#advances none miraculous

[end0r4]

Al Swearengen, Deadwood: Advances, None Miraculous s02e10

[jyoongim]

Hey there! My first time asking/making a request lol, but I had two separate ideas and you can just pick one or something.

First was an alastor w/ fem reader, it's mating season for red and this ones diff bc he's had his eyes on reader or smthn for a min and decides this season he's going to do his best to show off to her, lmao like "look look, I can provide and protect!" a bit intense bc it's mating season, but reader is CLUELESS until at some point it finally clicks and she's all "huh.. ohh SHIT"

Second idea was one that I thought would be funny, like so.. lucifer finds out Al likes reader and even tho he doesn't really like Al he's like " don't worry, I can definitely help with this" but he's lowkey a terrible wingman even tho miraculously it somehow helps in the end???

Again you can choose from either and end it however you want, fluff/nsfw/sfw. Or if none of this is your cup of tea then just ignore me!!

Not me on a fluff binge hehehhehe

hope you guys like it! I’ve been a bit slow to write and upload but I’ve enjoyed reading every request! I’m still taking a slight break but I try to give y’all SOMETHING. Hope y’all don’t mind!!

Lots of love-jyoongim

——————————————————————————————-

Mating season.

Usually an awful time of year that made Alastor more on edge than usual.

But something was different this year…

This mating season, the deer demon wanted a partner….

Alastor had his sights on a pretty doe and he was going to ensure that she was going to be his for the season…

—————————————————————————

You rubbed the sleep out your eyes as you greeted everyone as you took a seat for breakfast.

Pancakes. Bacon. Sausage. Eggs. Fruits.

Your stomach rumbled at the delicious smells.

”Fine hellish day isn’t my dear?” Alastor chirped as he piled food fruits and meats on your plate. You blinked at the amount of food on your plate.

”Al my stomach is only so big” you giggled causing the demon to hum as he took a seat beside you.

”A full belly makes a happy doe” he smiled as you happily ate the food.

Alastor watched as you ate, a soft purr rumbling in his chest.

”Why don’t we go for an outing dear?” Alastor suggested as you let out a burp.

You agreed.

It was rather chilly for Hell.

You and Alastor waltz around the city. You happily looked at the displays in many windows. 

You didn’t know Alastor’s agenda but you didn’t mind accompanying him.

You must have lagged behind him a tad as a demon slithered up beside you as you looked over some jewelry.

”what’s a cute thing like you doing all alone?” A deep voice asked causing you jumped, surprised.

”O-Oh hi um I’m just looking that’s all” you gave a nervous smile. Your skiddish nature took over as you took a step back. The demon advanced on you. He was big, could easily overtake you if need be.

”Why don’t I show you around? I don’t see a ring. I can show you a good time” sharp teeth smiled at you menacingly.

Your ears flattened, you might be  small but you could defend yourself. You bared your teeth at the demon making him chuckle

”Now now little lady lets not get ugly” 

You hadn’t realized he had backed you into a corner.

The demon pounced, making you screech as he pinned you to the wall.

Your ears perked as heavy static buzzed through the air. The demon didn’t seem to notice 

 “You’ll make a fine piece of ass”

Black smoke poured through the alleyway and static popped.

”That’s no way to talk to a lady”

Black tentacles dragged the demon and blood-curdling screams escaped the demon, but were quickly silenced as Alastor ripped him apart.

”mine mine mine” Alastor growled as he chomped on the demon.

You gagged as chunks of flesh flew around.

Satisfied that the distasteful demon was in his belly, Alastor looked towards you.

A large sharp claw traced your face, he was growling but his eyes were soft. He morphed to be a bit smaller and helped you up, his red eyes roaming over you.

”I’m okay Al” you reassured giving him a smile. He seemed to calm down and looped your arm with his.

”dishonorable filfth” he hissed as he made his way back to the hotel. You pouted you really wanted to buy something but you’ve had enough excitement for one day.

You looked at Alastor and tilted your head “Al your antlers”

The usual small antlers were now big and standing tall on top his head.

”Nice rack” you giggled making the red demon smirk, his chest puffing proudly.

”than-thank you for all that. I really appreciate Al” you said sheepishly.

The tall demon hummed 

“Don’t mention it my dear. What kind of man would I be if I couldn’t protect you?”

——————————————————————————

Alastor had been lingering around you since the little accident. He had growled at anyone who got too close to you.

He was very possessive and protective of you, which you thought was sweet that the demon was worried about you.

You groaned as the sun peaked through your window. You sat up and you blinked in confusion.

Flowers, breakfast, and a tiny box.

Rest up little Doe ~Alastor

Your tail wagged in happiness. You don’t know why Alastor had been so attentive but you were eating it up.

You placed the flowers in a vase and began to eat breakfast.

Your face wrinkled as you pulled a piece of meat from your teeth.

what the fuck?

It was soft and fleshy. You shuddered but ate the rest of your breakfast. You opened the tiny box and keened when you saw the bracelet you had been looking at earlier in the week.

There were cute little radio themed charms.

You quickly cleaned up and went downstairs.

Charlie and Vaggie were sitting in the lobby chatting.

You smiled and waved, your bracelet caught Vaggie’s attention.

”Hey where you get that?” The question also caught Charlie’s attention, she immediately began gushing

”Oh my! Did Alastor get that for you? Omg so cute!”

Vaggie deadpanned “Alastor have been very cozy towards you what’s that about?”

You shrugged “I don’t know but it can’t be anything bad right?”

————————————————————————————-

“I see you got my gift” Alastor said, coming behind you as you red on the couch. You smiled “Its really nice Al but why the sudden gift giving?”

Alastor smiled “well my dear its mating season”

You blinked. Mating season? What did that have to do-

OH SHIT!

Your eyes widened “Y-You’ve been…”

His lips pulled into a genuine smile “Courting you? Why of course my dear!”

His hand circled the wrist with the bracelet. He brought it up to his lips and pressed a soft kiss to it.

Your body shuddered in delight and your ears flicked as he nipped at your fingers.

Your nose wrinkled at the smell of his pheromones, your tail wagging.

You let out a purr as you rubbed yourself against him and took off running, throwing a wink at him as he followed suit, giggling as he made a grab at your hips as you evaded him.

”Come and solidify your place Mr. Radio Demon” you teased slipping into his room.

A soft growl escaped Alastor as he followed you and had his shadow guard the door.

[cebwrites]

Hello hello !! Just discovered your blog through the law x anxious reader fic, and it really helped me out :< indulged in your beautiful master list! Keep it up!!!

If your requests are open, are you okay to write more comfort scenarios with law x reader or Sanji x reader? Any sad/distracted reader scinario really !! ( extra cookies for a bottled up reader but not an important need) Only if you want to tho <3

pls take care of yourself and thank u!! Have a good day ^_^

a/n: hellooo anon from-- december 2023... ._.;; i've been meaning to get to your request for a while but just never got around to until now! hopefully you're still around to enjoy the food <//3

comforting their partner (Law, Sanji)

masc reader, they/them law word count: 0.8k

Law

You were known to get lost in your thoughts from time to time, so initially, Law wasn't worried.

You still keened into their touch as Law's hand brushed against your cheek for attention, you lounged on the couch in their office as they worked, occasionally pestering them with wants for kisses and the non-negotiable snack break, and you still pulled them to bed, to try and get some sleep, a few reasonable hours before the sun would peek over the horizon.

It was when you began to dwell on things that Law began to worry.

You weren't as quick to respond, you picked at your food—while somehow miraculously making sure they ate—and stared out of the Tang's port holes with a look in your eyes that wasn't like the usual daydreams.

It took them longer to realize than they'd like to but once they do, they talk to you about it, put it to bed sooner rather than later.

Law's familiar with all the motions you try to use to avoid confrontation, tools they've used before to run from being vulnerable with the people close to them, with their crew, with you. So they have none of it. They still give you space when you ask and let you know that you can come to them for anything, but Law becomes entirely more physical than they've ever been.

Cuddling and giving you little pecks on the cheek in front of crew members, crawling into bed with you without being asked, even setting up little movie nights for the both of you to relax. None of their advances are sexual, they're just a lot more present despite themself.

Knowing how difficult it must be for Law to be open like this, you relent and spill what's been troubling you all this time, slowly releasing the pressure you've built inside you until it comes out in full forced waves, wracking your body.

Law rests their head in the crook of your neck, offering comfort in the form of gentle circles on your back where words fail them but they try, regardless.

Once the tears have dried you offer them a consolation smile, make a little jab at yourself about how much time they've had to waste comforting you here, instead of doing work; their response is pinching your noise with a frown, only smiling at the silly sound you make in return.

"The only time wasted is time not spent with you, darling."

Sanji

Another suspect of serial "not-talking-about-his-feelings"-itis.

Sanji notices the change immediately, he tries to broach the topic with you but you sidestep it with excuses, a wry smile, and typical Strawhat chaos envelops the Sunny before Sanji can get anywhere near a concrete answer from you.

Still, his love is clearly upset about something and it's up to him to make his boyfriend feel better.

A wretched, dreadful part of him in the form of three men with ridiculous hair whispers that it's probably his fault, deepening the pit in Sanji's stomach that opened up when he first picked up on your mood, but he's quick to tamp it down in the moment.

It lingers, however, the longer you avoid him.

And when he starts holding back with you in return, this only deepens the well of worry you've cultivated.

Eventually, the crew conspires to get the two of you talking again - because the opposite is driving everyone up the wall. You don't pay attention to antics with Luffy and Usopp, Franky's inventions don't have you scurrying over with the rest of the boys, Sanji doesn't twirl and spin as much for the ladies, and although his cooking is still immaculate, everyone can tell that he's distracted.

Chopper even whispers about how frustrated Zoro is now that Sanji doesn't rise to the bait of a deadly sparring match.

So you end up alone with Sanji one evening. The crew's antics somehow lost the pre-planned date dinner, but Sanji doesn't mind whipping up something simple and quick for your refined plate. You laugh, it's a sound he misses, and you can't deny that you miss sharing food with him as well.

He makes the crew's meals every day, yes, but something like this is different, it's intimate.

Over the course of preparing dinner, and having it, you slowly let your thoughts unravel, bare your vulnerabilities to him and Sanji, in turn, in equal measures relieved as he aches for not being someone you felt that you could come to air these grievances, embraces you.

He fills your head with every thought he's had about you since this rift had formed, maybe leaving the... less, chivalrous ones for later, but more than anything Sanji wants you to know you are loved. By him and everyone who shares a space with you on this ship.

Heart full of love, you kiss your swirly cook to sleep.

[vampirtulpe]

Kampfmaschinen maintenance

Was struck by the sudden idea for an au that solely consisted of "What if Kaiser actually is a machine", so I drew two quick pics and wrote some lore to get it out of my system.

Anyway, some notes about it are under the cut (It's pretty long, sorry about that)

-Whole reason for Kaiser being a machine is basically him getting super injured during his time in the army, there was no chance of him for survival. Kaiser's only family was his mother, so scientists decided to take the opportunity and run some experiments on Kaiser to see if they can make super soldiers by enhancing them with machinery

-Kaiser survived, miraculously, but the experiment was still deemed a failure, since Kaiser didn't only get some horrific trauma from the procedures and his time in the army, his body was also weaker than it was before all the machinery was inserted into him. The technology just wasn't advanced enough at the time and keeps him alive rather than actually making him stronger

-Aside from that he actually works very similar to how he was before, just more traumatized. He doesn't need to breathe or eat or drink, but he still likes doing it, just to feel like everything is normal

-Things get a little more difficult with maintenance, cause the lab that ran all the experiments on him was forcefully shut down after it was discovered what was done there. Kaiser knows how to maintain himself, but he's worried that there is now nowhere he can get replacement parts, should something break one day (Which it inevitably will)

-Kaiser still found a home in the WVBA, all the boxers are very nice with him and some of them even learned how to help Kaiser with maintenance. The main person for that is Joe, Kaiser trusts him with his life (while Joe almost shits himself every time, he's that scared of messing up)

-He was a feared boxer for a long time, but eventually his trauma caught up to him and the technology that kept him running was getting more and more outdated, causing him to lose more and more often and eventually move to the minor circuit

-Kaiser knows that it's just a matter of time until regular maintenance isn't enough anymore to keep him running and tries to make peace with it by telling himself that he is just a machine and not the man he used to be. It's his way to cope, even if it's unhealthy, it's the only thing that desensitizes him -But in truth, he's absolutely terrified of the day he stops working, he doesn't feel ready at all, but tries to not let it show, he doesn't want it to make it any more difficult for the other boxers (Who are having absolutely none of it and always aggressively shut him down)

-Right now the only people even willing to give it a try to help Kaiser are the scientists that worked on Soda, but Soda REALLY doesn't want them anymore near his friends, so he'd rather they wait until it isn't an option anymore. He just knows what they are capable of and wants to protect the WVBA, they are like a family to him

-Kaiser has a kind of berserk mode, where he will just rampage and destroy everything and everyone in his path. He isn't aware of it existing and no one knows how to trigger it, so let's hope it stays that way Well, yeah, that's all I came up with, hope you enjoy this. Oh, and here is the second art, as a continuation of the first ^^

[midnightlizard]

Kara Danvers x gn!spidey! reader

Love square

Summary: Kara loves the reader, but they're in love with Supergirl. None of them knows who the other secretly is. (it's basically the miraculous plot if you've ever seen it)

Warnings: nothing really. Reader has Spiderman powers but the superhero name (Y/S/N) is not specified

Word count: 5080

-

-

It was a quiet night out in the streets, you already swung over the city a couple of times looking for people getting robbed, attacked or even murdered. But to everyone's luck, except maybe yours, National City was very peaceful tonight.

Hanging from a streetlight, you were pondering ending your patrol and just going back to bed, until you noticed something small moving out of the corner of your eye.

It didn't trigger your senses but you still decided to get on the ground to check it out.

What seemed to be now a small animal shierked away from the sudden movement, hiding under a bench.

Looking through the cracks of the wood you saw a pair of yellow eyes looking back at you.

"come here kitty, come come" you knelt on the cement, trying to get it to come to you. Surprisingly enough, it slowly advanced, coming out to sniff your outstretched fingers.

"oh sorry baby I have no food with me" but thankfully the cat didn't seem to mind, as it started headbutting your hand in search of cuddles. Now that it was under the light you could see its black fur and white spots, that made it look like it had socks on and a mustache.

"ahw look at you, you're so cute!" he wasn't wearing a collar, but you could tell he was a boy.

Between finding the best place to pet him and thinking how you could sneak him into your apartment at this hour without anyone noticing, you suddenly felt a shiver run down your spine and heard a gunshot a second later.

"sorry baby, got to go" you hurriedly said, and the cat almost seemed to miss your touch as you sprung into action, shooting a web at the nearest building and launching yourself into the air, swinging towards the sound.

When you arrived, not too long after, all you could see was a big red cape twirling around and three men around it.

There she was, the girl of steel, in all of her glory, fighting bad guys and not breaking a sweat. They didn't seem too dangerous and you both knew she could handle them herself. But that way you wouldn't get a chance to flirt with her.

You silently crawled the walls, as to not alert the men, and with every bad guy she sent flying into the air, you trapped them with your webs.

"what took you so long?" she asked, removing dust from her hands.

"I was with a kitty! I came as soon as I heard" you leaned close to her face "why, you missed me?"

"not a chance spidey" she put a hand on your cheeck and turned your head the other way. "where is the woman?" she took a step back, searching around. When her gaze turned to you, she saw your head tilted to the side in confusion, and decided to explain.

"there was a woman with them, they were trying to rob her, I jumped in but she must have escaped. Did you not see anyone on your way here?"

Even tho she couldn't see it, you smiled and shook your head "sorry beautiful, but you're the only woman I see" that made her groan out loud, though you knew she wasn't seriously bothered by it.

Since the moment you two met, you were instantly drawn to the blonde, to the confidence in her steps and the undeniable sweetness of her heart, and the fact that she was gorgeous was definitely a plus.

And from the first moment you decided to make it clear, you were never one to hide your feelings no matter the nature, hence the constant flirting.

Unfortunately, she never seemed to return the sentiment, turning you down every single time claiming she already had someone in her heart.

"I need to take them to the police station" she replied, ignoring the flattery "wanna help me bug?"

"You know" you started, already attatching two of the men on your back "for someone who insists on refusing me, you sure like using pet names"

You didn't give her time to reply when you gave her a mask covered kiss on the cheeck "race you there sweetheart" and with that, you started swinging, leaving her to scoff and pick up the remaining criminal.

The rest of the night went by smoothly, with only a couple of people speeding at a red light, but you weren't a traffic vigilante, so you didn't intervene.

- - -

It was almost five a.m. when you got back to your apartment. You went to check on your phone, not really expecting anyone to text you during the night. Much to your surprise, someone did.

Two hours ago, almost at the time you met supergirl, Kara texted you. It was nothing really, she just said how excited she was for your lunch plans for tomorrow, but it still made you laugh that she felt the need to say that in the middle of night.

Throwing your phone back on the nightstand, you took your suit off and got into bed, trying to get as much sleep as possible, to not look like a zombie in front of your friend.

- - -

Turns out, she looked just as sleepy as you. In fact, as soon as you two sat down at noonas, she let out a big yawn, covering her mouth with her hand "sorry, I didn't get much sleep last night" she apologized, light blush on her cheeks.

"oh I believe it" you said, picking up the menu "with texting me in the middle of the night and stuff"

Had you not been so focused on what to order, you probably would have noticed the darker shade of red that took over her face. "yea I was uhm, I couldn't sleep and I was thinking about it"

"We could have met another day, I wouldn't want you to fall asleep on me" you stated jokingly but she instantly started shaking her head.

"No! No, I mean, we haven't seen each other in a long time and I wanted to see you. Besides, I'm fine, really"

You almost wanted to laugh at her eagerness, she always managed to look cute without ever trying to. While on the other side of the table, Kara felt so embarrassed she wanted to fly away and never come back.

You resumed talking after the waiter came for your orders "You wanted to see me? You need something?"

yea to be your girlfriend.

"No it's, it's about next week's game night" she seemed to take a breath, pondering her next words "I was wondering if you could come earlier to uh, to help me prepare"

You squinted your eyes at her request, she never wanted any help setting things up, and she always ordered take out so it's not like she needed help in the kitchen.

Taking your silence as an answer, she started fidgeting with her hands. "Yea you're probably busy sorry, don't know why I-"

Kara stopped mid sentence, feeling your hand on hers. "No it's okay hun of course I can, I was just confused." she just nodded, raising her free hand to adjust her glasses.

When your food arrived, you removed your hand and the blonde immediately missed your warmth.

Nothing special happened after that, except for Kara blushing one too many times for her liking.

Once you two finished she had to excuse herself to run back to the office, before Cat would notice she's late. She went to reach for her purse but you stopped her, wrapping your hand gently around her wrist.

"Today it's on me beautiful"

If she hadn't felt her knees buckle at the petname and at your smile, she probably would have been more stubborn; instead Kara just hangs with her mouth open and nods, quickly running away.

- - - -

As soon as she entered the building, she was told by an intern that Cat was looking for her, so with a heavy sigh she ran into her office.

"Is the article I asked you last week-" she asked as soon as Kara got in, sending the blonde a slight glare "finally ready?"

Kara pushed her glasses up "Yes miss Grant, I just need to fix the layout" and she was about to add something, but the breaking news report displayed on the big screens behind Cat caught both of their attention. It was about a bank robbery (Y/S/N) alone just thwaterd.

With an intrigued glint in her eyes, the CEO turned her head to face her employee. "amusing, isn't it? Just a few months ago we all thought they were just Supergirl's side kick, turns out they're equals."

Hearing a scoff coming out from the blonde, she raised an eyebrow "you don't think so, Keera?"

"Of course they're a hero and they're saving people but they're definitely not like Supergirl" taking her boss' silence as a question she continued, and the words left her mouth before she could ponder them.

"Supergirl is serious and wants to get it over as quickly and as efficiently as possible, but they always plays around and get distracted constantly, and they're not serious at all."

"You seem to know a lot about them" she leaned forward, with her arms on her desk, and not caring about the blonde's stuttered excuse, she shrugged her shoulders "well considering you and supergirl are basically best friends"

Kara found a way to get out of this situation "yea she talked to me about them a coup-"

"I want to interview them. Give your current article to Jim or Finn," who was probably Winn "and get me that interview as soon as possible. They've never been in a real interview so it will be a scoop."

Knowing she couldn't even try to argue with the CEO, she nodded her head "you'll have it miss Grant" and got out of her office.

- - -

"what do I do Alex? It's not like I can go as Supergirl and ask them, they'll know something is up and will probably figure out who I am."

Unlike for (Y/S/N), where no one knew who they were, a lot of people knew who Supergirl was, and Kara thought it would be better if no more people knew about her other identity, and that meant hiding from you too, both of you.

"You're giving them a lot credit, I thought you thought they were dumb?" Alex asked with a small smile on her lips.

The kryptonian raised her head from the couch of her apartment, where it was previously buried, and looked at her sister with a frown. "They annoy me because they play around too much and constantly flirt with me but I never said they were dumb, they're actually really smart, and a good hero."

Alex has worked a lot with you so Kara knew she was just joking, but for some reason she still felt the need to defend you. The agent looked at the blonde before suggesting her idea "what if I ask them? They know you're my sister and it wouldn't be weird that I want to help you with your super demanding boss."

"mhh yea, that could work." a soft smile appeared on her lips "Thanks Alex"

Alex just nodded, waving her hand around dismissively. "More importantly," she started again, with a glint in her eyes that made Kara fear of what she was going to say "how did it go with (Y/N)? Are you two a thing yet?"

She started laughing as soon as she heard her sister's loud groan. "ugh I knew you were gonna ask that"

"you didn't tell them, did you?" Alex leaned her arm on the backrest of the couch, leaning her head on her arm.

"I mean I tried to" she glared at her sister's laugh, but she knew she couldn't really blame her "I just, stutter so much around them they must think I'm stupid"

"Ahw I'm sure they don't Kara" she stopped her teasing to reassure the kryptonian "first of all, you two are friends before anything else, second of all they're such a sweet guy they'd never think of you like that"

She stopped for a second, seeing the hopeful gaze in her sister's eyes "and most importantly, I'm sure they like you back, with all the pet names they give you."

"that doesn't mean anything, they call everyone by a nickname"

"you're the only one they call beautiful or pretty or honey or sweetheart or-"

"okay I get I get it" the flustered blonde hid her head between the pillows of the couch, face red from the tip of the nose to the top of the ears, just by thinking of all the times you called her any of these names.

"I mean...(Y/S/N) uses those on me too" the kryptonian resumed, and for some reason the blush didn't leave her cheeks.

- - -

Two days later, you sprinted from your house all the way to the D.E.O. and landed on the balcony, running to find Alex.

You started looking around, the big screens that often showed info about the mission were turned off with no one around, but that's not what caught your attention. Supergirl was nowhere in sight, she must have been called in too right? Unless she couldn't come.

When you noticed dark brown hair sitting at a chair from afar, you got into the director's office, probably breaking the handle with the sheer force you used.

Alex turned her head to look at you.

"What's going on Alex? Where's Supergirl? Is she okay?" The agent got up from her seat to face you.

"Calm down (Y/S/N), she's fine nothing happened" she reassured you "I just need your help with something"

Even though she couldn't see your face, frustration could be heard from your tone. "Nothing happened? You sent me a 911 signal" your shourlders slumped.

"yea because I need your help now"

You loudly groaned, though you were mostly grateful nothing serious happened, especially to Supergirl. "What do you need short Danvers?"

Making fun of her was a privilege you could only have while wearing your suit, given you were normally afraid of her.

Knowing you had the upper hand with your powers, and that it was all just playful teasing, she let it go, voicing her need. "My sister needs to get her boss an interview with you and she knows I work with you and supergirl so she asked for my help"

You opened your mouth to agree but closed it right after, thinking you could get something out of this too. "If I agree to the interview-"

"oh my god" Alex rolled her eyes "I'm not getting Supergirl to go on a date with you"

You loudly laughed at that, everyone knew where your head was at. "that's not what I was going to say!" you took a brief pause "but if that's what your offering..."

She crossed her arms, raising her brow, successfully shutting you up.

"I want to know who she-"

"definitely not" she interrupted you.

"oh come on, why not?" you move your hands in the air "you know who she is, John knows who she is, even Winn knows!"

"It's just safer this way spider, don't argue with me" her excuse didn't really hold up but you let it go for now, it should be Supergirl's call after all.

"fine" you rolled you eyes. And besides, "when's the interview?" you couldn't say no to Kara.

- - -

The next day you were on the roof of CatCo, your legs dangling off the edge.

"oh good you're here" you turned around at the sound of Kara's voice.

"your sister said you needed me" you got closer to her.

"yes hi" she replied quickly "but I will not be the one doing the interview, my boss Cat will" she glanced at the door. "but I need to tell you a few things first"

With a confused look, not that she could see it, you shrugged your shoulders, letting her go on "okay first" she took a big breath, speaking rapidly after that "do not let her drag you into her office, she will have the upper hand and you will not be able to withold information. Second, do not answer any personal life question, no matter how useless you think they are, she could always use them to find out who you really are. Third, don't even think-"

"with all due respect, my lady" you stopped her rant with your hands on her shoulders, and she regained her breath with a slight glare. The reason for it was unkown to you. "I am the superhero between us, so I know what I can and can't say"

And she didin't have time to rebut when she suddenly heard heels clicking their way up the stairs, making her jump away from you.

"Keera, glad to see you were able to do what I asked"

"isn't it Kara?" you spoke loudly, faking innocence, wanting to correct the older woman without being too obvious.

The woman gave you look, but didn't say anything. "can you leave us alone?" she turned to the reporter "I'd like to interview them alone"

- - -

The interview went well, you think, you didn't say anything about yourself and ended up following Kara's instructions. You thought about telling her how it went, but as you got to her desk you noticed her bag and jacket were gone.

"where did Kara go?" you stopped Winn is his steps, knowing he wouldn't be surprised by your presence.

"oh she went home early. She had a thing with (Y/N)- a friend" he corrected himself, thinking you wouldn't know them.

You forrowed your brows, but when your eyes landed on the clock hung on the wall you felt a shiver run down your spine. You were very late. You should have been at Kara's huose over half an hour ago.

You let out an exasperated sigh, "great- uh, I have to- I have to go now. I''l see you at- the DEO...soon?"

Winn only looked at you weirdly but he didin't have time to respond before you patted his shoulder and jumped out of the window, drawing some curious looks.

If Winn didin't know about your crush for supergirl, he'd probably thing you were jelous of yourself.

- - -

After picking up the backpack you left in one of the allies near Catco, you quickly put on some clothes, hiding your suit. You run up the stairs to Kara's apartment, frantically knocking on her door, still breathless and with your hair messy.

She had been pacing around the room for quite a while now so she quickly opened the door to your apologetic smile. "I'm so sorry I'm late love, I had a work thing and I thought about getting you something but it would have just been worse so I didn't"

You tried to explain, but to be honest her mind was still on how cute you looked with your cheeks flushed and how you breathlessly called her "love".

"oh it's fine. It doesn't matter now" she said letting you in, closing the door behind you.

"why? I thought you wanted help with something?" you shrugged your coat off, standing in the middle of the room. Hearing footsteps behind you, you turned around, your eyes meeting Alex's.

"hi, I didn't know you were coming here earlier too" you said, going in for a hug.

"she didn't come here early" Kara answered with a light edge to her tone, going into the kitchen.

"did you forget?" Alex whispered, and her tone wasn't as harsh, but it did sound like she wanted to scold you. It couldn't have been that serious, right?

You shook your head "no I told her I got caugth up in-" James knocking on the door stopped you, and soon after everyone else was there.

- - -

The night was going on smoothly, except for the fact that Kara didn't seat next to you like always, and she was persistent on avoiding your gaze, even tho you could feel her looking at you from time to time. She seemed to fidget more with her hands than usual, so you were sure something was up.

Thinking that asking Alex was not an option, you leaned towards Lena, whispering in her ear when it wasn't her turn to play.

"you know what's wrong with Kara?" she subtly turned to look at you, her lips in a thin line, she didn't need to look at her best friend to know what was going on inside her head.

"she's been like this all night, did she tell you anything?" you pleaded

Said blonde jumped up from the couch, claiming she was going to get another round of snacks and went into the kitchen. The Luthor gave you a nod, silently prompting you to follow the kryptonian, and as you got up to do so, you felt another pair of eyes on you.

You quietly made your way over, Kara's back facing you while she got herself a glass of water.

"uh are you okay?" you uttered, leaning on the counter so you could see her face "I noticed you were acting a bit..strange" you lowered your head, but she was once again avoiding looking at you, using her glass as a distraction.

"did something happen at work?" you met Cat, so you woulnd't be surprised "or-" you gulped, you'd hate to be the reason why she was acting like this "-are you mad I got here late?"

She slammed the glass back on the counter letting a few drops spill out, surprising herself when it didn't break. Kara took a deep breath, before replying "I'm not mad at you, (Y/N)" but it was really hard to believe it.

"okay, then what is it?" you got closer, putting your hand on hers, so she would look at you, and she did. The reporter raised her head, her eyebrows furrowed and her mouth agape, as if she was thinking on what to say. But when nothing came up she resumed to looking at your conjoined hands.

Kara could feel her wrist burning from your hold, and all the whispers and heartbeats she could hear from the other room prevented her from thinking.

"come with me"

You followed her closely, making up a stupid excuse on why you're exiting the apartment, even if none of your friends seemed surprised.

Kara brought you all the way to the roof, and still hasn't uttered a word. And you let her, giving her time.

But after a minute of silence and her pacing around you got in front of her, making her almost bump into you.

"Kara" You called "it's just me. What's going on?"

You smiled in reassurance, but she just forrowed her brows, letting out a big sigh. That wasn't much you could do to help her if she didn't talk unfortunately, you could only look at her.

Look at how her hair was slowly coming out of her ponytail due to the wind, how her eyebrows were so close together you were surprised she hasn't got a headache yet, and how her eyes seemed darker under this light.

And this sight was so familiar, but it didn't feel like you were looking at Kara, not really.

"I know what you want to tell me" you breathed out, and the fact she was looking at your lips is probably the only reason why she was able to hear you.

"you do?"

"yea" you smiled, shaking your head in disbelief "I can't believe I was so blind"

She felt her cheeks heat up, but her heart fell right out of her chest with your next words.

"you're Supergirl"

The super profusely tried to deny it, claiming you drank too much or had a wide imagination. Even going as far as commenting "I wish"

"oh" you raised your brows "so you don't have super strength, laser eyes, ice breath, and you can't fly?"

"no oh my god I could never be her" she let out a shaky laugh, adjusting the glasses on her nose, you couldn't believe they deceived you for such a long time.

You started walking around, getting closer to the edge "mhh you're right, I just thought because you're blonde you might be her" you reasoned, pointing to your hair.

"not the only blonde in National City" she replied and shrug her shoulders, hoping you would just drop the subject, the idea of expressing her feelings long gone.

"such a shame" you were able to see Kara turning on her heels in your peripheral vision "I really hope the real Supergirl comes to my rescue then"

She couldn't have spun her head around faster, but you were already out of sight, falling down the building.

The kryptonian shouted your name, jumping off the edge using her powers. When she couldn't see you anywhere she started panicking even more.

"(Y/N)? (Y/N) where are you?"

"behind you, beautiful" You were smirking with your arms crossed, your feet glued to the wall, steadily keeping you in place.

"what were you thinking about, jumping like that, you could have died, how are you even-" she said it all in one breath, stopping only when a look of realization took over her face.

"I've never seen Kara so pissed at me, it's new"

She let out a big groan, and not sparing you another glance, she got back onto the roof, you following after her.

"were you ever planning on telling me?" she squinted her eyes

"I mean, were you? You and your sister always made sure to tell me how I should keep my identity a secret"

"that's different, I didn't know it was you" she knew she wasn't making any sense, but her brain wasn't working properly at the moment, her heart still hasn't recovered from the scare you gave her, and she had so many things to process.

"come here" you took both of her hands in yours, bringing her closer to you. "I know who you are and you know who I am, doesn't that just mean we can trust each other more?" you offered, running your thumbs along the skin, effectively calming her down.

"I've always trusted you, even when I didn't know who was hiding behind the mask"

"oh, oh I'm sorry" her smile turned into a face of confusion "is it Kara or Supergirl talking? because I know Supergirl would never say something so sweet to me" that earned you a slap to the shoulder.

She rolled her eyes "shut up I take it back, we both think you're annoying"

But you didn't laugh with her, something else occupying your thoughts.

"do you like me, Kara?" you took a step closer, and she didn't have it in herself to take a step back. "you always say it's useless to flirt because there's someone else in your heart and I never asked, but now I'm asking you" you took a brief pause "do you like me?"

She sighed, knowing she couldn't lie to you anymore, so she slightly nodded, curling her eyebrows.

"but you like Supergirl"

"you are Supergirl" you answered matter of factly, but you had a feeling you knew what she was getting at.

"I like her because she has the biggest heart I have ever seen, she' s passionate about her job, both of her jobs, I love how her cape bounces around as she walks and how she can't seem to keep her glasses from falling off"

You brought your hand up her chin, making her look at you, while your other hand adjusted said glasses.

"I've always liked you Kara, all of you, I just thought of this part of you too much of a friend to notice"

Kara was totally hanging from your lips at this point, not only because she was looking at them.

You leaned your head down as she circled the hand that held her face.

"can I kiss you?" you murmured, making her nod vigorously.

"please"

It only took you half a second to close the distance, and you instantly felt Kara reciprocating the kiss, moving her lips against yours in an almost desperate demeanor. Her other hand gripped your shirt to pull you closer and when she felt you fingers on her sweater she gasped lightly.

you broke the kiss after a minute with a bite to her bottom lip, making her let out another small sound and left her chasing after you.

She blinked quickly a few times after she recovered, a deep blush still present on her cheeks. "I like you, too" the blonde replied breathlessly and slowly lowered her hands, not sure what to do with them.

"yea i guessed that" you teased, stealing another kiss.

Soon after that you two decided to head back, after Kara told you everyone knew she was planing on telling you today, and thanking you for the interview.

When you got back into the apartment everyone suddenly stopped talking and looked at you.

"so, did you two kiss?" it was of course Winn who broke the silence, voicing all of their thoughts. You looked over at Kara, and seeing her flushed face, you decided to answer, nodding.

"and I know she's Supergirl" you added, trying to ease the mild akwardness

"and I know you're (Y/S/N)" she retorted, not realizing what she said until she heard gasps all over the small apartment

"Kara!" you tightened your grip on her hand for a second, but she could see you weren't really annoyed. Various confused questions followed your statement, Alex's voice sounding above them

"so, the person who likes to make fun of me and never does as I say" she crossed her arms, letting her lips curve into a smirk as she watched you get behind the krytponian, now aware of the strenght she possessed.

"you know, you should probably focus on something else" you spoke up from behind Kara's shoulder, while gripping the end of her sweater "why don't we go back to the game, you were winning right? isn't it right Kara?"

Said woman smiled at your antics, playfully rolling her eyes "let them go Alex, you can torture them another day"

"no she can't" you tried to argue, but the brunette was already off to get another bear from the fridge.

You suddenly felt the sweater slipping away from your grip, and lowered your head to find Kara now looking at you, with a small smile on her lips.

"come on, let's go play" she pulled on your hand, making you follow her.

She did seat next to you now, still stealing glances when she thought you wouldn't notice, and instantly looking down every time you caught her.

Kara Danvers Masterlist - Supergirl Masterlist

General Masterlist

[reveluving]

moonlight melody ; takeshi kovacs x reader

summary: you don’t know how you got there, and you don’t even know if you can ever return home. and you can’t find it in you to hate it whatsoever.

warnings: isekai au; minor altered carbon explicit content, major fluff w/ lovesick & poetic takeshi!

a/n: the first of quirky reverie 2024! had this idea in the shower. yeah. haven’t shown this man any love in a while so please take it! hope you enjoy it & don’t forget to leave some sugar! ᐠ( ᐛ )ᐟ

» wanna know what I have in store this fall? come & check out this year's 'reve's quirky reverie' m.list! 🕷️'!

'But he couldn’t blame you. He needed you just as much as you needed him.' ; 

A few drones flew overhead. The holographic half-naked model flashed across one of the many luxurious buildings. Even the little burn barrel that kept the slums warm in the far distance. 

You’ve seen it all. You’ve seen it plenty. You’ve seen it almost every night.

And yet, you couldn’t help but marvel at the scene before you like you were seeing it for the first time. 

The occasional brightness had you squinting your eyes, especially the ones resembling spotlights that shined in your face, but besides that, you were taking it all in like there was no tomorrow. Noise after noise, none of which was deafening given the aerial view of the balcony, just enough to wonder what sort of life, bad or good, existed beyond your very own.

As beautiful as it was to see the city or really, Altered Carbon on television, the visual effects on your screen didn’t do justice, now that you’ve gotten used to the real thing. Of course, the bright lights were just a façade from how dangerous Bay City truly was as soon as one stepped out of the hotel. But the life you lived, where the concept of Sleeves and the majorly advanced technology in the show never existed, before miraculously ending up here, wasn’t any better either. 

Less deadly, no doubt, but much more… dull. 

You didn’t jump when a pair of arms came to wrap around you, pressing their chest against your back before perching their forehead on your shoulder. You weren’t sure if you shivered from his deep voice or his warm breath tickling you. 

His words were unintelligible, lips moving against your skin.

“Can’t hear you, handsome.” You chuckled. He raised his head, a few strands of hair draping over his eyes.

“Can’t sleep?” Takeshi asked once more. You still couldn’t believe this was the same man who survived for centuries, instilling fear in men blinded by temporal wealth, now almost grumbling at you for successfully sliding out of his arms. 

“Not really,” You chuckled. He forced his bleary eyes open, not wanting to miss the little crinkles forming in your eyes. Takeshi instinctively leaned his face closer when you angled your head, kissing his cheek as an apology, “Didn’t wanna wake you up though. I can come back inside if you want.”

He’d love that, he’d want nothing more than to drag you back into bed. But your wide-eyed wonder was so irresistible that he’d feel like a criminal if he took it away from you. No matter how many times he had seen it.

“Nah. I don’t mind staying out here for a bit.” Instead of standing with you, he pulled you to the chair he had kindly dragged out for you months back. Sitting you on his lap, he practically melted in the seat, nosing the sensitive area between your neck and shoulder. He held you like the most precious plushie, and in all honesty, he was willing to fall asleep right then and there.

Truly, with the images—memories of you that flashed as his eyes remained closed, his mind in constant relaxation. As if life, whatever powerful being beyond anyone’s control or understanding had finally blessed him with the greatest form of honour, but he wasn’t the only one to believe as such. 

You would always hold him like he was your lifeline, and if you were being honest, he was. Hoping day in and day out that you wouldn’t wake up somewhere you could no longer call home instead of the familiar room in The Raven. The day never came, and though Takeshi always knew how to ease your worries, the scare would linger from time to time.

But he couldn’t blame you. He needed you just as much as you needed him. 

Even now, too enamoured by the look you had and how the lights cast onto your face, how your eyes took in everything you could like you wouldn’t be able to see again, and despite how tainted his world was, he found it endearing, only because it was you.

He quickly became accustomed to you with him—to you and him. The little hand caresses, the comforting kisses, the smiles that silently told him ‘It’s okay. You’ll be okay.’

We will be okay.

» a/n: something short and sweet for our beloved hunk because he deserves it whenever possible!! ;; gorgeous divider by @firefly-graphics ♡

[literary-illuminati]

2024 Book Review #53 – Binti by Nnedi Okarafor

This is one of those works that has been vaguely on my radar for years and years now – I have entirely lost track of the number of places I’ve seen it recommended as some of the best or most original science fiction of the 2010s. So when my hold finally came in on it, I went in more or less blind – which was, frankly, a fatal mistake. I bounced harder off of this than I have very nearly anything I can remember – if it was any longer I probably wouldn’t have bothered finishing the story. I got the whole trilogy as a compendium, and I’m certainly not going to force myself through the rest of it. Which is a shame, because there are plenty of original ideas in there, but (to me, at least) it’s an absolutely brutal failure of form and execution.

The story follows the eponymous Binti, a prodigy and savant in mathematics and the quasi-magical ‘harmonizing’ – creation and manipulation of electric currents. At age 16, she received accepted into the planet-spanning Oomza University and, despite the clear disapproval of her family and her people’s traditional isolationism, she runs away from home and aboard an interstellar transport to take her away. But when the ship is attacked by the Medusae – an alien species with a grudge against the university – a personal keepsake that turns out to be a powerful ancient relic allow her to survive when every other passenger is slaughtered where they stand – and eventually even communicate with the aliens who have seized the ship. She learns that they attacked as part of a plan to steal back their leader’s stinger, and convinces them to let her be their ambassador and attempt to get it through negotiation with the university administration instead. After she proves her willingness to argue on their behalf, they agree – and once they arrive at the university, the administration does as well. Both she and the young Medusae she forged something of a friendship with are welcomed as students, and she has to reckon with the dramatic changes being tested and healed by the medusae caused in her. Fin.

That is much more of a plot summary than I usually write for these things, but I guess my first big issue with the story is just that that’s basically everything that happens in the book? This feels like it could be quite easily cut down to a tight, compelling short story – or else expanded into a full novel, with enough space to give things time to breathe and allow for foreshadowing with more subtlety than a sledgehammer to the face. As is, the story feels both kind of meandering and like the plot beats are a first draft that never had the space to go back and add any real interest or surprise to them.

Which would honestly have been far more forgivable if not for the prose. This is shelved as young adult but in terms of sentence complexity and the way things are phrased it honestly feels closer to middle grade? Or, at least, every sentence was very simple and very explicit and direct, in a way that I quickly found clunky and then intensely grating to read. A friend described it as reading like it was translated from a different language, which doesn’t seem to be the case but I honestly wouldn’t be at all surprised.

Everything is also just thematically very convenient, I guess? Not even that the random relic Binti found in the sand as a child and keeps as a good luck charm turns out to be a hyper-advanced technological plot device, but that for unclear reasons the otjize dye that she (and the very real Namibian Himba ethnic group she’s a member of) use to plait and colour hair is to the Medusae a miraculous panacea which heals scars none of their own technology (capable of creating interspecies hybrids and inducing mutations with a single injection) could touch. Which is a level of thematic bluntness that’s just much more fitting for a children’s story than what I went into this expecting or hoping for.

I could go on, but there’s not really any point – to be positive, the worldbuilding hinted at is intriguing and evocative like absolutely everyone says it is. The whole reading experience was just a terrible failure of marketing, I think – I can’t recall the last time I read a book I ostensibly should have liked that is quite so forcefully Not For Me. Which is odd, because I actually quite enjoyed the other novella of Okorafor I read. But then, Remote Control was written six years later and for an adult audience.

[the--rebel--fae]

Hello! English is not my language, so I apologize in advance for any mistakes. Can I have a request with Leona? The girl found herself in the world of Twisted Wonderland when she died in her own. In general, she is from the world of Ladybug and Super Cat, but she does not remember her first life. It was like she was in a cartoon, but didn’t remember anything except the plot. So, she is the owner of the talisman and has many scars on her body due to battles. In short, this is the background story. She avoids people and has major trust issues. She cries because she doesn't like her own body, and Leona covers her with kisses, trying to prove that there is nothing wrong with scars.

A/n: Don't worry hun, I understood ya just fine. I hope it's ok I turned your request into a head cannon. But I made sure to put all the details you wanted into it! I hope you enjoy it! This was quite fun to write! :)

Pairing: Leona Kingscholar x Scarred! Reader

TW: None, unless talk of scars is triggering, then that would be the only warning.

Word Count: 264

You're Beautiful To Me

When you first met Leona he didn’t care much about your scars.

But when you put him in his place during his overblot with your powers from your Miraculous as you called it, he finally became intrigued by you.

So much so that you two started getting closer and then soon enough you guys started dating.

It was one of your “nap dates” as you liked to nickname it when Leona first saw your scars. He was hesitant though, to say anything. After all, he had a scar of his own over his eye and it didn’t exactly come with the easiest story. So he left it be until you were ready to talk about them.

That is… until he found you crying in the greenhouse one day.

He may not be that great at comforting, but he couldn’t let his girlfriend be distressed. So after you calmed down with lots of hugs and promises of spending the rest of the day together, you opened up about your scars and told him how bad you felt about them. 

That they came with your past, but half of it you couldn’t remember and it was so frustrating. To know certain events but not entirely the world you came from. 

Leona just pulled you into a big hug after you told him the whole story. Then he did something that surprised you–he started kissing every visible scar he could. He wanted you to know that no matter how many scars or where they came from, you’d always be his beautiful herbivore. 

And he, your sweet boyfriend.

Hope you liked the story! Leona has always been one of my favorite Twisted Wonderland characters to write. He's so awesome. Thanks for the request!

And if you guys want even more stories--like maybe your own personalized several-page long one-shots or even a multi-chap fic take a look at my Etsy Shop! I do commissions! I even have listings for Twisted Wonderland!

[rafferty3207]

Hi!! Can a request a fluffy Roy x Reader oneshot? Maybe one the reader is part of the gang and is Roy’s plus one for the charity gala. She and Roy are being very sweet and flirty with each other throughout the evening. When Roy and Keeley tease Jamie about being bid on by a little old lady, reader joins in on Jamie’s side and defends him, and playfully teases Roy back. Roy takes the dig, but sexily whispers to her later that she’ll pay for it after the party. Just overall fluff with these two love birds. Sorry if this is too long & thank you in advance!!

hello!! I love this!! I'm a sucker for a fancy dress moment and I may have gotten carried away - Only after having written several thousand words did I realise you maybe meant more of an established relationship but I thought a get together at the gala would be so cute so enjoy!!

You'll Pay for That

Warning: Swearing (because its Roy obvs), teensy bit of jealousy, two horny idiots in love

A/N: proofreading is for the weak, gif is not mine

You couldn’t stand it any longer. 

You’d been to black tie events before, but none like this one. This was the Richmond FC annual charity gala, and as you waited in your living room, fiddling with the straps of your dress, you were nervous.

When Roy Kent, famously the grumpiest bastard in all of Nelson Road, asked you to be his date, everyone was surprised. Especially you.

You’d been at Richmond for the last six months and not a single day had passed without you thinking about Roy Kent. 

You had noticed how attractive he was the minute you first saw him, with his dark curls and thick stubble and toned arms.  He definitely caught you staring more than once. You had even once walked in on him changing, although you swore to this day it was a complete accident. It was an accident, but you may have lingered on his muscled back perhaps a minute or two longer than necessarily. You had also caught him glaring once or twice, but he glared at everyone so it was hard to tell.

But it wasn’t until you had caught him icing his knee after everyone else had gone home that everything really changed. You had said nothing, but left him a ready-made cool pack in his locker before the end of the day, and if you saw he was starting to limp around or look tired, you would make up some excuse for him to come into your office so he could sit down. Of course, he never said anything, but your coffee order miraculously started appearing on your desk every morning, and he always would invite you to eat lunch, whether it was with the players, the coaches or just with Keeley and Jamie, who had founded a new tradition on the Friday to try a nice new restaurant nearby. While you had got along with everyone in the office before this on a professional level, you found yourself becoming thick and fast friends with the whole gang after this, especially Jamie, who started teasing you about how he had gone soft around you. You batted it off, but your heart couldn’t help but race whenever the possibility was mentioned. But you had to tell yourself it was nothing,

One lunch trip however, a month before the gala, both Jamie and Keeley cancelled at the last minute, and you found that you and Roy would be alone. But Roy had already reserved a table at this nice new Italian cafe nearby, so the two of you decided to go anyway.

This is not a date, you told yourself. But you were surprised to see Roy quickly order a bottle of wine. Was he nervous?

“It’s 12pm on a Friday?” You chided him as the waiter handed him the bottle of red.

“And? We’re two adults, we can do whatever the fuck we want?” He was still avoiding eye contact, looking at the bottle.

“I guess we’re not getting any work done this afternoon.”

“I have nothing better to do today than this, do you?”

“‘Nothing better?’ Wow, okay. Glad to see that’s how you see my company.” You folded your arms, playing stern.

Roy’s head suddenly whipped around. “I mean - that’s not what I meant -”

You raised an eyebrow. 

“I really like spending time with you.”His eyes flitted from you to the empty plate in front of him.

“Oh.” You tried not to blush at his words. “Well, I really like spending time with you too.”

“Good.” Roy nodded.”Now let’s order some fucking food shall we?”

Over the course of the lunch, which ended up lasting almost three hours, you found yourself chatting about anything and everything. He told you all about Phoebe’s progress in school, Jamie’s progress in training, and after the third glass of wine, all about his grandad and how he taught him everything from football to taking care of orchids. You told him how you were finding the new job, how your new flat still needed decorating and after the third glass of wine how you only had the new job and flat to begin with after a big breakup and now everyone wouldn’t stop asking you who you were going to the gala with.

“I feel like I’m sixteen and I’m the sad sack who doesn’t have a date to prom again.” You fiddled with your necklace. Roy’s eyes dip for a second before looking back at you intensely.

“That is because they are all mentally sixteen. It’s fucking stupid, just ignore them.”

 You swill the remaining wine in the glass, eyes intently not on him. “Easy for you to say Roy. I bet you have a queue of supermodels waiting for an invite from yours truly.”

Roy snorted in derision.

“Supermodels aren’t interested in old ex-footballers.”  You look up to see Roy looking at you, eyebrows softened. “Besides, I wouldn’t want to go with a supermodel anyway.”

You leaned in slightly closer. 

“So who do you want to go with?”

Roy opens his mouth but his phone starts vibrating.

“Shit.”

“What?”

“We really need to get back to work.”

You couldn’t help but feel disappointed when you got home that night. But when you walked into your office, there was a small white orchid on your desk with a note.

For your flat.

I don’t know how the kids do this but apparently it’s a prom tradition to give your plus one a flower?

R

Over the next month, you spoke to each other every day. When you weren’t leaving little post its of your favourite Jamie quote or exchanging glances over the morning meeting whenever Ted said something so very Ted,  you were texting trying to figure out all your gala details - you were having difficulty finding a dress suitable that would match his ‘heather charcoal suits’ or whatever he said.

Eventually, one morning, Keeley had asked for your measurements as she apparently ‘knew someone’ which she told you while winking and walking away.

Two days before the gala, a beautiful black box arrived on your doorstep. It is the most beautiful dark silky dress, with just a small note attached.

This is what I mean by heather charcoal.

R

Of course, it fit perfectly.

So here you are, It is the day of, and your hair is done and your makeup is done and you are sitting on your couch, ready 30 minutes early, tapping your heel impatiently. 

When there is a knock on your door.

Roy is standing there, looking even more handsome in his all black suit. It is tailored perfectly and you wondered if you could sack off the gala entirely and just spend all evening in your bedroom. But you shake the thought quickly away.

“You’re early.”

Roy looks around. “Well you said you always get ready too early for these things and it stresses you out and you just want to leave, so here I am, in case it was true.” Your heart wants to burst right there and then.

He finally takes you in, looking you up and down.

“Whoever didn’t take you to prom was a fucking idiot.”

You blush and you really do feel sixteen again. 

“Oh that reminds me.” You pull out a small box. “This is for you.” 

Roy opens it to find a small delicate corsage of white flowers, including one white orchid.

“Someone told me it’s traditional to get your prom date flowers.” You swear you see Roy’s eyes water, just a little, before he steps closer to you, bringing his hand to your face. You hold your breath, lean in, until -

“Oi you two, are you coming or what?!” Jamie yells from the limo. The two of you jump back from each other.

“Sorry, I forgot to say -” Roy tries to explain, but you hurry down the stairs.

“Don’t worry about it.”

The ride to the venue you find yourself tightly packed with Roy and Jamie in the back seat. Your hand is right next to Roy’s thigh, and you try to subtly inch it towards him, until a sharp corner finds it right in his lap. You pull away, hoping Jamie hadn’t noticed, but he’s oblivious, still talking about some new book he was reading.

“It’s called “The Body Keeps the Score”, but it’s not even about football…”

You and Roy exchange looks, trying not to giggle. The slit in your dress has hitched up just a little, and you suddenly notice Roy’s hand leaning just against your bare thigh. His fingers are drawing small circles and your whole body feels electric.

“...ooh we’re here!” Jamie once again interrupts you and Roy pulls his hand away. The car pulls to a stop. Roy steps out first and offers you a hand out of the car, leading you up the stairs. His hands are large and warm and only slightly calloused and you wished you didn’t have to let go, but once you are through the door he immediately pulls away. 

“We are going to need a drink to get through this. French martini right?” You nod, impressed he still remembers your cocktail order after one late night drunk text conversation where you drunkenly told him about your teenage dream to live in Paris and drink cocktails in a bookshop like Hemingway.

“Babes, please tell me he has snogged you already.” You jump.

“Keeley you cannot sneak up on people like that!” You brushed yourself down. “I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“Oh come on, everyone can see it babes that you fancy the pants off each other. Just find a broom cupboard already and get on with it.”

“For god’s sake Keeley. It’s not that easy. Everytime I think he's going to do something, he gets scared or we get interrupted. Or both.”

Keeley huffs, thinking hard, before catching sight of Jamie.

“Look all I can say is that there is one man who can annoy Roy into doing anything and that’s him.”

“So I get Jamie to kiss Roy for me?” 

“No, although that would be hot. I don’t know babes, but if anyone could figure it out, it’s you.”

“Figure what out?” Roy stands behind you holding two fancy looking cocktail glasses.

You turn around to find Keeley gone.

“Nothing, Keeley’s just talking some shit.” You look down. “I didn’t realise you liked Sex on the Beach.”

“I like sex in lots of places.” You tilt your head. He looks down at the cocktails. “Oh. You meant the drink, didn’t you?”

“Yes, although that is very interesting information. Where else do you like sex, Roy?” You tease him, watching his jaw clench ever so slightly as he starts walking over hurriedly to the table.

“Let’s sit down.” You poke his cheek, at the tiniest hint of his blush..

“Not before you tell me.”

At that point, Roy stops, places the glasses down and leans over, his lips right by your ear. You can feel his breath against your cheek and his chest mere millimetres from yours and all of you tenses.

“Why? Would you like to find out?” He leans back smiling. “Now who’s embarrassed?” He takes a seat next to Keeley and you try to gain composure. You know you need to gain one up on him, but it is not until the subject of the charity auction comes up, you see your chance.

“How much do you think I’ll rake in this year?” Jame leans back in his chair.

“50p?” Roy suggests, arms folded.

“Maybe £1 if you’re lucky.” Keeley chimes in.

“After Lust Conquers All, you’ll be lucky if one of these old biddies at the front coughs up.”  Roy grins.

Jamie’s brow crinkles.

You see your chance.

You lean towards Jamie and place your hand on his arm. You notice Roy’s eyes burning into you.

“So what exactly do you get if you win one of these bids Jamie?”

“You can spend the night with me, doing whatever you like.”

“Whatever I like?” You practically purr. “Interesting. Maybe I’ll bid on you Jamie. To save you from an old biddy of course.” You wink at him before leaning back. Jamie’s eyebrows raise, and he looks to Roy as if to ask for help. Roy simply glares at him.

As you sit back, you feel Roy grab your wrist. Without saying anything, he drags you out to the corridor.

“Am I in trouble?”

He finally lets you go.

“Don’t you dare think of bidding on that little prick.”

“Why? Do you want me to bid on you instead?” You look back at him with a smirk.

“Don’t be stupid.” You feel a sudden deflation. “You never have to buy me. I’d be yours for free.”

The breath leaves your lungs for a moment. “What?”

“Why do you think we’re here?  Why I’ve done all of this? You know you could have me any time, any place, just say the fucking word.”

At that point, you step to him, grab his face in both hands and kiss Roy Kent. For a moment, he is still, almost surprised at the sheer force. But then he melts back into you with equal passion, pulling you in by the small of your back. You run your hand through his hair, kissing him over and over until you eventually have to come up for air.

Once you finally emerge, face scratched from all the stubble, lips swollen, you smile at him. “You know I was just teasing about Jamie right?” You say to him, your arms wrapping around his neck.

“Oh I know.” He growls into your neck, “You’ll pay for that later though.” You can't wait.

[thisuserislilsilly]

Summary: A Tech-priest archeologist in her investigation to find relics from time past only receives a message to the Imperium as a whole.

TW: Spooky (not really)/Drama/My bad depiction on how the Mechanicus talks

Pairings: None

Goblin tag squad: @cardinalcanis @finchly-tintinnabulation @artemisareia @echo-of-damnation @meervalv0 @jaghatai-khock (hopefully THIS TIME THE TAGS WORK-)

He who sees your soul, he who takes humanity or returns thy fear

It had taken the tech-priests months and countless servitors, but the ruins of A-74 had finally been cleared. The ancient planetary outpost gleamed once more, its copper domes and crystalline spires catching the pale sunlight. Magos Delphi surveyed the scene with a mix of pride and anticipation, her augmetic eyes whirring as they took in every detail.

"At last," she intoned, her vox-caster crackling with excitement, "We can begin the real work."

Her team of adepts gathered around, their mechadendrites twitching with eagerness. The secrets of the old ones lay within these halls - miraculous technologies from the Dark Age that could revolutionize the Imperium, or perhaps other secrets that would please the Ommnisiah were bound to be found here, in that long lost human colony.

As they approached the newly unsealed entrance, Delphi felt a surge of optimism. Whatever challenges lay ahead, it had been wroth all of the assets, both human and mechanical, her cohort had thrown at it

The massive adamantium doors groaned open, revealing a cavernous atrium bathed in an eerie blue glow. Delphi and her team cautiously entered, their augmetic senses on high alert. The walls were lined with intricate circuitry patterns that pulsed with an otherworldly energy, and strange symbols flickered across holographic displays, they all looked to be human, resembling the speech and symbol patterns she had seen in other cultures using to communicate; although she despised it, she had been taught in the ways normal “meatbags” spoke with their kind instead of the glorious binary language of the Mechanicum.

As they ventured deeper into the atrium, Delphi's excitement grew. The technology surrounding them was far more advanced than she had dared to hope. Her cogitators whirred furiously, processing the wealth of information before her.

"Adept Gamma," she called out, her voice brimming with enthusiasm, "Begin cataloging these circuit patterns. Adept Beta, analyze those holographic displays. Do not get distracted by your excitement and control those mechandrites"

The adepts acknowledged with binary chirps, their mechanical limbs already extending to interface with the ancient systems. Delphi moved further into the chamber, her own augmetic limbs twitching with anticipation. Her vid-feed was recording every detail, so she could study it at her leisure, and her internal cogitator was already running simulations of the possible technology they might find here.

As she scanned the room, her optical sensors detected movement in the corner. She quickly turned to look, but the source was already gone. It had seemed like a blur of light, flickering in and out of view. She blinked her cybernetic eyes and tried to process what she had just seen. Perhaps this had been just one of the common glitches in her visual input; no, the others had not noticed, and their organic parts would be better suited to detecting such errors.

She shook her head and continued scanning the room, but there was no sign of the strange apparition. As her adepts began to collect data, a low humming filled the air. The sound was strangely hypnotic, and Delphi felt her thoughts drifting. She tried to concentrate, but the humming was growing louder. Her limbs felt heavy, and her head was starting to throb, she felt numb to all around her, the excitement fleeting and the whole experience seemed surreal, as if it was happening to someone else.

The adepts were unaffected by the sound, their cybernetics shielding them from the influence. They continued their work, oblivious to anything that could had been going wrong.

"DATA. RETRIEVED. COMMENCING IMPUTATION. INPUT. PENDING."

"Adept, you are experiencing a glitch in your audio input," She heard herself say, her own voice sounding distant and muffled.

"COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS. IMPAIRED. ASSESSMENT. POSSIBILITY. 78%. POSSIBILITY. AUDIO-SPATIAL. ILLOGICAL RESPONSE, PROCEEDING TO IGNORE"

The adept's voice was flat and emotionless, but Delphi could sense the confusion and worry.

"DATA. CATALOGUED. STORAGE. PENDING."

"Adept. Cease cataloging. Initiate. Diagnostic protocols. Assess. Possibility. Data corruption."

"DIAGNOSTIC. PENDING."

She could feel her systems shutting down, her mind struggling to stay focused. The hum was deafening now, drowning out everything else.

"Adept. Report. Diagnostics."

"DIAGNOSTIC. COMPLETE. SYSTEMS. NOMINAL. DATA. UNAFFECTED. ASSESMENT, TECH-PRIEST SPEWING ILLOGICAL ORDERS, RETURNING TO ORIGINAL INSTRUCTIONS"

The adept turned its attention back to the circuits, ignoring Delphi. She could only watch as her team was slowly taken over by the humming, their movements becoming sluggish and uncoordinated.

She fought to regain control of her body, her cybernetics resisting the strange influence. She was the head of this expedition, the leader of these adepts, yet she felt the most human she had been before her discarding of her flesh; now the numbness of limbs long replaced by augmentations were still there, even the sensation of a beating heart that her new organs had replaced.

Her head was throbbing now, her thoughts clouded and confused. The humming was unbearable, a constant, relentless drone that pierced through her. She tried to move, but her limbs were unresponsive.

"INPUT. PENDING"

She could only watch helplessly as her team continued their work, oblivious to their leader's predicament.

"TECH-PRIEST NOT RESPONDING, PROCEEDING WITHOUT AUTHORIZAAAAAA-" The Vox audio of the adept experienced lag as it's mechandrite plugged in a server full of data only to be rejected by the machine, shocked and left it on the ground wailing it's limbs trying to stand up, to comedic failure.

The rest of the adepts stopped and began to scan the area, noticing a sudden change, the air around them becoming cold, and the lights dimming.

"TECH-PRIIISSTT. H-ELP." One of the adepts managed to say before freezing completely.

"INITIATING. C-CONTA-AMB-MENT. MEASURES." The Adept who was the closest to the server tried to reach for something, but failed to do so as his entire body froze.

"WARNING. C-CORRUPT-ION. DETECTED." Another Adept managed to say before succumbing to the cold.

"INPUT. PENDING" The rest of the Adepts said at once, their voices blending together into an unearthly cacophony "WHY DO I FEEL!?!?!?! WHY I FEEL NUMB!?!?!? WHERE AM I?!?!? WHAAAA-"

Their votes spit out for a moment, their mechanic implanted eyes opening wide with a scarily human emotion before the circuits kicked in and returned them to the blank faces the Mechanicus had designed.

Delphi could only watch in horror as her team was consumed by the strange phenomenon, her body still paralyzed.

The air around them became colder, and the blue lights started to flicker. The humming grew louder, and Delphi could feel a strange presence in the room.

She struggled against the paralysis, her mind racing. This was not a natural phenomenon, this was some sort of sentient being, a creature that was capable of manipulating their bodies and minds. She needed to stop it, or else her whole team would be lost.

She focused on her cybernetics, willing them to obey her. She could feel the paralysis slowly loosening, and her limbs began to move.

The humming was deafening now, a high-pitched drone that made her head ache. She gritted her teeth and pushed through the pain, her legs finally moving.

She stumbled towards the source of the hum, her vision blurred. The blue lights were flashing wildly now, and she could see a shadow, a figure much larger than anything she had ever laid eyes on before, hovering above the ground, a dark, ominous mass, with red glowing eyes intently staring directly at her.

"TECH-PRIEST"

"INITIATING. C-CONTA-AMB-MENT. PROTOCOLS"

"WHAAAA-"

"AID. DEMAND."

The Adepts had begun to move again, their bodies twitching and spasming as the strange presence approached slowly, floating just above the ground, the sound growing louder and louder, filling the room with its incessant hum, the red glowing eyes piercing through the darkness.

"WHAT IS THAT?"

"AID. REQUEST."

"REPAIR. ME. NOW"

"ASSESTMENT. FUCK. THE. FLESH"

"PLEASE. HELP. US."

"WHAT. ARE. YOU? WHAT. AM. I?"

"DATA. CORRUPTED. PLEA. SEEK. REPAIR."

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE SAYING"

"PLEA. DATA. CORRUPTED"

"I CAN'T UNDERSTAND YOU."

The voices of the adepts snapped back and forth between human-like and their mechanical selves, their minds struggling to comprehend the strange being that was approaching them.

The presence was almost upon them, its eyes blazing and its body pulsing with energy. The hum was overwhelming, and Delphi could feel the air growing colder. She knew she had to act now, or they would all be lost.

The tech-priest flashed a light to the adepts, a series of binary code.

"FOCUS. ON. ME. WE. NEED. TO. EXIT. NOW."

The Adepts were struggling to understand the words, their minds reeling from the effects of the presence. They turned towards Delphi, their eyes wide and terrified.

Delphi grabbed the Adept closest to her and pulled him towards the exit, the others following behind. Through the way back, Delphi realized what the outpost truly was; there were old rusted Aquilas in the walls, chambers so big only those of the Adeptus Astartes would be able to use, plugs and connections fitted to store power armor and equipment, this was a Fortress-Monastery, of a Chapter, perhaps even a Legion long forgotten by time.

The Presence was gaining on them, its eyes glowing and its hum growing louder. Delphi and the Adepts fled through the halls, their feet pounding against the cold metal floors. The presence was close behind, its hum growing louder and louder. They saw the exit where they had blown that building, salvation was at their reach, but they were not alone.

A dozen servitors were waiting for them outside, their bodies twisted and malformed. Their eyes were vacant, and their mouths were open in silent screams. They were reaching out to Delphi and the Adepts, their fingers grasping and clawing. Their own servitors, by some inexplicable reason, were able to feel, just like Delphi and her adepts had experienced before the Presence made itself known,

Delphi pushed past the servitors, their bodies crumbling to the floor. The presence was close behind.

The adepts followed Delphi, their bodies trembling. The presence was nearly upon them, but the shuttle to leave was even closer. As she boarded the few servitors and adepts that weren't yet in the ground spitting oil from it's orifices and repeating binary code over and over, Delphi got to see who the Presence had been in the dim light of the night sky.

An imposing figure, who at the moment had only really been strolling to catch up rather than chasing them at full speed, completely bald, pale and with those piercing red eyes that seemed to look directly into Delphi soul. She knew it had been the cause of the malfunctions, of the disconnections, the king amongst the forgotten and abandoned Fortress-Monastery; slowly and steadily it raised it's arms forward, hands open as if it was pleading; it's mouth was closed, his eyebrows neutral, the entire face did not reflect even a sliver of emotion going through that body standing there, unmoving, silent.

As Delphi backed up to the shuttle, the humming and strange phenomenon in her body began to fade, it was as if she was out of the radius of "that presence". It was the entity who had made them feel that way just by being near, she assessed that it was more than likely the entity wasn't even aware of those reactions to its presence. As the shuttle door slid close, Delphi heard "It" speak in a rumbling voice it pierced the metal now separating it from the tech-priest cohort.

"I see the past and the future. Go, tech-priest; say what you have seen. Tell the other's, the Imperium of Man, that Neran sees and hears them once again"

[tonydaddingham]

right let's go, special s2 magnifying glass is deployed (also let's have a moment of silence for how PRECIOUS this moron is, ✨god bless this Mess✨)

- Strip, strip, hooray! possible reference to the 1932 film of the same name, being performed on stage at the Windmill, "A specialist sunbathing camp is threatened by a campaign by the leader of the 'Wear More Clothes League'."

- this one has thrown me for a loop because I cannot find a stage reference to this ANYWHERE, but it reads "Under A ___ Night Sky", and if my eyes do not deceive me, the missing word begins m and ends in s, so... marvellous? miraculous???

- now this is really interesting, bc on appearance it looks to be a simple inverted anchor (and im 95% certain it probably is just an inverted anchor) but it strikes a resemblance to the Omega Cross, which christian symbology indicated that when coupled with alpha represents jesus' beginning and end... but likely it's not going to be that deep (although, we know there is reference in s2 to a second coming? 👀)

- Bastersby or Bartersby or Battersby, Mayfair(?) no indication of this being a real make from online research, but looks very likely to be a hatbox of some kind. EDIT: @lalie is a godsend and confirmed it is Battersby Hats - Wiki and similar hatbox image

- this has also thrown me because this looks to be The Veldt which is a 1950s short story, "...a mother and father struggle with their technologically advanced home taking over their role as parents, and their children becoming uncooperative as a result of their lack of discipline." but i think im misreading it

- AYO THE CAN CAN??? YES PLEASE

none of these things are accurate and none of them are likely to being integral to the plot but drinking in every detail of s2 set design is like supping on a lovely hot soup yummy

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

About you last post, I think a reason why the show took such a weird and concerning direction of Adrien having this therapy role, I don‘t really believe that the writers take Marinette‘s PTSD serious (at least outside of derision). The whole show her „weirdness“ was played off as comedy (TA said so himself in a tweet a while back) and the phone call scene you were describing also had vibes of making Mari look quirky like „haha look she still can‘t be normal about her bf“.

The worst part is that I feel like the writers could actually write good mental health representation but only when the plot demands it. Adrien being visibly depressed in s4? Makes for good drama. Adrien forgetting all his problems after he gets with Mari? Well duh love solves everything. Marinette having a panic attack? Makes the scene where she looses the miraculous more intense. Almost every other instant of her panicking? Hehe funny.

The whole show her "weirdness“ was played off as comedy (TA said so himself in a tweet a while back)

Oh, her weirdness was absolutely supposed to be read as comedic pre-Derision. I never consider those jokes funny, but they were very clearly jokes. In fact, it always weirded me out when people took her actions seriously because those people never applied that logic to the other absurdist humor used in the show.

My go-to example is Party Crasher. If you're up in arms about Marinette being a "stalker", but aren't equally or even more concerned by a bunch of adult men just randomly showing up to hang out with a group of 14-year-olds, then maybe you're holding the teenage girl to an unreasonable standard and ignoring the fact that she's written by a bunch of adult men who clearly think that teenage girls act like fangirls around their real-life crushes.

Marinette is not a real person. She's a character in an absurdist romantic comedy aimed at kids. Her actions have to be judged in that light if you want to make any sort of good-faith analysis.

The problem is Derision and the choice to make all of Marinette's Adrien-based-behavior a PTSD response. Once you go that route, the absurdist humor excuse is dead in the water.

Absurdist humor is all about making things so ridiculous that you can't take them seriously. For example, Marinette having Adrien's schedule for the next week isn't absurd because that schedule exists. She could absolutely get her hands on it! Her having his schedule for the next 3 years? That's absurd. You can't take it seriously because it's impossible for her to have a schedule that goes that far into the future. It would have, at most, a handful of events because you just don't schedule most things that far in advance.

But if you have Marinette do a big, dramatic confession where she shows Adrien the schedule and apologizes for it? Then none of that matters. the absurdist nature of it goes away because you have treated it seriously and absurdist humor is all about not treating the absurd too seriously. Derision was the equivalent of that big dramatic confession. You can no longer use absurdist humor to justify anything Marinette does and, notably, they don't. She's massively toned down post Derision and things are being taken more seriously with her and Adrien actively working on her behavior, which is a problem because this is also true:

I don‘t really believe that the writers take Marinette‘s PTSD serious

They've given her a serious issue, they're taking it seriously enough to have Adrien and Marinette address it, but they're not being serious about how you'd treat PTSD and that is the worst possible way to approach this issue. I'd be happier if they just flat out ignored it or used magic love to heal it with a kiss and never addressed it again.

When writing comedy aimed at kids, there's a thing that I like to call The Seat Belt Principle. If you've ever seen a show where a kid character was about to launch themself off in a rocket, only to fasten their seat belt first, then you've seen this principle in action. It's the idea that, in a kids show, you can have wild things happen so long as it's something that a kid can't emulate. If a kid can emulate it, then you have to take it more seriously. This is why kid characters always fasten their seat belts even if it's pointless because the child audience needs to see seat belts as cool and a thing that you always use.

The Seat Belt Principle applies to more than physically dangerous situations. If you are portraying any serious, real-life issue in a kids show, then you need to handle it differently than something that a kid will never face. To put it another way, Ladybug can have ignorant parents, Marinette cannot. Sabine and Tom not knowing that their daughter is a superhero? Not a problem, superheroes aren't real. Sabine and Tom not knowing that their daughter is experiencing horrific bullying or even straight up ignoring it? Big problem, bullies are very real.

This is where we get to the mental health stuff. A lot of media treats mental health issues as something that can be solved via romance and nothing could be further from the truth. Romantic partners can make the fight easier, but they shouldn't be your whole army if you can help it. The show doesn't seem to get this.

As you pointed out, the show keeps giving the characters metal health issues for drama and then hand waving those issues away via romantic relationships and that's a big yikes for me. You don't have to introduce mental health issues into your romantic comedy, but once you do, you have a responsibility to portray them accurately. They clearly don't want to do that and that's why season five's love square romance is a hard pass for me. There's a world of difference between bad jokes and bad mental health rep. I can overlook one, the other is a personal pet peeve and I've seen the negative consequences in action first hand. I think we all have! Who isn't familiar with the concept of a person being confused that "X is still depressed? But they got that new job/have a new SO/got engaged/etc."

[8bitsupervillain]

Higurashi When They Cry Hou Ch. 6 Tsumihoroboshi pt. 16

Rena, having made her daring escape from the school with none of her friends or Chie any the wiser, doesn’t catch that they’re talking about her escape. Keiichi is vaguely aware that she’s probably fallen under the spell of another cockamamie story, or maybe the one she was already certain was true before.

It’s an interesting juxtaposition of how she hates the fact that Takano left her these scrapbooks, but she also views them as an absolute necessity in her struggle to stay alive. Rena then starts thinking about how exactly this unknown conspiracy is going to use the curse as a method to seize control of Japan. Settling upon the idea that the conspirators are going to use the curse and Rika as the embodiment of a miraculous wonder cure for the curse Rena spirals deeper into paranoia. Since Rika is being used as a figure head clearly that means she can’t trust her nor Satoko in her fight. That goes double for Mion, since she’s the leader of the Sonozaki family, and is therefore the leader of the muscle for the conspirators. She reflects back on Takano’s research, and comes to the conclusion that since the conspiracy killed her this means that their understanding of the parasite has clearly advanced to such a point that it is capable of taking over the entirety of the land all the way to Shishibone City. Or worse than that, the entire prefecture! And if it’s possible that it can cover the prefecture, this means that it’s more than likely able to cover other prefectures too! Clearly this is why they killed Takano, and are now plotting to kill Rena, because they’ve worked out all the kinks in their mad revolutionary plan to seize control.

How much sleep do you think Rena’s got over the past… since she got caught chopping up the bodies of Rina and Teppei? She latched on really tightly to this conspiracy angle that she just read about less than two days ago. Now I know that this can all be explained away with information we learn in Minagoroshi, but you know that her mind isn’t exactly at the best place it could be given the events of the last week or so. She committed a double homicide, she was caught trying to dispose of the evidence, she was given these scrapbooks filled with absolute bullshit, she recently began remembering previous trauma she’d mentally blocked away. Then on top of that, Ooishi mentions to her that Takano and Tomitake were found brutally slain shortly after she was given the scrapbooks of garbage. Around the time the rest of the gaming club helped her dispose of the bodies she did explicitly mention she was feeling exhaustion. So I can’t help but wonder if her excessively strong paranoia here might be the result of all of these various stressors just finally catching up to her.

And so, thus armed with $17,558 (adjusting for inflation) Rena goes to her secret hideout in the garbage dump. She reasons this is a perfectly good hiding spot, even if she’s ignoring the fact that both Rika and Mion know about this location. Rena, feeling the restlessness that comes with having to wait until nightfall to contact Ooishi leaves her hideout.

Which then cuts to Rena’s father talking with a local police officer because it looks like someone broke into his house and stole 800,000 yen out of his lock box. During said discussion with the officer Keiichi calls asking if Rena went home? Rena’s dad informs him he hasn’t seen his daughter since she left that morning and hangs up on him, the missing 800,000 yen and break-in being a slightly larger issue than his daughter’s friend wanting to chat over the phone.

Rena, meanwhile is off to go look at where they dumped the bodies of Rina and Teppei.

Wuh oh! Just like the bodies in Watanagashi the bodies of Rina and Teppei went out for a stroll! Also, I love how the text for Rena’s narration is now this just blood red, it’s a very nice touch.

One of the things that I like about this chapter, and it continues a little bit into Minagoroshi as well, is this notion that even though we have Mion’s word for it that the Sonozaki family isn’t as nefarious as they seem, but actually are still highly suspicious. I don’t doubt that the Sonozaki group at large just decides to take credit for some of the more illegal deeds that happen around Okinomiya/Hinamizawa. But there’s things like this, where if the Sonozakis were indeed on the up and up why are they willing to help dispose of these corpses with no one raising a fuss? It just acts at odds with the claim that they’re not actually a crime syndicate, and maybe there is something to their criminal reputation outside of their actions during the dam conflict.

Rena then rationalizes that the Sonozaki family must actually fear what she knows. After all, they moved the bodies, why do that if not to use against her in the future if she proves unruly? Emboldened by this new information Rena leaves the site where the bodies used to be.

I feel like it took tremendous restraint on either Ryukishi07 or the translators parts to not include some variation of “I know that she knows that I know that she knows that I know that she knows.” It just seems like the sort of line that would be included in some way you know? Although I guess you don’t really see that used in a serious context very often. Cause as we all know this series has never indulged in a silly line like that at all during the course of it all. Still I appreciate how even in the ever worsening depths of her paranoia Rena still is aware enough to think that hey wait, what if Ooishi is in on it? However I do like the version of these events where even though she’s dead certain most everyone’s out to get her Rena is still willing to try to get some help on her side. It’s an interesting change from Keiichi and Shion’s dives into paranoia and eventual murder where they just kept it to themselves.

[diaryofamadsunwukongfan]

World Wars

The Great War

●80 years ago, the world of Remnant was an unthinkable place compared to the one that exists today... there were 3 great powers:

●The Empire of Mistral as the oldest power laid in the mysterious eastern lands of Anima. Once, it was the greatest power in the world, but that chapter had long since closed. Now, the Empire was a shadow of it's former glory, and it was in no small part due to it's tyrannical, manchild Emperor who's people only followed for the sake of tradition.

●The Holy Kingdom of Vale was the second oldest power, second in size, and in the past second to Mistral's glory. For centuries, the people of Vale kept to themselves in the name of peace, with only traders traveling outside it's secluded borders. However, a miraculous change happened to the Holy kingdom in the form of the Hero King Charles. Under his guidance, the Holy Kingdom became truly great, a beacon that the rest of Remnant grew to respect... and hate.

●And finally, there was the Kingdom of Mantle, who's history is completely intertwined with The Great War. 100 years before the war, twin kings of Vale had a religious schism that resulted in the elder brother taking one third of the people far, far north, to the freezing wastes of Solitas. It is there that the people grew cold, not out of malice, but as a way to avoid grimm in a land where death was omnipresent. They should have died... but instead they thrived, inventing ways to use Dust that the other powers could never dream of. By the time of The Great War, Mantle had become the most advanced nation in Remnant. And like all advanced nations, they wished to share their prosperity with the rest of the world.

●Less than 50 years before the great war, Mantle had started colonizing the lands in Western Sanus to expand its power beyond Solitas. The numerous different peoples were of little consequence to Mantle, after all, their name for their land was "Vacuo". Empty. To take the land, Mantle colonizers either made deals with local leaders to improve their small Kingdoms with modern technology in exchange for diminished autonomy, or deposed of local leaders and replaced them with Mantlecean nobility. The majority were apathetic to the changes Mantle made, while the rebellious minority were stamped out. In the end, Mantle was only in Vacuo to take something they were quickly loosing: Dust. After 70 years, Mantle's Dust deposits were shrinking from over-exploitation, and colonizing Vacuo was the easiest way to gain more. Imagine how lucky Mantle was when they realized that Vacuo's deposits had more Dust than any place else in the world.

●As fate would have it, the only person the Emperor Sui Diyu of Mistral ever respected in his 59 year long life was King Piotr Gelè of Mantle. The exact nature of their relationship is debated among historians (transactional relationship, friends, lovers), but none deny that the two men were very close. According to legend, Emperor Sui requested a personal audience with with King Piotr after hearing amazing tales of Mantle technology. Recognizing the opportunity, King Piotr traveled to Mistral's capital as fast as possible to accept the Emperor's request. From the day they first met to the end of the war, the two leaders spoke in person at least 101 different occasions. Emperor Sui was more than happy to trade away his private horde of food and supplies in exchange for King Piotr's Dust and technology, who happily educated the Emperor on how to expand his empire north.

●However, during one private meeting, the Emperor passed a new mandate that all artwork be destroyed immediately. Because the mandate was identical to a law in Mantle, historians believe that King Piotr must have gave Emperor Sui an ultimatum on their relationship. This theory is disputed because Emperor Sui was never one to ordered, but it's the only explanation historians have for what followed. Within months countless paintings, statues, and works of literature were destroyed along with all the people who disobeyed. Of course, the whole time the Emperor executed artists, he had his own stash or art, along with performers of every kind, hidden within his personal Forbidden City. Not even King Piotr knew of the Emperor's deception, since the two only met within the old capital of Mistral.

●With that, the stage was finally set for The Great War. Using Vacuo as an example, The Emperor decided to create colonies on the islands along north eastern Sanus. These islands already had Valish people living there, but for the sake of peace, King Charles told his citizens to welcome the newcomers with open arms.

●According to legend, no one knows which side threw the first stone. But according to historians, it was the Valish people who attacked the Mistrali colonizers in retaliation for their expansion and dogmatic views. Insulted by the act, Emperor Sui declared war on Vale almost instantly and King Piotr was more than happy to supply him weapons and later his own troops. For 4 years, Mantle and Mistral launched raids along Vale's coastline, and it was only due to King Charles impressive strategies that the aggressor couldn't push inland.

●During the first 4 years, the Vacuo colonies lost support and eventually contact with Mantle. It was this lack of support that lead to the Mantlecean nobility in the colonizers to be slaughtered by guerrilla groups that sprang up around the colonies. By the time Mantle had even realized what had happened, Vacuo had become an independent nation under the rule of the Bull Queen.

●The Bull Queen Pasiphae was an anomaly. Born a slave withing the Vacuo colonies, she went from organizing slave revolts and leading slaves to freedom to launching full scale revolutions and eventually becoming the "Queen" of Vacuo (queen is a ceremonial title here, she had no children or family of her own). In combat, Pasiphae was said to be completely unstoppable, but her true strength lied in her diplomacy skills. It was through those skills that she came to ally herself with the Holy Kingdom of Vale. Compared to Mantle & Mistral's smooth relationship, Pasiphae had every reason to be enemies with King Charles. Vale was a Faunus slave trading kingdom during this time, and the peaceful people of Vale were terrified of Vacuo's 'violent witch queen who ate the humans in Vacuo' (note: not true at all). Despite this, King Charles and Queen Pasiphae both recognized that they were out of operations when it came to alliances and knew that if one of their Kingdoms fell, the other would be next.

●Vale & Vacuo vs Mistral & Mantle, 6 years of bloody fighting. The only the place in the world that avoided any damage was Mantle as entire cultures were wiped out from either warfare or grimm. There is a popular myth that soldiers would pause their battles to defeat the monsters that were drawn to their hatred, but in truth everytime grimm showed up to a battle field it was already over for the combatants.

●The war finally ended in the legendary Battle of Black Sun, so named for the eclipse that took place the same day. According to Historians, Emperor Sui and King Piotr combined what little forces they had left and launched a surpise invasion on Vacuo's capital city. The plan was to retake Vacuo and then to attack Vale from all sides. However, King Charles was aware of their plan (how is lost to history) and secretly led his own elite forces to the city on the other side. He also informed Queen Pasiphae beforehand, who stayed with his army until the time to counter strike. Together, the two leaders decimated the enemy forces, winning the 10 years long war.

●After the war, the 4 world leaders gathered at the island of Vytal, where the war began. Together, they formed the Vytal Peace Accords: a treaty that outlawed war for all free humans. Instead of claiming power for himself, the King of Vale willingly abolished his own monarchy in favor of restructuring Vale into a republic, and he encouraged the other Kingdoms to do the same (King Piotr was eventually stripped of his power by the emerging Atlas council, and Emperor Sui faced a brutal end). King Charles also created the 4 huntsmen academies, Haven, Beacon, Atlas, and Shade to address the growing threat that the Grimm posed to Humanity in the wake of the war.

●As a final lasting impact of the war, Mistrali citizens began naming their children after colors to remind future generations to never sacrifice their individuality. The practice quickly spread across all of Remnant, a desperate plea for freedom eternal...

The Faunus Revolution

●In the shadow of The Great War lied what was arguably an even greater conflict: Humanity's enslavement of the Faunus.

●While Slavery had always existed in some form among both Faunus and Humans in Remnant, a drastic change happened in Vale that changed the percentage of Faunus personhood. During the same 100 year old schism that created the modern Lux & Northern Orthodox Churches, the then King of Vale interpreted the Lux Bible that the difference between Humans and Faunus was that Faunus lacked a soul. Using this interpretation, he eliminated Human enslavement and revoked Faunus citizenship, creating a Human/master and Faunus/slave binary class system. He also made it convection that Faunus children would be enslaved from birth.

●To support his new system, the King enlisted special soldiers with mindcontrol based semblances to manage the Faunus slave population. These "Specialist" were the first of their kind, a military force where all the units had semblances to support their work. They violently cracked down on Faunus slaves, doing everything in their power to prevent slave revolts within Vale.

●The rest of the world began to slowly absorb some of Vale's Human supremacy practices. Mistral, which has the largest Faunus population in all of Remnant, took to Human supremacy like a fish to water and enjoyed a lucrative trade with Vale over their enslaved Faunus. This was in fact the only major trade happening between Vale and Mistral for 100 years. The Vacuo colonies, which were geographically close to Vale, copied everything about their system except for the Specialist. This would later be their undoing during The Great War.

●Ironically, Mantle would be the first kingdom in the world to abolish slave owning of both humans and faunus once it was discovered that it created grimm attacks. For a time, this lead to Mantle being considered the best place in the world for Faunus, who could freely climb the social ladder like their human counterparts. This eventually lead to the creation of the Faunus Elite of Mantle, the most economically powerful group of Faunus in Remnant's history. But even though these Faunus lived in their own paradise, they despised the rampant racism that plagued Remnant. Eventually, they decided to do something about it...

●After The Great War, there were 3 years of peace. During those three years, the Elite Faunus put together their money to mass buy as many Faunus slaves from Vale & Mistral as possible. By Mantle law, any slave owned by it's citizens were given freedom, and the Elite knew this law well. It's estimated that around 4/9 Faunus were freed this way during this time.

●Exactly 3 years and 3 months after the Vytal Peace Accords were passed, the Faunus army captured the new capital/forbidden city of Mistral after launching a night time invasion. All of the leaders in the city, including Emperor Sui Diyu, were executed quickly. All Faunus slaves were freed and all human citizens were given the ultimatum of joining their cause, or being locked in cages.

●The Forbidden City was attacked first because it was the biggest slave market in the world at the time and because Mistral had more Faunus than Vale. Additionally, Mistral suffered the highest damage from The Great War, making them the easiest target. But above all, capturing Mistral first, which was still considered to be a symbol of human achievement, sent the message that human supremacy was waning. The Faunus Army were not wild animals, they were a highly organized military force that were being led by the Mantle Elite Faunus, who were majority veterans of The Great War. Their tactics took full advantage of their animal traits, and they devised techniques to take down any Specialist forces that were sent after them. And do, War claimed Remnant again.

●Although the Faunus Army was easily able to capture Mistral, their momentum didn't move past that. What little Faunus Elities who were left in Mantle were quickly rounded up and arrested for questioning, while Valish Specialist cracked down even harder on Faunus slaves than before. With Vacuo's self isolation from the Faunus war, this meant that the Faunus army had two major enemies and zero allies. Despite this, they were able to defend their hostage city for 6 months.

●During the Faunus war, it was often speculated that the Bull Queen Pasiphae had somehow aided the Faunus army, seeing that she too was a Faunus. But according to all historical evidence available, there's no proof that she ever had an alliance with them. All that is known is that during the 6 months of fighting King Charles contacted the Bull Queen, asking her to negotiate a surrender for the Faunus Army, and she promptly refused. Years after the fact, Pasiphae passed down her position to the strongest warrior in Vacuo, and dissapeared into the desert never to be seen or heard from again.

●Refusing to allow another war to rage on for years, King Charles personally went to negotiate peace talks with the leaders of the Faunus Army, alone.This should have led to him being executed, throwing Vale and the world into anarchy. Instead, he was successful, and managed to somehow pacify the entire army. Historians are still guessing how he did it, but what is known is that in exchange for peace he gave numerous benefits to the Faunus worldwide: He outlawed slavery in every kingdom, and then he gave the island of Menagerie to the Faunus, a place they could finally call their own. However, within his peace treaty he declared that if the Faunus Army ever came back in any shape or form, the human race was therefore obligated to wipe them out. To this day, Faunus across Remnant assume that the King must have somehow blackmailed the Army into accepting such insane terms, but nevertheless the Faunus army accepted them.

●The aftermath of The Faunus Revolution is what turned the strange world of the past into the one that exists today. The Faunus Elites became the rulers of Menagerie, dedicated to making the most out of a dangerous island that was not recognized as a world player like the 4 Kingdoms. While most of the veterans of the Faunus Army followed their leaders to Menagerie, the hundreds of freed Faunus slaves fled to Mantle to attempt to recreate the success that the Faunus Elite had in what seemed like the only nation that accepted them. Instead, they entered a kingdom that didn't trust, and was more than willing to turn a blind eye as businesses subtlety discriminated against them using loop holes in the law. Even worse, Mantle's days as a kingdom were finally over as Atlas Academy rose from the ground and took it's place. Meanwhile in Mistral, finally free from Emperor Sui Diyu, fell into the hands of the crime families that worked around the Emperor. Without him, Mistral slid further and further into the state of decline it exists in today. Ironically, Vale changed the least from the Revolution, and it would take 53 years until Faunus truly had the same rights as humans within the first Kingdom of Slavery.

●To this day in Remnant, there are still humans that resent the peace treaty made between them and the Faunus, and likewise there are Faunus who rightfully know that a day when humanity fulfills their promise of extermination could be any day... but as the years go by, Humans Faunus relations get better and better, and most forget the threats between the two races. Most, but not all.

[notesofarichlycolorednight]

s1ep20 guitar villain

it was fine. the pacing seemed okay, if not just a bit fast. like1.5 speed. i think it's very funny on u.s.'s part to release pixelator and then guitar villain. bc in pixelator we end with jagged stone playing a song dedicated to ladybug for saving his life against an akuma. and in the very next episode, jagged stone is getting akumatized.

anyway something i forgot to mention that i was thinking about in the last episode was the fact that "the power of love" in miraculous ladybug is about romantic love between the love square. and i think that was a HUGE mistake on the creator's part. like first of all, you can't call yourself a sailor moon fan if you don't get that the power of love mainly refers to her love for her friends, and that's what saves the day. like that's literally a trope in that genre! the power of love and friendship!! how could he get that so wrong???

like of course usagi loves mamoru and the other way around, but like did the creator even notice that every time she asks for strength and power, it mainly comes from her friends and fellow sailor scouts? like obviously mamoru being there as a support system is very important to her, and adds to her power, but her friends and fellow scouts are always there first.

this is a tangent, but related, but there are two versions of the miraculous ladybug theme song and it always bothered me that chat noir's lines just completely changed from the first version we heard:

from it's ladybug version (first version)

They look at me and think I'm cool

I'm Cat Noir, at night I rule

My ring is charged with energy

My claws are out, just watch and see

from miraculous version (finalized version)

I am a cat

Just chilling out

But in the night, she's all I think about

I feel so strong

When she's around

She picks me up when I am down

and later in the song, his line of "my force will only grow" to "my love can only grow" always irritated me.

they center his lyrics around ladybug and his love for her. and it really reduces his character, and also pushes his love onto ladybug who doesn't even want it.

edit: i should also add that they do very much change ladybug's line to center more around adrien, too. like it's a mutual fucking up of lyrics, imo. bc they center both the lyrics around the love square.

like they say, "the power of love, so strong!" but demonstrate none of it. chat flirts with ladybug, who just looks uncomfortable from it and has to stop his advances all the time, while they're fighting akuma, and marinette becomes brainless whenever adrien breathes near her. like how is that making them stronger? helping them save the day?

like the creator did know when sailor moon or any other magical girl anime references the power of love, they mainly mean the power of friendship right?? like he did know that it's not a fluke that the genre is literally called "magical girl anime" because they're usually a group of girl-friends right?? like he knew why these magical girls were all girls and friends? right??????

[femme-from-hell]

Since requests are open, I have one! I've been in the mood for some angst recently (who thought that writing non-angsty things during an whole month would make that happen? pfft), so I was wondering if I could request headcanons for the Lupin III main cast (the thieves and Zenigata, but feel free to do whichever characters you prefer, I don't know if you have a limit of characters): how would they react/feel about being in an unrequited love situation, or one where they know they can't be together (i.e, rivals or different sides in the law)?

Thank you in advance! 🥰

Sorry this took so long, I wanted to try my hand at making a custom banner for this bcs its my first Lupin post! I hope you enjoy :) Fair warning tho, this got a little long and its abit less of head cannons and more like story + some thoughts 

Lupin iii gang & Inspector Zenigata Angst

𓆩♡𓆪 Lupin III  𓆩♡𓆪

I feel like lupin sort of shuts down when he is heart broken. He is known for hiding his true emotions and thoughts from others, so that’s exactly what he’ll do. He won’t push to seem like is normal perky self, but he wont mope about. Lupin will just go silent, stone faced and continue marching on. 

No quips to pops,  no joking with Jigen and Goemon, not flirting with Fujiko

Lupin isn’t someone who falls easy, despite his more depraved habits when looking for a partner to keep cozy with at night.

That’s all it was really, just some one to squeeze until he found his next score and then off he went, a trail of hearts left in his wake. 

You, on the other hand, could never just be something to hold his fancy until some new painting, gem or priceless artifact. No, you were so much more. 

The two of you had crossed paths when he came crashing into your life, quite literally. He landed on top of your gardening shed and put an impromptu sky-light in the roof from his fall. Sure, it scared the living shit out of you, and sure, you also might have knocked him upside the head with a shovel from said shed, but after some first aid and apologies, the two of you had an unmistakable spark from the beginning.

You weren't a thief, or anything like the people he’s come across as he’s traveled the world, but you captivated more than anything or any one. It was like a pull he could never full describe, a pull that put him at your door step after every escape from the police or heist plastered over national news. No matter the distance, he would always have 2 feet on your door mat in the end. 

Lupin was a work in progress, he wasn’t someone that would just open up after a few hugs and kisses. It was a slow and gradual process, like a flower struggling to bloom but once it did, it was something miraculous that you couldn’t take your eyes away. 

Never in his life, from the first acts as Lupin III to his long years spent alone, had he ever imagined considering the idea of having a life with someone. At first he was elated! Spending the rest of his days with you, talking for hours, laughing so hard he struggled to breath, listening to you talk on and on about anything and everything, his heart would soar at the very thought. 

Ring displays in fancy stores and museums began to catch his eye as days go on until finally he made up his mind, he wanted you apart of his life now and forever. You deserved the best, so he was going to give it to you! For hours, he would spend researching the perfect ring, it couldn’t be just any ring either, it needed to be perfect.  Finally he decided on the engagement ring that Napoléon had used to propose to Josephine Bonaparte.

Everything was set, the card announcement card was sent, the route was planned, Jigen was in place, and you were none the wiser. Almost everything went perfectly, almost. This heist was a little too close for comfort, seeing as the authorities were more than willing to shoot at him and less than hesitant to aim for the head. Along side this, Inspector Zenigata was nowhere to be seen, which made Lupin more than uneasy. He pushed aside the strange feeling of uncertainty and focused, he had a proposal to do. 

Quickly, he evaded the authorities and once they were off his tail, he made his way over to you, parking a little ways from your home so that he could move undetected, hoping to surprise you. Only, he was the one to be surprised. Rather than your quiet block, usually still as stone in the night was light up with the flashing colors of the police. His first thoughts were of concern for your safety, slowly reaching into his chest holster inside his jacket. He creeps forward, ready to make his way over to your home, only to stop dead in his tracks at the site of Inspector Zenigata. So this is where he’s been.

Zenigata moves to the side, revealing your distressed frame. Lupin can hear the old man shout his name, pressing and interrogating you further. Every time pops insists, you deny harder ever knowing the thief. 

From the shadows, Lupin looks at you, frightened at this encounter and nearly in tears. Something inside Lupin clicked, something he secretly buried deep so that no one, not even himself would realize, and the weight of the ring in his pocket felt uncomfortably heavy. 

Quietly he turned, returning the way he came and climbed into his car. Turning off the radio and his phone, Lupin drove in silence. He drove, and he drove, and he drove until he faced the ocean at the end of a pier. Pulling out the ring and looking at it in his hand, he thought of all the memories he’s made with you, only for the image of your face in tears before the inspector overshadowed everything. 

Without another thought, he clutched the ring and cast it into the sea, praying it would sink to the bottom with what remained of his heart. In that moment he wanted to feel nothing, he wanted to feel nothing for a long, long time. after all, you deserved the best...so he was going to give it to you.

𓆩♡𓆪  Jigen  𓆩♡𓆪

For Jigen, he was more in denial than anything. The thought of loving someone was too much of a hassle, especially in his line of work. 

What he didn’t account for, is that his heart tends not to listen to his head. Which is what placed you in his hands.

Meeting was a coincidence, having met when you found his look out point while looking for a place to smoke. He threatened you, not wanting to risk someone exposing him to the authorities, only for you to shrug and ask if he had a light.

Jigen was taken aback by this and let out a sharp laugh in shock, but obliged and lit your cigarette before lighting his own. You stood there and talked with him while he waited for his signal. Not once did you ask what he was doing, hiding out on a rooftop with a scope and a gun, which he found strange but funny all the same. 

“I’m just some one who mind’s their business.” 

The more you spoke the more engrossed he got in your conversation, almost missing the light reflected at him from a casino Lupin was currently robbing blind. 

“Looks like that’s my signal too.” Jigen looks over to you from his scope, finger on the trigger as you shrug your jacket off and pull out a gun of your own. A grappling hook gun. 

Wordlessly, you shot the hook, shot him a wink, and swung yourself into a window to break through to the casino. 

Lupin was shouting at Jigen through his ear piece, asking for ‘a little assistance, please!’ After the botched casino heist and a grilling from Lupin about paying attention to his ques, Jigen began to come across you more frequently. From scoping out scenes, to coffee shops, to even on the street. In reality, rather than running into you more often, he subconsciously began seeking you out. 

Your alure was something he couldn’t fight no matter how hard he tried. From finding himself joining you when he see’s you, to finding himself helping you in heists, to eventually finding himself in your bed. Never again did want to pull away from you, or the comfort you brought. 

There was no label to what you two had, but that worked for you both. It was a balance that neither of you dared to break, well, at least he didn’t. You, on the other hands, had other plans. 

This balance you and him had so delicately crafted was shattered as you held a gun to the back of Lupin’s head, gently pulling an ancient scroll from the thief’s hands. Your eyes though, weren’t on Lupin, no, they were on Jigen. Watching, waiting. 

You hadn’t planned for things to turn out like this, really, you wanted to keep what you had with Jigen but the life of a thief is a lonely one. You couldn’t give up this score no matter what, the amount of cash it would bring in would set you up for life. You could even leave this life behind, make something of yourself. However, Jigen didn’t have any plans of being in that picture. 

Before he could even think on it, Jigen had drawn and pulled the trigger. The gun once pushed against the back of Lupin’s head, now clattered loudly to the floor along side your body. Never had he thought he would have to make this decision, and yet here he is. Neither he or Lupin said a word as Jigen made his way over to you, quietly collapsing onto his knees and pulling your body close to his own. He could feel the warmth he once knew so well fade from you along side any love he had left to give. 

Jigen was never quite the same after that night. He denies the change in behavior, brushing off any concern. He denies every caring over ‘some broad’. He denies the empty bottles of liquor by his bedside table, the long nights of aching in ways he didn’t know he could, and the tear stained picture he holds to his heart of you laying with him in bed, where he now sits alone.

𓆩♡𓆪 Goemon 𓆩♡𓆪

Finding your shop was like finding an oasis in the desert. After pushing the door open to your little tea shop, Goemon practically fell for you at first sight. 

Goemon is someone who fall quickly; gives his heart away without saying a word. He is the kind of person who loves from afar and you were no different. 

You captivated him, talking on an on about all the teas in your shop, things that would happen with customers, random or shared interests. He wanted to hear all of it, so he would sit silently at the counter nursing his cup, taking only small sips to make it last as long as he could. 

You would ask him about himself but he would fumble over his words, your attention flustering him. He could never give you the full truth in his answers but still told some

“What do you do for a living?” “I help my friends with various jobs.” “Why do you carry around that sword?” “I can’t bear to part with it.”

The more time he spent with you, the harder it was to leave after every visit. Some days, he considers stopping in more than once, but anxious thoughts quicky talk him out of it. 

With you, he felt a way he could never put into words. Just seeing you put him at peace, a calm that he craves like no other. At almost every moment of the day, up until he walks through your shop doors, he is thinking of you.

Though as the days passed, his time with you dwindled. Lupin’s heist plans were coming to fruition and he knew after things went down he would need to leave along side his friends. He felt conflicted, sure he cared for his friends and the life he had built but the thought of no longer being able to see you left a weird feeling in his stomach. 

He thought long and hard about what he should do. He can’t risk staying in fear of the authorities, much worse, involving you with them while he is still wanted by the local authorities. 

Ultimately, Goemon made the decision to leave. One robbery later and there was a note attached to the front of your store doors. Inside, the samurai detailed who he was, why you wouldn’t see him and a single request.

“Wait for me.”

Goemon doesn’t stop thinking about you, not once,  and that love for you bloomed even apart from you. When he did finally return, he wasn’t greeted with your smile, the chiming of the bell from the front door, or the tea displayed in the front window. Instead he was greeted with a cold, empty building. No sign of you anywhere to be seen.

He was in denial at first. You wouldn’t leave without saying anything, you would have left some note, right? Or, what if something had happened to you! Goemon would go to the nearby shops and ask about you, which always lead to the same answer, “She closed down shop.”

Goemon would still visit your shop, standing outside the old building and starring into the window, longing for you to walk behind the counter from the back and wave at him to come in. Except that wasn’t going to happen, you were gone, and nothing is really going to bring you back. 

Once more, the samurai had fallen for someone, giving away his heart without having said a word. He would eventually come to terms with things, but for now, he will mourn what was never really there. 

𓆩♡𓆪Fujiko 𓆩♡𓆪

Fujiko Mine is the kind of woman to never let her true feelings be known, not ever to herself sometimes.

She’ll whisper sweet nothing to you, trail her fingers up your spine with an unmatched raw intimacy, then leave you penniless by sunrise. It was nothing short of an art form in her beautiful hands

When she had met you, Fujiko was enamored by your presence. Originally, she was planning to nab the man on your arm, an heir to some company but plans quickly changed when you entered her world. 

First it was just basic compliments and pleasantries, the things you would expect from these fancy parties, then it went to witty back and forth banter to her even telling you about her exploits. It felt so natural to talk with you, to move with you, to exist with you. 

Sure, Fujiko was eyeing the nice pearl earrings you wore with necklace to match, she found herself thinking of what would suit you better than if they would suit her. 

After that party, she would seek you out regularly. She would find herself wanting to treat you to nice meals, pretty outfits she would like to take off you, even stealing precious things to see your eyes shimmer with wonder and astonishment. She wanted to see you smile at no one but her.

When you would find her on the job at parties you would attend, it would become a sort of game of cat and mouse. She’s target some treasure, you would try and distract her, and then you both would have your fun. 

The thrill you both had once sought from your relationship had never really faded, rather, it changed into something more. Rushed kisses in the shadows became soft and shared in the new light of the morning, Desperate touches became gentle caresses as you both would lay next to one another at night. Extravagant meals at fancy restraints became burnt eggs and bacon with waffles made just the way she liked. Though different, it was still all the same.

The longer this went on, the more Fujiko wanted more of you. When she had time alone with her thoughts, she would find her mind drifting to you...but she could never figure out why. Yes, she enjoyed being around you more than she could have ever imagined but its something more, she can’t place her finger on it.  

Even in the heat of the moment, as she hold you, asking you to come with her, she still can’t tell you what it is. No matter how much you beg her, saying if she wants you, she needs to tell you but she can’t. Fujiko Mine is the kind of woman to never let her true feelings be known, not even to herself.

You’ve never asked anything from her, but she would give everything to you if you wanted. Yet, despite this, she could never say the one thing you wanted to your face. 

𓆩♡𓆪Zenigata 𓆩♡𓆪

The inspector has never been the sharpest knife in the pencil box when it came to love, much less how to handle heart break. 

When Zenigata and you fell in love, it was long before his chase for Lupin began. He was a pretty well respected officer that had a heart of gold, something you had always admired. 

Koichi loved you with every bit of himself, so much so that sometimes he would find himself considering a different career just to stay beside you more often

His hours were long and hard with his job, not to mention dangerous. The both of you would be stressing about one another through out the day only to be finally reunited when you both came home. 

Your life with him wasn’t easy but it was something the two of you built together, it was yours

That was until the inspector’s encounter with Lupin after an over seas trip to the US. It began a change in him that you’d never seen before. He was passionate about his job, sure, but this was something completely different. Zenigata came home rambling on about the ICPO and his chance to apply. 

You wanted to support the person you loved in all that he did but this... it meant that he would be away for months on end.

Zenigata, in all his excitement and passion, failed to notice that your smile wasn’t quite all there. Nonetheless, he would hug and kiss you all the same, declaring his love for you and all the support you’ve given him. 

This job opportunity wasn’t without thought, he took a lot of deliberation and came to the conclusion that this was truly his calling. 

Thus, the journey toward catching the world renowned thief began. No matter where in the world he was, he would always find time to call you, even if he needed to stay up late or get up early to make up the time difference. He would always tell you about all the things he’s seeing in the world, gently thumbing a picture he had of you in his wallet. 

As time went on though, those phone calls became shorter and mre infrequent. Your home was now just yours alone, now absent of the boisterous man you had once loved. You knew deep down that if you asked him to come home, asked him to quit his pursuit, he would without question but you couldn’t bring yourself to do it. You loved him too much to ask him to give all that up. 

Instead, it would be you that would give him up. It broke your heart and his, more than you would ever know. After your last phone call with him, he sat in his hotel room in disbelief, the phone line had long since gone dead. A sob tore from him as he felt an ache like no other, a hole where you once were. 

For a while, Zenigata couldn’t even put his heart into his work, everything felt wrong. He felt sick looking at himself in the mirror, seeing the man who couldn’t even put his loved one before his career, too blinded by ambition. 

No more! He was tired of this shell he has become, Koichi will bring Lupin to justice, he will return home, and he’ll show you that you mean more than anything to him!