of letting you be together more, which means he's safe in the knowledge you aren't presently doing something stupid.

Risotto- Your courage is... admirable, he'll give you that. He can certainly respect you for it. But what he won't have is you risking your life for such petty reward. If you need him on a mission, text. If you want to know more about his work, ask. But whatever you do, do not go to a rival squad's base and peer through their windows out of curiosity. Risotto could not forgive himself if he lost you. If you want more action in your life, Risotto's happy to teach you how to fight. But it's on the strict condition you make no attempts to put yourself in a situation where you need to use it.

Sorbet and Gelato- You see (y/n)? This is why they love you. If recklessness were really the mortal peril it's chocked up to be, they wouldn't have made it half this long. Your risky antics are adorable, and they wouldn't have you any other way. More than once, you've showed up mid-mission to ask them what they want for dinner, and they've just casually hugged you while the rest of the team stares on perplexed. Still, if you're going to engage in these risks you'll need to learn how to defend yourself. Learning to shoot a gun would make for a marvellous date, no?

[animeyanderelover]

Kisame x reader x Itachi? I feel they both team up and if like someone put there darling on jeopardy they would be very overprotective! What would happen if she got bad enough injured like there legs or arm?

I was pretty excited to write this. This is actually my first time writing about Kisangani because he was requested.

Tw: Yandere themes, unhealthy mindset, unhealthy relationship, possessiveness, manipulation, kidnapping, threatening, blackmailing, sadistic behavior, killing, death, abuse

Kisame and Itachi sharing a darling

🦈🍡I actually see both of them entrusting the safety of their darling to each other if worse comes to worse since they’re partners and pretty much the only persons they could ask for help. So you could be either Kisame’s darling at first or Itachi’s darling. I see the chances that Itachi might be more willing to ask Kisame for help since he focuses a lot on his darling’s well-being, he dedicates much effort into it. Kisame is more on the possessive side and doesn’t really like the thought of asking Itachi for help, but on the long run he ultimately wants his darling to be safe as well.

🦈🍡No matter who’s darling you were first, both of them will have a hard time accepting it. If you would be Itachi’s darling, the Uchiha would be silently enraged and extremely tense, knowing that Kisame tends to be a bit more sadistic and he doesn’t want his darling hurt. Kisame would be much more furious on the outside than Itachi and might just start picking a fight with the Uchiha. In a bad case scenario he might also turn his ire out on you.

🦈🍡You’re somewhat stuck in a very unpleasant situation with two highly dangerous men. No one of them is willing to share for quite some time, making it hard for you to deal with those two. They suddenly don’t get semi-peacefully along as they used to do. Itachi is just worried for you, especially when seeing how Kisame downright terrifies you and even hurts you and Kisame feels deep down scared that you will end up preferring Itachi since he’s the “better” guy in here.

🦈🍡But at one point the both of them will feel a bit exhausted from this constant game of who gets you for himself. Not only that, but both of them are also aware of the toll this can have on you. Itachi would be most likely the one who would consider this choice at first and at one point being the idea up, sounding somewhat bitter, but it’s best to do. He doesn’t want to put any more trauma on you than both of them already have and tearing each other apart doesn’t seem like a good thing to do. Kisame would be more dubious about this, but if the darling starts carefully trying to convince him, he might agree.

🦈🍡Despite a rather hard and more tense and hostile atmosphere I feel like after Konan and Pein they would make the best duo in the Akatsuki. Because they actually respect each other and might just see each other as something akin to friends. They’re pretty compatible and work rather good together. There are of course certain things along the road that are rather bumpy, one of them being Kisame’s sadism and insecurities. He just likes scaring and hurting his darling and now that the handsome and gentle Uchiha came into the picture, there is this fear of him that you’ll end up abandoning him for Itachi. And at first he doesn’t really know how to act and talk with you about it and ends up terrifying you, in a twisted desperate way.

🦈🍡And Itachi will catch onto this, he is not dumb. He understands where Kisame is coming from in a very small way, but is also against the idea of the man hurting and scaring you to get what he wants. He acts always cold when he sees it, but would also like to avoid a fight, especially in front of you since there’s the danger you might get hurt. The problem is most likely that Kisame and you don’t communicate with each other. Him because he doesn’t know how to express his emotions properly and you because you’re too frightened. It forces Itachi into a position where he has to play the bridge maker in order to solve the problem.

🦈🍡Kisame is the more cruel one, but also the more love-starved guy which can be used to turn the tables around a bit. Because once his darling starts giving him affection and love, he will turn softer and his soft spot can be carefully, but steadily, be explored and used. It’s what Itachi knows as well and he tries to make Kisame and you understand the problem of the other.

🦈🍡I feel like no matter how much both of them may try to keep you a secret from the Akatsuki, one day someone will find out due to the rumors flying around. There might be certain people who would be curious about the darling which will end in Kisame being far more aggressive than Itachi, who has to hold the man back. They don’t trust the Akatsuki members with you which is why they won’t let you meet them unless a certain situation happens. Pain most likely doesn’t care as long as the teamwork and the missions aren’t affected or else you’ll have to disappear.

🍡🦈In general both of them make sure that you won’t get in danger, especially since people might at one point know that you’re really important for both of them which makes people want to hunt you down, either for the money or to get revenge. Kisame and Itachi are aware of this and since missions of them can sometimes take really long, they will feel not safe to let you all alone when knowing a mission can last a few weeks. Sure, they keep you in an isolated and safe place, but your safety isn’t guaranteed despite all of that. Bad thing is that if someone would find you and you wouldn’t be able to escape, they won’t be there for your rescue.

🦈🍡It leads them after a lot of thinking and discussing to taking you with them as soon as they expect a certain time limit will be crossed over in a mission. They would of course search for a more safe place for you to stay whilst they do what they have to do.

🦈🍡They’re definitely an overprotective duo to have and Kisame is a naturally more violent person than Itachi is which is why more people die on his account than on Itachi’s. Whilst Itachi reasons a bit with people, Kisame doesn’t and just slaughters someone as soon as he’s pissed off which happens rather fast and he’s brutal with it as well. Itachi has to be provoked enough, but as soon as he’s triggered he becomes rather vicious with his enemies as well.

🦈🍡And hurting the darling is something that sets most Yandere off, these two are no exception. Whilst both of them will be ireful, the way they do is different. Kisame is more impulsive and just sees straight red when witnessing such a thing, it leads him to breaking out in a killer mode which is the worst thing someone can do. Itachi is more of a cold madness type and is still able to think more clearly than Kisame is who will go on a rampage. Feel like Itachi would focus more on getting you out of the place and attend to your wounds whilst letting Kisame unleash his full wrath.

🦈🍡Small injuries aren’t enough to make them go into full panic mode, though Kisame and Itachi will still let their ire out on who did it. But if it’s something serious that might just endanger your life, both of them become a bit paranoid.

🦈🍡Feel like the darling might actually be another member of the Akatsuki and will end up as an additional member in their team which would both of them fall for them around the same time since spending so much time with the s/o. In this case things would turn out a bit differently since being an Akatsuki member implies that you can take care of yourself just fine and both of them would end up respecting your powers. Kisame would still be at the beginning more sadistic and rude, maybe because you can and will put up a fight, but Itachi will eventually end up reasoning with him and you helping him doing so would definitely help.

🦈🍡In that scenario there is a higher risk of you getting hurt since you’re always accompanying them on highly dangerous missions and take part in them as well. It’s not like they don’t worry, but in the end both of them would end up being sane enough to know you’re strong, though Kisame might be a bit more on edge. The least they might do is training with you in which especially Itachi would make sure to point out your weak spots and what you could work on to become a good all-rounder.

🦈🍡If you should get seriously hurt in that case, they would become afterwards a bit more reluctant to let you fight directly in battles, Kisame more than Itachi, and it might lead them to temporarily forbidding you to go on missions, at least until you’re fully recovered again.

🦈🍡So both of them make actually quite the good combo together and Kisame will become a better Yandere to deal with due to Itachi’s help to reason with him. It’s most likely due to the fact that they don’t hate or don’t care about each other like some of the other members. They have something like friendship and respect each other. Feel like Kisame might end up letting Itachi make a lot of decisions since he respects his wise and intelligent personality and knows that Itachi tends to think in a long shot term.

[arctimon]

By the Grace of Granville

(Warning: This post is long.  But what else is new when it comes to character analyses?)

One of the bigger mysteries that gets introduced into Big Hero 6: The Series made their introduction in the very first episode, got a little bit of expansion into their background, and then didn’t really see much daylight for the rest of the series sand her becoming an even-numbered wheel. No, I’m not talking about Obake.

I’m talking about Professor Granville, the newly-installed dean of the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology.

People, including myself, play Granville up as some sort of Nick Fury-esque figure.  She’s always in the know, gives advice to the team, and seems to have a general understanding of everything at once.

This is further helped by the fact that we don’t know a lot about what she has been up to since she resigned after Obake’s accident. It’s hindered by the fact that there may be some misinformation going on at the Big Hero 6 Wiki.

Here’s the introductory blurb for Professor Granville on her page:

Grace Granville has been a professor at the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology for at least 20 years, having taught Wendy Wower and Trevor Trengrove among other modern day geniuses.

She used to teach robotics and had her own star student, Bob Aken, but once he began an experiment to build an energy amplifier, it went awry as the amplifier exploded on his face, the result of which sent him to the hospital.

Though Bob survived, Granville felt extreme guilt from the incident and resigned. However, she kept the remains of the amplifier, possibly unaware that it still worked, as a reminder to not repeat the same mistakes.

She would return decades later to teach thermodynamics when Robert Callaghan, the dean of the institute at the time, was thought to have died, then resurfaced as the villain Yokai and was arrested for putting San Fransokyo in danger. Professor Granville became the college's new dean as she settled into her new role quite well. Now, after rewatching “Mini-Max”, I call into question the very first part that she’s been a professor there for at least 20 years.  As far as I am aware of, that has never been said or confirmed in the show.  She said herself (and the yearbook and Callaghan confirm this) that she worked there 20 years ago.  That’s not the same thing.  Working there for 20 years is not the same thing as being there 20 years ago.  So is that a discrepancy or am I the one who doesn’t remember things correctly?

And let’s go to what Callaghan said about the incident when Hiro went to visit him in prison in “Mini-Max”:

Robert: “She was in the lab after hours.  Something went wrong.  There was...an incident.”

Hiro:  “What kind of incident?” Robert: ”Officially, a pipe burst.  But there were rumors.  An unsanctioned project gone wrong.” Hiro:  ”So she was fired?”

Robert: “She resigned.  The matter was not pursued further.  That’s all I know.” OK, first of all...was Callaghan not the dean twenty years ago?  And even if he wasn’t...

Does anyone think that was caused by a simple burst pipe?  What was in said pipe?  Lava?  TNT?  Mentos and Coke?

That leads to the second possibility: Callaghan was Dean at the time, knew about it, and “pushed” Granville to resign to avoid a messy lawsuit.

But we’re getting away from the original point, which is...what exactly has Granville been doing this entire time? I find it hard to believe that Granville was still at the school when Tadashi, Go Go, Honey Lemon, and Wasabi were there.  You’d think that one of them would have said something about it, and all through the conversations in “Mini-Max” gave no indication of that as well.

So she’s been gone for twenty years (presumably).  Which begs the next question... Why did she have to become the dean? Endangering a student’s life is a very serious thing.  Something like that can’t be just forgiven.  So, why did it have to be her? It’s not like there’s not other candidates:

(From left to right: Monica Rambeau [one of the Physics professors], Grace Granville, Robert Callaghan, Linda Carter, and Timothy Dugan.  Note that these are merely names I’ve given them based off of who I think they are and not canon names.  However, for the sake of simplicity, I will refer to them as such from here on out.) Monica might have been a good replacement.  Linda’s just the nurse, so unlikely.  Dugan’s the Dean of Athletics, so probably not.  The dean doesn’t have to be the robotics professor, right?  Granville teaches Thermodynamics. And then you have Professor Kameela from the comics, who appears to be another Physics professor:

So why her?

Granville’s been out of the game, as far as we know, for a long time.  Did the board at SFIT really have no other options other than Granville?  Why give the top job to someone who hasn’t even stepped foot in SFIT for decades?

And the worst part is that I don’t really have a good answer for that.  The show delves into Granville’s history with Obake a lot and not enough into her actual history with SFIT, so that part is pretty much an unsolved mystery.

And if the info on the Wiki is true, then that means...what?  Granville was teaching for 20 years, and then took a 20 year break.  Wouldn’t that put Granville in her 60s, at minimum? (She looks pretty good for possibly being in her 60s.  Maybe she got some Infinity Formula from her possible Marvel counterpart.)

I think it’s much more possible that she’s in her early 50s.  That gives her enough time to be a professor, have an actual working history, and then have to leave with Obake’s accident. So my personal timeline for her career would be something like this.  For the sake of being simple, let’s assume that Granville is an even 50, and also that Big Hero 6 the movie takes place in the year 2031 (as per movie screenshots):

1981 - Grace Gretchen Granville is born 2002 - Graduates college (perhaps at SFIT; haven’t thought that far ahead) Sometime between 2002 and 2004 - Granville begins her work at [Redacted] 2005 - Granville become a TA in the Thermodynamics department (as per Highway to Hell Chapter 2, “In The Details”) 2006 to 2007 - Given government assignment to [SORT OF Redacted] 2007 - Returns to SFIT 2007 to 2011 - Becomes thermodynamics professor at SFIT; continues periodic work at [Redacted] 2011 - Obake’s accident; Granville resigns from SFIT 2011 to 2013 - Takes a position with [SUPER Redacted] in Symkaria 2013 - Returns stateside and [Redacted] 2013 to 2031 - Various jobs and positions, including start-up at Fathom Blue Incorporated and a instructor at the San Fransokyo Police Academy with Sara Pezzini 2031 (Current Time) - Granville becomes Dean at SFIT (Keep in mind that this is a sliding timeline which is subject to change.  Probably.) Man, that’s a lot of redacted information.  It’s almost like she worked for a secret government organization and did a lot of things that aren’t on the public record or something.

I am going to delve into Granville’s history in future stories, and that will include something that I’ve done a fanart on. Mainly this:

The Wakanda story is going to happen at some point, and it’s going to involve one of the redacted items above (from 2002 - 2003).  What exactly she was doing there is going to stay secret for a little bit. Speaking of which, I had done research on a few pieces of Wakandan technology.  Guess which one I found of particular interest.

The Kimoyo Beads.  A bracelet given to every single Wakandan citizen that stores all of their medical information and serves as an everyday tool for them. It also notes that it doesn’t work outside of Wakanda because of its reliance on tapping into Vibranium as a power source.

Now, what would happen if a very realistic version of Vibranium were to find its way out of the country and into Granville’s orbit?

I wonder if her bracelet would start working again. Mysteries abound when it comes to Grace Granville.  If we’re lucky, maybe we’ll solve a few of them before too long.

[rosiehunterwolf]

Twinkle, Twinkle, Are You There?

Prompts: Stars and Trauma

Word Count: 5,498

Characters: Lloyd (with reflection on Kai)

Timeline: During episode 82 (Dread on Arrival), with flashbacks to earlier seasons

Trigger Warnings: Claustrophobia, Kidnapping, PTSD, Self-Deprecation, Starvation, Dehydration

Summary: All he wanted to do was help his team. It was his mistakes that got them into this mess, after all. It would make sense that he was the one to get them out of it. But if there’s one thing Lloyd’s learned over the course of his life, it’s that things don’t have a habit of going his way.

That, and the fact that stars don’t make very good company.

Read on FFN.net

Read on Ao3

Tumblr work under the cut

The night was crisp and clear, with a blackness that enveloped the city in a blanket of stillness, the kind that only befell in the late summer. The city was quiet except for the faint sound of wailing sirens in the distance.

And, much closer, the shuffling of footsteps and clanking of chains.

“What do you want with me?” Lloyd hissed, yanking tightly at the restraints.

“Quiet, Garmadon,” Harumi hissed, and the chains suddenly tightened, causing him to nearly lose his footing as she stalked towards him. “For too long have I remained silent while you blathered on. No longer am I the Quiet One. Now it is my turn to speak.”

“Oh, so now I can’t even talk? I’m not your slave, Harumi.”

She grinned. “No, you certainly are not. But your time will come, don’t you worry.”

Her words sent a trickle of dread down his spine, and he gritted his teeth. “You won’t get away with this. My friends will stop you, and-”

Harumi laughed, long and cold. “Your friends? They are too late. There is no way those pesky little ninja will be able to stop us. Even if they do manage to get here before your father is freed, do you really think that they’ll try to stop us when you’re in danger?”

Lloyd’s throat ran dry. “What are you going to do to me?”

Harumi smirked. “What do you think? After everything you’ve done to me?” She laughed at the look on his face. “Don’t worry. I need you alive. For now. Dead bait isn’t half as effective as it is alive, after all.”

Silence stretched on as the Sons of Garmadon hauled him up a staircase. Killow shoved him from behind, and he stumbled, being sharply tugged back up by the Sons of Garmadon holding his chains. Lloyd grimaced, looking away.

After a few moments, Harumi began to sing softly. “The spider’s in the house, sleep, sleep. The spider bit the mouse-

Lloyd gritted his teeth. He had used to think that song was cute, but now it just put him on edge. Feeling anger surge up inside him, he felt the sudden urge to yell at her.

“So this is your true face without the mask. No wonder you covered it.”

“What did I say about speaking?” Harumi hissed, whipping around. “You think you’re so cocky, but you haven’t won. Far from it. How does it feel to lose for once, Lloyd?”

“Where are you taking me?”

Harumi tut-tutted, shaking her head. “So many questions. Normally, I would not appease you. But I feel like this will be of great interest to you.” She glanced at him, waiting for a reaction, but he remained silent. She sighed. “This is where the palace used to be. Trapped here all my life, I discovered something truly extraordinary. The destruction of the palace was something that had to be done, but… we took care to protect this place. The Temple of Resurrection.”

Lloyd swallowed. The Temple of… oh gosh, she really is going to do it. She’s really going to bring him back. She’s crazy, so crazy-

Harumi turned away from him as they reached a set of double doors. Pushing them open, she revealed a courtyard stretching out in front of them. Sons of Garmadon milled around, stopping and stepping to the side to clear a path as they caught sight of Harumi. A pedestal rose up in the middle of the space, and off to the side was a contraption with two cages. One was empty, the other-

“Mom!”

“Lloyd! What happened? Are you okay?”

One of the Sons of Garmadon poked a spear at her cage, silencing her.

“Let her go, Harumi. This is between us, and only us.”

Harumi laughed. “What has been between us? Your incompetence as the city’s protector by causing the release of the Great Devourer? Or something else? Because only one of those things are true, Lloyd. And honestly, that was entirely your fault. I’m just picking up the pieces.”

Leaning forward and letting her long, white hair swish close to his face, she whispered. “There is nothing between us, Lloyd. And there never has been.”

He jerked away, hating himself as an ache spread through his chest. He was losing nothing by letting go of her. He was better off without her. If only his stupid heart would just understand that.

“Aww, honey,” Harumi cooed, a mock look of pity on her face. “The truth hurts, doesn’t it? Nothing is more powerful than a blow to the heart. Especially on you.”

To his horror, Lloyd felt tears welling up in his eyes, and blinked furiously to disperse them. “Please, Harumi. This is my fault. Do whatever you want to me. But my mom is innocent. Let her go.”

“You’re right, this is all your fault. Which is precisely why I need to keep her around. I know you, Lloyd. You’d be far too happy to take the punishment yourself. One of your little ninja friends would’ve been ideal… you would’ve done anything I asked you then… but she’ll have to do for now. Knowing you, she should be enough.”

Turning towards the Sons of Garmadon restraining him, she flicked a hand at them. “Put him in the cage. I want the utmost security on him.”

His captors nodded, and his chains were yanked sharply, and he was roughly thrown into the cage, his breath knocked out of him for a moment.

His head spinning, he glanced up, seeing the long, curved metal bars stretching above him. A cold trickle of déjà vu slipped down his spine as the reality of his situation fully hit him.

No. No, no, no- Lloyd stumbled to his feet, lurching towards the cage door, just as it was slammed in his face.

“You’re not goin’ anywhere, kid. Behave yourself.”

He felt his heart rate pick up as the familiar panic began to set in. He couldn’t- this couldn’t be happening again. Not a damn cage again.

He- he was the green ninja. He was supposed to- he was supposed to look after his team, to lead them, but he- he always got caught and thrown in a stupid cage.

He threw himself against the bars, gripping them tightly as he leaned his face towards the sky, drinking in the fresh air. It was so small in here, he wanted to get out, to go home-

But that was always how it ended up, wasn’t it? Lloyd was always the one getting caught, always the one the others had to go out of their way to save.

He was a burden. An incompetent, helpless burden. This whole thing was his fault, just like it always was, because he was too weak to stop anyone from taking advantage of him. Him and his dumb, dumb heart.

And he had the nerve to call himself a ninja.

Except this time, it had been so, so, much worse. This time was different from the time with the Serpentine, or even Morro. This time, so many more people’s lives were going to be endangered because of him. Because his stupid, soft heart had decided to trust the girl that was now going to destroy the city.

Again, he had ruined everything.

My friends will fix my mistakes. She won’t win.

Harumi’s words echoed back to him. “Even if they do manage to get here before your father is freed, do you really think that they’ll try to stop us when you’re in danger?”

She was right. He hated that she was right. He was glad his friends loved him, but sometimes it would just be so much easier if they saved the city instead of him.

Opening his eyes, he gazed at the sky above. The night was moonless, the only light coming from the spattering of stars across the sky.

Those damn stars were always there. Why wouldn’t they just leave him alone?

---

The Lost City of Ouroboros, 2012

Lloyd eyed the lock at the front of his cage warily. Ugh, if only I had a pin.

Not that it mattered, anyway. The night was too dark for him to be able to see properly enough to pick the lock. And even if he did manage to get out, he wasn’t exactly unguarded. The city was crawling with Serpentine. And he didn’t stand a chance of sneaking- or fighting- his way past all of them, thanks to the ninja’s refusal to let him train with them.

His frustration dissipated quickly, and he glanced down at his hands, wringing the edge of his black hoodie. No, that wasn’t fair. The ninja had risked their lives trying to save him today. It hadn’t been that long ago that they had met- he was just some bratty kid they had fished off the street, one that had messed everything up for them. They didn’t owe him anything. The fact that they had done as much as they had for him, well-

It was a bit overwhelming, to be honest. No one had ever cared for Lloyd like that before.

The Darkley’s students had always hated him. He was lucky to go a week without being beat up or having bugs left in his bed. Brad had sort of been a friend, he guessed- but in the end, even he had abandoned him.

His mom had left him high and dry at Darkley’s- he didn’t even remember her. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to. And she obviously hadn’t cared enough to come back, or even to write, so… he didn’t think that was an issue he would have to worry about anytime soon.

And his father-

Lloyd really wanted to have hope for his father. He really did. But it seemed like whatever he did, it wasn’t enough. Why hadn’t his dad visited him or even sent him letters, like the other boys’ parents?

Releasing the Serpentine had been Lloyd’s last hope that his father would notice him. But, like everything else, it hadn’t worked. And now he realized that he had hurt people by doing it, too. Good, innocent people, like the ninja.

They were the closest thing he had to a family, now.

But that was just Lloyd being dumb. He had made life very difficult for all of them. Why would any of them ever return those feelings back? He was just making a fool of himself by even entertaining such a notion. Forgiveness was never that easy, something he knew firsthand.

But then they had come back for him, anyway, and Lloyd was left wondering if they really did care. They had fought so hard for him. Maybe he was a part of something, finally. He was afraid to hope.

And then they had nearly died, and he had taken it all back.

He wanted them to save him, to bring him back to the Bounty, to care for him, to love him like no one had before. But he couldn’t ask them to risk their own selves for him. He was an outsider to their family. He hadn’t been there over the past months, the past memories. He was just the bratty kid. Maybe they cared about him now, but they wouldn’t give up that safety and security just for him. He didn’t want them to.

He had tried to remind himself that this was what he wanted as he had watched them flee on the Samurai X mech, watched them take the Golden Weapons to safety. Good. That was much more important than him. They could come back for him any time. Everything was going to be okay.

But then, why did his chest feel so hollow as the mech flew into the distance, smaller and smaller until it was gone? Why hadn’t that feeling gone away even now, hours later?

Lloyd shrugged his shoulders, as if the motion could shake the feeling off. The bars of the cage dug into his back- although not as bad as when he had been shoved into lockers back at Darkley’s, it wasn’t a pleasant reminder- and he shifted, trying to get comfortable, but it was no use. Instead, he tried to focus his gaze outside the cage. Ourorboros was much less active at this time of night, but there were still too many snakes lurking around for his liking. Lloyd hated the sound of their scales slithering across the ground. He had thought, after Uncle Wu had taken him aboard the Bounty, and read him that book, that he would never have to see another snake again. What had he been thinking, going after the Serpentine like he did? Sure, he wanted to prove himself, but he was no ninja. He didn’t even want to be here.

He hadn’t really felt like it had been a choice, though. He had just wanted to fix his mistakes. But he had dug himself into a hole too deep for someone as little as him to climb out of. And going after the Serpentine had only made it deeper.

If only he was cool and awesome, like the ninja. They would know what to do.

He turned his gaze up to the sky, if only to look at something other than Serpentine. The moon was nowhere to be seen, but the stars shone down brightly on him, abundant out here in the desert. Lloyd stared up at them, breathless.

He had grown up in Darkley’s, which had been on the edge of Ninjago City, and after he had been kicked out, in those long weeks before he had come up with the brilliant- or now, he was realizing, insanely stupid- plan to release the Serpentine, he had only ventured farther into the city, hoping to find food and a place to sleep.

The point was, Lloyd had always been a city kid. Before he had gotten captured, he had never been out in the blistering sun in the Sea of Sand, where Jay had grown up, or in the depths of Birchwood Forest, former home of Zane, or even to the small little village of Ignacia where Kai and Nya had once called home. In the thick of the city, he was used to light pollution brightening the skies, the nights dull with only a scattering of stars visible.

But now, out here, in the middle of the desert, the night sky couldn’t be more different. The darkness above him was littered with so many bright, white specks that Lloyd couldn’t believe that so many stars even existed. Darkley’s had taught them typical school curriculum alongside their villainy lessons- in which Lloyd had been told that there were billions of stars in the galaxy, but he hadn’t really believed it before now.

Now, he was sure there must be trillions.

He remembered the ninja’s long nights on watch, and wondered how many stars were visible from his uncle’s monastery, and if the ninja liked to watch them, too. He did remember one night- when he was being a particular pain, Kai had dragged him outside with him in hopes that he would calm down. Lloyd hadn’t been paying much attention to the stars that night- too distracted to look up.

He would pay more attention next time. He bet that Kai would watch the stars with him. The red ninja had sat so patiently with him then, mostly quiet but making conversation every once and a while before they had settled back into the easy bouts of silence. He had even made Kai laugh once. That happy, rich sound had sent warmth spreading through Lloyd’s chest. He hadn’t really known what to make of it then, but now, sitting here, cold and alone except for Serpentine, Lloyd longed for that warmth again.

He wished Kai was here now.

Well, not here-here, he didn’t want him to be captured too, obviously, but he wanted to be with him, somewhere safe, far from any Serpentine, where they could watch the stars in peace.

Maybe they could’ve been, right now, if Lloyd hadn’t been such an idiot.

As much as he hated the fear that clamped at his chest anytime a Serpentine rattled too near, he hated the feeling of hopelessness and uselessness even more. Why did he have to mess up everything all the time? If it weren’t for him, the ninja could be having those peaceful evenings still, out on the rooftop.

Next time, he would be smarter. Next time, he would be a better brother. A better asset to the team.

But at this point, he wasn’t even sure if next time would be an option. He had read plenty of editions of Starfarer in his lifetime, and people like Lloyd didn’t usually get second chances.

But that hurt too much to think about. Instead, he turned to gaze at the stars.

That was the good thing about the stars, he supposed. No matter where he went, what he did, or how badly he messed up, they never left him.

---

The Fire Temple, 2012

Lloyd pulled his knees closer to his chest as hot, bubbling lava gurgled below him. For once, he was glad to have the bars around him- although he wasn’t sure how much protection they would be if the lava seeped up towards him. The Serpentine seemed to think that the volcano was perfectly safe, barely dazed by the oozing molten around them, but Lloyd wasn’t so sure.

At the very least, the heat was sweltering down here, where his cage sat only a few feet away from where the rock dropped way into the vat of lava. Serpentine perched on many of the other rocks jutting out of the lava, chipping away at them as they searched for the third Fangblade. Lloyd bit his lip, hoping they didn’t take the whole volcano down with them.

He kicked absently at a bit of rock that had strayed into the cage, watching as it fell down, into the lava with a gloop.

This sucked. He had been in this stupid cage for about a week now, and he was so tired and scared. Somehow, he hadn’t really expected this. In his mind’s eye, he had imagined getting gobbled up by the Serpentine after a day or two, or maybe even getting rescued. He hadn’t thought it would go on this long.

He tried to be like the ninja- to put on a brave face, stay strong, come up with a plan- but nothing came to him. He wasn’t a ninja. He just wanted his dad.

Nibbling on his lip, he looked up at the chunk of sky that he could see through the opening in the volcano. It was a much more limited view than the one he had seen back in Ouroboros, but the stars were still there, as bright and unyielding as ever.

These ones were especially fascinating, the lava casting a gentle glow on the stars, staining them a faint, burnt orange color. They almost seemed to pulse gently with the flickering lava, and Lloyd let himself forget about everything for a moment, just watching them.

It could’ve almost been peaceful, if it weren’t for his situation.

He leaned his head against the bars of the cage, despite the uncomfortableness. A slight quiver reverberated through the floor, reminding him of the unstableness of the ground beneath him.

Trying to think about something else, he turned his thoughts to the ninja instead. He wondered what they were doing now. Realistically, he knew they were probably trying to find a way to stop the Serpentine- maybe even coming to save him. He knew the idea should’ve brought him comfort, but for some reason, it just made his stomach ache. He didn’t want his friends to get hurt because of him.

Instead, he imagined them hanging out at the monastery. Jay flopped over the couch with a Starfarer comic (one he had probably stolen from Lloyd), Zane and Nya sprawled out on the floor as they played Stratego, glaring at each other icily from time to time, and Kai and Cole duking it out in Fist-to-Face 2, Kai balancing on his knees and practically smashing his controller as he got more agitated, while Cole’s demeanor was much more relaxed, although there was a fierce concentration in his eyes.

Lloyd let a smile play on his lips. The image felt so vivid, so real, and he clutched onto it, longing desperately for some connection- any connection- to the others.

Tears blurred his vision. It wasn’t enough, just imagining them. He needed them. He was going crazy in here, and the slimy Serpentine were terrible company.

Looking back up at the sky, he let his gaze fall on the North Star. Lloyd didn’t know much about constellations or different stars, but he knew that one. It wasn’t too hard to spot, especially on this dark night- bigger and brighter than all the rest.

Lloyd remembered what Brad had told him back at school- that supposedly you could see this star from anywhere. It was a guide, a wayfinder, a path back to home.

Biting his lip, he glanced around to see if anyone was watching him. No one was- of course they weren’t, why would they be- so he turned his gaze on the North Star and whispered under his breath.

“Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight. I wish I may, I wish I might, have this wish I wish tonight.”

Closing his eyes, he thought the wish in his head as hard as he could- saying it out loud would make it not come true, of course- and hoped against all odds, that this time, for once, his wish would actually be granted.

Opening his eyes again, he fixated on the star again.

Maybe, wherever the ninja were, they were watching that star, too.

---

Stiix, 2015

If there was ever a time in his life that Lloyd had wished he had brought a jacket with him, it was now.

Not that he had really had an opportunity to get a jacket in the first place- it would’ve had to been when he had first gone down to investigate that stupid museum robbery, weeks ago at this point- but his point still stood. He was freezing.

A cold breeze rattled eerily through the bars of his cage, swaying it slightly, and Lloyd pulled the dirty, worn mess that was his gi tighter around him. Alright, he got that Morro wanted him to suffer in every way possible, but did he really have to hang his cage all the way up here?

Another gust rocked the cage a little harder, and Lloyd grabbed hold of the bars, whiteknuckling as he tried not to look at the churning waters of the lake not too far to his right. It was all too easy to imagine the cage rolling into the dark, choppy waves if a strong enough gust were to knock him loose.

The hands that gripped the cage bars were pale and trembling, so that Lloyd barely recognized them as his own. He cursed himself- even this brief, fleeting moment of relief from Morro’s possession really wasn’t much of a relief at all because of how much his body was screaming in agony. He was so weak, and even if, by some miracle, an opportunity was presented for him to escape, he would never be able to take it. He wasn’t even sure if he could move.

As if to accentuate his point, Lloyd’s stomach suddenly growled loudly, agonizing cramps ripping through it as he curled in on himself, moaning. He couldn’t even remember the last time he had eaten. He bit his lip, trying to distract himself from the unbearable hunger pangs. Even Cole’s nasty chili sounded heavenly about now, and he felt himself start to cry as he thought of the black ninja, wishing his friend was here now, with or without food.

But the only person there was Ronin. Lloyd craned his neck to peer through the hole in the roof of the man’s pawn shop. Ronin was scowling, his hands securely tied up behind his back as he glared at the floor. He was looking a little better than he had a half hour ago, his skin less of an ashy shade, and some of the color seeping back into his cheeks, but he still was slumped over weakly, trembling slightly.

Even though Lloyd hardly knew him, he felt his heart go out to the man. He was one of the few people in Ninjago who knew how it felt, to be possessed by a ghost- and honestly, Lloyd was impressed that Ronin had recovered this much in such a short amount of time. The first time Lloyd had been released from Morro’s grip, it… well, he preferred not to relive the memories, but it had not been pretty.

Suddenly, he caught sight of a flicker of translucent green glide past Ronin, and Lloyd lurched back from the edge, pressing his back against the opposite side of the cage, gasping. He was still lurking around. Lloyd didn’t even want to look at him, he didn’t want to think about how, all too soon, the ghost would be slipping back inside him, filling his mind, taking over his bones-

Lloyd cut off the flow of thoughts violently, breathing heavily as he tried to contain it. He- he couldn’t think about that now. There would be plenty of time for trauma later, but now his poor body couldn’t handle anymore.

Trying to get his pounding heart to slow, Lloyd swallowed- and immediately regretted it as his throat seared. Ow, he groaned silently, not daring to speak. His throat felt impossibly dry- Morro had given him some water a little while ago, after he was safely out of Lloyd’s body, but the stale, warm liquid had done little to alleviate the raging heat in his throat. Just the thought of water made his head throb, and Lloyd clutched tightly onto the bars, trying not to pass out.

He had barely gotten over his dizzy spell when his stomach suddenly cramped again, loud gurgles and whines bubbling from it as he braced himself.

The pain came much worse than any time before, and it was only the promise of pain from his throat that kept him from crying out. The cramping continued to flare for much longer than usual, and Lloyd began breathing heavier, tears pricking his eyes as he prayed for relief, which came a few moments later, slowly and reluctantly.

Dammit, I haven’t had it this bad since my days wandering the streets, back when I was nine. How long has it been since I last ate?

He hoped Morro would feed him soon. The ghost would need to put some fuel in Lloyd’s body if he wanted to continue to use it, and Lloyd wasn’t sure how much longer he could run without food. If he didn’t get anything soon, he would probably have to ask Morro to give him something, which was always humiliating because the ghost always found some way to make him beg for what he wanted.

It wasn’t like he could ask for anything in this state, anyway. Why did it feel like every part of his body was actively trying to kill him?

Needing something- anything- to distract him from his pain, he found himself looking up for the first time since he had been there.

The night skies of Stiix were breathtaking, stars littering the air like glitter. Even with everything going on, Lloyd felt himself stop for a minute, taking in the beauty of it all.

It would’ve been a perfect night to go stargazing, back home.

Lloyd’s fascination with the stars hadn’t faded since his capture in the desert all those years ago, and he had kept his promise to himself to keep watching them. The others would accompany him once in a while, although he sensed that it was mostly just so that he wouldn’t be alone.

Kai’s feelings, however, had always been more genuine. He and his friend had spent hours studying the different constellations, charting the stars, and going out on the prime stargazing nights. The outings weren’t just about the stars, either. They would chat for hours- about silly things, serious things, or nothing at all. Out there, alone in the darkness, it had just been the two of them and the stars. There had been something intimate and comforting about it, especially on the hard nights. If he was having nightmares again, all he would have to do was wake Kai up and they would go, no questions asked. Sometimes they talked about it, sometimes they didn’t. But what was important was that Kai was always there, as unfading and unfaltering as the stars themselves.

Yet here he was, the stars shining above him, and Kai was miles from here. The last time he had seen him, Lloyd had tried to kill him. His best friend.

No, he reminded himself fiercely. That was Morro in control then. I saved Kai’s life by fighting back.

But he should’ve done more. He had seen his friend escape with cuts and wounds, while Kai had tried so hard to not hurt Lloyd.

Damn, none of that mattered. Kai would forgive him, he always did. Lloyd just wanted to see him again. He’d know what to say to make Lloyd feel better.

Or, at least, he would just hug him. Lloyd really wanted to be held. The only person who had touched him recently was the ghosts, who more so phased through him than touched him.

Wrapping his arms around himself, he looked up at the stars again. Maybe Kai was staring up at them now, too, thinking of him.

The thought made a smile flicker across his lips, and for a moment, he thought he felt a shoulder pressing against his.

He turned his head. No one was there. Of course they weren’t.

Lloyd looked back at the stars desperately, longing for the sensation again. But, unsurprisingly, nothing happened. He had just imagined it.

It was just Lloyd and the stars, together again, yet lonelier than ever.

---

The Temple of Resurrection, Present Day

Lloyd gasped, blinking back the tears that were welling in his eyes. The sky above him came into sharper focus as he did so. But this time, when he gazed up, he didn’t get the little skip in his heart he always felt when watching the stars. Perhaps it had something to do with being so deep in the city, but they felt colder and more distant than usual.

Even the stars were against him tonight, it seemed.

Maybe his luck had finally run out.

That was probably for the best. It seemed like every time Lloyd got himself captured, Kai managed to plunge himself headfirst into danger, and would almost get himself killed.

Lloyd really hated that about him. If Kai ever died trying to save him, he would never forgive himself. It would be better for everyone if they stayed far away from here.

But then Harumi will succeed in bringing my father back.

Lloyd put his head down. He didn’t know what to do. He just wanted everyone to be safe, but he always managed to mess things up, to throw a wrench in their plans.

And this time, he had messed up so much worse. His father was going to come back, the city was going to be destroyed, Harumi was going to win.

And this time, he didn’t know how to fix it.

Suddenly, a flash caught the edge of his vision, and Lloyd whipped his head towards it, sucking in his breath. A shooting star. He hadn’t seen one of those in years.

Those are lucky, he thought, unbidden. For special wishes.

He was being silly. That was just a dumb old superstition. He wasn’t a little kid anymore, he had stopped wishing on stars a long time ago.

“Make a wish, Lloyd.”

“Go away, Kai,” he grumbled. “You’re not really here. The last thing I need is the Sons of Garmadon laughing at me for talking to myself.”

The red ninja pointed to the sky. “You’re going to miss it.”

“I’m not going to wish on that stupid star, okay?”

“Why won’t you do it anymore? I miss when we used to talk about the stars.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not a kid anymore.”

“It’s never too late, bud.”

“Yes, it is!”

“Why?”

“Just leave me alone!”

When he looked up again, Kai- or rather, the illusion of Kai- was gone.

“... because I can’t,” he whispered, to whom, he didn’t know. “Not anymore. My life hasn’t been that simple for a long time. Even the luckiest of wishing stars isn’t going to change that.”

Closing his eyes, he blocked out the twinkling lights above him, letting his vision succumb to blackness.

[mynameseri]

In the Name of Love

Risotto Nero x Reader

My first writing commission🖤 If you are interested in commissioning me, send me a DM!

Warnings: None! SFW, kinda angsty kinda fluffy

Word Count: 2k

--

No matter how you adjusted your body on the cushions of the black leather couch, you weren’t able to get fully comfortable. Your anxiety overwhelmed you to the point of physical discomfort, which you couldn’t seem to ease no matter how hard you tried. The entirety of La Squadra occupied the rest of the room, chattering amongst themselves until the arrival of your leader: Risotto Nero. As you sat by yourself on the couch, it felt impossible to muster the courage to talk to any of your teammates. The reason for this meeting was your fault anyway. You knew it and even if they didn’t openly say it, they knew it too. The guilt of your mistake was why you sat alone on the couch, unable to meet their eyes with your own.

Silence filled the room and every set of eyes was on Risotto as he entered and took a seat in a spot that everyone could view clearly. It was common for La Squadra to regroup a few days after a mission, usually reviewing how it went and what could be done better in future missions once the dust of the current one had settled. You were all professional assassins, so it was important to strive for improvement and eliminate all weaknesses as they arose.

“You all know why we’re here today,” Risotto declared with an expressionless face. He was always hard to read in the public eye in a bid to uphold his professionalism, frequently hiding his emotions only to unveil them in private settings. Despite his well kept composure, every member of the squad was aware of the strength and power he held, physically and within the mafia. He was not one to mess with or doubt.

“The mission went well with minimal damage taken on our end. By definition it was a success; we met our objectives and obtained what was needed. Putting the obvious aside, certain members went against their directions and that is an action that can put us all in danger, which I cannot allow.”

As he continued on with the meeting, remorse lingered in your stomach alongside the flashbacks running through your mind. These flashbacks had been haunting you, playing on repeat since that moment. You and Risotto were partners during the mission due to the compatibility of your stands for it. Despite that, working together was a decision he came to regret in the end due to how your performance in the mission turned out. The possible outcomes of pairing up lovers had been clear from the start. Relationships and work always seemed to end up a hot mess, as you had seen through other groupings of romantic partners in  La Squadra in the past. Feelings interfere with logic and critical thinking; you now knew that firsthand.

“Remember, you must keep your own safety a top priority during a mission. You’re given certain orders: see them through. Worrying about your teammates comes second, as they also need to focus on their own safety first.” Risotto’s words were honest ones; it was every man for himself in this job setting. Assassination was a tough line of work and putting others before yourself was risky and could lead to sloppy work. Letting his words sink in, you reflected on yourself. You were always headstrong, letting your gut feeling take control even if it meant disobeying orders, which was exactly what Risotto and the team were against.

Even if your actions were in a bid to save Risotto from injury, they went against the rules and order of La Squadra. From your perspective, he was in danger, potentially unaware of the enemy lurking nearby, but with the help of your stand you sensed it and tried to intercept them from hurting Risotto, which ended up making you vulnerable to their attack. Because of how quickly everything was happening, you couldn’t judge if Risotto was aware of their presence or could sense the danger. Going with your instinct, you stepped in and pushed him out of the way of the attack, which narrowly missed him. Even though you didn’t follow your orders, you were able to save him and you both escaped with taking no damage, but you knew he wasn’t going to let your disobedience and recklessness slide.

The meeting ended sooner than you expected, mostly because your other teammates had stuck to the plan so there was no point in endlessly lecturing them for mistakes they didn’t make. After giving his final thoughts on the matter, the rest of the teammates dispersed from the meeting room, heading to their designated rooms in the base. The number of members in the room slowly decreased until the only ones left were you and Risotto.

The tension hanging in the air made you even weaker than you already felt. Risotto hadn’t spoken to you since the end of the mission days ago, making you ache for him in ways you didn’t know were possible. You were so used to constantly communicating with him and being beside him, being separated by his will was hell to you. He needed time to work through his thoughts and emotions, to select the right words and logically think through the situation and handle it appropriately.

Risotto understood where you were coming from and your intentions, but he didn’t like you endangering yourself just for him, in the name of love rather than sticking to the methods of work. He could hold his own out there and you knew it; you also knew you needed to separate your feelings from work. This was why partnering with him on missions was problematic.The whole situation was messy. He was mad and he had every right to be; putting space between you two was his punishment and he hoped for you to finally learn your lesson.

“We need to talk.” Ris breathed in a low growl, giving you the look you knew damn well meant you were in trouble. “My office. Now.” As he got up from his seat, you were quick to follow suit, only steps behind him at any given moment. It felt so good to be in his presence again, something you had so desperately craved after being apart the last few days. Although you knew this was going to be a tough conversation, you couldn’t help but feel at ease knowing the separation between you two was coming to an end. As you approached his office, he gestured for you to enter first and followed behind you, closing the door as he went.

“(Y/n),” He huffed, pressing you up against the nearest wall and intensely gazing into your soul. Despite his expressionless face, his glowing red eyes showed his anguish, a sight that inexplicably overwhelmed you. “Listen to me next time, caro/a.” Each word pierced into you in a way that made your heart feel heavier than it did previously.

“Ris-” You started, in an attempt to justify your actions, but he quickly stopped you, pressing his index finger roughly against your lips. The feeling of his skin against your own brought butterflies into your stomach, despite the seriousness of the situation.

“You need to follow instructions; I gave them for a reason. I don’t want you getting hurt. You could have gotten severely injured, perhaps even killed, back there.” His words echoed in your mind; he was right. “I can take a hit, handle an attack against me. It wasn’t worth putting your own life on the line and giving your position away to the enemy.” You knew there was nothing you could say to justify going against his gameplan. You acted with your heart and not your head, a critical mistake. You knew he wasn’t exactly mad at you for going against orders as much as he was upset that you could have gotten hurt trying to save him.

“I know. I know,” You sighed, not even putting up a fight against his words now. “I wasn’t thinking clearly… I acted out of love…” Trying to piece together your words became harder as a pit grew in your stomach, your voice cracking as you continued, “Because I couldn’t bear the thought of losing you.” Just those words were enough to release all of your emotion, leading you to pull him in for a hug. Sensing your guilt and sadness, he reciprocated the hug and held you even tighter - he was always a sucker for your touch.

As you melted into his arms, nothing else in the world seemed to matter. Two lovers in a passionate embrace, soaking in one another’s feelings through touch. You thought you knew what you were signing up for when you joined La Squadra. But you never would have guessed you would end up falling in love with Risotto. While your relationship was a gift, it was also something that complicated life more than you’d both like. It was challenging to find the balance between lovers and teammates, especially in the midst of missions. But you knew miscalculations and mistakes could be fatal, so there was a time and place to let your feelings take the lead, and during work was not the right time.

His grip loosened from the hug and your eyes met once more in a shared gaze full of love and unspoken words. The feeling coursing through your body was one that couldn’t ever be fully explained. You were the only person he could share this side of himself with, while he chose to maintain his strong, hard image with all others; it was undeniable how much he loved you. He was open with his true thoughts and feelings; he was genuinely himself when he was with you. You could feel him softening up, not just by his grip but also through the tension in the air that was fading and instead replaced with your fondness for each other.

“Please be more careful next time, caro/a.” He whispered, planting a kiss atop your head. “I would hate myself if anything happened to you because of me.” The words were enough to send a chill down your spine while making your heart feel as if it could burst at any given moment.

“I promise this won’t happen again, Ris. I’m sorry,” your voice quivered as the words escaped your lips, eyes quickly averting towards the floor. Putting his index finger to your chin, he lifted your face to look up at him, and pulled you in close, pressing his soft lips against yours. Oh how you had missed the feeling of adrenaline ripping through your bloodstream from his kisses; you never wanted to do anything that might make him want space from you ever again. You loved him. You needed him. Nothing was worth jeopardizing your relationship with him. You deepened the kiss, bringing your own hands to his face, slowly entangling your fingers in his hair as you traded the taste of mint and heartfelt emotions between your tongues.

“Thank you, piccolo/a.” He interrupted the kiss and softly smiled, “I only make these orders with the intention of keeping you as safe as I possibly can. I hope you understand that and where I’m coming from with my requests.” Feeling like he had said enough, his lips crashed against yours once again, picking up where they had left off.

It was clear the hardest part was over and things were moving from what felt like a lecture to something more fun and well needed. You pulled back from the hot and heavy kiss, inhaling a deep breath and basking in the beauty of Risotto’s signature smirk. You couldn’t get enough of him, he was your everything. Kisses weren’t enough to satisfy your desires from him at the current moment, you needed more and it was obvious he did too with the way he was eyeing you like a piece of tender meat. It was time to let the worries and issues of work be put behind you for now.

“Let’s take this elsewhere,” Risotto hummed, gently taking your hand in his own and leading you toward the door. You effortlessly followed, willing to go wherever he planned on taking you. As you exited the room, a sense of relief filled your body knowing everything was okay. You strolled together, hand in hand, down the hallway toward your shared room eager to release the rest of your pent up desire and feelings through making love to one another.

[catxsnow]

TAKE THE BULLET B.W.

Request:  I saw your post about requests! Can you do a Batman x reader (from the animated movies if you do him) where the reader is apart of the JL and almost dies by jumping in front of a bullet during a mission with the team to save Bruce? Fluffy/angsty stuff. 

Warning: injury, angst, fluff

A/N: I’m so sorry it took this long! It’s been sitting in my WIP for ages and I just never got around to doing it until now 

Gif not mine

Word count: 2.3k 

You knew the risks of being in the Justice League.

A constant target on your back, the willingness to lay down your life to protect the people of your world, even the on demand requirement of your presence when someone was endangering the world. The second that you joined the team, you lost your freedom to have a normal life.

When it came down to it, it was all worth it. Knowing that you saved hundreds, thousands, even millions of lives because you stood up against an evil greater than yourself. The nightmares that haunted your sleep because of the horrors that you saw. The pain you endured because you refused to give up. Everything was worth it.

Your whole life you had been the one to willingly put yourself through all this torture to save lives. It was engraved in you to make the world a better place, no one expected you to make a difference like this one. No one expected you to be a hero, one of the best at that.

For so long you were on your own. You had your friends in your civilian life but no one truly to understand what you had to endure as a superhero. That was until the Justice League formed. It was a rocky start - a bunch of people who didn't believe that they needed to be a part of something bigger.

While many of the heroes found it a burden to have people that relied on you, you found it a blessing. People to finally understand who you were, that accepted you for the person that you were, not some freak. This team meant everything to you, enough that you would give up your life for your teammates.

And that was exactly what you had done. It was a dangerous mission, everyone knew that. As prepared as everyone was, they weren't expecting you to take the bullet for Batman. You saw the blast coming while he was fighting off another monster. There wasn't enough time to get him out of the way and he had no idea that it was coming for him.

So, in a moments haste, you had put yourself between the blast and him. Batman might have driven you crazy half the time, but he was only human under that suit. He would have never survived the blast. You barely did and your suit was impenetrable.

Batman didn't make friends. He didn't stick around to get to know his teammates and he certainly wasn't chatty with anyone. You found him insufferable most of the time but that small part of you couldn't help but be intrigued by him. Batman acted as if he were Superman even though a bullet would stop him just as it would anyone else.

He was meticulous with everything he did. No matter the situation, he knew every detail about everything. Batman was cold hearted, except for the split second time that you got to see him smile.

The team watched in horror as you fell to the cement. Your suit was half disintegrated and your breathing shallow. The blast had almost killed you. Almost.

It was Hal that got you out of there, bringing you to safety and away from the fight that you could no longer be a part of. Everyone had seen you go down. As devastation filled them, so did determination. They couldn't lose this fight, not after what you had done for them all. Batman most of all.

Only when you were safe in the infamous Batcave did Hal leave your side again. At the moment, there was no better place for you. He knew the secret identity of Batman, he also knew that Bruce was going to want to be the one to help you. After that night, he owed you a life debt.

As much as Batman liked to make everyone think he was invincible, he was only human. Humans had a heart, and with that little move that you did, you had gotten right into his.

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You woke up cold. The air was still and held a frosty bite to it. Your whole body ached and as you tried to move it flared even more though your nerves. An IV was stuck in your arm and you were no longer in your suit. It wasn't the new clothes or the medical supplies that got you curious, it was the location.

No one in the Justice League had been lucky enough to step foot in the Batcave. It always seemed like some sacred place that all your other teammates were afraid to step foot in. Their bad mojo rubbed off on you for the longest time as well. Batman's secret lair always seemed to spook you.

Sitting in there now, you didn't feel the same way. Aside from the cold and darkness, the place wasn't nearly as dramatic as you thought it was going to be. Large super computer, training area, the med bay that you were in, and a collection of memorabilia. Nothing like you expected it to look like.

"You're awake."

You nearly jumped at the voice. Batman stood to the side of you, his cowl off so you could see his face. It was the first time that he ever trusted you with his identity and least to say, you were shocked. Bruce Wayne hid under that cowl. Billionaire playboy by day, Gotham's hero at night.

Without the cowl on, he looked far less intimidating. Whether it was his piercing blue eyes or the fact that he was really just some human. You felt less of a need to cower away from him and more of a pull of attraction. He was handsome, extremely.

"How long was I out?" You asked. Your voice was hoarse and the cough that erupted in your chest only put you through more pain. It was going to take far longer for you to heal than you wished. However, seeing Bruce alive because of you was well worth the pain. You couldn't imagine Gotham without it's Dark Knight.

"Three days."

"Fuck," you muttered, laying back down to the pillow. Your eyes sealed shut in frustration at the lost time. "I take it the rest of the mission went well then."

"Minimal civilian causalities," Bruce told you. He took a step closer to you and reached for the bandages that crossed your stomach. Faint burn marks that would never fully heal laced your skin. They did as much as they could, but you would be left scarred forever. Just a reminder for Bruce that you nearly died for him.

Before he could touch the material, you had snatched his wrist. Your eyes were still shut when you did the action, but they popped open when you grabbed him. Bruce retracted without saying anything. He nearly complained as you pulled the IV out of your arm and swung your legs off the side of the hospital bed, but remained silent. You were a grown woman, you could decide if you felt healthy or not.  

"Thank you," Bruce found the only way to stop you in your tracks. Your hands gripped the side of the bed and he couldn't tell if it was because you were suddenly dizzy, or shocked by his words. It was both. Your head hung low and you didn't wish to gaze up at him. Memories of the searing pain you felt flooded you and seeing his face was only a reminder of it all.

You knew that taking that blast might of killed you. You knew that the second it hit you that you might not be waking up the next morning. Was it worth it? Saving someone as heartless as Batman? You weren't sure yet. You were alive and breathing, that was going to have to be good enough for now.

"I would be dead without you," he continued. You still didn't move. Bruce went down to his knee. One hand gently on you leg and the other balancing on his own. His touch caused you to flinch, catching him off guard. He felt the need to step away from you, to give you the space that you desired. "I'm sorry."

"I saved a teammate, Bruce," you used his real name. His narrowed slightly; he didn't think you recognized him. You showed no reaction as you saw who he really was, he just assumed you were as oblivious as Hal. "I'd like to think you would do the same but who fucking knows."

"I've dedicated my life to saving people do you really think that I wouldn't do the same for anyone else on the Justice League? For you?" Bruce grit his teeth. He stood up from his spot on the ground and towered above you once more. This sudden coldness that you were giving him was nothing that he expected when you woke up.

You were always so kind to everyone on the team - even him when he pushed you away so many times. After taking the risk of dying for him, he thought that you would be willing to show more kindness. Someone willing to die for another obviously enjoyed their presence . At least he thought so.

"I think that it's been months that we've been working together and it's only when I nearly die for you that you decide to show your face," you scoffed. "Then again why does it matter who's under the mask, you're still the same asshole either way." This time, you jumped off the bed and tried to walk past Bruce.

You never even made it two steps past him before he grabbed your wrist and stopped you. You tried to pull out of his grasp but it was no use, he was far too strong for you. Bruce tugged you back, nearly causing you to trip over your own feet as you did.

"I kept you alive, the least I deserve is a thank you," Bruce's voice lowered. If you were going to be cold to him, then he was going to be the same right back. "But then again, why does it matter? I'm still the same asshole anyways that could have let you die." He let go of your wrist, but his words only frustrated you more.

After taking the bullet for him, you thought he would be more willing to open up to you. To be himself while there was no one else around. It didn't take long to realize that he would never do that, or maybe this was him being himself. You would never know the truth. That was what angered you.

You wanted to argue with him, to yell at him for being such a soulless dick. However, Pain erupted though your entire body. Your knees buckled from below you as you held onto your wound. Bruce had caught you just before you hit the ground. He easily swooped you up and set you back down on the bed.

This time, you didn't argue as he lifted the bandage to see what kind of hell your skin was in underneath. Bruce worked in silence. He dabbed a clean cloth around the wound and sterilized it. The sting of alcohol made you bite your lip to hold back the hiss of pain. With more grace than you ever thought he had, he wrapped you with a new bandage.

As he tried to walk away, you were the one to stop him. You grasped his hand, far more delicately than he had grabbed you. He could easily snap out of your hold if he wanted to, yet he found himself stopping to turn back.

"I'm sorry," you apologized. He was right, Bruce did save your life. "I guess I just expected you to be... different without the mask on. I assumed we all were. Maybe in this life we're always hiding behind some sort of mask, even without realizing it."

"Sorry to disappoint."

"Bruce," you stopped him from walking away once more. "I just meant that I'm grateful for you to trust me with your identity. And that you saved me, you understand what it's like to be human under the suit. I know that trust doesn't come easy to you."

A silence fell between you. The intensity of his stare made you feel vulnerable. Cowl on or off, he was still the great Batman. A deadly weapon and a savior to Gotham. You hadn't meant to get upset. He was the last person on the team that you wanted to make angry - even more than Superman.

"Do you wanna get a drink?" Bruce suddenly asked. The corner of his lips tugged up and it was the most that you had seen him smile since that brief first time. You looked down at the over-sized clothes that you wore and then over to his Batsuit. Together, you looked to be quite the pair.

"I hope being a billionaire means you buy good whiskey," you agreed to his offer. Bruce pulled you up off the bed with the hand that had been resting in yours the whole time. You were thankful for his help. The wound you had surely would have taken you down once more if it wasn't for his support.

You stopped several steps in. Bruce looked down at you, worried about your wound. With a second of hesitation, you stood on your toes to kiss the corner of his lips. Your hand rest on his chest as your lips lingered on his skin. Your hand felt as if it was burning a whole through his chest.

He didn't expect this sudden act of affection, but he appreciated it nonetheless.  "If you'd let me, I'd like to get to know the real you - whatever version that may be," you offered. Bruce had trouble opening up to people, but maybe it would be easier with you.

"I'd like that."