#all three of them get accused of horrendous crimes

[ultfreakme]

Stanning these three characters is just resigning myself to being permanently in the trenches

this is also how i realize all three of their moms got killed in violent ways by powers that are far out of their control, leaving them broken and questioning all of their life.

LIKE HIS MOM DIED! IT'S A MIRACLE NONE OF THEM EXPLODED THE WORLD.

[cirqosmos]

Did I, A Side Character Became the Male Lead's Wife?!

2023 | 13+ | ONESHOT | YANG JUNGWON × READER | -> PART 2

SUMMARY you — a side character in a royal novel doing absolutely nothing but enjoy your rich ass yet boring life, only watching over the female lead and doing your job in protecting her, only for a pair of kittenish eyes to fall not upon the female lead but on you, unfortunately.

AUTHOR'S NOTE not me writing a whole ass oneshot at 5am bcs of that sweet ask from that one anon, imma name u serotonin dopamine anon lmao- and jungwon bae u r truly my muse.. also inspired by sum manhwas cuz I binge read 90+ chapters in less than a day 💀💀💀 plus happy 900+ followers for me <333 mom wake up I'm famous even tho I'll never let u know what my secret writing blog is about 😊😊

a side character, how cute?

well, you only came to know of this very horrible (not really) fact that you're nothing close to a main character's vibes cause look at you babe, where's the sparkling shiny starry dust on you as you walked through the red carpet at the ball?

and did they even spare a glance at you? unfortunately, nope. because the female lead, Liz; was your enemy, at least in how your character was written in the novel by the goddamn author which was you.

yes, that's right!

you, a hella introverted author dwelling in the deepest corner of her room doing nothing but spent an ungodly amount of hours creating the perfect and enchanting characters after crying for major character death of a fic a few years ago. wiping your dripping tears off your cheeks in a comical way as you pull open your laptop and risk your 20/20 vision for life, just so you can reverse the aching pain in your chest that you wore a thick ass glasses now.

Liz, the female lead. Swooning over her was your religion, throwing not one but a ten whole buckets explaining how perfect she was—or how tremendously kind she was, delicate and utterly sweet. patting yourself on the back for creating such a goddess of a character, so it's only wise for you to give her a fitting male lead, right? Okay we'll talk about that later since it's about you right now.

So how did you end up in your novel? Well, because of one fateful day of you doing absolutely nothing but taking a goddamn rest, and whoever the god in heaven that just randomly decided to throw you in the novel you wrote yourself—must be utterly insane. Perfect indeed!

it took you a humongous realisation to see yourself in a dark green puffy dress that represents jealousy, envy, and betrayal—which also represents the side character standing behind the female lead on the thick cover of your book. you've originally written her as that wicked best friend that uses her seductive way of speech to seduce men, and at last turning her back at the female lead by accusing her of a horrendous crime.

her fatal fate consists of her head being snapped by the guillotine, unfortunately. but for you, not really, cause you are so in for destroying wicked characters but jokes on you—you're now in the body of that character.

pfft, can't the gods put you in a character that lives near the sea, with your straw hat on and as you drank your lemon juice away from the public drama, angsty dialogues, cringe moments you yourself have created because you don't have atleast an ounce of social skills that's why you pour it all on your characters.

"oh my apologies, milady— pfft—" three ladies sticking with each other like a super glue, had thrown the glass of wine on the female lead's gown—earning a series of gasps from everyone who saw but you were sure won't pay an ounce of consideration towards her as you had written almost everyone in this novel as "the world against the weak, fragile character."

oh, right. the hyena laughters of those you describe in episode 3 of "the flashy ball"; the three evil sisters, because why not? they added the extra spices in your tongue to the point you couldn't wait for them to get slap by the female lead or possibly someone.

ah, the tremendous satisfaction.

and you were one of that person whose hands itching to smash their skull apart, you cringed enormously at them as they were the ones that brought total trouble wherever they went or whoever are unlucky enough to get in their way. unfortunately, you seal your female lead's fate with them as she need some little obstacles, doesn't she?

you as hell were not sure what you're supposed to do, whether to just let things happen as the story goes or you do the male lead's job in protecting the female lead cause you have no idea why is he taking such a long time to appear, when he should've made his grand entrance at the freaking introduction?

and you wrote it that way cause you got fed up with male leads making their first appearance at the ball, and somehow quickly gaining the female lead's heart like Cinderella cause dear lord where's the slow burn?

just say, you're a conservative grandma type of a mindset or that you are skeptical over love at first sight. yep, you're right. that's why you ain't gonna let your precious female lead get bullied in front of your very eyes. she's like your granddaughter right now, seriously.

a shriek echoed through the entire ball, gaining everyone's attention. "oh my god! my dress! you— lady Liz! who did you even brought with you?!"

oh right, you forgot it's your first time at the ball either. "my apologies, milady. it's just that i saw a bunch of hyenas roaming around.." you rubbed the back of your neck.

"hyenas?! guards—"

"chill, what's the commotion here?" a bright dashing blonde haired man in a red royal suit came around, with sets of stars dusting upon his form which you already realise to be part of the main characters but unfortunately you forgot. you ain't having that extra superhuman memory just because you are an author.

the bunch of hyenas before you reasoned with the prince, but you slowly realise that the prince was none other than Prince Jake. Inspired by that one puppy image idol from fourth generation of kpop, you were apparently slurping your noodles in the local restaurant when you watched him imitating a dog from the tv, causing you to choke on your noodles.

it's safe to say, he's hot enough that he had to be part of your main characters. aah, that signature dashing smile of his as he defended the female lead with his wisely chosen string of words which immediately melted everyone's heart at sight.

times like this you wish you were actually the female lead, but the logical side of you beg to differ; you are not emotionally capable of spewing cringy romantic words for that's only reserved for writing. So thank you, i'll pass.

Surely, Prince Jake ain't the male lead for your precious female lead but you just let them converse with each other despite her with her absolute kindness, urging you to talk with them too, atleast a word. it sort of felt for a moment like she was trying to match you with the prince.

like no please, you'd rather not to. hot guys are hot, but they're not worth the emotional investment past the fangirling section.

plus the prince doesn't seem interested you as he doesn't spare not even one look at you which obviously you couldn't care any less, you sneakily went out the ball after a series of mishaps—for example your heavy puffy ass gown with its sole purpose to only look pretty but the reality ain't that pretty to say the least, panting like a dog as you took each step towards the entrance all while cussing yourself for ignoring your logical part of brain that you shouldn't have been adding humongous useless words to describe the gown just to make it sound extremely pleasing to the readers.

now you're the one to bear the consequences of your own writing, the fuck.

"one! two!—" a long, long, depressing sigh echoes. "three! ah!—" consequently falling upon your face, what a perfect day indeed. you just wanted to go home, tuck yourself in your comforting blanket, eat your hot cup of ramen or indulge yourself in the sea of chocolate while daydreaming of your favourite idols and fictional characters.

not this awful disaster of you getting tangled in the courts' affairs.

"i suppose, you need help, milady?"

oh no, certainly not. don't call me milady, pretend i do not exist for i certainly do not have the social skills to pretend that i like you, or form a decent conversation especially with men.

"milady?"

you curled yourself, burying your head into the comfort of your gowns. wondering quite a bit of how odd you look in the middle of the hallway.

"milady?" his voice-like whisper came closer, obviously standing beside you right now. "are you okay?"

fuck it. "please, i beg of you to kindly leave me alone as my day has been utterly ruined and—" oh wait, he seems oddly familiar. those lush fluffy hair and kittenish orbs that only softens among those he were close enough.

prince jungwon.

oh! the male lead, oh my god! your jaw hang so low it fell on the ground, your eyes sparkled in dozens of star like universe as you took in his marvelous beauty that you had spent creating meticulously after studying all the '101 rules of how to create the perfect male lead that had the readers heart evaporating & a huge ass green forest that certainly would cause blazing flames'.

"oh my god! you look absolutely gorgeous, i've done it really well didn't i?! oh my god!"

"o-oh—! absolutely, you did well!" he immediately replied back, pressing his lips tight nervously.

wait what? what did he say? oh shit, oh well, covering your mouth instantly as you accidentally let it out before the prince, your precious male lead that you solely created for the female lead. "i—.."

the prince, your very precious character—obviously taken aback with a slight blush dusting of his adorable cheeks as he raise his fist up to his lips, coughing a couple of seconds. a personality trait you very well are familiar of cause that's how you wrote him when he fall in love with the female lead.

your eyes ogled out at that familiar sight, screaming at the back of your mind—wait, wait! you're not supposed to fall in love with me, you idiot! go back! go inside the ball, she's inside there!

"that's oddly brave of you, milady. i'd certainly go as far as to say that i've never seen such traits from a lady." kitten eyes softening at you, crouching down as he lend both of his hands for you. you raised your eyebrow confusingly at what is he trying to pull at but you realise he was intending to get you up.

"u-uhm? uh, sorry. i could get up on my own, actually." yeah, that's what you did. pushing yourself back up despite his protests because you ain't gonna let him fall any further for you, nah uh, not in this life, your mission is to get him and your female lead together inside the frames of birds holding flower wreaths as they went on to their happily ever after.

not with you!

"may i have the honour to know your name, though, milady?" why the fuck isn't he leaving, what is there so interesting in you that he is still standing here asking you such generic questions.

you shouldn't be having the characters attention on you as you obviously wrote it that way, and that even though your character in the novel had tried to get the prince's heart, despite resorting to foul actions, that he never truly had been attracted to her despite this characters' seductive aura.

for you squealed so loud at the scene you wrote, with jungwon putting her in her place. "you are not her, and you would never be her." along with the bunch of your readers hosting a flamboyant celebration under the comments, screaming over how loyal he was.

so what in the actual fuck is this?

"you don't need my name." you nonchalantly answered.

"my apologies?"

"you see, my best friend is in the ball—" you gestured your hands to the entrance of the ballroom, "and she needs your help more than i do."

"wait? why would she need my help?" his eyebrows knitted together in utter confusion as you pushed him through his back.

"of course, she do! don't ask anything!"

"wait!— my name is!" he forcefully turn to face you again, but you immediately covered his mouth with your hands—kabedonning him against the wall.

an excruciating silence occured between you two in the silent hallway, Jungwon freezing to his core when your other hand shoot beside his head.

"listen i don't need your name, dear sir." you emphasise each word, you certainly don't need to know his name nor his status as a prince, not wanting to risk any possible connection with him judging by how he acted before you just now.

"b-but!" his words were muffled into the void as you cupped his mouth tighter.

"shh, shh. stop talking and listen, will you?!"

jungwon nodded slowly, what an odd situation he was in right now, he thought. but somehow he likes it.

"so first step, is go inside the ballroom. second, look for the lady in pink gown, and third—"

"t-third?"

"third is tell her your name! my best friend needs it more than i do!" you release him from your grasp as you went to swing open the huge double door, "now go!" waving a goodbye before kicking his body through the entrance, pulling the door back with your entire strength despite his protests.

oh of course, you finally let out a gag after suppressing it in front of him the entire time as you've never had a proper conversation with a male without stuttering, somewhat a sad tragedy for you, unfortunately. you felt quite guilty about your readers who swoon over the romances you wrote between your leads, weeping over how you're so good at it—not knowing you're a complete introvert with only a gigantic ass dictionary with you.

finally, the male lead and female lead's romances are about to start! you squealed with your hands clasping as you went on your way to the carriage, gesturing for the rider to embark on the way to your heavenly puffy manor with the widest big grin ever that it had him questioning you, "has any gentleman had caught your heart, milady? a couple of hours ago, you were often beyond distraught to attend the ball but insisted when you heard Lady Liz was going."

"oh, you silly." you giggled as you swayed your hand, "of course, that's one of the reasons. but there's another one.."

"may i ask what is it, then?"

you leaned in closer, urging him to get closer as you whispered. "i got the chance to become a Cupid!"

"a Cupid?" you squealed before the old man, hopping like a child for quite awhile before flying into the carriage much to his surprise, but only shook his head in amusement—appalled by how his mistress had changed so much.

"so?" you couldn't help yourself from pulling out the widest eccentric grin at the female lead, extremely curious and ecstatic over what romances had bloom between her and Jungwon.

Liz raises her eyebrow in confusion, "so?.. what do you mean, milady?"

you shrugged, falling back to your seat as you raise your eyebrow in a comical way, "that.." whispering ever so seductively, "prince."

"p-prince?

"yes!" the teacup rattles at your excitement oozing so much that you tapped the table a couple of times. "what happen? what's the tea~"

she lets out a soft giggle, a bit amused by your excitement. "i have no idea what you're trying to imply, milady."

"wait? what are you saying? didn't the prince went to you last night?"

Liz shook her head slowly, her expressions clearly stating that she absolutely don't know what and who you were talking about as a smile pulled up on her lips once again, taking a few sip from her teacup.

veins popped out from your neck as it dawned on you, your head snapped towards the castle on top of the mountain, you stupid of a prince! you cussed at him endlessly at the back of your mind, tightening your fist as your ears and nose fuming in anger. how dare he? he didn't listen to you at all? what in the actual fuck? would this somehow divert the original route? a dozen question arise into your mind one after another, causing you to let out an exaggerated sigh.

facepalming yourself as you imagined the imaginary heavenly light on top of you, weeping to yourself about how tremendously unlucky you are to have a hard headed male lead. it's impossible, you have never added a trait so irritating like this in his profile so how could this happen?

"milady?" the gentle voice of your precious female lead pulled you out of your inner desperation, you leaned in closer, whining so much over how unlucky you were and such, the rest only being in your mind as you pouted.

"ah, i remember now, the prince—"

"WHAT?—" you immediately seated yourself after giving her a potential heart attack, "my apologies, what did you actually.. remember?"

"i assume you were talking about the prince from yesterday? prince jake?"

"no not that bitch— oh certainly not him, ehem.." you took a couple of exaggerated coughs, avoiding her evident confusion. "isn't there a prince.. name jungwon with you that night?"

"oh my goodness! right! prince jungwon!" she shook her head in disbelief with her finger on her head.

right, how did you even forgot that the female lead in front of you had a "weak ass memory" in her profile description. tsk tsk, truly a forgetful author you are. you should be trying your best to remember the things you wrote before and revise it as best as you can, to avoid any possible problems in the future, atleast.

"right, how did i even forget, the prince asked me for your name, milady—"

"huh?" you look at her with confusion, as you were out of reality a couple of seconds ago. your orbs terribly widened as her words slowly sinking in to your brain. "HUH?"

ask your name?! why your name, why not hers?! what did the prince ate that night before stumbling onto your way that he had to ask for your name before the female lead—his own lover?!

laughing awkwardly, you raise your leg on top of another as you nervously swayed your hands repeatedly. "oh dear, oh dear. you might have heard it wrong, the prince?—" snorting outloud as you gestured to yourself, "asking for my name? what a funny news!"

"i didn't, milady. the prince came to me and asked me for your name, as he was immensely curious of who you are so i—"

"so what?—" you can't believe this, you really can't bring yourself to believe any words she was uttering. you should have been bestowed by the news that the prince had taken an interest in her, a hand in marriage, or anything, anything as long as you're out of the picture! "y-you didn't tell him my name, d-didn't you?"

"of course, i did!" exclaimed she did with the widest grin ever.

why are you so freaking happy over this?! clasping your head in your hands as you tragically fall on your knees causing the lady to gasp in shock, ushering to your side to get you up.

"milady?! what's wrong?"

"d-dear," you pouted as you look up to her, "you didn't tell him where my manor's at, r-right?"

she simply replied, "i did? the prince informed me that he's going to send a letter for you to be his partner to the ball."

an imaginary arrow struck back to your heart, forming a humongous hole that threatens to give you a panic attack. what? what in the actual fuck? did you accidentally did something to divert the original story you yourself created? but you didn't even do anything! you tried to do your best to keep the interaction with him as short as possible and he dared to take an interest in you?!

"milady, a letter from the royal palace had arrived for you."

"discard it. throw it. keep it away from my sight."

"milady?!" Liz and the head of the maid exclaimed in utter shock at your nonchalant answer.

"forget about it, forget about it." you clasped your forehead in utter disappointment, yet your brain were creating another plan b for this unexpected turn of events. what should you do? even more so, what would you do now that the prince had asked for you to be by his side to the ballroom?

this won't do, you won't let this happen—you had to look as unattractive and ugly as possible for him to cringe on and finally divert his attention back to the rightfully person who deserved it; the female lead.

your maids could only fall apart every single time you pluck out the enchanting gems they attached on your hair, ears and wrists. their efforts deemed futile as always as you had no mood for any sort of events, it was like a slap to their face as you initially weren't like this. you overheard them that they couldn't get used to how you were adamant in staying behind the spotlight as you often did your very best in dressing yourself up before, with the sole intention of gaining the favour of men and even more better, a prince.

of course, they are totally oblivious to your real identity. only a series of jaw gaping one after another with your change of character, at first—you had a dilemma over whether you should act like the character you created but you later scrap the idea as soon as the anxiety of being engulfed in the crowd suffocated your chest. opting to avoid as many as balls or public events as possible, but that obviously didn't work out that well since you heard of the female lead's arrival from the country side—just like you intended it to be.

and being the proud mother (writer) you are, of course why wouldn't you take one single look at her and see of how far she had came? but alas, one interaction leads to another one and so on—till finally, you became her best friend throughout her entire journey. waiting for the male lead's arrival, and watch their romances blooming and per se—but oh well, look at the situation you were in right now; total disaster.

you truly despise being in such an extravagant puffy gown and the numerous accessories hugging your skin, it's tremendously uncomfortable that you wanted to rip it off part in front of the prince standing before you right now, and right here.

asking for your hand to dance with that odd kittenish smile, that you swore you had never ever written in his personality profile; he should never have been this casual and chill over a person he had just met. he should've been cold as fuck, icy to touch, and a spiralling disaster if you dare to talk to him, so why?

plus how could he have taken an interest in you? you couldn't possibly have added a dose of the love at first sight trope, didn't you? you despised that trope to your very core.

"milady? may i?" he extended his hand before you, patiently waiting for your answer.

you had decided that you're going to reject him quick and efficient—just like the local fast food restaurant your mouth kept drooling over for, smashing a five star review for their inhuman speedy delivery.

"you see, prince jungwon. i have no desire to have a connection with you, a relationship, as a matter of fact."

he raised his eyebrow, seemingly unfazed by your bold words. "i'm curious milady, why so? have i done something that perhaps had annoyed you?"

cliché question, you loathe that. "what if i said you did?"

"then tell me, milady. i'll try my hardest to own up to you—" he took a steps forward, which causes you to immediately step back as well with a frown on your face. you can't, not in this life, to even give him a single chance to get close to you. nah uh.

"no need, and stay one meter apart, please." you pointed your index finger towards the floor and he hesitated, but complied immediately.

"i." you raise your index finger back to yourself and then at him, "don't like you. do you understand?"

"b-but?"

"stop questioning me, prince jungwon." you stayed firm in your spot, "i believe it's a common decency to step back when a lady had voiced out her opinion, a prince like you certainly would understand, am i right?"

Jungwon was clearly taken aback, the fact that you didn't give him a single chance to utter a word nor take a step closer was a hard punch to his face. It feels as if he was trying to reach for you, but you efficiently dodged it with ease. It kind of.. annoys him.

"base on how you didn't say anything anymore, i assumed we're done here! well then, goodbye prince jungwon." you turned your heels towards the entrance, not bothering to waste any time at this goddamn ball. "i hope this will be the very last." you scoffed inside your mind, eager for the story to return to it's original route, and that the prince would soon deem you useless and such—returning to the female lead's arms.

hm, now where's your precious female lead? she should've appeared right now and right here, strike the pot while it's hot!

"i'm afraid i can't back down that easily, milady." jungwon took a few steps forward, wrapping his hand round your wrist as he spun you around to face his eyes filled with blazing determination. one that you specifically added on top of his profile so that your readers would kept it in mind.

your breath hitched down your throat as you remembered there's only two reasons he could have this; one that reminds you when he was at war, shouting at the top of his voice to encourage his soldiers as they push through the enemies, and another reason of it appearing is when he have to get what he wanted, or else all hell will break loose, chaos will ensue.

right, you're truly an idiot. staying a few years in this novel without any memories, and only for it to surface back when you stumble upon the library—dozens of books flickering a series of eccentric images in your mind. It had cause you to lose all memories of important details, only emerging everytime you are presented with a situation you couldn't comprehend. such as when you forgot that the female lead had memory problems and such.

"i'll only present this choices to you, milady. since you tremendously intrigued me over how well spoken you were and fascinating indeed—" bitch, you don't even know how you had the sudden ability to confront him but you were just sure as hell that you don't want to ruin your own novel. no fucking way.

you can't let him have the upper hand on you.

"let me go." irritated to your core, you tried untangle Jungwon's tight grasp on your wrist but he won't budge even an inch which only had you fuming in anger. "i said let me go, bitch!"

the crowd emits a series of gasps and murmurs as you spun around—twisting the prince's arms which had him yelping in pain, and ultimately pinning him onto the ground. with rage consuming you that nothing was going in your way, you slammed your hands on the both side of his head. clenching your jaw and gritting your teeth as you emphasised each word. "you are one a dumb hell of a bitch, when i said i do not want to see you anymore. i mean it. so—"

"so what?" his smug look resurfaces, one that emerges whenever he was being challenged. yes, do that! he should despise you, not take an interest in you! he should loathe you so much that he can't even gaze at you for a second. excitement surged through your veins as you open your mouth, preparing for the last blow.

"so, get lost. just because you're a prince doesn't mean every girl would fall for you, idiot."

an even more louder gasp emits from the crowd as they clearly heard what you said, their jaw gaping and some covering their mouths with their hands as their mind are now bombarded with random questions over how exceedingly brave you are to insult the royal prince, and of what fate will you met now that you've done such an atrocious act.

a low giggle sent shivers down your spine, and goosebumps to riled over your neck as you realise the prince under you had the widest smirk on his face. you frowned deeply, he shouldn't be smirking! he should be fuming in anger and throwing you out of the palace at this moment. so why?!...

"oh milady, how truly fascinating you are." you let out a loud yelp when he grabbed both of your wrists, pulling you closer to his face—a dangerous close proximity against his fluttering eyelashes and lips that your breath caught up in your throat which causes your cheeks to heated up in embarrassment of what kind of position you two were in right now. "i like you, you would certainly be a perfect fit to be by my side."

"what?!" you exclaimed, jaws dropping and eyes about to pop out at his very words. "i don't want to be by your side—"

"a lady like you, i'm afraid to say, intrigues me very much..." Jungwon shots a kittenish wink right through your heart. "be my wife, milady. i'll show you how good I can be for you."

「 © talesofyuan on tumblr 2023 」 all rights reserved. do not copy or post without permission.

[themattress]

FE3H: 1, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 24, 25

1 - Not "everyone" gets them wrong, but both Edelgard and Claude frequently suffer from truly terrible takes. Edelgard gets treated as a clear-cut, evil and/or stupid villain rather than the morally gray character with admirable qualities that she truly is, while Claude gets treated as a 100% reliable good guy when in fact he's far more complicated and has just as much potential to swing toward the dark side as Edelgard and Dimitri (though he's admittedly still more reasonable on the dark side than either of them). Tellingly, many fans got angry at Three Hopes for clarifying the truth about them rather than admit they pegged them wrong.

3 - Concerning takes on Edelgard:

7 - "Hate" is a strong word; I don't hate him at all and think he's a good character....buuuut I'll freely admit that I have less fondness for Dimitri than I might otherwise have had due to the fandom's treatment of him. So many fans who accuse other fans and even the games' writers of "uwu woobifying" Edelgard in order to distract from her flaws and crimes do exactly that for Dimitri without a hint of irony. This is a guy who, prior to his redemption in Azure Moon and prior to his death in Silver Snow and Verdant Wind, committed the most personally vile, cruel acts out of all the Lords, with little to no remorse. That's really not something that should be minimized or brushed under the rug as if it didn't happen, nor is it something that any amount of trauma can excuse. Hell, Dimitri at the end of Azure Moon would agree with me here!

8 - The common opinion of Edelgard haters is that the Church of Seiros did little to nothing wrong and Edelgard is stupid or evil for wanting to destroy it, while the common opinion of Edelgard fans is that the Church of Seiros is rotten to the core and the best future for Fodlan is it being destroyed. I disagree with both takes. The problem isn't the Church, the problem is Rhea. And not in a bashing way, in an objective way that Rhea herself concedes to by the end of Silver Snow and Verdant Wind: she let her fear, grief and desire consume her and cause her to run the Church in a (though she of course didn't see it this way) self-serving manner that exacerbated the divides in Foldan. The bottom line is that a lot of Fodlan's problems could have been resolved if only poor Rhea had gotten some serious therapy.

9 - The Battle of Gronder Field's aftermath in Azure Moon. On paper, I like Dimitri's redemption arc, but I feel that the execution behind his big turning point was handled horrendously. Rodrigue, who is Felix's father and not Dimitri's, dying gets Dimitri to turn around while Felix himself barely reacts. Fleche, who had potential surviving and helping in Dimitri's arc while also being helped herself, is just casually killed off while only Dimitri finds healing and redemption. And Byleth just forgets that they have the power to turn back time, therefore allowing Rodrigue and Fleche's deaths to happen. Worst writing in the game, easily.

10 - All of the blatant mischaracterizations.

12 - Now, I totally get why many find him off-putting, but Lorenz deserves more love. He is among the biggest cases in the game of someone who struggles to unlearn what he's been taught for his entire life, but that's what makes him so interesting. And whenever he's actually successful at it, he's quite likable with his more humbled personality and bonds with others.

16 - The Holy Kingdom of Faerghus and the Blue Lions. For the most part, it's a bog-standard medieval kingdom and character archetypes that have been done better elsewhere.

17 - More Edelgard vs. Hilda casual rivalry fics/art please; it's hilarious.

18 - Edelgard/Claude as a ship. So much potential there!

19 - Silver Snow. Yes, it's the most unpopular route in Three Houses. Yes, its execution is ass. Yes, its character dynamics are wasted. Yes the final boss is an absolute nightmare. But I like what it was trying to do, damn it! With enough tweaking, it coulda been a masterpiece!

20 - The Heroes' Relics. I get why they're a big deal, but I can't bring myself to actually care about them beyond a gameplay level. And yes, that includes the Sword of the Creator.

21 - Dimitri, Faerghus, the Blue Lions and Azure Moon! Haven't you been paying attention?

24 - Edelgard, of course!

25 - I have sometimes heard complaints that the Golden Deer get the short end of the stick because their backstories, families and home regions tend to get less focus compared to the Black Eagles and Blue Lions. This is missing the entire point. The Golden Deer don't represent a single, powerful entity, but a diverse alliance of city-states, one that has been particularly shaky as a of late. The individuals are not as important as the unity - the alliance - between them is. The focus isn't meant to be on the Golden Deers' backstories, families and home regions, the focus is meant to be on how they gel with one another despite their differences and what they achieve together. In any case, Three Hopes granted more spotlight on half of their homes and families, so it's not like they're totally deprived of that either.

[scott-mccall-the-hot-girl]

Liam ~Dick Master~ Dunbar

one of my favorite cursed ass headcannons:

concept: liams favorite hobby is drawing the most disgusting dick’s EVERYWHERE & nobody in the pack can figure out it’s him ( besides theo )

# it’s dicking season where common phrases include:

getting dicked

dickings

and they are all in fear of proclaimed dick master ,, liam’s secret alter ego

dick season is an unreasonable time

liam has no mercy

your favorite shoes, massive dick. your face? dicked. the backside of your shampoo bottle, yes there is a massive penis there.

it’s absolutely horrendous

stiles puts together ~penis patrol~

THEY CANNOT FATHOM THAT IT’S LIAM

so a full on fbi level investigation ensues when it starts to get bad

they assume that it’s corey for awhile ,, and then lydia and then theo accuses stiles himself ,, that doesn’t end well

the penis patrol investigates half the group and certain people ( just lydia ) get extremely angry that they are accused of being the dick masted

the crime board is heavily used again

this is a very sacred group ,, it’s just to out of hand. scott claims that “this is some anuk-ite level anxiety”

malia decides to bring the pack to the sheriff station because- “this is too much, we are getting dicked and it needs to stop!! sheriff stilinksi, it’s relentless i can’t stop getting horribly dicked! WE DONT KNOW WHO IS DICKING ALL OF US”

therefore, sheriff and parrish both get dicked

parrish gets it like on the forehead ,,

HE HAS NO IDEA HOW ??

and malia calls the fbi ,, stiles has to explain why are young lady, cleaning to know him called his office in particular and said, and i quote

“PLEASE HELP, HE WONT STOP! THE DICKS WONT STOP THEY JUST KEEP COMING! I CANT SEE ONE MORE PENIS”

she reEALLY HATES THE DICKS

anything goes during dick season

like the side of dereks building, massive dick

theo finds out on like the second day

part of this includes theo pulling a lot of the reigns on the whole operation

he gives liam some direction, as one ex-villain woul when mischief ensues

he gives liam the idea to dick theo and himself so nobody gains suspicion

as well as the genius idea to stop and start dicking’s randomly ,, so for either three months it’s relentless than nothing for another three. four weeks here and there.

the pack knows never to get to relaxed

obscure dicks include: isaacs scarfs, bleached into malias fur, tanned on the back of lydias leg while she is sun bathing and the side of mason’s car

this includes a huge debate on whether they should dick the jeep, and if they do should theos truck get dicked

it definitely does

brett gets dicked so much in the beginning ( what do you mean he’s dead ?? )

theo eventually takes control on that one or else people will really think it’s liam

theo makes liam a dick stamp for efficiency

this goes on for YEARS

theo is the only reason they aren’t caught

every few months it starts again and once one person is dicked they all scream in fear ,, running as far away from each other as possible

it goes as far as dereks tattoo getting vandalized into a dick ,,

they have no idea how he managed that one

for such a mess of a boy he is stealthy

and relentless ,, homie uses sharpies

the first time ~the phrase~ getting dicked is used is directed at liam himself

“liam got dicked” ,, mASON SCREAMS

STILES IS IN A STATE OF UNBELIEVABLE DISGUST !! he hears this from upstairs and assUmes the worst ,, the worst meaning theo raeken

the phrase catches on from there

the only positive is the swear jar getting filled so much that they eat very well

scott only figures it out because he sees that in the very scrap book scott has- liams name is signed in dicks ( in the same way lydia writes stiles using just the word mischief in season 6 )

it’s liams name,, just in dicks

very specific looking dicks only the dick master himself would draw

like a signature

also yes, you heard that right scott does have a scrap book

he doesn’t say anything though. he thinks it’s funny

liam eventually reveals himself whilst drunk

nobody believes him until he has to draw a dick on someone to reveal it’s him

cause nobody draws one quite like liam dunbar

coach knows because the whole pack watches the lacross games, during dick season the are a rowdy bunch and he hears all about it

he knows it’s liam, of course he does. it’s coach

so like half the team gets dicked

coach specifically recommends people he wants to get dicked

it’s amazing

liam eventually gives up after they know it’s him ( or at least to the same extent, stiles gets dicked every now and then )

he does request that “Liam Dunbar, the Dick Master” to be etched into his gravestone

mind you, this is half of the reason thiam happens. the dickings bring them closer together.

[leo-gold-hotchner]

The Sinner -6

I had a bad cold and problem with my uni a bit. I hope you guys are all safe and stay healthy!

Last part til the epilogue, thanks for everyone who stayed with this series. I realised I’m not fit to write a long series with chapters lol

I admit I like to see Hotch suffer... but in the same time I want him to be happy

Criminal Minds BAU x Gender Neutral Reader

Word Count: 4k

Warning: Swearing, perceptions of suicide, blood, death, torture, UnSub Reader

“All warfare is based on deception.” – Sun Tzu 

“You are the UnSub.” 

“Am I now? There’s no concrete evidence to pinpoint me, is there Agent?” 

“It’s all circumstantial, I know I can’t accuse you now.” 

“So this is what, off the record?” 

“Why did you give us the hints?” 

“You know the answer, you know why I’m doing it.” 

“He wants me to kill you on the spot.” 

“Did he now. He’s the bigger fish. Why don’t you be the fisher?” 

“And you be the bait?” 

“He wants me, doesn’t he?” 

“I don’t make a deal with criminals.” 

“I’m not a criminal, yet. No charge no verdict yet. Well, Agent Hotchner, are you up for fishing? In the end, the fisher will be the only winner.”

                                                  -BAU-

 “Detective!” 

“Yes?” 

“Could we talk privately?” 

“Yes, what is it?” 

“I’m going to gamble with my life, will you help me catch them?” 

                                                   -BAU-

7th Day 

With a throbbing head, Hotch finally returned the world of living. The light was too bright for his eyes, he frowned and groaned, hearing some voices. This wasn’t what he planned, being battered by something. He shook his head to shake drowsiness, instinctively he tried to use his arms, but they were tied behind. His memories played back what had happened before he lost his consciousness, and with widened eyes he scanned the room he was in. 

There were other people too, who were just like him, tied on the chair. The other three were in the dark, while Hotch was just under the bright light. However, even in dark he still could see two women gagged, and one man limped over the chair lifelessly. He thought one of the women resembled the woman who was taunting him at the alley. A man under the dim light, he looked about to die with yellow liquid slowly flowing down from his skin. No, was he already dead? Hotch’s nostrils flared as he now detected the smell of burned flesh. He then looked over the other two, they were trying to untie the rope, wriggling and wresting but it was useless. Where the hell was he? With an echo of footstep, and sudden brightness blinded him. 

“Finally, you’re ready to join the world of living, aren’t you Agent Hotchner?” The familiar voice, but unlike before there was madness in the voice. “Take your time, as you know you’re not on my list. I won’t hurt you.” 

Hotch blinked a few times to adjust himself to the light, his ears perked up as he heard a sound of dragging. He saw L/N straddled on a wooden chair, comfortably placing arms on the back of the chair. 

“I had to change my plan because you arrived. I’m just surprised Robertson contacted the BAU for help. I mean, he’s too prideful to ask for help from others. Especially you lots.” The scientist shook head a little with an amused yet sneering smile. “But then he called you to catch me, didn’t he? He wanted you to kill me.” Hotch didn’t answer, just gazing the orbs which amusement and madness mingled together. “Alright, silent treatment.” 

L/N stood up, and the agent’s body tensed as he studied what the scientist was doing. His eyes followed the scientist’s whole move, not even glancing at the two women in the respective corner. L/N dragged the chair which the man who looked about to die in front of Hotch, ignoring the two women who were glaring daggers at the scientist. 

“Meet José, José meet Agent Hotchner.” L/N introduced the men as if they were in a social gathering, Hotch shuddered inwardly. José couldn’t even open his eyes to see the agent, he was barely breathing. Hotch held his breath for a moment as the smell of burn flesh and blood surrounded him. “This is, Acedia, the Sloth, who is about to die.” L/N said cheerfully as if talking about a recent good movie to a friend. “They say a person who committed sin of sloth is put into a snake pit.” The scientist wrapped an olive-coloured long cloth on both hands. 

“Don’t.” Hotch’s head shook lightly, looking at the scientist pleadingly. This isn’t what supposed to happen. 

“Why not?” 

“It’s not worth it. Is killing this man worth for your time in prison? Your death?” 

“Tell me, agent. Have you killed before?” L/N asked with interest as the scientist wrapped the cloth around José’s neck delicately as if wrapping a fragile china. The man finally opened his tired eyes, looking frightened. Even if the man suffered horrendously, he wanted to survive, he wanted to live. 

“Yes.” Hotch looked into the frightened man’s eyes, guilt washing over him for cannot helping the man. The man was screaming for help silently but he couldn’t do anything. His hands were tied, only allowing him to watch the man to suffocate. 

“That’s as an agent isn’t it?” The scientist grabbed the cloth tightly, ready to pull, “what about as a man? Have you killed?” 

Hotch’s jaw tightened, his mind replaying the day when he killed Foyet with his bare hands. This person was trying to convince Hotch, to justify the all murders. 

The scientist rolled eyes as Hotch didn’t answer. “Then I’ll do the talking, you just listen.” With strength, L/N pulled the cloth to opposite directions to tighten the cloth around José. José let out a pitiful chocking sound, his feeble limbs struggling against the scientist powerlessly. “Look at him, Agent Hotchner.” L/N’s breath was a bit shortened from pulling the cloth, ignoring the agent’s plea for not to kill. “This man, is one of the reasons why my husband died.” José’s eyes soon rolled back, his limbs slowly falling. “I know your friends are coming for me.” The scientist finally released the grip on the cloth, kicking the man’s lifeless body along with the chair to the ground. “I’m sure you knew Robertson was going to kill you and he is involved.” L/N smiled thinly as Hotch looked up. “He’s the boss of this organisation. I want to bring him down.” 

Without a warning the scientist pulled out a Glock and dragged one of the women. The woman had blonde hair with stunning blue eyes, but her eyes were filled with hatred and fear. 

“I don’t want to kill him unlike others. However they thought, the scums I killed were afraid to die. But Robertson is more afraid of public knowing his crimes. Always worrying about this good reputation. I’m not going to make him a martyr who was killed by a killer for chasing me. I want people to know what he’d done and accuse him for everything he’d done. These two are Ira, Agent Hotchner. They’re assassins working for Robertson, killing many people who were in Robertson’s way.” L/N ungagged the woman who started to say something vehemently in a foreign language after spitting on L/N’s face who wiped it without anger. “I don’t understand what you’re saying, and, sadly, I don’t fucking care.” The scientist drawled in disinterest, then with loud bangs, a couple of bullets were embedded into the woman’s both knees, making her howl in pain. “We don’t have much time, Agent Hotchner. Help me, then you can arrest me.” 

“I don’t make deals with criminals,” Hotch gritted his teeth. In the back of his mind, he was battling with himself. Will this be another Foyet? Will he lose another family because of him? He didn’t want to lose anyone because of his action. Hotch didn’t want Jack to suffer because of who his father was. 

“Okay,” L/N shrugged as untying the woman, kicking her out from the chair who hissed in pain. “You had your chance, Agent. You kicked the two chances I gave you, you didn’t grab it. I’ll kill them, but their blood is also on your hand.” 

“Liar! You said you would help us get rid of him!” The woman spat, trying to crawl and stand up. 

“I said, if you lure Agent Hotchner, I’ll make Robertson pay. Not help you kill him.” The scientist rolled eyes while gesturing towards the woman to face Hotch. “I know it’s hurt but please do try to kneel in front of our honoured guest.” L/N sighed as the woman didn’t comply, so the forensic just kicked the back of her knee and grabbed her hair roughly, facing Hotch. “Look at her, Agent. This is the face of a killer. You insist I shouldn’t kill them and put them in the prison. You saw the list, she killed them along with her,” L/N pointed the back with a thumb. 

“If I make a deal, will you not kill her?” 

“It’s too late for that, isn’t it?” The scientist smiled lazily. “Don’t feel guilty about it, Agent. She’s just another killer just like me.” Blood splattered on Hotch’s face, silent wailing of a woman in the dark echoing the room. Blood slowly gurgling out from the head, her face probably ruined and won’t be recognised. “Are you disgusted because I killed her? Or are you disgusted because you’re powerless and couldn’t save her?” 

                                                  -BAU-

Rossi clenched his teeth as he felt Robertson’s smug smile from behind. Everyone packed, and was following the veteran profiler outside the station. As if Rossi was going to let Hotch pay for what the Police Captain did and for his own foolishness to gamble with his life. He lost too many people dear to him, he was not about to let Aaron die. No one talked as Rossi drove and everyone followed silently, the younger profilers were curious when Rossi brought them to a hotel. 

“Our lovely Captain might be listening to our conversation if we discuss anything in there,” Rossi said quietly as they were in the hotel lift. 

“I thought you had to book to get a room?” Reid read the drink menu of the hotel roof café on the lift wall. 

“Money, Spencer.” Rossi smiled smugly for the first time after Hotch’s disappearance. Prentiss and Morgan snorted, and JJ hid her smile from her friend. 

As they arrived at the room, they quickly set up everything. Morgan turned on the laptop so they could communicate with Garcia who was asking them if they found their Unit Chief. 

“For now, he’s fine, I believe.” Rossi replied, taking his jacket off. “If Robertson had Aaron, he would’ve showed us Aaron is captured.” 

“Then who has Hotch?” Morgan asked in frustration, walking in a small circle like a caged angry animal. He already knew the answer, but he had to ask. 

“The UnSub.” The older profiler shook his head. “Hotch suspected someone, but he kept it himself, saying it was dangerous for now to speculate. It’s my fault he’s not here with us, I should’ve asked him. I don’t know where he got the notion.” Rossi frowned deeply. Aaron was the leader of the team, but that didn’t mean he had to take all the burdens and responsibilities. 

“JJ and I have a theory, and we think it’s one of the forensic team.” Prentiss quickly explained why they thought like that and picked a few names who’d been helped the investigation or attended the investigation. It was a rough theory, but right now, they needed everything even a smallest thing to save their leader. 

“Hotch’s been awfully interested about F/N L/N, didn’t he? He’s been asking about L/N to Lee or others.” Morgan asked the team, though his eyes were on Reid who could remember everything. 

“He did, whenever he was gone, he was usually talking to L/N.” Reid narrowed his eyes as he searched his memory of the past seven days. 

Everyone looked at Morgan when his phone echoed, tensed up and wanting it to be their Unit Chief. “Morgan speaking,” the muscular agent answered the call. 

He furrowed his brows and hastily turned on the TV. As he changed a few channels, there were news talking about Robertson being involved in an organised crime. Everyone couldn’t take their eyes off from the news as the news send out a photo of the police captain, a letter sent to the broadcasting station was being read off by the newsreader. 

“Where’s Robertson now?” After silence, Morgan hung up the phone and banged the table with his palms. “That was Santangelo, he said Robertson rushed out before the news. He and Lee are on their way to catch up to Robertson, but I’m not sure if they’re close.” 

“Pen, check the captain’s phone record!” JJ quickly asked her friend who yelled ���on it’ over the phone. JJ pointed the television with her thumb. “Does it mean now the Internal Affairs will be involved?” 

“Perhaps,” Rossi shrugged. “It was a matter of time really.” 

Reid quickly skimmed the letter and a list on the screen before it could disappear from the screen. “Those are the list from the Kim’s journal. It’s just a copied version.” 

“Anyone can access the journal if he or she works at the station.” Prentiss nibbled her nail. “It could be anyone, but it may be the UnSub, wanting to expose Robertson.” 

“If it’s the UnSub who sent the letter, why not kill Robertson? The UnSub’s been killing others. Does the UnSub have an ulterior motive?” Morgan questioned. 

The team was starting to mind mapping what they knew, the gears were slowly but efficiently starting to roll. Reid took out a large white paper and a marker to draw some information that could lead to their UnSub. 

 “If the UnSub sent the letter and the list to accuse the Captain, then they want to publicly denounce Robertson. They’re socially annihilating Robertson’s reputation.” Rossi crossed his leg while supporting his cheek with his fingers. 

“This is clearly personal to the UnSub. The victims were killed in controlled anger, everything has been calculated and resulted in how the UnSub wanted. Denouncing the ‘good’ captain via media shows the UnSub loathes him enough to humiliate him publicly, perhaps including the police.” Reid glanced at the news which was still going about the respectable police captain and the alleged crimes. 

“The UnSub is closed to Robertson, they planned to kill the victims to warn him that there’s no escape for him. They know Robertson would choose death rather than his crimes exposed to the public,” JJ added. “Do you think he will kill himself?” 

“It’s possible, but right now, I think it’s more like Robertson went to kill the UnSub himself. By killing the UnSub, he’d say he was wrongfully accused by the UnSub.” Rossi shook his head a little. “But before that we’ve got to know…” 

“I got the phone record! And it’s spooky.” Garcia’s loud voice cut Rossi’s sentence. “The call was from Nikola L/N, and he’s been dead for three months.”  

The team looked at each other, recalling Detective Nick L/N being the forensic scientist’s husband. The said detective was shot dead, though they didn’t know the detail. But it seemed the puzzle could nearly be solved with that information. 

“Tell us about the detective’s death, we need detail here. Go into the police database. We need to know everything to save Hotch.” Rossi urged the technical analysist knowing she’d hesitate about it for a second even though she’d hack CSI or other agencies for her team. 

“Ur, yes, well, just give me a second.” As Rossi expected there was hesitancy in her voice, but for the Unit Chief, she’d do it in lightning speed. “He was found at his home, but it seems there had been a debate whether it was suicide or armed robbery.” 

“So, they don’t know?” Morgan crossed his arms over his chest. 

“No, the report later states it was robbery. But the state of the body looked like it was suicide. The detective was shot dead, but his body was in the bathtub in cold water. Let me send it to everyone’s tablet.” In a minute the screen of the tablets simultaneously turned on as the tablets received the report. 

“How come that was concluded as robbery? It looks like suicide to me.” Prentiss raised her brow, tilting her head to the side. 

“The house was totally in mess and according to L/N, some items were gone when it was reported.” Garcia replied helpfully, and JJ shot her head up from her tablet her eyes locked with the brunette’s. 

“Did L/N have any alibi?” 

“Yeah, was at the station when it happened and everyone who worked on that day saw L/N.” 

“Wait,” Reid frowned as he drummed his right elbow with the other hand. “I think he was killed just like the others. It’s possible it’s neither suicide nor robbery.” pointed the photos of the victims with the marker. “Remember when I told you why they were killed in such manner?” 

“It’s how the Seven Sins are punished in Catholic.” Prentiss replied matter-of-factly. “Yeah, and envy is punished by being drowned in freezing water.” 

“Oh my.” Garcia gasped. 

“So, you think L/N killed the detective, the husband.” Morgan mused as he raised his brows. “Making it look like a robbery by messing the house and tell them a few items are gone. Being a forensic scientist L/N might know a thing or two to confuse the investigation.” 

“Maybe,” Reid’s eyes quickly scanned the report on his tablet. “The residue from his head does look like suicide. But, there had been dragging mark on the floor… And, no blood was found?” 

Rossi finally said after hearing from his colleagues. “What if it’s been set to look like a robbery?” 

“That’s what I said?” Morgan gave the older man a little frown. 

Rossi gave a little huff of laugh at the younger man. “No, what I meant is, what if it has been a suicide and the UnSub or whoever it was, set the place looked like it was an armed robbery?” 

“Why would anyone do that?” Garcia asked over the phone. 

“There are many perceptions on suicide, some people see suicide as a sin, or some thinks it’s dishonourable and a coward’s way. But there’s also a view that suicide is a way to be freed.” Rossi filled the technical analyst with a shrug which she couldn’t see. “Let say L/N is the UnSub and Detective L/N killed himself. In that case, I think the suicide had been set up as an armed robbery to look like the detective didn’t die from ‘dishonourable’ death.” Rossi just nodded at the younger profilers. “I know it sounds strange but there’re lots of people with different perceptions and views.” 

“Well, if that’s the case, L/N will know how to confuse the investigation.” 

“But the only connection we know is that Robertson got a call from the detective’s phone.” Prentiss shook her head. “How does the detective’s death connect to this?” 

“What if the detective had a connection with the organisation? It might explain why Robertson ran out after answering the call from that particular phone.” JJ frowned at her team. 

“Do we have any other choice than talking to L/N?” 

                                                  -BAU-

The front door of L/N’s house was wide open, and its doorknob was lifelessly loosed downward as if someone entered with force. It was Lee’s suggestion they check L/N’s house first when they lost the sight of Robertson’s car. His mentor gave him a strange look, but Lee just shrugged and said Agent Hotchner gave him a little tip before he’d gone missing. Santangelo and Lee looked at each other in alarm, and took out their respective gun and entered cautiously. With his gun in his hands, Lee moved stealthily around his friend’s house. He’s been in this house several times, but currently the house emitted ominous aura. It felt different from the last time he visited the house. No one was there. 

The older man called Lee when he found an opened trapdoor leading to underground inside the garage. Lee never seen the trapdoor before even though he’d been to the garage before. A grey mat was lying next to the trapdoor as if the mat finally wanted to reveal the existence of the door to Lee. The two men nodded silently and headed down, trying not to make any sound. It was rather deep, and they were both surprised to find how one could dig such underground. His friend once mentioned about the renovation before, but he wasn’t sure if that when this underground was built. In distant they could hear several murmured voices including something like groaning. As they walked further, there was bright light where they could recognise the voices. They were still talking as if they didn’t notice the two men. 

Santangelo and Lee hid themselves under the shadow of water tank and a dark shelf that were full of tinkering staff. Robertson was there as Lee said, and Santangelo couldn’t help but feel betrayed by the ‘good’ captain everyone believed to be. From the shock of seeing his friend with a gun pointing down at a woman on the floor, he couldn’t even blink or breath for a short moment. His friend, with a gun standing just like a killer. While the veteran detective readied himself with his gun and recording device behind the tank, Lee pointed his gun towards the captain and watched where this was going. Robertson was standing in front of L/N who was shielding a figure behind L/N. The source of groaning was from the woman under the L/N’s boot who was very much bloodied from assault. But Lee wasn’t sure if the woman would live or die soon from the state. 

“It’s done, L/N. You’ll never win this game.” Robertson growled like a furious animal. 

“This is all game to you isn’t it?” L/N spat while watching Robertson with a contempt look. “That’s why you called the BAU. Probably called them because you were curious who was killing your ‘associates’,” the scientist air quoted, “then as it kept escalating you were worried about being exposed of your deeds. Go on Captain.” L/N smirked and threw the gun to the far corner. “Kill me and say the world you were falsely accused, and everything was staged by me.” 

“F/N L/N, Bill Robertson, you’re under arrest.” 

Both Santangelo and Lee emerged from the shadow holding their guns towards Robertson. With a surprised look, the Captain whirled around and in that brief moment he chose to shoot Lee first. But before he could fire the gun, Lee didn’t miss that tiny movement of Robertson’s finger and the young detective fired his gun, aiming Robertson’s hand. Lee’s heart thumped loudly as the bullet grazed his cheek and Robertson howling with pain, crouching to ease the pain in his hands. L/N looked at the detectives with widened eyes, then laughed hollowly. 

“Well, Agent Hotchner, the fisher wins. Rather anti-climactic if you say.” 

Without a word Lee took out handcuffs and L/N simply held the hands. Santangelo kicked the gun and called the ambulance, looking down at the Captain in despise. Not long after several footsteps echoed the underground and soon the room filled with the other BAU agents. 

Santangelo and Rossi talked while waiting for the ambulance for Robertson. Reid and Morgan quickly went to Agent Hotchner to help him on his feet, especially Morgan lending his shoulder to Hotch. JJ and Prentiss went to see the woman in front of Hotch and L/N but shook their heads to the others. There were two more bodies in the room, but just with the first glance, they all knew both of them were dead. 

“I guess no dinner for me tomorrow,” L/N said to Lee who gritted his teeth. “Just a day longer and I would’ve made to the last dinner with you guys.” 

“You could’ve told me what was going on.” 

“What’s done is done. Nothing can change the past.” L/N looked back for a moment and with tired eyes Hotch looked back at the UnSub.

@evans-dejong

[llendrinall]

Omg if an adult Draco woke up in 5 year old Draco's body and he wanted to make his father's life a living hell. Id read that, please please tell us the stuff he'd get up to. (as well as the stuff you would get up to at school, please)

It would be a nightmare for all involved. Draco, who had fought so much, suffered so much in order to atone not only for his mistakes but those of his family… and he finds himself back! All progress lost! He had broken his back, literally (it was a really dumb idea and Harry was very angry with him) to get Granger to warm up to him. Longbottom had forgiven him! (And Draco doesn’t even know what exactly he did to merit that). Harry had…

Harry had kissed him the weekend before.

And now he is back in his five-year-old body. Not even eleven, when he could see Harry and make a difference. No, he is five, and Draco cries and rages so much that he develops a fever and is incoherent for a week.

Afterwards… Well, you know how parents pride themselves in their children’s achievements? How parents want their children to be better than them? Lucius has found there is a limit to it. Having his son be more eloquent and advanced than any other child his age is great. Having his five-year-old son tell him with impeccable grammar that he, Lucius, will bring the ruin of their house is not great at all. Draco looks at him with a cherubic face and eyes that are burning grey, accusing him of crimes that even Narcissa doesn’t know about. Crimes that Lucius had barely begun to plan.

It is terrifying.

It is well known that what muggles call “demonic possessions” are nothing more than a wizard having a little too much fun with an imperius. But when Draco grabs Lucius’ wand, goes down to their hidden vault and, and, and opens it! He- he just casts the spell! Draco is five and he is doing magic that many adults struggle with! Oh, then Lucius wants to believe there might be something else.

(Out of all the forbidden things in their vault Draco went straight to the diary the Dark Lord had entrusted Lucius. Straight to it. And he destroyed it that very same night.)

“You failed.” Draco says, hot and angry. He is so pale and soft and full of fire. “You failed at everything and I had to take your place. I was given an impossible task as punishment to you, threatened not only with my death but the whole family, because of you!”

“Tenses, darling.” Says Narcissa softly. Narcissa is blind to the monster they have in the house. She doesn’t see it. She is convinced that there is nothing wrong with Draco, that he is just a very powerful seer who is a bit confused with timelines and verb tenses.

Draco is not a seer. Lucius is sure of that because if he were, then he would know that Lucius is thinking of… cleaning up the line. Narcissa is still young and she can give him another son or Lucius can remarry.

He is not a seer, but one day over breakfast Draco looks up and says “It won’t work. Whatever you are plotting, it won’t work. I can’t recall a single plan of yours that worked longer than a month. Kicking Dumbledore from Hogwarts, bribing the Ministry, bringing back the Dark Lord. It never works.”

So Lucius packs up his things and leaves the country quietly.

Narcissa is… shocked, which means she is furious, betrayed, and briefly terrified that she might lose her income and secure position. But once she is reassured that she still holds the house and the fortune she takes a big breath, internally swears that next time she comes across Lucius she will castrate hex him, and steps up into the role of Lady of the House.

She also listens to Draco. She insists that what Draco says has happened is yet to come, but she listens.

Draco wants to get Harry at once, but it is not so easy to find a seemingly normal muggle family in the sea of actually normal muggle families living an hour away from London. In the meantime, Narcissa visits Flourish and Blotts every day for a week until she finally gets there at the same time than the Weasleys. Then it’s a question of dropping a handkerchief and waiting for the bespectacled Weasley to fetch it for her and then, well, he is so eloquent and polite that Narcissa insists on buying young, Percival, was it? She shall buy him a quill. Any quill he wants. Don’t look at the price and just pick whatever quill you like best, young man. You must have a proper quill to write your letters.  

Molly Weasley would rather drag herself through shards of glass than accept a gift from a Malfoy; but one look at Percy tells her that if she takes this from him, if she takes his once chance of having something New and Fancy and Just For Him, he will hate her forever. So Molly relents (as Narcissa knew she would because mothers are predictable). Two weeks later Draco has a play date with Ronald.

“I think you should play Quidditch, Draco, dear.” She says, because horrendous as Lucius’ attitude was, she does recognize that Draco can be a bit off-putting. There isn’t that much talking with Quidditch and Draco is clever enough to let the young Weasley win two out of three times.

It takes thirteen months to find Harry and by then Narcissa has got a foot in both the Weasley’s and Longbottom’s houses. The latter was an excruciating effort and is still a very much work in progress. Narcissa had to let that bulldog of Augusta Lonbottom seer her crying and even now they are one wrong word away of losing all progress, but the children are talking and that was the goal.

She is weighting the pros of buying a house near the Dursleys and just moving there versus the advantage of frequently inviting the Weasley kids to the manor, when she sees the anxious look in her son’s face, a look of urgency and desperation and…

“Draco,” she cries, softly and sadly. Beautiful Draco, six years and two months and with a face like a silver coin. “Draco, dear, do you love this boy? I don’t mean like you love Mummy. Do you…”

“I know what you mean, Mother.” Draco says, serious, he is always so serious. She supposes he has to be to contain the fire burning inside. “I am not a child, I have told you. And I love him with all my heart.”

Oh.

“Then, you shouldn’t meet so soon.” Narcissa says firmly, although inside her heart is aching and she doesn’t know why. “Children who grow together tend to see each other as siblings. Why, your Great Aunt Marthia grew up with Gaius Mulciber, her fiancée, and their marriage was very difficult. I think he tried to poison her in order to marry his lover, or the other way around. I can’t remember. In any case, it is better to wait.”

But Draco doesn’t care. He doesn’t want to wait. He doesn’t want Harry to spend a single day more than necessary in that house where he was miserable and unloved. Whatever it takes, he says. Whatever it takes, even if the price is not loving Draco. Let’s rescue him now.

Narcissa explains that waiting would be much better. There are other things they have to keep in mind, like the return of the Dark Lord and the fact that Harry is linked to him. It can’t be that bad, the muggle house. Just bad enough that Harry will jump easily and eagerly to the wizarding world once it’s presented to him, so he will be all the more willing to sacrifice his…

“oh”, Narcissa says, very softly, not even an exclamation mark or a capital.

“oh”, she repeats.

Internally, she thinks “that bastard”. Dumbledore, of course. It is well known that Dumbledore wants Voldemort’s destruction at whatever cost.

“Draco you have to get yourself invited to the Longbottom’s house.” Narcissa says. Something in her tone finally cuts Draco’s unending cries that they have to get Harry, he will do it himself even if he is just one meter and ten centimeters tall.

Draco is a charming b-. Draco is charming, boy, child or adult trapped in a kid’s body. He gets an invitation and a layout of the Longbottom’s house. Narcissa then dons a pair of sensible country boots that she doesn’t mind getting dirty with mud and barely sleeps for the next ten days. Her skin suffers from it greatly, mind you.

By day three she has successfully stolen the rat Scabbers from the Burrow. She was going to switch it with a real pet rat, but it escapes and she can’t go chasing it. Then she begins a ten-days terror program on the Longbottoms. Footprints on the flowerbeds, upsetting the warding charms on the doors, definite signs of tampering in the chimney… Augusta Longbototm is many things, but she is certainly not a fool and by day four she is at the Ministry demanding help form the Auror office. It takes five freaking days for them to send a couple or aurors down. Narcissa is incensed on her behalf.

She waits until Dumbledore sends Moody down to the house. Moody casts extra protection charms and lays some traps and that night Narcissa pushes a stunned Pettigrew into what seems the nastiest of all of the traps. The one Dumbledore told Moody not to use but he still prepared the moment he left. In goes Pettigrew, stunned and wounded because Narcissa is under a lot of stress and she might have tortured him a bit.

Narcissa and Draco are there to greet Sirius, their BELOVED cousin (all capitals so no one dares says otherwise) when he is released from Azkaban. She has him shaved, washed and all set in a nice London house before Dumbledore can even begin to say “unfit for taking care of an underage boy”. At six years and four months Harry leaves the Dursleys and moves with his godfather.  

 And then it’s all nice for a while until Pettigrew escapes Azkaban, meets Lucius in the continent and together bring Voldemort back. There is a war. People grow more and more afraid of Draco and he has more attempts on his life than Harry ever had. Narcissa kills Bellatrix and doesn’t even think about it.

And, one day, a young handsome gentleman with shiny black hair arrives accompanied by a sullen lanky young man with streaks of pink in his hair. Draco labels the lanky young man as the ugliest adult he has even seen. The handsome young gentleman introduces himself as Harry Potter and asks if perhaps Draco remembers him?

The burning fire inside Draco disappears. There is only hot air and ash.

The ugly lanky young man is adult Draco, of course, governed by an eight-year-old who has completely destroyed his hair.  Harry, his Harry, is just amused at Draco’s indignation that they allowed this to happen. Apparently Child Draco was a handful to deal with.

“I’m sorry it took me so long to find you,” handsome gentleman Harry says, and he is so warm and beautiful that Draco wants to cry. He doesn’t even care about how ugly is adult body is because once he is back in it Harry grabs his hands and doesn’t let go until they are back home.

[gaysonlyocean]

hand over the detested group so i know how to kill them more efficiently

tangerine crew everyones despised KJHGFDFGHJKJHGF

we have bootleg elon musk, evil science but make it as unsexy as possible and last but not least just the worst guy youll ever meet

dr gorman be like “i cant believe i have to do this its so unethical” [goes out of his way to make it as fucked up as possible]

eden and luther would be dating if it werent for the fact that eden was “accused” of being a serial killer but the charges were suddenly dropped and then near completely disappeared off the face of the earth and luther is a very rich very prominent man who is a household name

eden dresses like the goddamn mum from duck season

luther be like [talks about experiment gang like theyre car accessories right in fucking front of them]

asmr luther gets eden military training so shes more prepared to fight and also kill experiment gang even though the main thing thats happened is eden just tries to murder a small child

speaking of edens horrendeous crimes when she was active she primarily killed young adults and older teens by telling them shed buy them alcohol but when they went to go get the drinks shed just murder them

not to make this very eden centric but shes the most developed character out of the three so kjhgfdfghj but anyway eden doesnt like having her hair up its just easier to do her job with it up

none of the experiment gang know what dr gorman looks like but they all sure as shit know his voice cause he wouldnt go actually see them but did all the instructions for tests and trials and what not via a microphone

they all die horrible deaths :)

[in-flagrante]

'I feel sexier as I get older': Back on TV in a compelling new drama, Michelle Dockery tells how her own confidence has soared after playing a succession of strong, sassy women

By GABRIELLE DONNELLY FOR WEEKEND MAGAZINE

22 May 2020

Since she burst onto our screens ten years ago as Downton Abbey’s Lady Mary, all cut-glass vowels and nerves of steel, Michelle Dockery’s kept us in a permanent state of emotional whiplash with the sheer variety of roles she’s taken on.

She was a drug-addicted con artist in the 2016 TV series Good Behavior, a gun-totin’ cowgirl in the acclaimed 2017 drama Godless, and a Cockney gangster’s moll in Guy Ritchie’s crime caper The Gentlemen.

One thing you will not see, she insists, is Michelle Dockery playing a piece of arm candy.

‘I like to play strong women,’ she says when we meet for coffee pre-lockdown in New England, where she’s been shooting her new TV mini-series Defending Jacob.

‘And even if they’re not strong, they have to be interesting. Multi-faceted, complex, complicated, three-dimensional... and flawed too, because people are. Anything but boring!’

That doesn’t mean they can’t be sexy though, and she says the added bonus to playing these characters is that, at 38, she’s finding herself feeling sexier than ever.

‘Sexy is not about having anyone else make you feel sexy, it’s about how you feel inside, and I have certainly felt sexier as I’ve got older.

But I think that’s a confidence thing too. I’ve been lucky enough to play such strong, confident women, and when you do that you definitely take something from them with you into your real life – you sort of get inspiration from them.’

Her latest character in the thriller Defending Jacob is a straightforwardly good woman – although one thrust into bewildering circumstances.

Laurie Barber is happily married to handsome local Assistant District Attorney Andy Barber (Captain America film star Chris Evans), and mother to her wise-cracking 14-year-old son Jacob (Jaeden Martell).

She’s the sort of woman who goes for a run before breakfast, then quizzes her son on vocabulary over coffee before heading to her high-profile job managing a home for abused children.

She’s just so together... until her son is accused of one of the most hideous crimes imaginable – the cold-blooded murder of a classmate – and her entire life and social circle begin to unravel as the police investigate.

‘It’s a really gripping story, because it’s so difficult for this couple to comprehend that their child might commit any sort of crime, let alone a murder,’ says Michelle of the story, based on the 2012 novel by William Landay.

‘They’re both defending their son, and like any parent would, Laurie’s asking at the same time, “Where did I go wrong?”

'There’s conflict between Laurie and Andy because at the start of the story she’s the emotional one and he’s the calm one, but then as the story goes on there’s a need for Andy to be emotional too.

'So they’re always seeing things from a slightly different perspective.

‘It’s a very human, raw story about what something like this can do to a family, and what’s so interesting about Laurie is that as her life is turned completely upside down, she also begins to question things about her family – “How well do you really know your partner? How well do you really know your child?”’

Michelle’s own family background is modest but as stable as anyone could wish for. The youngest of three girls born to Irish-born lorry driver turned surveyor Michael Dockery and his redoubtable wife Lorraine, a former shorthand typist turned social worker, she was brought up in Romford, Essex, working class and proud of it.

‘My mum is loving but she’s also strict,’ says Michelle. ‘When I was about seven I stole some penny sweets from a shop. Mum caught me and made me go back and apologise to the shopkeeper, and I’ve never stolen anything since!’

She was also raised – as were her sisters Louise and Joanne – to speak up for what was right.

‘I was brought up to stand up for myself. To speak up when I felt passionate about something, when I felt the need to make my voice heard about something that mattered.

'I think a lot of that comes from having sisters, because we’ve always supported each other all along.

'If I’ve ever felt bullied or pushed into a corner, I’ve always been able to stand up for myself. And if I see it happening to someone else, especially younger actresses, I’ll stand up for them too.

‘I hate bullying. I have huge admiration for women in Hollywood and elsewhere who have come forward to tell their stories about that, and have stood up against people like Harvey Weinstein.

'It’s horrendous what they experienced and I’m glad something has been done about it.’

It’s safe to say no one has succeeded in taking advantage of Michelle, and she says now that when she first broached the idea of going into acting to her parents they were not in the least bit concerned.

‘They weren’t alarmed by it at all!’ she laughs. ‘They made sure I had a good education so I had something to fall back on.

'Both my parents are wonderful. My mum is the most incredible woman, she inspires me.

'And my dad’s amazing too – even though he spent our growing-up years with a bathroom that was never free! They let me be who I want to be.

'So between them and my two elder sisters, who are still my best friends, I’m very lucky. We call ourselves the Essex Mafia!’

Her career choice can hardly have come as a surprise to the family, as she says she wanted to be an actor ever since she can remember.

When she and her sisters were small they attended a stage school in the evening, and they would put on plays at home to entertain the family.

Michelle apprenticed at the National Youth Theatre when she was a teenager, and as soon as she’d taken her A-levels she enrolled at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

‘I feel I learned more at drama school than I did anywhere else,’ she says. ‘Even when I was at regular school I was never out of the drama department, so I didn’t do very well in other subjects.

'I just didn’t want to be taught anything else. But there’s a huge amount you learn in drama school besides acting, like history and literature, and that was where I came into my own.’

It was, of course, Lady Mary who made Michelle famous. ‘It happened overnight,’ she says.

‘Well, I’d been working in the theatre for seven years, so it wasn’t really overnight, but I remember after the first episode of Downton Abbey aired, walking into my newsagent’s where I was living and seeing a picture of myself, Laura Carmichael and Jessica Brown-Findlay, the three Crawley sisters, on the cover of three papers and that was huge.

'Then the first time I was recognised on the street was in New York, and that was even bigger because that’s when it hit me how big the show had become if I was being recognised in America.’

With talk of another feature film in the works after last year’s hit Downton movie, she says playing Mary is as comfortable as slipping into a second skin.

‘I have huge fondness for her, she’s been a big part of my life. That was a very special show, and I hope it’s one that stays with people forever.’

It was through Downton that she met the man she thought she’d be married to now.

In 2013, her co-star Allen Leech, who played chauffeur Branson, introduced her to Irish-born public relations executive John Dineen.

She and John fell in love, became engaged and were in the process of planning their wedding when John was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. He died in December 2015 with Michelle by his side.

At his funeral, the day after her 34th birthday and a day before what would have been his 35th, she told mourners, ‘He was my friend, my hero, my king, my everything.

'We celebrate him, we honour him, and we will miss him.’ She has not spoken out about her grief, but has admitted that it was her friends and family who helped her pull through, saying, ‘They are the ones who see you through the most difficult times.’

She has been dating Jasper Waller-Bridge, brother of Fleabag’s Phoebe, for a year now.

They met through friends and Jasper, who is six years Michelle’s junior and the creative director at a talent agency, accompanied her to red-carpet events before lockdown.

It was also reported that she bought a £1.7 million house in north-east London before Christmas.

Michelle hasn’t commented on the relationship but she does say that a sense of humour – surely a given with any member of the Waller-Bridge family – is vital in a relationship.

‘My parents always taught me to see the funny side of life and never to take myself too seriously.

'I find that more and more as I get older – I’m finding ways to laugh things off much more than I used to be able to.’

Right now, Michelle Dockery would seem to have plenty to smile about.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-8336165/I-feel-sexier-older-Downton-Abbeys-Michelle-Dockerty.html

[soulgathered-a]

 some verses for ritsuka  !

so I have a canon verse for ritsuka with just a standard backstory ( you can read it here until I figure out my way around some stuff with tumblr ) but after talking about these verses with friends for month, I want to introduce some alternates to her storyline !

 one . fu.jimaru is a fake name . she is a tohsaka & an emiya due to rin & shirou being her parents ( my friend’s shirou left tumblr but ! I figured I might give people the option to request this verse ) . she is fully aware of hgw but due to her parents involvement in the one where sol.omon had appeared she decided to use an alias to enter cha.ldea. her parents have both been erased during the incarnation of humanity & ofc during the lo.stbelts which weights heavily on her ( she did get to talk to them though when they returned during the brief time of the remnant chapters ) . she may or may not be aware of arch.er’s identity but sees him simply as another outcome or possibility for her father & does not dwell too much about it. she will actively use more jewel based magic - though she holds no great talent for her father’s skill of basically copying weapons to near perfection. 

 two . in this verse her family upbringing had been less happy - still obsessed with the idea of becoming a hero of justice her father leaves. what follows is a disaster in which he is accused of horrendous crimes by the world, forcing rin to change their names as to protect ritsuka. years later ritsuka decides she still wants to hold some sort of bond with the magic society, joining chal.dea. in that verse she is absolutely aware of archer’s identity & usually rather hostile towards him. though towards others she is still her usual bubbly self.

 three . no sadness. only little ritsuka being adorable. f.go who? this is tiny gremlin town, a wholesome verse all in the fashion of emiya gohan. 

as said these are just verses one can request if they think they have a muse fitting for it - otherwise it’s her usual backstory !

[nastybuckybarnes]

Wicked Games  -  Four

Pairing: Bucky x Reader Soulmate AU

Summary: Everyone in the world has a soulmate. And until they meet that soulmate, everyone in the world stops aging at 25. Wrongfully accused of a horrendous crime and on the run, you happen to bump into the man who’s been avoiding you for the past seventy-five years.

Warnings: Language, Fluff? Rape and Abuse mentions

Word Count: 2.1K

A/n: I’m really tired rn and idk how good this chapter is. I just wanna write the spicy stuff lmao

MASTERLIST 1  2   3 Series Masterlist

~*~

“Eat.” You startle awake as a bowl of mush is tossed into your lap.

“Why?” You ask, not understanding why this cop hasn’t turned you in yet.

“Because if you don’t you’ll die,” he says matter-of-factly. You roll your eyes and struggle into a seated position in the bathtub. “It’ll kinda be hard to eat with my hands stuck behind my fucking back,” you snap, not bothering to try and stay on his good side.

“Jesus Christ,” he murmurs, leaning down and carefully uncuffing one of your wrists only to cuff it again in front of you. “Now eat. Then we talk.” You roll your eyes but scoop some of the mush up on your fingers and carefully bring it to your mouth, tasting it with the tip of your tongue then shovelling it into your mouth.

Bucky watches you with a disgusted look on his face as you scarf down the food.

“Why did you kill Rumlow?” He asks after a minute of you eating. You look up at him then back down to the bowl of food. “You’re not legally allowed to question me until I have a lawyer present,” you inform. He rolls his eyes and crosses his arms over his thick chest. “I’m not in uniform. I’m asking you as the man who saved your life. Maybe the only man interested in actual justice and not revenge. If you’d tell me why you killed him this would all be so much easier.” You chew slowly then shake your head.

“I’ve learned not to trust cops,” is how you reply. It’s more than enough to clue Bucky in.

“C’mon. Get up. You’re gonna take a shower and get changed and then you’re gonna give me the reasons as to why you’ve been on the run this whole time. If you listen and you’re good, I’ll be able to help you. Got it?” You nod slowly, allowing him to carefully pull you to your feet.

“I’m gonna let you out of your cuffs and lock the door. Just know that I’ll be waiting outside with my taser and pepper spray, should you get any ideas about escaping. You’re stuck here with me. Towels are in the cabinet and there’s body wash in the shower somewhere. I do advise cleaning all this blood up first though.” he nods to the sticky substance coating the floor and walls of the bathtub. You nod and let him help you out of the tub.

“You have twenty minutes. There are no windows in here and only one door that I can lock from the outside. You have no way of getting out so don’t even try.” You slump your shoulders but nod again, rubbing your raw wrists after h takes the cuffs off.

“Twenty minutes start now.”

He leaves the bathroom and locks the door. After standing there for three minutes, you turn the water on as hot as it goes and let it wash away the blood dirtying the tub. Once the tub is clean you strip off your clothes and grab a facecloth from the closet. It takes a moment to find your courage, but you’re glad you do because the hot water feels absolutely incredible on your aching skin.

The pressure is perfect and cleans the mud, blood, and grime of the past few days right off of your skin.

You enjoy the warmth for a moment then get down to business; ignoring the pain in your wrists as you begin washing your body with the mahogany body wash.

You feel clean and refreshed, your hair finger-combed and washed with an expensive looking shampoo that smells like lilac.

Once you're finished you step out of the shower and wrap yourself in a fluffy white towel, looking around the room and pondering what to do next. You know you can’t escape, so there’s no point in trying.

Something inside of you is telling you to trust this cop. That he’s not like the others and he'll actually help you. He won’t be like Rumlow.

The still-prominent bruises and cuts all over your body remind you of just how awful Brock was, and you shudder.

“Are you decent?” He asks through the door, snapping you out of your haze. “I... you didn’t give me any clean clothes,” you say softly, afraid that he’ll take advantage of your vulnerable state.

“I know.” The door opens and you scream as he walks in, terrified and cowering in the corner. “Please don't! I-I’ll do anything! Please don't!” He freezes in his tracks, curses twice, then tosses a bundle of something at your feet and dashes out of the bathroom, locking the door behind himself.

You wait for a moment, tears streaming down your cheeks as your heart races, then end down and inspect the pile of stuff. He’s given you a t-shirt, a pair of boxers with the tags still on, and a pair of sweatpants that look three sizes too fucking gigantic.

Nevertheless, you put the clothes on then sit on the floor across from the toilet, your eyes focused on the door as you hear the lock click.

“(Y/n)... I... fuck. I won’t touch you, okay? Not... not like that. I won’t take advantage of you or anything. I promise. Okay?” You wipe your cheeks and watch as the door slowly opens. Bucky looks at you, all curled up in a ball on the floor, and his heart breaks.

“He touched you, didn’t he?” You don’t look up at him, nodding your head yes.

“(Y/n) I’m going to be very blunt with you now, you have to answer me truthfully because this will change the entire case. Did Brock Rumlow sexually assault you?” You nod once more, biting back a sob.

“Fucking Hell...” He trails off and scratches the nape of his neck. “I always knew he was a bad guy, but I never thought...” he looks at you then takes a deep breath. “Do you have any cuts or bruises from him?” You glare up at him and shake your head, not liking where this is going.

“I’ll stay right here. I just... I need to see them. It will make everything a lot easier for you.” You take a deep breath and carefully pull the shirt off, feeling embarrassed at being shirtless in front of this stranger. But some strange part of you is telling you that this is fine.

He sucks in a sharp breath when he sees your torso.

Your ribs are darkened, stained with bruises from either cracks or full breaks to the bones. You have multiple deep cuts that look like they’ve been stitched together by a three-year-old, and other fading bruises that cover the rest of your body. Around your neck are still very prominent bruises in the shape of fingers, indicating that you’ve been choked, and he can see similar bruises on your hips.

“C-can I put it back on now?” You ask, your voice wavering. He nods and looks away as you pull the shirt back on.

“Jesus. Come out here. I’m gonna make you some tea and you’re gonna start talking, understand?” You nod your head yes and follow him out of the bathroom, fighting tears the whole way as you realize you’ll have to relive everything that awful man did to you.

~

Bucky’s quiet as he boils the kettle, mulling over everything he’s just found out.

You most likely killed Rumlow in self-defence, called the cops to tell them that, then hung up because you remembered that they probably won’t take your side over their dead buddy’s anyway.

He slides a steaming mug over to you and you stir in a spoonful of honey. “Thank you, officer.” He shakes his head at you. “James. My name is James.” You nod and keep your eyes down. “So he hurt you, huh?” You don’t answer, taking a sip of the hot beverage and trying to block out the painful memories.

“Well... this changes things. I’m almost thinking we should hand this case over to a different police department because ours is too personally attached to the case. But Pierce would never accept that. Fuck, this is a mess, isn’t it?” You nod, not looking up from the speckled grey countertop.

“Hey, I’m not gonna hurt you. Relax. You’re safe here with me, I promise. Hell, this is the safest you’ll probably ever be. Nobody will hurt you here.” You nod skeptically and take another sip of tea, letting the liquid burn your tongue and throat on the way down.

“What’s gonna happen to me?” You can’t stop the words from slipping out, but he doesn’t seem to hate the question. “You’ll stay here for a little while. Get better while I see who at the station is open minded. Then... I don’t know.” You nod, biting your bottom lip.

“Do you know why he did that stuff to you?” He asks softly, wanting to figure out why on earth Rumlow would want to harm someone who looks so delicate and fragile. You look up into his eyes for a split second, displaying that you have information that he needs and wants, then look back down to your tea.

“I don’t expect you to tell me everything right away, but you will need to come clean and confess at some point. Okay?” you nod, understanding that much. “Good. Now I-” knocking on the door cuts him off and you snap your head up. “Buck? It’s me, Steve. Open up.” Your heart drops as you recognize the voice of one of the cops who chased you through Walmart.

“Go up the stairs into the first room on the right. It’s a guest bedroom that nobody ever goes in. Hurry!” You discard your tea and run as fast and as quietly as you can up the stairs and into the room, closing the door halfway and sitting on the floor, one hand covering your mouth as you try to slow your heart rate.

“Hey Steve,” James’ muffled voice says from downstairs.

“Thought I’d see how you were doing. You were pretty heated at work the other day and pretty distracted yesterday. I just wanted to make sure you’re alright.” That’s the second man, Steve.

“I’m... tired. Confused. Frustrated. I just want this case to solve itself. I mean, it doesn’t make sense for her to just kill him, there must’ve been a reason. And there was clearly a fight between the two fo them. What if she was the victim but got the upper hand somehow? What if he's been abusing her this whole time and she finally had enough?”

Steve whistles, “you’ve been thinking about this a lot, haven't you?” You hear James sigh. “Yeah. I’ve had to. I don’t want to send an innocent person to jail, Steve. There’s just so much we’re missing from the story and I want to have it all figured out already.” You hear them moving around below you.

“I’m sure we will, Bucky. But it’s gonna take time and patience. But we'll figure this out. I promise.”

You hear someone sigh again. “I just... what if she’s hurt? What if Rumlow... what if it’s him who’s the bad guy in all of this and she’s just.... innocent?” You hold your breath as you wait for Steve’s response.

“Then we’d better find her and help her.”

~

The door gets slowly pushed open and you watch as James walks in. He sits down across from you on the floor and stares at you.

“Steve’s gonna be seeing who at the station is open-minded, and from there we’ll decide what to do. If things are really rough, we might send you to a different. police station to confess. But until then you’re gonna be staying here with me. I’m the only one who knows you’re here and I’d like to keep it that way.”

You stare at him as he stands up and offers you his hand, hesitating for a moment before putting your hand in his and letting him pull you to your feet.

The feeling of his skin against yours sends a spark of electricity racing down your spine, a shiver of pleasure following right after it.

His eyes widen for the briefest of moments and you swear you see genuine fear in them, your own eyes widening as warmth spreads from where your hands are touching.

He drops your hand quickly then motions for you to follow him out of the room, leading you back downstairs to the kitchen to grab a snack and finish your tea.

~

TAGS: PERMANENT TAGS:

@smolbeanbucky @wildefire @inumorph @impalatobakerstreet @nanna022 @mummy-woves-you @m-a-t-91 @wtfholland @bookgirlunicorn @beautifulwisdom2001 @deep-sea-glitter @mrhiddles-81 @iamwarrenspeace @bitchacho25 @escapetheshackles @i-know-i-can @buckyssoul @avnngrs @swoonhui

MARVEL:

@fallenangelfangirl @look-to-the-stars-and-wish @maladaptive-ninja-returns @cliffordasparagus @april-14-blog @potteritis

Wicked Games:

@lilypalmer1987 @bisexualfangirlsblog @i-am-always-famished @clarysthing @starkxpotts @e-wolf-98 @i-run-on-green-tea @nerd-without-a-cause @jamesbuckybarnes13 @theonelittleone @bradfordsgreekgod @littledeadrottinghood @ashlebetty @izhetbean @mu-mu-rs @bruisedfaye @bisoueffleurer @itsphinee @spnsquirrel @my-suga-kookies

Bucky:

@chuuulip @nerd-without-a-cause @natashasnight

[graysons-kore]

Johnny Depp

I have been a Johnny Depp fan ever since I can remember. I loved him as Jack Sparrow, he was amazing in Chocolat, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Alice in Wonderland and more. I am disappointed it took me so long to finally speak about this.

When the news broke about Amber Heard’s allegations against Johnny Depp I was hesitant to believe her and it hurt me to even think that someone I was such a fan of could do such horrendous things. However, I did not bother to look into it more as I was focused more on my little bubble and my little world. Recently though, I became more interested in this case because I realised I never knew what happened three years ago and also because of all the backlash for Crimes of Grindelwald. I was curious to see if there had been an actual ruling by a court or not. There had not been.

Looking at everything now and comparing Johnny Depp’s case and evidence to Amber Heard’s it’s clear that he did not do any of things she alleged he did.

For those of you out there saying that ‘you haven’t seen his evidence’ or that ‘his evidence is not solid’. His evidence is as solid as it can get. 87 surveillance videos, some proving her allegations against him were false, others proving she was the perpetrator. 18 non-biased sworn eye witness accounts from the day of and days following the alleged assault; where he threw a phone at her face, stating that not only did she not have any signs of injury and that the only day she appeared to be injured was the day she appeared in court to get the restraining order. As well as her own testimony where she admits to lying as well as abusing him at certain points, for example, she punched him as he was reading in bed because he was late to her 30th birthday party because of a business meeting. She also threw a bottle of liquor at him and the impact caused him to shatter the bone in his right middle finger and needed re-attachment.

All of Amber Heard’s evidence for her domestic abuse case was denied by the court because she refused to give them the metadata (shows the time and place of a photo or a video I believe and would give them more information on the evidence) of her evidence but videos that she gave them were doctored and also showed no domestic abuse what so ever. Amber Heard herself has already been arrested for domestic abuse before, despite the fact that the charges were dropped soon after, she still spent the night in jail and it is still on her record. You can not deny that. 

For those of you wondering why Johnny Depp didn’t show this evidence during the original domestic abuse case, it’s because; a) some members of his legal team at the time did not tell him about/show him all this evidence and b) Amber Heard dropped the domestic abuse case once she got the divorce settlement.

All of you who can’t seem to actually understand this, it’s time to get your heads out of your a**es and start looking at the facts and the real evidence.

If we really want feminism to progress we have to start understanding that women can lie, women can be manipulative and women can be abusive. If we really want women to be equal to men then start believing/understanding that a) women can commit the same heinous crimes that men are so often accused of and b) men can be and are victims of assault as well.

[adayforducks]

11/11/11 Tag

Rules: Answer the 11 questions of the person who tagged you, make up 11 questions, then tag 11 people to answer them.

Thanks for the tag, @kateslayer!

1. How long have you been writing? Pretty much since the second I could. A while ago I discovered an early (unfortunately unfinished) story that I must have written when I was about five or six, judging by the handwriting. (I really wish I’d finished it, but 6yo me left a massive cliffhanger. The last line was the MC opening their eyes and exclaiming “IT’S ENORMOUS” and no, I have no idea what it was.)

2. How old were you when you knew you wanted to be a writer? I got kind of serious about writing when I was thirteen. My first major work (that I planned a lot for, wrote maybe two chapters of, and then drifted away from) was a fantasy story about a princess who gets accused of treason, rescued by an enemy knight, and then goes on a quest to fulfill a prophecy that - spoiler alert - was actually meant for someone else.

3. How many projects have you started? I’ve literally lost count. I don’t even want to think about it.

4. How many have you finished? I think somewhere in the low double digits? Not all were novels, some were short stories and things, but I finish a solid like... 30% of what I start.

5. Can I read them?? ... no. My strategy is pretty much “write the entire project in one month then spend the next seven years avoiding editing” so nothing’s really ready to be read.

6. What are 3 other hobbies you have besides writing? I love playing video games (I’m absolutely horrendous at them though), hanging out with my pets, and listening to podcasts.

7. What are your current WIP(s)? I have three main ones right now. Downfall, which is a YA urban fantasy series that I’ve recently started rewriting and will be posting about on here. Aptitude, a YA speculative fiction series that I’m way too scared to share on here because it means a lot to me and the lukewarm reaction from previous beta readers shot my confidence. And Indefatigable, a new adult coming of age type story that I’m planning to write for Camp NaNo.

8. What are your favorite genres to read? Crime, sci fi, fantasy.

9. What are your favorite genres to write? Fantasy, young adult, speculative fiction.

10. What is your wildest dream for your life? I want a big house with lots of dogs, a rewarding career (not sure what yet, get back to me on that), and someone I can go on adventures with around the world.

11. What would your 3 wishes to a genie be? Uhh. I guess I’d get rid of a bunch of bad stuff... poverty, war, cruelty? I don’t know. I’m not good under pressure.

My Questions:

1. What do you do to get the creative juices flowing? 2. Do you have many writer/creative friends? 3. What prompted you to make a writeblr? 4. Would you prefer your WIP be turned into a movie or a TV show? 5. What’s one way you’ve grown as a writer? 6. How long do your chapters tend to be? Do you have a set length? 7. Do you have any WIPs you’ve revisited after seemingly abandoning them? 8. Do you prefer creating characters or creating settings? 9. How would you feel if someone made content (fanart, a moodboard, etc) for your WIP or OCs? 10. Do any of your OCs have in-jokes or running gags? 11. What is one thing you’ve changed your mind about regarding your WIP?

Tagging: @aroaceauthor @probablynothumanish @bysombreseas @definitlynotafiredemon & anyone else who wants to jump in

[lizzybeth1986]

Why I Won't Be Interested In Book 3 of RCD (even if there's a wedding...and I'm a sucker for weddings)

Book 1 was okay for me as a start to the universe. I was disappointed in the lack of balance between the LIs, and the poor treatment Victoria got, but I was hoping Book 2 would be a step towards rectifying that and keeping a better balance.

Then we got the note at the beginning of the book that it would deal with "issues of harassment and discrimination". Weinstein? I thought. And I was half hopeful, half nervous. Hopeful because this book was about the film industry, particularly Hollywood, and the writers looked like they wanted to address that. Half nervous because I knew when that moment came a part of me could find it triggering. In any case, I was ready to read this book and see how it would play out.

Some things it did right. Content warnings were given - both at the beginning of the book and in the chapter where Viktor Montmartre attempts to assault the MC. Her friends/LI came to her support immediately and the 30-diamond scene that followed was sensitive in the light of that situation, and had the LIs share experiences of discrimination inside/outside the industry. Teja talks to you about the "boys' club" among directors, Victoria tells you about the constant sexual harassment she faced from a co-star who she had to wait years to expose, Seth has a rare moment of projecting his pain from years of bullying on the MC when he insists she immediately do something about it before apologizing and opening up to her, Matt speaks not about his own experiences but the discrimination his father faced during his early years as a Latino actor struggling to get good roles.

So what do I have a problem with? Two things. I'll start with the thing that pissed me off - but not as much as the second one did:

The LIs

No one who has played this series is a stranger to the imbalance when it comes to Matt Rodriguez in comparison to the other three: Teja, Victoria and Seth, first from Book 1. Matt gets the lion's share of the attention and narrative space, Seth and Teja disappear for chapters at a time, as does Victoria who has to deal with writing that does her character a complete disservice, to the point where the writers thought nothing of letting her physically attack the MC. The latter could also only be allowed into the film via diamonds unlike Matt and Teja who you could forgive and kiss for free. There was enough backlash to force the team to change dialogues in the book...which meant a better balance of content per LI the next book, right?

Cut to Book 2, where Matt still gets the lion's share among the original lineup, the other three still get guest appearances in this story at best, and Victoria is still hardly around. Only difference is this time Seth and Teja are made to act like squabbling toddlers instead of the professionals they were in the first book. Added to this is the inclusion of the HWU-alumni LI Hunt (you could have a moment with Addison but that is all you get, and you don't get to do much with her in the finale either. I guess we'll only know if she'll be an LI for sure next book).

While it's great that they're there, it was still at the cost of the other LIs. These two haven't gotten many diamond scenes in this book, which I put down to the timing of their own arcs (Addison gets just one prominent diamond scene really, and Hunt gets a few - including two in the finale). So I'd like to look at the original lineup, to see if they'd gotten better treatment this book:

Matt: Very prominent in the story from the beginning. He gets extra time with the MC in an early chapter so he can tell her in secret that he's part of the same film. He is in the cast of Double Agent with her. She interacts with him regularly and gets multiple diamond options, including that of sharing a room with him, practicing fight scenes, taking him to the hospital and eventually sharing with him (for free) her news about The Last Duchess. The MC's decision to call out Montmartre on safety violations on the set emerges from the horrendous injuries Matt sustains while shooting for Double Agent. He is the catalyst for why she disobeys despite her initial plans and eventually gets fired. He has more opportunities and overall - even without the diamond options - seems closer to her than everyone else in the book by default.

Victoria: While they've toned down the aggressiveness they gave her in Book 1, and made her a lot more approachable, they go the other extreme of hardly showing Victoria at all. The MC is involved least in her storyline (where she is working on an interesting crime film called The Godmother) and there's very little you get to know about the movie or what she's doing otherwise. The only plus side is that she is the one who relates most to the MC's plight, having experienced sexual harassment from a co-star in the film Cross to Bear, and having had her grievances brushed aside because of how powerful the actor was. She also speaks of the MC as being brave for leaking out the news about safety violations in her NY diamond scene, and gets to lay it down to you exactly how tough it is. While the little content we do get is...nice, it doesn't make up for the horrible treatment meted out to this character in Book 1, and it doesn't try much to provide her the nuance she deserves.

Seth and Teja: I don't want to club these two together - them being my favourite LIs, both unique and amazing in their own right - but the book leaves me no choice. Both are done pretty dirty in RCD 2, and in some sense I feel like they've gotten the worst writing this book. They have an advantage in that the MC is involved in the making of their film, and she gets to meet them here and there in the series. However most of her free time with them is spent having to watch in horror as they fight and bicker and push forward their own visions without reaching a compromise. Eventually, their 'solution' seems to be a result of the MC handholding the two into solving a puzzle together.

Why do I think this is the worst writing/treatment that could be given for the two when they are being given some attention? Because their portrayal for most of this book does nothing to improve/build on what was already there, but completely against how their characters were built instead, in ways that can make people lose interest in them overall.

The Seth of Book 1 received his first blow in Hollywood when his amazing script was rejected, but dusted himself off and found alternatives instead. This has been a recurring theme with him. Even when his standup career experiences a setback in the series, he is quick to recognize on his own that his succumbing to that negativity is not going to help him, and with or without the MC he tries again. When she is accused by practically everyone of being a leaker, he is the one who looks out for her and reminds her of the lesson she taught him. The Seth of Book 2 doesn't try to diffuse the tense atmosphere, doesn't try to find middle ground. The character as he was originally portrayed would be glad he's this involved in the film. If anything, he would try and work things out with Teja, and come up with a solution that does justice to both their visions.

Teja in Book 1 was an overworked, underappreciated assistant director, who at different times was either treated like a servant to do Marcus' every bidding, or a talented protege who had to make up for her boss' inadequacies by holding everything together and making sense of his 'vision', and who later on does a brilliant job as a director. Teja knows what it's like to not be listened to, to be treated like her opinion is nothing compared to the director's "grand vision". She knows what it feels like to be not valued much on the set or outside of it, and they seem to remember this briefly in her diamond scene after the assault, where she speaks about a "boys' club" of directors that won't take her seriously. I could understand some level of aggression as a way to maintain her control over this project, but I simply do not see her allowing her petty squabble with Seth ruin her film. No one is as aware as she is that a good working environment is essential to a successful film, but here she is contributing to the overall negative atmosphere. They're hardly the same person, the Teja of both these books.

Most of all, the writing does them an incredible disservice by having their argument take precedence in their stories over the MC's plight most of the time, have them focus on themselves more than they would on how she's doing. Are we even talking about the same people anymore?? Seth was the MC's fiercest supporter when she was being accused of the leak. Teja, even in her anger, thought logically as soon as she got the call from Matt's agent and spent her time trying to confirm that it was him before speaking to the MC first, for fear that he would find out and do worse. Do you really think these same people would drag this friend/girlfriend of theirs into their petty fights, not work out a solution themselves and not keep in mind what she's been through? Would they really be so self-absorbed that they wouldn't stop bitching behind each others' backs and taking breaks from each other, to actually think about her? To the extent that she'd have to handhold them into finding a solution to their conflict? Seriously??

It was an acceptable premise destroyed by shitty writing. The problems that arise when friends work together professionally, the tussle between two visions for the same project. But both these characters are largely proactive people. They take initiative to make a difference in the atmosphere of the workplace if something is wrong. The Seth and Teja of Book 1 would have at some point (earlier) sat down and tried to work things out themselves. They would have been honest with each other and tried to see a way to combine their visions into something that made sense. And they wouldn't need to be pushed into that process: they would take initiative themselves.

Most of all, they would not look at a woman who had been through a traumatizing situation, and think oh, lemme just bitch all day about the other friend to her. They would try and make things better for her. They would try to put her first. So while Victoria struggles with being pushed aside in the story, Teja and Seth have to deal with characterization that seems to have been written by a team that doesn't even know their characters.

All in all, the only LI that actually gets adequate attention from the original set is Matt. It's extremely unfair on fans of the others, and it's quite deflating to learn that they didn't learn their mistake from Book 1 and actually work on maintaining balance in Book 2.

Book 3 implies that a wedding is in the horizon (which is possibly why the [original] LIs get to confess their love to her in the Book 2 finale), which means we might get to meet the LIs' families (I'm not going to hope, though) and learn more about them personally. (alternatively it could more likely refer to some other high profile couple with a big wedding where we get to shine as guests). They've also seemed to find people who want them in their work. So perhaps things might look up for them. But this book? This book seems to have forgotten how to write them.

At this point they might as well scrap everyone else and make Hunt and Matt the only LIs in the books. Because they're the only ones who seem to even matter anymore to the team. And inform the fandom now so we can dodge the bullet that is Book 3.

Is This A Powerful Message...Or A Plot Twist?

The book doesn't treat what Montmartre did so much as an issue that happens in real-time Hollywood, as it does a plot point. It happens, the player gets to choose how the MC responds and how she describes her feelings to her friend and LI, there is a plan in place aimed at exposing him and tactics Montmartre uses to disempower her, which finally leads you...nowhere.

The narrative never actually gives us a clear idea what this plan is supposed to be, what the MC is supposed to find, how the LIs who suggest this plan are involved. We're just supposed to know there IS a plan. Had the safety violations not been discovered, what would the MC have done? All we get to see is her in dire conditions (unless we spend the diamonds), determined to push through because she would somehow thwart him through means that the reader doesn't actually seem to get from the text.

Once she gets out, the focus goes on to Hunt who - if the reader so chooses - has already had some sort of moment with the MC in the speakeasy earlier in the book, and who is now her knight in shining armour when she's fired. The MC gets to act in his period film on the condition that it is kept secret (something she promptly forgets when she visits Matt in the hospital) and the focus shifts from the assault (if there was any focus there at all) and the aftermath to landing this plum role and proving herself again.

Hunt and the MC can get closer if she chooses, and some affection is already hinted at in the books even if you don't really romance him. Which can be discomfiting for those who don't want to, and who feel it's too much too soon for someone who faced assault already from an authority figure. I understand there's a balance they have to strike here - there was, after all, a demand for characters from the HWU-verse to be featured more prominently - but the fact that what the MC went through pales in comparison to this new development in the narrative...just makes the story even more imbalanced.

She does mention the assault to both Hunt and Addison - to Hunt when he confirms that she is no longer working in Double Agent and to Addison in their Chapter 12 diamond scene, but not very much of a thought is given to this issue after that. The focus moves entirely to the preparation for the film, the romance with the new LIs, and keeping these shoots a secret while occasionally communicating (through diamond options mostly) with the other LIs.

There is no indication that she's met other people who have suffered through Montmartre's abuse of power, no further exploration of how deeply-rooted a problem it is. And if you're going to make Montmartre's story a reference to Weinstein...it needs to be important within that story, not occasionally referenced to, with the MC saying "I'm sure other women have gone through this" in a few scattered places. It needs to have a stronger presence in the story itself.

And if this was avoided because RCD was supposed to be a 'fun, lighthearted' take on Hollywood in the first place...why put in a heavy subject there? Why imply that you will offer commentary on this issue when there is very little of it? Why, if you don't know how to give it the focus it needs? It doesn't need to be referenced every single chapter but at the very least it should be clear how important an issue this is to the MC, her friends, the industry as a whole. It goes straight from Montmartre's sexual harassment to his attempts to bully her into silence to calling out safety violations to the next movie.

Sexual harassment and silencing are very, very important issues within the film industry. If you're going to reference real-life incidents and movements in the books, you really need to be doing justice to that - not flitting from one plot point to another and treating what Montmartre did as a mere twist in the tale. The story doesn't need to be on this and nothing else, but what happened to her and to other women should have at least have been the core theme of this book. Not brought back at the last minute when the writers finally remember "oh this needs to be wrapped up, too".

The big message is suddenly left for the end, the Montmartre chapter closed with the press immediately believing the MC on this, Apricott standing by her strongly if you spent extra time with her (and in a general sense if you didn't), and Montmartre getting only a taste of the comeuppance he deserves. Most of us know this is too good to be true - it often takes years and a long line of survivors, and people who knowingly look the other way to get to this point of justice. But I would have been alright to this end, to a certain extent, if this was a theme dealt with properly in the book...which it wasn't.

Book 3

Had I not lost interest in this series altogether, I would have probably listed out what I'd hope for in terms of portrayals for the next book - the biggest of which was that they would at least hint at how differently the industry works for different women of colour.

A white woman's experience is different from an Asian woman's experience is different from a Black woman's experience is different from a Latin American/South Asian/Middle Eastern (all three of whom face massive challenges in accepting roles unique to them) woman's experience in the industry. At least three of those would face immense difficulties in getting consistently good work, are called in for roles that are stereotypical and tone deaf and do nothing for their careers...and sometimes good roles of those ethnicities are given to (surprise surprise) white performers. I recall thinking, once D&D and The Senior started regularly using different parents for the MCs and hinting at their variant experiences with regards to race and ethnicity, that this would be a wonderful way to go for RCD.

But I'm not sure I trust this team enough to handle that with the nuance required. Not even when their own original LIs - two of whom are women of colour - don't get to address racism in their own narratives (unless it's Matt, who has a secondhand experience of it through his father - something he will only address in diamond scenes). Not when Teja has just one reference to her first generation immigrant parents and their plans for her in a diamond scene, and her experiences as a Indian-American kid are mostly ignored afterwards.

Tbh...I don't give a shit anymore when the next one comes out.

[ryewi]

When I’m With You I’m In Utopia [Chapter 12]

Summary:  9 years ago, the world split in two halves, Utopia and Dystopia. One of the laws allows citizens of both worlds to visit the other once in their lifetime, for a whole week, after which, they’re forced to return home. If by any chance, they don’t return, a death punishment is sentenced. Jeon Jungkook, a citizen of Dystopia seemed to be desperate enough to challenge that exact law.

Genre: Utopia!au, Dystopia!au, fluff, A N G S T, drama, to be added~~

Words: 1,6k

Warnings: none!

<Previous | Part Twelve | Next>

“Namjoon!” Faith screamed, hands gripping the damaged edges of the wooden table tight. It was a ten times more intense surprise than their last encounter. That moment was unexpected, but this one was unsought. Out of all people who have chosen forensic psychology as their specialization, it just had to be Namjoon who stood before her weak and trembling being.

The man refused to look up, eyes focused on an invisible, unidentified dot, somewhere in between the mess of documents he rejected to review again. If you can’t see it, it doesn’t exist, Namjoon would repeat to himself, completely abandoning the power of logic his strong mind contained. It can’t be real; therefore, it doesn’t exist.

But the truth is, those really were Faith’s documents and a clean criminal record with a huge, black LAW 506 written across it. Those two elements were enough for chills to travel down one’s spine. Although no description was ever provided when a person was accused of this crime, everyone knew what it led towards. Of course, how wouldn’t they.

“Namjoon, oh my god” Faith repeated, eyes shining under the uncomfortably bright light of a nearby flush light. She reached out for one of Namjoon’s still shaky hands, trying to divert some of his attention to her desperate form. While not so noticeably, Faith’s hands shook too, the tension of the whole encounter doing its job at upsetting the smaller.

“You have to help me, please” She sobbed, despair evident in slow words that flowed through her lips. Only on the strong tug of his sleeve, did the man finally look up and into the eyes of his friend. Faith couldn’t read them, that powerful and useful skill long lost.  

Namjoon broke the eye contact quick, head whipping in the direction of the dark glass Faith tried to somehow forget about. They seemed to waver, as if searching for a certain someone behind the material. Faith looked at the man in a questionable and troubled manner, last pieces of hope shattering like thin porcelain.  

“Please, you’re my last hope, Joon” If there was something Faith could still call herself skilled in, that would be persistence. Yet, one could argue that in a condition like this, distress played a bigger game in being tenacious than just a simple and pitiful trait like persistence.

“We expect nothing but professionalism Mr. Kim” The man’s earpiece buzzed, reminding him that they were listening, they always were. A few perfectly hidden microphones across the room now began to poke his peripheral vision. Namjoon felt sick, when did privacy become so expensive? When did it become an experience accessible only in the safety of one’s own apartment?

It was a taboo theme in Utopia, something everyone was aware of, but refused to accept. Their residence was called Utopia for a reason, every citizen had a perfect life, crime was in decline, poverty non-existent, happiness persistent. Why the need for constant control then?  

Cameras were planted on every corner, microphones hidden in bushes, trees, under cars. No one was safe from the eyes of Utopia’s government and while that piece of information was always present in their minds, they didn’t care. Probably because it didn’t affect them, or at least that’s what the citizens thought.

The recording devices did no harm, but also did no good to the general public. Purposely, they were deemed neutral and occasionally useful when it came to security issues. Yet, there really was no need for security checks in a world without crime, so once again, were they necessary?

The answer to that question is obviously positive. Control was requisite to the leadership, so disgusting acts like these happening right now were justified by a simple five second clip, or a minute-long sound recording.

Spectated from another perspective, were they as disgusting as Faith reckoned them as? One could argue that the administration was only looking over, making sure everything is legal and working. Just because those systems were doing their job at spotting illegal activities, didn’t make them bad. On the other hand, they were macabre, but only for those who dared to test their power and functionality.

“Please Ms. Keith, sit down” Namjoon finally managed to voice out a few words to the being currently clinging on to his left arm. He wasn’t sure what to say next, how to begin this horrendously short session, without giving in and crying together with the person currently awaiting death. What made it harder, was that those eyes that used to look at him with such adoration, now radiated nothing else but fear and vulnerability.

Faith slowly sat down, body completely relaxing on the wooden support, irises staring blankly at the way Namjoon’s hands fumbled through previously mentioned documents. There were so many questions currently laying on the top of his tongue, knocking and threatening to break out at any given moment, but it was too dangerous. Too menacing that even the slightest suggestion towards possible help, could be fatal.

Namjoon hated that, he hated them. Out of 26 specialists, he was the one chosen for the case of his friend. Back a few years ago, when a huge background check was done on each employee, there was no doubt that the government knew every single detail, let alone who were his acquaintances, friends, family. This was too great of a coincidence to be real.

“We will begin our discussion in a bit, I just have to check on something” Namjoon said, voice soft and hands moving in a reassuring manner, but the emotion he tried to portray, still hadn’t reached his eyes. Faith saw and she immediately knew Namjoon’s intentions. Even after all these years, she was familiar with the morals this man possessed, but also the kind of a person he was under great pressure. There was a slight chance, that Namjoon could walk out and demand to be taken off the case, deciding that this was too big of a bite for him to chew. Letting history repeat itself, he’d once again leave without any explanation.

Just like he did a few years ago.

“I’ll be right back” and with those four quick words, the man walked away and out of the room.

»»————-　♡　————-««

Jungkook still couldn’t believe his eyes, or specifically, what was currently sitting on top of his head. Previously dark locks turned hot pink, an unusual and quick transformation that will take time to get used to. Hand rushing through his voluminous hand strands, Jungkook inspected the decent job he has done. It wasn’t perfect, a couple tiny patches left out here and there, but with a bit more styling, they’ll be covered. What’s important, was what the hair will serve for, not how well it looks.

There was a small yellow post-it note left on the fridge, ‘wait for me’ messily written on it. The boy wanted to leave some kind of message in case that she magically returned before him, but nothing original seemed to cross his bothered mind. That’ll have to do for now, he thought.

He’s supposed to leave soon, in order to arrive at 7 to the “Department of crime and violation”, just in time for visits. Back a few years ago, Jungkook worked as a delivery boy, often carrying letters and gifts for imprisoners in that exact department in Dystopia. Their visits were on Thursday and Friday, 7pm to 9pm and he supposed it wasn’t any different in Utopia. Everyone had a chance for one visit a week, ranging from 10 to 40 minutes.  

The continuation of Jungkook’s plan was to (once he’s in) ask for Faith, who he’ll have a little “gift” for. Of course, the security check is necessary, but upon seeing that all he’s carrying in is a bag of clothes, they’ll let him go. Jungkook will then hand over the attire, in which he will push in three red pills from his pocket and a small note. On the note, he’ll be explaining that those are the pills she’ll have to take in order to complete his plan. Exactly three pills were enough for a moderate overdose (really, Jungkook was trying to save her here), although the pills were extremely dangerous That dose was sufficient enough to induce a strong reaction from Faith’s organism, after which she’ll be a must to take to AE, in which, she’ll hopefully buy herself enough time.

It was a sickening, but well thought out plan; Jungkook had to blame it on the regime of Dystopia for forcing its citizens to handle themselves however they could.

The only reason why Jungkook went this far with planning, was because of his intuition. There was no other cause as to why the discussions would start if they really weren’t to end it. The government wouldn’t begin such a touchy and important subject for no major reason. There was a high possibility for the plan to work, just if the odds worked as he needed them to.

With his whole ploy laid out and set, Jungkook took one final look at the mirror, breathing in a generous amount of air, trying to calm his wild heartbeat. A thousand times has he repeated “just hold on, it’s all going to be okay”, but this was the only one during which he slightly doubted that statement. Jungkook had to do this, there was no other way in which he could help with the interference.  

Pulling up his face mask and covering a relatively generous part of his gorgeous face, Jungkook grabbed his dark backpack (the only piece contrasting the irksome light attire) and headed out.

AN: Hi hello, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, it’s a bit laid back? Initially it was supposed to end on a big cliffhanger regarding Namjoon’s “departure from the case”. Yet, I decided that the next chapter couldn’t begin without this last bit of Jungkook’s narrative, so I didn’t go harsh with building up the tension higher than it already is. I’m publishing a fluffy Jimin scenario in 3 days (I’m going on an excursion with my class, so it might not be at midnight KST, but I’ll try my best), so do look forward to that!

[nastybuckybarnes]

Wicked Games  -  Two

Pairing: Bucky x Reader Soulmate AU

Summary: Everyone in the world has a soulmate. And until they meet that soulmate, everyone in the world stops aging at 25. Wrongfully accused of a horrendous crime and on the run, you happen to bump into the man who’s been avoiding you for the past seventy-five years.

Warnings: Angst, Violence, Injuries (Minor), Confrontation???

Word Count: 3.5K

A/n: THE GEOGRAPHY OF BROOKLYN AND ALL SURROUNDING AREAS HAS BEEN CHANGED FOR THIS STORY!!! Bucky centric chapter kinda. Idk I like it.

MASTERLIST Previous Part

Recap:

You run away from the store with a few other people then take a hard right down a back lane, leaning against a building and trying to catch your breath. You shove off of the building after another moment and run deeper into the older part of town where many buildings are either abandoned or worth millions.

As you’re running you hear a sound that makes your stomach drop.

It gets closer and closer, far louder and scarier than the sirens.

They’ve let the dogs loose on you.

~*~

You don’t think you’ve ever ran this much in your life. 

Your legs aren’t hurting anymore, they’re numb. Your lungs have seemed to stop begging for oxygen and are making do with what little they’re getting. Your head is spinning and you feel like if you don’t stop soon you’ll pass out.

Pushing yourself farther, you come across the same little forested area that brought you to this town.

Not giving it a second thought, you run between the trees, looking desperately for somewhere to hide.

“She’s in the woods! Have units on the other side waiting! We cannot let her escape!” You shiver at that voice and run deeper, head snapping up as you hear something rather promising. 

The bubbling of a water body.

You follow the sound, growing anxious as you hear the dogs barking approaching. You reach the water and hesitate for a moment, glancing over your shoulder. 

As you see all the German Shepherds running towards you, you jump into the little river, surprised at how deep it is. You swim as fast as you can, breaking the surface and gasping for breath as one of the dogs jumps in after you. 

It’s teeth latch onto your right calf and you scream, water getting into your mouth and choking you.

You desperately try to kick it off, but it’s teeth stay stuck in your leg.

“We’ve got her!” A different man shouts. You begin apologizing to the dog in your head, then lift your other foot and kick it as hard as you can. It yelps and falls off of you, whimpering as it swims back to the shoreline. 

You pull yourself up on the other side and take a step, gasping as fiery pain licks up your entire right side. 

Leg giving out, you tumble to the ground, cursing and moaning in pain. Your eyes flash open as you see the dogs back in the water, swimming across quickly, the cops not too far behind. 

Gritting your teeth, you shove the pain away and force yourself to your feet, limp-running through the trees as fast as you can. 

As the barking and yelling starts up again, your adrenaline stops the pain from being as severe. You find your way into a grassy area, and a quick look around lets you know that this is someone’s backyard. 

You’re back in the fucking town.

Moving swiftly, you make your way through the streets, realizing you’re in the old neighbourhood where not many people live.

A large, nice-looking house catches your eye and you bit your bottom lip, an idea striking you. 

You peel off your soaked sweater and carefully take off your shoes, setting a trap. As you move up the street, you drop one shoe then throw the other through the window of an abandoned, run down house. 

Limping as fast as you can to the nice house, you tear off a piece of your shirt and stick it to a board on the abandoned house, dropping your sweater outside of it.

You move fast to the nice house, eventually making it there. You drop to your knees and crawl towards the back as you hear the dogs and cops down the street. 

Testing each and every window leading to the basement of the house, you almost cry as a window slides open silently. 

Being as careful, quick, and quiet as you can be, you climb through the window, your feet landing on the hard concrete floor of an unfinished basement.

Your right leg gives out for a second time and you bite back a sob at the pain, struggling to your feet to close the window.

You crawl through the basement, searching desperately for a first-aid kit. Just as you’re about to give up and bleed out all over some stranger’s basement, the familiar Red Cross looks down at you from upon a high shelving unit. 

It takes everything you have not to scream as you pull yourself to your feet to grab the kit, but once it’s safely in your grasp you collapse onto the floor again, only a few feet away from the furnace. 

Carefully, so very carefully, you peel the fabric of your pants away from your leg, whimpering with every brush against your wound. 

It’s dark in the basement, thankfully, because if there’d been light... you doubt you’d be able to stay conscious. 

Below your right knee is soaked. And not with the cold water of the river. It’s warm and sticky to the touch.

You take a shaky breath in and open the first aid kit. The bottle of Hydrogen Peroxide is heavy in your hands, and you dread using it. So much so that you think you’d rather let your leg get infected.

Pulling up your shirt, you stuff a wad of the fabric in your mouth while tipping the open bottle over your leg. 

Your leg spasms and you scream a little, tears streaming down your cheeks at the newfound pain of the wound being cleaned.

You use half the bottle, just to be safe, then start tightly wrapping your entire calf with gauze, using an ace bandage after the gauze has run out.

With the tightness of the gauze and bandages around your leg, the fiery pain has been reduced to a dull ache, an ache that you can certainly live with.

You pull your arms to your chest and let out a shaky breath, trying to control your emotions as you think about how the Hell you’re going to escape someone’s house without getting caught.

~*~

“Again?! We lost her again?! How the fuck does she keep getting away?!” Bucky snarls, slamming his fists down on his desk.

“Calm down, Buck!” Steve’s commanding voice yells, shoving his friend’s shoulder. 

“She’s smart. Clearly she knows what she’s doing, or at least has an idea of what she’s doing. There’s only so many abandoned buildings on your street. Your house is the only inhabited one, and I doubt she’d be stupid enough to go there anyway. You can keep your eyes open in a way that the rest of us can’t. We’re setting up a perimeter as we speak and a team is searching the woods.”

Bucky pinches the bridge of his nose, the metal plates in his arm whirring softly as he tries to calm the fuck down.

“Steve, we were so fucking close. How, how does she keep getting away?” Steve sighs and sits on the brunet’s desk. 

“I don’t know. But I do know that there’s definitely a lot more to this case than we know. I looked into her family and her history. She’s basically an orphan at this point. Her mother and father both died in a car accident. Her older brother is working for NASA and hasn’t spoken to or about his little sister since their parents died five years ago. (Y/n) graduated from high school two years early with honours and got scholarships to basically any Ivy League schools. She had a hard time deciding but eventually chose to go to Princeton.”

Bucky raises his eyebrows at that. He figured you were smart, but not Ivy League smart.

“She was interested in Civil and Environmental Engineering, Evolutionary Biology, Sociology, and Soulmate Studies. Spent nearly a decade learning at Princeton, got 2 Ph.D’s and is on her way to her third.”

Bucky’s silent for a moment as he processes this. “So... Doctor (Y/l/n), huh? And no connections to anyone? Not even a best friend?”

Steve scratches the nape of his neck and sighs. “I talked to some of her co-workers. They all had generally the same story.”

“Which is what, exactly?” Bucky asks impatiently. 

“That Rumlow was against her having friends. They all essentially said that whenever he came in and saw her talking to any of her coworkers he’d have a fit. Some say she’d come to work the next day and have a hard time lifting things or would appear to be in pain when she moved.”

They’re both quiet. 

“So he was beating her, you think?” Steve shrugs, then sighs. “It would make sense as to why she called the cops. But I can’t confirm nor deny anything till we have her statement, which we will get.”

“So let’s try to create a hypothetical situation here,” Bucky begins, pacing the soundproof room slowly.

“Rumlow’s been beating (Y/n) for... their whole relationship. One day she snaps? Gets fed up and fights back harder than either of them thought?” Steve purses his lips. “Maybe Brock took it too far. I mean, any abuse is too much abuse, but what if it went beyond that? What if he wanted to do more than just hurt her.” 

Bucky freezes and turns to Steve. “You think... you think he tried to kill her? Why? Why would he even do that? They’ve been together for how many years?”

Steve sighs, “Three and a half. But I mean, maybe he was going off the rails a bit. Closer to the end there he was getting a little more antsy.”

“I think you’re grasping at straws here, Steve. When you get her statement then you can decide whose side you’re on, but until then she’s still a murderer. And she still needs to be brought in, no matter what may have happened.”

Steve rolls his eyes, “I realize that, I just don’t want to rule out the idea that it was self-defence.” Bucky nods, plopping down in the desk chair. “I’m not ruling out anything. Hell, I can’t rule out anything cause I’ve got nothing but fucking ideas to go off of.”

“But ideas are better than nothing. And we don’t have nothing. We have what her coworkers told us. We have the pictures of the crime scene. We have the autopsy, and we have... general knowledge of where (Y/n) is. I say we grab some coffees, grab the pictures of the crime scene and come up with a few plausible scenarios.”

Bucky feels his lips twitch upwards at the suggestion. 

“If you’re trying to bring back old memories to put me in a better mood... fuck you cause it’s working.” The two share a laugh and Steve stands up, shaking his arms out. 

“I’ll be back with the pictures and the coffee. You clear your desk of anything not related to this case. And maybe order a pizza or something. I have a feeling we’re gonna be here for a little while.” Bucky looks at his watch then nods. 

19:47 

“Yeah, You’re right. But I start working evenings tomorrow, so I’m going home to sleep no later than four, alright?” The captain salutes his friend then leaves the room to gather the supplies. 

Bucky orders the pizza then clears off his desk as Steve asked, trying to get himself into the correct mindset.

~

The crime scene photos are... interesting to say the least.

"The whole apartment is trashed. Like they were fighting in different rooms,” Steve notes around a mouthful of pepperoni pizza.

Bucky inspects the pictures carefully, the one from the bedroom holding his attention.

“Okay, give me a story for this one,” he says while pushing the picture in front of Steve.

“Well... blood on the bed... could be her period?” Bucky scrunches up his nose, not liking that possibility. “I’m no expert, but I don’t think women bleed that much.” He has a point, the white bed is soaked in bright red blood, much more than could be from menstruation. 

“Okay.... One of them is asleep on the bed and the other comes at them with a knife? Hits them but they don’t die. So person one with the knife picks up the pillow and tries to suffocate person two. Person two finds the knife, grabs it, and stabs person one somewhere then runs out of the room.” Steve points to the trail of blood leading out of the bedroom and Bucky nods.

“Person one follows person two out of the room and person two throws a vase at them. Person one tries to stab person two again with a shard of the vase but person two...” Steve trails off, trying to picture what could’ve gone on in the living room of the apartment. 

“Most of the vase shards are by the doorway to the bedroom except for one. And it’s bloody. So person two must’ve been stabbed a second time unless person two grabbed the shard and stabbed person one. Fuck, where are all those papers with the DNA tests? If we know whose blood is on which items it’ll be a shit ton easier to figure this out.” 

“Last I heard Pierce had the papers, and he wasn’t letting them go,” Steve informs. Bucky curses under his breath and takes another sip of his coffee. 

“Is he here tonight?” Steve’s eyes widen as he realizes what Bucky’s gonna try to do. 

“He’s working all week. Next Monday though he starts a four-day weekend. Has his granddaughters dance recital. So then it’ll be safe to get what you want.” Bucky groans and throws his empty coffee cup at the wall, frowning as the paper cup bounces to the floor.

“We could have things to go off of, but instead we’re stuck guessing. But that’s fine, it doesn’t matter. Back to business. I’m gonna read over the autopsy again and I’ll tell you what I hypothesized happened.”

Bucky picks up the document and starts reading thoroughly.

‘MANNER OF DEATH: Homicide.

CAUSE OF DEATH: Exsanguination due to multiple stab wounds. (trunk and lower extremities)

FINDINGS: 1. Generalized pallor and evidence of exsanguination. 2. Multiple stab and incised wounds of trunk, lower extremities with one (1) stab wound penetrating right back into chest cavity; two (2) stab wounds penetrating right thigh; and another single (1) stab wound at lateral right chest penetrating into right lung. 3. A few other minor blunt-force injuries of head and trunk.

LABORATORY RESULTS:

TOXICOLOGY:

1. Blood: a. Ethanol: 0.16 gm%. b. Drugs: Cocaine present at less than 0.1 ug/ml; cocaethylene present at 0.2 ug/ml; quantity not sufficient for further examination. Lysergic Acid present at 1296 ug/ml. Further examination required.

2. Urine: Positive for cocaine, cocaine metabolite (ecgonine methyl ester), and cocaethylene, with negative EMIT barbiturates screen.

3. Ocular fluid: Ethanol, 0.16 gm%.

Bucky puts the paper down and rubs his eyes for a moment. 

“Rumlow was on drugs?”

Steve looks up at that then snatches the papers away from Bucky, skimming over the words then raising his eyebrows. 

“Shit. He was. And not a small amount either, it seems. What the Hell... he didn’t do LSD... this is some other drug with Lysergic Acid. It has to be. But what the fuck drug would he be on? Especially when he had work that day.”

The two sit in silence, a bad feeling washing over them. “Was she ever involved in any Chemistry? Would she have been trying to develop a new drug and tested it on him?” Steve shakes his head, picking up a different file, one with your picture on the front of it.

“Nothing besides high school chemistry and a few labs for Biology. She never would’ve worked with this stuff.” Bucky groans deeply then picks up the autopsy again. “It says here that one of the stab wounds on his leg was one inch wide and half an inch deep. The knife we found at the apartment was two inches wide and six inches long. So I’m gonna guess that she stabbed him with a shard of the vase.”

Steve nods at that and sighs. “Well, what else?”

Bucky tosses the autopsy onto the desk and puts his face in his hands.

“Person one stabs person two in the bedroom. Person two stabs person one back. Person one tries to suffocate person two but person two gets away and throws the vase at person one. Person one grabs a shard and attacks person two. They fight physically for a while until one of them eventually gets stabbed twice in the chest, thus killing them.” Steve nibbles his bottom lip for a moment then shakes his head. “This would be so much easier if we knew what her injuries were... are. Because she couldn’t have possible escaped unscathed. Hell, I’m kinda surprised she escaped at all.” Bucky nods, grabbing another piece of pizza and starting to read a different paper, hoping it’ll give him any evidence he needs to move further with this case.

~

Bucky heads home at three, having a hard time keeping his eyes open after over 36 hours of non-stop working. 

He unlocks the door to his house and pushes inside, closing and locking the door behind himself then walking to the couch. He plops down and closes his eyes, tempted to fall asleep in his uniform right then and there.

Slowly he opens his eyes, something about his home not feeling right. 

Taking a deep breath, he furrows his brows. 

It smells like chemicals. 

Instinctively he grabs his gun, switching off the safety and moving silently around the main floor of his house. 

His heart is beating quickly in his chest, adrenaline coursing through his veins. 

He moves to search the second floor, eyes alert and looking for anything that may be out of place. Every single room he searches is empty and the exact same as he left if before leaving for work whichever day he left.

That leaves only the basement.

~*~

A door squeaking wakes you from your light sleep and you open your eyes, fear filling you as you hear someone take slow steps down the stairs. 

Pushing yourself to your feet, you move as far away from the stairs as you can get, finding yourself cornered by a locked window.

It takes you a moment to work up the courage to try the lock and when you do, you thank your lucky stars.

It slides silently out of place, the window pushing out with a soft ‘pop’. You bounce a few times to gain momentum and right as you’re about to jump, a booming voice shouts at you.

“Hey! Get the fuck down from there, raise your arms above your head!” 

The voice makes you shiver and you slowly raise your arms, head falling down in defeat.

“Turn around slowly. Keep your hands up.” You do as he demands, your right leg burning. 

“Lift your head up.” You reluctantly do so, your breath leaving you as you see the man.

You focus on his gun for a moment then move to his face, hating him immediately.

He’s absolutely gorgeous. Deep, enticing icy blue eyes; a jaw carved by Michelangelo himself, which is covered in a scruffy beard; brown hair falling out of a man bun and framing his perfect face.

Fuck this attractive man for pointing a gun at your chest. Fuck him for looking like a fucking Adonis while wearing a godforsaken police uniform. Fuck yourself for choosing his house to hide in.

You can’t think of anything else, your world blurring and spinning due to anxiety and blood loss. You drop your arms despite his words and try to steady yourself. It’s no use, however, because in an instant you’re falling to the ground and the world is going black.

~*~

Bucky stares in shock as you lie unmoving on the ground, your chest moving steadily but your eyes closed.

He puts his gun away against his better judgement and pushes your hair out of your face, staring at you for a few more moments.

You’re absolutely breathtaking. So much more beautiful than the pictures he’s seen. And you're right here. The last, biggest piece of this puzzle is in his basement. 

But for some dumb reason, he doesn’t want to turn you in just yet. A selfish part of him wants to hear your side of things before he brings you to the station where you’ll be questioned and treated like garbage. As far as the majority of the station is concerned, you’re a coldhearted killer. Your fate is sealed there.

He slaps your face twice lightly, looking for any kind of twitch. When he doesn’t see any he scoops you up in his arms and walks upstairs. He puts you into the bathtub and cuffs your hands behind your back, his eyes finding the wound on your calf. 

He reaches for it instinctively, wanting to make it better, then rips his hand back. He stares at his own hands in shock and disgust before getting up and walking out of the bathroom, locking the door on the way out.

He heads upstairs and closes and locks his door, desperate for a shower and a chance to clear his mind.

Kicking off his boots, pants, and utility belt, he starts calming down a bit. Making sure to lock his gun away and bringing the key into the bathroom with him. 

He turns the water on hot and lets it run for a few moments, undressing all the way then stepping under the water and letting it soothe his muscles. A soft groan leaves his mouth, and he can’t help but think about you. 

His mind conjures up the image of you, shirt clinging to your body after your swim earlier, showcasing curves that weren’t documented in any file. He hisses at himself and shakes his head hard, trying to shake the thoughts of you away.

He finishes his shower quickly, feeling more relaxed than he would’ve thought, and gets changed into some sweats and a tight black t-shirt. He lies down on the bed and takes a deep breath, body and mind ready for at least a few hours of sleep before he goes and deals with the stressful issue in the bathroom.

The problem that seems to be occupying his thoughts in a way he really didn't think was possible.

~*~

TAGS:

FOREVER:

@smolbeanbucky @wildefire @inumorph @impalatobakerstreet @nanna022 @mummy-woves-you @m-a-t-91 @wtfholland @bookgirlunicorn @beautifulwisdom2001 @deep-sea-glitter @mrhiddles-81 @iamwarrenspeace @bitchacho25 @escapetheshackles

MARVEL:

@fallenangelfangirl @look-to-the-stars-and-wish @maladaptive-ninja-returns @cliffordasparagus @april-14-blog

BUCKY:

@chuuulip @buckyssoul @nerd-without-a-cause @natashasnight

WICKED GAMES:

@lilypalmer1987 @bisexualfangirlsblog @i-am-always-famished @clarysthing @starkxpotts @e-wolf-98 @i-run-on-green-tea @nerd-without-a-cause @jamesbuckybarnes13 @theonelittleone @bradfordsgreekgod @littledeadrottinghood @ashlebetty @izhetbean @mu-mu-rs @bruisedfaye @bisoueffleurer

[storytime-reviews]

Sherlock Review-The Final Problem

If you’ve read my reviews for the other two episodes this season, then you will know that I have been largely critical with what I have seen from Sherlock in series 4. However, I feel vastly different about those two episodes compared to this one. Everything that was wrong with those episodes was put right in this episode. Of course, that does not mean that this episode was without flaws, the most obvious one being it’s severe lack of female characters (barring Eurus), but at the end of the day it was an infinitely more enjoyable episode to watch, rather than the unconnected mess of the first two episodes. I genuinely, completely disliked the first episode of this season, it was horrendously dull, and as for the second episode, whilst I enjoyed aspects of it, there was still plenty I disliked and found boring. Yet somehow, this final episode of the season managed to be as engrossing as all of the previous seasons, and for that I am thankful. I was not constantly checking the time hoping for the episode to be over, in fact, I enjoyed it immensely. All I wish is that the two previous episodes had been just as good!

Speak of the Devil

I must admit that I wished that Moriarty had been a bigger part of this season, as had been suggested by the end scenes of both His Last Vow and The Abominable Bride. The idea of Moriarty’s crime network setting up such a thing after Moriarty’s death was intriguing and I hoped to see much more of it. But apart from Sherlock obsessing over Moriarty’s end game a few times, the first two episodes lacked him at all, and whilst this episode finally answered our questions, I must admit that it did not play out the way I had hoped. Rather, the five minute meeting between Moriarty and Eurus had enabled both of them to terrorise Sherlock in different ways. Eurus’ knowledge of Sherlock, particularly the Redbeard incident, undoubtedly enabled Moriarty to proceed further with the game between he and Sherlock, whilst Moriarty clearly helped Eurus with her long-term plans to play with Sherlock herself. It was Eurus in fact who released the footage of Moriarty after his death, just as she had asked him to create clips for her to use once she puts her plan into effect. Just as Eurus provides childhood knowledge of Sherlock for Moriarty’s benefit, Moriarty provides knowledge of Sherlock in the present, now they both have more context in which to use against Sherlock. With Moriarty’s death, Eurus plays puppet master in order to bring Sherlock, Mycroft and John to Sherrinford, in which to conduct her experiment on Sherlock. Whilst it is not spelled out during their five minute meeting, it appears that Moriarty’s death was orchestrated between he and Eurus, in order to proceed to the next stage of Eurus’ plan, because as Eurus said, Moriarty was comfortable with dying if it could cause more trouble. However, whilst I did enjoy this episode, I wish that Moriarty had been a greater part of this season, rather than some sidekick to Eurus’ evil plot.

On the other hand, I loved that we got to see Moriarty again, albeit Moriarty from five years ago when he was Eurus’ Christmas present, and spent five minutes with her. I must admit that I was momentarily fooled by Moriarty showing up until they added five years earlier, which made me sad. But his entrance was everything we could have expected of Moriarty and more. ‘I want to break free’ was clearly one of the best scenes throughout this episode, and was in typical melodramatic Moriarty style, it’s why he and Sherlock make such great nemeses, given their inclinations towards the dramatic. I had sorely missed Moriarty during the first two episodes, but hadn’t realised quite how much until this scene. I’ve missed Moriarty’s excitement and joy in causing mayhem, and am at least glad that he got to be part of Eurus’ moment, with all of his recordings, suggestions and predictions. Moriarty is part of Eurus’ plan in spirit, as she tells the three captive men exactly what Moriarty had predicted would happen.

The Long Game

This episode makes it clear that Eurus has been playing the long game. Much as we see Sherlock actively predicting John’s actions two weeks in advance throughout the second episode of this season, Eurus has been predicting the actions of Sherlock, and making him play right into her hands, for years. Thanks to Moriarty’s assistance five years ago, she has knowledge of Sherlock that she might otherwise not have had access to, and I’m sure the fact that she could control her prison meant that she had ways of accessing information about her brothers for years as well. After all, all we know is that everyone who spoke to her was compromised, we don’t know exactly how long this has been happening. As I mentioned in my review of the previous episode, I very much enjoyed the plot twist of Sherlock having a sister, who has been playing with him this whole time. Again, the audience is subject to a few further plot twists, one of these being that the situation with the girl on the plane is all in Eurus’ head, she is in fact the girl. The whole time, as Sherlock, Mycroft and John play Eurus’ twisted game in order to help the little girl, we have also been duped into believing in the reality of the situation. This was certainly a surprise towards the end of the episode when it was revealed as Sherlock finds his sister. It was also a little sad, for whilst Eurus has certainly done some terrible things that will never be forgiven, she is also quite clearly ill.

Eurus was behind the events with Culverton Smith, convincing him to get on board with her plan, because he clearly was desperate to confess to his actions. In doing so, she was able to gain some access into Sherlock’s life, and play him as a fiddle by interfering in his investigation and providing him with knowledge of the serial killings by pretending to be Culverton’s daughter. Of course, by revealing herself to John at the end of the last episode, she knew that Sherlock would confront Mycroft, and that together they would all visit her at Sherrinford. Eurus managed to accurately predict how these events would unfold. I particularly enjoyed the opening scene with Mycroft clearly frightened of her, but especially that what Mycroft was seeing was deliberately set up by both Sherlock and John in order to determine the truth of Eurus’ existence from Mycroft, and convince him that he needs their help. Of course, once Sherlock, Mycroft and John successfully infiltrate the prison with a series of disguises, they soon learn that Eurus has complete control of the prison, having reprogrammed everyone she ever came into contact with, which was against Mycroft’s express orders. She needs complete control of the prison in order to conduct her experiments on Sherlock, and in this she is successful.

Emotional Context

This episode is the culmination of every time Sherlock has been accused of sentimentality and emotions, often by Mycroft himself, but even in the previous episode when Mrs Hudson acknowledges that Sherlock is in fact quite emotional, leading her to deduce several things that both Mycroft and John are unable to. Sherlock’s sentimentality comes to the forefront through Eurus’ experiments on him, acknowledging that the indifference that Sherlock exhibits is in fact a mask he has cultivated over many years. This episode works not only because the terrible writing mess of the previous two episodes is non-existent, but because of the focus on Sherlock’s emotions and finally bringing the truth of who he is to light. As we know now, the cold mask is likely a byproduct of Eurus’ murder of Sherlock’s childhood best friend, in an attempt to never be hurt again. But even Sherlock is incapable of success in this. Even from earlier in the episode, Sherlock is clearly emotional when he, John and Mycroft are potentially about to die in his apartment. He and Mycroft have never been great with emotions, or telling each other how they feel, but in this moment, as Sherlock states that Mycroft was great in his role as Lady Bracknell, it’s a kind of acknowledgement of affection between the two. An acknowledgement of how they care for each other, even if neither of them will say so. The reactions on both of their faces demonstrates a depth of feeling between them in this scene. 

Eurus has picked Sherlock for her experiment precisely because he is emotional, emotional in ways she cannot comprehend, and emotional in ways that Mycroft will never be. Being her brother, she has some insight into his person that can only help the conclusions that she draws after each experiment, and he is the perfect subject particularly because of his propensity for trying to cut off emotion. In order to learn about emotions, and come to understand them, who better to experiment on than the man who on the inside is emotional, but on the outside not only refuses to acknowledge this, but deliberately attempts to conceal it with a cold mask of indifference. Sherlock chooses Mycroft to shoot the governor simply because he cares more about not hurting John by asking him to do so, and maybe because Mycroft might be more likely to do so. On the one hand, I completely understand the hesitation of both Mycroft and John regarding shooting the governor, but on the other hand they were foolish to refuse, for their refusal led two people to their deaths instead of one. Furthermore, the governor himself pleaded with them to shoot him in order to spare his wife, and whilst the murder of a man would be on their conscience, they would also know that in doing so they had saved his wife and acted as he had wished. In this way, perhaps their conscience wouldn’t be so affected. But because they chose the moral high ground, they condemned two people to die. 

They must complete Eurus’ challenges in order to be given time to figure out how to save the girl on the plane. Sherlock quickly deduces the guilty man in the second challenge, and must condemn this man to die in order to move forward. For Eurus wants to see firsthand how Sherlock represses his emotions in order to refine his deductive skills, specifically in the knowledge of what will happen when he deduces the truth. Sherlock manages to hold back his emotions, he must soldier on in order to save the little girl, but the third task is not so easy. This third task is when the emotional context really comes to hurt Sherlock. This is no experiment, it as, as Sherlock describes, vivisection. Whilst Sherlock deduces that the coffin is for a small, unmarried woman with no close relatives, it is Mycroft who really cracks the case when he reads the coffin lid. Only, instead of a name are the words ‘I love you’, indicating to him that this coffin belongs to someone who loves Sherlock.

This is one of the most painful scenes in Sherlock, witnessing as Sherlock progressively breaks down over hurting Molly. There’s so much desperation in his voice and expressions as he practically begs Molly to say ‘I love you’, and in how he keeps trying to convince her to say these words as she says she isn’t an experiment. That’s what this whole situation is to Eurus though, providing the emotional context to see how this would affect Sherlock’s deductive abilities. He cannot even say the words at first when Molly answers, because he knows how hard this is going to be for her. Because he has come a long way from the man that has rudely deduced so many things about her in the past, and can’t bear to hurt her emotionally in this way, even though he must in order to save her life. When Molly makes Sherlock say it first, the second time he says ‘I love you’ it definitely sounds real, and I’m sure it is, whether you believe he loves Molly as a friend or in another way, it’s believable.

The most heartbreaking moment of this scene however is once Sherlock has managed to make Molly say these words just before the time runs out, and after Eurus hangs up she states that there were never any explosives, Molly was never in any danger. Sherlock didn’t win this game, she did because she got him to so utterly destroy Molly with only three words. In this moment, Sherlock goes wild with guilt, anger and frustration, for he has proven Eurus to be right. With the right emotional context, he was unable to deduce the truth that there were never any explosives, that Molly was never in any danger. His love and fear for Molly overtook him, and proved just how emotional he really is. Sherlock’s cold facade comes crumbling down as he smashes the coffin with his bare hands. This scene proves not only that much of Sherlock’s cold indifference is simply a mask, but also how much emotions rule him unlike his siblings. He can hardly bare how much he has had to hurt Molly, especially when it turns out that she was never in danger.

In the final task, the sentiment that the Holmes brothers feel for each other is felt in full, if subtle, force. Whilst Eurus tells Sherlock he must shoot either John or Mycroft, Mycroft immediately begins to insult John, essentially reducing him to a stupid pet that Sherlock keeps around for attention and praise. John is of course immediately incensed, but I for one felt that this seemed rather out of character for Mycroft, that he had essentially decided that he was the one that was going to die. And the truth comes out, Sherlock deducing that Mycroft is making his decision harder precisely because he is trying to make it easier on Sherlock. Mycroft knows that Sherlock will choose John, so by acting in this manner he hopes to make Sherlock feel less guilty for his choice. We see sentiment from Mycroft a lot less frequently than from Sherlock, and it’s a difficult scene to witness. Of course Sherlock chooses John eventually, and then Eurus reveals that Moriarty predicted this, and I love this reference to Moriarty, as well as proof of how well he knew Sherlock. But when Mycroft mentions that he should die because this is his fault in gifting Moriarty as Eurus’ christmas present, Sherlock tips the game on its head by turning the gun on himself. After all, without making a choice between these two men, Sherlock protests against this game. Eurus cannot have this, because Sherlock is the one that interests her, he is the one she is explicitly experimenting on in order to understand emotions. Without him, she cannot complete her experiment, so of course she must put an end to this and they all live.

Redbeard

Redbeard has been a hint all along as to the events of this season, but we were all duped, just as Sherlock was, as to Redbeard’s particular identity. The story of Eurus’ kidnapping of the dog and subsequent burning of the family home was bad enough, that is, until we learned the truth from Eurus herself and Sherlock’s memories begin to return. We know from the third season and the special that Redbeard is a pressure point for Sherlock, and emotionally compromises him. The fact that Sherlock’s forgotten sister was responsible for Redbeard’s death would certainly explain this, but there’s a better explanation as to why Redbeard always seems to be at the back of Sherlock’s thoughts, an elusive memory if anything. Because all of this time, not only had Sherlock replaced memories of his sister, he had also changed the memories of his best friend. Redbeard was not a dog, Redbeard was Sherlock’s human best friend, who loved to play pirates with Sherlock, he was Redbeard whilst Sherlock played Yellowbeard.

This adds a devastating depth to the emotional turmoil that Sherlock clearly continues to hold due to Redbeard’s death, and certainly may suggest why Sherlock felt the need to hold in his emotions and present a facade of indifference to the world, if only to control how he felt after this moment, and to ensure he would never feel it again. Sherlock’s lack of empathy may easily be linked to this childhood trauma-his sister killing his best friend. Eurus wants to make this more than a childhood trauma, for she is going to drown John just as she drowned Sherlock’s childhood best friend, the past re-living itself. This scene of Eurus’ attempted drowning of John is more shocking precisely because of the emotions it must arise in Sherlock at the thought of his current best friend ending up the same way as his childhood best friend. I was definitely surprised by this twist of Redbeard not actually being a dog, as I’m sure many people were, and I think it was handled brilliantly.

A Good Man

In the very first episode of Sherlock, when John wonders how Lestrade puts up with Sherlock, Lestrade responds, ‘because Sherlock Holmes is a great man, and I think one day, if we're very, very lucky, he might even be a good one.’ It certainly does seem to sum up the man that is Sherlock Holmes, and towards the end of this episode, this moment from the premiere of the show is paralleled. But instead, Lestrade tells the policeman who refers to Sherlock as a great man, ‘No, he's better than that. He's a good one.’ It all seems to come full circle at this point, and this scene (along with others) seems to suggest that this will be the final episode of Sherlock. Of course, the title of this episode appears to hint at that as well. Significantly though, Lestrade’s words are true in a way. Certainly there will be many that continue to state that Sherlock is not a good man, for he is brusque, selfish and self-centred, arrogant, inconsiderate and rude. But to only focus on these attributes means ignoring just how far he has come. On some level he does appear to be the same man we saw in the very first episode, but he has changed. He has become kinder, more considerate, thoughtful, although to compare him to the average person may not highlight this, we need only look at his first appearance to see the difference. Sherlock has changed. After all, this season was all about highlighting Sherlock’s emotional nature, for so long concealed under a mask of arrogance, disdain and indifference, although it is now clear he cares deeply about things. We need only look at Eurus’ experiments to know this. For some, Lestrade’s statement may be an over-exaggeration, at the very least however, it highlights at what may be the last ever episode of this show that Sherlock’s journey has made him into a better man. 

Ending

The ending, with Mary’s message, appears to indicate that this will be the final episode of Sherlock. For what better way to end this series than with the voice-over of a woman who knew them both so well, and loved them both so well. And the reminder of all of the stories and adventures that they’ve been a part of, and will continue to be a part of. It’s the perfection summation of what the show has been all about from the start, the murder and mysteries, and the friendship between these two men. If anything, this is the finale of this show, and a reminder of everything that it has been. This conclusion perfectly encompasses the show from beginning to end, ending on an uplifting note, which I enjoyed as much as I’ve had my issues with this season. I won’t ever get over the fact that the writers chose to kill off Mary, and the other female characters in this show were utilised so infrequently throughout this season, but at the same time, on the whole, I’ve absolutely adored this series. Of course, in some ways I would want it to continue, but in other ways I’m satisfied with this ending, especially due to the writing mess that was this season. If it is the end, I’ll look back fondly on the earlier episodes, even though I doubt I’ll ever truly love this season.