#also I know I said I didn’t want any characters making a reappearance and that tmp should be able to stand on its own

[nathanbatemanfucker]

In His Hands

summary: joaquin takes care of you in the face of your anxiety.

pairing: joaquin torres x f!reader

wc: 2,018

contents: 18+/MINORS DNI, SMUT, established relationship, anxiety, oral sex (f!receiving), teasing, pet names

an: been thinking about joaquin being soooo accomodating + sweet, so here's the finished product. MINORS DNI i stg!!!

danny ramirez characters masterlist

“Joaquin, don’t,” You whine, keeping your eyes on the study materials strewn about the coffee table. 

“Don’t what?” He asks, feigning innocence.

Though you can’t see him, you can hear the smile in his voice. He knows exactly what he’s doing.

“Ya sabes qué,” You suggest, reaching out to lazily brush his hand away from your shoulder.

He had started to rub them, massaging the tension out of your shoulders that always finds a home there. It’s sweet and you appreciate his care, but Joaquin’s touch is like a drug. Saccharine and sensual, it makes your insides warm in ways you didn’t know were possible until you fell in love with him. 

“Oh this,” He murmurs nonchalantly. His hands don’t stop, continuing to rub out the knots in your flesh. “What’s the problem?”

“I’m trying to study,” You say matter of factly.

“You’ve been studying all damn day, querida. You could use a break.”

“I can’t afford to break, the test is tomorrow. I need to cram as much information into my brain as I can.”

“You know so much already— look, it’ll be a piece of cake. You can do this, se que sí.”

“That’s easy for you to say, you’re the goddamn Falcon. This is important to me, Quino. All I’ve ever wanted was to be a S.H.I.E.L.D agent and I know you know how that feels. To want something so bad it feels like you can’t breathe.”

Joaquin did know. Looking up to Sam for all those years, wishing and waiting— working harder than he thought was possible brought him to where he is now. But, he’d also had you for a lot of that. Always there to make sure he was taking care of himself, that he didn’t wither away who he truly was for his dreams. He would always repay the favor; it’s what you deserve. 

“I know, querida, I know. This is important, but so are you. You’re so stressed— feel how tight you’re wound,” He murmurs, taking your hand and placing it on your shoulder. He’s right, your shoulders feel like bricks. 

“I could help with that,” He insists.

“You aren’t playing fair,” You whisper, leaning your head back against the couch as he increases the strength of his hands.

“Never said I would, baby,” He teases, planting a kiss on your forehead. “C’mon, qué quires hmm? ¿Qué puedo hacer por ti?”

You shiver at the smooth sensuality of his words but still have the mind to tease him. “Aren’t you the one who distracted me? What do you want?” 

He guides your head to one side, rubbing at the base of your neck in a way that makes you pant. “That requires demonstration. Will you be my volunteer tonight?”

“I’m your volunteer every night,” You quip half heartedly. 

“I never hear any complaints,” His lips brush your ear as he strengthens the pressure of his fingers on your scalp. “Tell me, mi amor. What do you want?”

There’s no turning back now— he’s got you right where he wants you. And there’s no place you’d rather be right now. 

“Just…help me relax a little?” You breathe, letting your eyes flutter shut.

“Mmm. Stay right there for me. Don’t move a muscle, okay?”

“Mhmm,” You hum. A whine slips from your lips when you lose contact with his warmth, but soon he reappears, his hands smoothing up your thighs. 

“Lean back, head against the couch for me.” He watches you comply, grinning as he praises you, “Good girl. Now hips up, these shorts gotta go.”

You raise your hips without any defiance, and he slips them and your panties away, discarding them across the room. You’re nearly trembling with anticipation despite the fact that he’s barely touched you. 

He notices and in typical Joaquin fashion, refuses to breeze past it. Gently, teasingly, he sinks his teeth into your thigh before soothing the spot with a kiss. “I haven’t even started yet, querida and you’re already shaking. I do that to you, hmm?”

“Mhmm,” You hum again, becoming more malleable under his touch with each second that passes.

“Just me. Now, open up,” He murmurs, using his hands to spread you open for him. “There we go, mira qué preciosa.” 

“Quino, mi amor,” You sigh, letting one of your hands drop to card through his silky hair.

The picture you two paint right now is as sensual as it is explicit. Your head thrown back against the couch, legs spread beneath the coffee table to accommodate Joaquin and his touch.

All you can think about is what it would feel like for his mouth to finally be on you. At that  thought, your brow furrows…several moments have passed and you’re still without him. You squirm against him expectantly.

He huffs a laugh, breath warm against where you need him most. “You gonna tell me what you’re wanting?”

“Joaquin,” You murmur, beginning to grow frustrated by his teasing.

“You know how much I love to hear it.” He pauses, lips hovering just inches away from your sensitive skin, his eyes dark with desire. “You’re mine, querida. You know you are.”

The words send a shiver down your spine, his possessiveness only making you ache for him more.

“Touch me, Joaquin. This isn’t very relaxing, I thought I was promised that,” You challenge, tilting your hips up further to try and close the gap yourself. The words come out sharp, but there's a flicker of need in your voice that betrays the frustration of not getting what you want.

“Alright, querida, you got me there. Stay still for me,” He commands, his own blood now burning with desire. 

He starts a slow dance of laying sweet, alternating kisses on the delicate skin of your thighs. You know that he’s done teasing by the focused trail he’s leaving, the way his hands grip you and hold you open more firmly. And then his mouth is on you, tongue flicking gently against your clit. 

Heat pools in your belly, liquid and inescapable. You rest more heavily against the couch as you press up into Joaquin’s mouth, needy and mindless with want. There’s nothing like being at his mercy– he knows all of your spots, the speed and pressure you need to tip over the edge into ecstasy. He always takes care of you, never making you feel less than adored. 

He hums into your pussy, his nose brushing at your clit as his tongue dips lower to lap at your slick with more firmness. The taste nearly drives him into a frenzy, desperate to make you cum again and again for that concentrated taste of you. But he reminds himself that this is for you. This is to melt away your anxieties, to replace all the worry in your brain and body with nothing but pleasure and security.

Even as he increases his intensity, it's still steady with the intent to savor you. You continue to tremble against him, hips falling into a rhythm to match the pace of his tongue. He lingers when he feels your breath catch more sharply or when you whimper, reveling in how responsive you are to his touch.

“Mas, Quino, please,” You plead, your fingers gripping his hair more firmly.

He groans, eyes fluttering at the mix of pleasure and pain he gets from you tugging at his locs. “You sure?” 

He wandyou to be sure because he would be happy to lay here between your legs and serve you for the rest of the night. For the rest of his life if you let him, and god he hopes you’ll let him. 

“Yes. Please. Please, Joaquin.”

“Tranquila, baby, I’ve got you. Just relax, hmm? Let me make you cum on my tongue,” He coaxes softly and at the same time so slowly, he presses a single finger inside of you. 

“God, yes,” You groan, planting one of your feet flat on the ground so that you can buck against him. 

Even with just one of his fingers you feel so full, made to take him and him alone in any way that he’ll give it.

Joaquin’s mouth grows more insistent, and he leans back to get you wetter, spitting on your clit before his tongue glides through your folds. “Yeah? Like that?”

“Mhmm,” You whimper, your chest starting to rise and fall frantically.  

“Hips down, honey, let me do all the work. Let me take care of you, okay?”

“But, I need more,” You whine impatiently, hips not stilling. 

“I’ll give it to you. Anything you want, anything you need, I’ll give to you,” He promises, pressing in another finger.

The delicious stretch winds you, the smooth movement of your hips stuttering as you succumb to him feeding your body what it needs. He stops all the teasing, stripping himself of the patience he’d built up so that he can ravage you the way you need. 

He’s as starved as you in the way he eats you out, messy and rushed, his fingers hooking to press incessantly at the sensitive spot inside you, making your legs clench around his head. You and Joaquin worked together seamlessly, the sound of his fingers inside you growing wetter and wetter as he winds you tighter and tighter.

“C’mon, querida, damelo. I can feel you. Let go,” He encourages tenderly in direct opposition of the urgency of his mouth and fingers.

It's all you need to fall over the edge, tumbling and tumbling more deeply into a pool of pleasure. Joaquin doesn’t stop, extending your high. Your hand knots further into his hair, and you pivot up against his tongue, taking all you need from him. Once he’s rung every drop from your body he withdraws his fingers, placing one last adoring kiss to your clit. 

With grace, he maneuvers from between your legs and comes to sit beside you, gathering you in his arms. “How was that? Feeling relaxed?”

“Mhmm, very relaxed,” You lean into him gratefully, feeling floaty.

He drops a kiss on your temple. He strokes your back with slow, comforting motions, a gentle reminder that even after all this, he’s there to hold you—body and soul. “Good, mi amor. Tienes hambre?”

The faint smell of his cologne clings to you as you lean into him, feeling his heartbeat under your fingertips.  “Mhmm.”

“Is mhmm all you can manage right now?” He teases.

“Mhmm.”

He laughs with his entire body, shaking the both of you. “Let me get up to get you something alright? Don’t say mhmm.”

“Alright,” You agree through a laugh.

He kisses you one last time before hopping up, heading towards the kitchen.

“Joaquin?”

He looks at you over his shoulder, raising a brow at you playfully, “Mhmm?”

“I love you.”

His face softens, grin goofy and adoring. “Te amo.”

—

“See? I told you you could, mi amor. Don’t doubt my girl or my methods,” He cups your cheek to kiss you breathless before producing the bouquet of flowers he hid behind his back. “I’m so proud of you.”

Your smile is childlike and giddy as you take the flowers from him. Leaning in once more you softly brush your mouth against his. You’re grateful for his presence, his support, his unwavering belief in you. “Gracias, Joaquin. No pude hacerlo sin ti.”

“¿Ah, sí? I’m the secret sauce, baby?” He teases lowly, crowding you against the wall despite being in a S.H.I.E.L.D testing facility.  

You feel your skin start to warm, butterflies breezing through your tummy. 

“You still feel warm, querida.” His voice dips, low and knowing. “Did I work you too hard?”

“You’re the worst.”

“And somehow the best. I can do it all.”

You roll your eyes playfully, pushing him back so that you can start down the hall. 

“We absolutely can’t work together in the field if you’re going to be so brazen,” You muse, studying the perfect bouquet in your hands. 

“Aw, cmon, I thought it would be fun. Let me change your mind,” He calls after you.

“You’ll have to work harder than you did last night to change my mind.”

His grin widens. “Challenge accepted.”

to join the joaquin torres taglist you must be 18+!

joaquin taglist: @magikdarkholme, @plan3t-plut0, @mewmew222, @linnygirl09, @ezhz444, @karmaswitch, @badbishsblog, @moonymeloncholymoney, @glader13, @how2besalty, @happypopcornprincess, @hiireadstuff, @lisiliely, @spider-steve

[themattgirl]

could you please make one where Chris and reader are dating and reader feels sick and Chris just takes care of her and acts all sweet and stuff? 🫠

an: thank you for the request ily 🧡

this turned out so much longer than i intended

this isn’t my first one shot but it’s the first with one of the sturniolo triplets in it. 

obviously their characters have been altered by me a little to fit into the story but i tried to make it as realistic as possible by keeping their personality traits as they are in real life.

also comment or like this post if you want to be added to the taglist

pairing: chris x fem!reader

word count: 4.1k

warnings: fluff, use of ‘babe’ and ‘ma’ as pet names for reader, intentional wrong spelling in text messages to make it more realistic, mentions of nsfw themes, swearing, lots of playful teasing between characters

y/n’s dialogue  

chris’ dialogue

matt’s dialogue

nick’s dialogue

mary lou’s dialogue

“it’s just a cold, nothing serious i promise. i don’t think i can come over today though, i don’t wanna infect any of you. i’m sorry for ruining movie night,” i say to chris on facetime before breaking into a cough. i turn the camera away from me, not wanting him to see me in a disgusting state like this. if i could, i would’ve muted myself so he doesn’t have to listen to it either. plus, i know how worried he gets with any type of sickness or unwell feeling really.

so, of course it wouldn’t be chris if he didn’t immediately furrow his brows.

“babe no, don’t apologize. you didn’t choose to get sick.”

he gets up from where he was sitting on the couch and goes downstairs to his bedroom. he puts the phone down so all i can see now is his ceiling. his voice sounds a little farther away when he speaks again, “it doesn’t really sound like nothing serious, does anything hurt?”

“to be honest, my whole body has been aching since i woke up this morning. it’s not too bad, just a dull ache, i can still move and all that, even if i’d prefer to just lay here and rot away,” i laugh and hold back the cough that wants to escape right after in hopes it would make him worry a little less. vainly.

“your voice sounds stuffy and kinda hoarse, does your throat hurt?”

“i forgot you turn into a doctor every time somebody doesn’t feel great,” i roll my eyes even though he can’t see it with his phone still down and him on the other side of the room from how distant his voice sounds.

“shut up, y/n. you feel worse than ‘not great’. you’re not fooling anyone with that act.”

he reappears on the screen. now i can see what he has been doing in the time i couldn’t see him. he put on a hoodie over the tank top he had been wearing before, the hair he had put up in a little ponytail - if you could even call it that - in the front has been untied and brushed. or maybe he just ran his fingers through his hair a couple of times, that’d be more like it.

“anyways baby, imma call mom real quick. be right back,” he hangs up before i get the chance to respond.

i put the phone down next to me on the bed i’ve been in since i realized this morning how much it hurt to stand up and how i felt like i was gonna throw up every time i moved too hastily.

i took a deep breath - well, as deep as a breath can get when your nose is clogged - and closed my eyes to try and concentrate on something other than the throbbing pain in my head.

i feel so much worse than how i described it to chris and i feel bad for kind of lying to him, i do. but he has been dealing with so much of his own lately - new designs for his brand, fixing the shipping issues with some of the orders from his last drop, coming up with video ideas and prefilming those before him, nick and matt go on tour again, preparing everything for said tour - see, he really doesn’t need me to add to his things-to-worry-about-list, especially if he can’t do anything to fix it and it’ll go away on its own anyway.

i feel my phone’s vibration from somewhere in between the sheets and grab it. it's messages from nick.

hey y/n heard your not feeling so good (:/ smiley) i was really excited to see you again today but don’t you dare feel guilty for it

i know how you guilt trip yourself into thinking everything is your fault

its kind of a good thing bc now i have time to get the matching pjs we wanted

hope you feel better soon tho

matts sick too maybe you got it from him when you helped him decorate his room yesterday

I hey y/n heard your not feeling so good 😕 i was really excited to see you again today but don’t you dare feel guilty for it

word spreads faaast 😂 i’m so sad i gotta wait another week or so to see you again i only like sleepovers cuz of u but dont tell chris 🤫

I i know how you guilt trip yourself into thinking everything is your fault

seriously i hate that yk me so well 😐

I its kind of a good thing bc now i have time to get the matching pjs we wanted

at first i was like 🤨 but then i kept reading i LOVE YOUU SO MUCH OMG just so yk chris was the second option

I hope you feel better soon tho

me too now i’m excited for the pajamaaas 😫

I matts sick too maybe you got it from him when you helped him decorate his room yesterday 🤔

i’m gonna kill him like fr this time

hey where tf is chris??

talking to mom shes teaching him sth honestly don’t ask idk

ok 😂 i think im gonna take a nap talk later?

yess get some rest and lmk if you need anything ❤️

ly❤️❤️

after sending the last message i get a call from matt. i contemplate not picking up for a second but decide against it.

“what?”

“uff, what’s that attitude?”

“i’m sick because of you, shithead.”

“we don’t know that. what if you’re the one who passed it on to me, hm? besides, i was just calling to tell you to drink some water and to ask if you need anything. i was actually being nice but you clearly don’t deserve it,” his voice is just as bad as mine, if not worse which makes me feel a little bad, but matt wouldn’t be one of my best friends if i had to worry about him getting mad every time i’m not nice. that’s actually how we bonded after annoying each other every chance we got. we both have a bit of an attitude problem which caused a lot of irritation and aggravation. now we get along better than any pair of best friends. the teasing stayed in place, but now we both know there’s only endless love behind it. sometimes you just gotta let off a bit of steam and we both just get that.

“fine, i���m sorry. sickness really does turn you soft, huh?” i smirk.

“why’re you saying it like you just confirmed a theory?”

“mary lou told me once and i’ve been waiting ever since to see for myself, guess she was right.”

“you are actually the worst. i’m hanging up now. drink water, bye.”

he hangs up the phone and i laugh to myself. what a big baby.

i open chris’ chat and type in a message telling him i’m going to sleep and that i will call him once i wake up again. i don’t bother waiting for a reply and just put the phone on my nightstand. i turn on my side, close my eyes and after that i don’t notice anything anymore.

i jolt up from bed, breathing heavy, body sweaty and heart racing. my room is dark, lit up only by the moon shining through my window. i look around trying to remember where i am and shake the nightmare from my mind.

i reach for my phone and check the time.

11:43 pm

i turn on the flashlight and right when i notice a black jacket hung over the back of my desk chair i hear footsteps coming closer.

chris pushes the door open and steps in.

“oh shit, did i wake you?”

“no i had a nightmare. what are doing here?”

i sit upright in bed and turn the flashlight off when chris flips the switch to turn on the fairy lights around the edges of my ceiling.

he moves to sit on the bed next to me before he answers, “i had mom teach me how to make her get-well-quick-soup and brought you some. she also told me about the perfect remedy tea, i can make it for you,” he stands up again immediately, “i’ll heat up the soup for you first. shit ma, have you even eaten anything today?” he stands by the door, holding the handle but looking back over his shoulder at me.

“chris,” i honestly don’t know what to say to him. he is so sweet i have to fight the tears that build up on my waterline. i just look at him for a moment, a little smile ghosting on my lips.

i’m well aware of how caring, considerate and compassionate chris is as a person in general, but it still baffles me sometimes how much he goes out of his way to make others feel good. i guess i’m just not used to it, being loved like this, having someone do everything that lies in their hands - and beyond that - just for me. it’s astonishing to say the least. especially when i myself have had issues with showing how deeply i cherish somebody ever since i can remember. it’s probably rooted somewhere in my past and how my affection has been received and responded to, that’s what my therapist says anyway.

i shake myself out of my thoughts and move the blanket away from my body to finally get up. immediately chris is beside me, holding me in place, “what’re you doing, ma? stay here i’ll bring it up,” he talks quietly, trying to get me to take in my previous lying position but i stay put on the ground.

“babe, i have been in this bed almost all day. i need to get up. i’ll just come down with you, we can eat together in the kitchen,” i try to convince him.

he looks at me, an uncertain expression on his face for a few seconds, the gears in his head almost visibly turning while he thinks about it. at last he lets out a sigh and nods, “alright then, hop on my back,” he bends over in a piggy back position in front of me and i can’t help the laugh that escapes me.

“you do know i can walk, right?” i ask still chuckling.

“i know, come ooon, just do it,” he urges me on and wiggles his hips, making me laugh even harder when i climb on his back.

“you’re gonna be so sick tomorrow, chris,” i complain mournfully once he lets me down to sit on the kitchen counter while he gets to heating up the soup he brought.

chris insists he’s not prone to catch a cold or any sickness easily, no matter how contagious or how close to the source he might be, even though he has proven himself wrong multiple times on more occasions than he cares to admit.

“no i won’t. besides, i could use a few days off even if i have to be sick to get that,” he lets out a huff of air trying to make it sound humorous, but both of us - and everyone who knows chris for that matter - knows that he is exhausted and is in desperate need of a break.

i know he doesn’t want me to get serious about that topic right now though so i try to change routes, “oh my god,” he turns around from where he was stirring the soup on the stove and faces me, confused about my shocked exclamation. i point an accusatory finger at him, my jaw hanging low but a smile still creeping it’s way on my face.

“so that’s why you’re here. you came to try and get infected, that’s why you carried me down too even though you know damn well i coulda walked by myself. and i’m here thinking you were actually being the best boyfriend on earth. turns out my man is a piece of shit,” by the end i fail to stay serious and let out a giggle. well, it’s not like he actually believed that i meant what i was saying but still.

he lets go of everything he was holding, turns around to me fully and begins to stalk toward me slowly.

“oh yeah?” i don’t know if it’s just me or if he’s doing it on purpose but all of a sudden his voice sounds deeper, his face more stern and serious.

“is that what you think then? i’m just a piece of shit?” he makes me nervous at first but the second i see the smirk on his lips i know exactly what’s about to follow.

“chris. no.”

he is standing right in front of me, so close he has positioned himself in between my legs, his hands on the counter on either side of me, trapping me. the finger i was pointing at him long since taken back.

“am i a piece of shit when i make you cum with just my tongue?” his face is so close now.

“stop,” i say quieter than i mean to, almost whisper-like.

“or when i fuck you so good you can’t walk right for days, am i a piece of shit then?”

this asshole is doing it on purpose. he knows i would never have sex with him when i’m sick so he’s trying to rile me up the little fucker. have i mentioned that i actually hate him. like for real hate him. the type of hate that leads to an absolutely mindblowing fuck. shit.

“or yesterday when you told matt you needed a break and came downstairs to my room to suck me off and then you just wiped your mouth and went back up like nothing happened. did you do it because i’m a piece of shit?”

my jaw is on the floor.

“or when–”

“OKAY,” i practically scream, “you’re the best and i didn’t mean what i said, just please stop.”

i’m almost whining at this point.

i try to rub my legs together to ease some of the friction unnoticeably but chris is like a hawk, sees everything, notices everything. and then he smiles. just smiles and goes back to the soup.

later that night, after i was forced to eat almost all of the soup and drink two cups of magic tea while chris downed a cheese burger, fries and three of the last four pepsi cans i had in my fridge, we snuggled up on the couch with a heavy blanket that chris had also asked his mom for, thrown over both of our laps and a random movie playing on the tv. 

neither one of us actually felt like watching something but we threw it on as background noise anyway. chris and i have barely seen each other in almost two weeks so all we want right now is to enjoy each other's company. he has been so busy with all that’s coming up for him and his brothers, still is. and i've been studying like crazy because i always feel like i won’t pass if i don’t and when i wasn’t busy with that i’d be at work to earn my living and feel like i’m doing enough. so there wasn't really time for us to actually be together and get to enjoy it. i've missed it.

“you know you’re probably sick because you exhaust yourself all the time,” chris says when he turns to look at me.

“shh,” i shush him with my eyes closed and a smile on my lips, “i got it from matt, no discussion.”

he lets out a little laugh at that, “yes discussion. if you keep going like that, one day it’s gonna have more serious effects on your health than a cold. you don’t even need to do all that. how many times do i have to tell you your life is worth enough even if you don’t work yourself half to death and have a little fun every once in a while,” he rubs my thigh while talking. chris knows better than anyone that i don’t like being put on the spot and lectured about my not-so-healthy habits like that, especially when i know exactly that it’s in fact very unhealthy. but he also insists on having these talks with me because he knows i would shut out everyone else who’d dare to try immediately. he and his brothers are the only three people i have let come so close and they make use of that quite often, might i say. but it’s okay because these people are my best friends and i know i need to be put in check sometimes, i admit. nobody else would dare try but them so i just let them. 

i must say, it has helped me improve my life to an extent. they taught me that it’s okay to cut ties with people who are bad for my mental health and encourage bad habits, and that i don’t owe shit to them even if they want to make me believe that. they kept telling me “quality friends are worth so much more than a big amount of bad ones” until it finally clicked in my brain and i blocked half of my contact list.

“look who’s talkin’. mister i work twice as hard as the person i try to lecture,” i jab my finger in his side and he jerks.

“you know that’s different,” he holds my hands in his to stop me from doing it again.

i like feeling his hands on mine. i know he’s my boyfriend and it might be weird to say it like that. but i haven’t seen him in so long, which means i also haven’t felt him in so long. it’s crazy but it almost feels like in the beginning when we were scared to touch each other and would act like we accidentally brushed our hand on the other but we both knew it was fully on purpose.

chris pulls me out of my thoughts again when he speaks, “at least i have an end in sight and work’s gonna be way more relaxed once i’m done with everything. with you there’s always–”

the ringing of his phone cuts him off and he takes a look at the caller id, his mom. he narrows his eyes at me and gives me a look that says “we’re not done yet” but picks up the phone and holds it up so she can see the both of us on the screen.

“i was going to ask chris about you but since you’re with him please pinch him for me,” is the first thing mary lou says when she looks at us. and i gladly do as she says even though i don't know what he did to deserve it.

“oww, what was that for?” chris asks whining and i just shrug and chuckle.

“you told me you would bring y/n the soup and go back home. you lied to me.”

i turn to him with my mouth hanging open, “christopher owen, how dare you?”

it’s so fun to aggravate chris.

he furrows his brows at me and then looks back at the screen, “she literally begged me,” he straight up lies. “i was trying to tell her i didn’t wanna get sick so i could only drop off the soup and blanket and would have to leave again but then she started crying–”

i hit him for real this time, hard enough to make him suck air through his teeth.

“mary lou, don’t believe a word he says.”

“i know, darling, you wouldn’t do that. chris, that’s twice you’ve lied today.”

“sorry, mom,” he actually looks defeated now, “you know i can’t just leave her all alone when she’s like this. i lied because i didn’t wanna worry you. i won’t get sick though,” at that me and her give each other a knowing look but let him continue, “y/n’s weak and in pain, of course i’ll be by her side as much as i can, you probably knew i was here, that’s why you called me,” chris wiggles his finger at his mom with a cheeky smile while she’s trying to hide her own.

“alright, alright,” she gives in, “that’s how young love is, i guess. anyway, have you eaten the soup yet?”

“almost all of it,” i report proudly, rubbing my stomach.

“only forced,” chris side-eyes me and i roll my eyes at him.

“and the tea?” mary lou just keeps going. well, i definitely know where her son gets the caring from.

i grab the mug that’s been sitting on the table for two hours and could now be considered iced tea and hold it up for her to see, “this is my third,” i take a sip.

“very good. okay, well, i just wanted to check if chris is taking good care of you. it’s important for you to get enough rest, don’t go to sleep too late, alright darling? i have to go now but if you need something just give me a call. i’ll talk to you both in the morning. good night, i love you,” she blows two kisses as we tell her we love her and then she ends the call.

right when chris puts his phone down we hear the doorbell ring.

we both glance at the direction of the front door as if we could see through it and figure out who’s standing on the other side. then we turn and look at each other.

“expecting someone?” chris asks me and i just shake my head no and shrug unknowingly.

“open up!” the voice sounds muffled but it’s unmistakably matt.

chris rolls his eyes and sighs loudly and i just giggle.

he moves the blanket and gets up to go open the door but stops in his tracks suddenly, turns around again, bends down and kisses me.

“won’t be able to do that for a while if he’s here,” he explains before he goes.

matt and nick do complain every time we kiss in front of them, so we agreed on trying not to do it anymore. they act like little kids being forced to see their parents being all lovey-dovey with each other. at least one of them always yells “GET A ROOM!” as if they’re not invading our personal space. big babies, like i said.

“what’s up, bitches?” nick walks in wearing the pajamas we wanted to match, holding up his hands. one holding what i assume is my set of the exact same one and a pillow in his other hand.

i jump up from the couch immediately and squeal as i run toward him to hug him.

“what are you doing here?” i ask once we let go of each other, our smiles still as big as ever.

“since chris is here breathing in germs and this one,” he points his thumb over his shoulder where matt is giving chris a pajama pair, “is already sick i thought we might as well have our movie night here since i’m getting it from one of you either way.”

“i’m so happy,” i squeak, elongating the words.

“aren’t you happy to see me too?” matt acts sad and offended when he moves to stand next to nick.

i roll my eyes but give him a big hug, “i am actually.”

chris scoffs and we all laugh. he moves to stand closer to me and i wrap my arms around him, tilting my head to look at him.

“you guys can go in the kitchen, grab some snacks while me and chris put on our pajamas,” i say to nick and matt, my eyes still locked on my boyfriend.

they do as they’re told once the’ve put down their things and soon enough they’re out of sight.

“you good?” chris asks me quietly, stroking my hair gently

“yeah. i just realized our alone time is over,” i respond in a hushed tone.

he gives me a kiss on the forehead before he talks, “it’s okay, we’ll just go up to your room when they’re asleep. nothing’s keeping me away from you tonight.”

hearing it makes comfort spread in my chest in a way i didn’t know i needed right now.

“i love you so much, chris. thank you for everything,” i try to sound genuine, because i truly am.

he holds my chin between his thumb and forefinger and dips his head until his lips meet mine.

“i love you too, ma.”

taglist:

@strniolosworld @that-general-simp @sturniolosreads @whoreforchr1s

[mindswriters]

out of hide ✰ buckyXOC!

pairing. bucky barnes x OC!alina vetrova (that’s slow burn again dont kll me)

mcu timeline. tfatws (ft. sam and zemo!)

summary. bucky broke zemo out of prison to find the serum, the baron had a long list of convenient contacts. and that’s how they met alina.

word count. 4.5k

warnings. death of a character (minor, “irrelevant”), fighting and that’s all + my current works are reviewed by ai.

─────────────────────

“I didn’t think I’d see you again, Zemo,” she said, as she opened her apartment door. “But then again, I always thought prison was too boring for you.”

She had spent years in the shadows, hiding behind false identities and buried research papers, far from the bloodstained corridors of her past. Alina Vetrova no longer answered to the KGB, nor to any master with a badge or flag. Her loyalty was her own now — quiet, calculated, and dangerous when tested. The world had changed since the Blip, and so had she. But when whispers of super soldier serum began to resurface, so did the ghosts she thought she'd outrun.

News — the real kind, the kind that didn't make headlines — traveled fast in her world. She’d known about Zemo’s prison break before the guards had time to update their shift logs. And she knew exactly who had made it happen. Only one man would bother pulling Zemo out of a high-security cell without leaving a trail: Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes. She hadn’t seen him in person — not until now. But her network was efficient, and she’d already connected the dots. Barnes had been spotted visiting Zemo, and soon after, the Baron vanished from behind bars. The reappearance of the Flag Smashers, the resurgence of the serum, the chaos forming across Europe… it all pointed to something bigger. Something inevitable.

So, when the knock came — heavy and measured — Alina didn’t flinch. She wasn’t afraid of Zemo. She didn’t trust him either. Yet she opened the door.

Zemo smirked. “And you’ve always been too curious for your own good.”

The apartment was modest and warm — not what any of them expected. Lace curtains filtered the afternoon light. A bookshelf full of titles in Russian, English, and German stood beside a potted Ficus that looked like it had been there for years. The place smelled like cinnamon and ink.

Alina welcomed them with a small, polite smile, her sweater sleeves pushed up, a mug in her hand.

Sam gave her a friendly nod. “Thanks for letting us in. We just want to talk.”

She nodded once. “Unexpected combo, but I figured you’d come. Sit wherever.”

They moved into the living room. Alina perched on the arm of a chair, casual but attentive, like someone who’d hosted diplomats before. While Zemo and Sam took their seats on her couch, Bucky stood mysteriously beside her bookshelf, staring closely, but mute.

“I assume this isn’t a social visit,” she said, sipping her tea.

“It’s about the super soldier serum,” Sam began. “Someone’s been replicating it. You used to run in circles where that kind of information floated around. We were hoping you might’ve heard something.”

Alina didn’t interrupt. She just listened, head tilted slightly, expression unreadable.

“There’s a group called the Flag Smashers,” Sam continued. “They’ve got it. They’re using it. We’re trying to figure out how the hell it resurfaced.”

She set her mug down on a coaster. “I know about the serum. And I know who thinks they understand it.”

That got their attention.

“But the version you're chasing?” she continued. “It’s messy. Incomplete. Someone out there is trying to be Erskine without understanding what made him dangerous.”

Zemo’s smile faded. “Do you know who?”

Alina leaned back, crossing one leg over the other. “I know names. But I also know what happens if they leave my mouth.”

There it was. Resistance.

Sam sat forward. “Look, we’re not here to trap you. We just want to stop whoever’s behind this before it gets worse. If you know anything, we could use your help.”

Alina held his gaze for a moment. She didn’t distrust him — not entirely.

She stood, walked to a drawer, and pulled out a slim folder. “This might help you track the supply chain. But I’m not handing you the whole map.”

She placed it on the table. Zemo didn’t move.

“That’s not enough,” he said.

Alina shrugged. “That’s all I’m offering.”

A silence settled in.

Then Zemo spoke again, quieter. “Soldat.”

Bucky stiffened. Took a slow step forward.

Alina’s expression didn’t change — not at first. She watched Bucky with mild interest, head tilting, as if evaluating an art piece.

He stopped a foot from her, his metal arm catching a sliver of sunlight.

She blinked. Then exhaled softly, taking a small, calculated step back. “So that’s how this goes.”

Zemo watched like a conductor. “Perhaps a reminder of what you used to run from would be... persuasive.”

Bucky said nothing. His eyes were blank. Controlled.

Alina looked between them all — Zemo’s sharp smile, Sam’s hesitance, Bucky’s silent intensity.

Then she laughed. Short. Low. Sharp.

She turned to Bucky, eyes dancing. “You know, this is cute. Very Cold War drama.”

Bucky’s expression didn’t change, but his eyes flickered. Just enough for her to catch it.

“Wakandans did a good job,” she said suddenly, her voice like velvet over glass. “Cleaning up that old brain of yours. No more triggers. No more chains.”

Sam blinked. Zemo froze.

Alina smiled wider. “You really thought I’d fall for that? I know your history, Sergeant Barnes.”

She stepped closer, almost nose to nose with Bucky now, voice dropping.

“You’re not his puppet anymore, not anyone’s.” She whispered. “And I’m not scared of ghosts.”

She turned away, picked up her tea, and sipped like nothing had happened.

“Next time,” she said over the rim of her mug, “try asking nicely. It works better.”

For a moment, no one spoke.

Zemo’s jaw tightened, eyes flicking to Bucky like he wanted to scold him for breaking character — but the game was up, because Alina never actually fell for it. Sam leaned back in his seat with a sigh, shaking his head slowly.

“Okay,” Sam said. “So... you knew.”

Alina gave him a mock salute with her tea. “I read fast.”

Bucky didn’t move. He just stood there; eyes fixed on her with something unreadable — something just a little less cold.

Zemo, trying to salvage authority, cleared his throat. “We didn’t come here to play games. People are dying. If you have more, give it to us.”

“I already gave you something,” she countered. “That’s more than most people do when strangers show up in their living room using an ex-brainwashed assassin as a threat.”

She looked at Sam again. “But I assume you want more.”

“I want to stop whoever’s making that serum,” he said simply. “That’s all.”

Alina looked down at her mug for a long beat.

Then, with a sigh, she walked back to the table, opened a drawer beneath it, and pulled out a folded map with notations in Russian. She flattened it with one hand, pointing to a mark near the edge of a forested region in Eastern Slovakia.

“There’s a facility,” she said. “Not government, not private. One of those grey-zone places that used to belong to Hydra, then got passed around like a dirty secret. I don’t know who runs it now. But the trail leads there.”

Zemo leaned in, his interest piqued.

Sam studied the location. “You know how to get inside?”

“Didn't you give them a briefing?,” she frowns to Zemo, faking outrage. “I got out of KGB when I was 18. I can get in anywhere by now.” She said with a smirk.

Zemo narrowed his eyes. “Then tell us how.”

She looked at him. Calm. Steady. “I’m not giving you that.”

His lips thinned. “Why not?”

She shrugged. “Because you’ll screw it up.”

Sam frowned. “So you’re just gonna... sit on it?”

Alina hesitated — just a second — then shook her head. “No.”

She looked at them, and for the first time, something genuine crept into her voice.

“I’ll take you,” Alina said. Bucky scoffed, his first verbal interference until now.

The words hung in the air like a loaded gun.

Zemo straightened, visibly intrigued. Sam blinked. “You’ll what?”

“I’ll go with you,” she repeated, matter-of-fact. “I know the facility. How it works. How to shut it down without triggering alarms. If you go alone, you’ll walk into a trap.”

“You’re willing to risk exposure for that?” Sam asked, brow furrowed.

Before she could answer, Bucky spoke.

It was the first thing he’d said since they’d arrived.

“Why should we trust you?” His voice was calm, but hard-edged. His eyes were on her — sharp, guarded.

Alina met his gaze without flinching. “You shouldn’t,” she said. “I wouldn’t.”

She let that sit for a beat.

“But the people behind that serum... they’re worse than any of us. They don’t care who gets hurt. I’ve spent too long watching things happen from the sidelines. If I can help stop this, then I should.”

“And what do you get out of it?” Bucky asked, still skeptical.

Alina smiled faintly, almost to herself. “A cleaner conscience, maybe.”

Zemo scoffed quietly, but didn’t interrupt.

She continued, this time more measured. “Look — I know what I am. What I’ve done and what I didn’t. But if I was the enemy, I wouldn’t have opened the door. And I sure as hell wouldn’t be giving you coordinates to a Hydra graveyard.”

Sam looked at Bucky, eyebrows raised, silently asking if he was satisfied.

Bucky held her gaze for another long second.

Then gave a slight nod. “Alright,” he said.

Alina exhaled, her posture easing a bit. “Good. Then we leave in twenty minutes.”

She disappeared into another room, likely to pack.

Sam ran a hand over his face. “This is getting complicated.”

Zemo just smirked. “Isn’t it always?”

But Bucky didn’t answer. He stayed quiet, his eyes lingering on the hallway she’d disappeared into — still trying to read her. Sam stretched his neck with a quiet crack. Zemo poured himself more tea, uninvited. But Bucky stayed where he was. Still not sure whether they were walking beside an ally. Or another ghost from the dark.

After a minute or two, the soft sound of boots returned — lighter than expected, but purposeful. Alina stepped back into the room, and for a moment, neither of the men said anything.

Gone was the cozy cardigan and the mismatched slippers. She now wore fitted black cargo pants, a charcoal long-sleeved shirt, fingerless gloves, and a light tactical vest — civilian enough to blend in, but clearly chosen for function. A compact utility belt hugged her waist, with tools tucked into neat compartments. Her hair was tied back, and her expression had sharpened.

She caught them staring and raised a brow. “What? You come in looking like the three musketeers and I can’t have my dramatic wardrobe change?”

Sam huffed a quiet laugh. Bucky didn’t smile, but he took in every detail.

She walked over to the table again, unfolding the same map and marking two quick paths with red pen.

“Here’s the target zone,” she said, tapping a square near the forest line. “The main facility is buried underground. Cameras on the outer perimeter feed into a secondary relay hub here —” she circled a building off to the side “— which I can disable manually. Once we’re past that, we follow a utility tunnel that leads to a lower-level access hatch.”

Sam leaned over, impressed. “You scouted this yourself?”

“I love architecture.” she said, eyes steady, earning confused stares from the three men. “And I’ve been on Hydra labs before. A long way before. The rest I updated over the years through... unofficial research”

Zemo tilted his head. “You do realize we’re trusting your memory and a very outdated blueprint.”

“I’m trusting myself,” Alina replied. “You’re just tagging along.”

Before Zemo could respond, she rolled the map up and tucked it into her belt.

“We’ll need a car that doesn’t draw attention. No flash, no plates with flags. I’ll ride up front. I’ll guide.”

Sam nodded slowly. “You’re really used to working alone, huh?”

She paused in the doorway, glancing back at him with a dry half-smile.

“People don’t tend to stick around,” she said simply.

Bucky watched her for a second longer before finally falling into step behind her.

#

Outside, the chill air bit against their faces as the group moved toward the nondescript black SUV Zemo had secured. The sky was fading into twilight, casting long shadows on the pavement.

Alina walked with quiet confidence, pulling a small device from her belt to check the signal jammers she’d set in place earlier. She moved like someone who had done this a hundred times — maybe more — but always alone.

As they approached the vehicle, Bucky caught up beside her.

“You sure you’re not walking into a trap?”

She didn’t look at him. Just answered flatly.

“I’m always walking into traps. I just make sure they close on the other guy.”

He didn’t press further. But for the first time, he didn’t look at her with suspicion. He looked with understanding.

An abandoned shipping yard. Rusted containers. Silence.

“That’s it?” Sam asked, cutting the engine.

Zemo stepped out first, looking around. “Underwhelming,” he muttered.

Bucky raised an eyebrow. “You’re sure this is the place?”

Alina didn’t answer immediately. She walked forward, boots crunching gravel, scanning the surroundings with practiced eyes. Then, with a sharp nod, she motioned to a stack of containers. “Follow me.”

Sam stayed back on lookout as the others approached what looked like an ordinary blue freight box.

Zemo folded his arms. “I was promised secrets, not scrap metal.”

Alina didn’t react to the jab. Instead, she crouched beside the container and pressed a gloved hand to a barely-visible panel. A soft click broke the silence, and a narrow hatch popped open from the ground just behind it.

She stood and looked over her shoulder with a cocky smirk.

“This place is giving me tetanus just by looking at it,” Sam muttered.

Zemo brushed some dust off his coat. “Camouflage often comes in less-than-glamorous forms.”

Alina stood with her hands on her hips, expression unreadable.

“So…” Sam looked between them. “Who’s going in?”

Zemo gestured toward the container Alina had identified. “All of us, of course. The fewer loose ends—”

“No,” Alina cut in, tone calm but firm. “Too many bodies down there makes it harder to control the situation.”

She pointed at Sam. “You stay up here. Keep watch.”

Sam raised an eyebrow. “Me? Why do I have to be the lookout?”

“Because you’re loud,” she said, smirking faintly. “And charming. If anyone shows up, you’re the best shot at buying time.”

Bucky actually let out a soft breath that might’ve been a suppressed laugh.

Sam rolled his eyes. “Fine. But if I get shot, I’m haunting all three of you.”

“Noted,” Alina said, already moving toward the hidden hatch. “You two, try to keep up.”

Bucky followed first, then Zemo, descending into the narrow passage. Dim lights lined the tunnel, casting long shadows on the concrete.

They moved quickly.

At the end of the corridor, a steel door buzzed open to reveal a small lab — sterile, fluorescent, and humming with quiet machinery. A single man stood inside, startled by their arrival: middle-aged, nervy, in a white coat.

He raised his hands. “Who are you?”

Zemo stepped forward. “We’re here for a conversation.”

The interrogation unfolded quickly. Alina played the calm mediator, asking questions with just enough edge to make the man nervous. Zemo circled like a vulture. Bucky kept to the back, watchful.

Suddenly, a voice crackled in their earpieces — Sam’s.

“Hey. We’ve got company. Four—no, five hostiles approaching from the east side. Moving quiet. Real quiet.”

Alina snapped her head up. “How long?”

“They’re spreading out. I’ll keep a few busy, but you’ve got maybe two minutes.”

The team shifted into motion.

Bucky moved to the door, pressing an ear to the cold metal. Alina scanned the room, already spotting their secondary exit — a service hatch on the far wall.

“Zemo, with me,” she ordered. “Bucky, hold position.”

But before they could finalize the escape route, the first agent burst through the door — not with gunfire, but calculated, efficient force.

Bucky reacted instantly, slamming the man into the wall. Another followed — this time aiming for the scientist.

Alina stepped between them, blade flashing. The attacker dropped.

She turned, breath steady, and saw Bucky finishing off a third. Their eyes met — just briefly — a nod passed between them like muscle memory.

And then — a single gunshot cracked through the lab.

Everyone turned.

The scientist slumped forward, a clean bullet wound through the chest.

Zemo stood behind him, arm still extended, expression cold.

Alina’s face darkened. “What the hell, Zemo?!”

“He was a liability,” Zemo said simply, holstering his pistol. “And we got the info we needed.”

Bucky took a step toward him, fists clenched. “That wasn’t part of the plan.”

Zemo didn’t flinch. “Plans change.”

Outside, the sound of more boots crunching gravel echoed down the tunnel.

Sam’s voice came again — breathless, strained. “Now would be a really good time to come out and help me.”

Alina cursed under her breath. “Let’s go.”

She was the first to move, already climbing toward the surface, Bucky stayed a beat longer, eyes still on Zemo, before following. Outside, the night had shifted — quiet traded for chaos.

As Alina emerged from the hidden hatch, the scene was already unraveling. Sam was ducked behind a rusted-out forklift, pinned down by suppressive fire from three agents closing in.

She didn’t hesitate.

Sliding into cover behind a low crate, Alina drew a flash device from her belt. With swift precision, she lobbed it high over Sam’s position.

Bang. A burst of light cut through the dark. The agents reeled back, blinded.

Sam took his chance, popping up and taking down one with a clean shot to the shoulder.

The second agent turned toward Alina, gun raised—

Before he could fire, a dark blur intercepted. Bucky — fast, lethal — disarmed the man with a twist of his metal arm and slammed him into the side of a container.

Alina turned to thank him, but paused.

He was already looking at her. Their eyes locked — just a second.

She nodded.

He nodded back.

No words needed.

The third agent lunged for Sam from the side, but Alina swept in, low and fast, using the butt of her blade to crack him across the jaw. Sam straightened, panting.

“Okay,” he said, glancing between them. “Maybe you should’ve been the one watching from above.”

Alina gave a crooked smile. “You’re welcome.”

Suddenly, a distant boom echoed through the yard — smoke rising at the far end.

They all turned.

Zemo stood atop a stack of crates, looking remarkably composed, one hand holding a small detonator.

“What did you do?” Bucky asked, narrowing his eyes.

“Diversion,” Zemo replied smoothly. “The fuel drums were poorly stored. Sloppy oversight, really.”

Another explosion rocked the ground, this one closer. Lights cut out across the perimeter.

Alina winced. “That’s going to bring more attention, not less.”

“Yes,” Zemo said. “Which is why we should leave. Now.”

Sam exhaled hard. “You’re mental.”

Zemo smiled. “Efficient.”

Without wasting another second, the group broke into a run, weaving between stacks of containers toward their escape route — sirens now wailing in the distance.

Bucky stayed close to Alina’s side, watching her movements — calculated, focused, but there was something behind it. A tension he recognized.

As they ducked behind a final barrier before the car, she glanced at him. “Thanks,” she said, voice low. “For back there.”

He gave a small nod, still catching his breath. “You didn’t need it.”

Alina shrugged, adjusting her jacket. “Still.”

He looked at her a moment longer. Then: “You’re not what I expected.”

A flicker of amusement in her eyes. “Good. I hate being predictable.”

They slipped into the backseat, Sam already revving the engine, Zemo looking far too pleased in the front.

As they sped off into the night, the fire behind them painted the sky orange. The job wasn’t done. But something had shifted. Even if none of them were ready to admit it yet.

Inside the car, tension rode thick between them, louder than the whir of the tires on asphalt.

Zemo sat in the front seat, hands calmly folded. Sam, behind the wheel, looked ready to throttle him.

“You shot him,” Sam snapped. “He was the only one who knew how the serum was replicated—he was our lead!”

Zemo didn’t flinch. “He was a threat. The existence of that formula is a threat.”

Sam turned halfway in his seat. “You don’t get to decide that!”

“We don’t have time for this,” Bucky cut in from the back, voice rough. “He’s dead. What matters now is finding Karli.”

Alina sat beside him, gaze fixed out the window. For once, she didn’t interject. Her arms were crossed tightly over her chest, jaw set, like she was trying to separate herself from the rest of them. Her silence said more than words.

Zemo leaned slightly back. “I have a contact. A jet. I can get us to Riga by morning.”

Sam groaned. “Of course you do.”

They rode the rest of the way in loaded quiet.

#

At the edge of a private hangar, lights low, the sleek jet idled on the tarmac — another piece of Zemo’s vast, morally ambiguous Rolodex of resources.

After thanking you, and sharing an awkward goodbye, Sam slung his bag over his shoulder and threw a last glare at Zemo before climbing the ramp.

Zemo followed with infuriating calm, nodding politely to Alina as he passed. “It’s been... educational.”

She gave a tight smile. “Can’t say the same.”

Then she turned to say goodbye to Bucky, who was already watching her.

“Hey,” before she could say anything, Sam called back from the top of the ramp. “You sure about this? You came this far.”

Alina paused, then gave a small shrug. “I already crossed the line bringing you to that lab. I don’t have a reason to go any further.”

Her voice was even, but Bucky could hear the uncertainty beneath it. He waited until the others were inside before stepping closer.

“You’re really walking away?”

Alina didn’t look at him right away. When she did, her expression was guarded, but something flickered in her eyes. “I did what you needed. That was the deal.”

“No deal,” he said. “You volunteered.”

She huffed softly, lips twitching at the corner. “Don’t make it sound noble.”

“You knew where to find that lab. You had intel none of us did. You don’t move like someone who wants to stay out of things.” He said practically in a whisper.

“I don’t want to die for things that don’t change.”

That made him pause.

But then he stepped closer, lowering his voice. “You came out of the shadows for this. Don’t pretend you don’t care.”

Alina’s eyes scanned the ground, then the plane.

“You really trust me that much?” she asked, softly, almost teasing — but not quite.

Bucky looked at her for a long moment. “No.”

That made her raise an eyebrow.

“But I know what it looks like when someone’s running from something. And I know what it feels like when you want to stop.”

Their eyes held, a quiet standoff laced with recognition. Neither of them good at letting people in. Both of them too tired to keep carrying it alone.

After a beat, Alina exhaled sharply and slung her bag back over her shoulder.

“I’m not sitting next to Zemo.”

Bucky smirked. “Leave it to Sam.”

She started up the ramp without looking back. And he followed, matching her silent pace.

As they entered the jet’s cabin, Sam raised an eyebrow immediately, already reclined in one of the seats. Zemo looked up from a hardcover book with a curious, almost amused expression.

“Well, I see a change of plans,” Sam remarked, arms crossed. “What did you do to her, Barnes?”

Alina paused only long enough to glance at them — first Sam, then Zemo.

“Blackmail.” She lied sarcastically, dropping her bag in an empty seat.

Bucky passed her and dropped his jacket onto the opposite seat before casting a brief look their way.

“She can scold you both,” he said, dry sarcasm in his tone. “Someone’s gotta help me with the babysitting function.”

Sam scoffed but didn’t press the matter. Zemo, as always, smiled in silence — his eyes dancing with some private conclusion no one asked for.

As the jet hummed steadily through the sky, Alina kept her eyes closed, but sleep didn’t come. Too many pieces were shifting beneath the surface — the mission, the people around her, the decision she’d made to step out of the shadows. She told herself it was temporary. Just one detour. Just one piece of information they needed. But deep down, something had shifted the moment she stepped onto that plane. And for the first time in a long time, the quiet pull she felt wasn’t just survival. It was the beginning of something else entirely. She didn’t know where it would lead — only that it had already begun.

─────────────────────

A/N: yayy that’s the first step on alina’s timeline! i hope you guys like it, and i’m also leaving some important links if you want to dive more in the story. thanks for reading!!

intro on alina • asks open

[bishamontdn]

Ave Mujica Thoughts (not spoiler free)

Seeing Ave Mujica while knowing what is inevitably going to happen with Uika is such a wild experience, and I almost wish I’d gone into it not knowing what her voice actress has said about her (i.e. that she is truly scary, and that Sasaki Rico was genuinely surprised by some of her lines.) Seeing Uika and waiting for her reappearance these past few episodes, knowing this, has been like a ticking time bomb. But if you disregard what we know about Uika from sources other than the anime, her portrayal gets really interesting.

Without any sort of religious symbolism tied to her character directly, Uika is practically pronounced as a holy figure. She wears all white, and is a mysterious, far-away and untouchable singer, part of a popular idol band that is completely free of scandal, unlike Ave-Mujica. She has done nothing so far that could possibly be controversial to anyone, while the moral-greyness of every single other character is being explored. She continues to be a figure of kindness towards Sakiko, mainly. Even when Mutsumi accuses her of “lying” in episode four, it doesn’t really land, because Uika didn’t really lie so much as try to deflect to fix the disbanding situation. Even before Ave Mujica, Uika is atop a pedestal, shown when she gives Tomori advice… in the PLANETARIUM. Our perception of her since then has not changed much. 

Her character remaining sort of holy and free of sin up until this point is notable mostly because of her clear obsession with Sakiko. In my opinion it goes past just appreciation or yearning, and is a true obsession. Typically, when a girl’s obsession is unrequited (especially romantic, though I don’t know how far Bushiroad will go with that… Uika’s obsession does seem to be characterized differently than the rest) the character who yearns after the other is portrayed as gross, unbecoming, or weird. But Uika, through the eyes of the story, is never portrayed in this way. Additionally, the series doesn’t ever make it seem like Sakiko is in the wrong for not reciprocating Uika’s obsession. It can seem at first, like an unbiased account of the two girls’ interactions. Until you remember who narrates this story.

Since Anon narrates MyGo!!!!!, she must learn about Crychic from the outside. At first, characters that Anon (and therefore, the viewer) have a bad opinion of, like Taki and Sakiko, are somewhat redeemed as we find out their backstories. Since Uika is the one who narrates Ave Mujica, I wouldn’t call it unbiased at all. Sakiko is understood from the get-go. Uika extends compassion to her through the narrative- making sure that the viewer will forgive her by positioning her exposition in the very first episode. By this logic, Uika also controls her own self image. The entire narrative falls away to center around Uika and Sakiko. Uika is the clear uncommon pick for Ave Mujica, and it causes her scandal to participate in both Sumimi and Ave Mujica. There are reasons that joining Ave Mujica HURTS her. She is the only person in the band who is there solely for Sakiko. Mutsumi is here because Sakiko has dragged her here. Nyamu is here because Sakiko guaranteed her fame (Nyamu DOES care about her band members, but cares about the audience more. I don’t think this makes her shallow, and I could better explain in another post.) Umiri is here because of her obsession with the band atmosphere. Uika is the only one here ONLY for Sakiko. She has crafted a narrative where she is the only person whose desire for Sakiko is pure, and all-forgiving. Uika is ultimately the one who pulls the strings, and the only one for Sakiko. Who truly wants and deserves her (other than maybe Tomori, who coincidentally… appears when Uika’s narration is absent). 

The last few episodes have been, in a sense, so scary because Uika’s narrative voice disappears. She has been markedly absent. She hasn’t had a huge personal impact on the story’s events so far, but she is certainly about to. This portrayal of Uika and her desire as divine and deity-adjacent has also done another thing; portray Uika as immensely powerful within the narrative. Her focus in the opening and practically any promotional work has also cemented this. I believe Uika’s desire is about to be usurped in some way, and I believe her reaction to this is going to be basically turning into a supernova. Her desire for Sakiko from now on may be seen as a corrupting force to her character, but she still nonetheless has the power if not the purity of a God. She is going to destroy the narrative in ways that I can’t even predict. 

[deleahtarte]

Because He’s Kenny [ Prologue ]

Pairing: Kenny / Butters - Marjorine

Content: Alt Universe - College, Aged up characters, Implied sexual content, friends to lovers

Summary: When your boyfriend can’t get it right, you can trust your childhood best friend to.

Note: To everyone who follows me on tumblr, thank you!! Please consider this as my service to you. This is a PROLOGUE, therefore not the finished fic! It’s supposed to be porn with plot and what we talked about when I did that poll with Marjorine. I’ll post the finished fic on ao3 officially, but everyone here deserves the first look. You guys mean the world to me and I hope I show that enough

Photo Creds: Alai Ganuza

“Are you feeling it?”

“Um…I’m feeling something.” As in a dull, consistent ache.

Creed sighed in frustration, making Marj’s mood drop, too. He tries moving his finger in a figure eight motion, just like what they read about, but that actually made it worse instead of better. “How about now?”

“No…”

With a loud groan that makes Marj jump, Creed reappears from between her legs with furrowed eyebrows. His whole face is practically scrunched up into an expression that could only be described as fed up. “Marj, darling, I think this is useless.”

She closes her legs, pushes herself up by her elbows. “R-Really?”

“Yes,” Creed rolled his eyes. It’s something he does very often at the slightest inconvenience. “why do you want to do this anyways? It’s not like I’m getting pleasure from it. This is just for you. And weren’t you the one telling me that sex should be good for both parties?”

Yes, she did tell him that—but only after Kenny told her that Creed shouldn’t be using her like a sex doll while giving her nothing in return. And she agreed. She got tired of opening her legs for him whenever he wanted and having to go to the bathroom to finish the job herself. It made her feel…like a toy.

“Well, yes, but—“

“But? There’s a but? So you’re a hypocrite.” Creed snapped. “Listen, I really don’t think I need to learn how to eat you out if I’m the one doing all the work when we actually fuck. You lay there like a dead fish and take it, meanwhile I’m tried the morning after because I always have to do every-single-fucking thing! How is that fair?”

Stunned silent, it takes Marj a moment to process what Creed said. He can be mean, borderline cruel even, but it's not often raised his voice with Marjorine.

Seeing her reaction, Creed sighed once again. He didn’t look any less annoyed. “Marj, I…I didn’t mean that. I’m sorry.”

The damage was done nevertheless. Marj stands up, fixes her skirt, and rushes for her bag. Being around Creed when he’s like this is never a good idea. He’s the type of person to feel the highest when he’s high, and to be at rock bottom when he’s low. There’s never an in between. No happy medium.

“Are you seriously mad?” He asked when she makes her way to the door. “I already said I was sorry.”

“We’ll talk later. Preferably when ya aren’t bein’ unnecessarily mean.” As soon as those words left her mouth, she squares her shoulders in pride. Not being afraid of fights is something Kenny also taught her. And even though she is terrified, she can have those bouts of moments where she pretended otherwise.

The door to Creed’s dorm clicks shut behind her. In a matter of hours, Marjorine is sure her phone will start blowing up with apology texts, all which she’s heard and seen before.

The breeze is especially cold tonight. Creed and her had been trying for hours, but it’s just starting to dawn on her how long it’s actually been since they first began their…lesson.

Well, if it could even be called that. It’s hard to learn something when there’s no teacher present. Marj knew how to make her body work just as much as Creed did, which is not at all.

But she knows someone who does…

Her feet naturally takes her to his home, almost instinctively. She bypasses the closed shops and avoids the streets Kenny tells her is dangerous, all the while making sure to keep watch and listen for man made sounds. She owned a mace that went with her everywhere, a Fox Labs one that she knew like the back of her hand. Marjorine first learned how to use it when she was 12 years old and Kenny got worried that, ‘a cute girl like her’ would be targeted by bad people, especially men. So they practiced and practiced until the art of pulling the spray out and aiming became flawless.

Soon enough, Kenny’s apartment comes into view. It’s not on the safest side of town, and a little far from their college, but it was cheap and right within Kenny’s budget. He split rent with his roommate who interned at the hospital, so most of the time, Kenny had the place to himself. Marjorine hoped this was one of those nights.

The elevator dinged to signal her arrival. She steps out onto the 8th floor, stands in front of room 202, and gently knocks on it. Kenny was a late sleeper and an early riser, (none of which he wanted to be), so she doubted he was in bed right now.

A minute later, the door swings open—Marj’s face drops at who she sees.

“Ugh, seriously. You again?” Bernie Kaplan rolled her to the back of her skull, reminding Marjorine of Creed. “Will you ever stop?”

“Heya, Bernie.” Marjorine flashes her best smile, hoping it would ease the lines of irritation on Bernie’s face. “Is Kenny here?”

“It’s Bernadette to you, Majorine. And of course he is. This is his place.”

Bernadette Kaplan is the president of Chi Omega, in the Fellowship Committee, and known to be the most wanted girl at their college. None of that mattered to Marjorine though, because in the end, she only knew Bernie as one thing—Kenny’s girlfriend.

“Can I talk to him?”

“About what?” She asked with gritted teeth.

“Um, well gee, that’s priv—“

From above, a jacket is thrown over the top of Bernie’s head. She scrambles to get it off and turns around, facing— “Bern, don’t answer the door in just your underwear. That shits dangerous.”

Kenny is standing there, every ounce of him wet from the shower. He has a towel loosely wrapped around his waist and a small one hanging around his neck. Marjorine quickly adverts her eyes even though she’s seen this sight a millions times before, and a lot more.

“How about you stop answering the door in just a towel?” She pushed him slightly back as he laughed. Kenny, ever the gentlemen, helps her put his jacket on. It successfully covers her lacey bra that she greeted Marjorine with.

“What’s up, Buttercup?” Kenny eyed Marjorine’s disheveled dress. “Something wrong?”

“No, why, I just wanted to talk.” Marjorine meets Bernie in the eyes, sees the fire in them, and quickly adds, “If you have the time.”

“Course’ I do,” Kenny replied easily. He pats Bernie on the back. “Bern was just about to leave. Is your driver here?”

Glancing down at her phone, Bernie nods. “Yeah.”

Kenny turns to Marjorine. “Let me walk her to the car and I’ll be right back. Go sit and make yourself comfortable.”

Marjorine enters Kenny’s apartment, brushes against Bernie by accident upon doing so. She looked like she wanted to fray Marjorine alive on an open fire and stomp on her charred remains.

Kenny and Marj’s closeness must bother her, Marjorine deduced, because they’ve been childhood friends since they could walk. Maybe even before then.

When Kenny got accepted into college on a soccer scholarship, Marjorine got accepted into the very same one and they left South Park behind together. They likely would’ve lived together as well, but their college didn’t allow students of the opposite gender to room together. Which was why Marjorine resided in the dorms, while Kenny settled into a small apartment here.

In a blink of an eye, Kenny changed to his pajamas; a plain t-shirt and sweatpants he’s owned since junior year of highschool that barely fits him anymore. From the couch, Marjorine watched as Kenny tied Bernie’s shoes laces. He was real careful about it too, knowing they were Golden goose. As he ushered Bernie out the door with his hand resting in the middle of her hip, he turns back and gives Majorine an acknowledging wink. Marj smiles until the door shuts behind him.

Kenny’s apartment is a simple two bedroom with the bare necessities. A tiny kitchen, a machine and a dryer that didn’t work too good, a slim bathtub that Kenny said could barely fit two. All those things might have just made the apartment simply bad, but the good is just as great. The walls are relatively thick, there’s a balcony with an amazing view, and the air conditioning had no trouble going full blast. All in all, Marj deemed it a cozy little place. That may be simply because Kenny’s scent was everywhere here.

Walking to the window, Marjorine made it in time to see Kenny and Bernie walking to the car. It scared her for a bit, because from the back, her and Bernie looked similar. They had the same mellow blonde hair that was often curled.

The two stop short in front of the BMW. From what Kenny told her, Bernie hated to drive, so she insisted on having a personal driver that came at her beck and call. She’s saying something to Kenny, a hand on his chest, and he shakes his head at her. Bernie’s eyes widened in equal measure of shock and anger. She pushes Kenny away slightly, before trying to enter them vehicle, but that’s when Kenny grabs her arm, says something, and kisses her hand the way a prince from a fairytale would. Whatever he said pacified Bernie, because her expression morphs into something so soft that Marjorine could hardly believe it. She didn’t know Bernadette Kaplan was capable of making such a face.

Seemingly from nowhere, Marjorine feels a sharp pain od hurt in her chest. It turns into something dull and aching. It comes from time to time, though Marj has no idea what the cause is.

Kenny and Bernie haven’t been dating long. A month at most. Personally, Marjorine saw it coming from a mile away. Kenny—handsome soccer star bounded for the league. She of the glossy blond hair, regal face, and astounding proportions—Bernadette. Their relationship seemed as sure as the sun would rise. Marj wasn’t sure how serious they were with each other, but sometimes Bernie looked at Kenny as if she really liked him. The him that went past his looks. The Kenny that sings songs at the top of his chest even though he knows he’s got the lyrics wrong. Kenny who occasionally forgets to eat and needed the reminder to do so. Kenny who Marjorine loves and trusted from the bottom of her heart.

With a parting kiss, Bernie enters the BMW. As soon as it speeds off into the distance, Kenny turned and began walking back. Marjorine watched him closely until she jolted when Kenny suddenly looked up and met her eyes. Yikes. It’s almost scary how aware of his surroundings Kenny was.

They gave each other a wave. A minute later, the front door opens and in came Kenny.

“There she is.” Kenny opened his arms wide and Marjorine practically jumped into them. He squeezed her tight, face in her neck, before scooting back and letting his eyes slide down her body. “Is this the dress we rock-paper-scissors on?”

It’s a game they play when they couldn’t decide on something. After going back and forth on this dress, Kenny ultimately won and Marj bought it. “Sure is!”

“Give me a twirl, let me see.” Kenny spins her around as Marj giggled. “Oh yeah, you’re—that’s gorgeous. See? Floral and you is a lethal combo.”

Marjorine adored how the skirt was flowy and long. Kenny liked the small daisy prints of the fabric. When she showed it off to Creed (albeit without him asking), he told her she dressed like Becky. Marjorine didn’t know who that was until he broke it to her that she was his late-grandma.

“Aw, shucks. Thank ya, Ken.” Blushing from Kenny’s compliments will probably be something Marjorine will do for the rest of her life. He gives it out to her like candy, so you’d think she’d be immune to it by now—but no. It still makes her shy every time.

He winks. “Only being truthful.”

Her heart that was aching before soothed over as if Kenny had placed a healing balm on it. Marj couldn’t remember why it ever began hurting. If it even hurt at all.

“So what’s up? I thought you were supposed to be with Creed tonight.” Though Kenny said that with a smile, his words came off as gritty and restrained. Marjorine fumbled with the laces of her skirt.

“I was, but…” It was hard to put it into words. Where does she even began?

Sensing her hesitation, Kenny places a reassuring hand flat on her back, steering her towards the kitchen. “Okay, how about this? I make dinner—you haven’t ate since lunch, right? And then you tell me whatever you want to when you’re ready.”

A smile bloomed on her face. “Okay.”

It’s easy to settle into something that could almost be called routine. Kenny is an amazing cook, Marj—not so much unless she had clear instructions, so therefore it was mostly Kenny whipping something up in the kitchen. She’s sitting on the barstool swaying her feet, admiring how skillful Kenny was with a knife. Every food that’s been touched by Kenny was guaranteed to be good.

“Do ya remember how I told you I did research? On the uh…bed stuff?” Marjorine began slowly, trying to find her flow. Kenny stiffened up for half a second before he nods.

“Yeah, because Creed can’t fuck for shit?”

She opened her mouth to maybe defend her boyfriend, but then closed it due to her lack of a rebuttal. It was an established fact at this point. Neither Creed nor Marjorine knew the first thing about the bedroom.

“We tried mouth stuff today.” Marjorine continued quietly, face as hot as the scorching sun. She knew she shouldn’t be embarrassed—It’s Kenny. She could talk about anything with Kenny and he would never judge her for it. And though she knew that to be true, that still doesn’t stop her from fidgeting with her skirt.

“You sucked him off?”

Marjorine nodded. “Yes, and he came!”

“Good job.” Kenny replied with rather tense shoulders. The angle she was sitting at didn’t allow her to see what expression he was making right now. “He ate you out too, right?”

“Well…”

“Well what?” Kenny turned around, holding a spatula high as he stared at her with furrowed eyebrows. “Marj. Don’t tell me that fuck—guy didn’t show you how grateful he was.”

“He did!” Marjorine chewed her bottom lip. “Or at least he tried to.”

A mere second of quiet consideration passes before Kenny deadpanned, “…He didn’t make you cum.”

“Yes…”

Which wasn’t anything new. But it is because it wasn’t anything new that Marjorine and Creed (her more then him, truthfully), started taking the time to learn bedroom stuff. Creed was able to reach his orgasm just fine, it was Marjorine who needed that extra help. It barely came to her when she was playing with her own body, but with Creed, it never.

She’s never once been able to cum with him.

“Jesus.” Kenny runs a hand across his face, shaking it in disbelief. It must be hard for someone like Kenny to comprehend, because if the rumors were true—Kenny had never known bedroom troubles ever. “So what happened in the end? Did he apologize?”

“No, he got..,” Marj recalled Creed’s sour words, feels her mood plummet. “frustrated. He said he didn’t understand why he had to learn when I’m the one who lays there like a d-dead fish.”

There’s a rise of shame that wells up within her from admitting that, because she knew it was true. Apart from the typical blowjob, she didn’t do much else sexually for Creed.

“Did he call you that?” She could hear Kenny walking to her and stopping just in front of her, but Marjorine did not look up. She simply nodded.

Gentle fingers grab her chin, tilting her head up to meet narrowed baby blue eyes. “That asshole called you a dead fish? Like he has any room to talk, bastard can’t even make you come!”

His grip on her on her chin won’t let her look away, so she simply just murmured what she feared all along, “…Maybe it’s me Kenny.”

“Don’t say that.” Kenny said, and now he just looks sad. Marjorine wanted him to understand where she was coming from, though.

“No, maybe it really is. Maybe I’m the—“ Kenny hands move from her face to squeeze her shoulders in assurance, to ground her, maybe.

“Marjorine, baby, it’s not you.” A part of her melt at that nickname. Something Kenny only ever calls her during their vulnerable moments, like he’s trying to tug at her heart strings. It works every time. “I promise you it’s not you. Creed just doesn’t know what the fuck he’s doing, and that’s on him.”

She pursed her lips and admits, “But…I can rarely even make myself come.”

Every muscle within Kenny’s body stiffens. “…You can’t?”

It takes everything within Marjorine not to run out the door and die in embarrassment. It’s Kenny, she reminded herself, Kenny would never judge you.

“No, my fingers just don’t reach deep enough, I guess. It’s not…” She trails off, eyes landing on Kenny’s fingers; thick, long, adorned with a couple of silver rings they bought together at the pier because they were so cheap. It was Marjorine’s 18th birthday present to him, and she got to pick out the two of the five rings. “like yours.”

Jaw tight, Kenny swallowed before he asks rather hoarsely, “Are you doing this on purpose?”

“Doin’ what?”

“Okay.” Kenny’s head drops to Marjorine’s shoulder. He takes in a few deep breaths, inhales, before muttering, “It’s still not your fault. It will never be. Don’t blame Creed’s problems on yourself, okay?”

Things seem so much more believable when Kenny says it. The doubt that’s been gnawing away at her self esteem stops, if only for this moment, to let Marjorine breathe in his scent. “…Alright.”

Kenny gives her a smile, tucks her hair behind her ear. “Close your eyes.”

Wordlessly, she does it. She feels Kenny’s presence backtrack, followed by a string of noises that sounded a lot like dishes flashing and drawers opening. Whatever he’s been cooking smells amazing.

“Open them on one, two, three!”

In front of her was a platter of fried rice and an omelet. Marjorine’s mouth stretched wide into a smile. “You remembered.”

“Course’ I did.” Kenny nodded.

Back in South Park, the both of them would go to City Wok purely for the reasons that Marjorine adored their fried rice. And while Kenny wasn’t exactly a fan of anything Tuong Lu Kim made, he would still go with her and sit in the restaurant regardless. Just a week ago, she told him she missed his fried rice and the big, fluffy omelet.

Kenny pulls another bar stool to sit in front of her, focused on her first bite. “How is it?”

“Incredible.” Marjorine hummed. It’s not quite like the one from City Wok, but it’s delicious nonetheless.

“I took a basic recipe and tried to tweak it based off of the times I had it.” Kenny explained. Marjorine giggled.

“You mean all the times ya took a bite out of my plate when you thought I was distracted.”

Holding his hands up as if hes been caught red handed, Kenny amended, “I’ll let you know that the majority was you feeding me.”

A laugh bursted from her, she shook her head. That was true.

Kenny gets up from his seat while Marjorine continues to eat. When he comes back and sits down, it’s with a glass of ice cold water. Thank you, she told him. Kenny simply nodded and then dabbed the side of her mouth with a napkin.

She feels the air shift before he even said anything; a certain unmissable tension.

“…Marj, why do you like that guy? I mean, I know he’s decent looking and in Phi Delt, but how far can that go when he acts like he’s five-years old?” He shot her a coy look.

His wording nearly made her wince. Kenny wasn’t the biggest fan of Creed; had never been even before they officially met. “He opens doors for me and checks up on me. When I look nice, he tells me so.”

“That’s the bare minimum.” Kenny scoffed.

Should she tell him the main reason? Yes. It’s Kenny. “He…He likes me.”

“Okay?”

He doesn’t get it. Marjorine will just have to say it upright. “I like him because he likes me.”

Not only was Creed a vastly talented person who was bound for great things, but he is also the only person who showed interest in Marjorine. He treated her like she was special, not someone to be forgotten or lose in the background.

It takes a while for Kenny to process this. When he does, his eyebrows scrunches up with disbelief as he states, “A ton of guys like you.”

Marj set down her spoon, gives Kenny an unamused ook. “What guys are ya talkin’ about?”

“80% of the male population in South Park!” Kenny exclaimed, throwing his hands to make a point. Marjorine shakes her head and continues eating.

“You’re exaggerating.”

“I’m not. Marjorine, if it wasn’t for me, a hundred dudes would’ve come up to you and asked you out daily.”

“What do you have to do with it?”

Something akin to guilt flits through Kenny’s face, so fast Marjorine barely caught it. “They were afraid of me. Thought we were dating.”

“They did?”

Kenny nodded.

That was perhaps the most unbelievable thing Marjorine had heard all night. No, of all time. Sure strangers thought they were together, but they were strangers. South Park was so tight knit everyone knew each others grandma grandma’s—so they should’ve known better then to ever think someone like Kenny would ever go out with Marjorine of all people.

“Whatever gave them that idea?” She splutters.

“Yeah,” Lips pulled into a thin tight, Kenny was still refusing to meet her eyes. “good question.”

There’s a lull in their conversation. Kenny seemingly now has nothing to say. Marjorine squared her shoulders and prepares to defend her boyfriend, because that is what a good girlfriend would do.

“Creed isn’t always the best, yes. He certainly has his off days. But most of the time, he’s very kind to me. Just last Saturday he introduced me to his friends as his ‘precious.”

It was a special day for them, a good day, so long as Marjorine ignored how he left her standing at the corner for two hours. He claimed he didn’t forget about her, but Marjorine swore she almost see him leave.

Kenny made a face like he just ate something sour. “What is he, fifty? The Granny from Ice Age?”

“I thought it was very sweet.” Marjorine huffed.

Kenny drops his face into his hands. Marjorine knows that whenever he does that, it means he’s nearing his limit. He’s either frustrated and doesn’t know what to do, or he’s upset and doesn’t want anyone to see. Sometimes it could be both, most of the time it is. “I think—I know you could do better. He’s not the guy for you, Marjorine. No way in fucking hell.”

Better, Kenny said it so firmly, as if it was really that simple. But what was better then Creed Mossic, who treated her like a dime in a dozen. Who, despite the fact that he was set to inherit his father’s company, still chose Marjorine—a nobody? Someone their own parents couldn’t love?

“You mean you?" She asked in a way it sounded like a joke, with a hint of a chuckle, but she was picking at her fingernails and pulling at dry skin around her cuticles.

"No," Kenny said, stiffened and poker-faced. "I mean better.”

They fall into silence before Marjorine asked, because apparently they are being utterly open about their relationships now, “What about you and Bernie? Why are you dating her?”

A pause. “She’s fun.”

“Fun? How so?”

“She likes to…party?”

“You don’t sound too sure of that.”

“We’re not talking about me right now.” Kenny waved her off. They’ve been together for so long that Marjorine knows that just means he doesn’t want to answer. “I’m just saying you deserve better then some pencil dick fuck who can’t make you cum and treats you average. Because just average isn’t enough for a girl like you. You deserve world class. Like a prince from those fairytales you like.”

Something warm spreads through Marjorine’s body, from the delight of knowing how well Kenny knew her, to seeing the conviction he held on what Marjorine deserves. Kenny probably expected everyone to treat her like he did; with the utmost care and affection, gentleness but not fragility. Sadly, that wasn’t how the world worked.

“Fairytales ain’t real.” She learned that the hard way.

Kenny almost looked sad. “Maybe not, but that doesn’t mean your life should be an Edgar Allen Poe book.”

“It is not!” Marjorine exclaimed, horrified. “He ain’t as bad as it seems! Besides, I can live with the bad s-sex. I could handle bad sex for as long as I live!”

“You shouldn’t have to.” Kenny said firmly, before he makes a face and adds, “And you’re not spending the rest of your life with this dude. So this is only a temporary problem, but still.

“Ya sound so sure.” Marjorine said. Kenny lips tilt up into something that isn’t quite a smile or a complete frown either.

“That’s because I am.”

[mulling-over-milgram]

DEPICTIONS OF ES (and other prisoners) IN MV’s

Revisiting the topic of this post now with a better understanding of the characters and Deep Cover :)

Returning to Tear Drop there’s something I want to talk about that I didn’t cover the first time which is where exactly Es is placed in the scene.

We see from the opening scene there is a table and since both Yuno and the Client are sitting at it we can tell there are atleast two chairs. We can’t see anymore chairs the many time this table reappears in the MV so we can conclude that there are only two chairs at the table.

We see the plushie that represents Es , Milgram prison and the audience seated in a chair. It must be sitting in one of said two chairs since we can tell from the Yuno’s shots in the first scene that the chair we see the plushie in is the same as the two at the table

And because we know it’s placed on one of two chairs we should now be able to narrow down which one. Based on these shots the plushie seems to be placed in the chair of the client. To steal a term from 74n5n school girl Yuno is sitting in her chair like in the first scene then cat girl Yuno stands next to her and points. Since school girl Yuno is in the same place that means that the plushie must be in the clients chair. (Quick side note I released while writing this part that if the plushie is in the clients chair that the client must of left but school girl yuno is still sitting in the chair even though he isn’t there any more…even though he has left her at this point)

She mentality has placed the plushie , placed Es in the chair (in the role?) of her client. I believe this is because she see’s Es and by extension the audience as viewing her for only the mask she puts on and only what they want to see like she mentions , projecting their ideas onto her.

Returning to a point I made the last time. Yuno has the power in this scene. Es is represented as but a plushie and such they can not talk. The plushie shares a resemblance to the plushie from the first scene.

Though I’m still not quite sure what to make of this? The plushie in this scene is given to Yuno by the client symbol perhaps of his feelings? The lyrics of “the wanted(yuno) wanting the wanter(client)” so if the plushie represents how Yuno perceives the clients surface level feelings for his desired version of her then that could explain why the Es plushie resembles it? Since Yuno views their views on her as similar? Uhh idk…If there are an Yuno scholars in the audience feel free to correct me ^^;

————————————————————————————————

Now Backdraft time! >:]

Fuuta and Es clearly seem to mirror each other here. This is clearly meant as a visual representation how similar their actions are. Unlike Yuno who purely portrays Es as less powerful. I feel Fuuta more portrays Es as taking his role. Yuno portrays Es as taking on the role of her client and fuuta portrays Es as taking on his role. His role as the judge and as someone who holds wrong doers responsible for their actions.

Notably Es aside from not being graffiti is portrayed the same as the prisoners. Being full blacked out aside from their clothes.

Speaking of other prisoners! Let’s talk about them the prisoners(and Es) are somewhere between Fuuta , his victim and the rest of the online group and the people who were channeled. They aren’t out right twisted into monsters but they are dehumanised in a sense since they don’t have faces and are graffiti. I find it interesting that the graffiti is graffitied with red. Of course this is the colour of the guilty verdict but also Fuuta’s spray paint and the black paint that is used to hide their identifiable features outside of clothing is the colour of es’s spray paint at the end of the MV.

————————————————————————————————

okay so time for a MV I didn’t cover last time because that post was purely focused on Es and because it’s something I’ve only noticed recently ^^;

we see in Cat the numbers 02/03/04 appear when Kazui’s glass is knocked over. Now I’m not entirely convinced myself these are supposed to correspond to prisoners but I thought I’ve cover it just in case.

Yuno and Fuuta both have connections to kazui. Yuno and kazui are prominent character parallels. Muu is a bit strange though…and the song completely skips over one.

as for the lyrics displayed on screen they generally make sense for the prisoners associated with the numbers

Like yuno’s number has cat for obvious reasons.

Smashing and shattering seems pretty in line with Fuuta and same with bye bye. It also is kinda similar to bang ba bang?

Muu doesn’t so much lie as take on the role of the victim. She isn’t lying about the events just manipulating them but for kazui lying and acting a role are sort of conflated so the lying could be seen as ‘put on a role till it gets better’ ??? As for the rest , Muu is heavily associated with followers (the other bully girls/haruka) and with royalty so it fits.

————————————————————————————————

Next The Purge March

The first thing I want to make note of is that the Amane on the ground here is in a very similar position to Fuuta at the end of Back Draft and the other Amane who’s shadow becomes Es is in a similar position to Es at the end of Back Draft.

other then that theres the continued theme of Es taking on a role in the prisoners mind. This time of amane’s mother/cult/the person who delivers punishment. ————————————————————————————————

Continuing to Deep Cover

Now I personally believe that the scale chess piece represents multiple things. I think you could equally argue for the scale chess piece being Es or Kotoko but for the sake of the post we will continuing under that interpretation this chess piece represents Es. Assuming this is the case this would be first time “Es” has appeared visually in multiple scenes.

the way the prisoners are portrayed is really similar to how both Fuuta‘s and Amane’s Mv’s portrayed them as shadows with out distinguishable features and funnily enough flat and two dimensional (aside from Es at the end of Back Draft of course)

And while we are making comparisons Deep Cover also is similar to Tear Drop in its use if chairs and a table.

but something fairly unique to Kotoko is how she portrays the prisoners pieces as broken. An argument could be made that Fuuta’s portrayal of the other guilty prisoners and himself as vandalised is similar but it feels different. Even Yuno who destroys the room by the end it doesn’t seem there is any evidence of her ripping up plushie Es.

then there is how Kotoko portrays the prisoners as chess pieces. I’m no chess expert but I strongly associate it with scarfing in the name of winning the game and I feel that lines up with Kotoko’s mindset towards the other prisoners and other “evils” of the world. That they should be hurt and stoped and scarified for the greater good but the chess metaphor also could be how she views herself as on the opposing side to the prisoners. You try to kill? Capture? Take out? (I’ve never been clear on exactly what happens to the pieces in chess) the opponents pieces so you my reach the king (the root or source one might say) and get rid of him. Again lines up pretty well with how Kotoko’s views the word , take out the “evil” before it can hurt the weak (her side?). Chess is such loaded symbolism that I can’t dig into every possible connotation or meaning here so I’ll leave it at this for now. ————————————————————————————————

And to end off revisiting the comparison’s from the original post

-all the appearances still focus on judgment in some sense: Yuno judges Es for their judgment and as commentary on the voting system. / Fuuta is also being judged and is judging Es for their judgement. / Amane is being judged and punished and she to in the prior line is judging Es for their judgments / a big part of Deep Cover is Kotoko judging Es for their judgments and the song is almost entirely about judgment of herself , other prisoners and judgment of judgment.

-yuno’s and fuuta’s MVs have a prominent focus on eyes where as Deep Cover and Pruge March are the opposite with there being no eyes. Though Amane’s next line does reference eyes. “I disavow you, eyes corrupted must be crushed”

-Es still can’t and doesn’t speak in any of the forms where they are shown.

-Es is still always shown in the centre of the frame. Except for this shot in Deep Cover.

-there is still a focus on hands in all the shots expect for The Purge March and some shots in Deep Cover.

-The shots colours no longer mainly consist of the characters main colour and a gold esc colour and black. (Though this point was always a bit of a stretch)

-The character singing is not in frame / we see Es through the pov of the prisoner still carries over for the most part apart from again this Deep Cover shot.

-I noted the power dynamics partly earlier in the post. Of course the backdraft/tear drop/the purge march points remain the same as the original post. In Back Draft Es has the power. They are the judge they are the one channeling they are the one with the spray can and who is standing up but in tear drop , Yuno portrayed as with the power Es is portrayed as a powerless plushie who can’t talk or move. Yuno is very much judging Es then the other way round. She reimagined them as a stuffed toy something we generally view as childish. Purge march brings us back to Es having all the power. With them being the one who judges the others and in Deep Cover , Kotoko has all the power! She has not only taken the position of the judge like Yuno did but kotoko has taken on the role and appearance of a warden again is very much judging everyone.

————————————————————————————————

[fandomzwriterk]

Smoke and Mirrors

Pairings: Tomas Vrbada/Smoke x OC

Warnings: slight gore + Amnesiac!OC + religious trauma (?) + characters dying + hinted innuendos later on + Kuai & Bi Han trying to be good brothers + Liu Kang as a dad figure (?) + Tomas just being his sweet lovable self + Bi Han being kind of a dick + Kuai Liang having no clue what it’s like to have a sister + confused “brother” Kuai Liang (?) + Raiden, Kung Lao, Johnny, and Kenshi being simps (mostly Raiden)

PT: 6/?

While Kuai and Bi-Han went on a mission in Las Angeles, Angel and Tomas were stuck back at base with Raiden and the other new recruits. Liu Kang didn’t take Tomas with his brothers, which in of itself was an odd thing. Angel didn’t mind though, as long as she wasn’t alone.

“So how did you come to join the Lin Kuei?” Raiden asked the pale haired girl

Raiden and Kung Lao sat at the steps of main path to the training grounds where everyone else was. Angel was nearby, sitting on a rock thinking with her back to them.

“I’m sure it was a grand story right? Much like the brothers?”

Angel was silent, hearing them but never saying a word.

“I’m sure your family must be proud too… or the family that raised you right? Bi-Han and Kuai Liang’s parents right?”

“They didn’t raise me. I showed up here months ago. That’s all.”

“That’s all? There has to be more right?”

Angel stood up, turning around to face both men as she stood towering over them.

“No. There isn’t. As far as I know, I remember nothing before I came here. All I have are the times I’ve spent here for the last few months, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m happy I have something to be in the Lin Kuei for.”

Raiden and Kung Lao were silent, letting Angel jump down and proceeding to walk away, letting Tomas walk in their direction as Angel went the other.

“Angel?”

She ignored him, walking past him as he watched her attention turn away from Raiden and Kung Lao.

“Did I say something?” Raiden asked

Raiden was concerned, he was a newbie to everyone here and he probably just offended the last person he wanted to wrong.

“What’d you say?” Tomas asked

“I just asked how her time was here as a kid and she told me she’s barely been here for a few months. I didn’t mean to offend.”

“We swear it wasn’t our intent.”

“I know. You’re curious, trust me I know. It just takes time with her.”

“She said she doesn’t remember anything. Is that true? How does she know her name though?”

“Oh that’s the name I gave her. She didn’t have one, so I called her that and then so did everyone else. It just stuck.”

“Oh. You really seem to care about her don’t you?”

“Of course. She’s probably my best friend here, and maybe my only friend.”

However… Raiden and Kung Lao didn’t believe him. But then again, as Liu Kang said, Tomas has a good heart, so maybe it’s just his nature to love and care for everyone the same. Maybe that was also because Tomas kept to himself, really only talking to his brothers and Angel.

“Why did you pick the name Angel?”

Tomas shrugged, he didn’t really have an answer. He just knew of angels from stories his mom told him, and Angel radiated that “energy” about her.

“Anyways. We’re gonna go train but can you tell Angel we’re sorry for us?”

“Sure guys, I will.”

And they all went separate ways. Tomas walking to find Angel while Raiden and Kung Lao went to train on the other side of the base.

“Angel? Where did you go?”

Silence greeted Tomas as he took quiet and careful steps, making sure not to disturb Angel in case she didn’t see him coming.

“Angel?” He whispered

“Tomas?”

His attention went up, noticing Angel sitting on the roof of a small hut that some foot soldiers slept in.

“I’ll be right there.” Tomas answered as he used his smoke magic to disappear, then reappearing next to Angel who was seated at the edge of the hut

“What made you come looking for me?”

Tomas adjusted his sitting, hanging his legs over the rooftop with Angel as well. Angel looked sad, seeming to try and think of something.

“Are you alright Angel?”

She nodded, just sighing as she moved her hands back, deciding to lean back a little to stare at the sky. The covers over her eyes intrigued Tomas each and every day. What could possibly be under those? What color did they look like? White? Red? Tomas wanted to know.

“You ever take it off?”

“This?” Angel asked pointing to her eyes with her pointer finger

“Yeah. How can you even see? Is it just muscle memory?”

“I… I don’t know. It’s as if I can see everything, but it’s like I’ve done this all before.”

“Before?”

“Like this just a memory that my own body remembers, just not me. As if I have no control, I just see and speak.”

Angel looked defeated. What even was she to begin with? How do you start a whole life over with no memory of anything before the moment you open your eyes, like nothing ever happened.

“Maybe, it’s just you. Maybe somehow, before you came here, maybe you were a good fighter. Maybe you were the strongest out there.”

Tomas was optimistic at trying to help Angel to remember anything, even if it didn’t seem significant at first. I hurt him to see Angel sad, after all she’s been good to him and his brothers. Tomas was willing to help someone who cared for him back, so he was going to do anything his friend asked of him.

“I’m sure we’ll figure it out together.”

Angel nodded, still staring out into the horizon, seeming to be thinking of something.

“I’ll see you in the morning Tomas.” She spoke softly before standing up, spreading her wings and taking off towards the other side of the complex

Next morning…

Angel woke up when a loud sound of someone screaming jolted her senses awake. Looking to her left and onto her table side, she reached for a small blade, letting it extend into a spear as she jumped out of bed. One hand in front her and the other behind her, Angel slowly walked to the door. She opened it, slowly looking left towards the wall that was next to Kuai’s room, who was at the end of the hall. She looked right, seeing Raiden about five feet in front of her also walking carefully and slowly. Quickly, she pulled her head back behind the door.

“What in the world are you doing?”

“I came to see if you were awake. I didn’t mean to alarm you.”

Angel made the blade disappear, standing up to full walk out the door.

“It wasn’t you who woke me up. I heard someone screaming.”

“Screaming? Oh you mean Johnny.”

“Johnny?”

“One of the new champions from last night. You know, the one Lord Liu Kang wanted to find.”

“Right. I remember.”

“Well come on! Everyone’s waiting for you.”

He turned and ran down the hall, completely forgetting the fact that Angel had her hair over her face in case the wraps fell from her face. She turned to walk back inside her room, making her way to the long white outfit she wore every day. It was almost like a robe, but the back was longer than the front. Her wraps lay on top of the robe, also noticing her golden robe pieces were a little dirty.

“No problem. I can easily clean this later.”

She put on her robe-like dress, making sure the sleeves were perfectly cut halfway down her shoulders. She didn’t show as much of her body like Smoke and his brothers did, but Angel still felt happy with what she wore. The perfectly shaped hole on the back was small, but just big enough for her to spread her wings comfortably. So with her dress on and her golden bands on her wrists, Angel walked out the door and went to go outside. It wasn’t even five seconds before she walked out that a loud “FUCKING SHIT” could be heard somewhere in the distance.

“Oh no.”

To be continued…

[m1ckeyb3rry]

Pomegranate Ink: XVII

Series Synopsis: Unable to heal but willing to fight, with a fiancé in Kyoto and a last name that looms over everything you do, you accept an offer to study at Tokyo Jujutsu Tech. What you did not know was that your salvation and your ruination alike would soon join you at the school, neatly wrapped in the form of a boy followed by death.

Chapter Synopsis: You have an argument with your father before going to meet Yuta.

Series Masterlist

Pairing: Yuta Okkotsu × Female Reader

Chapter Word Count: 5.4k

Content Warnings: angst, misogyny, naoya zenin, forbidden relationships, canon-typical violence, character death, original characters included

A/N: yuta reappearance yay!! enjoy the crumbs because he’s going to be gone until like shibuya now though

“Are you excited to visit Yuta?” Tullia said. She was sitting cross-legged on your bed, watching you pack, while Maki was frantically finishing the last of the summer homework that Kusakabe expected you all to turn in for the next class.

“Of course I am,” you said, folding a shirt and setting it in the small carry-on bag you were taking with you. You weren’t going for a long time, so you didn’t feel the need to bring an entire suitcase with you, but it was long enough that you’d definitely need a couple changes of clothes. “It’s been forever since I saw him last.”

“I’m jealous of you,” Maki said, her face reddening and cracks forming in the wood of her pencil from how hard she was gripping it. “Since you’ll be in Africa, you won’t have to worry about turning in this essay for Kusakabe!”

“Actually, I already turned it in,” you informed her. “As well as the rest of the work for the time that I’ll be missing. So the jealousy is unwarranted, because I’ve done more than you the past few days.”

“You’re such a nerd,” Maki said.

“Don’t blame me for your lack of planning,” you said. “Anyways, have you guys had the chance to meet the other first years yet?”

“Mm, nope!” Tullia said, apparently speaking for all them when she did so. “The higher ups have kept everyone busy, so it seems like we’re never at the school at the same time as them. Besides Fushiguro, we don’t know any of them.”

“The one boy, Itadori, is Sukuna’s vessel, and the other student is a girl, according to Gojo. That’s all I can tell you,” you said.

“Sukuna’s vessel,” Maki said. “I can’t believe we’re actually classmates with someone like that.”

“He’s a nice boy,” you said. “He didn’t seem to have ill intentions, so I don’t really mind it. Wasn’t it the same with Yuta? And see how he turned out. I think we’re past the point of judging people for whatever entities are attached to them.”

“Oh, I don’t disagree,” Maki said. “It’s just a little fantastical, is all. The King of Curses is our classmate — Tullia, for a frame of reference, it’s like if you went to school and suddenly you found out King George III would also be attending.”

“I know who Sukuna is,” Tullia said, giving her an incredulous look. “Since when are you informed on the American Revolution, though?”

“I did some light reading on it to make you feel more at home,” Maki said.

“Actually, I’m pretty sure Megumi’s the one that told her about that particular fact,” you said. Maki looked up from her essay to glare at you. You threw a sock at her in retaliation. “Don’t think she’s some kind of educated and well read woman. She still hasn’t finished her summer homework, so she’s definitely the opposite.”

“Okay,” Tullia said, sitting on her hands as a clear show of her neutrality in the argument. “Whatever you say.”

“Which one of us?” Maki said.

“Both?” Tullia said.

“Wait, we’re saying opposite things, so you can’t exactly go and say you agree with the two of us, can you? That’s not how it works,” you said.

“Um…Y/N, please be sure to pick up some souvenirs for us from wherever in Africa you’ll be visiting!” Tullia said in a rush. It was an obvious tactic to change the subject, but you and Maki exchanged looks and decided to allow it.

“Do you want food or something else?” you said.

“They probably wouldn’t let you bring food, at least not anything that would be really cool for you to bring back. Even if they did, it wouldn’t taste as good anymore,” Maki said.

“Something else it is. If anything catches my eye, I’ll be sure to get it. Gojo and Yuta will both be there; one of them can foot the bill. With those two having special grade salaries, I’ll really be upset if they make me pay for anything!” you said.

“Yuta would probably insist on paying, even if you were the better off between you two,” Tullia said. “I don’t think he’s the kind of boyfriend that’d let you lift a finger or open your wallet around him.”

“Plus Gojo just about starts crying from joy every time he gets to spend money on you, so you likely don’t have to worry about a thing,” Maki added.

“Exactly. So I'll get you guys something nice for sure!” you said.

“Alright!” Tullia said.

“Make sure to get something for yourself, too,” Maki said with a frown. “You’re always thinking of the rest of us, but it’s okay to think of yourself every now and then.”

You waved her off. “I have enough people thinking about me. I don’t need to add to the count.”

“If you say so,” Maki said.

Just then, there was a knock on your door. You frowned, wondering who had any business coming and knocking on your door. The two people that could be reliably counted upon to visit you were already sitting in the room, and if it was Toge or Panda, they’d have texted before coming. Gojo would just barge in, and even if he did by some miracle decide to knock, it wouldn’t be such a polite sound.

“Um, who is it?” you called out, shoving your suitcase to the side and standing, crossing the room to open the door and then flinching at the man who stood before you.

“Y/N,” he said. You swallowed, bowing your head at him.

“Father,” you said. “It’s a long way from our home to the school. Why have you come without announcing your arrival? Is something the matter?”

“I wanted to meet you and that girl of yours. The empty glass,” he said, gesturing towards the room. “May I come in?”

“Yes,” you said, “You’re in luck. Tullia’s in here already. Maki is as well, but whatever you want to say to us, you can say in front of her, so that shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Who was it — oh! Mr. L/N!” Tullia said, leaping from the bed and waving at your father. You briefly wondered how she knew it was him before remembering what Noritoshi had said about how she was making the L/N and Kamo clans pay for her college tuition, since they were so grateful to her for saving your life.

“Tullia,” he said. There was a slight measure of affection in his voice when he said her name, as if she were his daughter, not you. “It seems the L/Ns owe you a greater debt than we had first realized.”

“What?” she said. “I don’t know if I plan on going to grad school yet, but if I ever do, I’ll definitely contact you…though I don’t really know what you’re thankful for this time.”

“You’ve given that girl the power to heal as well as fight,” he said. “She so stubbornly insisted on fighting, but at least this way, our family’s legacy isn’t entirely lost with her.”

“That’s Y/N’s accomplishment, though,” Tullia said. “You should do something nice for her, for a change.”

Your father turned to look at you. You raised your chin at him, waiting for him to say something cruel, something demeaning — but he only nodded at you in acknowledgement.

“Yes, maybe that’s true,” he said. “Your mother asked about your health, by the way. Y/N. Should I tell her you’re well?”

“I doubt it matters to you whether I am or am not,” you said. Your father swallowed.

“Your mother asked,” he repeated. “You do not have to respond. I’ll tell her you’re the same as always.”

“Tell her Gojo misses her, too,” you dared to say. You knew your friendship with Gojo was one that aggravated the higher ups, and your father was no exception; Gojo was the one man who could protect you from their whims, the one person who you were unequivocally safe around. As long as you were with him, they could not punish you. They could not force you to be the dutiful little daughter that you had been for much of your life.

“Gojo is not someone who has any right to miss her,” your father said shortly.

“He loves her, too,” you said. “Probably more than you do. She cared for him when he was young, I’m told. Why shouldn’t he miss her?”

“Y/N, maybe you shouldn’t…” Tullia said, trailing off weakly. You knew it was different for her. You knew she still held some hope that she might be able to mend the relationship between her and her own parents, but it was not like that for you. You had long ago given up on your father. You had long ago realized what the nature of that relationship was.

The man who all but sold you off to the Kamos. The man who had refused to let you attend school. The man who had refused to heal Yuta. But he was also the man who had protected you from Naoya Zenin’s offers of marriage. He was also the man who had believed in you when you had to fight Todo. It had such a contrary nature, this relationship, but it was only after becoming friends with Maki did you realize that this was not how it was supposed to be.

People who loved one another were not contrary about it. You looked at Maki, sitting at your desk and pretending to write, and that gave you all of the strength that you needed.

“Father,” you said. “Was there a purpose to your visit, beyond just sending my mother’s regards and saying hello to Tullia? If that’s the case, then please hurry up and get on with it, because I am busy. Gojo and I are going on an overseas mission, so I need to finish packing.”

“Yes, that’s right. I heard the news,” he said.

“The news,” you repeated.

“That Sukuna has found a vessel, and that you were involved in saving him. You know the history our family has with that creature, don’t you? Please stay well away from him. It’s likely he resents your namesake for the role she played in his defeat,” he said.

“It’s not like I was planning on befriending Sukuna himself,” you said. “It’s like that, by the way. He does feel something strange about the entire situation; he was adamant that he could not kill me when we met the first time.”

“What?” your father said, eyebrows shooting up in surprise. “Couldn’t kill you?”

“I’m as confused as you are, so don’t question me further. I don’t know why he’d say something like that,” you said.

“He must need you for something,” your father said. He was a practical man like that, always coming up with solutions and whatnot. “Think of what purpose a being like Sukuna could have for you, and you’ll have your answer.”

“I hardly know!” you said.

“Of course it won’t be that obvious!” he said, his temper flaring before he calmed it again. “It might take some time for you to understand what purpose you have for him, but I can assure you that whatever it is is most likely nefarious, so please don’t be fooled by his so-called kindness.”

“It wouldn’t describe it as kindness,” you said under your breath. “Was that all? Basic advice? I would’ve done all of that anyways, so it’s not like you’ve offered me anything profound by coming here. It could’ve just as easily been a text or email. A phone call, if you really missed the sound of my voice that much.”

“We’ve never discussed it in person, so I came to beg you, one last time, to give up fighting,” he said.

“Why? I can even heal, now that I’ve made that contract with Tullia and figured out how to manipulate it to our advantage. What point would there be in giving up fighting now?” you said.

“Sukuna has been reincarnated. Now that he’s found a vessel, and given what the higher ups plan on using him for, the level of curses that will appear from now on will be far beyond anything you can imagine, beyond anything any of us can imagine,” he said.

“All the more reason for me to fight,” you said. “I don’t know if you understand what it means for me to be a Grade 1 sorcerer — it means I’m strong. It means I’m one of the strongest sorcerers in active duty, only officially outclassed by three people: Gojo, Yuta, and Yuki Tsukumo. If the curses really will get that much stronger, then doesn’t it make sense for me to continue to fight? They need all the fighters they can get —”

“Do you think that you are special?” your father said, cutting you off. “You are not Satoru Gojo. You are not Yuta Okkotsu. You are not Yuki Tsukumo. I will not deny that you are a gifted fighter, leagues above most of your colleagues, but you are not a special grade sorcerer. There can be people to replace you. Noritoshi Kamo, Aoi Todo, Megumi Fushiguro, Toge Inumaki…all of these people will one day stand where you stand.”

“And all of them are men,” you noted. “Isn’t that interesting?”

“This isn’t about that,” he said. “I’m a man, and you don’t see me fighting, do you? Because I understand my strengths — something which you stubbornly refuse to do! Y/N, I didn’t come to belittle you, believe it or not. This is actually praise!”

“Praise!” you repeated with a laugh. There was a rustling of bedsheets as Tullia got up and went to stand by Maki, who by now had returned to her essay. Their attempt at giving you privacy. “What praise comes from you insulting my choice in occupation?”

“Y/N!” your father said. He said your name as if you were his existence’s biggest problem. You wished that he’d say it in a kinder way. “You brought someone back to life. Why can you not understand what that means? You are meant to be a healer! What you did for Yuta Okkotsu has only been done once before in all of history. It’s the kind of thing that myths are written about. You are not a healer but the healer, and yet you reject your fate!”

“I understand what you are saying,” you said.

“You do?” he said.

“Yes,” you said. “If you compare healers to fighters, then I’d be Gojo himself. A figure without precedent. The kind of person that changes the world just by existing. But I don’t want to be that person. I don’t want to change the world just by existing. I want to do something with myself! Healing kills me, father. I die every time I use the Reverse Cursed Technique. It is only through fighting that I may feel alive! I can’t go back to being who I once was. Do you understand that?”

“I do,” he said. “Because it was the same for me. And it was the same for my father before that, and for every other L/N that has possessed Dissection and Composition. All of us want to fight. How do you think it feels, seeing all of the people that come to us and knowing we can never stand by their sides? We are trapped by the constraints of who we are. We are L/Ns, and L/Ns don’t fight. We heal. That is how we contribute to society. That is how we have made a name for ourselves. That is what we are meant to do. Our very bodies are designed for it. Why do you insist on escaping that?”

“Then give me a new name,” you said. “Clearly, I am no L/N.”

He scoffed. “You don’t mean that. You are the example of a L/N. You cannot get away from that.”

“What if I go to Africa?” you said. “Will my name follow me there, too?”

“It will follow you no matter where you go,” he said. “Stop denying it. Give in to who you are meant to be.”

“Father, I can’t be who you want me to be. It’s not who I am. Won’t you accept that?” you said.

He gave you a measured look before nodding and turning away, striding towards the door and then pausing before shutting it behind him.

“I do accept it,” he said. “But I hope you fully realize what it means.”

The door shut before you could fire back a response. You settled for swearing at the wood paneling, stomping over and locking the handle before flopping back on your bed. Your motivation to pack had suddenly vanished entirely.

“Sorry you guys had to hear that,” you said. Maki and Tullia turned to me with fake smiles on their faces.

“Hear what? We didn’t hear anything,” Maki said.

“Yes, that’s right! We were so busy working on that essay,” Tullia said.

“You guys don’t have to lie. It’s fine. That’s how it’s always been. My father and I don’t get along, obviously. He’s always wanted me to be something that I’m not. Before, it was because I had no aptitude that I disappointed him so greatly, that I could not fulfill my destiny as another healer of the L/N clan. Now, it’s because I have so much aptitude that I frustrate him to this extent. It doesn’t matter what I do. It’ll never be what he wants,” you said.

“It’s fine,” Maki said. “I get it. You all know exactly what expectations my family had for me. Obviously I didn’t abide by those, so I understand what it’s like completely. You won’t find any judgment from me.”

Tullia let out a soft breath. “I don’t really know what my parents want from me anymore. I thought I might figure it out one day, but I don’t think I can. I don’t think that anything I can do will make them proud of me. So I get it, too.”

The three of you had all disappointed your families in some way or another. You, who refused to follow the path set out for you. Maki, who wasn’t even capable of following that path. And Tullia, who did not know what the path was in the first place. Things were different for people like you. People who had to fight in order to prove their worth instead of being given respect automatically. It was something that none of your peers would ever understand — because at least they had been given the grace of being born male. You all didn’t even get that much.

“Have a safe flight!” Maki said as she put your bag in the back of Ijichi’s car, alongside Gojo’s. “Tell Yuta we all said hi.”

This was said in a whisper; no one else knew that you and Gojo were going to check in on Yuta. The official reason was that he was going on a mission overseas, and you were accompanying Gojo as a part of your training. Although Kusakabe was your teacher now, you were technically ranked the same as him, so the higher ups had allowed for Gojo to continue to work as your instructor when situations arose that necessitated it.

“I will,” you said. “I’m sure he’ll be happy to hear it.”

“See you soon, Y/N! Just text me if you need to heal anyone,” Tullia said.

“There’ll be a time difference. What if you’re asleep?” you said.

“If you need me, I’ll wake up,” she said. “Pinky swear.”

You smiled at her, wrapping her in a hug, feeling the way your hearts beat in tandem. Tullia, who had given you half of yourself back; who would you be without her? She had saved your life. She had given you everything so that you could be happy, so that you could continue to fight. And here she was, continuing to sacrifice for your sake.

“Remind me to do something good for you once things settle down,” you said.

“I’ll get a PhD,” she said. “You can pay for that one.”

“Alright,” you said with a laugh. “Alright, Tullia. I’ll do that.”

The flight was not as long as you had imagined. You slept for most of it, Gojo turning off his Infinity so that you could use his shoulder as a pillow. He explained that flying got him too wired to rest, but he was glad that it was not like that for you. You were just glad that his shoulders were broad enough that you could comfortably rest against them until he shook you awake for the landing.

“Yuta doesn’t know you’re coming, by the way,” Gojo informed you.

“Why not?” you said.

“I thought it would be fun to surprise him!” Gojo said. You were about to argue, but then you decided that he was kind of right. You hadn’t mentioned your visit to Yuta, since you assumed Gojo had told him already, but you were suddenly glad you hadn’t, if only because imagining the look on his face when he finally saw you was incredibly satisfying.

“Okay,” you said.

“That’s it? I thought for sure you’d be annoyed,” Gojo said.

“I considered it, but to be honest, you were kind of right this time,” you said.

“Alright!” Gojo said, pumping his fist in the air. “I’ll let you guys have your reunion while I catch up with Miguel, so be sure to report all of the details of how it goes, okay?”

“Maybe not all of them,” you said. “But sure, I’ll tell you what most of it is like.”

“Good enough! Now go have fun,” Gojo said. “Have him take you around the city. You guys deserve some time off.”

“Isn’t it Miguel’s decision if Yuta gets time off?” you said. Gojo waved you off dismissively.

“I’ll convince him, so don’t worry about a thing! Seriously, you deserve to spend some time just relaxing with him. It’s a chance that you won’t get very often in your life, so take advantage of it,” he said.

“You’re right. Thank you, Gojo,” you said.

“Yeah, yeah. Anytime,” he said. “Now go.”

As the two of you rounded the corner, you saw him. He looked different now, but also the same: he was taller, his face narrower and his shoulders wider, a wrapped katana strapped across his back. His hair had grown longer, too, neatly parted now instead of falling in his face haphazardly. But his eyes were the same, though they had not landed upon you yet, still the exact shade of poison blue that you had grown to admire so dearly in the time that you had known him.

Seeing him again was like a great burden being knocked off your shoulders. It was as if you had not been able to fully breathe, and now you were inhaling great lungfuls of air to make up for the lack. To your surprise, something hot scalded your cheeks the longer you stared at him, and you realized you were actually crying.

“Yuta,” you whispered, taking one step and then finding that you were unable to contain yourself. Breaking into a run, you sprinted towards him, wanting for the distance to grow smaller in as quick of a time as possible. “Yuta!”

He turned as if he could not quite believe what he was hearing. You saw his forehead scrunch into an endearing expression as he mouthed something that you were certain was your name. When his eyes landed on you, they lit up, his entire countenance transforming from the gloomy man that scared off passersby to one who was so delighted he was all but glowing from it.

“Y/N!” he shouted, opening his arms. Without hesitation, you threw your bag to the side and flung yourself into them, wrapping your own around his torso and clenching the white fabric of his jacket in your fists.

He held you so tightly that you might’ve shattered if you were a lesser being. In fact, he held you like you had already shattered and he was the only thing that could keep you together, and maybe that really was the truth. For a while, you two stayed like that, clinging to one another in the middle of the airport, and then he finally let go, grabbing your face — however, this was gently done, softly, though the calluses of his fingers were rough against your cheeks and jaw.

“Are you really here?” he said.

“Yes,” you said, still a little in awe at all, too. “I’m really here.”

“Thank goodness. I’ve missed you more than I could bear,” he said.

“I’ve missed you, too,” you said. “So much.”

“You know,” he murmured. “Here in Africa, the higher ups don’t have any power.”

“Is that so?” you said.

“Mhm. They don’t have eyes everywhere, the way they do back home,” he said. “In fact, they don’t have eyes anywhere.”

“Convenient,” you said.

“You think?” he said.

“Yes. I’d rather not delay doing this, after all,” you said. With that, you allowed your hands to tangle in his hair, tugging on it, pulling him to your mouth so that he could fit his own against it. You stayed there for you didn’t know how long, savoring the taste of being reunited, relearning how each other worked, what had changed and what hadn’t in the time that had passed since you had met last.

It was when you pulled apart, each gasping for breath, that you had the sudden, horrible sense that you were being watched. Spinning around and ignoring the sound of surprise Yuta made, you glared at the two men very conspicuously trying to not look at you.

“Gojo!” you shouted, jabbing your finger at him. “Stop doing that! It’s so weird that you always show up at these moments!”

“Don’t blame this on me! I tried to tell Miguel to leave you guys alone, but he insisted we get a move on to his village before anyone got wind of us being associated with him!” Gojo said, holding his hands in the air as if to proclaim innocence.

“Sorry,” Miguel said, clearing his throat, obviously embarrassed. “I did not realize that you and my student were so, ah…close.”

“Well!” you said. “To be honest, that’s probably how a normal teacher-student relationship should be like. Gojo is just a meddling idiot who doesn’t understand that!”

“Your mother was my babysitter,” Gojo said. “I think we crossed the line of ‘normal teacher-student relationship’ several years ago!”

“You guys haven’t changed a bit,” Yuta said, holding your bag in one hand and using his other interlock his fingers with your own. “Miguel, sir, with your permission, can I take the day to show Y/N around the village once we return?”

Miguel distinctly avoided eye contact with both of you when he responded. “Go ahead, kid. I doubt you’ll get much training done while she’s here, anyways, so you might as well make the most of it.”

Gojo gave you a discreet thumbs up while Yuta and Miguel were distracted. You took the opportunity to flip him off before returning your attention to Yuta, leaning against his arm as you walked towards Miguel’s car.

“How have things been back home?” he said.

“Ugh. The same but also different,” you said. He frowned.

“Are the higher ups giving you trouble again?” he said.

“When are they not?” you said rhetorically. “My father came to see me. He thinks I should give up fighting.”

“Still? I thought you made it clear that you didn’t want to do that,” he said.

“Oh, right,” you realized. “You haven’t heard what’s been going on yet.”

You quickly summed up the most important events that had occurred since Yuta had left: this discovery of the contract you and Tullia had formed, Itadori manifesting as Sukuna’s vessel, Sukuna’s cryptic words about how he could not kill you. With every word you spoke, the crease between his brows deepened, until you finished and he was just about fully scowling.

“Of all the times to send me out of the country, it had to be right before all of this happened,” he said. “Why would you ask Itadori to let Sukuna out? What if you had gotten hurt?”

“Like I said, I knew Gojo was on his way, and in the meantime, if it came down to it, I had Megumi there to help me,” you said. This obviously did nothing to alleviate his concerns; if anything, it worsened them, as he gave you a look.

“Megumi is only a first year,” he said. “He’s nowhere near ready to fight Sukuna, even if he only has one finger’s worth of power.”

“You were only a first year, and already doing so much,” you said, poking him in the side as a reminder. He rolled his eyes.

“Yes, but Megumi isn’t me,” he said.

“He definitely isn’t,” you said. “That’s not a question. It’s why I got involved in the first place; without my intervention, there’s no telling what might’ve happened. He wasn’t meant to fight Sukuna; he was there to aid me, if things came to it, until Gojo could arrive. But things didn’t come to it, and I could’ve handled the situation completely easily, even if Sukuna didn’t have that weird aversion to fighting me.”

“I didn’t doubt that,” he said.

“Are you sure?” you said.

“It’s Megumi I was doubting!” he said hotly. “Not you. I was just worried about you. After all, everyone knows about Gojo’s track record of only showing up once all the action’s over.”

“That’s true,” you allowed. “You’ll not believe it, but that’s what happened that night, too…”

Yuta snorted. “No surprise.”

“Anyways, everything worked out fine. I didn’t get hurt, Megumi didn’t have to fight Sukuna, and Itadori proved his worth as a vessel. Overall, it was a success,” you said.

“They’re not going to execute Itadori?” Yuta said.

“They tried. Megumi didn’t want it to happen like that, so he asked Gojo to stop it. I showed my support,” you said.

“Why?” he said. “You of all people would know how dangerous Sukuna is.”

“Of course, but the situation reminded me too much of yours. If the higher ups had executed you that night, I don’t know what I would’ve done,” you said, grasping him tighter at just the thought. What would your life be like if you had lost Yuta that night? If you had never known him in the first place, if he had never been yours to lose at all? Where would you even be now? Still a disappointment, probably, but of a different sort.

He exhaled through his nose. “You’re right.”

“He’s a very kind person. Sukuna’s vessel, I mean; he’s genuinely very sweet. It’s odd to think that such a terrible creature lives inside of him,” you said.

“It seems like you’ve been making a lot of friends,” he noted. “With Megumi and Itadori and all.”

“I guess so, but I still spend most of my time with Maki and Tullia,” you said. “Those two are just my underclassmen, so I have to look out for them as best I can. It’s kind of like how Gojo is with us, except unlike Gojo, I’m not a little creep about it.”

“He is so odd,” Yuta agreed. “No wonder he’s still single.”

“Very true,” you said. “But enough talking about this kind of thing. We have souvenirs to buy!”

“Souvenirs?” he said. You nodded.

“Yes, Maki and Tullia asked for some, so I promised to bring stuff back for them,” you said. “Where are the best shops around here?”

“I’ll take you,” Yuta said fondly. “We have to make the best of this trip, right? I’m not about to let you go shopping by yourself.”

“Uh, I wasn’t planning on going by myself. In an unfortunate turn of events, I seem to have forgotten my purse at home,” you said.

“What a shocking plot twist, indeed,” Yuta said dryly. “It’s okay. I wouldn’t have let you use it, so it’s not that unfortunate.”

“I love you,” you said.

“I know,” he said.

He still refused to say it back. He still couldn’t say it back, still had that thought in his mind that it would kill you or curse you or something if he did, but you didn’t mind. You understood his reasoning, even if you found it a little superstitious, and you understood that it didn’t mean anything in the long run, didn’t mean he cared for you any less.

And when he squeezed your hand in a secret, quiet response, undercutting his seemingly callous words, you understood that, too.

[salty-protagonist]

Our Ciel Will Die By Drowning.

The title is self explanatory as for what this post is.

We have reached chapter 201, there is still a long way to go. But through all the content we were given something is apparent: our protagonist (short one) will die before the series ends.

Now, I honestly think that it will include Sebastian (duh) and have something to do with the contract. But my gut says that our Ciel’s death will not be fully controlled by the demonic involvements.

Before I begin justifying why I think Ciel will die by drowning, I want to make it clear that I feel as though until we reach the hotel mini-arc, a lot of puzzle pieces will still be missing so any detail involving characters (other than Sebastian) are simply speculations.

Ophelia

In chapter 23, the police come to the Phamtomhive Mansion in order to conclude the crimes committed Indian Butler Arc by Agni. While touring the mansion, one of the police stalk about the drawings on the wall. He goes into detail about the painting titled “Ophelia”

Ophelia a is from Shakespeare’s Hamlet who upon learning that Hamlet didn’t choose to end up with her, goes out to collect wild plants but fall in water and drowns. (It is also written as a note in the English fan translation I found)

Here is the painting:

In the following page, the painter Waterhouse is also mentioned. I wasn’t able to decpiher which painting the police guy was talking about as he didn’t give a name and the image in the manga isn’t enough. Waterhouse has painted Ophelia as well.

Although it would be easier to assume this is just a silly reference, every little detail in this manga series can create avalanches that end up characters who have been presumed to be dead for years reappearing.

The rejection can be Lizzie’s relationship with them and choosing R!Ciel after everything. Or it can be applied to broader sense and be accepted as everyone turning their backs on O!Ciel after the true heir shows up.

Lau’s Omnipotence

Lau is known for always saying something serious then following it up with a random funny remark. It is still very noticeable that he always says less than what he truly knows. The following panels follow each other (right to left). They are in different pages so I had to separate the images.

(In the official translations I have, it uses “to drown” in the second panel directly in my native language)

There is a picture of someone (probably OC) sinking in a body of water (bog, as it is said here). It may appear as just a metaphor but the image and Lau’s general creepiness makes it seem like a variety of this will actually happen.

Anime Opening 1

The anime is very different from the manga with there being additional characters and storylines. Still, many of them still bear similarities to the newly introduced characters in the series. However, for this post I believe the anime is not a good justification for the theory. So I will just stick to the opening of the first season.

There is this very obvious scene of O!Ciel drowning. That, of course, is the first thing that needs attentions. Afterwards, Sebastian does extend his hands in as though he is trying to save him. But there is no scene that shows he does so. This detail only counts towards their contract’s dynamic. But it leads my to believe that this moment will be the “checkmate” for O!Ciel. Sebastian will no longer need to stand behind him anymore kind of thing.

The seconds evidence is the scene that comes just before the one mentioned in the paragraph above. O!Ciel is seen floating in a lake with flower petals falling. Notice how he is positioned to look like a body that’s in a coffin. He is motionless as well. Some religions/myths include water bodies being passageways for afterlife so it may be symbolizing that.

The flower patels are not from a white lily (the flower that symbolizes death and is seen on every grave in the series), but they are plain white petals. Them falling could be to create the same effect as in Madam Red’s funeral, when O!Ciel made red flower petals fall down in the church. I also think that the flowers make the image be perceived as the Ophelia paintings.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

I wrote this post 5 months ago, and been saving it as a draft but I decided to share it after all since I couldn’t continue writing it for a long time. There may be a part to in the future as this only includes evidence until the cruise tragedy and I think there can be a lot of clues after that too. Anyways, thank you for reading. If anyone else has already thought of these, please tell me and I’ll edit it accordingly.

[pinheadbella]

My Thoughts on TDI Reboot Season 2 (now that I’ve watched the whole thing) (spoilers below)

Short answer: It got progressively worse once merge hit. It started off with some interesting plots and relationships. But then it chose to focus on one of those ships, have the show and the strategies revolve around it, and not end their story until the very last second. When I thought it couldn’t get worse, it did. The writers kept choosing to prioritize characters that had WAY TOO MUCH SCREENTIME ALREADY. And that caused me to root for their downfall not because they were running the game and needed to be defeated cause they’re evil or whatever. But because I was getting sick of seeing/hearing them and didn’t want them to win. The season did end on a good-ish note and I do like the winner. But the ending would’ve been better if the winner had more of an impact on the plot/strategy.

Long answer hooo boy uh

Let’s go from what I have the least thoughts on to what I have the most thoughts on

Chase I’m 100% okay with the placement of. I didn’t want him to stay for long. But I also didn’t want him to be the first boot in case he had any funny left in him. As horrible of a person as he is, I preferred his slapstick and douchbaggery over Scary Girl’s dark humor. Speaking of-

-Scary Girl I wished wasn’t bluffing when she said she would make everyone pay. I thought for sure she was going to come back. ESPECIALLY in the final four challenge. I thought she was gonna reappear as a helper hired by Chris to make things scarier. Or that she would hijack the challenge and make things more deadly than Chris planned. If there is a season three, I hope she gets some kinda revenge.

Millie served her purpose and I liked the story that was told with her. She didn’t commit to practicing/training and she paid for it. She lost the trust of her team and her friends. She was forgiven by Damien, the specific person she wronged, and got out before the story could devolve into something similar to Gwen and Courtney in All Stars. My one wish is that Priya would’ve thought about her bestie more once she was gone.

Nichelle I was surprisingly alright with. Compared to everyone else at least. Good for her for training and being good at stunts now. The “in your face Hollywood” bits did get annoying. I had a hunch she wouldn’t last long. She was all challenge beast no social gamer. And I was kinda right? Her quitting in the team phase meant that she wasn’t whining/being a hypocrite for long. She somehow became my love to hate character of this season. You go girl!

I’m still so confused how Zee got out over Caleb. Like, I can get why Damien would vote Zee. He exposed not just his underwear secret but his Wizard Squire secret. But what about everyone else? Zee’s as non-threatening as Wayne and as sweet as season 1 Priya. Why get the chill nice guy out before CALEB THE BUFF “ALEJANDRO” (in quotes because he was mistaken as being such)

Emma is the most underused character this season. Out of all the team phase boots, hers was the most upsetting. I wanted her to last long without Chase. I wanted her to make new friends. I wanted some kind of acknowledgment of her friendship with Bowie. But what we got was…her trying in a challenge and failing because apparently not knowing how people answer random questions proves she’s not a good person??? She had so much potential and she was booted in such a lame way…

Bowie’s arc I liked a lot even if it was a bit flawed. I knew he wasn’t gonna go too far. And I knew he’d be in hot water from the start since he was the villain that made it the furthest. I think the cheating arc was great development for him. He’s known for being competitive and doing what it takes to win. But then he finds out Raj doesn’t like cheating. And he feels guilty by the end because he made his bf upset. I’m glad Bowie is shown to have a heart while still wanting to play the game. The problem I have is how suddenly the cheating arc ended. And how Bowie of all the cheaters paid the most for it. That early merge screwed him over. And everyone believing Julia about Bowie being the cheating mastermind…little did I know that was a red flag for a finalist’s plot armor.

Ripper and Axel, I wished there was more substance with you two. How they got together was cute and silly. I like how they bond over artsy things and stopped being as mean to people. But holy shit. Why did they have to be the comic relief couple? You can’t do this to me. You can’t just casually hint that Ripper has a bad family life in season 1 and not bring that back up to make Axel fall for him harder. You can’t just take a kickass survival girl and turn her into a sappy, swooning mess. You had good characters and then you turned them into THAT. If we get a season 3 please put them on separate teams and have them develop AS PEOPLE NOT AS GAGS

Damien wins the award for the BIGGEST ROBBERY OF THE SHOW. Literally. Of his idol. And he couldn’t have even gotten out in a more dignified way. He was gone for half the challenge after we only get a speck of a rivalry between him and Julia. And then his idol is stolen OFFSCREEN. And then he’s flown off kicking and screaming. If that was supposed to be funny, it’s not. Every time this dude tries to be a hero, everything blows up in his face. Which sucks. Because that means this season he spent more time being afraid and less time being the cool dork I loved back in season one. Episode 6 was his best episode. He won because he tried and he showed off his love for LARPing. That’s the Damien I was waiting for. If anyone deserves a run back in another season, it’s Damien.

MK is the character this season that I can confidently say improved and ended on a high note. Last season I actually didn’t like her. She got away with badmouthing Nichelle in ep 3 and only got out in ep 6 because of toilet humor. As much as I like snarky characters like Noah, I also like when they get comeuppance for their snark. And MK didn’t get much of that. But in season 2? Oh this girl fucking SHINED WITH HER GLOWUP. She let bygones be bygones with Julia. They teamed up and became the best evil duo ever. The way they quip and scheme and enable each others’ horrible actions I ATE THAT UP. But let’s focus back on just MK. She was the one who took charge in the cheating schemes. And she finally got karma through the funniest beat down ever. A boxing bear that gave her drain bamage. And after that, she got more moments to shine on her own. She tried carrying her team in the baking challenge and failed. She struggled with the giant coin only to hit the ground running with her gamer moves. And her last hurrah was her hijacking a car and hugging her bestie (they’re more than besties your honor). As sad as I was that she didn’t get to the finale, I was happy with what I got. It’s not everyday a character I don’t like becomes one I adore.

Wayne and Raj I’m the most conflicted on. But I think the best way to describe them is with a comparison Bowie made: “like puppies: not the smartest, but adorable!” Negative out of the way first: they were not nearly as strategic as I hoped they’d be. First ep gave me hope when they were talking about their teammates’ stats/highlights from the challenge. And then you cut to their last elim together and they decided who to vote with a FUCKING COINFLIP. Boys. Please. You should know that keeping strong players in weakens your chance at the cup. Benching the MVPs of the opposition is the way to go. Not to mention the only time they won was because Julia had baking skills. I wanted Raj to win so bad. He was the smarter bro who had more of an impact on the cheating plot. But if he had to get booted for being the more threatening bro…somehow 5th is the worst placement. He could’ve lasted to the final four, make it seem like there’ll be a friendship finale, and then Julia ruins it with the immunity idol. He could’ve been 7th to give Wayne more time on his own. And Wayne on his own is…oh my god he’s so dumb. Raj needs to spell things out for him. He took so long to realize that Julia was using him. And he won with his dumb luck. I should be mad that he won when he didn’t do anything substantial for the plot, but…I can’t stay mad at these hockey puppies. They’re sweethearts. They believe in playing fair and friendship and gay love. They were the light at the end of the drama tunnel. And Raj’s elimination made me tear up. Both because I was sad his run was over and because I was happy he ended with the sweetest final words ever. And Wayne using the money to buy a bus for the Snow Owls? Hoot hoot!

And now for the big ones. The ones I had the most problems with. The ones I was the most disappointed in. Julia. Caleb. Priya. Oh my god what did they do to you three? The pieces were all there. You all were great at the start. Julia coming back and being the main villain all the way through? That could be neat. If anyone could do it I can see it being her. Probably gonna blow up in her face though. Wait she’s working with MK? Oh this’ll be fun. Caleb coming back and planning to get far by allying with season one’s winner? That’s gonna blow up in his face for sure isn’t it? Wait, he actually likes her? Aw that’s so sweet. Priya coming back to win because her parents still aren’t satisfied? She has to realize how horrible her parents are and have that be her main story right?? Holy shit they got worse with each episode. Their plot armor was more sturdy than the confessional. How the fuck did the other contestants let them GET SO FAR LIKE HELLO I thought for sure Julia was gonna take the fall and leave MK staggering. Julia lied several times and got away with it. And this was after she willingly told the opposing team that she got out their challenge beast with a fake contract. How did Axel and Damien and Zee trust her about the lie about Bowie masterminding the intern disguise cheating? How did Caleb and Priya just take her advice with love when she’s one of the most heartless contestants on the island? In fact, Julia getting MK out by making MK look worse for making up horrible things about her bestie? Honestly, you could’ve reversed the roles and it would’ve made sense. Julia lied so much that her finally losing to her lies about her closest ally would’ve been insanely bittersweet justice. I wanted to root for Julia. I love villains. I love manipulative villains who have little to no room in their heart for anything other than themselves. I love characters I love to hate. And yet somehow her immunity running last season seems less bullshit than all the lying and backstabbing she did this season. But this butchering is two-fold. I liked her when she was cheating and scheming with MK. I liked when she was doing good in challenges. What I didn’t like was when Caleb and Priya were there to let her get away with the shit she pulled in the second half of merge. Yknow. Caleb: the guy who wanted to redeem himself. And Priya: the girl who literally trained since she was born for this specific show. I swear, I want to like them as a couple. I genuinely think they were sweet and had chemistry at first. When they looked for the idol in ep 6, that opened my eyes. They had similar upbringings with demanding parents. They liked each other for each other. There was hope that they would end well. But AAAAGGH. THEY KEPT FUMBLING. AND ARGUING. AND BEING DOORMATS FOR JULIA TO STEP ON. AND COPING AND SEETHING. I couldn’t stand either of them anymore. They were the heroes and I was rooting for both their downfalls. Why did they have to be the puppets that Julia made dance ALL THE TIME as soon as they were the only couple left? Why did the show have to revolve around Prileb relationship drama? They could’ve swapped Priya and Damien’s placements. Have some Prileb drama and end it once they get better. Have Julia have an actual rival who can see through her. But noooooo. I’m supposed to be shocked or happy or feeling SOMETHING when Julia pulled out the idol and got out Priya and placed 4th. But I felt nothing. I saw it coming from a mile away ever since Damien didn’t get his marshmallow. I was too tired of Priya’s on again off again relationship with Caleb to even feel relief that she didn’t get to the finale again. Even in the finale as a helper, I couldn’t stand her. She wasn’t the spunky cheerleader she was for Millie. She was so pushy and driven by vengeance that she couldn’t even give Caleb any little victories in the race. How am I supposed to be happy that they stayed together in the end if it turned Priya into a worse version of herself?

So, what do I think of this season as a whole? I loved and hated it so much that it evens out to be a mid season. Which is a shame. The team phase gave me hope that this season would be the best. But with the constantly weird and bad directions the plot went, it’s hard for me to be satisfied with what we got as a whole…

…But to end on a good note, I think my dissatisfaction with this season stems from how amazing this reboot cast is. How much potential each of them have for funny jokes and serious character growth. How much I wanted each of them to develop and shine and mesh together. I guess that’s what making fan content is for, huh? If the show can’t give these characters the proper treatment they deserve, then we can draw and write and headcannon all we want. And that’s not to take away from the show. It’s to express how much we love it and want it to thrive.

Well, it was a bumpy road to get here. But I’m here. I love Total Drama. Flaws and all. And I can’t wait for this love to manifest into more art. So whoever you are reading this, thank you for putting up with this novel of a review <3

[notsocheezy]

Brain Curd #12 - Fanfic Friday #2

Brain Curds are lightly edited flash fiction, posted daily and usually written with the intention of being terrible… in an endearing way. Please enjoy these continuing non-canonical adventures in The Good Place.

“Okay,” Michael said, clapping his hands together in front of his chest. “That just about covers everything you should need to know. Any questions?”

Eleanor leaned back on the couch and raised an eyebrow. “Let me get this straight: I spent eternity here - in a house covered with clowns - with some nerd? And I liked it?”

“I am sitting right here.” Chidi, right next to Eleanor on the couch, chimed in. He turned to look at Michael. “If you were able to restore our memories before, why can’t you do it now?”

“Well, first of all, I deleted all the neighborhood backups out of concern for your privacy.” Michael straightened out his jacket. “And I never recorded anything that happened after we won the case. None of you ever needed to be rebooted again.” He removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes. “Or so I thought. This is the ultimate reboot. Janet and I still don’t know what’s happening.”

With a soothing bing sound, Janet appeared near the front door of the house. She smiled wide. “Good news, Michael. I’ve located Jason!”

Out from behind her stepped Jason Mendoza, holding a bucket of chicken wings and a tray of jalapeno poppers. “Wings and poppers! This is the best day of my life!”

Chidi raised his hand halfway. “But you’re not -”

Michael placed his hand on Chidi’s shoulder. “Don’t ruin it for him.” He made sober eye contact with Jason. “What do you remember?”

“Let me think… I remember waking up in a room… and this nice lady was there!” He smiled and pointed at Janet. “She gave me wings! And jalapeno poppers!”

“Yes, yes, but before that?”

“Last thing I remember before that was me and Pillboi about to rob a restaurant. It was the perfect crime. It must have gone great because now I live a life of luxury! She gives me anything I want!”

“What would you like right now, Jason?” Janet asked.

“I wanna play Xbox!”

Accompanied by a bing, a TV and an Xbox playing Madden 24 appeared in the corner. Jason excitedly ran up to it, sat on the floor, and began playing.

“Hey!” Eleanor called out. “You didn’t answer my question, dude!”

“It’s like I said, Eleanor,” Michael sighed. “You changed a lot over the course of many seasons.”

“Seasons?”

“I was trying to be poetic. Over a very long time, you grew to appreciate Chidi.” He gestured around the room. “And these clowns. And you became a better person, too.”

“Michael,” Janet said. “I’ve just been informed that Brent has also reappeared.”

“Brent?!?” Michael yelped. “He just left!” Michael brushed his silver hair back and turned back to the couch. “Chidi, Eleanor - Janet and I have some business to attend to. Please make sure Jason doesn’t go anywhere.”

Jason, still assembling his football team, was deeply invested in his craft.

Under his breath, Michael spoke to Janet. “Jason only remembers up until he died the first time. This is a pattern. We need all hands on deck for this. Let’s go get Tahani.”

With a bing sound, both of them disappeared into thin air.

Eleanor got up from the couch and began pacing around. “Are you buying any of this?”

“They told us everything over the course of twenty hours.” Chidi stood up. “You think they made all that up?”

“Oh, yeah, it does seem ridiculous that a self-confessed ‘ex’-demon and a smokin’ hot robot could fabricate a convoluted plot full of memorable characters and love triangles!” Eleanor said facetiously. “What am I thinking, right?”

“Point taken.”

“I say we follow them and see what they’re up to.”

“But we made a promise to watch Jason until they get back!”

“Fine, whatever, we take him with us!”

“No can do, homies.” Jason interjected. “Now that I’m rich, and I have my own personal chef lady, I’m gonna play the perfect game of Madden.”

Eleanor crossed her arms at Chidi. “He’s not going anywhere, dude. Problem solved.”

“While that may technically fulfill my obligation, I don’t think it’s in the spirit of -”

Eleanor pulled Chidi by the collar and the two of them exited via the green door, her mind thinking only of tracking down Michael and Janet. It slammed behind them.

“Man…” Jason said, chugging a two liter of Mountain Dew. “I wish Pillboi was here.”

[fairypowerful]

The Ship That Was Endgame Since the Beginning (confirmed)

Narratively, Michaela and Zeke were always meant to find each other and be together.

Narratively, Jared and Mick were not meant to be.

From the very beginning – S01E01.

(Edit: The show’s creator, Jeff Rake, said this was always the ending, “just tightened up along the way.” You got that? Zekaela were planned since long before Matt Long got the role as Zeke – Matt said that his first phone call with Jeff in 2018 after getting the role was himself being told that Zekaela were soulmates! LMAO 😂 I didn’t need this double confirmation in order to know that, because in hindsight, the clues were there from the way everything led to them and when looking at their first two episodes together.)

The offscreen event that led to Mick being in a bad place mentally/emotionally (her BFF Evie’s death) had also led to her hesitation of Jared’s proposal, which led to her getting on Flight 828 because she didn’t wanna have to deal with that and her family pressuring her to accept. (“It’s not just about you. This family needs something to celebrate” / “And I know you love Jared” / “Why are you fighting this when all it’s gonna do is make you happy?”)

It was a domino effect. The plane disappearing led to Jared marrying Mick’s other BFF, Lourdes, four years later, and the plane reappeared a year after that.

Mick became the other woman in that marriage, which she deeply regretted; and she not only destroyed her now-ex BFF’s marriage, but also lost another lifelong friendship on top of being too wrought with guilt over Evie (which she forgives herself for in the final season). Jared didn’t really show any remorse, but Mick now had all of that weighing her down and didn’t want to continue with him. And Jared certainly didn’t make it easy on her.

Really, these two were not right for each other. Not to mention, Jared unnecessarily stirred up trouble and a lot of stress for Mick due to his possessiveness over her, and his immediate jealousy and rather extreme hostility towards Zeke upon first meeting. Very toxic. Just gross. Not right.

~~~

I think it’s important to remember, too, the original series order was 13 episodes – the “find her” Calling was in the tenth episode, Zeke appears in the twelfth episode, and the thirteenth ended with him and Mick in front of the petroglyph of two stick figures holding hands, outside under the stars.

Those episodes would’ve been written in cohesion with the preceding storylines, especially considering the nature of the show and its mythology needing to be mapped out instead of written on the spot – meaning that Zekaela was not shoehorned into the show. Keyword, “cohesion.”

Those episodes and the character would’ve been written long before the actor was even cast into the role. It was always planned.

🤭 It’s also confirmed.

Their soulmatism was sprinkled all over their story, starting in their first two episodes together.

“It’s all connected,” didn’t you know? 😉

The show’s been consistent about that.

Look at the acting choices in Season 1 from before Zeke’s introduction. In multiple scenes, Jared told Mick they were supposed to be together and she’d shake her head ‘no.’ Like her heart knew, but she consciously didn’t yet. When Jared told her she’s his soulmate, Mick said, “No, I’m not.”

Narratively, her heart always belonged elsewhere. After she met Zeke, she always chose him over Jared from that point onward. Everything that happened led her to him, including her conscious choices post-Pilot and pre-Vanishing Point, which basically worked in tandem with the universe. The cheating/ruining BFF’s marriage/losing her BFF was a major deciding factor for her in not getting back with Jared anytime soon … and then she finally meets Zeke whom the universe had also brought forward in time.

~~~

So, I want to put my thoughts to some of the things I’ve read by antis…

“The only thing Zeke and Mick had in common were the Callings”

That’s not true. You had to have watched the show with your eyes closed to come up with that.

A Calling brought them together, sure, but it didn’t make them connect and fall in love, or be happier around one another. A Calling isn’t a love potion or a magic spell.

Zekaela was a pretty peaceful relationship in a sea of turmoil (the government, the X-ers, the hatred and violence against 828ers), whereas Jachaela was an angsty teen drama amidst the external turmoil. 😶

I’m going to quote a character from a different story who chose his wife over someone else he had feelings with, because I think it applies very much with Mick choosing Zeke over and over again every single time. “Passion is … it’s fire. And fire is great, man. But we’re made of water. Water is how we keep living. Water is what we need to survive. My family was my water. I picked water. I’ll pick water every time.” And I’ll add another quote from the same character talking about his wife and what it was like in meeting her, replacing the name with Mick’s because it is very much in alignment with Zekaela’s story. “But when I met [Mick], it was something different altogether. She just … made the world make sense to me. She even made me like myself more. And there was a calmness to her that … nobody else had. It felt like when I was with her, I knew everything would be fine. It was like I was following the North Star.”

Mick being Zeke’s North Star is literally canon, by the way.

(S01E13 and S04E18).

~~~

“The only reason why Zeke and Mick got together was due to the time travel and the Callings”

Yeah, that’s how storytelling works.

Crying about this is like complaining that the only reason the Doctor regenerates is because he’s an alien from Gallifrey and the Doctor Who writers in 1966 came up with a way to replace the leading actor without getting rid of the main character. Or rather, it’s like complaining that the only reason Mary Margaret and David fell in love despite the Dark Curse amnesia is because they were Snow White and Charming in the Enchanted Forest.

Trying to belittle Mick and Zeke’s love by attacking the narrative, that’s pathetic.

“But it’s forced”

No, it’s not. The little things the writers added years later, like Afterlife!Zeke telling Mick about them having moments in their lives where they almost met, is not forced, because the audience (who don’t have blinders on during their story) already knew they were soulmates and it’s literally how storytelling works.

Heaven forbid TV writers foreshadow, expand, and give callbacks to scenes from previous seasons ever again! Heaven forbid we ever get flashbacks in later seasons! Heaven forbid you ever watch another TV show with more than 1 season because “they added this years later, so it’s forced”!

“But Mick and Jared knew each other the longest”

So? That doesn’t matter. Do you actually believe length is an indicator of whether or not someone is the love of your life? Just…wow! Heaven forbid anybody not get back together with an ex simply because they knew them longer. Heaven forbid anybody leave behind a former or current longterm relationship without getting told, “But it’s been years, so you belong with him forever/were meant to be with him.”

Mick wanted Zeke. She chose Zeke. I think that’s a good indicator of whom the love of her life is.

In S01E13, Mick tells him that she wished she could redo her re-entry into 2018 but wasn’t sure what she would’ve done to change the way her situation at home turned out.

In S02E01, Zeke tells Mick he wished he’d met her some other way in some other time. (Edit: With Jeff implicitly saying he always knew how he wanted the story to end, and explicitly confirming that Zekaela was always the plan from the very beginning, along with Matt implicitly saying they were written as soulmates since before he got the role, Zeke’s line is now major foreshadowing).

In S04E19, Mick tells Ben she doesn’t regret taking a later flight because it led her to Zeke.

It’s very telling. Ben’s heart belongs with Grace, and Mick’s heart belongs with Zeke.

“She would’ve married Jared if Flight 828 landed in its proper timeline in the Pilot episode”

There’d be no show to watch if the plane landed in 2013, for one thing.

Those 5 years gave Mick an experience where she learned what and whom she really wanted, without the enormous pressure of immediately accepting a proposal, and she also got the opportunity to meet her real soulmate. It’s okay to not want the same thing you wanted a few years ago. It’s called growth.

~~~

“Mick only stayed married to Zeke, after he survived his Death Date, out of pity and duty (because he survived, and she expected him to die)”

I remember seeing a remark like this, and you must dislike or hate Mick if you think she’s like that. Even as a joke, that’s just cruel.

Mick was so happy and relieved when Zeke survived his Death Date. She loves Zeke, or did you just close your eyes to their whole love story?

She told him she’d continue to choose him even if he had one day left, or ten thousand left. And with or without empath powers, Zeke knew she loved him too.

“But she still had feelings for Jared”

Okay, and? Even if the situation were reverse, she’d also still have feelings for Zeke. It works both ways.

And as Mick told him, she chose him instead of Jared. Sure, she loved Jared, but as Zeke told Mick in S04E02, her huge heart has room enough for anyone who’s lucky to be loved by her. Loving Zeke doesn’t mean she has to stop loving anyone else in her life. Love isn’t limited.

It’s canon that the only way she could choose Jared is if Zeke is dead. He didn’t look happy at all when he saw Zeke survived.

Just because you love someone doesn’t mean they’re the one for you. She chose Zeke.

~~~

“The writers only made Drea pregnant to put her and Jared together”

Do I need to be petty and remind y’all that pregnancy happens when two people regularly have sex, and protection isn’t always a 100% guarantee? 😶

Jared and Drea match really well, that was quite clear when they first got together. Their relationship grew organically. Just take off your blinders. Even Mick could see that Drea is perfect for him.

It helped Mick to see that Jared was compromising his happiness by being with her. She didn’t want children, and she was confronted with the fact that they could never have a full life together, not without compromising her vision for her own life.

By the way, that breakup post-reset was made before she remembered Zeke telling her about one of their almost-meetups where he was a cab driver at the airport on the night Flight 828 was supposed to land. So, it was fully her choice to end things with Jared going forward and starting anew; Zeke didn’t even need to be alive for her to choose that for herself. But she was so happy when she remembered. If you truly like the character, her choice makes complete sense narratively and character-wise.

~~~

“But Jared and Mick have more chemistry”

If arguing and fighting is chemistry, then yeah. Don’t get me wrong, I do think JR and Melissa have chemistry outside of angst and volatile tension, but if you think “more chemistry” is a reason why a fictional couple should be endgame, you have a juvenile view of an adult romance. This ain’t a teen drama. So, congrats, what a way to reveal you don’t care about the story or a cohesive narrative! 👀

Zekaela have a calmer romantic chemistry, and their sweet love story is so much better than Jachaela’s constant tension-filled drama where Jared put on tantrums when she wouldn’t give in to him. Their story up until Season 4 was volatile in a bad way, which only went away when Jared stopped chasing after her and let her live peacefully married to Zeke. I’m glad his character got better, thank goodness!

~

And don’t even get me started with “We won in real-life because JR (Jared) and Melissa (Mick) are together,” because we’re here for the TV show, not real-life. It’s entertainment, so chill out.

~~~

I think that 2013-Jared calling off his proposal to Mick, because it was for the wrong reason (“to help you get past [Evie’s death]”), isn’t forced/lazy writing.

Consider for a minute that, in 2013, he’s not the character you were introduced to in Season 1 (the now-former 2018 timeline). He’s not unhealthily obsessed with her like the Joker is with Batman, or Eobard Thawne is with The Flash. And he never got the trauma from losing someone in a perceived airplane accident. As for his breakup, he got time to think, and ultimately he didn’t want to take advantage of her in a vulnerable state.

And consider for a moment, at the time, 2013-Mick was grieving and didn’t believe she deserved happiness – and it’s been a year since Evie’s death. I don’t imagine there were many smiles and laughter for the past year in their relationship, meaning it was dying. So, Jared not being heartbroken over 2024-Mick’s breakup kinda makes sense.

To him, Mick broke up with him because she wasn’t gonna heal any time soon, and wanted him to move on with someone who can give him what she can’t.

But to her, Mick grew in those 5 years since getting on Flight 828 the first time, and the life she thought she wanted back then isn’t the same anymore (and that’s okay, we’re not the same person we were half a decade ago) and she got to meet the real love of her life whom she can be with now. Zeke.

I don’t believe love is a choice, because you can’t force yourself to love or not to love someone. But I believe happiness is a choice, you can choose to walk towards it or away from it. Mick walked towards happiness by choosing Zeke. It’s really beautiful.

~~~

Credit for most of the Manifest screenshots and tweets go to @gracestone

[tenebraevesper]

Sonic the Hedgehog Analyzer, Issue #59: Urban Warfare (Part 3)

Finally, it’s here! You guys have no idea how much I had been looking forward to this Issue, and for a good reason, but let’s first admire the art by Nathalie Haines, which was actually drawn like a classical painting. It’s magnificent!

*clasps hands*

Anyways, Urban Warfare (Part 3); what is there to say about it? Holy Hell, what isn’t there to say about it? Honestly, I had been losing my mind the moment I read the summary for it, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. But, before I start, a little recap since it has been a while.

Sonic and the Diamond Cutters (Tangle, Whisper and Lanolin) arrived at Eggperial City to figure out what is going on, and have found out that the city is expanding by itself. As they plan their next move, the Diamond Cutters end up in a different dimension due to one of Eggman’s portals featured in The Test Run Arc, while Sonic calls for reinforcements. Tails, Amy, Blaze and Silver show up and as they progress through the city, they run into Team Dark destroying Badniks left and right.

So, I’m not even one page into the story and I’m already picking up Sonadow energy from this moment. Trust me, I had a field day with this one.

Sonic is genuinely shocked to see Shadow... and only Shadow. I can’t blame him though, considering how their last encounter went.

Yeah, I’m not sure how many of you remember, but Shadow’s last appearance was in The Chao Races and Badnik Bases Arc, where he made some rather questionable decisions, but not as bad as what happened during The Crisis City Arc (aka the Zombot Fiasco), based on how SEGA wanted him to be written in the story. Fortunately, regarding the writing, we had actually gotten some good news in the weeks leading up to Team Dark’s, and especially Shadow’s, reintroduction to the comics.

To keep it short, all that talk about Shadow having a bunch of locks and chains placed on him to keep him in line with their vision... well, they started to break. From what I understood, SEGA gave more workable guidelines for him that allow for more liberties with writing his character - or in other words, Vegeta!Shadow is finally gone!!! As a matter of fact, while reading through the story, the improvement in his character was remarkable. Admittedly, it might not be for everyone, but goddamn, I’m loving it!

Not to mention, this is the first time since The Crisis City Arc that we see Team Dark working together once again. Also, Rouge, why are you calling everyone else kids when you’re only 18? (And yeah, I know SEGA removed the ages for all the characters, but let’s be honest, who pays attention to that?).

Sonic quips how he’s flattered that they’re here to rescue him, but they’re late to the party and... Silver, what the hell are you doing with Blaze?

*laughs* Even Tails and Amy have noticed that Silver is holding Blaze upside down, while he didn’t register any of it. I suppose Silver is too focused on Team Dark’s reappearance to realize what he’s doing.

Shadow just leaps off the scrapped Badniks, replying to Sonic how he has no idea what he’s talking about, nor does he care. Sonic, on the other hand, looks a little disappointed with that answer. I suppose he had been hoping for some banter.

Rouge then quickly brings him up to speed, explaining how she called in “her boys” (I see this as another win for everyone who say Team Dark are friends!) to see what they could do about Eggperial City - aka destroy everything in their path, foil Eggman’s plans and maybe steal some kind of treasure.

Sonic figures that makes sense, but I’m still convinced he’s disappointed they (or rather Shadow) weren’t here to help him out.

Cue Amy shoving Sonic away to talk to Rouge. I saw people saying how she’s just being overprotective of her crush, but I was questioning where Amy’s line of sight is. Amy notes how this is awfully altruistic of Rouge, but as I said above, she’s in because she wants to raid Eggman’s private vaults for a handsome reward.

Tails and Silver are hyped up to work with them to destroy the city though.

Omega notes how the conversation is irrelevant to their mission, and Rouge notes how Team Sonic would just slow Team Dark down and they’d be going off on their own, with Omega also promising to not hit anyone in the crossfire. Honestly, I think this is the nicest thing Omega could tell them.

Meanwhile, Sonic looks so done with everything. We don’t get annoyed Sonic often, so it’s neat to see him like that, and it makes sense, considering how in a (I assume) very short time-span (depending on when Scrapnik Island takes place), he had discovered Eggperial City and was chased by Metal Sonic while keeping Tails, Kit and Belle safe and having his leg injured, fought Surge at least three times, discovered what Starline had done to them, got separated from the Diamond Cutters and is now trying to foil another of Eggman’s plans while being on his territory and having to deal with Badniks.

That, and Rouge said they were slowing Team Dark down.

Never tell Sonic he’s slowing you down. Never.

Oh, and as the cherry on top, Eggman decides to make an announcement. But instead of talking about how he’s gonna blow up the moon, he decides to explain to everyone how the Eggperial City works. It is a self-replicating and self-repairing metropolis. Anything they destroy, dozens more will rise to take its place. Eggman also figures that this would be a nice time to rise the stakes a little, so he calls in for a little surprise.

IT’S THE SHADOW ANDROIDS!!!

To note, we haven’t seen these guys since Whisper’s backstory way back in the Tangle and Whisper Miniseries and before that, we haven’t seen them since Sonic Heroes and Shadow the Hedgehog.

Going by Shadow’s reaction, he’s clearly shocked to see them again, and Eggman’s obviously going to use the Shadow Androids to their fullest potential.

Hell, Eggman has already the popcorn ready, all to happy to watch the carnage unfold. He calls it a stroke of genius in regards of building robots that mimic Shadow’s skills and holding onto them for the right moment (and that’s not even accounting for the mindscrew Shadow had to deal with when he encountered one for the first time).

Metal Sonic, though, is not happy about the Shadow Androids being dispatched. I’m certain that he wants to be the one on the battlefield.

While this is happening, the Diamond Cutters have infiltrated the control room, Lanolin and Whisper sneaking in, while Tangle just strolls inside like she owns the place, much to Lanolin’s chagrin, and points out how no one’s gonna spot them as she places her hand through Metal’s head. Lanolin just sighs, figuring this should make checking the room out easier, while Whisper stares in the screen in pure shock, realizing that the past is about to repeat itself.

She breaks down, and honestly, I really love the backgrounds in this page. We can see the darkness surrounding Whisper as she tells them how everyone’s going to die. However, the moment Tangle reaches for her and comforts her, the darkness slowly fades away, replaced by a ray of light. Tangle hugs Whisper, promising her how things will be fine, and even Lanolin joins in on comforting Whisper. While these three are still learning, they do make a great team.

Speaking of the Shadow Androids, we see Team Sonic fighting them, everyone being clearly in shock to what they are, with Tails being unable to get clear readings about them as they’re too fast. Even Blaze’s fire is not enough to keep them back and they’re strong enough to deal with Amy’s hammer.

Now, I’ll stop here to put a reminder. On the heroes side, no one but Shadow, Rouge, Omega, Whisper and Tangle here knows about the Shadow Androids. Whisper’s encounter with them is obvious, and Tangle saw footage of that, while Shadow, Rouge and Omega ran into them in Sonic Heroes, and Shadow had another (dubiously canonical) encounter with them in Shadow the Hedgehog.

Realizing just how dire the situation is, Sonic calls Silver for help so they can escape. Silver, being the awesome psychic he is, lifts the ground into a ramp and with Blaze frying the Shadow Androids that are after them, Sonic grabs everyone to get away from the robots in pursuit (also, nice Sonamy moment with that little blush).

Team Sonic finds Team Dark after the groups have been briefly separated, with Blaze grabbing Sonic and Amy’s hands and rushing over to help Team Dark. Yeah, there is an error in the panels, as both show Blaze grabbing hands with rings around them, suggesting she was grabbing only Amy’s hand. I suppose the artist forgot to erase the ring to make it clear she was also grabbing Sonic.

Back with Team Dark, Shadow assesses how Eggman’s trying to overwhelm them with sheer numbers and how there’s no strategy to their movements, meaning they can be easily manipulated. He figures that, once they move to a better position, they can take them out.

Cue Blaze throwing Sonic and Amy (another error, both are blue instead of being blue and pink) with Sonic spin-dashing and Amy smashing the Shadow Androids that were about to attack Shadow.

With a nose flick, Sonic is right back to quipping, asking Shadow whether he had some cousins he never told them about, while Shadow responds with “Please. These cheap copies don’t deserve to wear my place.”

Have I told you how much I love these two together? (≧◡≦)

As the battle continues, Shadow explains how the Shadow Androids are cheap copies created by Eggman, and how he’ll pay dearly for this insult. Unfortunately, Omega loses his footing and is being brought down by the Shadow Androids, but he keeps on fighting. Realizing how things are getting dire, Rouge asks Shadow to use his own powers against the Shadow Androids, but he responds how it is impossible without a Chaos Emerald (makes me wonder what happened to the Chaos Emerald Rouge stole in the Sonic Annual).

Tails rushes in, telling Shadow how the crystals are also generating Chaos Energy, with Shadow agreeing, but notes how the energy is distorted.

“Fake Emeralds... I hate to stoop to using such a pale substitute, but... it will do.”

Okay, can I say that this panel is absolutely amazing, and what’s about to happen is jaw-dropping!

I swear, this was my reaction to seeing this page:

Not only is the art absolutely gorgeous, but it finally shows Shadow as a pure badass who has the skills to support his title of The Ultimate Lifeform! Honestly, words cannot describe how much I love this! Bow your heads low, all hail Shadow!

And to add a cherry to the top of this moment of awesomeness:

Absolutely badass! It’s really great to see Shadow let loose from time to time. Hell, even Team Sonic is amazed!

Tails, Amy and Silver are starstruck, Rouge is proud of her boy, Blaze is... stunned, to say the least (I suppose she never saw what Shadow was truly capable of), while Sonic figures he should too give it a try.

And yeah, I saw the Dark Sonic jokes floating around. Are you guys forgetting that Sonic was the first to use a Fake Chaos Emerald for Chaos Control back in Sonic Adventure 2? He knows how to handle them.

Shadow then points out that they’re not done yet and goes for another Chaos Control, only for something to happen...

A giant crystal shoots out of the ground, throwing everyone off, while Rouge asks Shadow what’s happening. Shadow is crackling with Chaos Energy, warning her that it’s too much and...

Holy frigging Hell! Shadow unleashes a blast of Chaos Energy, nuking everything surrounding him. Everyone escapes, and when Rouge tries to get back to Shadow and Omega, she’s stopped by the crystals, which are now shooting out from everywhere.

Eggman quickly attempts to regain control of the situation, figuring Shadow would cause trouble. Tangle wonders what happened, with Whisper answering how it was Chaos Overload (how does she know that?). I suppose Shadow used to much of the surrounding Chaos Energy and it was too much for him to handle since the Fake Chaos Emeralds were spread out all over the city. He may be a Master of Chaos Control, but even this would overwhelm someone like him.

Eggman activates the emergency limiter, rebooting the system, noting how it’ll take more to take out his city.

Team Sonic and Rouge observe the destruction Shadow had caused, with Tails figuring it was some runaway feedback loop. Rouge is worried about Shadow and Omega, but Sonic, Silver and Blaze assure her that not only are the two tough, they also know what they’re up against and they can deal with Eggman. Rouge is cheered up, while Sonic looks forward to Shadow’s expression when he saves him.

Yeah, Sonic will never let Shadow live that down.

Back with Eggman, the power has returned, the system got rebooted... and Eggman lost Sonic and co. Lanolin points out how the power surge nearly crippled the entire city, so if they trigger another bigger one, this should destroy it. But in that moment, all three of them become suddenly visible, with Eggman spotting them.

In two magnificent panels, we get an Eggman obscured by shadows, really creeping me out, as he figures they ran into his spatial-displacement trap. He explains how they almost got out when the power dipped, but he has a way of dealing with them, summoning another model of the portal and telling them how this will scatter their atoms into oblivion.

Whisper takes the shot, and honestly, if she still hadn’t been trapped in that other dimension, she would’ve killed Eggman then and there. The blast went right through his chest. Like, this was probably the fourth time she attempted to kill someone in cold blood (first Mimic, followed by another attempt at Eggman’s life, then Surge and now Eggman again).

What’s even more chilling is how calm Eggman is, well aware what his trap had done. It then surrounds Whisper.

Tangle screams for her as Whisper is trapped inside the device, and then spots another one flying for her, only for Lanolin to ram her out of the way and tell her to tell everyone what happened and what to do before getting captured herself.

Tangle is cornered, but she suddenly phases through the window, falling out of the command tower. The story ends on a literal cliffhanger.

Holy Hell, I absolutely loved this Issue! It was beyond awesome for all the reasons I already talked above, but there is one specific thing I wanted to discuss in the ending of this analysis - Shadow’s portrayal.

Honestly, I had absolutely no complaint with how he was written in this Issue. People might not agree with me, but I think Urban Warfare really redeemed him, as rather than being prideful and arrogant, he was more business-like and focused on the mission, pragmatic and patient in explaining to everyone what is going on, as well as having his moments of banter with Sonic.

As for him being taken out of the battle, alongside Omega, I’m actually fine with it, as it’s the manner with how he was put out of commission.

Seriously, compare this:

To this:

It’s not about pride, it’s about saving everyone with his own power, and that’s what I had been missing from IDW!Shadow for so long.

I really hope we’ll see more of this in the future.

Links:

#Previous Issue

#Next Issue

#Sonic the Hedgehog Analyzer (Masterlist)

[shinydixon]

WILL YOU WAIT FOR ME? (EDDIE MUNSON X READER)

Anon:  truly had to hold myself back from requesting all of the prompts but I finally settled on 118. “Will you wait for me here? I promise I won’t be long.” Sidenote your writing is amazing ❤

 Prompt:  118. “Will you wait for me here? I promise I won’t be long.” (changed a little bit)

 Words: 827

 Warnings: A lot of kisses, that’s it

 ENGLISH IS NOT MY FIRST LANGUAGE (also, I don’t write anything since 2020)

“Today session was amazing! Who would have ever thought that Sinclair’s infamous little sister could save all of our asses against the cult of Vecna?”

When Dustin and Mike bought Erica at the Hellfire club as Lucas’s sub, Eddie wasn’t that happy, however you, having met the little girl after the little “adventure” at Starcourt Mall the previous summer; knew that Erica was the definition of “don’t judge the book by its cover”.

After hours of tension, with all your characters down, except for Erica and Dustin’s, your friends left the room jumping and laughing, happy to have won the campaign.

You decided to stay behind, helping non other than the Dungeon Master himself (and, your boyfriend) cleaning up the table…you didn’t look forward to get an earful from the drama club kids for not tidying up their so called “temple of the arts”.

“Yeah, I mean, beginner’s luck I guess” came Eddie’s unamused reply.

“Oh! Did a 12 years old girl hurt your ego baby? Admit it, that was awesome! The tension, the adrenaline when she got a natural 20, the fact that….” You weren’t able to finish the sentence because, said Dungeon Master, just picked you up from behind.

“Care to repeat that sweetheart?” you could feel his grin against your cheek

“I was just saying that you’re a little butthur-“

“I am what?” his grip on your waist tightened, you couldn’t keep your laugh inside anymore

“Okay, okay you took the defeat with maturity, you’re not being a brat, not at all”

“That’s what I thought” he didn’t waste any minute, he turned you toward him, like this he could finally face you.

“Hi there princess”

“Hi”

Gosh, after all the time you two were together, the honeymoon phase should already be over.

Instead, here you were, staring at each other, with those lovesick smiles on both of your faces.

“So, the great dungeon master would like to come at my place tonight? It would be an honor”

At that Eddie’s smile slowly faded.

Usually, after every Hellfire Club meeting, you two headed to Eddie’s trailer or your place, spending the night together.

For this reason you weren’t really expected to be turned down, your question being completely rhetorical.

“I’m sorry princess, I have a meeting with a client”

“Don’t you bring weed at school?”

“Yeah but this particular client asked me for…something heavy”

At that you detached from him, Eddie could sense you’re discomfort at his admission.

It’s not that you didn’t know about his…job, but when he started to sell other drugs, in addition to weed, you were worried of the consequences.

What if said client ended up overdosing? What if the police discovered his secret stash?

Don’t wanting to upset you, Eddie was really quick bringing you again against his chest.

“Don’t be mad baby, we’ll see each other tomor-“

“Edward Munson, you know very well that is not what is upsetting me”

Eddie, knowing very well that you using his full name meant trouble, just buried his face onto your head, placing little kisses on the top.

“I know sweetheart, I know…what do you say if, once I’m done, I’ll come to your place? Will that ease all your worries a little?”

You finally move your head from his chest, finally facing him.

“Fine, but, for the records, I’m still mad at you”

Eddie’s smile reappeared, you swear he could light any room with that damn smile.

“I’ll make it up to you”

The way he leant down kissing your pouting lips so sensually was just a preview of what was in store for you.

“Okay, okay Casanova, off you go now, the sooner you go, the sooner you’ll be free to come at mine”

With that said, you and Eddie proceed to pick up the D&D supplies, closing the room, and heading toward the parking lot, hand in hand.

Once arrived at your car, he opened the door for you.

“So, will you wait for me there? I promise I won’t be long”

“I’ll leave my window open just for you”

He gives you another long and slow kiss before parting ways and heading towards his van.

You were about to get in your car when you noticed none other than Chrissy Cunningham waiting near Eddie’s van.

The queen of Hawkins high wanted to buy drugs? From Eddie?

While driving you couldn’t shake off the bad feeling you got after seeing who Eddie’s client really was, however, what made you worried was the possibility that Chrissy’s asshole boyfriend will find out she bought drugs from Eddie, and all the consequences Eddie will face.

What you didn’t know, was that all the nightmares you thought you didn’t have to face again after that 4th of July, will come back and, this time, will affect the person you love more than everything in this world.

[koreyeet]

Loving them so much my brain latched onto the i cant stop

Context to them being together because you know how utterly garbage there relationship is in canon, I’m throwing that away, they get character development and time to think about there actions and not pure hatred to each other and Shadow didn’t kill Infinite’s whole family, they’re alive and well

the only think Shadow did wrong was insult him and damage his face but its been like 2 decades he regrets that alot

Something something like 20 years later and the Phantom Ruby is just found by Shadow and Meg, Infinite reappears when they touch it. He’s kept a secret for the time being because saying that the dude that caused mass destruction that was defeated by the power of friendship is back may cause panic. Also Infinite is now called Zero again, he doesn't want to be Infinite anymore

also they are legally married for legal benefits (also love but its funny to say legal benefits)

Shadow’s “son”

Meg’s Shadow’s adopted/foster son when he found some random child in like a garbage can when he was 3, he is 15 now. The original plan was to keep him until his parents where found but 12 years later that ain’t happening. His attitude is mimicking Shadow’s but not in a cold distant way more of a joking manner, he can be seen as a dick but those who know him  know he’s a cool dude. Howls only friend and at this point he’s basically her cousin/family at this point, they are really close. He’s basically besties with Rouge and sees her as a girlie more then an aunt along with Ruth, they gossip to each other. He’s real close with his dad when it was just him but recently he’s felt like a roommate living with a family.

-will say lol out loud unironically

-seems like an asshole is pretty chill

-the only not biological weapon in the family

-he doesn't consider Zero a dad or Seven a sister, they’re just Shadow’s partner and kid

-he’s not a registered citizen

-real close with Rouge’s fam

-had a rebellious phase where he wore cloths and just kept the pants cause he liked it

His biological child

Seven is my favorite fankid I love her so much. She’s Zero and Shadows biological child like she is there blood, she came from a tube. She’s beloved and is sheltered by both her parents so much. In public she is with Shadow and is said to be another foster, since he already has Meg it’s convincing, and Zero is still considered as Infinite, along with if she’s known to be the daughter of 2 feared individuals he will be so hated and feared for that reason so it’s best not to tell. She is considered an obedient and naïve child, she fallows her parents directions and respects when they say no, she doesn’t question anything, and doesn’t really think about it. The extent of her powers are unknown and those who know about her fear she can cause some real damage, right now the most she can do is phase through things like walls and project holograms, gladly she doesn’t show any signs of these powers being unstable but the knowledge she has more potential is feared, she has been given inhibitor rings to try and limit her abilities but for the most part she doesn’t wear them and only does when she’s around the Master Emerald or a chaos emerald. Her age is unknown but she is considered ageless but is still physically a child, at this point she probably around physically 13 but her actual age is like 4 when she got out of the tube.

Backstory time because she’s special - She was an experiment made by Eggman as one of his last projects to leave a lasting mark of fear, no one knows her purpose or why she was made or even if she’ll turn evil or not. As a joke I’m making the thought process behind it being Orbot and Cubot shipping, suggesting it to Eggman, Eggman saying that’s stupid and turning he idea down, Sage saying they’re a couple/the powers they both possess can create a powerful creature, Eggman thinks that’s a great idea and Sage takes all the credit. When she was discovered by Zero and Shadow, Eggman kinda went “yea take them I’ll be back when they’re older” and never came back, Zero was convinced she was one of his family’s kids that where kidnapped or something and eventually it was pronounced she was his kid and the edge lords where like “ok what now”. So they have a kid now and are in constant fear Eggman will come back and steal her.

-Seven considers Meg a brother but Meg doesn’t consider her his sister

- Her friends are kind of just Ruth and Ringer (Sonic’s kid I’m making his stuff next)

-Sometimes she’s confused if she’s a foster or Shadows real daughter because how much he tell people that

-Technically Silver’s great times whatever the fuck grandma

-the favorite child in all ways

[beels-burger-babe]

The Day Out

GN!MC Summary: MC and Solomon spend the day out enjoying the wonders of the Devildom. The problem with this? They never told the seven Lords of Hell that they’d be gone for the day.  TW: Torture (Not to the MC or the bros tho), Injuries, Murder (Again, just an unimportant Background Character) When the Wise King Solomon asks you out of nowhere if you would like to spend a day exploring the Devildom with him, some hesitancy is to be expected. We’re talking about an ancient wizard who is notoriously sketchy in every way and who seems to always have some kind of personal agenda that he uses for everything.  But the fact in the matter was that you had just survived and grueling two weeks of exams at RAD, and the stress of always being passed around between the demon brothers to partake in their various schemes and problems was really starting to wear on you.  So a day out, relaxing, and finally getting to explore Devildom in its entirety, regardless of the company, actually sounded pretty good.  Solomon had asked you to meet him outside of the House of Lamentation just before dawn. He stood there now, looking as collected and secretive as ever, with a satchel strapped over his shoulder.  “Ready to go and enjoy the company of another human?”  “More than ever! What’s with the bag?”  The wizard shrugged held out his arm to you. “I thought I might collect a few potion ingredients if I happen to spot any. The Devildom is home to a number of special rarities after all, and it would be horrible not to take advantage of my time down here to collect some of them.” That was fair. You took Solomon’s arm and allowed him to pull you close to his side before the two of you took off onto a trail in the woods. 

*** Later that morning  Mammon frowned as he approached his human’s room. You hadn’t been at breakfast, and he hadn’t heard from you all morning. This was weird. More than weird, it was worrying. It seemed like ever since you had arrived in the Devildom, the second born had a hard time getting you to leave his side, and sure it was annoying at first, but he had come to appreciate the warm presence that you exuded and found himself feeling strangely cold without you there.  He knocked on the door. “MC! Ya gonna missed breakfast! Wake up, ya lazy bones. Just because it’s the weekend, doesn't mean ya get to hold up in ya room all day like Levi!” He smirked at his own insult and waited for your inevitable retort.  Instead, he was met with silence.  Mammon’s frown made a quick reappearance. “Oi! Don’t go ignoring the Great Mammon! Beel’s gonna eat you’re share and I don’t wanna hear ya complainin’ that you’re hungry all day. Now wake up!”  Again, silence.  He growled quietly to himself in frustration as a knot of concern began to tighten in his stomach. “MC, open the door and get over here or I’m comin’ myself! This ain’t funny, human!” When he was once again met with no response, the demon cursed under his breath and went to open the door; to his surprise, it was unlocked. He threw the door open and glared inside the room. “That’s it human! Up and at it! I’ll drag ya down to the dining room mysel-” He cut himself off as he noticed the room was empty. “MC?” Mammon looked around, noting your unmade bed and window being propped slightly open. He chuckled worriedly and began to look around a little more frantically. “Ha. Ha. Very funny. What? Ya plannin’ to jump and scare me? Ain’t gonna work, so ya might as well come out now. Seriously, MC. This ain’t funny.” The knot pulled tighter as he realized he was talking to himself. He began to search every nook and cranny of the room, hoping to Diavolo that maybe you were just really dedicated to this prank and was still hiding, but paled as he realized you were nowhere to be found. “Shit!” He cursed aloud and sprinted to the dining room where the rest of the brothers still sat.  “MC is missing!”  *** You gasped and ran ahead of Solomon as the two of you walked through the forest. You crouched down and looked at a patch of glowing blue mushrooms, eyes wide with awe. “It’s so beautiful,” you gasped and glanced over your shoulder. “I can’t believe I’ve been in the Devildom for nearly a year and never came out here.”  Solomon chuckled at your child-like wonder. “The forest can be quite dangerous to those who don’t know what to look out for. For example, those beautiful glowing mushrooms?” he gestured to the fungus in front you, “Those are called the Ardentes Mushrooms. They explode on contact and create a poisonus gas.”  You’re eyes widened as you quickly scrambled back from it. “What?! Why didn’t you tell me that before I got close?”  The wizard shrugged and put a hand on your waist to pull you close to his side, as he handed you a cloth. “Like you said, you’ve been here for nearly a year and haven’t seen much because those demons have gotten quite protective of you. I thought you might enjoy observing and learning about the wilds of the Devildom. Put the cloth over your mouth and nose, and watch.”  You did as instructed. Solomon smirked before putting a cloth mask over his own face. With one hand holding you close to him, a safe distance from the mushrooms, Solomon picked up a long stick and gently poked one of the fungus.  With a small poof it quickly became engulfed in azure flames aned small glowing flecks danced and sparkled in the air around you. You held back a gasp from behind the cloth as you watched in amazement, and Solomon simply stood there holding and watching you.  *** The Seven Avatars of Sin stood in the lounge anxiously. They had searched the entire House of Lamentation inch by inch and there was no sign of the human that had been entrusted under their protection.  Lucifer sighed and leaned against the table. “If they’re not in the manor, we have to consider other possibilities. Has anyone had any luck reaching them?” He looked over at Levi, “Could you potentially trace their D.D.D. if we aren’t able to reach them?”  Levi solemnly shook his head and placed the mentioned device on the table. “Found it in their room,” he ran a hand over his face in frustration. “They know better than to go out without their phone! This isn’t like them!”  “Maybe they didn’t go willingly.” All attention snapped over to Satan, who was looking at the D.D.D thoughtfully with a hand on his chin.  Mammon paled as his hands gripped tightly onto the chair in front of him. “Y-Ya mean ya think someone took them?”  The aura in the room darkened as Satan nodded. “Levi’s right. They know better than to leave without one of us and even if they had to, they would at the very least take their D.D.D. They may be reckless sometimes, but they’ve been more careful about their safety ever since-” he paused and glanced at Belphegore before clearing his throat. “But that’s besides the point. Their window was unlocked and open as well. A demon could’ve very easily gotten in through there and took them while we were all asleep.”  Asmo let out a dramatic gasp and threw himself onto Beelzebub’s arm. “Oh the poor dear! They must’ve been so frightened being taken advantage of like that!” Beel looked down at Asmodeus both disturbed by his brother’s antics, but also distraught by his words.  Belphie rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. “But there wasn’t any signs of foul play in the room. No signs of struggle.”  Satan hummed in thought. “MC is a human with no particular means of defense. They’re weak enough awake,” a spark of wrath flared behind Satan’s eyes as he clenched his jaw. “I imagine that asleep, they wouldn’t even have the chance to become fully conscious before a demon, even a lesser demon, could knock them out.”  Lucifer growled lowly. “We’ll find whoever did this, get MC back, and make the perpetrators responsible for this regret their very existence.”  In that moment, the brothers had never appeared more frightening or demonic, as the room filled with eyes glowing with the promise of death, snarls of anger at the knowledge that someone dared to touch what belonged to them. In that moment, they truly were the Lords of the Devildom. Satan grinned a wide, murderous grin, “It seems, for once, we agree, Big Brother.”  *** You peacefully continued to gather the flowers and mushrooms that Solomon had pointed out to you and verified were “safe for human contact” as the mid day sun beamed lazily through the tree branches of the forest.  You quietly hummed to yourself and glanced occasionally over at Solomon who was collecting some of the more dangerous samples to observe later on.  You smiled at the wizard. It wasn’t often you got to see him so relaxed. It seemed like every time you saw him, he was prepared for at least ten different scenarios and was weaving the strings of manipulation before his victim could even blink.  But out here, where there were no prying eyes and no other tasks to follow, Solomon looked open and the most human that you’ve ever seen him.  “You really like it out here, huh?”  He glanced back at you with a raised eyebrow, and made quick work of putting his current sample into a storage bottle. “And how did you come to that conclusion?”  You rolled your eyes and went back to picking mushrooms as you spoke. “I just mean that you seem so calm and...loose out here. Like you’ve finally dropped that act that you always put on and are finally allowed to be yourself.”  Solomon was silent as he looked at you with a strange glint in his eyes. As after a moment or two, he smirked and chuckled softly as he looked away. “For a human with no magical talents, I have to applaud your skills of observation. I think I can understand how it was you, and only you, that was able to see through the brothers as you have.”  You shrugged and attempted to hide the blush dusting over your cheeks. “It’s nothing. I just want to-”  You cut yourself off as a low growl fills the air not far from you. You slowly look up to see what appears to be a mix of a bear, a rat, and a skeleton, standing only a few meters from you. It’s beady red eyes were glaring directly at you. Your breath caught in your throat as you froze, “S-Solomon?”  “MC, listen very carefully. What’s in front of you is an Iacis Rat. They are extremely hostile, and considering their hibernation period has just ended, I imagine they are very hungry. I need you to back up very slowly and carefully. Avert your eyes, and hunch low to seem unthreatening. Keep it in your peripheral vision,” his voice was low and calm but firm with a sense of urgency. You took a shaky breath and slowly began to do as Solomon instructed. You got five steps in before you heard something snap beneath your foot.  The giant rat let out a horrendous roar that you could feel vibrate in your bones as it suddenly swiped at you. Your cry of pain pierced the air as it sliced open your arm and threw you back several feet. Another snap; only this time it was the fragile bones in your other arm breaking, not a stick.  You could hear Solomon shouting a series of spells, before he quickly scooped you up and began to run. You whimpered as he picked you up and jostled your arm. “We’ll get that taken care of in a minute MC, for now, we need to run.” You glance over his shoulder and see the rat surrounded by a series of warding walls and swatting at a few crackling balls of arcane energy that prodded at it and flew around its head.  The two of you managed to get away. You found yourself sitting on near a cliff, panting heavily as you looked out on a view of all the Devildom, with the sun just beginning to set. It would’ve been beautiful if you weren’t bleeding and in pain.  Solomon crouched beside you and inspected the gash on your arm and your broken bones the moment he had deemed that you were both safe once more. After a few silent moments of observation, he had set up a small fire and began to brew some kind of potion. You watched closely as he worked, and within an few, agony filled minutes the wizard was holding out a small cup to you.  “I am so sorry you got injured. In all honesty, I had forgotten about the Icais Rats post-hibernation season, and foolishly believed that we would be safe today,” He sighed and shook his head. “Regardless, this potion should heal all the injuries on your person. Though I should warn you, this will hurt...quite a lot actually. You can hold my hand during the process if you’d like.”  You took a shaky breath and took his hand into yours. The wizard smiled softly at you and pressed a kiss to your fingers before handing you the potion. “Whenever you’re ready.”  You eyed the red liquid in the cup before bringing it to your lips. Before you could change your mind you quickly downed the potion and squeezed tightly onto Solomon’s hand.  You tensed waiting for the pain to kick in... but nothing happened.  You frowned and looked over at Solomon. “I don’t feel any worse than I did before. Are you sure this thing-”  You were cut off as a fiery hot pain suddenly shot down both your arms and your head began to throb. Your loud piercing scream could be heard all throughout the forest as the pain began to overwhelm you.  Solomon pulled you into his lap, and held you tightly with one hand as the other ran his fingers through your hair. “I know,” he whispered softly through your screams. “It’ll be over soon. Just a couple minutes. You can do this MC. It’ll be alright.”  You sobbed as waves of pain hit you over and over again, until a sudden cool, sweet, numbness began to trickle over you. A gasp escaped from you as you stilled in Solomon’s arms.  The wizard chuckled, “Growing back your bones isn’t very fun. I’m sorry you had to go through that. You should be feeling better now.”  You looked down at your arms, and sure enough, the gash on your arm was gone with no sign of it having ever existed and the bones in your other arm had mended. You sniffed and wiped away the tears that had begun to appear in your eyes and looked over to Solomon. “Can you take me back to the House now? I think I’d like to take a nap.”  He smiled sadly at you. “Of course.”  *** A loud agonized scream rang off the walls of the House of Lamentation, causing Belphegore and Satan to grin. Their victim hung by their hands, chained to a wall while they slowly carved into its flesh.  “You know neither of us are exactly known for a patience...” Belphie drawled as he slowly brought a claw down across the lower demon’s chest. “So this is your last chance; Tell us where MC is.” The demon sobbed openly as it shook it’s head. “I’m telling you! I don’t know where they are! I swear! Please, let me go! Please, I don’t know anything!”  Satan tsked as he polished a knife and approached the demon. “Really? Because I know for a fact that you have been following them around and watching them at RAD lately,” he points the knife against the demon’s throat. “You wanted them, didn’t you? You were figuring out their routine so that you could take them for yourself. Admit it!”  The poor demon sobbed even louder as it’s body trembled. “No! I admit, I-I was following them around! But not because I wanted to- to- kidnap them or anything! I swear! I-” the demon’s face turned red, “I find them attractive and I-I was trying to work up the nerve to talk to them! That’s all!” It made eye contact with Satan, it’s expression pained and desperate. “Surely you guys understand that! I-I mean all of you brothers like them, right? That’s why you’re always following them-”  The demon didn’t get a chance to finish before Belphegore growled and snapped the demon’s neck. Satan rose an eyebrow at his younger brother, causing Belphie to shrug in response. “He didn’t have anything we needed, and was just babbling. It was annoying.”  Satan rolled his eyes and looked back at Lucifer, who stood in the back of the room, going over stacks of papers, maps, and occasionally checking his D.D.D. “Another dead end.”  The eldest brother scowled and crossed something out on a piece of paper. “Right. That’s it for possibilities at RAD then. We should start with the list of possible suspects from The Fall and the people Mammon’s indebted to then. They’ll be harder to get a hold of, but some of them would definitely have a strong motive.” Just as he finished, the House doors swung open and Mammon and Levi came marching in with the angels in tow. “We got them,” Mammon stated the obvious as he unnecessarily pushed the two in front of him. “They’d just gotten back from RAD. We haven’t told them anything yet.”  Simeon gasped at the sight of the tortured demon still hanging dead on the wall in front of them, and quickly drew Luke against him, hiding the younger angel from the sight. He glared over at Lucifer. “What is the meaning of all of this?”  Lucifer ignored the question and frowned when he noticed there was only two out of the three exchange students. “Where’s Solomon?”  “Chihuahua says that he’s been gone all day gathering ingredients for some potion. Based off of the stuff missing from his room, and the feed from the security cameras, it checks out,” Levi explained.  “Luke is not a chihuahua!” Simeon loudly defended, surprising all the demons in the room, as the little angel hugged himself closer to Simeon. The elder celestial scowled at everyone. “Now will someone please explain to us exactly what is going on and why you all are acting like a bunch of mindless, feral, demons, when we all know you are more intelligent and civilized than that!” Lucifer gave him a flat look as he crossed his arms over his chest. He opened his mouth to speak, but was cut of by a hiss of pain as a sharp, agonizing, burn suddenly swiped over his upper right arm. Not too long after, an even stronger twinge filled his entire left arm. A quick look around the room told him that his brothers were feeling the same thing; meaning this could only be one thing: MC was hurt.  Mammon snarled as he grabbed the front of Simeon’s robes. “Look, we ain’t got time to mess around. MC’s been taken, and is currently being hurt. That’s all ya need to know. What we need to know is if you got any ideas in that feathery, “holier-than-thou”, brain of yours who might’a took them or where they are! If ya can’t help us, than ya useless, and you can just get the hell outta our way while we actually do something about it!”  Simeon’s eyes widened as he felt Luke stiffen against him. The elder angel glanced over Mammon to Lucifer, “MC is missing? For how long?”  The second-born growled and harshly shoved the angel away from him. “Did ya not hear anything I just said?! We ain’t got time for stupid questions! Now do ya know where they are or not?!” The angel opened his mouth to speak, when Lucifer’s ring tone suddenly cut him off. The demon quickly snatched it up and put the call on speaker. “Asmo, report. Any sign?”  “Beel and I didn’t have any luck downtown, so we were headed back to House. We were passing the woods, when Beel... Beel thinks he’s picked up the scent of MC’s blood. We’re following it now.” Simeon shivered as he felt the demonic power in the room quadruple in strength and could practically feel it’s energy crackling in the air around them. Mammon’s face paled, as the second-born cursed and rushed towards the door. Satan, Leviathan, and Belphegore weren’t far behind him; all four brothers were already shifted into their demon forms. Lucifer’s expression became absolutely murderous as he swung his cloak over his shoulders and moved past the angels to follow his brothers. “Keep track of the scent, and describe to me where you are. We’re all coming to-”  Suddenly, all the brothers cried out in shock and pain, some of the younger ones even stumbling from it, as their bodies felt as though they had been filled with white-hot needles. Even more painful, however, was the distant, familiar, scream that could be heard on the other side of the phone call.  “Th-that’s MC,” Beel grunted out through the pain. As suddenly as it came, the pain vanished as was replaced with a chilling, numbness that filled the demon’s with dread as the screams also ended.  Levi froze and looked around at his brothers. “D-Does that mean...Are they?”  Satan swallowed thickly and shook his head, but there was a hint of uncertainty and fear in his eyes. “No. If they were dead, we’d feel the pacts break. We’d know. R-Right, Lucifer?”  The first born merely scowled and charged forward, leading the group towards the woods. “Let’s go find Beel and Asmo. We’re getting our human back now.”  *** Solomon kept an arm wrapped around you as the two of you slowly made yourr way back down the trail to get home. He watched you carefully, keeping an eye out for any unexpected side-effects of the potion. “You’re sure you’re alright then?”  You smiled weakly at him and nodded. “Yeah. Only side effect I’ve noticed is it’s made me quite tired. Other than that, I’m all better now, thanks to you.” You looked out at the trail ahead of you, “I’m sorry our day had to end on such a bad note.”  The wizard waved a hand in dismissal. “Non-sense. It wasn’t something neither of us could control. Though perhaps I should’ve been more cautious before taking you out here,” he chuckled in thought. “Imagine what the brothers would say if I returned you beaten and broken from a giant rat attack.”  You laughed and shook your head. “I doubt Lucifer would let me leave the House again! If I got hurt, it would be damaging to the program after all.”  Solomon frowned at your words. “Do you truly think that is the only reason why he, or any of the others for that matter, would care if you get injured?”  You shrugged and notably avoided the wizard’s gaze. “What other reason would they have for caring for me? Their the Demon Lords of the Devildom. I’m just MC. A defenseless human with no magical powers and nothing that makes them special.” Solomon stopped walking and grabbed you by the shoulders. He looked down at you with his stern silver eyes as though he was attempting to see straight into your soul. “You are MC. A descendent of the Angel Lilith, Master of all seven of the Avatars of Sin, and one of the kindest most observant individuals I have ever had the great fortune of knowing. You are not just some defenseless human, MC. You are special; and I know the brothers see that too.”  You’re heart fluttered in your chest at his words, as a light warmth filled your chest. You opened your mouth to respond, when suddenly the calm forest air was filled with the sound of the Icais Rat’s roar and several battle cries. The two of you frowned and glanced at each other before cautiously making your way towards the commotion.  There, in the middle of the same field you had been attacked in earlier, was all seven of the demon brothers, decked out in their demon forms, as they viciously brutalized the wild beast, that looked as though it had been killed within the first hit.  Your eyes widened at the sight as you took several panicked steps closer to them. “Woah! Guys! Stop! What are you doing?!”   You flinched back as you were suddenly being looked at by seven sets of manic eyes gleaming with danger. Solomon came up behind you and placed a hand on your shoulder, he began to quietly whisper the beginning of a protection incantation. You gulped and held up your hands defensively. “Easy boys. It’s just me. It’s MC.”  Asmodeus was the first one to fall out of whatever daze the brothers all seemed to be under. His demon form instantly dropped as tears lined his eyes. “MC!!!” He sprinted over to you and was about to pounce, but found himself smacking into an invisible wall as Solomon threw his hand up. The demon rubbed his nose and gaped over at the wizard in shock and betrayal. “Solomon?! You’re the one that took MC?!” The vicious hue that surrounded the brothers while they were attacking quickly returned as they set their sights on the wizard. Lucifer growled, his eyes remaining fixed on the hand that the wizard kept on your shoulder. “I knew we couldn’t trust him. Solomon, we demand that you let MC go, now.”  Your eyes widened as the demons began to surround you in a notably offensive position. You could feel Solomon’s hand tighten on your shoulder as he glared at them. “Not until you all calm down enough, that I feel that I can lower these protective walls without MC being maimed to death.”  Levi squawked in offense. “Us hurt them?! You’re the one that kidnapped and tortured them!!!”  “Wait what?!” You and Solomon exclaimed in sync.  You shoved Solomon’s hand off your shoulder and stood between the wizard and the demons. “Alright, everyone calm down for a minute. I think there’s been a big misunderstanding. Why do you think that Solomon kidnapped and tortured me? That’s insane!”  Satan eyed you analytically. “He’s probably given them a potion to manipulate their memories to make them think they’ve come willingly and have them be more submissive,” a few growls filled the air from the statement.  Mammon moved as close to you as he could with the invisible wall still up, and looked at you desperately. “MC, you’ve been drugged. But we’re gonna get ya home! Solomon broke in through your window this mornin’ and took ya from us. We know that he’s hurt ya, but we’re not gonna let him hurt ya any more,” his eyes hardened as they shifted to Solomon. “That’s a promise.”  Solomon sighed and shook his head. “I didn’t do any of that! Earlier this week, I invited MC to accompany me today as I gathered ingredients to give them a chance to see more of the Devildom. They agreed and came with me this morning.”  You nodded and held up a bag of mushrooms as proof. “Exactly. We’ve just been out here exploring the woods all day. That’s all.”  Belphegore raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Then how come you didn’t tell us, or leave a note? Why was your window open and your phone left behind?”  You’re eyes widened as you felt your stomach drop in realization. “Oh, boys, I am so sorry. I completely forgot! We left so early that I was a bit out of it, and I must have forgotten to make a note. I figured there wouldn’t be any reception in the woods, and I had Solomon there with me for protection, so I didn’t take my phone. I promise this really is just a misunderstanding.”  Belphie’s eyes narrowed, clearly still not fully buying the story. “And the window?”  You chuckled and scratched the back of your neck. “It was hot last night. I opened it too cool off. I must have forgotten to close it too,” you could feel guilt course through your heart as the brothers all glanced at each other with caution and uncertainty. “I’m really sorry guys. I promise I’m okay. Really!”  Beel growled lowly as he moved closer to you. “Then what about the blood that we found in the woods? What about the pain we felt you go through? I know that was real! You were hurt MC! Solomon hurt you!” his voice dropped dangerously low on the last line as his eyes began to glow once more and he punched the invisible wall; trying to break it down by sheer force to get to you.  You flinched back, as you realized just how bad this must have seemed to all of them. “We weren’t careful, and we were surprised by that Iacis Rat that you found. It scratched my arm and threw me causing me to break my other arm. Once we got away, Solomon gave me a healing potion, that unfortunately has a pretty painful process,” you looked at Beel sympathetically. “I’m alright, see?” you moved your arms around, and took off your coat to show the undamaged skin on your arms. “No injuries. Just a plain, old, healthy, MC.” You sighed and looked over at the others. “I am so so sorry for worrying you all. I swear I didn’t mean to. If I get Solomon to lower the wall so that I can hug you, do you promise not to attack him?”  There was a notable hesitance in their response as they eyed the two of you and seemed to exchange a silent conversation between one another, before one by one, they all dropped their demon forms.  Taking that as confirmation, Solomon dropped the warding walls, and within moments you were engulfed by the arms of six of the brothers.  “Stupid human” Mammon grumbled and he held you tightly to his chest, “What were ya thinkin’?”  “Don’t ever pull that normie crap again, okay?” Levi nuzzled his face into your hair, blushing deeply. “I-I missed a raid because of you!”  “You’re not allowed to do stuff like that. You had Beel all upset. You know I don’t like it when Beel’s upset.” Belphie muttered, causing Beel to wrap his arms around the group of you tighter.  “You really had us all worried MC,” the gentle giant whispered. “We...We thought you had gotten killed or something. Thought that we lost you.”  “Urgh! All this stress has been terrible for my skin!” Asmodeus complained as he pulled away from the group hug. “You owe me a full spa day, darling. I don’t wait want to hear any arguing about it either, because it’s happening. It’s the least you can do after everything you put us through.”  Satan pulled away in front of you and frowned as he flicked your nose, like an owner would to a misbehaving dog. “Your actions today were reckless. You know the dangers of the Devildom. You should’ve told us where you were going and took your D.D.D with you. Do I need to remind you of just how wrong today could’ve gone even with Solomon by your side?”  Lucifer, standing away from you looked down at you with a carefully drafted gaze of indifference. “We’ll need to make sure that what happened today does not happen again, and ensure that you don’t ‘forget’ basic Devildom safety once more. There will be consequences that we will discuss once we get home. Am I clear?”  Strong waves of guilt, shame, and regret washed over you as each of the brothers spoke. You shivered at Lucifer’s words, and his tone which promised that these consequences would not be pleasant, and nodded in response.  “Good. Let’s get you back home then, shall we?”  As you were to be lead back down the forest path in Levi, Mammon, and Beel’s arms, you glanced over your shoulder and waved at a notably concerned Solomon. “Bye Solomon! Thanks for taking me out today. Next time, we’ll both make the proper preparations and have an even better day, yeah?”  Solomon smiled softly at you and nodded. “That’d be lovely MC. It was great being able to spend the day with just the two of us.” The moment you weren’t looking, the brothers all snapped their glares back at Solomon, causing the wizard to flinch back. The message was clear: he would not be taking you for a day out ever again.  ***This was meant to be just a funny little drabble, but I accidentally went a teeny bit serious with it...woops. Oh well, hope you all enjoyed it! Thanks for reading! Love, B 🐝***