#always to busy shocking you by killing off the most interesting characters in the worst ways possible
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#crying actually worst nightmare#the way everyone was like “how tf are they gonna adapt the boys herogasm storyline” is me with this#how was this actually greenlit and what will the rating be lmao#basically the second most disturbing piece of media ive consumed#when it focuses on the human reaction it sometimes has somewhat good storylines?#but I think the ridiculous violence for the sake of shock value just undercuts it all#it’s like watching just the last few scenes of devilman when the humans are losing it but constantly#Garth was like hm the boys had very meaningful violence…now let’s do something with all the violence I want without having to have purpose#I’m aware there is purpose and interesting themes to crossed but fuck man overall it’s dogshit to me :)#if you like it then good for u#ur getting a movie#it’s just polarizing to me bc I don’t think media like this should have to limit its violence to comfort people#but it kinda shoots itself in the foot by never giving you time to ruminate on the actual themes#always to busy shocking you by killing off the most interesting characters in the worst ways possible#imo#garth ennis#the boys#the boys comics#crossed comic#crossed badlands#avatar press#violence#gore#trauma#jacen burrows
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What traits of Kou's personality stood out to you?
I think the character development he has is the best done character in all of DL.
Unlike the sakamakis, the mukamis could not worry about not receiving their parents' love as they were busy trying to survive in the cruel human world, this fact made Kou an extremely materialistic and ambitious person, for him there is nothing more valuable than money. and power so when he meets a girl like Yui, who is not interested in any of those things, he is shocked and thinks she is lying, but finds that Yui is transparent and simple. (In fact, on his route in More blood he breaks a button on his shirt and is surprised that Yui sewed it for him, instead of throwing it away and buying a new one he kept the one Yui fixed for him because it was something new for him ) throughout her development, she tries to understand why Yui doesn't want anything in return for the things she does for him.
Another characteristic that caught my attention is that despite being a sadistic and charismatic idol, he is quite shy when he falls in love with Yui, he even blushes when giving her a rose as if he were a small child.
I thought that Kou was going to have a personality similar to Laito's, that is, someone 0 jealous and very perverted, being an idol my first impression of him was that he would be one of the least jealous characters but on the contrary Kou is the most possessive he hates when classmates talk to yui, he doesn't want her to put on makeup because he doesn't want her to look pretty in front of other men, and he even made a scene out of jealousy for a character in a drama. Despite being such a sweet and nice guy to Yui at first, he is fucking sadistic and loves to humiliate her in the worst way.
In general, he is a character with many nuances and facets (and this without doing a deeper analysis) in fanfics, scenarios and headcanons they always make him look like "the charismatic and perverted character" when he is much more than that. he is a yandere in its entirety, he would do everything for Yui like kill anyone, betray anyone, sacrifice himself or even take his eyes off, she is his blue sky.
#diabolik lovers oc#diabolik lovers#yui komori#diabolik lovers fanart#diabolik lovers fandom#komori yui#diabolik lovers headcanons#sakamaki brothers#diabolik brothers#mukami brothers#kou mukami#yandere diabolik lovers#yandere
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All Men Have Limits - II
Character: Dick Grayson x Reader x Bruce Wayne
Summary: A certain bat believes that Y/N is in way over her head, that she’s too naive to act in her best interest. So, whether she wants it or not, the vigilante family is going to help and protect her before she gets herself killed.
Word Count: 4,300+
Previously on...
When Y/N arrived at the master bedroom, she was surprised to find the door slightly ajar. She knocked always and found Bruce turning to face her, shirtless and only in his boxer briefs.
Bruce seemed subtly surprised to find Y/N standing in his doorway and not Alfred. But he didn’t seem to be embarrassed by the state Y/N found him in.
Along with the first aid kit, Y/N had grabbed two ice packs from the freezer.
“I’m fine,” Bruce told her before she could even offer to help him.
“You can either deal with me or you can deal with Alfred,” she threatened.
“Your choice,” she added when she saw how serious he took her warning.
Bruce’s heavy sigh was the only answer she’d get.
“Come on,” Y/N nudged her head toward his en-suite bathroom that was probably twice the size of most people’s studio apartments.
She pointed to one of the steps that led up to the giant bathtub, silently instructing him to sit.
“Put these on your ribs,” Y/N instructed as she handed him the ice packs.
To her surprise, Bruce did as she asked.
“I don’t need stitches,” he mumbled as he watched her open the first aid kit.
“I know,” she answered. “Which is lucky for you, because I have no idea how to stitch people up.”
She dabbed some cotton in hydrogen peroxide. “But…you still need to clean those cuts or they’ll take longer to heal and probably scar.”
Once again, Y/N was surprised to see that Bruce did as she said. He didn’t complain or refuse her assistance – just sat there silently. The man didn’t even flinch and Y/N knew she was causing his injuries to sting.
“What happened tonight that has you so upset?” Y/N finally asked after silently caring for him for a few minutes.
“What makes you think I’m upset?”
She sighed softly. “I’ll be the first to admit that you’re nearly impossible to read. But clearly something happened that caused you to storm out of the cave like you did.”
Bruce didn’t respond.
“Was it them?” Y/N asked carefully. “The Court?"
For a moment, she thought he’d ignore that question too.
“They know I’m protecting you. Well…they know that Batman is protecting you.”
Y/N shrugged. “We knew they were gonna figure it out eventually.”
Bruce remained silent.
“Did they send the Talons after you?”
From his expression, Y/N knew she was right.
The Talons were a group of lethal assassins that did all of the dirty work for The Court of Owls. They were highly trained, almost entirely undetectable, and a force to be reckoned with. Probably only second to the League of Assassins when it came to deadliness.
“That’s why Jason was with you,” Y/N pointed out. “You needed backup.”
“We had it under control,” was all Bruce said.
“I know you were already going after The Court,” Y/N told him gently. “And you need my help.” She hesitated and took in a shaky breath, “But thank you for looking out for me.”
“What was your plan?” Bruce asked.
“What do you mean?”
“When I came to you and told you that you’d been made, you said that you knew. What was your plan?”
“Run. And keep running. You and I both know I’m hopeless when it comes to an actual fight.” She shrugged. “My plan was to keep working on exposing them and stay alive long enough to see it through.”
Y/N waited for some sort of lecture, for Bruce to tell her that it was a stupid plan and she had been sloppy. She waited to feel patronized and belittled.
But Bruce just stared at her.
“What?” She challenged.
“I wish you would prioritize your life a bit more.”
She moved back a little from cleaning his cuts and snorted. “What? Like you?”
Then she shook her head and went back to cleaning his cuts. “You’re so not the person to be lecturing about self-preservation, Bruce.”
Then Bruce surprised them both.
He grabbed Y/N by the back of her neck and brought her down to him before his lips collided with hers.
She dropped all the medical supplies in her hand from the shock of it all. But then she was cupping his face and kissing him back.
Next thing she knew, Bruce had steered her body so she was straddling his lap.
It had been so long since that night that Y/N had almost forgotten what his lips felt like. Or how his hands touched her so tenderly, but his intent was always clear and effortlessly confident.
But then Y/N’s leg accidentally collided with one of Bruce’s bruised ribs.
It didn’t deter him. He had every intention of ignoring it.
But Y/N felt his body tense in pain and she swore she felt the vibrations of the quietest pained moan from him.
She could’ve imagined it, but she wasn’t going to continue knowing that she had the ability to accidentally hurt him.
But it was also her saving grace. Because Y/N shouldn’t be doing this.
Y/N reluctantly pulled away from the kiss. Bruce allowed the movement, but his grip on her waist and neck didn’t ease in the slightest.
“You should rest,” she whispered to him.
Then she shoved herself away from him and awkwardly stepped backwards as if she was desperately trying to put space between them.
“Umm…make sure you keep that ice on your ribs,” she told him awkwardly, half turned away from him.
Bruce opened his mouth to stop her, but no words came out.
The next second, she bolted out of the bathroom and then his master suite.
Her mind was racing with so many thoughts that Y/N didn’t notice Dick catching her race into her own bedroom.
Dick looked between Y/N’s closed door and the direction of Bruce’s room, putting it all together.
—————
After the close call with the Talons, Bruce had all hands on deck. Even Jason – who usually did his own thing and had separated himself from family matters – had been brought into the fold. Which meant he was spending way more time around the manor.
Y/N knew things were getting serious.
Bruce wasn’t exactly keeping her in the dark. But he also wasn’t being forthcoming with information.
Y/N didn’t know if he was trying to shield her in some way…or if he was just doing business as usual and taking control, not allowing anyone in until he thought it was absolutely necessary.
Either way, through the chaos of it all, Y/N realized Dick hadn’t acted as her shadow in almost a week.
It wasn’t until Jason decided to bother Y/N that she realized what had changed.
Jason leaned backwards against the console Y/N was working on so she was forced to face him. He crossed his arms with a smirk and looked down at her.
“So, you and B, huh?”
“Get off my equipment,” she warned him darkly without even glancing at him.
But inside, she was internally freaking out.
Y/N made a point to keep as many facts about her life a secret. And her sex life? That was top priority when it came to her privacy. This was worst case scenario.
But also, how the hell did he figure that out?
Jason shrugged, but did as she asked and took a step away from the console. “He didn’t say anything, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
Y/N finally looked up him. “Please tell me what I have to do to get you to leave me the fuck alone.”
Jason smiled and whistled. “I think I like you.”
“The feeling’s not mutual,” she mumbled as she began typing again.
“Jason, leave her alone.”
Y/N turned to see Dick walking into the cave.
Jason held up his hands in surrender and gave his brother an innocent face. “I was just trying to be polite to our guest, Richard.”
“I’m sure you were,” Dick side eyed him.
Jason then turned to Y/N and put on his Red Hood helmet. “I look forward to having more of these titillating conversations, Y/N.” Then he turned to Dick. “I’m heading out on patrol.”
He mounted his motorcycle and raced out of the cave, leaving Dick and Y/N alone for the first time in awhile.
“No patrol for you tonight?” Y/N asked him slowly.
“They’ve got it covered.”
She just nodded and didn’t ask any further questions.
All at once, they were submerged into strange silence. The air was racing with thoughts, yet the tension seemed to simultaneously make it thick, as well.
Y/N sighed. She might as well get this over with.
“I know you want to ask, so just ask,” Y/N mumbled as her fingers raced across the keyboard and her eyes never left the screens.
“Doesn’t the whole…” Dick really didn’t know how to put it delicately.
Y/N sighed, clearly annoyed with his fumbling. She turned around in her chair to face him. “Does his age bother me? Is that what you’re struggling to ask?”
Dick shifted his weight awkwardly, “I guess so. Yeah.”
She raised her brow. “Haven’t you dated a literal alien before?”
“That’s not the same thing,” he defended with a glare.
“Oh, so as long as the alien is the same age as you, it’s fine?”
Dick really didn’t have an answer for that.
“It’s just that…aren’t you a little young for him?” Somehow he managed to leave out the rudeness in the question. That must be the Wayne charm.
“Isn’t 9 a little young to put on a costume and fight crime?”
Dick sighed, “Touché.”
“I am one of the most successful hackers in the world. He’s a vigilante who dresses up as a bat. What about us screams normal and conventional to you, Dick?”
He knew she had a point.
“Plus, we aren’t in a relationship. It was a one-time thing. Nothing more. It happened a long time ago.”
However, she conveniently left out the heated kiss they shared last night.
“You sure about that?” Dick challenged.
Y/N just eyed him.
“Because the only women he’s had one-time things with are the one’s he’s used or paid to keep the image.” He took a step closer. “And they definitely didn’t know who he really was.”
Y/N tried not to let it show that his words caught her off guard.
This exactly what Y/N didn’t want.
She didn’t want anyone putting ideas in her head that she actually meant something to Bruce Wayne. Because she might make the mistake of believing it.
It happened once. They slept together once. One time.
Had there been a indescribable intensity between them since then? Yes. But Y/N didn’t like to acknowledge or think about that.
“Can we please stop talking about this?” She asked.
Dick blinked and shook his head. “Sorry,” he blurted out. “I didn’t mean to…make you uncomfortable.”
Y/N put her face in her hands and groaned.
Then she shot to her feet and faced Dick. If he wasn’t a vigilante who could break the average man in one swift move, he would be intimidated by the energy radiating off of her.
“Hmm…I wonder why this conversation could ever make me feel uncomfortable, Dick,” her sarcasm was almost too natural.
Then her face dropped.
When her body language screamed that she was embarrassed, that’s when Dick felt like a piece of shit.
“Look, we’re not…” She didn’t even know how to explain this. “We’re nothing. OK?”
Dick nodded slowly, “OK.”
And he believed her. Because she believed it. Whether that was the truth though, that was an entirely different story.
“We met years ago because I threatened to expose his identity to the world.”
Dick blinked. “I’m sorry, what?”
Y/N at least had the shame to look guilty about it.
“You threatened him? You threatened Bruce Wayne? The man who dresses up as a bat and scares the shit out of the criminals of Gotham?”
“I didn’t plan on actually doing it!” Y/N tried to defend. “I needed to get his attention. And guess what, it worked.”
She pinched the bridge of her nose as she thought back in time. “I discovered a sex trafficking ring. I had all the information, everything to take it down. I just needed a little…muscle.”
“And you thought Batman could be that muscle,” Dick finished for her.
She nodded.
Then Dick looked at the all the equipment. Her story reminded him what she was fully capable of and why she was here in the first place. “How did you learn to do all of this?”
It was obvious that he was trying to change the subject and give her an out. But she let him still.
Y/N shrugged.
“Is this the part where you tell me about all your degrees from various Ivy League universities?” Dick teased.
“I didn’t go to college,” she told him evenly.
“You di–How is that even possible?”
“I don’t agree with institutionalized higher education.”
Dick rolled his eyes.
“Don’t roll your eyes at me,” she warned him. “You didn’t go to college either.”
Dick scoffed and crossed his arms. “Of course that’s old information to you. Is there anything that you don’t know about me?”
She smirked at his obvious frustration. “I don’t know your favorite color.”
Though she had been teasing him before, her confession was genuine. And her soft tone didn’t go amiss with Dick.
For a moment, Y/N didn’t think he was going to tell her.
“It’s red,” he told her softly.
“Hmm,” she was surprised. “I always assumed it was blue…because of the uniform and all.”
“Red was always the color of my family’s costumes.” He knew the answer was rather vague.
Y/N’s face turned sympathetic, “The Flying Graysons?”
Dick nodded.
Maybe it wasn’t so bad that she seemed to know everything about him.
“Red’s a good choice,” Y/N added with a sad smile.
But he realized what she was actually saying was her condolences. Somehow it was better than the forced and awkward “I’m so sorry” he constantly got.
Dick grabbed a chair and sat down to face her with such purpose.
“What else do you want to know?”
Y/N allowed herself to smile at the question.
“Everything.”
—————
Y/N got addicted to Dick’s openness.
Once Dick Grayson decided to trust someone…he really trusted them.
He didn’t hide himself from Y/N.
Unlike Bruce, Dick was easy to read. But Y/N knew that wasn’t the case for everyone. She saw the way Dick communicated with old team members or even on comms with his brothers.
But for Y/N, if she asked him something, Dick gave her the answer.
It was as simple as that.
There were no games, no hiding, nor withholding, not manipulation, no fear.
There was just Dick Grayson.
But Y/N also new he was capable of all of those things still. She’d seen him twist conversations and put the focus on the other person. He doesn’t seem to have any issue with blatantly lying. That’s when Y/N saw Bruce.
So why was she different?
————
“I can’t stay another second in this fucking house,” Y/N snapped one day.
They had just eaten dinner and were now sitting in one of the dens.
Dick laughed at her. “It’s not exactly a prison, Y/N. You’re in a mansion with everything you could ever need – and more.”
But this was the most time Y/N had spent in one place. She was always moving, always on the run. Yeah, she stayed in Gotham for the most part, but she missed the dangerous streets of the city.
“I’m not taking you out,” Dick gave her a warning look as he pointed at her.
“OK. First off, Bruce said nothing about me not being able to leave.”
Dick gave her a look that said, ‘How dumb do you think I am?’
“And if you were with me, then it’s fine. Right?”
“Y/N,” Dick groaned.
“And finally, I can do what I want,” Y/N added with a serious look.
“Sure you can,” he smirked.
But Y/N was being serious and she stood up. “I’m not his prisoner.”
Then she was headed toward the garage.
“No one said you were,” Dick called out after her.
He jumped in front of her, blocking her path.
“Y/N, you know more than anyone that The Court has eyes everywhere. Your face shows up on one street camera for a second and you’ll be tagged. They’ll follow you back here and then nowhere will be safe.”
“I know,” she answered as if it were obvious. “But we’re just going for a drive. Half of Bruce’s cars have tinted windows. And we’re going to take the backroads on the fringe. No street cameras. I doubt we’ll even see another car.”
Dick was adding up the risks in his head, calculating every possible outcome.
“Is Nightwing scared of what Batman will think?” Y/N teased.
Dick raised his eyebrow in amusement and crossed his arms. “Whatever game you’re trying to play…we both know I can play it better.”
She gave him the most innocent face.
Dick sighed. Was he really about to do this?
“Come on,” he told her.
“Really?” Y/N was shocked she got him to concede.
“But I’m driving. And we’re taking the bike,” he called over his shoulder as he turned on the lights of the garage.
‘Garage’ was an understatement. It looked more like a fancy warehouse that housed at least 20 cars and a dozen motorcycles.
“The bike?” Y/N questioned.
Dick chuckled. “What? You scared of riding motorcycles?”
Before she had the chance to answer, he pushed a helmet into her chest. It would fully cover her face and had a tinted visor shield on it.
“Need I remind you that this was your idea?”
Y/N glared at him and put on the helmet.
She watched a safe distance away as Dick started his motorcycle and revved he engine.
Even though she was wearing a helmet, he could still tell she was apprehensive.
“Come on,” he encouraged her gently before putting on his own helmet.
Slowly, she approached the motorcycle.
“Just swing your leg over – there you go,” he instructed.
Then he put on his helmet and Y/N realized there were comms linked between the two helmets so they could hear each other easily.
“Uhh…where do I–how do I hold on?” Her question stumbled out.
To her surprise, he didn’t verbally answer. Instead, Dick just reached behind him for her hands and placed them under his leather jacket and around his waist.
The contact felt strangely intimate. And Y/N hated that it made her heart race a bit faster. She hoped he couldn’t feel it as her chest bumped against his back. Hopefully he would just think it was her adrenaline and fear from the bike.
“Good?” He asked as he revved the engine again.
“I think so?”
Suddenly they shot out of the garage and raced down the long drive that led to the gate.
Y/N didn’t think Dick was going unusually fast, by any means. But the motorcycle made everything feel more extreme. She slowly started to put together why people liked riding them so much. It was a rush.
Dick did as he suggested and took backroads, avoiding any main streets or heavy-traffic areas. Which meant a lot of twists and turns.
But Y/N was surprised when he started to slow down and pulled onto a street that was just surrounded by forests. The sun had just set and the sky was colored pink and purple.
Dick turned off the bike when they reached a clearing. It was a meadow, with tall grass that moved like the ocean from the night breeze.
Y/N took off her helmet and grinned at the sight.
She turned to Dick, “Didn’t expect a city boy like you to know places like this…”
“City boy?” Dick looked insulted. “I was a traveling circus kid before Bruce took me in.” He looked out at the land, “This was one of our stops. We set up right over there,” he pointed to an open field where the ground was even and the grass was short.
Y/N’s face changed when she realized Dick had a connection to this place. It wasn’t just a stop off the highway. It meant something to him.
“Thank you,” she mumbled. It was hard to meet his gaze.
“For what?”
“Taking me here. For taking me anywhere, really.”
“Despite how enormous the manor is, it’s suffocating sometimes,” Dick tried to reason with her. “Has it really been so bad, being stuck with us?”
“No,” she quickly answered and took a step toward him. “How much time have you spent working with a team?”
Dick thought about it. “I mean, after leaving Bruce, I just went from one team to another. Even when I think I’m working alone, my family is always around the corner.”
Y/N gave him a sad smile, already knowing that would be his answer. “I never had that. It’s always just been…me.”
“Why?” Dick questioned.
He knew better than anyone that heroes found other heroes, whether they wanted to or not. And he knew from experience that a team had a stronger chance of changing the world for the better. Even Bruce gave up on being a lone warrior – despite him trying to believe he still is one.
“I don’t go after criminals that wear face paint and shoot guns, Dick. I go after the people that terrify others into silence and submission. I go after the people that most don’t even know we should be going after.” She shook her head. “It’s dangerous in a different way. And I never wanted to risk anyone else’s life but my own.”
“But when things go south, who’s got your back?” Dick challenged.
Y/N thought about it a moment and just shrugged.
Dick’s eyes saddened. “It doesn’t have to be that way, Y/N.”
She didn’t acknowledge his statement.
When there was a large gust of wind, Y/N closed her eyes as if it would help her body absorb the nature around them.
Dick allowed himself to take her in while her eyes were closed – all of her.
He still didn’t know so much about her past – what she’s seen, what she’s been through. But he felt like he understood her as a person. He saw how intelligent she was, how she explained things to Tim without sounding condescending or embarrassing him for not knowing. Or how patient she was with Damian when he was his bratty self, and she clearly saw his behavior for what it was: a child who didn’t know how to converse with normal people. And when Jason was a sarcastic smartass, Y/N gave it right back to him. Dick also didn’t miss how Y/N offered to help Alfred cook and clean up as if it wasn’t his job.
The moment Dick was having as he looked at Y/N was interrupted by his phone.
“100 bucks that it’s Bruce,” Y/N griped.
And when Dick pulled it out from his pocket, lo and behold, Bruce’s name was lit on the screen.
“Hello. Yeah, she’s with me. We just went for a drive. We’re heading back now.”
As soon as he hung up, Y/N asked, “Was he pissed?”
“He was extremely calm, which is probably not a good sign.”
But Dick didn’t seem too concerned with Bruce’s wrath. He’d grown out of that long ago.
“Come on,” he nodded to his parked motorcycle.
Y/N slid on the bike behind him with much more confidence and finesse this time. And there was no hesitation as she wrapped her hands around around Dick’s waist. He swore her grip was tighter too.
“Ready?” Dick still asked her.
But then his hand seemed to have a mind of his and slid over the grip she had on his waist, brushing across one of her hands almost…affectionately.
He didn’t even realize he did it until a few seconds afterward.
“Mhmm,” Y/N hummed.
The ride back was less peaceful. The sun had gone down and if they weren’t in view of Gotham’s city lights, they couldn’t see their surroundings. It also didn’t help that they knew they were returning to the manor to face Bruce.
When they parked inside the garage and turned off the engine, they both heard Bruce call Dick’s name from inside.
Y/N winced, but quickly recovered.
She squeezed Dick’s upper-arm. “Don’t worry. This is on me.”
Before Dick couldn’t argue and say he wasn’t scared of Bruce, Y/N was walking back into the manor.
“Need I remind you that you’re number one on The Court of Owls’ hit list?” Bruce told Y/N darkly.
He was wearing a black turtleneck and slacks. It was an off-duty look for him, but he still looked like he was in some sort of uniform.
“Dick had nothing to do with it,” Y/N defended calmly. “I threatened to photoshop nudes of him and sell them to TMZ and the Daily Mail.”
Bruce shared a look with Dick over Y/N’s shoulder, proving that he already knew Y/N had made no such threat.
“I’ll be in my lab,” Y/N announced, deciding to end the conversation before it could turn into a lecture or argument.
When she passed Bruce, Y/N turned around and gave Dick a grateful smile before mouthing, ‘Thank you’ to him.
Now it was just Bruce and Dick.
“If you want to lecture me, just get it over with,” Dick sighed.
“You know better,” Bruce answered.
“She was going to leave whether I went with her or not. I thought it was best to keep an eye on her. I wasn’t stupid about it, Bruce.”
“Don’t let it happen again.”
Dick glared at him. “We can’t keep her locked up here forever.”
“She’ll stay until we take down The Court. Until then, she’s at risk.”
Dick quirked an eyebrow. “Careful, Bruce. It’s starting to sound like you’re making this personal.”
But they both knew there was another meaning behind his words. Dick saw Bruce put together what he was really trying to say. ‘I know you two have a history. I know what happened between you.’
But Dick didn’t know what was happening now.
Bruce just glared at him and said, “I could say the same to you.”
Then he turned and left.
-----------------------------------------
Part III
Ooooooo. The drama!
Let me know what you think! Please 😔
#all men have limits#all men have limits chapter 2#bruce wayne x reader#bruce wayne reader insert#batman x reader#nightwing x reader#dick grayson x reader#dick grayson reader insert#batboys#batfam#dick grayson x reader x bruce wayne#Bruce Wayne x reader x dick Grayson
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i'm here to talk vanya :)
1. i don't think vanya has considered the harm it would do to her siblings when she published her book. one thing that stands out to me is how the hargreaves always thought the others had it better and failed to see their pain, luther thinking five was lucky to skip out on reginald's abuse and not taking his loneliness into account for example. in the same vein vanya thought she had it worst cuz she was left out, without considering the trauma her siblings were going thru. the tattoo scene demonstrated this mind-set quite clearly. so when she was writing that book, i don't think she knew just how much it would hurt her siblings, cuz she herself wanted desperately to get on that team.
2. a common theme with her three outbursts are betrayal. pogo, leonard and alison were all withholding information from her, the three people arguably the closest to her in S1. i think the reason why the fandom forgave her so easily for killing pogo and gave luther so much shit for locking her up is the reasons behind those actions. most ppl have experienced some sort of betrayal and the anger that followed, so it's easier to understand where she's coming from. luther for the last two episodes was being cold and calculating and extremely stupid, wanting to kill and abandon one of his siblings until the final scene, while this still makes sense from the character's pov, it's frustrating to watch as a viewer. (also i doubt vanya was fully aware when she was activating her power. when ben was inside her head in S2 she was crying in the corner asking "i'm doing it again aren't i", meaning she might not have full control over herself? and the younger version of herself that talked to her in the basement might be her darker side or whatever? idk but that would be my guess.)
3. i do agree that there is a bias towards vanya in the fandom, but i don't think it's totally unwarranted. when compared to her siblings vanya is the least calculating (maybe except for klaus) and while she did hurt ppl around her it's almost always not within her control (compare that to five or alison or luther) she is the most emotional amongst the siblings and that simply makes her more sympathetic. her story is also the easiest to relate to. very few of us know what it's like to live by ourselves for four decades or having to do substance abuse to shut out the dead, but most of us would at some point feel that we're not special enough, or that we're not loved by those around us. that might explain her popularity. that and Elliot Page.
thx for reading this. i want to hear ur thoughts.
When I saw this ask, my heart started beating real fast. I will try to properly answer each point.
1. I completely agree that Hargreeves have an annoying habit of undermining others' problems and thinking they had it better. E.g “You skipped out his golden years” ← Diego to Five. And yes, in the heat of the moment of writing the book she most definitely didn’t think about consequences. But if my math is correct, it was 5 years before the current time of the show. And yet, she still looked like a kicked puppy over it. And Diego was still maximally pissed off about it even after 5 years, so let’s assume what she wrote there was really beyond the line of decency. Even Ben was shocked to read it. And the unawareness of consequences does not excuse her. It is understandable but it doesn’t erase the fact she had no right.
2. Again, being hurt and acting out of betrayal and anger does not excuse her behaviour. I do completely get from where she was coming. However, if I in blind rage beat up someone, I would still be held accountable. Also it’s important to look at the way she killed Pogo and Leonard. That violence was and is part of her. Interesting thing you pointed out [and I will from now take in consideration] is that she might not be fully in control of herself in those moments. But it does not erase the fact she did it. And if we excuse Vanya killing Pogo out of hurt and betrayal, why don’t we excuse Luther for acting out of fear and unsureness? He did not lock her up out of malice but out of a drilled sense of need to protect his siblings. Vanya proposed a threat and he did not know better at the time. Yet you all were ready to crucify him and hug Vanya.
Also acting out of pain in a murderous way, I would like to point to Diego. Okay, he was not betrayed but he was hurt by Eudora getting killed. He sought revenge. Just like Vanya, we understand where he was coming from. But he did hold back at the end, not finishing off ChaCha. Vanya killed and slaughtered both Leonard and Pogo. There is no way to not acknowledge her darker side.
3. I do not agree on the fact she is the least calculating of the bunch. I would actually put her in third place. Following Five and Allison. Vanya seems timid and calm as long as everything goes her way. The moment it doesn’t? Shit happens.
Good example of it is the whole “Sissy and Harlan business.” Five very clearly explained to her why she can’t take them to present with her. And he did go out of his way to let her say goodbye. [even though it clearly caused him even more stress and there was no time for it].
What did she do? She ignored Five, stubbornly taking Sissy and Harlan with her and if they actually made it to the alley, I bet my ass she would fight Five in order to bring them along.
And I do get why a lot of people relate to her. Outsider, overlooked, undermined, neglected, shy to some degree. And she is empathetic. And she has the most relatable problems. BUT the moment someone crosses her, it’s over for them. And that needs to be taken into account. She is not harmless. She is not least dangerous. She does not need to be cooed. And surely she doesn't have to be so easily forgiven.
Your pain does not excuse your actions. You don’t get to play victim and hide after you do what you do. You don’t get to be a hypocrite.
I tried my best to explain my point of view. I’m sorry it took me so long.
#holy shit this took my 30 minutes at least#thank you anon this was amazing ask and challenging one#<3 really thank you#i loved answering this even tho i actually sweat! :D#umbrella academy unpopular opinion#umbrella academy ask#umbrella academy#the umbrella academy#vanya ask#umbrella academy vanya#vanya hargreeves#the umbrella academy vanya hargreeves#umbrella academy number seven#number seven#number five#the white violin#the boy#five hargreeves#TUA#TUA ask#TUA vanya#TUA five
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BnHA Chapter 296: Ngl, This One Pissed Me Off
Previously on BnHA: Deku was all, “p.s. I actually activated yet another quirk several chapters ago when Kacchan got stabbed.” Compress was all, “[gets captured and passes out].” Spinner was all “[rifles through Tomura’s pockets and slaps a random Charbroiled Hand onto his friend’s unconscious face].” Tomura was all, “SOMEHOW THAT ACTUALLY WORKED” and woke up again, except it wasn’t really him, it was everyone’s favorite Final Villain, AFO. AFO was all, “time to escape finally” and summoned a bunch of Noumu and Absconded with Spinner and the DabiMarble in tow. Skeptic was all, “Horikoshi forgot I existed, but I’m actually Absconding in marble-form as well.” Deku was all, “ATTENTION WORLD, I WOULD LIKE TO ANNOUNCE THAT I OFFICIALLY WANT TO SAVE SHIGARAKI TOMURA.” And then the arc just sort of ended lol.
Today on BnHA: Horikoshi is all, “but when you think about it, do we really need literally any female teachers at U.A. at all?” and for whatever reason doesn’t stop to wait for an answer. Midnight, who absolutely did not need to die, Dies, and I’m pissed about it. Ochako wanders the ruins of Jakku for what feels like hours, rescuing small children while her adult hero compatriots fall to pieces around her, because apparently the U.A. kids really are the only people who have their shit together. The citizens of Japan are all “damn that’s wild, wonder how fucked we are now,” but are actually super casual and chill about it which is oddly realistic. The chapter ends with AFO in Tartarus being all “lol time for the prison break arc,” without giving us so much as a chance to catch our breath, like holy shit. Are we on the clock or something now, goddamn.
lmao it’s like 7pm on a Sunday night and this is out already. this is like the worst possible timing lol. there goes my nice, relaxed evening. unless of course this turns out to be a nice, restful, soothing chapter, as chapters coming on the heels of traumatic, earth-shattering battles so often are. yeah, break out the Pina Colada song and the little drink umbrellas, I got a good feeling about this one
(ETA: I mean, I was obviously being sarcastic here but damn, Horikoshi.)
-- fff why did I laugh
it’s the crumbling city ruins in the background that really does it, I think. JUST LOOK AT THIS MESS THAT YOU HAVE MADE, EVERYONE. FOR SHAME
also, the title is dramatic af and I am so fucking excited you guys, like holy shit. BnHA’s In-Between arcs have always been my favorite part of the series, because it’s when all the character development and angst and/or catharsis happens. just, those little breathing spaces in between the action when everyone gathers to recuperate and compartmentalize their fresh new traumas lmao. bring on that angst!! but also, let’s please have some Comfort to offset all of this Hurt too, please and thanks
blah blah blah so the survivors were evacuated, good good, can you actually show us though?
AHHHHHHH
PIXIE BOB SURVIVED!!!! WASH IS STILL ALIVE LMAO HOW. THIRTEEN’S FACE, OMG SHOULD I LOOK AWAY. IS IT LIKE MANDALORIAN RULES. IDK HOW IT WORKS
HOW THE FUCK ARE THEY ALIVE. LOLS ANYWAY I’M HERE FOR IT. FEEL FREE NOT TO KILL ANYONE ELSE HERE HORIKOSHI, I THINK WE’RE GOOD
(ETA: it’s like talking to a brick wall.)
oh my god do we really need exposition about how the heroes tried to stop TomurAFO from escaping and OF COURSE failed completely because they suck lmao. oh my god I am shocked, that is such shocking news
wow they only managed to defeat three of the Noumus. holy shit. again, all of the Not-Kid Heroes are only slightly more useful than cardboard cutouts of heroes at this point, MORE AT ELEVEN
so Tomura may have lost the PLF, but he still more or less has an army then, huh. I really don’t know how anyone could expect a timeskip with that threat looming over everyone’s heads
oh nvm lol there are only seven Noumus left. wait so you’re telling me there were only ten Nearly High Ends in that last chapter?? felt more like fifty but whatever lol I’ll take your word for it
COMPRESS YAY YOU’RE ALIVE TOO
MAYBE THEY CAN EVEN REATTACH HIS ASS. I’M SERIOUS LOL, BECAUSE HE STILL HAS IT, DOESN’T HE? OR IF NOT, THEY CAN REBUILD HIM WITH A PROSTHETIC ASS. he’ll be more powerful than ever
WHAAAAAAT YEAH BOIIIII
WOOO, EDGESHOT, WOOOOO. THAT’S HIS WAY OF THE NINJA
YEAHHHHH SUCK IT, PLF
(ETA: for the record I don’t think Cementoss is dead here, just badly wounded. if he had died he would have been included in the forthcoming In Memoriam page along with the others.)
GET BENT LOL. TRUMPET I FOR REAL FORGOT YOU EVEN EXISTED. I NEVER WANT TO SEE ANY OF YOU LOSERS AGAIN PLEASE. ONLY INTERESTING CHARACTERS MAY PROCEED PAST THIS POINT
dsflksaldkh;l
that’s... holy shit. that’s a bigass mansion, that’s what that is. also so does this mean there are still eighty thousand PLF members still at large, because that’s a plot line I very much do not care about in any way whatsoever lol. can’t we just retcon to say that Re-Destro was exaggerating? I mean hell, a CEO criminal pulling some Enron-type bullshit is pretty believable, isn’t it? those poor bamboozled shareholders
“makeste, here’s an idea, what if you scrolled down to read the rest of the page” lol gtfo of here with your logic and your sense
well those 132 people have made it onto my enemies list, but at least it sounds like they more or less took care of the rest. good riddance
and Toga escaped, as we knew already, and is now on the lam. hopefully she reunites with the League again at some point. although her doing her own thing could also be very interesting. idk what I want lol
anyway so there’s another big panel showing how fucked up the city is, just in case it hadn’t already been hammered into our skulls yet. there’s a car dangling off a roof somehow. how does that even happen. did Machia pick it up and put it there or
NOOO OMG RANDOM SMALL CHILDREN IN PERIL WHAT IS THIS
OCHAKO PLEASE SAVE THEM OMG
“if it falls on me, I want you to have my Endeavor pouch” OH MY STARS. HIS MOST PRECIOUS POSSESSION. NO MY CHILD YOU CAN’T GIVE UP HOPE YET
LMAO
“FOR THE LAST TIME NOBODY CARES ABOUT YOUR DUSTY-ASS POUCH, KYLE” fffff these children are dying and I am cracking up so hard my eyes are tearing up what is wrong with me
YAY THEY SAVED THEM
but listen. not that I don’t love seeing the girls kick ass, because you know I do. but I also really, REALLY need to know what’s going down with the Musketeers, and I’m not looking forward to waiting three whole weeks for that so please Horikoshi. please hurry this along so we can get to them
goddamn it Tsuyu is saying she’ll take the boy to the shelter to get first aid, and I was all “okay great because that’s probably where Kacchan and the others are too”, but now someone else is shouting for help and Ochako’s all “I’ll go” and it’s like OKAY BUT PLEASE? this chapter is already more than half over omfg. ‘bout to start wringing some hands here
oh my god
is this Toga again??? WHAT THE HELL, THIS CREEPYASS HALF-DEAD DUDE BETTER BE LEADING UP TO SOMETHING INTERESTING, I AM REALLY GETTING IMPATIENT
OR, I GUESS, WE COULD DO THIS INSTEAD
“SO AS IT TURNS OUT, NOT EVERY CHARACTER WHO NEEDS HELP SAVING THEIR SPOUSE FROM FALLEN RUBBLE IS ACTUALLY TOGA IN DISGUISE” HUH, OKAY. DULY NOTED. FILED AWAY FOR FUTURE REFERENCE
but fucking... okay, look. I love Ochako, I do. but I like her a whole lot more when she’s interacting with other characters I actually care about, as opposed to running around in the rubble rescuing random people while the fate of my other children is still up in the air. like okay, I get it, shit’s bad, now if you don’t mind we really don’t have to spend all day here though
...anyways but nope, we’re still staying with her. she’s bouncing around rescuing all of these other people. omg. I literally have no patience here at all and it’s terrible, I know, but oh my god
omg finally something interesting is happening!!
look at that, an adult hero standing around being useless while the kids are busy getting shit done. why is this becoming a recurring theme
MY DUDE, THIS IS SERIOUSLY NOT THE TIME THOUGH
I GET THAT IT’S OVERWHELMING AND THAT YOU’RE TRAUMATIZED AND SHIT, BUT GUESS WHAT, SO IS EVERYONE ELSE. THAT’S WHAT YOU SIGNED UP FOR. JUST LOOK AT OCHAKO! SHE’S SO EXHAUSTED HER HAIR HAS EVEN LOST ITS FLOOF, AND YET SHE’S STILL OUT HERE DOING HER BEST. ONE SAVE AT A TIME MY MAN. GET IT DONE. LITERALLY A SMALL CHILD IN THE BOTTOM RIGHT CALLING FOR THEIR MOMMY AND YOU’RE JUST STANDING THERE ALL “WAHH IT’S TOO MUCH” LIKE COULD YOU PLEASE POSTPONE YOUR CRISIS UNTIL AFTER YOU SAVE THEM PLEASE
OH MY GOD
MAYBE YOU SHOULD!! oh my god I really cannot, like wow. oh no I actually have to save people and do my job, god forbid. jesus christ, at least the other heroes tried. but Moping Hero: Bellyache here is just throwing in the towel and fuck everyone who still needs his help I guess. you are like the anti-Deku my dude
OH MY GOD OH MY GOD NO OH FUCK
THAT’S MIDNIGHT’S HAND OH FU -- SHE BETTER NOT -- HORIKOSHI I SWEAR TO GOD --
I’M GONNA LOSE IT I REALLY AM!!!!
HOLY SHIT HOW INTENSE OF A RAGE DO I NEED TO BRACE MYSELF TO BE FEELING HERE. THIS CHAPTER WAS ALREADY TRENDING TOWARDS DISAPPOINTMENT, DO WE REALLY NEED TO GO AND COMPOUND THAT
WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON
you’re telling me Tomura wasn’t brought back by that electric shock, but by his “fuck you” attitude? why are you explaining this to us now, again??
......
HEY, SO UM, FUCK ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS, THOUGH. (: OH MAN. OHHHHHH MAN. I HAVE... I HAVE GOT A LOT OF WORDS FOR THIS AND HERE ARE SOME OF THEM
FUCK
THINGS THAT SHOULD BE IN THE DICTIONARY NEXT TO “SOME BULLSHIT”: THIS
FUCK
GET FUCKED HORIKOSHI
AND ALSO PLEASE FUCK RIGHT OFF!!
AND SERIOUSLY THOUGH FUCK YOU
NO BUT YOU KNOW WHAT THOUGH!! YOU COULD HAVE KILLED OFF ANYONE. LITERALLY ANY CHARACTER. YOU HAD TWELVE FEMALE PROS. TWELVE. YOU COULD HAVE MADE MORE OF THEM. PROBABLY, IF THERE ACTUALLY WERE SUPERHEROES IN REAL LIFE, THERE WOULD BE MORE THAN TWELVE OF THEM IN AN ENTIRE NATION. BUT NO, YOU WERE ALL “TWELVE IS MORE THAN ENOUGH.” AND THEN WHEN IT CAME TIME TO KILL PEOPLE OFF, YOU WERE ALL “WELL ALL RIGHT THEN, LET’S SEE, I PICK... THESE 18 RANDOM SIDE CHARACTERS WITH LITTLE TO NO DIALOGUE, PLUS THE ONE SINGLE FEMALE U.A. STAFF MEMBER WE ACTUALLY HAD. YEAH THAT OUGHTA DO IT”
AND BY THE WAY, HORIKOSHI, I PICKED SOMETHING UP FOR YOU ON MY WAY HOME, HERE IT IS, ┌П┐(・_・) do you like it it was on sale. I saw it and was like, “Horikoshi would really like that.” so there you go. sorry it wasn’t gift-wrapped
p.s. I hope y’all can tell that that’s supposed to be a middle finger and not... something else lmao. er. anyway
(ETA: so I got a few asks from people who were really put off by this part of the reaction post, and so I’m just adding an extra note here to make it clear that I do not actually wish harm on Horikoshi in any way or even particularly dislike him. I wasn’t happy about Midnight’s death and I wanted to convey that, and so I went with my usual LOUD CAPSLOCK REACTION tone, but looking back on it I can see that it’s kind of a lot, lol.
so just to be clear, the “fuck you” stuff is almost entirely tongue-in-cheek. that’s on me, I forget sometimes that there are people who share these sentiments unironically and so I didn’t think to make sure my intended meaning here was clear. anyways, killing Midnight was still a really problematic decision for numerous reasons but it is what it is. Horikoshi is not perfect, the story isn’t perfect, and I’m not gonna pretend like it is, but again just to be clear, I don’t harbor any actual ill will toward Horikoshi here.)
shit. and wow this man really went and killed off fucking Mystic too on top of that. have you ever seen a character fail so spectacularly at living up to their hype. r.i.p. Mystic you were like the Star Wars sequel of characters
(ETA: I have no fucking idea why I keep thinking Majestic’s name is Mystic lol. rest in peace you old scarecrowy bastard.)
and poor Momo, though. fuck. lost two mentors in a single day. and do not even get me started on Aizawa holy shit
so now we’re cutting to some random townspeople who are gossiping about the Todoroki drama. this is actually interesting in spite of my newfound determination to hate this chapter lol
ngl I am kind of heartened to see that not everyone fell for Dabi’s bs hook line and sinker though. Jeanist returning from the dead literally two seconds after Dabi was all “I SWEAR ON MY HONOR AS A VILLAIN THAT HAWKS MURDERED HIM” probably helped with that a bit! but there will doubtless be many other people who do believe him, or are at least still inclined to side-eye the heroes in general either way given how much they sucked in this arc. very, very interesting
so it seems though that even more than the whole Endeavor reveal, at the end of the day it’s going to be the heroes failing to live up to their end of the “put your faith in us and let us use our quirks and in return we’ll protect everyone and keep them safe” implied social contract that’s going to have the biggest impact on people’s opinions moving forward. basically this was always going to be a disaster no matter what
OH MY GOD FINALLY AHHHHH
Horikoshi really tapped into some of the real-life political energy of the past few years huh. Fuck Him Still for killing off Midnight, but I will admit that so far this is hella intriguing and I am really, really curious to see where things go from here
OH MY GOD THE LITTLE KIDS FROM THE BABYSITTING ARC
“FIVE PEEPEE MAN WOULDN’T LIE TO US” YES CHILDREN YOU’RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT. at least the little ones still have faith
UM
( •̀ へ •́ )
that’s great. that’s really keen. all we need right now, amirite
GOOD FOR YOU, YOU PIECE OF SHIT
let’s just wait for him to explain what he feels. you know he likes to drag it out
is that Dabi crouched down there next to Spinner? looks like they got him out of the marble after all. but why has his hair changed colors again lol what
anyways. your turn to what??
:’) excuse me what
hahahaha are you fucking kidding me. and that’s where we’re going to end the chapter then. lol okay
so let’s recap. Midnight died. we spent ten hours watching Ochako dig people out of rubble for no apparent reason and were then introduced to my new least favorite character, and because Ochako is so nice she didn’t even punch him in the face even though she really should have. we did not get any Kacchan or Shouto. we got one panel of Deku, who is Finally Asleep. and the chapter ended with AFO ordering his Noumus to go set free, AND I QUOTE, HIS “MAIN BODY.” and now I gotta wait an entire week for Caleb’s translation to confirm that last part. omg
but it sounds like a prison break is imminent, which is very, very interesting. ...and actually, is it weird that I’m actually rooting for it to be a success? I have no idea what this guy is planning, but I do know that as long as the main part of his soul is still residing in Tomura’s body, Tomura’s chance of surviving the series is close to zero. and villain though he may be, I’m still rooting for his redemption (nice to have Deku on my side now too), and so yeah. so like if AFO feels like using some latent Exorcism Quirk or something that he’s been saving for just such an occasion, be my guest lol
meanwhile this doesn’t bode well for All Might though. or anyone else aside from Tomura, really. shiiiit
anyway. [slaps roof of chapter] this baby can fit so much bullshit in it
#bnha 296#midnight (bnha)#uraraka ochako#all for one#bnha#boku no hero academia#bnha spoilers#mha spoilers#bnha manga spoilers#makeste reads bnha#sorry this took so long to post lol#I really need to learn to add an extra 2-3 hours to any time-sensitive estimates I make#anyways
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Warning: Blood mention, Injury mention, Spoilers from Manga.
Fandom: My Hero Academia
Characters: All For One, All Might!Daughter Reader, Toshinori Yagi, Izuku Midoriya.
Word Count: 12,069
[ I present to you the long awaited part two of the All For One request. The first part is located here. I know there was an ask that I had received that requested a part two. I have no idea what happened to it. But, regardless. I hope you enjoy, I also hope the length makes up for the long wait. As usual, please excuse any spelling errors. ]
[ It’s been over a year since you agreed to become All For One’s successor. Your disappearance baffled those you used to hold dear, including your classmates and your father. However, under All For One’s guidance. You learned to channel all your hatred into one goal. Though wanting to kill Izuku Midoriya and your father seems a tad irrational. Your mind is too far gone to believe otherwise. The destruction that follows would prove to be one that hero society wasn’t prepared for. ]
The story of the missing UA student went viral almost overnight, there were several internet articles, even theories revolving around your sudden disappearance. Every news station in Japan did some type of report on it, the police were involved in several investigations which caused the UA campus to be littered with authority figures. Each one trying to gather clues that would lead up to a possible explanation for your disappearance. The hospital staff was asked several questions as well, such as when you were brought in, and if anyone had seen you leave.
The records showed you were not released from the hospital, so that led most conspiracy theorists to conclude something like you had been abducted or someone had used their quirk on you which effectively made you vanish from existence. But, the biggest surprise was your father, Toshinori Yagi also known as All Might, expressing his concern for you. However, what shocked the world most was when he revealed that you were his daughter. You found the confession pathetic. Truth be told, it had been over a year since your disappearance and part of you wondered if anyone even thought about you.
If your father felt any remorse knowing he was the cause of your disappearance. Given the pain and anger he had caused you, it was what he deserved. You should have had One For All passed down to you, but no. Your father chose someone so unworthy, so unfitting. Izuku Midoriya was now your sworn enemy and you wanted to see him and your father fall. All For One promised he would assist in your goal. It was almost amusing, your father’s worst enemy helping you. Treating you like an equal, believing in you. Acting more like a father figure than your actual father.
Still, the day after you agreed to become his successor, he introduced you to the League of Villains. You knew they were small in numbers, but you learned rather quickly that Tomura Shigaraki was not to be messed with. His psychotic drive to rule over the hero world and cast it into darkness was scary, but the fact that nothing would stop him from his goal was admirable. It almost inspired you, though when you first met him. He threatened to kill you, especially knowing your connection to All Might. He argued that no purebred hero, one who carried All Might’s DNA, should be deserving of becoming All For One’s successor.
You came to understand that All For One had adopted Tomura when he was a child, apparently, he had no where else to go. He was a lonely orphan and All For One took him under his wing. However, he seemed to know that Tomura desired to go down his own path as opposed to the one All For One laid out for him. Which led him to find someone else that would step into the position and effectively destroy All Might and his successor, Izuku Midoriya. That, someone, happened to be you and he knew you wouldn’t disappoint him. You had also met Dabi, Toga, Twice, and Mr.Compress.
You found Dabi to be rather standoffish while Toga was the exact opposite. It was strange having someone latch onto you and immediately go off about how happy they are to make a new friend. Mr.Compress was more polite than anything, but you got the feeling he didn’t exactly like dealing with kids. Twice was...an interesting character, who immediately treated you like you were a member of the family. But, you didn’t get to spend much time with anyone. All For One took it upon himself to immediately start your training, at first it was simple.
Running trails to assess your current ability, considering your father’s quirk wasn’t genetically passed on. Still, your quirk was impressive nonetheless. You had some extra physical strength and you could momentarily fly if you kicked off the ground hard enough. It wasn’t an aspect of your quirk that you normally used, considering you preferred being on the ground. You had tactical intellect, but you were a little slow when it came to using it in the heat of battle, and that disappointed All For One. Still, he found your skills impressive enough and fairly warned you how intense the training would become.
Warned that even if you were battered and bruised, you had to continue. You had to stand up on your feet again. At first, you thought he was exaggerating, but your assumption was wrong. As the training continued, you were beaten until you were a bloody pulp. All For One insisted it was to better yourself, to make you faster, quicker, sharper. More violent, more determined. You had to give him credit, just as he promised. He would show you more love than your own father, he’d always pull you into his arms after every training session.
No matter how much blood covered your person, he’d run his fingers through your unruly hair and whisper how proud he was of you and once again remind you that you were his successor. That all this pain and training would be worth it in the end. Six months in, All For One introduced you to the miracle that was his quirk. “My young successor, you’ll be more powerful than you know. I will give you a copy of my power when you finally prove yourself to me. For now…” you’d never forget how he reached out and the pain that coursed through your body as soon as his fingers touched your face.
You fell to your knees, clenching your jaw as All For One generously transferred one of his quirks to you. It was almost as though your body couldn’t handle the sudden surge of limited power, you swore you felt your heart stop just before blacking out. All For One seemed most forgiving as he understood the limitations of quirks to one's body, but made it clear he still expected the best from you. It was a strange feeling, possessing another one’s quirk and learning how to use it, what triggers made it click or appear.
You couldn’t help but think back to Izuku, was this the way he felt when your father passed One For All to him? You had to admit, it was a challenge. But, All For One insisted on intensifying your training. Believing that the added stress would quicken your quirk ability. Come 9 months, he bestowed another quirk onto you and he was rather pleased how well you received it. Unlike before, you didn’t blackout. Despite the toll the quirks took on your body, you were more than grateful to All For One and continued down your path as his successor.
Come 12 months, you had mastered your gifted quirks and learned to control them alongside your birth quirk. You knew it was finally time to unleash your anger, you would locate Izuku Midoriya and finally prove to your father just how worthy you were. All For One had gotten you a special outfit just for the occasion, you thought it was strange at first. Seeing as it resembled the suit that he normally wore, the same aspect went for the mask that was a part of the getup as well. The rest of your costume consisted of a long-sleeved shirt, made of a special material that would allow better movement and usage of your quirks.
That same material made up your pants and on your feet were heavy boots which All For One insisted would better keep your balance and cause more damage if you chose to use your kicking power. You took a deep breath, it was funny. You could barely recognize your reflection in the mirror and your mind was busy replaying the past year. Your memories of the first year at UA and the hospital where All For One convinced you to become his successor. You had changed so much since that simple time, not only was your heart blackened. You had physically changed as well, both because of the quirks All For One gave you and his training.
You had gained an impressive amount of muscle and learned how to shut off certain emotions. Despite that, you could hear that small voice in the back of your head ‘Is this the right thing to do?’ you shook your head. Of course it was, this is what you wanted from the very beginning. You nearly gasped when a hand grabbed your shoulder and watched as All For One’s reflection appeared alongside yours. You could tell there was a smile on his face before he leaned down next to your ear, “You look beautiful my successor,” he said before leaning up, you swallowed hard when you felt his hand run through your hair.
The image of your father doing the same popped into your head, and you couldn’t help but close your eyes. “Thank you,” the words were whispered, maybe you were a little anxious for whatever happened next. Still, you turned around, looking at All For One with a determined glance, “What now? I want Izuku Midoriya to fall, you promised you would help me achieve that,” you said with a hiss and your fists tightened as All For One laughed, was he mocking you? “Now, now…” he reached out, once more running his fingers through your hair.
“All in good time, be a good girl and do as I instruct and Izuku Midoriya will fall into your lap,” he promised, knowing that you were growing rather impatient. You had waited for this day, and he was rather eager to watch you cause destruction. In addition to knowing it would cause pain to All Might, which he particularly favored. The only remaining detail was how to get Izuku Midoriya to come to you. There were many ways you could do this, including pretending to be a civilian who needed help and have the unsuspecting hero run after you. Perhaps corner him and pounce.
But, All For One suggested something a little more traumatizing, you’d reveal yourself to Izuku and the world all at once. After all, the game of cat and mouse was quite entertaining. The well-known fact about luring Izuku to you was that All Might, the former symbol of peace, would no doubt follow. So, you were rather happy knowing there was a chance you’d be able to take both of them out. “Very well, when do we start?” you questioned and watched as All For One smiled, which was something you were more or less used to. He then turned, raising his hand.
You were a tad confused when he motioned you to follow him, but you knew better than to disobey his order. Regardless if it was a verbal command or not. You trailed behind him, exiting the rather gloomy room that had been your bedroom for the last year. You walked down a darkened hallway and the only source of illumination was coming from a nearby elevator that you stepped into with All For One. You remained quiet as he pressed a button and the elevator began going up. You pressed yourself against the nearest wall and almost shyly glanced at the man.
The one who took you in, the one who trained you, the one who was helping you essentially get revenge on the ones that hurt you. Once more you felt your stomach twist and tried to push the small sense of guilt down. No, your father and Izuku deserved this. They deserved it. Your thoughts were shattered when you felt a hand come to rest on the top of your head, you jumped in surprise and All For One chuckled. “Thoughts bothering you again?” he questioned and you parted your lips to answer, but ended up glancing to the side.
“Hm,” he frowned and reached down to grab your chin. You hissed as he forced your head up and wrapped your hand around his wrist. Despite the fact All For One had no eyes, you couldn’t help but widen yours in fear. His grip was menacing and it only reminded you that if he truly wanted, he could easily kill you anytime he pleased. “Do not let guilt rule you, I have taught you better than that. Focus on your goal and only your goal,” he reminded you yet again before releasing your jaw, you could feel your skin lightly throb and partly wondered if he had left bruises.
Yet, small bruises meant nothing in comparison to the numerous injuries you had received throughout your training. When the elevator finally stopped and the doors opened, you followed All For One out and realized you were on the rooftop overlooking part of the city. Though it looked far away and the sun was setting which caused the buildings to illuminate, you could make out the lighted windows and a nostalgic feeling came over you. A powerful gust of wind came and carried your hair with it, oddly enough you recalled a memory.
Yes, you and your father had done this. Though you had to admit, your father was a tad odd and not the brightest when it came to educating children. Still, somehow or another he convinced you to join him on the rooftop of UA, something that you thought was against the rules. But, it was shortly after you had gotten into the hero course. It seemed like a lifetime ago now, but you recalled the way your father smiled and proceeded to tell you to do your best. Your hands curled into fists, that was the only real advice he ever gave you and now he’d be paying for it.
Your best was never good enough for the symbol of peace. You took a deep breath and walked over to the edge of the building, laying your hands on the cold metal railing. All For One remained standing behind you, uncharacteristically quiet. You partly wondered if he was waiting for you to speak or simply enjoying the sunset. Still, you turned to him with narrowed eyes. “When can I finally-” he held his hand up to silence you, “I said to be a good girl, I brought you up here to observe,” you raised your eyebrow and turned back to the distant city.
“Observe what!?” you exclaimed, arms out and hands moving all around as if something interesting would actually happen. All For One chuckled and laid his hand gently on your shoulder, “Look at the city, how quiet it is,” he began. You blinked, “Yeah?” you wondered where he was going with such a statement, “Imagine the chaos that will occur once you bring Izuku Midoriya down, you will be able to take this city. Crush anyone who dares oppose you, this is my gift to you,” he explained as his hand reached up to grab your chin, he was less forceful this time and gently turned your head.
You wore a blank expression as you stared at him. He remained silent except for the smile on his face, “Now,” he released your chin, “enjoy the moments prior to your victory, you start tomorrow,” he said as he turned to walk back to the elevator. Your eyes widened and you quickly spun on your feet, “T-Tomorrow?” you questioned, your voice coming off as clueless and rather shaky. He told you to wait and be patient only to tell you that your plans will be set in motion tomorrow? It didn’t make a lot of sense to you, however, you recalled being taught that villains were dangerous and their radical way of thinking often drove them to the point of madness.
Thus why a hero always had to be careful when facing a potentially dangerous threat, many heroes lost their lives to carelessness and this time, it would be Izuku Midoriya. The thought alone brought a smile to your face and you quickly adjusted your mask before following All For One into the elevator. “Tomorrow,” you whispered as the doors closed behind you. The following night was calm, though you couldn’t help but feel a sense of happiness as you laid in bed. All For One usually checked on you every hour or so.
You recall he did it more when you first agreed to become his successor. You assumed he checked on you to ensure you hadn’t escaped or were trying to. But, after a while, it turned into something that he did out of care and in a way, it helped you sleep. When you woke, you went through your normal morning routine which included getting ready for the day, eating something, and your usual training session which lasted until noon. After that, All For One ordered you to get into your costume which you happily did and once you were ready.
You followed him to the rooftop. “I assume you remember the plan, my successor,” you took a deep breath, the world seemed so still around you. “Mmhm,” you responded with a nod, but your eyes remained focused on the city landscape. A moment of silence filled the air before you climbed onto the railing, perfectly balanced. “Go,” All For One gave the single command and you jumped like a perfect obedient puppy.
But damn, you couldn’t help but feel alive as you descended toward the ground below. The wind whipped through your body like paper, your hair blew everywhere, and yet you felt utterly weightless. As you prepared to land, you angled your body just so and activated one of the quirks, All For One was generous enough to give you Forced Quirk Activation. This caused black jagged limbs to extend from your palm, you also had the option to use your fingers. Normally this quirk was reserved to activate others' quirks against their will, but it could be doubled as a weapon of sorts.
Easily piercing through human flesh, among other things. Either way, it proved useful as it split the pavement below. You clenched your jaw as a small pain radiated through your hand but you ignored it. More than likely, it was a sign that your body was continuing to try and reject your gifted quirks. You knew that a quirk was essentially an evolution of the human race and if you were special, you were gifted with more than one. An example of this was your old classmate, Shoto Todoroki. Ice and fire were his gifts.
His body was capable of handling those quirks while your body was merely a test dummy. But, you didn’t care. The pain was only a reminder of your goal, you focused your attention forward and continued to move. Surely you were noticeable and rather scary as you continued to close the distance between yourself and the city. As one would expect, as soon as civilians saw you overhead, they began screaming. This effectively caught the attention of the authorities, but they weren't worth your time.
Still, it was rather annoying watching as the cops scattered and barked commands into their radios. Your eyes narrowed as you continued down the crowded streets of Tokyo, more jagged limbs grew from your shoulders which gave your palm a rest. You paused a moment and looked at the lines of blood which dripped from your palm and seeped down to your wrist. “Worth it…” you muttered just as a few police cars sped toward you. The glare from their flashing lights irritated your vision.
Did they truly have to make such a scene? You were merely looking for something or rather someone. But, this was the ignorance of the hero world. Even if you were being “innocent”, merely on a stroll. They had to interfere with your business. You narrowed your eyes as one officer stepped forward and through their megaphone commanded you to surrender. You glanced at the pathetic barricade of police cars they had formed, did they truly think such a thing would stop you?
You couldn’t help the chuckle that left your lips and gave a wicked smile, “I’m just looking for someone, but if you’re going to be difficult…” you trailed off and raised your hand. You could feel vibrations course through your fingertips before a powerful air shock wave came. You watched in amusement as the city vibrated, almost like an earthquake. Causing the pavement to crack and the windows of the police cars to shatter violently. The nearby buildings seemed to shake, cracks appearing across their structure and broken windows.
As expected, the display of your power caused a panic. A single scream pierced through the air before civilians began to run to safety. Pushing each other down in an attempt to save their own life, pathetic. Yet, it somehow made you smile. In the distance, you could hear the sound of a helicopter. More than likely coming to do a report on your attack on the city. You’d deal with them later, instead, you retracted those jagged limbs and fell to the cracked street below. Landing on your knee with your arm outstretched to support you.
The civilians who were still running made sure to evade you as you locked your eyes on the remaining authority figures. At least some of them were brave enough to keep standing, did they think they were being heroic by living up to their duties? That was pathetic, however, you noticed one of them was standing in front of the others. More than likely the chief, the ones that stood behind him had their guns up and pointed in your direction. Rather a foolish thing to do when innocent lives were rushing around.
The heavy feeling of fear continued to linger in the air which only made your next set of words, somewhat terrifying, “Please, don’t be foolish.” you could see they were all shaking which caused those guns to tremble as well, you half expected one of them to fire theirs prematurely. But then again, surely they were too frightened to properly use those guns. But, you thought taking care of them first would be best. So, without hesitation, you held your palm out, and once more those air shockwaves came.
You didn’t care if they got injured as a result, nor that sickening crack that followed as their bodies hit the ground. Several gunshots sounded, more than likely triggered by their harsh impact. Luckily no bullet hit you. Yet, the chief seemed to have taken less damage. Having been thrown against one of the police vehicles, causing the driver door to get dented in and it appeared their arm was bleeding. More than likely from the shattered glass of the window. They seemed disorientated for the moment. But, that didn’t stop you from approaching them.
You leaned close and with a happy smirk on your face, you spoke, “Scared? Don’t worry, I won’t kill you...yet,” without warning, you wrapped your fingers around their neck. Your nails sunk into the flesh of their throat and you chuckled as they weakly reached up to try and claw at the back of your hand. But mere scratches didn’t bother you. A growl sounded before you pulled them forward and menacingly looked them in the eye. “I’m looking for Deku,” you growled, “Give him to me or...well, I won’t be responsible for my actions,” the sound of that helicopter grew louder and you glanced up.
You could clearly make out the members of the local news crew, and the reporter that was hanging out the open doors. Microphone shoved in their face, more than likely dribbling nonsense. How about that, you would be on the news. You partly wondered what they were saying: “This just in, All Might’s missing daughter on villainous rampage. Looking to kill or severely injure a certain bastard that stole her father’s attention away.” Did that sound too selfish? Well, too bad. Actually, “Hm…” you continued to look at the helicopter, perhaps you could use them to your advantage.
You chuckled softly before releasing your hold on the cop’s throat. They dropped to the ground like the pathetic scum they were. However, your eyes remained locked on the helicopter and you shifted your feet just so. Your arms were by your sides and your palms were facing down. The surge of pain came as those limbs reappeared and lifted you into the air, you stretched your legs out and maneuvered your hands. Once more using the gifted quirk to thrust yourself upward from a building roof.
Your world blurred for a moment, but you knew you were heading straight toward that helicopter and yet again used your quirk to piece through the blades of it, effectively causing it to spin out of control. You could hear alarms going off as the pilot tried to regain control and the news crew hung onto the emergency handles for dear life. Your body was thrown around like a ragdoll, however, you once more used your quirk. You positioned one of your hands so it was facing the ground below and your fingers morphed into small jagged appendages that you used for leverage to steady yourself.
In one motion you pulled your arm back and fell toward the city below. You couldn’t help but grin as you watched the helicopter spin and crash into a series of buildings. Causing several explosions, would be a shame if someone was actually in those buildings. More than likely they would have died from the impact alone. But, whether or not anyone was alive, wasn’t your concern. You dropped to the ground once again, noticing the street was now covered in dirt among the crumbled pieces of building and broken glass.
You quickly made your way to the location of the fallen helicopter, noticing the way it had landed. On its side, the metal blades bent and broke, and the wires underneath it sparked. You could make out the news reporters however, seemed they were injured but more than capable of moving. You slowly approached, watching as they helped each other out of the helicopter and onto the street. You noticed one of them was still holding the camera and you pointed your finger at them. “You…” the word left your lips ominously and it was almost entertaining to watch their heads turn and the look of fear come to their eyes when they saw you.
“Point that camera at me,” you demanded with a menacing growl as you curled your bloody hand into a fist. Perhaps you were overusing the Forced Activation Quirk, even so. You weren’t willing to die until you faced Izuku Midoriya. “NOW,” you demanded before stomping your foot, which caused the ground to shake underneath you. The news reporters cowered and you watched as the individual hesitantly hoisted the camera onto their shoulder, you could see a faint red light blinking on the side of it. Good, that meant there was a chance you could get your message through.
“Are we live?” you questioned in a gitty fashion. “Regardless…” you pointed at the camera, “My name is Y/n, daughter of the former symbol of peace, All Might. Yes, shocking isn’t it? I am here to settle a score of sorts, take something back that was mine. I am calling you, Izuku Midoriya. Come face me or...well, perhaps I could have fun killing off more civilians, burying their bodies under the remains of the buildings. Your call…” you chuckled before signaling them to drop the camera. “Hopefully, he makes the correct choice,” you muttered before activating Airwalk, a quirk that allowed you to levitate in midair.
It was almost entertaining, looking down at everything. You chuckled as you watched the news reporters scamper to safety. You took note the police officers had vanished as well. You were more than certain no pro hero would try to interfere now that you had made it clear what you wanted, and considering the damage you already did. It would be unwise for any hero to try and step in. You had established yourself as a threat and a very fearful one at that. In the distance you could see more flashing lights and crowds of people, more than likely the authorities were closing off this section of the city. Which was an impressive move or rather a smart one.
You chuckled and reached up to adjust your mask, you wondered if All For One was proud of you. He was always so gentle with his words, always encouraging or speaking to you kindly. You wondered if there was a possibility All For One enjoyed playing the role of a parent. You knew very little about his past, apart from the fact he had a brother who was seemingly quirkless. Regardless, you had never felt more encouraged in your life and you’d make him proud. Still, you couldn’t help but feel a tad bored.
“Mm…” you reached up, tapping your cheek before taking a struggled breath. Was it growing difficult to breathe? You could feel your heart racing inside your chest, was that from adrenaline or happiness? Well, you’d find out. You could see some buildings were left undamaged, time to change that. You grinned and raised your arm, feeling your skin tingle and expand as you used Air Cannon again.
The ground vibrated and you watched as the buildings that once stood tall came crashing down. It was satisfying to watch the city fall piece by piece. You let out a sigh as you lower yourself back to the ground, taking a few steps forward. Being careful to avoid tripping over your feet or over any garbage that was in your way. You paused momentarily when you thought you heard something, at first you thought it was your imagination. But, you quickly realized it was someone calling for help. Oh dear, was someone trapped under the rubble?
A hum sounded in your throat as you followed the noise, surprised to see an opening within one of the ruined buildings. You carefully stepped over the metal rods and glass, up a pile of dirt to look inside the dimly lit opening. Sure enough, you could see someone laying on the ground. They were dripping blood from their forehead and it appeared like their leg was trapped under something, maybe a metal beam. You weren’t sure, and frankly, you didn’t care. Still, you thought it was rather foolish of them to call out to you of all people for help.
You could only chuckle, “Of course, I’ll help. Death is an easy solution,” the words came off your tongue with a purr and you lifted your arm once more. However, you paused and looked out of the corner of your eye. You could barely make out the green streaks, more so you could barely dodge. Your ears rang as Izuku screamed your name, but you were too busy literally bending over backward. Your eyes widened as the world slowed down and you could clearly see Izuku’s fist gliding past your face.
The impact that followed caused your mask to fly off. Where it landed, you didn’t particularly care. You stumbled back, your facial features twisted with disgust and anger. Your hair had bits of dirt and blood in it and hung lazily in your face. “Izuku…” you growled, though you were a little shocked to see him handling that quirk without breaking any bones. Had he finally learned how to control it? Damn, you missed a lot.
But, you had trained under All For One himself. You had multiple quirks and there was no way Izuku could beat you, yes...One For All was powerful. But, in the wrong hands like Izuku’s, it would prove worthless in battle. This is the only thing that gave you some confidence as you walked over to him, he was on one knee with his hand pressed against the cracked pavement. You imagined several pro heroes, including Endeavor and Best Jeanist were standing around, unable to do anything but pray that Izuku could stop you.
“Did dear old father come with you?” the question left your mouth in a teasing tone. However, a moment later your hands curled into fists and Izuku stood back on his feet. You had to admit, perhaps he had gotten taller and you could clearly see he gained more muscle. “Of course he came…” you hissed out, “Anything to protect his dear little, Izuku. Yet, he would never do ANYTHING for me!!!” you screamed, ignoring the way your throat strained. You could feel your eyes water, must be the dirt.
Izuku didn’t seem entirely phased by your words and only shook his head. Lowering his defenses a moment, you could see those familiar lightning-like streaks disappear. “Y/n…” he began, his eyes focusing on the ground, more specifically your feet. “You disappeared...a year ago, I…I w-was so worried something b-bad might have...happened to y-you…” his hand reached up, pressing against his chest. However, you rolled your eyes. “You damn well remember what happened in that hospital a year ago!” you snapped, accusingly pointing your finger at Izuku.
He only narrowed his eyes, “What happened to you, Y/n?! Why did you come back?! O-Only...only to c-cause this much d-destruction?! T-This isn’t you...y-you’re a...you’re a hero!” the very word made you gag, hero. Sure, a hero whose father ignored her and chose someone else to pass his quirk to. Cared for someone else more than his own flesh and blood, someone who kept the fact you were his daughter a secret. Some hero. “Don’t insult me,” you spoke in a low voice, you highly doubted you were ever actually a hero.
Back when you could still call yourself innocent, you had only wanted to become a hero to please your father. You wanted so much to be like him and have people look up to you. Well, they looked in fear now. Either way, you were getting the attention you so desired and no doubt people would be talking about you for years to come. “I-I’m not insulting! I t-thought something bad r-really had happened! T-To see you...here...p-part of me...just w-wants to hug you and...a-and make everything better!” you let out a frustrated growl and that Forced Quirk Activation came to surface.
Your fingers morphed into those menacingly dangerous limbs and they were aimed at Izuku. However, you might have underestimated just how quick of a reaction time he had. The dagger-like limbs embedded themselves into the pavement, instead of Izuku’s body like you had originally wanted. “Hm, and here I thought you were going to make this boring!” you snapped and quickly raised your other arm, once again those limbs came out and you smiled as you watched Izuku’s eyes widen.
He had jumped to avoid your attack and now he was falling through the air. But, it almost looked as though he were hovering, more than likely thanks to that quirk of his. The one that should have been yours, perhaps that saying could finally die along with Izuku and possibly your father. If you were lucky enough for that. ‘I won’t be able to dodge in time, but I’m sure this will work. Just have to wait for the right moment…’ Izuku thought as your quirk closed its distance. Once in range, Izuku held up his hand and you could hear a snap.
“What the hell!?” your arms instantly went up, shielding yourself from the dust and glass that was a backlash result of Izuku’s action. Your foot went back, trying to steady yourself from getting blown away. Damn it, you had to do something. Regardless of where Izuku was, more than likely he had hit the ground by now which meant you had a chance of hitting him if you used Air Cannon. You cleared your mind and extended your arm out, once more that familiar painful tingle came as the pressure built.
A moment passed before you finally released it, the ground around you cracked and fell apart. The surrounding buildings already bent, came crashing to the ground and their impact only added to the strong vibrations from your quirk. Izuku had indeed touched the ground just before it began to shake violently, his only option was to jump yet again. Believing your quirk wouldn’t reach him the sky, however, he mistakenly believed that your quirk was causing earthquakes as opposed to airwaves.
He let out a cry when his body was hurled back and you could hear the loud crash as he collided with part of a building. You couldn’t help the smirk that came to your face as you walked over, seeing the dust cloud from where he had made an impact. As it cleared you could see his body lying there, his arms stretched out as well as his legs. There were some cuts on his person, and you hadn’t taken into account that Izuku wasn’t in his hero costume.
His legs were exposed because of the shorts he wore and they were covered in a thin layer of blood and dirt. “It’s a shame you had to make me go and do this Izuku Midoriya, but All For One seemed to have thought it best. Unlike my father, he’s rather encouraging when I fail. Not that I will when it comes to killing you. But first, I’d like to have a little fun,” you chuckled, despite the line of tears dripping down your cheeks. You raised your arm and your fingers morphed, this time you’d pierce him with your quirk and you’d enjoy watching his reaction.
You couldn’t tell if he was conscious or not, but it was almost pathetic how easily he seemed to be defeated and by a simple airwave, no less. Well, it didn’t matter. You smiled as you watched those jagged limbs pierce through Izuku’s flesh and it seemed to jolt him back into reality. His back arched as he let out a scream which was music to your ears. You had pierced through both his shoulders, his legs, and his stomach. Sounds painful, but this particular quirk wasn’t known to cause much, if at all, any pain.
It was simply a way to force one’s quirk to activate against their will and it was a delight watching Izuku struggle as his body illuminated and One For All appeared. Surrounding his body in that almost cosmic energy, “How does it feel, Deku? I only wish this quirk could cause you pain. Does it feel uncomfortable when your quirk is activated and you’re not the one in control? Yeah...that’s similar to how I felt throughout last year, always watching you with my father. Using the quirk he bestowed onto you instead of his own blood!” Maybe that’s another reason why All For One had chosen you because you each shared a want to have One For All to yourself.
Still, you had never once imagined you’d get so much happiness out of watching Izuku struggle, his cries growing louder. His body moving every which way despite the minor cuts that scattered across his body. It must be so uncomfortable to wiggle your body like that when on top of a pile of rubble, not that you cared. No, you were enjoying the show at least for the few blissful moments it was occurring. Your eyes narrowed when you noticed a dark circle beginning to grow on Izuku’s stomach, it almost looked like a black hole.
“What the hell…” you muttered before suddenly blackness shot out. You watched it manifest into what resembled whips and honestly, you were too shocked to process what was actually occurring. You tried retracting your quirk, but you were too slow and felt one of the whips wrap around your ankle. “Oh no…” your world blurred as you were hurled through the air, it all seemed to happen too quickly. The next thing you felt was the impact of the ground against your shoulder and a loud crack echoed. This was only followed by a surge of pain that traveled past your collarbones to the opposite side of your body.
You grunted, your hand now clenching your aching shoulder as you struggled to get back on your feet. You clenched your jaw in an effort to keep the whimpers that threatened to escape silent. Allowing them to pass your lips would only be a sign of weakness. You took a deep breath, All For One had not gifted you the quirk of Regeneration. He stated you were strong enough on your own and that the experience without rapid healing of any kind, would only continue to strengthen your character.
He had also promised that if you got severely injured despite your best efforts, he would take care of you. Something that you appreciated, but not as much as a healing quirk. “Just...walk...it...off,” you muttered as you stumbled to turn around, the sound of your pants filling the air. Your eyes settled on Izuku as he crawled across the rubble and much like you, stood on shaky legs. “Try that a-again!” you shouted as you took a sloppy step forward. All you needed was a little adrenaline and the pain would numb on its own.
Izuku sucked his breath in and shook his head, “You need to stop t-this...Y/n. Is t-this...because of what happened with A-All Might? I get he’s your f-father and all, but…” the last thing you needed was a lecture from the King of Muttering, “Shut up!” you snapped, obviously angered at the mention of All Might. “You know nothing about my life!” hell, no one did, “You know nothing about being a true hero, I have already destroyed this city. Oh, and if you’re such a great hero,” you grinned.
“Then tell me, why haven’t you saved that poor civilian trapped under one of these destroyed buildings?” you spoke in a mocking tone, if anything to get a reaction from the green-haired boy. “Oh wait, they could be dead. My Air Cannon could have sealed their fate…” you chuckled and slowly removed your hand from your shoulder, “Let’s see if you can actually outrun my quirk this time, Izuku Midoriya,” you found amusement in the way his eyes grew wide and his face twisted with anger.
Yet, you continued to smile, “I’d race you...but,” you took another step forward, “no promises,” you said before activating Air Walk. Izuku almost seemed memorized as he watched you ascend into the air, but his expression quickly changed into that of horror. You had decided it was time to try combining the quirks All For One had gifted you, though it was tricky and took a lot of energy. You took a deep breath and focused, channeling Air Cannon, Forced Quirk Activation, and Rivet which allowed rivet-like growths to appear on your arm.
Your eyes focused forward, you could still see the flashing police cars off in the distance and you could make out the heroes that stood among the police officers. One of them was glowing like a torch so you assumed it could only be Endeavor and it appeared your old teacher, Shota Aizawa, was also there. They weren’t exactly the ideal audience members you wanted, but there was little to be done about it now. They had decent seats for witnessing what was about to occur.
“Ready Izuku? I’d suggest you start running...now,” you growled, as those jagged-limbs extended out from your arm and the rivets that appeared alongside it, vibrated and would also help stabilize the increased power of your Air Cannon. The pressure that was building felt wonderful and honestly, you were quite proud of yourself. The wind came and ruffled your hair, you could feel it brush off some of the dirt that stuck to your face. Your shoulder though still radiating with pain, could move. But even if it couldn’t, you’d make it move. You felt such a strange sense of happiness fill you, they say power is dangerous.
But, if it gave you this much of a high. Hell, it was worth it. Izuku, on the other hand, had great power as well. But, unlike most, he hadn’t used it for evil purposes. No, he had chosen to be a hero. Even at the cost of his own life, he’d stop whatever villain stood to harm others and at this very moment. That villain was you. “One For All! A hundred percent!” he screamed just before kicking off the ground, the pavement already cracked and abused began to cave in on itself. You could faintly hear running water and you could only assume that you had busted a water pipe when you previously used Air Cannon.
Either way, it was amusing to see Izuku blindly racing forward. He had no idea where this civilian was. But, it didn’t matter. You grinned and released your combined quirk. The air shockwave came as a powerful force of energy, ripping apart what remained of the buildings and the pavement below continued to cave in, creating an abyss of sorts. You moved forward, thankful for your position in the sky. You had lost track of Izuku, which was somewhat amazing considering he had his quirk activated. However, when it came to justice and doing what was right.
He could move as fast as he needed to, the sound of his shoes slamming against the pavement echoed in his ears “Hey!” he shouted, “D-Does someone need help!?” his question went unanswered. Which upset him, but he couldn’t afford to give up. He knew at any moment there was a chance you’d release that quirk and then this innocent civilian would die. He wasn’t about to allow that, no. The innocent should never die, “Answer me! I’m here! I’m Deku! I’ll save you!” he shouted again, his jaw clenching as he continued to run past what used to be buildings.
His eyes looked every which way, “Hello!” he desperately called out once more before he felt the ground shake, he lifted his head and gasped. In the distance, he could see the pavement splitting apart. “I have to think fast!” he declared, “Think of where they could be, they have to be an open area within what remains of the buildings. They must be further into what’s left of the city as well,” he couldn’t waste any more time. He dug his feet into the ground and jumped into the air. This would be faster than walking and he’d have more control over where he landed.
He covered an impressive amount of distance and he could see the resulting occurrence of your quirks. What was once the street was nothing but a dark strip. He clenched his jaw and nearly stumbled when he hit the ground. It was a tad tricky to keep your balance when the ground below you continued to shake. “Can anyone hear me!?” he screamed, ignoring the way his heart rapidly echoed in his ears. “Dang it,” he took off running, “Someone, anyone!?” he called again, passing by yet another building. He recognized it, he passed it most days.
A growl rumbled in his throat, he couldn’t fully understand why you had done this. What was turning into a villain proving? Obviously nothing, but then again. Most villains aren’t meant to be understood, some are just too crazy or too damaged. Sure sometimes life deals you a bad hand, but you had to stand up again and learn how to overcome it. Like he was trying to do, he was once a quirkless boy who dreamed of becoming a hero, and now...despite all odds, he had achieved that dream. His fists tightened, “Why...why would Y/n, d-do this?” he questioned before lifting his head.
He blinked and looked around, “Hello?” he thought he heard someone. He cautiously took a step forward, the shaking was growing more violent. He was running out of solid ground. He remained quiet, listening for the sound again and sure enough, he would hear faint cries. He wasted no time in running to the source, no surprise it appeared to be coming from underneath a pile of rubble. But, it had a small opening which provided him with enough light to see the outline of someone.
By the way they were laying, Izuku immediately assumed they were trapped or too injured to move. But, a good hero always made sure of someone’s condition before going through with a rescue and evacuate mission, “Excuse me! Are you injured?!” he questioned, either way, he’d have to be careful. “I’ll get you out, don’t worry I-” before he could finish he heard the road behind him crumble. You smirked as you watched the city become no more, it was quite satisfying to a point. You willed your quirks away, revealing your torn and bloody arm. Dark circular bruises appeared where those ridges had pushed past your skin.
You paid no mind to it as you hovered just above what was once the street, nothing more than an abyss. “Hm…” you reached up, cupping your chin as you made your way to the opposite side of the city. Surely Izuku couldn’t have outrun the destruction caused by your quirk. Your eyebrows knit together, maybe surveying the area would be a wise idea. You knew that Izuku was strong in the sense that he never gave up. He’d beat himself to a bloody pulp if it meant protecting someone, but could he stand a building falling on him?
You hovered past several piles of glass and plaster, carefully looking for any sign of Izuku or that one unfortunate civilian who happened to have been in the wrong place at the wrong time. You placed your hand on your hip, despite the movement aggravating the injured side of your body. Maybe you should switch to your good side, then again. Much like Izuku, you’d let your body become nothing but a ragdoll if it ensured victory. Still, your lips formed a pout. Had Izuku actually been crushed, was he buried under one of the piles?
That was disappointing, however, a gasp escaped you when you noticed a splatter of something against a piece of what you assumed was now a broken window still. You blinked and crept closer, your eyes widened when you saw it was dark and had a red tint to it, almost like, “Blood…” you whispered in disbelief, your eyes then drifted to a piece of ripped fabric. It was hanging off a nearby rock and you recognized it as a piece of the shorts Izuku was wearing. You carefully lowered yourself onto the pile of debris, letting out a cry when you almost slipped.
You quickly regained your balance before reaching out to take the piece of fabric in your hand. Sliding your thumb across it, feeling the rough texture of it. A frown then came, despite your injuries. You had thought this fight would be more...exciting. It clearly wasn’t, which was a disappointment. “Always the loser, huh, Deku?” you released the piece of fabric and watched as it was carried away by the wind. It was then that you heard something which caused you to raise your eyebrow. You curiously looked over your shoulder, swearing you saw the slightest of movement.
Turning around, you watched as several pebbles began to shake. Almost like an earthquake was coming, but you had already finished using your quirk. Surely there was no aftereffect, so what was causing the movement? You took a step back and suddenly something clicked. You let out a cry and crouched down as dirt, glass, and combined pieces of building flew everywhere. “Dammit!” you hissed as you stumbled over, now against the uncomfortable surface. You could feel it poking and proding your body.
But, you kept your arms up. Covering your face and shielding your neck, your legs were curled up into your stomach. Izuku had tried a desperate move and channeled One For All to his legs, giving him an advantage as he raced forward to save the civilian trapped under the rubble. Unfortunately, just as he feared their foot was trapped underneath a metal beam. At that moment, he did the only thing he could think of. Stood above them and activated his quirk, his arms facing out and palms ready to hold back the weight as the remains of the building collapsed onto them, possibly further trapping them.
His legs were shaking and he clenched his jaw as his trembling arms continued to hold back the weight, he couldn’t afford to die at this rate. His veins were glowing that pink-red color and those green streaks that were often accompanied when he activated One For All danced around his arms. He knew it might be a bad idea, but he yet again, made a desperate move. He channeled his quirk to his dominant arm, “Detroit smash!!!” he cried, and as soon as his knuckles made contact. A blowback of power occurred. The result of which built-up pressure and finally forced it to escape.
His panting filled the air as the dust cleared and he stood tall, the civilian cradled in his arms. Though their foot was bloody and bent in a way that wasn’t humanly possible. They looked limp in his arms, however, Izuku had received most of the damage. He was covered in cuts and pieces of glass were embedded into his skin. His legs were black and blue, blood coated each one, and it was possible he had broken a bone or two. His arm was darkened in color almost as though he had gotten burned. His fingers and knuckles were the same, the skin around them dark and blood was dripping along the length of the damaged skin.
He had a cut on his lip and one that ran horizontally underneath his right eye which looked swollen. Once everything settled down and you heard that panting, you pushed yourself up. Eyes growing wide when you saw the state Izuku was in, you looked at the civilian as well. Honestly, you didn’t care what happened to them. But, knowing they would remain alive was a little disappointing. Still, a chuckle left your lips and you stood on shaky feet. A small amount of blood was dripping from your mouth, maybe you swallowed glass.
The taste of iron was a tad distracting, but you couldn’t help the wicked smirk that came to your face. “Impressive, I should have expected such from a hero,” you commented, finding some amusement in the way Izuku clenched his jaw and his eyes burned with hatred. You were kind of giddy to see such an expression and directed at you nonetheless. “Are you mad at me, Izuku?” you questioned, “Good,” you chuckled and held your good arm out to the side.
Your hand curled into a fist and you watched Izuku’s expression change. His pupils shrinking in size and his lips parting. More than likely you assumed he knew he couldn’t move too quickly, else he’d cause further injury to the civilian he held in his arms. You remained silent, in such close range any one of your quirks could potentially knock Izuku off his feet, even your original quirk. Which you had neglected in place of your new ones. But, it seemed you favored using Air Cannon more than anything and that familiar vibration coursed through your arm.
The smirk on your face only grew when Izuku took a step back, clearly, he knew by now there was no trying to talk his way out of this. “Are you happy this is what your actions caused, Izuku Midoriya? Because of you my fath-'' suddenly a sound echoed through the air, one that filled you with disgust and anger. Yet, a sense of familiarity and memories. Talk about perfect timing, you had hoped your father would make an appearance. Seemed whatever God or otherwise chose to answer your prayer was being rather generous. “Y/N!!!” came All Might’s voice, though it was hardly intimidating.
You were well aware your father had lost all use of One For All, the result was him remaining in his true form. That of a skinny, weak, old man. You stood there a moment and glanced to the side, part of you didn’t even want to look at your father. Feeling as though such an action would cause you to become nauseous, but you knew you had to. Especially if you wished to cause some well-deserved harm. “Hmph,” a soft growl rumbled in your throat before you lowered your arm and turned around. Sure enough, there he was. Toshinori Yagi, previously known as All Might.
The former symbol of peace, your father. You said nothing, only crossed your arms. A growl escaped you as you narrowed your eyes and fought the urge to smash your fist right into his face. You could hear movement behind you, more than likely Izuku running off to protect that no good civilian. But, surely he wouldn’t leave All Might alone. Your father was quirkless while you had multiple quirks. Fairness didn’t come into the equation here. Yet, you could see your father’s eyes widen. “It is you…” he whispered as he looked at you from head to toe.
You were covered in dirt and blood, your clothes were ripped. Your hair was messy and stiff. Bruises littered one arm and fresh blood continued to drip from your mouth which in a way, ironically was something that happened to your father frequently. You assumed it was due to that stomach injury he had received years ago when he faced down All For One. Still, you rolled your eyes. “Back from the dead,” you mocked and All Might frowned, “Y/n...I…” you growled and closed the distance between All Might and yourself.
You partly wondered how he had gotten this far considering the damage you had done to the road. But, you knew as a previous pro hero, he had his ways. Both of you were standing near the edge of what was once the road. One misstep and you’d fall into nothingness. “You can take your apology and shove it up your ass!” you snapped, acting like an angry child and essentially you were just that. Angry, pissed off, loathing the very concept of your father’s existence.
“I don’t care what you have to say, I only care about ending you. But, before I do. I want to know, did it hurt?” you questioned, however, your father looked confused. You had to admit, you were under the impression most were intimidated to be standing in front of a villain. Your father, however, continued to stand tall. You somehow knew he wouldn’t back down unless you forced him to and you’d get to that soon enough. “Did it hurt when you thought I disappeared? Tell me, did you think about that night? How you always favored Izuku over me!? Do you wish you could have hugged me instead? Do you ever regret treating me like shit!?” you snapped, your bloody spit flying as you grew angrier.
All Might held his hands up, “Y/n...of course I-” you interrupted him, “You wanted to keep me a secret from everyone, right!? Didn’t want your heroic name tainted because you had a bastard child, is that it!?” you growled, your teeth scraping together and you hoped your glare would physically make him burst into flames. Yet, you watched as his eyes softened and he lowered his hands. He glanced to the side and silence filled the air, “WELL!?” you snapped, clearly wanting an answer. Instead, you heard him sigh and he slowly looked back at you.
“I...I was never ashamed of you, Y/n. I…” his response made your stomach twist and you nearly gagged, his words were sickening. “You’re so full of shit,” you said with a low chuckle, “It’s funny, I never thought the former symbol of peace would be a liar. How does it feel, father? To know this destruction, all of this!” you exclaimed as you held your arms out, hands and fingers curling in an almost happy motion. “Is because of you. I should have had One For All, I should have been your successor. But, you never...you never wanted that did you!? No, instead you chose a pathetic little weakling to carry your precious quirk. Well, you know what. I’m here to kill him,” All Might’s eyes widened.
“Oh, here’s something else you might find shocking, I hope it hurts. I didn’t just disappear from the hospital, no. In fact, long before that. I had gotten a mysterious text, somehow the person who sent the text knew I was your daughter. One thing led to another and I came to find out, your sworn enemy. You know, the man you inflicted pain upon, took away his pride and his eyes. Came to me,” you saw a flicker of hate shine in your father’s eyes. “He saw potential in me, where you didn’t. Promised I could become something that the world would look up to, he believed in my skills, unlike you. He even asked me to be his successor which I gladly am!” you growled before bending your knees, your tongue came out to swipe across your lips.
Though you tasted dirt and iron, “Now that you’re a quirkless loser, I think this will be easy,” you activated your original quirk, it was nothing compared to the more powerful quirks one could be born with. But, it was strong enough to get the job done and you wanted the satisfaction of being able to kill your father with your own power. Hear that jawbone snap and watch as his blood spilled. With that blissful thought, you kicked off the ground. Bending your body so you could perform a direct uppercut to his jaw, it seemed All Might was still in shock. Which meant, he had no defense.
He could only accept the fact that karma was finally here to bite him in the ass. You smiled as you got closer, hand raised and fingers curled tightly together. But, as usual, nothing was ever that easy. You could hear a scream, and just before you turned your head to look. You saw Izuku’s fist come, “Leave him alone!” he cried and you quickly turned your body in an effort to stop him. Instead of your fist reaching All Might, it collided with Izuku’s. You could feel your knuckles snap and break, which caused pain to shoot through your already damaged arm and shoulder.
You growled, feeling the impact begin to force you back. Your feet were being forcibly moved along the limited ground despite the fact you were desperately digging them into the earth. “Stop. It,” you demanded with a hiss, you knew any further and you wouldn’t have solid ground. Your eyes were half-lidded and through the swirling debris, you could make out his facial expression. No surprise, he was pretty pissed. “You’re not going to hurt him or anyone else!” Izuku screamed and your eyes widened when he pulled his arm back.
You cursed yourself for not dodging or at least attempting to create distance, for that fist came back and collided with your face. Your head forcibly turned to the side and your jaw, along with a few select teeth broke. This only caused more blood to fill your mouth. A cry of pain left you, only to be swallowed as you choked on the blood that found its way down your throat. The next thing that occurred was your body flying, only to be stopped when your back collided with the sharp jagged edge of what was once the street.
Blood dripped down your chin, thick lines making their way down your neck and soaking into the collar of your tattered shirt. Your eyes rolled to the back of your head as you then fell forward, your body disappearing into the darkness. You felt the impact of several metal pipes hit your body, it almost seemed like they were working together. Every hit to your body caused an agonizing surge of pain and you partly wished you had just died. A weak cry escaped you when you finally hit solid ground.
You had fallen into a puddle of water and you could hear the sound of mice squeaking in this otherwise quiet place. You groaned in pain, feeling every part of your body ache. You were too afraid to move, knowing the slightest of movement would cause a violent wave of pain that was enough to paralyze you as a whole. You knew your jaw was broken, you doubted it was still connected on the side Izuku had punched. Blood continued to pour from your mouth and you swore one of your ribs had pierced through your lung.
Every time you tried to breathe, you ended up weakly coughing blood back up. Another groan came and you quietly spoke, “D-Did...I...do...good?” the question went unanswered and darkness clouded your vision. On the surface, All Might was still in shock. “Y/n!” he cried as he ran to the edge of the caved-in road, it was almost like a sinkhole. It would be hard to spot a human down below, but All Might still tried to make out your figure. He was clearly angry, his small skinny body trembling as he curled his fists and turned to face Izuku.
“What the hell were you thinking, kid!?” he snapped, which confused Izuku, “I…I was only trying to p-protect you, All Might. She w-was going to hit you and-” All Might shook his head, “That’s not how you handle a situation like that, if I was her target-ah. Forget it,” he growled before pointing, “Go down there and find her!” he snapped and Izuku took a step back. He was almost afraid All Might would hit him if he didn’t follow through with the order. He opened his mouth, about to speak his opinion when a dark and eerie chuckle came.
All For One was watching the whole spectacle from a distance. He felt rather amused during the first half of the battle, he was quite pleased to know how much pain and damage your body could take. How well the quirks he gave you were adjusting to your body, though he believed you had poorly chosen when to use your quirks and for what purpose. Nothing more training couldn’t fix. Still, All For One used his Warping quirk to appear before All Might and Izuku. Foolishly, Izuku activated his quirk. Ready to jump and attack, but All Might put his arm out and pressed it against Izuku’s chest.
A fair enough motion to get his point across, “Seems you’re a little shocked, All Might. I must say, I expected a little more fight out of your successor. Of course, I suppose enough of a punishment for you is not only seeing your successor fail just as you have failed but knowing your own selfish actions caused your only daughter to turn against you,” All Might lowered his brows, his lips turned in a frown. Yes, there were many ways he could have been a better father to you. Showed you he cared and took your feelings into consideration. But, nothing would change the result of this.
Izuku growled, desperately fighting the urge to jump and start another fight. Despite his body already being damaged, everything made sense now. All For One corrupted your mind, made you turn against your loved ones. His jaw tightened and his fists shook as he lowered his head, “All Might...I c-can’t forgive him, he...he poisoned Y-Y/n’s mind!” he hissed, feeling his anger slowly begin to consume him, and while All Might agreed. It didn’t appear like All For One had come to cause more damage, more than likely he was only retrieving you.
It made your father sick thinking what further corruption All For One would expose you to. It hurt him, knowing he couldn’t save you. Knowing he had no choice in the matter of your fate, “I know…” he whispered sadly as he lowered his arm, believing Izuku would behave himself. “Don’t worry, you’ll see, Y/n again. Very soon,” his words almost seemed like a threat. Another warp gate appeared beside All For One and Izuku had already assumed the villain had collected you.
He screamed out when the evil man disappeared into the darkness of that warp gate and All Might immediately restrained him. Wrapping his arms around the green-haired boy, though it wasn’t an easy task. “Calm down! You’re already injured enough. There is nothing we do for now,” he tried to reason, but Izuku continued to carry on. Violent tears streaming down his face, yet there was a hint of determination shining in his eyes. He would save you, he would make this right.
You could feel yourself floating, at first you assumed you were dead. However, you could still wiggle your fingertips which you took as a good sign. But, you still felt weighed down by something. Slowly you opened your eyes, seeing your world was tinted blue and air bubbles floated past your vision. Your hair was floating in separate strands around you and it quickly clicked you were submerged in water. You reached up, touching the mask that was strapped to your face and your fingertips brushed the plastic tube that came along with it.
More than likely that was the source providing you with oxygen. You then looked at your hand, noticing it was scarred up. Your arm seemed to be the same, long jagged dark lines ran from your wrist to your inner elbow. You assumed a massive amount of scar tissue made up your shoulder, but at least the pain you remember having before blacking out was gone. You weren’t sure if that was something you should be grateful for.
You glanced around, you could make out several machines on the outside of the glass. Each one flashed with a particular sequence of lights, which confused you. However, the most familiar thing was a small television in the corner of the room. You could see shots of the damage you had done to the city, you couldn’t read the headline that flashed on the bottom of the screen. But, your eyes widened when you saw the scene switch to your father.
You leaned forward, pressing one hand to the glass as you watched your father speak. He looked tired, shocked, and utterly disappointed. You could tell there was hurt in his eyes, well...it was what he deserved, right? You leaned back, nearly choking on your own gasp when you heard the sound of a heavy door open. You could hear chattering, but to you in your water prison, it sounded like nothing but water currents. You saw two figures come into view, one was short and wore a white lab coat, and the other you recognized as All For One.
“How pathetic, All Might begging for his daughter back,” he hissed, clearly disgusted at such a thing. It was amusing to a point when a hero fell, but now it was just pitiful. He crossed his arms before turning to look at you and for some reason, you felt a small amount of fear consume you. He walked over and pressed a hand against the glass that separated you. “Don’t worry now, my beautiful successor. You did well, I am very proud of you. Don’t be scared now, your body should be stable enough to handle more quirks,” he leaned closer, and his shadow cast over you.
Though his words were unrecognizable to you, the feeling of uncertainty made your stomach twist. “Then you’ll succeed where I failed, All Might won his battle against me, yes. But you, you will win against his successor and pave the path for a better world.” you shivered when he tapped the glass and turned away from you. Becoming All For One’s successor was not an easy task, you knew this from the start. But part of you couldn’t help but wonder what step was next and if you truly wanted it.
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Restless Rewatch: The Untamed Episode 07 part two
(Masterpost)
Warning: Spoilers for All 50 Episodes!
Lantern Lighting
Now we have the famous lantern scene, where everybody gets to express their character and have dates, ranging from disastrous to delightful, with the objects of their affection.
Wei Wuxian continues to be ridiculously good at drawing.
We’ve all seen Lan Wangji’s lovely first smile in the show a million times, so...let’s look at it again!
This scene is important not just because of the smile, but because there’s a distinct shift in the way they talk about their growing relationship. In the pond, it was “come visit me” and “never!” “I want to be your friend” “No need.” Basically Lan Wangji firmly saying no to Wei Wuxian’s offers of friendship.
This time, Wei Wuxian says “let’s do this together” and Lan Wangji says “I’m used to being alone,” which is not actually a No, just an explanation. And WWX says, you can change that. And then Lan Wangji DOES change it, sharing the lantern and the promise with Wei Wuxian.
Whoever painted this flower is even better than Wei Wuxian at plein air painting.
(more after the cut!)
Everybody’s wishes
Nie Huasang makes a practical wish. Wen Qing prays for her brother and Jiang Cheng notices how she’s like Yanli. Jiang Cheng isn’t very intense about Wen Qing, which could be a sign of his shyness but could also be a sign of his gayness or aceness. After all, later in life he’s an apparently wealthy clan leader who is hot as fuck, and needs an heir, since his nephew is a Jin. But he’s still not married, 16 years after breaking up with and uh, helping to kill and cremate, the girl he liked in summer school.
The Promise We Made Together
Wei Wuxian makes an ultra-idealistic wish/promise while Lan Wangji watches and falls the rest of the way in love with him, and silently makes the same pledge inside his head. Later they will each refer to this as a promise they made together, which is a really super high level of face-reading by Wei Wuxian, to understand that he really is speaking for both of them here. While making this promise, Lan Wangji brings out his Yin Iron Magic Bag and waves it around in front of everyone, but nobody notices.
Let’s take a moment to consider *why* this moment is so powerful for Lan Wangji. Lan Wangji is a boy whose emotions are always on the boil. He’s 100% upset all the time, at this age, and he keeps it clamped down all the time. His cultivation level is probably as high as it is partly because of all the work he does in emotion regulation. (note: if you haven’t read all the meta at @howpeacefulislwj , go read it; it’s awesome and hilarious)
Wei Wuxian doesn’t GAF about emotion regulation; he just expresses what he feels, all the damn time.
He is openly bored, lusty, playful, hungry, whiny. He straight up tells Lan Wangji “you’re boring and you have a stick up your ass” as part of saying he wants to be friends; no deference and also no falseness.
And he can see right through Lan Wangji’s reserve, barging into his loneliness and isolation without any regard for all of his wards. Wards are made to be broken.
(Unrelated note: Young Lan Wangji's rare moments of contentment seem to come from looking at something beautiful--the moon, falling petals, these lanterns, his mirror.)
But Wei Wuxian is also good. Lan Wangji desperately wants to be good. And here’s Wei Wuxian embodying this awful, amazing, tempting alternative path, in which all the interesting things in life get explored thoroughly, all the sweetness and beauty gets consumed unreservedly, all the pain and ugliness gets confronted and endured without hesitation.
In this moment, Wei Wuxian tells Lan Wangji “you can change,” and then offers up this prayer/promise that is just pure chivarly, speaking straight to Lan Wangji’s heart. Very simply, I want to spend my life doing right. Not 3500 rules; just one.
This infuriating boy, who breaks rules and who flirts indiscriminately and who pushes and pushes and pushes, reveals himself in this moment to be a hero at the beginning of his journey, and Lan Wangji sees it, and his heart goes right over the cliff.
The Girls’ Room
The girl cultivators all rush over to Yanli to get in her business about her betrothal, inspiring Jin Zixuan to act like a jerk to her and get even further onto Wei Wuxian’s bad side.
Talk Shit, Get Hit
Yanli’s wish was that Wei Wuxian would grow up and be good. He promptly launches his own personal Sunshot campaign, punching her fiancee so hard that the sun falls out of the sky and the previously well-lit scene transitions to full night.
So, in English, “don’t mention it again” is really mild, akin to “I don’t want to talk about it.” Wei Wuxian’s reaction makes it seem like Jin Zixuan said something really shitty, like “don’t you dare mention that woman to me!” So I’m assuming something is being lost in translation.
Lan Wangji tries to calm him down. He grabs Wei Wuxian’s sexy arm muscle and basically holds it until the Jiangs exit the scene.
Nie Huaisang has placed himself between the opposing factions, which is unusually direct of him. In the future he’ll stick to being an unindicted co-conspirator when Wei Wuxian starts trouble.
Ants in my Pants
Lan Wangji thinks kneeling can make Wei Wuxian cry, which is adorable of him.
He really relishes this opportunity to be a pedantic tool to his new boyfriend that annoying boy he hardly ever touches, and it really doesn’t work out for him, poor lamb.
Jiang Fengmian stops by to show exactly how deep his affection for Wei Wuxian runs, and to give him whiplash from constantly changing parental expectations. In a couple of hours he’ll be laughing over WWX & JC’s hijinks.
Wei Wuxian takes this opportunity to fantasize about bad things happening to the other boy in the fight, which is in no way foreshadowing of anything.
Douche Dads Conference
We now convene this meeting of the douchebag council. Jiang Cheng is also invited even though he’s a prick, not a douche. <--important distinction
This is our first time meeting Clan Leader Jin Guangshan. He's actually the most sensible and best parent in this scene, but his smug self-satisfaction hints at his true nature. This actor, Shen Xiaohai, has been active in cdramas for a long while now. I wonder what he looked like 15 years ago?
...Holy mother of god.
Jiang Fengmian is the worst dad and the worst husband here. His clan believes in letting children do what they want - uhh YOUR child wants to marry Jin Zixuan. “I wrote a letter to her mother, who arranged this marriage.” Uhhh she arranged for her sickly, low-cultivation-level, sweet and vulnerable child to marry the heir of a rich and powerful clan, with a powerful mother-in-law who’s looking forward to loving and protecting her. Basically she’s guaranteed her daughter’s safety and comfort, and even potential happiness, since her husband may learn to appreciate her (and in fact, does, thanks to soup and repeated beatings from WWX).
Mom worked hard and probably spent a fair amount of social capital to achieve this. And you’re going to toss that aside because the boy thinks he’s too good for her? What the everloving fuck, how are you a clan leader in the first place?
You can see that Jiang Cheng understands all of this and what a terrible choice his father is making here.
So do the other adults in the room.
Jin Guangshen: our wives are going to kill us
Lan Qiren: I'm looking at a couple of dead men
Jiang Fengmian pointedly won’t listen to Jiang Cheng or let him speak, showing that all his talk about being free is actually bullshit, that only applies to other people’s children.
Jiang Chang vaults off of the deck to tell Wei Wuxian about it. Hottt
Sorry Sis
Wei Wuxian goes to Jiang Yanli to sorta-apologize and sorta ask to be let off the hook for fucking up her engagement, which he absolutely did. He knows it, which is presumably why he bows to her in paperman form while hiding outside.
At no time has Jiang Yanli indicated to anyone that she doesn’t want to marry Jin Zixuan, as far as I can see, or said she wanted to be defended from insults with punching. Look how good SHE is at defending a person from insults, for comparison.
Yin Iron Blah Blah Blah
The senior Lans meet with Jiang Fengmian to talk about the Yawn Yin Iron. Yawn.
Jiang Fengmian addresses Lan Xichen as Lan Gongzi, which is adorable, since he is a big boy to everyone else. His family calls him Xichen and other people call him Zewu-Jun.
Farewell and Fuck You
The three Jiang kids come to say goodbye.
Lan Quiren says goodbye with a heap of criticism for Wei Wuxian and the horse he rode in on, and Jiang Fengmian basically says, yep, that’s what he’s like, all right.
Good thing Wei Ying gets so much verbal abuse at home he doesn’t take it very hard when he finds it in the field.
Wangji doesn’t say goodbye properly, which will be a recurring theme for the two of them.
I don’t know if this is because he has a problem with goodbyes, or is just being a jerk, or because he’s so bad at lying he doesn’t dare talk to Wei Wuxian lest he reveal his travel plans.
Indulgent Dad Continues to be the Worst
Jiang Cheng complains at Wei Wuxian for wanting to say goodbye to Lan Wangji, and WWX says he likes him because he is equal to WWX in fighting, whereas JC sucks. JC hits him tries to hit him--gosh, he DOES suck, comparatively.
Yanli, who has been keeping these boys in line all summer, sighs deeply at her Dad’s tolerance for their hijinks. OP has five brothers and this sibling-hijinks behavior is 100% accurate, except for the part where it is happening at someone else’s house in front of the hosts.
WWX pretending to be Lan Qiren where Lan Wangji can see him doing it, in front of Lan Qiren’s colleague and supposed friend, and just earning a laugh from the patriarch? Good lord. Dad Jiang tolerating this is shocking, particularly in the in-show culture where corporal punishment is as common as tea.
We’ve tried Nothing, and we’re all out of ideas!
Uggghh why are you like this?
Here in the real world, OP uses “positive discipline” with her child, and encourages other parents to consider it, particularly if your child is neuroatypical or asynchronous. That said, JF should be punishing the crap out of both boys for this behavior every time it happens, or should quit being a clan leader. He’s relying on Jiang Yanli to keep them in line while he gets to just be amused by them. And he’s letting Lan Qiren discipline Wei Wuxian instead of doing it himself. He suuuuuuucks.
Lan Wangji watches all of this. Lan Xichen reminds Lan Wangji that without Wei Wuxian, he’s completely fucking miserable. Lan Wangji still doesn’t plan to bring him along on his trip, though.
Time to return to our lives of crushing loneliness
Rabbits
At this same moment when Lan Wangji is staring down the barrel of future loneliness, Wei Wuxian is already deciding to leave the (forbidden) rabbits in Cloud Recesses “In case Lan Zhan gets lonely.” This small decision by Wei Wuxian - breaking the rules of Cloud Recesses for the millionth time - is kinder than he knows. Because what is the job of these rabbits? Let’s have a desaturated flashback.
Lan Zhan spent 3 years in the ice cave. The rabbits kept Lan Yi company in the ice cave. So...did the rabbits sneak in to keep Lan Wangji company in the ice cave as well? I’m going to say yes. By ep 43 they are following him to the gate of Cloud Recesses so they are very attached to him. Well done, Wei Ying.
Where my bitches at? Seriously, our warren needs bitches
(Is Watership Down still a thing people read? If not, just go ahead and assume all of OP’s rabbit jokes are about Watership Down because OP ain’t going to stop making them)
While Wei Wuxian annoys the bunny he has a flashback to the scene that happened 4 minutes earlier. The Untamed editors assume the viewership has the attention span of a goldfish, and I personally appreciate that they understand me so well.
Wei Wuxian figures out that Lan Wangji is going on the road alone, and tells the bunny immediately. The bunny is very concerned.
Writing Prompt: What do next-generation cultivators Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi wish for at lantern-lighting time?
#fytheuntamed#the untamed#wangxian#the untamed gifs#cdrama#chen qing ling#restless rewatch the untamed#canary3d-original#my gifs#the untamed spoilers
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Hatter Troubles
This is basically a chapter where your dad is Hatter himself, finding out about the relationship, or that they like you or something.
Arisu
You two thought it would be best if he didn't know. You loved your father, but the way he had been acting recently, about the games and the cards in total, made you two keep quiet.
You couldn't sleep. After your dad saying he was going to play in all the games coming forth starting tomorrow, your mind wouldn't stop playing through every worst case scenario. The thoughts running through your head made you stay up, staring up at the ceiling. 'Want Arisu...' you thought. He'd always made you feel better when you were sad or after a particularly hard game. So, you decided to go visit Arisu. Sure, it was the middle of the night, but who cares? Hopefully not him. And if you knew him, he was probably up. But there was a small chance he wasn't. You hoped he was up, so you wouldn't feel bad about waking him.
You got out of your bed quietly heading to your door. You opened it softly, looking out into the hall cautiously, hoping there was no militals walking around on their patrols. Especially Aguni. You could tell Niragi or Last Boss any lie, and they'd be easily tricked. Well, Niragi was a bit harder to trick, but he usually didn't care, and would mind his own business. You tread quietly to Arisu's room, knocking on the door once you got there.
You heard shuffling from behind the door, and saw the doorknob twist. The door opened, and there was a sleepy Arisu standing in front of you. He yawned, rubbing his eyes tiredly, giving you a tired smile when he saw it was you. "Hello?" He greeted, although it sounded more like a question than anything. "Hi... I'm sorry for waking you up... can I come in?" You asked, feeling bad you woke him up. "Yeah, come on in. And it's no problem. If you woke me up, it must be serious," he said, stepping aside for you to be able to come into his room. "No one saw you, right?" He asked, yawning as you stepped into the room. You shook your head, and he closed the door.
He lead you over to his bed, sitting down. He asked you to do the same, but you rejected his offer, feeling a bit to anxious to sit down. "What's wrong?" He asked, sensing your nervousness. "It might be stupid, but when dad said about him joining all the games starting tomorrow... it's just made me uneasy. I can't sleep," you explained, pacing on the floor. He nodded, and grabbed your hands, bringing you into him. You fell onto his lap with a short shriek. "Risu! Stop, you can't do that!" You laughed, lightly pushing his shoulder. "Oh yes I can," he smiled back.
He smiled down at you on his lap, before sighing. "You know... when Chota hurt his leg, I was so worried. So... as a way to get over the fear and anxiety, I talked to them about it. I think... If you talk to your dad about how you feel, it could make you feel better," Arisu advised, rubbing your shoulders. He was just trying to make you feel better about the situation, sharing his personal experience, hoping it would help you. He gave you a kiss to your forehead. "Mmm... you're the best boyfriend ever," you muttered into his neck. "Well, it's my duty as the best boyfriend to take care of the bestest, most amazing girlfriend in the world," he laughed, as he begun to tickle you. You screamed, laughing and trying to get him to get away from his attack. "A-arisu!" You squealed, trying to get him to stop. The once quiet hotel room was filled with laughter, and screams.
You two had started chasing eachother around the room, you trying to escape his attack, and him trying to tickle you. You had fallen on the bed, tripping over something on the floor. In an attempt to save yourself, you had grabbed Arisu's shirt. So that's how you ended up in the position you were in now. You were under Arisu, your arms above your head, and to stop from crushing you, he held himself up on his forearms, caging you in. "Woah, I was not expecting to walk into that," a voice said from the entrance of the room. You froze, turning your head slowly to the door. "H-hi dad," you stuttered as Arisu got off you. Arisu stayed quiet, and looked down, waving awkwardly. "I- I promise we weren't doing anything. I tripped and he fell a-and we got like... that..." you explained, a blush on your face. "Ok... I mean, it's none of my business what you two do," Hatter stated after clearing his throat awkwardly. You let out a quiet sigh of relief. "I don't mind you being with him, just be careful," Hatter said. "Thank you," you said, walking over and hugging your dad. "Now, get to your room. It's late, and I might let you be with him, but sleeping in the same room is a no for now," your dad said, giving you a soft smile. "Ok... Bye Arisu! Thank you for your advice. Goodnight dad," you said as you walked out the door.
"If I break her heart I'll throw myself off the roof, don't worry."
"I... was not expecting that, but ok. Deal."
"But on that note, I would never hurt her. I promise I'll always protect her."
"You keep that promise for me, ok kid?"
Niragi
(Reader has a noise sensitivity for sudden loud noises for this specific one)
Hatter had honestly never paid attention to you two. He assumed you would never be into a guy like Niragi, so what did he do? Ignored it.
It had been just another boring meeting, talking about the games, theories, how many had died. All normal things at the meeting. Except when a topic that had everyone going back and forth came up. Niragi, seemingly having enough of everyone being so indecisive on something he viewed so easy, stood from his chair, slamming his hands onto the table. You jumped in your seat, closing your eyes tightly. You grabbed onto the edge of the table tightly, your knuckles turning white. He noticed, but kept on with his business.
At the end of said meeting, he found you out in the hall. 'I've got nothing to lose by talking to her. Well.. except maybe my head, but besides the point. Let's see where this goes.' He thought, hoisting his riffle onto his shoulder as he walked over to you. You noticed him, and smiled to yourself. "Hello Niragi - San," you greeted, turning to face him. His brain froze, but he shook his head, ridding from the rather nasty thoughts he was having. "Hey there," he said. Your eyes looked him over, focusing on the gun. "You got safety on that thing?" You asked, nodding over to his gun. He shook his head. "Why would I? No rules," he reminded. "I prefer archery to guns, but anyways, was there something you needed Niragi?" You asked, holding your hands behind your back. "Uh, yeah. Why did you jump in the meeting? Don't lie saying you didn't, because I saw," he asked, looking at you. His eyes seemed to study every detail of your body. "Oh.. you saw that? I'm sensitive to sudden loud noises," you explained. He made an 'oh' sound, nodding awkwardly. "Well... good luck at the games tonight!" You chirped, patting the top of his head. He stared in shock, watching you walk away. "Did she just?" He muttered to himself, "I think she did."
"Hatter, I can take care of her," he responded to the man in front of him. "I don't trust you with my daughter. She's special to me, I don't trust you won't kill her, so no," Hatter said, a smile on his face, though the subject was making him rather annoyed. "Listen, I wouldn't hurt her. Besides Aguni, I'm one if not the most powerful of the militals," Niragi stated. "Then I'll just send her with Aguni, I'm glad we had this talk!" Hatter deflected, wanting Niragi to give up. But, he underestimated how stubborn Niragi was. "Then you'll have no one to go with you in your games. I can and will protect her. Send her with me tonight. Her visa expired soon," Niragi almost begged, but he didn't. He had some self respect as to not beg, especially over a girl. Maybe back in the old world he would, but now? No way. Hatter thought for a moment, taking into account how out of character it was for Niragi to act this way. "Fine. But if she comes back with so much as a scratch, you will feel what it's like to be at the receiving end of your gun," Hatter threatened. Niragi left the room after, and shuddered. He was not really scared of anything, but an angry overprotective father had now been added to the list.
There were many situations where your noise sensitivity was bad. Case 1 being the horns that sounded before the games. Case 2 being guns. And case 3 being yelling. So that's why you stood shutting your eyes tightly, holding your hands over your ears. "N-niragi, stop too loud..." you whispered besides him, hoping he heard you. He heard you, and stopped, looking to you. You were shaking your leg, eyes screwed shut, and hands over your ears. "I'll deal with you later," Niragi spat at the guy in front of you two as he led you off to a desolate corner. "You ok?" He asked. "I didn't think you cared, but yes, I'm ok," you responded, still twiddling your fingers. "I don't care. But your dad does," he said. Obviously he cared. "Oh... um... thank you for that. He was getting a bit... touchy," you thanked. Truth was, Niragi has been watching the guy ever since he went up to talk to you. Niragi was a great liar, as much as people thought he was a moron with a gun. Once he saw the guy touching you, and your face of obvious discomfort, he decided to step in.
"Learn how to defend yourself against people like that," he stated, going to leave. "People like you, you mean?" You said, stopping him in his tracks. The way you had said it without fear or hesitation made him turn back to you. "People like me?" He questioned. He tried to hide his smirk. It was interesting to say the least. You were just acting like a scared little mouse. What happened to her? "People like you. People who think hiding their weaknesses makes them less weak. People who bully the weak, because they've been the weak. People who hate the weak, only because it reminds them of what they were. So when I say people like you, I mean people who have finally snapped. They're tired of getting pushed around, so they use their newfound power to push others around,'' you stated. You kept eye contact with him the whole time, watching for a reaction. He had none. 'How boring...' you thought before you sighed, walking away. Suddenly, he grabbed your wrist, pushing you into the wall. He trapped you, having his arms on either side of your head. "You don't know anything about 'people like me' but I know a lot about you. Especially your weakness," he whispered. You stared back, unsurprised by his actions. "People like you are so predictable," you both said at the same time. "Predict what I'll do next then," you said. "You'll hit me, try to run away, and I'll chase you," he guessed. "Wrong," you whispered, grabbing the collar of his shirt, pulling him to you. "So wrong, it's funny," you whispered, your lips centimeters away from his. He ran his tongue over his teeth. "You piss me off. Switching in between the shy, sweet one to the independent, badass, tease," he said. You giggled, letting him go. You started walking off, leaving with the words, "See you tonight at the game!" He stared off at where you had been not even a minute ago, thinking about what had just happened.
"Dad, I promise I'm ok! Niragi protected me," you giggled as your dad checked for the hundredth time that you were ok. Niragi stood behind, waiting for this to be over. Hatter sighed. "I guess you protect her just fine," he said, walking off. Niragi rolled his eyes, starting to leave the room again. "Thank you, Niragi. I wouldn't be here right now if you hadn't helped me back there... I made a stupid mistake. Um... I'm sorry about what I said earlier, I wasn't trying to be rude... or a tease," you said, grabbing his arm. He chuckled, turning to face you. You let his arm go, seeing as he was paying attention to you. "No problem. I'm the one who asked to go with you, so it would be stupid of me to let you die. And apology half accepted. I'll be off now," he said, going to leave once more. "Hey, um... do you want to walk around?" You asked. "Can't. I'm going for target practice outside the Beach," he said, nodding his head to the riffle over his shoulder. "Then I'll go with you," you stated. "Loud noises. You don't like them, remember?" Niragi said, trying to get you to stay. What had happened earlier today was still definitely fresh in his mind. "... I can deal with it... please? I just want to talk? Please?" You pleaded, looking at him with the puppy eyes. 'Goddammit... say no, say no, resist against the cute girl.' "Fine. But only this once. Let's go walk around," he said, giving in. 'You fucking idiot...'
By just this once, he meant it happened all the time. You two had gotten closer, and Hatter had definitely noticed.
Niragi watched the party going on in the pool area from the balcony of one of the rooms. You had explained your noise sensitivity to him in a bit more details. Like, listening to loud music was ok, because it wasn't sudden. Which is why you were who he was watching currently. He saw you waving at him with a smile. He waved back, smiling to himself. He could see you laugh, before one of the girls pushed you into the pool. He winced. "She's not going to be happy about that..." he muttered to himself before laughing a bit. "She likes you, you know," a voice said behind him. He quickly cocked his gun, aiming it, before seeing it was Hatter. He let out a sigh of relief, putting the gun down. "Just me. No need for alarm," Hatter laughed. "Like I was saying, she likes you. Won't shut up about you in fact," Hatter repeated. "Sure she does," Niragi stated sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "Believe what you want. But, in any case, she does. And before I wouldn't have let you near her, but after seeing how you've stopped some of your usual habits, and how you protect her, I'll allow it. It's only fair," Hatter said, before leaving.
"I didn't change shit. Crazy old man," he whispered to himself. 'Well, we did stop banging on doors if she's near. And started killing the traitors when and where she won't hear. We tried to stop making loud noises at meetings if she's there. And we still go on walks when she asks us to, even though we said only once.' His mind told him. He scowled at his thoughts, realizing they were right. He walked back over to where he was, scanning the party for you. "Damnit... where'd she go?" He muttered to himself, not being able to see you. "Where'd who go, Gigi?" A voice said besides him. He turned to the side quickly aiming his gun again. "Jesus fuck, (Y/N)!" He shouted, seeing was you. You squeaked at his sudden shouting, hiding behind your hands. They shook slightly, and he cursed himself for yelling at you. "You can't sneak up on me like that, you could get hurt you damn idiot," he sighed, putting his gun down. " 'M sorry..." you apologized. "It's... it's fine, just be careful," he said, patting your head awkwardly. Your hair was wet, and you were dripping water onto the cement floor of the balcony. A few minutes went by, and neither of you had spoken. You stood in comfortable silence looking down at the party going on. Niragi had been trapped in his thoughts. They went between wanting to scold you for the nickname you had used, and telling you how he felt. After a few minutes, you spoke up.
"Can I do something a bit crazy?"
"Uh... Crazy is good most times, so... go ahead."
"Good."
Those words were all that was said before you pulled him into a kiss.
"I like you. A lot, actually."
"..."
"Are you ok?"
"Mhm. Totally fine. I like you too.''
"Does this mean I can call you Gigi now?"
"No way in hell princess." (No way in hell senpai-)
Chishiya
It was almost an instant connection with Chishiya and yourself. You two had a relationship in which everyone could see you guys liked eachother, but no one had confessed. You two acted like a couple too, so many people were confused. He didn't say anything, not because he was scared... ok, well maybe a little bit, but because he didn't want to have a weakness. You also had the impression he only liked you as a friend, so no matter if you liked him or not, you assumed he wouldn't like you.
"Chishiya, gave you seen (Y/N)?" Niragi asked. "No. Why are you looking for her?" He responded. "None of your business," Niragi scoffed, walking off. "I suddenly have the urge to find (Y/N) to piss him off," he stated to himself, shoving his hands in his pockets, and walking off to go find you.
He eventually found you in the meeting room. "Hi Chishiya," you greeted, your back still turned to him. "How'd you know?" He asked, walking besides you. "You walk quietly, and your walking pattern is distinct. And you don't smell like alcohol, chlorine, or booze," you stated. "Noted... Anyways, Niragi is looking for you," he stated. You groaned, hanging your head. "Is he? Alright... guess I'll see you later? There's a meeting tonight, so... see ya then," you said before leaving. He watched as you walked out, your footsteps getting softer the further you got. "Something's up with her, but what I can't figure out,"he muttered to himself.
When he returned to the meeting room, there was a couple of people. Hatter wasn't going to be at tonight's meeting due to some other business, so the number two was in charge of this meeting. Among those people were you and Niragi. You laughed at whatever Niragi had said, making Chishiya huff. He sat down in his usual spot, glaring at Niragi who was still talking to you. Why did he feel the need to talk to you so much? Hadn't he been out the whole afternoon with you?
You finally sat down besides Chishiya smiling at him. "Hello again," you greeted. "So what did the psychopath want with you?" He asked, a tone of anger in his voice. "Target practice. Dad wants me to be prepared, and since Niragi is one of the best shots here, he's been teaching me. Not alone of course, Aguni is there. Obviously," you explained.
A few minutes into the meeting, you yawned, looking out sleepily. "Stay up late again?" Chishiya whispered, keeping his eyes out on the table. "No... they just have me on night patrols... I'm so tired," you whispered back. He nodded, going back to paying attention to the meeting.
Not even a minute later, he felt a weight fall onto his shoulder. He looked out of the corner of his eyes to see you asleep on him. He smiled to himself slightly, before looking back to the meeting, acting as if nothing had happened.
After the meeting was over, Aguni asked if someone could take you back up to your room. Many of the men there offered to do it, but Chishiya stepped in. "I'll take her. She fell asleep on my shoulder, and honestly the 'princess of the Beach' shouldn't get touched by the dirty hands of these men," Chishiya states, using sarcasm and his usual tone of knowing better. Aguni held back a laugh at his words, but nodded. "You sure you can carry her?" Niragi asked. Chishiya knew this wasn't Niragi wanting to take you back to your room, it was Niragi poking fun at him. "I've carried heavier medical equipment. Please shut the fuck up and let me through," Chishiya said, hoisting you up. Niragi scoffed, walking away.
Chishiya carefully placed you in your bed, covering you up with blankets. " 'Shiya... Stay," you muttered, grabbing his hand. He froze up for a minute, looking down at your sleepy eyes. With your other hand, you held your body up. "Only... only for a little bit. Until you fall asleep," he muttered, getting into bed behind you. You turned, hugging him tightly. "Thank you 'Shiya... you're the best," you yawned, quickly falling asleep. He ran his hand over your hair, not wanting to get it caught and wake you up.
"You need to take better care of yourself... honestly, it's one thing if I don't, but you? You need to live through these games," he whispered, knowing full well you wouldn't wake up. "You're so sweet.... I really wonder why you stay around me... You're asleep, so it doesn't matter what I say, but I hope you know I... I quite like you. A lot actually. So... yeah," he whispered his confession, softly getting away from you. "Dream a little dream of me," he sang as he left the room. A song he'd heard once. But it was fitting. He hoped you dreamed of him.
When he went to leave, he heard someone call out for him. He turned to see Hatter, Aka, your father, Aka, the person who could kill him for what just happened in your room.
"So, she asleep?" Hatter questioned. "Yep. No funny business, I promise. I just stayed with her till she fell asleep like she asked of me," Chishiya stated, placing his hands up in mock surrender. "Oh, I have no doubt. She trusts you, so I don't have a reason to kill you. Yet," Hatter said, a bit too cheerfully for Chishiya's tastes. "Trust me?" He asked. "Yeah. Likes you too," Hatter mentioned. Chishiya felt a weird feeling in his stomach. Like... is that what they called butterflies?
"Likes me? Really. Interesting," Chishiya commented. "Won't shut up about you, actually. Chishiya this, Chishiya that. It's annoying sometimes, but... it's nice to see her happy," Hatter said, smiling too himself. Happy? You felt happy around him?
"She hasn't been this excited or happy about anything since... since she was very young. I don't really mind you, just... don't hurt her," Hatter stated, walking away. Chishiya was still trying to reel in the fact that you liked him. You talked about him. To your father. "I'll... I'll confess when she's awake next time."
Last Boss
"Taka! What're we doing today?" You asked when you reached the target field. He jumped, startled by your voice. "Oh... hello (Y/N)... and we'll be doing basic blocking and striking today again," he mentioned. You smiled, and nodded. You gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, and watched his face slowly turn pink. "You're so cute," you teased. He looked away, stretching his hand out to you. You grabbed it happily, pulling him along.
There was only two people allowed to touch his katanas. You and him. That's it. You because you were his lovely amazing girlfriend, and Jim because... they're his. Obviously.
His body was behind your own to position you as he was teaching you, making sure you were correct before moving on.
"OK and then I can do thi-" you didn't get to finish your sentence because as you went to strike, you fell. Instead of letting Last Boss witness the utter act of embarrassement, you brought him down with you.
You landed on top of him, still holding onto his shirt. "Well... we've been in this position before haven't we?" You questioned with a sweet smile on your face. He blushed, knowing what you were referring to. He sat up, you still in his lap. "Come on, there's no need to be shy about it Samu," you giggled, kissing his forehead. "Well no... but yes?" He responded. You shook your head, kissing his lips. He pulled away almost immediately, making you pout. "We could get caught," he said, his hands resting on your waist.
"And?"
"You're dad would quite literally kill me. And if not him, Aguni. You're aware of how scary that man is, right? And how protective both of them are of you?" He stated. You frowned, knowing that Last Boss did not enjoy PDA. Especially since no one knew about you two.
He sighed, caressing your face with one of his hands. "I... fine. But we have to be careful."
A few innocent kisses and touches turned into a full make out session that left you both gasping for air, and wanting more.
"(Y/-"
"So uh... is this what you meant by Last Boss helping you?"
You had never jumped away from anything faster than you did when you heard your father's voice.
"H-hey dad," you stammered, looking around, not wanting to meet his gaze. "Hi, so just wanted to let you know we have a meeting in a bit, and to be ready. That's it," he said nonchalantly. A but to nonchalant for your tastes.
Your DAD had just walked in on you two making out, and that was his only response? No fucking way.
"I-im sorry about... about that," you apologized, looking down in shame. "Don't apologize for that. Who cares. As long as you're safe and happy, I could care less who you're with. Plus, he's decent. And pretty smart, so I'm ok with it," Hatter explained, patting your head. You smiled up at him. "Thanks dad," you said. "No matter what, you'll always be my little princess, so... go have fun. I'll let you two be," Hatter stated. "Oh, before I leave, Last Boss?"
"Yeah?"
"Hurt her, and I'll hurt you back, got it?"
"Yessir."
I love the idea of Hatter being a supportive dad who's just like "as long as they love you and you love them, who gives a fuck?"
And honestly. I just needed some fluff today.
#alice in borderland#niragi#chishiya#last boss#arisu#fluff#×reader#Hatter#hes a supportive dad#change my mind#i just realized how short Last Boss' is#:(#ill fix it eventually
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I wanna see some anti fanfic rec plspls
You asked for it. May I present, a creepypasta x reader anti-reading list.
Quick Disclaimer: No author names will be dropped nor fic links or sites they’re on. I dislike these works but I don’t want anybody to be harassed. Don’t go after people, holy shit. These works are only here because of some heavily disturbing content. One of them just makes me super mad because of a few circumstances. These are purely my opinions. I am not writing Jesus nor do I write the cleanest stories out there. Dark topics should be explored in fiction. However, some things just shouldn’t fucking be romanticized. Fanfic is practice, I’m not taking points off for wonky writing.
You’re allowed to like whatever the fuck you want. I’m not shaming you or the authors. I’m talking about media I dislike, which I am completely allowed to do. If your friend or favorite author’s work is in here, maybe don’t send this to them. I get it’s tempting but still, it could be upsetting. Again, don’t fucking harass anybody.
This list is in order of - Pisses me off to FBI open up to whatthefuckwhatthefuckwhatthefuck.
Content warning for: Rape, miscarriages, abortion, necrophilia, sexism, child grooming, multiple types of abuse, ablism, and meanie head criticism of popular fics. Seriously, this gets exceptionally bad at the final one.
First up in our lineup a pretty popular. It’s the least upsetting and problematic. It’s a various creepypasta x reader mansion fic. This is more of an honorable mention because it’s frustrating to read over being super bad.
Recruited.
Summary: (Y/n) killed an attempted rapist and covered it up years ago. She is recruited into the cpp’s to be considered as a proxy along with two others. Follow her through a journey of no character development into becoming a proxy.
What’s wrong with it?
-Brian literally is a misogynist. He literally hates women.
-(Y/n) is an asshole. Not in an entertaining bad bitch way. No, in an unaware bland way. Points off for being a business major, girl you have no soul and it shows.
-She is treated like the voice of reason who is always morally correct. Thing is, if anyone is neurodivergent or mentally ill and ya’know shows symptoms of it, they’re cRaZy, evil, and an annoyance.
-Yes, people creeping on or getting clingy can be shitty/annoying but sometimes the way (Y/n) acts is completely unjust. It left a bad taste in my mouth because the character felt okay to be shitty to people who weren’t like her.
-The endings are disheartening and make no fucking sense. Cody, who is clingy at worst, gets rejected Jack, who TRIES TO BREAK (Y/N)’S FUCKING LEG, gets with her. Can I get a HELLO??????
-(Y/n) also doesn’t get with Jeff who suddenly turned into her brother character after hundreds of pages of romantic tension. Again, Recruited is not inherently bad but it may be really disappointing to people who are here for 1-2 specific characters.
-Queer bait-y author’s notes and inconstant love interests. Author’s notes would read like “Teehee, maybe I’ll make (Y/n) have Jane and/or Natalie endings……” But that never happens after it’s teased multiple times. I get not wanting to add more to your plate but don’t suggest it if you don’t want to do it or only want to please heterosexual readers.
-They put Tim outside like a dog for being a bad boy.
-Author’s notes and percentages fill in details for the reader that aren’t in the fic. I’m not going to read all of that. Put important information in the fic.
-Lot’s of excessive jealousy. Painfully heteronormative.
What about the good?
Readable. Dramatic like Big Brother. Can be an entertaining read if it’s your thing.
Conclusion
Left a bad taste in my mouth. I feel like the author literally hated half the cast and was annoyed while writing them. When you don’t enjoy writing something it shows. Also, her other work (pandemic! Reader X X-Virus) is super tone-deaf and I don’t recommend that either. Don’t recommend joining this fic’s Discord server either. Won’t get into details but in my and my friend's experience: it’s not a good environment with a lot of playing favorites.
-
Next up on our list is a grossly popular Eyeless Jack X Reader fic.
My Imaginary Monster
Summary: Immoral monster, Eyeless Jack, sneaking into a 5-year-old girl's room. He gets attached, sticks around through her childhood. Thing is, he gets real creepy. Starts to catch feelings for a 16-year-old he’s watched grow up. He kisses a minor who reciprocates his feelings which is textbook child grooming. Nasty fucker runs away, there’s some drama from that. (Y/n) grows up, comes back to town, and Jack’s a’creepin’.
What’s wrong with it?
-Jack is a literal child groomer.
-Do I need to say more??? Immortal adult kisses a 16 y/o. Gross.
-People in the comments are going gaga for grooming. Are you kidding me, he’s a pedophile.
-The OC’s take up more than half of the ~200 page run time. I couldn’t get attached to any of them even after the supposed significance. Which is fine but they took up so much of the fic that it got boring and annoying incredibly quickly.
What’s good about it?
I enjoyed Ben. He did the right thing and I can respect that. Trans and poluyamourus reprrensentation.
Conclusion:
No child grooming in my fucking lobby. I think the author was trying to paint it in a bad light. But the thing is, you can write a creepy stalker fic without making them a groomer. A lot of people are trying to escape their troubles through fanfic, including those who’ve dealt with sexual abuse. Don’t bring that into x reader spaces. Don’t put readers through that again.
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Last and absolutely least we got a Tim X Reader.
BIG TW. FUCKING HUGE TW. MOST OF THE TW’S FROM EARLIER ARE FROM THIS ONE FIC.
Pure Forgiveness.
Summary: (Y/n) is abused by her mom. Her dad killed himself and she’s all (Y/n)’s got in this world. Until Tim comes along and “saves” her. He takes her to the mansion and keeps her as a pet to torture.
I’m going to get into all the nitty-gritty to satisfy your morbid curiosities so you don’t read it.
What’s wrong with it?
-Chapter 1 opens with (Y/n)’s miserable life. Her mom hates her so much she has a fucking torture table for (Y/n).
-There’s an attempted rape in chapter 2.
- She’s taken to the mansion by Tim in chapter 3 because he’s “off his medication” and “acting nicer than normal”. Hi, mentally ill person here, that’s not how it fucking works you ding dong.
-Mental illness is made out to we wholly evil.
-Also tic’s are made out to be scary. As a person with tics, don’t write tics as scary or super weird. Thanks.
-(Y/n) not being able to escape, fight back rapists, and other horrible shit is labeled as weak.
-At one point (Y/n) is dragged through the mansion, beer bottles and used condoms are thrown at her. Girl has to shower off cum.
-(Y/n) is tortured in various ways. Mostly beaten, berated, burned, cut, starved, etc.
-She is drugged and repeatedly raped by Brian and Toby. These rapes are recorded and shown to (Y/n).
-Brian has black hair. Why?
-Toby and Brian give (Y/n) a forced abortion.
-(Y/n) gets raped almost every fucking chapter.
-At one point Jack orally rapes (Y/n) to abort a baby.
-Toby and Brian are necrophiles. They skull fuck a corpse at some point. It is graphically described how they like to have sex with dead bodies.
-Slenderman forcefully impregnates (Y/n) to “keep the (Tim’s) baby safe” whatever the fuck that means.
Why does this happen?
Because Tim wants a kid because his dad raped his mom and his mom was a prostitute. He’s soooo sad guys :(((
Feeling hungry? Here’s some things that are eaten by various characters.
-Hair
-Cum (forced)
-Toby
-Piss
-A miscarried baby
What’s good about it?
Nothing. Fucking nothing. Don’t read it.
Conclusion
If you like this fic you need therapy, I’m not joking. It’s like a car crash and Rob Zombie movie horribly mish-mashed together. It sucks. The comments praise literal abuse and berate (Y/n) for being afraid. Fuck this fic and everything it stands for. It’s shock horror and torture for the sake of it. It makes no fucking sense and it’s harmful. People think this is okay. It’s not.
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Thank you to my pals in the server for helping out and finishing some of these where I could not. Especially you Connie, everyone say thank you Connie she got through Pure Forgiveness. Absolute trooper legend. Again, don’t go out of your way to harass these people. I made this list so you can avoid these works because they have the potential to be upsetting. I’m not the police, I can’t force anyone to stop nor do I want to. Author’s are allowed to explore dark topics but some should be done respectfully or not at-fucking-all. I hope these people grow as writers and understand treating some things a certain way isn’t cool. You can enjoy dark fics, I do too, fuck I write them too, but Jesus God, some things are a no from me chief.
#creepypasta x reader#rea talks#anon#reply#tw rape#tw abuse#read what you want#im not demanding the cancelationof these people thats dumb i just hope they grow and change#i read and write dark fic but you have to be aware of some shit dude lol#also jealousy and yandere fics r typically bad#like not every fic i reccomend or write is going to be problem free but theyre tolerable and interresting i think#im deadass when i say dont read the last one it is awful.
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Hellsing Liveblog Ch. 51-56
This is the “Seras Coming of Age” part of Hellsing, but the chapters are all one-off titles: “Last Mission”, “Get Away”, “Yaksa”, “The Man I Love”, “Ogre Battle”, and “Angelous,”
Last time, Zorin Blitz’s company invaded the Hellsing HQ, and Seras managed to kill them all except for Zorin herself, and then she used her psychic whammy, forcing Seras to relive some traumatic moment. We saw one of the Wild Geese get this same treatment, and he briefly saw his dead daughter before Zorin killed him. As for Seras, she relives the deaths of her parents. Years ago, two guys barged into their home and shot them. The circumstances aren’t entirely clear, but they must have had some forewarning, since Seras’ mom hid her in a closet and told her not to come out no matter what. But when she saw what they did to them, Seras became so enraged that she attackedthe men and stabbed one in the eye with a fork.
The other guy shot Seras, and while she must have survived, she remembers laying on the floor as the guy she stabbed decides to rape her mother. I’m not even sure “rape” is the right word, since she was already dead, but the guy doesn’t care because the body is “still warm.” You’d think he’d be too upset about losing an eye, but maybe he’s high on cocaine or something.
I don’t think you need me to tell you this, gentle reader, but hol-ee shit this dark. We knew Seras’ parents died when she was young, and it wouldn’t be hard to speculate that they died in some violent crime, but Seras watched it happen, and she stabbed a dude in the face, only to get shot herself, and she watched her mother’s body getting molested before she passed out.
And this gives us some insight into what Alucard saw in her that night in Cheddar. There, Seras was surrounded by ghouls, many of them her comrades in the police department, and a vampire who promised to rape her before drinking her blood. Alucard found it remarkable how she persevered in this horror, but now we see that may not even be the worst thing that ever happened to her. It’s not even the first time she got shot!
And from the earlier flashback we saw, Seras was hellbound to become a police officer like her father. After a trauma like this, it’s amazing that she’d want anything to do with the police, since those men killed her father for digging “too deep” into whatever they were involved in. But Seras quietly, defiantly chose to follow in her father’s footsteps, only to suffer a similar fate.
Because, let’s not forget, Seras is dead. She died in Cheddar, because Alucard had to shoot through her to kill the vampire who had taken her hostage. Then she agreed to become a vampire like him, and join the Hellsing Organization. Once more, she has quietly, defiantly, chosen to carry on in this life of public service.
But none of that matters to Zorin Blitz. She just wanted to dredge up all this trauma to keep Seras preoccupied long enough for Zorin to do this...
Oh, also she lopped off Seras’ left arm, but I liked this impalement panel better.
On top of that, Zorin slashes Seras’ eyes, which was pretty gruesome and shocking. When I started watching the Hellsing Ultimate OVA, I couldn’t wait to see what happened next, so I trawled YouTube for clips of Seras, so I had a pretty good idea where the character was headed, and noticed that late-story Seras was missing a left arm. So Zorin cutting it off didn’t surprise me much, but everything else she did to her was a surprise.
Then, just as Zorin seems to be ready to finish Seras off, Pip Bernadotte gets the drop on her and whacks her with the butt of his rifle. Machine gun? Semiautomatic? I don’t know from guns. He hits her with it, is my point. Then he shoots her with a different gun to put the exclamation point on it.
There’s two other guys left in the Wild Geese, and they toss smoke grenades to cover Pip as he tries to carry Seras to safety, but he’s wounded, and then a Millennium soldier wakes up and shoots him in the thighs. Was that guy playing possum? The Geese take him out, and Pip even makes it back to them, but I’m not sure what good that does anybody. Then Zorin gets back up and cuts him down with her scythe. I don’t think she chops him in half or anything, but he’s not getting back up again, that’s for sure.
Seras calls out to him, and he steals another kiss. I guess he forgot about the last time, because he acts like he “finally” managed to do this. Then he asks Seras to drink his blood, which will allow her to win. I guess someone must have explained enough vampire lore to Pip for him to have figured this out. Maybe Seras herself told him how it worked, which makes it doubly-meaningful for him to say this to her now.
And Seras starts wailing with grief, before Zorin finally mocks her for it, calling Pip an insect. I’ve seen a few people poke fun at this scene, because it’s kind of weird for Zorin to just stand by while Pip and Seras have this final moment together, but Zorin’s a sadist. Much of what she’s done in these past several chapters has been about reveling in her enemies’ suffering. She took her sweet time with Seras earlier, which was the only reason Pip managed to help her, and now she’s taking her sweet time again, like she’s enjoying this drama.
So Zorin uses her psychic whammy again, but this time it doesn’t work on Seras. Maybe because Seras is already in the middle of a terrible trauma in the here and now. She couldn’t do anything to avenge her parents back then, and she was powerless against the Cheddar Priest, but this time? This time she knows exactly what to do.
VENIT AEVUS ILLE, O MESSIAH, O MESSIAH
YUDULIYA-VELE YUDULIYA-VELE
EN ESE MOMENTO ZORIN BLITZ SINTIO EL VERDADERO TERROR.
So yeah, this rocks. The anime version does this cool thing where all the blood soaks up into her clothes and stains them red. Maybe the manga was going for the same thing, but it’s harder to tell in black and white. I find it kind of strange how Seras’ eyes grow back, but her left arm does not. I’m pretty sure she could reform her arm, but chooses not to. Instead, she’s got this black ectoplasm-y thing, like the same black stuff that Alucard uses when he’s not holding back as much.
Then Seras starts slaughtering Zorin’s men. Didn’t she already kill them all? Yeah, but there’s more. The anime tries to cover for this by having Zorin explain that some “late arrivals” showed up. Well, they did have to enter the building single file to get past the mines, so it makes sense that Zorin would keep some in reserve in case there were more traps inside.
Seras is my favorite character in this whole thing, and since these pages of her kickin’ ass speak for themselves, I guess I’ll talk about why I like her so much. I’m pretty sure I saw a cosplay photo of her on tumblr, and I found the design intriguing. She’s a vampire, but dressed in something like a military uniform, kind of like the “Bridge Bunnies” in Macross. I looked up Seras to find out what she was from, and I was like “Oh, Hellsing was the show Team Four Star has been abridging, I guess I need to watch that anyway so I can watch the Abridged version and get the jokes.”
Mostly, I just like the idea of a vampire with a very professional mentality, as opposed to the whole Lost Boys/What We Do in the Shadows/Buffy kind of aesthetic. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but we see that sort of thing all the time. I’ve also seen a lot of “reluctant” vampires in my time. Vampires who try to avoid doing any vampire stuff, or going about their business like the vampirism is just this inconvenient obstacle. Hellsing presents this other option, where vampires like Alucard are used for the purpose of anti-vampire countermeasures. He’s been turned into a weapon, but he’s basically just Dracula with a fresh coat of paint. Seras is more firmly rooted in the concept. Alucard was a vampire who became a sort of cop, and Seras is a cop who became a vampire.
And while I liked the idea of Seras being like “Oh, well I didn’t want to be a vampire but I’ll try to make the best of it”, I quickly found out that she wasn’t just a cop with pointy teeth. There’s moments where she can be scary and creepy too. “Sir, yes sir, my Master.” It sums her up very neatly. This is a vampire who can be polite and respectful and professional, but she can also get very deep into the more horrific aspects of this thing. She’s got layers. Zorin Blitz tried to peel them back, and look how that’s working out for her.
Once the rank and file goons are dealt with, Seras goes after Blitz, and just wrecks her shit. Blitz tries to punch Seras in the face and it does nothing. Seras just bites all her fingers off and spits ‘em out. Then she announces that she refuses to drink Zorin’s blood, not a single drop. This is important, because Seras was always reluctant to drink blood. She said she feared that drinking blood would mean the end of something inside of her, but now she’s crossed that Rubicon. One might suspect that she’d suddenly want to drink more blood, but no. She drank Pip’s as a means to an end. Zorin’s blood would serve no higher purpose, and I think there’s an implication that she doesn’t want to dishonor Pip’s sacrifice. Desperate, Zorin tries to use her power on Seras a third time, and then this happens:
Okay, so at first Zorin sees Seras’ memories, like before, but now there’s all this stuff from Pip’s memories, and then Warrant Officer Shrodinger, of all people, shows up. Zorin is confused by this, but he explains that he’s “everywhere and nowhere,” which means he can appear in this psychic vision just as easily as he can teleport between Brazil and England.
Schrodinger is here to pass along a message from the Major. See, Zorin disobeyed his orders, and he would normally punish her for this, but he and the Doctor are busy with a “most interesting toy”, so they’ll just leave it to Seras to take care of punishing Zorin.
Yesterday, I think I figured out what Zorin’s disobedience was. Before I was confused because she didn’t start attacking until Seras opened fire on her blimp, and that only happened because Seras was shooting at the rockets fired by the Major. Everything that Zorin did afterwards could be considered a matter of self-defense, but therein lies the problem. Namely, what was Zorin’s blimp doing in the line of fire to begin with?
Because once Seras shot her down, everything Zorin did next was sort of her only option. She pretty much had to attack the mansion, and brave its defenses, whatever those happened to be. And the Major knew that this was a big unknown. He warned Zorin about Seras Victoria and while he didn’t seem to know exactly what her abilities were, he regarded her as an “arch-enemy” on the same level as Alucard. That’s why he wanted Zorin to hold off and wait for the rocket attack. It was intended to probe the mansion’s defenses, and once it became clear that they had anti-aircraft guns, and that Seras was eagle-eyed enough to shoot down their rockets, then the Major could have ordered Zorin to find a different way.
But instead she was too close and gave Seras a target, which precipitated everything else, up to and including this:
Yeah, Seras just drags Zorin across the walls until her whole head smears apart. Cool!
With Zorin dead, Seras delcares her intention to take the fight to the enemy, and the last three Wild Geese salute her before she leaves. One way or another, they realize that Pip has become a part of Seras now, and they pay their last respects to him through her.
Then Seras flies toward London, using her left arm-thing to make cool bat wings. And this is a good illustration of what Seras is all about. Once, she might have been horrified at the thought of doing something like this, but now she sees it as a way to carry on with her duty. This was what Alucard had been trying to get her to understand, but sometimes you just have to work these things out in your own way. Seras is about utility, and now that she has a use for these vampiric powers, she’s finally prepared to embrace them as her own.
In London, Schrodinger reports back to the Major and informs him of Zorin Blitz’s death. He’s not surprised, and even declares “our ruin has begun”. Schrodinger points out that he’s leading everyone, friend and foe alike, into destruction, and the Major simply observes that this is war. Millennium didn’t come to London to win, they came to London to fight.
Then the Ninth Crusade shows up. Recall that, earlier, Enrico Maxwell organized a military response to deal with the Millennium invasion of London, but he hasn’t come here to save the civilian population. Instead, he’s treating them as enemies, just like the Nazi vampires. Somehow, there’s still living people in the city, and as dawn approaches, they see Maxwell’s helicopters putting off some sort of light show. I don’t know what you call this, but the people on the ground think it’s angels, and then Maxwell orders his men to open fire.
I want to point out that the newly promoted Archbishop Maxwell is riding into this battle in a special truck with a glass box for him to sit in. He’s surrounded by microphones so he can address his troops and the people below. Also the truck is hanging from a helicopter. It’s stupid and pointless and over-the-top, so naturally the Major is highly impressed with Maxwell’s style.
#2021hellsingliveblog#hellsing#seras victoria#pip bernadotte#zorin blitz#the major#warrant officer shrodinger#enrico maxwell
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a cigarette between friends
pairing: k. ukai x fem!reader
word count: 3.4k
genre: angst, implied smut, 18+ minors dni
warnings: implied smut, no actual sex scene; death of a parent; fwb; cursing; smoking; drinking; characters are 18 i do not, would not, and will not write minors
hymns: mover awayer by hobo johnson, it ends tonight by all-american rejects, and closing time by: semisonic
After the ceremony ends, even just a few hours removed, the reality of adulthood starts to settle uncomfortably in both of their chests. This would be the night that changes everything.
“I have to say it.” They both think to themselves and brace for the impact this night is bound to bring.
Ukai Keishin and Sawamura y/n sit on the roof of y/n’s house and watch the sky melt from pink to deep purple. They should be out with friends or family, rejoicing in the freedom that graduation has brought them, but neither have many friends anyway. Not ones worth more than this rooftop and the view above them. “Cheers, Kei. We’re celebrating.” She says grabbing a pack of cigarettes and lighter from the windowsill behind her. She rolls her big, doey eyes and smacks the bottom of the box. She lights one and passes it to him after a few puffs. “Volleyball is over, one cigarette won’t fucking kill you.” She was wrong. That one cigarette would stop his fucking heart every time he watched her take a drag. The way she talks with it bobbing between her teeth was just as intoxicating as the six-pack of beer next to them.
Never has the tension between them been so thick. There are words hanging like nooses from her tongue, but for the first time in her life y/n couldn’t say what was on her mind. Ukai is always on the receiving end of the sharp comment shooting off of her lips, and he always dishes back what is served. The more they hurl verbal weapons, the closer they are pulled together. There was a magnet impeded in each respective skull and they always come crashing into one another.
If anyone ever saw them together- or caught them together- during school or before Volleyball practice, they were fighting. The steam rising from both parties was palpable whenever they were within ten feet of each other. No one knew what it was like in these moments, though. No one knew what the pair was like behind a closed door or on top of a roof. They were truly inseparable.
The only times y/n is quiet is when sucking on Ukai’s tongue.
It goes one of a few ways with Ukai Keishin and Sawamura y/n. There are plenty of late-night booty calls or summoning each other out of pure boredom. Most often, however, their screaming matches end in hate fucking. That’s how this all started anyway.
“Maybe if you could take your head out of your ass, Ukai, we would be able to finish this project without ripping each other’s throats out.” She whispers at him in an even tone, glaring across the table they share at the library.
Being in the same classes was already grating on both of them. Whatever subject, they would be at odds. Constantly prolonging class discussions just to try to win the competition they created for themselves.
Ukai didn’t actually care to debate the meaning of Cordelia's death in King Lear, but since Y/n had an opinion he surely wasn’t going to miss an opportunity to piss her off. This fighting came to a head when they were paired together for a literature project at the beginning of their third year. Everyone around them braced for impact when the pairs were assigned, realizing the cluster-fuck about to unfold.
“And maybe you could take the stick out of your ass.” He grumbles, but then a sadistic grin spreads across his face. He picks up his chair and drags it to the spot directly next to her. He leans right into her ear, “Unless that’s where you like it, Miss Perfect.”
His comment was a gamble for sure, Ukai knows that the hot tempered girl next to him will probably hit him with her notebook, but if he shocks her, he wins.
“I usually don’t start with things up my ass. Plus, I’m into blondes.” A small shrug and bored look was all he got. Dammit. He should have known that he wouldn’t faze her that easily. Still… She doesn’t acquaint her hand with the back of his head, so he decides to push her a little further.
“How about we take a break and I can relieve some of your tension, y/n.” She stops writing in the sea of papers in front of them and looks at Ukai with unwavering eyes. Her stare is so intense he starts to prepare for the worst. At least in the position they’re currently sat in she can’t kick him in the balls.
“Okay.” Y/n starts packing up her things and Ukai is reeling. Nothing shocked her, and even if he had propositioned her, Y/n always had control.
Whichever way it starts, whether the tension threatens to boil over or just out of boredom, it ends in with him slamming her against the nearest surface while she pulls on the short brown hair at his nape. She has an amazing way of bringing out passion in people and Ukai is no exception. She challenges him at every turn. She elicits rage, anger, frustration- but he comes back for more like she’s holy communion.
“What are we doing?” Ukai is agitated by the silence that has consumed the past few moments. Y/n scoffs at his quip and takes the cigarette from his hand, bringing it to her plush, disarming lips. “Come on, what’s some room temperature beer and a cigarette between friends?” Now it was his turn to scoff.
“I’m not sure we would be considered friends, princess. We’re,” He pauses to contemplate, rubbing the bottle he’s holding between his palms “more like business associates.” The comment feels like poison in his mouth, even though it receives the intended chuckle from y/n. He takes a hearty sip from his beer to wash down the taste of his own words.
He wasn’t lying, these two are not friends. Ukai, even if he was closer to a delinquent than a valedictorian, lives in a different world than y/n. He has athletic talent and a drive to compete, he has a group to belong to and a uniform to adorn. She mulls around with the crowd who directly opposes structured sports. Every time they’re shuffled into the gymnasium for a pep-rally, her friends jeer and taunt as various captains speak words of encouragement.
She hates her friends almost as much as she hates everyone else. She never thought liking vinyl and horrible black coffee were interesting traits, definitely not ones to develop a whole personality around. Y/n thinks it stupid to oppose society without a good reason. She has plenty of reasons, but the friends around her never made compelling points. Even so, she doesn’t have to like the people around her to understand the need for a place to belong. Until she found somewhere to truly be herself, they would have to work. Not that it matters now, even freshly out of graduation, she knows she isn’t going to see anyone from high school again.
“Business associates, huh? Is that what you call this-” She motions between them with the beer bottle in her hand, “thing that we do? Is Hate Fucking right under the NASDAQ when you check the stocks in the morning?” Her comment was sharp but her actions directly contrast. She moves to sit in between his legs and presses her back to his chest. Even if she’s not offended by his comment, she craves the intimacy of his arms wrapped around her. She craves to prove wrong a point she cannot argue. Every time she leans into him is a silent claim. She touches him in a way that no one else does. Y/n would never be seen at one his games donning his number or cheering him on, that was an action reserved for a girlfriend. She wasn’t there to jump into his arms after a win, but she was surely there to take his frustration out on after a loss. Her touch was not that of a romantic, but it served a purpose for both of them, and she revels in that control.
It’s not like he minds, pushing his hands under the shirt that hangs so deliciously on her petite frame. His shirt. He rests his calloused palms on her stomach and she reaches up to run her hand over the back of his hair.
Ukai is addicted to the feeling of her skin. Her soft, curvy body and the smell of strawberry lotion mixed with the faint trace of smoke clouds any rational thoughts. The feeling of her thighs wrapped around him could keep him up at night. At the beginning, sex was more than enough to quench his thirst. The fucked out look on her face in those moments was like methadone. However good that feeling was though, it quickly became insufficient. The real drug is this moment, with her in between his legs and his chin resting on the top of her head. If her sex was methadone, this is heroine.
The comment she made was almost lost by the feeling of her flush against his hard chest. Where he was almost drunk on the feeling of her bare ass pressed into him, she wasn’t flustered in the slightest.
Sawamura y/n was unmatched when she spoke. It seems like she employed a whole writers room to push out bitchy comments. How was she able to counter his dumb remark with a pointed jab and lay into his chest in a way that’s making him want to protect her? How are both possible at the same time? Fuck, he has to tell her before he chickens out again. He doesn’t know where to begin, but his words tumble out in a small voice.
“We don’t always hate fuck, y/n.” He’s referring to the fact that they do spend time together with their clothes on, but his tone implies something different. The accusation is not lost on either of them. She doesn't show it, but his hushed confessional knocks the breath out of her lungs. He was right again.
She can’t deny the soft touches she places on his face after falling into bed together, studying his features as they let their breathing steady. She can’t deny the times she presses her small hands into the dips of his shoulder blades after a grueling practice. She can’t forget the night he came to her after being beaten to a pulp, and she will never forget the way he grabbed her thighs to ease the pain with each swipe of antiseptic on his beaten face.
“Ukai Keishin, why are you calling me at three in the morning. This better be important.” Y/n uses his full name as a sign of her frustration and it feels like a knife piercing his skull.
“Your parents are gone this weekend, right?” He doesn't mean to sound like a prick, but the throbbing in his head is making him lose his senses. He coughs and blood spatters on his hand.
“Yes, but my brother’s asleep so if you’re coming over you have to be quiet. My window is open.” She whispers into the other end of the line and he hears her getting out of bed.
“I can’t come through the window. I’m at your front door.” The idea of climbing the tree in her backyard and jumping up to the roof seems impossible in his current state. He hopes that the tone of his voice is enough to stifle any argument from her. It seems to work as the door to her house is unlocked as quietly as possible. Upon opening it, she nearly screams at the sight in front of her. Ukai is leaning against the door frame with a beaten face and a small, apologetic smile.
“I didn’t know where else to go.” He stumbles and y/n helps him inside. She puts her hands around his waist and hauls him clumsily into the bathroom. She sits him on the edge of the bathtub and grabs the first aid kit from the closet with shaking hands. “Is she shaking because she’s concerned for me? Or is she just pissed?” His inner-monologue is drowned out by the feeling of his own heartbeat in his swelling eye.
Y/n runs a washcloth under warm water and turns to face him. He looks up and is able to see her clearly for the first time- as clearly as he can with one good eye. Her bed head is the first thing Ukai notices, h/c locks wildly spilling over her shoulders. She looks exhausted. The bags under her eyes are deep and it looks like she’s been crying. “That wouldn’t be from me right? Surely not, if I ever did something worth crying over, she would just yell at me.” He watches the form in front of him, clad in nothing but an over-sized shirt from a band he doesn't recognize and- he lifts up the shirt slightly- yeah, a pair of underwear.
If she notices him staring at her, she doesn’t say anything and approaches him with the washcloth. She looks so different standing above him like this, she looks like-
“An angel.” He says out loud, only realizing it when the sound of his voice hits his ears. “Hardly Kei. Stop being weird.” She chuckles at his dizzy comment and lifts his chin up, at least her nickname for him is back on her lips, where it belongs. “This is going to sting but you have to stay quiet. If you wake up my brother I will kill you.” Y/n stands in between his parted legs and starts to dab lightly at the blood under his nose. He winces and grabs her thighs to anchor himself, biting his tongue to stifle a painful grunt. Her honey-sweet thighs keep him distracted, at least a little, from the sting of the rag making contact with his face.
“What happened?” Y/n asks so softly it is almost a hum.
“The guys and I were just hanging out- ah, ouch- and some prick from the basketball team started messing with one of our first years. They called him a queer, so my fist attached itself to the douchbag’s jaw.” He says simply and digs his nails into the spot right below her ass.
“And I can guess that said basketball douchebag had friends.” Y/n puts a band aid on the gash under his blackening eye, and Ukai lets out a low chuckle.
“Yeah, but I’m the only one who really got hurt.” She sighs and cleans the dirt from his shaved hairline with feather-light touches.
“Don’t expect me to tell you that you’re a hero, Kei. I think what you did was stupid. There are better ways to support gay rights than getting your ass handed to you.” His desire to stand up to injustice was commendable, even if it was rough around the edges, but she wasn’t about to stroke his ego by voicing that opinion. She steps away slightly to clean up the small pile of wrappers and gauze, and Ukai immediately misses having his hands on her bare legs.
“I wouldn't expect a gold star from you, y/n.” He clears his throat in an awkward series of coughs and takes the aspirin and glass of water from her outstretched hands. ‘Can I ask you a question?” He swallows the pills thickly and sets the cup next to him. He plays with the hem of her sleep shirt and looks up at her, awaiting her acknowledgement. The way his fingers tug at the fabric makes him feel like a child.
“I’m not blowing you just because you got hurt.” That damn tongue of hers, so sharp no matter the situation. She puts the first aid kit back and wrings the blood out of the washcloth in her hands, skin tinted pink under the water before running clear.
“You can ask me whatever you want, but I’m going upstairs to sit on the roof.” He follows y/n like a lost puppy, he’s only ever been in her room so walking through these halls feels like an intrusion. Ukai winces as he climbs out of her bedroom window into the cool night’s air.
“Were you crying?” He asks as she lays her head in his lap and blows cigarette smoke in his face, an action he usually finds annoying. He grimaces but lets it slide without complaint. Maybe it’s the late night, or the news that she received a few hours ago, but his presence is calming her racing mind. So as to not look too out of character though, she gives his earnest question a harsh scowl.
“Maybe. Why do you care?” Y/n tries to quell her fastened heartbeat at the thought that he cares about if she’s been crying. The night’s events really must be taking a toll if she’s started caring about that. She takes another deep, cancerous inhale and ashes the cigarette in her fingers with a practiced flick.
“You’re an ugly crier, it’s weird seeing your face all sad instead of bitchy.” Maybe an asshole comment isn’t the best idea, but Ukai knows exactly what reaction he would receive. Even if he doesn’t know what upset her, he knew that the insincere insult would make her laugh. She did, she laughed loudly and tears pricked at the corners of her eyes. She needed that, and he knew it.
As her giggle subsides, she looks up at his bruising face, She reads his eyes like a book, they tell of fondness and concern where she usually sees anger or agitation. Ukai hesitates, but cards his fingers through her hair that has cascaded around his lap. The tender action feels foreign to them both, but she makes no move to stop him as he scratches gently at her scalp. The silence around them is ringing in both of their ears.
“It’s my dad. My mom took him into the city for an appointment yesterday, he was admitted on the spot. He’s not going to make it more than a few days.” Y/n blows a smoke ring into the crisp air and continues, “He’s been sick for a long time. Like, a really long time. I mean he was so frail when I helped him into the car yesterday, but I didn’t expect that call. I don’t think you can ever expect that call.” She doesn’t realize she had started crying again until his rough hand meets her cheek to thumb away the escaping tears.
This shouldn’t be happening. Even if the circumstances are tragic, and his intent is genuine- it’s selfish to love the feeling of his comforting gesture. Y/n let’s Ukai do so much to her, but this moment feels like she is stealing from him. She’s a thief, but she indulges herself, resolving to make sure this never happens again. In this moment, this horrible night, she leans in shamelessly and memorizes the feeling of his sweet, strangers touch.
“My brother and I are going to see him tomorrow. I haven’t told him yet. He deserves one last night of sleep. His childhood ends tomorrow.” Ukai holds the shaking frame in his arms, tightening like she would disappear.
His heart breaks for her and the nine-year-old boy in the next room. The boy Ukai has never met. Why would he know y/n’s brother? He only ever comes to this house to get off and sneaks away before the sun wakes in the morning. There’s no love here, there shouldn’t be, but his heart breaks all the same.
“Kei,” she exhales a cloud of smoke from her nose and sits up to face him. “I need to tell you something.” His hands start sweating frantically and he knows it is now or never. He has to say the thoughts that are burning a hole in his tongue. Y/n and Ukai spoke at the same time. Both said one sentence that would hang off of this fucking rooftop for the next eight years.
“Y/n, I think I’m in love with you.”
“Kei, I’m moving to California for college.”
all writing is dymphnasprose’s original content, please do not repost or modify. do no read my content as asmr.©️
#haikyuu x reader#coach ukai x reader#ukai x reader#ukai keishin x reader#ukai keishin#haikyuu!!#tw: smoking
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Broadway Baby || Shawn Mendes
Description: You have known Shawn Mendes for nine years. And he has been a pain in your ass the entire time. NYC isn’t big enough for the two of you, and your hometown certainly isn’t either. (aka broadway!Shawn)
A/N: I thought of this au out of nowhere and I was like wait a minute....that could be really good. SO here we are! And I think it is pretty good! And yes the Jordan I mention a few times is Jordan Fischer. I am a whore for that man. ALSO just a disclaimer: I know absolutely nothing about the technicality or broadway or new york or anything so plz just pretend thank you
Word Count: 7.6k
Maybe going to your high school’s five-year reunion at some dive bar two hours away from where you currently lived and down the street from your old high school could have been the worst place to be on a Saturday night in May.
You whisked the wine in your glass around as you watched it arch up the glass, threatening to spill out with each turn. The light above you flickered every few moments, and you couldn’t tell if the reason for your forming headache was the wine or the light or the fact that you were at your reunion. Or maybe all three.
You leaned against a table with two people from your homeroom, both of them going on and on about their current fifth year of college they were finishing up. One was in a sorority and the other was the president of his frat. You could’ve seen that coming from your freshman year of high school.
You occasionally chimed in every few moments just to look interested because you really didn’t have anyone else to talk to. You’d gotten here just a little too early since you had to take the drive and overestimated how long it actually took. Everyone who was eager for the reunion was here. Which meant everyone you did not want to see.
Your friends planned on coming later, and in reality, you should have just stopped at their house before coming but last minute decided against it. You didn’t really see your high school friends as often as you once thought you would. But life got in the way. While everyone else tended to stay in the small town, you were one of the few who made it out to New York City just two hours away. You had a great job, you bought a house and had a dog. It couldn’t get much better for you.
So, why you thought you would want to relive your high school days for a night? You still don’t know what you were thinking.
“[Y/N]?” Eli said from next to you as you blinked a few times before looking at him.
“How’s the big city?” He said with his smile that actually was too white.
“Good! Really good!” You said with a smile before you took a sip, hoping he wouldn’t ask any more questions.
“Do you ever run into Shawn?” Kelly asked from the other side of you.
The name itself sent shivers down your spine. Not good ones.
“Nope,” you said with a pop in your “p” as you downed your glass.
“You guys were so close in high school,” Eli said.
You held back a laugh as you glanced back over at him, “No, we weren’t.”
“Well you were the leads in all the musicals together,” Eli replied.
“That means we were forced to act like we liked each other onstage. We were good actors. That’s why we were the leads,” you tried to say as casually as possible without making it obvious that your blood was boiling.
“Could have fooled me,” Kelly taunted as she sipped at her drink.
You stifled an eye roll as you thought about what the best time would be to sneak away and get more wine.
“Speak of the devil,” Eli said as you followed his eyes across the room.
Your eyes briefly met with Shawn’s as he sauntered into the bar with more confidence than he should be allowed to have.
You heard Kelly sigh from next to you as she rested her head on her hand.
You could throw up.
By the time you looked up again, he was walking right towards you.
So, now was the right time to get another glass.
You turned around and waved the bartender down for some wine and then thought maybe two glasses was a better idea but didn’t want to look as trashy as you felt right now being in the same room as Shawn again.
By the time you turned around with your wine, Shawn was deep in conversation with Eli as Kelly lovingly listened in.
You took a quick scan of the room, praying there could be someone else you could talk to. Most of the people you really didn’t care for or barely remembered. You spotted a few football players you had known since Kindergarten and hadn’t seen in a while.
You were about to cross the room to them when you heard Eli say, “[Y/N]’s right here.”
Shawn looked up and smirked as his eyes met yours. There goes your escape.
You smiled sweetly as you made your way back in between Eli and Kelly and a comfortable distance from Shawn.
“Hi, Shawn.”
“[Y/N], good to see you,” he said, the damn smirk not leaving his face.
“You too,” you mumbled from the rim of your glass.
“Heard you’re over at Samson Management now? You know Jordan?”
You nodded your head and leaned on the table again, “Yeah, I work with Jordan pretty often. He’s fantastic.”
Shawn looked over to Kelly, turning on his charm as he said, “Jordan’s the lead right now in the musical I’m in.”
It took every ounce of you to not roll your eyes and say something snarky.
“You mean the musical you’re an understudy for?”
It didn’t work.
Shawn cocked an eyebrow at you and his smile faltered as you foiled his face he was putting up for everyone.
“Yes, [Y/N], that would be the one,” he said slowly.
“Mhm,” you mumbled.
“Anyway, I’m in Dear Evan Hansen, and Jordan plays Evan right now. We’re pretty good friends, and he’s managed by the company [Y/N] interns for,” he said simply.
“I’m not an intern,” you said calmly.
“You were.”
“When I was in college, now I’m a junior manager,” you said, your grip on your glass getting dangerously harder.
“Hm, whoops,” he said before taking a drink of his beer.
You could cut the tension with a knife as Eli and Kelly shared looks.
“Who are you managed by again, Shawn?” You asked.
If looks could kill, you’d be dead.
“I’m in between managers.”
“Isn’t that what people say when they were fired from a job? That they’re in-between jobs?” You said with a quiet laugh.
You could practically see the steam threatening to spill from Shawn’s ears.
“Things weren’t working out,” he said carefully.
“I’m going to go say hi to Andy,” Kelly said quietly as she backed away.
“Me too,” Eli said as he did the same.
You were in a staredown with Shawn as they both almost sprinted away.
“Want anything from the bar, [Y/N]? Or still nursing your third glass?” He taunted as he walked past you to the bar behind you.
“Not my third.”
“Sorry, second,” he said with a smile as he turned around.
You shook your head and bit your lip harshly.
“Just upset I’m spoiling your whole facade?” You said, leaning against the bar next to him. “A simple google search could have spoiled it anyway.”
“Sorry we’re not all perfect,” he said, not looking at you.
“Yeah, real bummer,” you said before pushing yourself off the bar and making your way across the room to the people you meant to see earlier.
Andy scooped you up into a big hug as you finally approached him, rocking you back and forth.
“Heard you were being snarky across the room?” He whispered in your ear before pulling away and giving you the same look he’d been giving to you since Kindergarten.
“Some things never change,” you said as you sat down next to him.
“No one really likes him anyway, just think they do because they think he might be famous one day,” he said.
“He won’t be,” you said. “We run in relatively the same circle with my office managing a lot of the people he performs with. He won’t go anywhere with that attitude.”
“Nothing’s changed,” he mumbled.
“Not at all.”
You watched Shawn sweet-talk one of the old cheerleaders from across the room, probably raving about his latest performance where he was a background character for one whole scene but making it sound so much better.
“I’m still shocked nothing ever happened between the two of you,” Andy suggested.
You shot your head to the side to look at him.
“I can’t be with him for more than a minute without a fight starting,” you reminded him.
“That tension, I’m telling you,” he said quietly.
“You are unbelievable,” you said through a laugh.
Before he could respond, Shawn was walking to the group you were currently in.
“Don’t be mean,” Andy warned.
“You know I can’t promise that,” you whispered back.
“Our own broadway baby!” One of the girls yelled as Shawn hugged one of the guys.
You scoffed as Andy shot you a warning look before waving at Shawn.
Shawn returned the wave and walked closer.
(ITALICS) Here we go again.
“Good to see you, man,” Shawn said as he shook his hand.
“You, too,” Andy said as sweet as ever.
“You still live around here?” Shawn asked.
“No, I actually live in Chicago now,” Andy said.
“That’s great,” Shawn said, being nicer than usual.
“Yeah, how’s the big city?” Andy returned the question.
“Really great,” Shawn said before taking a drink. “I keep pretty busy.”
“So I hear,” Andy said with a nod.
You took another drink as you watched the interaction between the two of them. Andy knew how much you didn’t like Shawn, but the two still always got along pretty well. While you were always the first person he greeted after the musical, Shawn was the second. You tried not to let it make your blood boil. But that’s just how Andy was. He loved everyone and everyone loved him.
“Hey, [Y/N], heard a bunch of people from Samson’s are coming to the show next week?” Shawn questioned.
“Yes, we are,” you said casually.
“We? As in you’re going?” Shawn pried.
“Well, I do work with Jordan fairly often, so yes, I will be going,” you said softly.
“Great,” he said through a toothy smile.
“Fantastic,” you said as you mirrored his look.
Before the conversation could turn bad, Shawn got distracted and walked away.
Andy let out a breath before taking a drink, “I have a feeling you don’t actually feel fantastic about it.”
“As long as I don’t see him, we’ll be just fine,” you said, leaning your elbow on the table.
“I feel like that’s jinxing yourself,” Andy said slowly.
“Well, I’ve said it over fifty times since we decided we were going, so this time would be no different. If it was jinxed, it was jinxed over a month ago,” you said, finishing your glass.
“I wish you luck,” he said.
“Thanks,” you said as you squeezed his arm before standing up to go to your friends who just walked in.
You could see Sophie eyeing Shawn from a mile away.
“Soph?” You questioned as she snapped out of it and looked at you. “What are you looking at?”
“I’m not saying that out loud,” she replied.
“Good idea,” you said back.
“You have to admit, he looks good,” she said simply.
“You know I would never admit that even if I did believe it.”
The few of you made your way around a table with a few other people you did the musicals with and talked about the great times you had as you had another glass of wine and started to feel it hit, along with everyone else.
You were laughing at someone’s story about a performance gone wrong before you realized Shawn was there. You couldn’t even tell when he got there but it wasn’t bothering you nearly as much as you thought it would.
When he wasn’t trying to impress everyone around him, he wasn’t bad at all to be around, but when his ego took over and all he wanted to do was make people think he was something he wasn’t, you wanted to kill him.
“Remember when [Y/N] bit Shawn’s lip?” Sophie reminded everyone.
Shawn threw his head back in laughter as you shook your head and looked down.
“I still have a scar!” Shawn yelled from across the table as he pointed at you.
“I’m sorry!” You yelled back through a laugh. “If you would’ve done the moves we practiced, it wouldn’t have happened!”
“You bit through his lip!” someone said.
“Not on purpose!” You said through a laugh.
Shawn shook his head as the group calmed down, “I find that hard to believe.”
“Well, believe it. The last thing I wanted to do was have to drive you to the emergency room on a Friday night,” you said.
“And you stayed with me the whole time,” he said as he rested his hand on his chest. “I’m touched.”
“Don’t get used to it,” you reminded him.
“I would never,” he said with a smirk.
“Someone do karaoke!” Someone else yelled as they pointed at two people getting off the stage.
Your eyes met Shawn’s from across the table as you both nodded and walked towards the stage, not even having to say the song which you found early on was both your default karaoke song. It was always a duet between the two of you at your cast parties.
Bruises by Train started playing as people turned and cheered to see the duo up on stage.
Shawn started singing the first verse as you bopped your head to the familiar tune.
You cut in with your part as you looked at him, and he looked back at you.
You felt like you were back on stage with him, playing the part and acting like you could kiss him when this was all said and done. He joined in with you for the chorus as the two of you stood fairly close, looking at each other as you belted the chorus.
You stood side by side for the next part, your shoulders brushing as you pointed at people as you sang “have you seen him?”
You casually changed “Johnny B” to “Andy T” as Andy hollered from the back of the bar and Shawn laughed through his half of the line.
You went back into the chorus as you looked at him again, spreading your arms and feeling like you were on the big stage all over again. You didn’t realize how much you missed it.
You sang the lines of the bridge softly as Shawn did the same, his eyes not leaving yours. You looked at Shawn in ways you hadn’t since the final night senior year, reminding everyone watching why the two of you were always the stars.
Before you could register it, the song was done and you were standing inches from Shawn as everyone cheered.
“Guess you still got it,” Shawn said with a small smile.
“Guess you do, too,” you said back, not even wanting to be snarky anymore.
You both walked back to your table, this time Shawn standing next to you as you laughed with your friends.
You glanced at the time just to see it was 1:00 am as people were leaving.
“Shit,” you mumbled as you went to call an Uber since you clearly couldn’t drive.
You looked around just to see that Sophie and your other friends had left. Andy was gone, too, and you were running out of options.
You planned on not really drinking and just driving back to the city tonight, but that was no longer an option.
“You good?” You heard from behind you.
You turned to see Shawn with his hands tucked in his pockets.
“I was going to drive back tonight,” you mumbled.
“That’s not happening anymore.”
“Yeah, I know,” you scoffed. “I’ll just call my parents.”
“Come on, I got a hotel. You can stay with me,” Shawn said as he started walking away.
“Aren’t you drunk?” You said as you watched him.
He turned around and shook his head, “I had one beer nearly six hours ago.”
“Oh, ok,” you said as you followed him to his car.
You drove in silence to a hotel a few blocks away, feeling your buzz quickly wear off.
You followed him in and up to his room. He let you in in front of him as you made your way to the bed in the corner and plopped down on it.
“You’re a lifesaver,” you said to the ceiling.
“I know,” he sighed as he sat on the edge of your bed. “We can pick up your car in the morning.”
“Thanks,” you said as you turned on your side to look at him.
“I’m sorry about before,” you said softly. “I got carried away with the digs.”
He nodded his head and leaned back so his head was next to yours, “I deserved it.”
You turned to look at him better, noticing his jawline as he spoke.
“I mean, it’s kind of embarrassing having to come to your reunion as an understudy,” he said softly.
“It’s still Broadway,” you reminded him. “You’re twenty-two. You have plenty of time to ace the lead.”
“Thanks,” he said as he also turned to look at you.
Your faces were dangerously close as you watched his eyes flick towards your lips and you inched closer.
Before you could rethink it, Shawn was on top of you and his tongue was in your mouth.
Every insult you had hurled before were forgotten as he deepened the kiss and moved you up the bed, his hand caressing your back underneath your shirt and getting dangerously close to your bra.
This was not something you ever did in the musicals.
You woke up the next morning, slightly startled as you looked around at your surroundings.
And then seeing the sleeping figure next to you.
“Fuck,” you mumbled as you remembered doing things you never imagined doing the night before.
You noticed you were wearing his shirt and tried not to groan as you slowly got out of the bed to find your clothes. You threw them back on and called an Uber as you slipped on your heels and tiptoed to the door, grabbing your purse and sneaking out.
You sat in the back of the Uber and cursed everything you could as you made your way to the bar again.
You hopped out of the car and into your own as you rested your head on your steering wheel and banged it against it a few times for good measure.
Your headache began to sink in as you prayed you wouldn’t have to throw up on your two-hour drive back home.
You finally started your car and put the nearest McDonalds into your maps before pulling out.
You could’ve screamed when Bruises played through your speakers.
—
Your pounding headache didn’t go away the next few days, and it certainly wasn’t just from your hangover.
Monday was a whole new obstacle as half your coworkers asked about your reunion and the other half wanted to talk about the show on Friday.
Your head was pounding, and your coffee wasn’t cutting it anymore. You rested your head in your hands for a moment to breathe before you went to grab lunch.
Your phone rang before you even had that moment.
“Yes?” You said simply.
“You have a visitor. He’ll be waiting in the commons,” the receptionist said before hanging up.
Your heart leaped into your throat before you tried to swallow it down. You took a shaky breath before grabbing your bag and walking downstairs, a little too terrified to see who was waiting for you downstairs.
Seeing Andy waiting there was the best thing to happen to you in the past week.
You breathed a sigh of relief as you walked up to him and gave him a quick hug.
“What are you doing here?” You asked with a smile.
“My flight leaves out of JFK in a few hours, so I thought we could grab lunch first,” he said as you began to walk out of the building.
“Perfect. The place next door is great,” you said as you felt the first joy you’d felt since Saturday night.
“I also have to ask you something,” he said slowly.
“Mhm,” you mumbled as you pushed the door open to the cafe, and he followed behind you.
“Where did you go Saturday night? After the reunion?”
Your heart went right back into your throat as you didn’t look at him and instead focused on the menu on the wall.
“Back here. I got back super late,” you said as you begged your voice not to falter.
“Really? Because I saw your car there Sunday morning,” he said.
You knew you couldn’t prolong it, so you finally looked at him as he looked at you with a blank stare and raised eyebrows.
“I went to Sophie’s,” you tried.
“Sophie left before I did,” he said quietly. “And she left with Eli.”
You didn’t respond and instead stepped up to order your usual. You could hear Andy sigh as you recited your order.
You stepped to the side and let him order before grabbing a table in a secluded corner.
He sat his number down on the table before sitting across from you and leaning forward on the table, giving you another look.
“We’ll do this again. Where did you go Saturday night?” He asked.
You sighed as your shoulders slumped.
“I stayed with Shawn,” you whispered. “He offered, and I didn’t have many other options.”
“I knew it,” he said in his typical, “I told you so” voice he’d been using on you for years.
“Don’t even say anything. I’m not proud of it,” you mumbled as they set your food in front of you.
“[Y/N], come on. You know I’d never say anything mean about it,” he reminded you.
“Yeah, yeah I know,” you said as you started to pick at your food. “No one knows.”
“So I’m guessing that means you did more than just sleep wherever he was staying?” He pried.
“If I don’t say it out loud, it never happened,” you said before taking a sip.
“Oh my God,” he mumbled.
“You said you wouldn’t say anything,” you groaned.
“I won’t. I won’t,” he said before he sighed. “I just want to say that I told you so, and I saw this coming from a mile away.”
“Ok, I get it,” you said through a laugh.
“I mean I literally said it probably hours before you did it,” he reminded you again.
“Yes, ok, anyway, when does your flight leave?” You said, trying to derail the conversation.
“4:00 pm, but anyway, who came on to who?” He continued.
“I’m not answering any questions,” you said, taking bites of your food as he thought of more questions to ask.
“Fine,” he sighed, finally eating.
“But he definitely came on to me.”
“I knew it.”
—
You kept busy the next week on your latest project, and you managed to forget about the past weekend...until Friday came up faster than expected.
You hated to admit it, but you bought a new outfit for the show, one that you know would make Shawn drool in the off chance you did see him.
During the day you were in and out of meetings, barely having time to even sit down in your office. When you finally had a chance, one of the interns leaned in.
“Ross was looking for you before, but he just told me to tell you that Jordan won’t be on tonight,” she said.
“What?” you said a little louder than planned.
“Yeah, I think he said he has strep throat,” she explained before walking away.
You took a deep breath and ran your hands through your hair.
This could’ve been your worst nightmare.
You took your time getting ready after work as the chances you would see Shawn increased with each passing moment in the past week.
You met your coworkers outside the venue an hour before the show and found Ross to grab your ticket.
“Someone told you right?” Ross said as he handed it to you.
“Yeah, Jordan’s out,” you said through a sigh.
“And that Shawn Mendes will be on,” he said as he looked at the altered program. “Know anything about him?”
“Well,” you paused and wondered if you should tell the truth or lie through your teeth. “I actually went to high school with him.”
Ross’s eyebrows shot up as he looked at you. “Tell me everything. I hear he’s looking for new management.”
You bit your tongue as your group walked into the theater and tried to think this through.
“He’s insanely talented. We starred in most of the musicals together, and he manages to have chemistry with anyone he’s onstage with, which I hope you’ll see tonight. He’s got a good heart, but I think it’s hard for him to show it sometimes. This is all he’s ever wanted to do, and he shows it in everything he does,” you explained as you found your seats.
“He sounds like a good guy,” Ross offered.
“Yeah,” you paused. “He is.”
“What musicals did the two of you do together?” He continued.
“Um, wow, we did The Last Five Years, High School Musical, Footloose and Hairspray,” you remembered.
“So why did he go and do this while you went into management?”
“He had the confidence I could never get,” you said as your voice shook just the slightest.
“You’re confident.”
“I wasn’t in high school,” you explained. “Shawn had enough for the two of us. Sure, I would’ve loved to do this,” you gestured to the stage. “But Shawn knew he was going to do this. There was a big difference.”
“Yeah, I get that,” he said with a nod. “And you settled for management.”
“I wouldn’t say settled. This is my dream job,” you said through a small laugh. “I wanted college and stability. I needed it. Shawn was always really good at being spontaneous which was definitely something I could’ve learned from.”
“You speak pretty highly of him,” Ross pointed out.
You paused for a moment and ran through the conversation you just had in your head. You didn’t realize how many nice things you had to say about him.
“Yeah,” you said before pausing. “He’s a really good guy. We didn’t always get off on the right foot, but when it came down to it, we made a good duo.”
“Well, if this show goes well, I just might have to have a conversation with him afterward. Care to join me? Introduce me to him?” Ross questioned as he looked at you.
You swallowed hard before nodding your head, “Of course.”
The lights dimmed before Ross could say anything more than “Great.”
You took a deep breath and released it slowly as Shawn walked on to the stage. You were nervous for him, you being the only one who knew the weight of this performance, what Samson Management could do for him.
You’d never even seen him perform except from the wings of a stage while you did a quick change or quickly rehearsed lines with someone in the stage crew. Before tonight, all you ever got were glimpses of the person he became when he walked on stage.
And he was amazing at it.
He had the whole crowd on the edge of their seats as he sang “Waving Through a Window.” You did everything in your power to make sure no one saw you wipe the tear escape your eye.
You never would’ve been able to tell that this was Shawn’s first time performing this part. He had the whole audience laughing when they needed to be laughing and crying when they needed to be crying. You felt your heart follow his journey as you saw Shawn genuinely thrive.
It was intermission before you knew it, and you took a moment in the bathroom to fix your makeup that may have ran down your cheek a little.
By the time you got back to your seat, Ross was jotting down quick notes.
“So, what do you think?” You asked.
“He really is something else,” he said with a big smile. “We definitely have to talk after.”
You couldn’t hide your smile as the lights dimmed again and the musical continued.
By the time the show was done, your mascara needed fixing again and your chest hurt. You ducked into the bathroom again before meeting Ross to introduce him to Shawn.
You showed your credentials to the stage manager as you walked ahead of Ross to find the door with Shawn’s name on it. You took a deep breath before knocking slightly and hearing a muffled “come in.”
You creaked the door open to watch Shawn turn around to see you.
“[Y/N],” he said just above a whisper as his face fell.
Before he could say anything else, you opened up the door more to show Ross with you. Shawn’s immediately put on a different face as he stood up.
“Shawn, this is Ross Thompson, senior manager at Samson Management. Ross, this is Shawn Mendes, Clinton’s own Broadway baby,” you said with a smile as the two shook hands before Shawn nervously stuffed his in his pockets and glanced over at you.
“You were amazing,” Ross started. “And we would love to meet with you sometime, over at Samson.”
“Really? That would be amazing,” Shawn said with a smile.
Ross handed him his card before saying, “Email me Monday morning about what times work best for you within this next week, and we’ll set up a time where the three of us can talk.” He said as he gestured at you, and you nodded your head.
“Thank you so much. I look forward to talking more,” Shawn said as he shook Ross’s hand again.
“We’ll see you then,” Ross said as the both of you turned toward the door.
“[Y/N]?” You heard him say as you both turned around. “Can I steal you for a minute?”
You swallowed hard before nodding over at Ross.
“I’ll meet you guys at Ellen’s,” you said with a soft smile before Ross waved goodbye and walked out.
You shut the door behind him before you leaned against it and looked at Shawn.
“I have about a million things to say, and I don’t know which one to start with,” he said a little too quickly.
“Yeah, I figured.”
“What did you say?” He paused. “That made him want to talk with me?”
“Well, he asked about you and was so excited to hear that we went to high school together, so I told him everything I could,” you said quietly.
“Which was?” He pried.
“Um,” you faltered. “I said that we starred in the musicals together…”
“And?” He cut you off.
“And that you’re amazing at what you do. That you were born to be doing this, and it shows when you walk onstage. That you have a good heart, but sometimes have a hard time showing it. That we didn’t always get off on the right foot, but at the end of it all, we made a really good duo,” you said, trying to look anywhere but his eyes that seemed to be piercing into yours.
“You mean that?”
You could hear the strain in his voice.
“Of course I do,” you said through an exhale. “Look at you, Shawn. You just walked out on that stage like you’ve been playing this role your whole life. You had that whole audience convinced you were the actual Evan Hansen when that person doesn’t even exist.”
A moment of silence surrounded the two of you. You stared just past Shawn at the table scattered with his things, focusing on an open foundation bottle instead of him.
“So you liked it?” He finally said.
“I loved it,” you said quietly. “I’ve never actually gotten to see perform from an audience before. It was breathtaking.”
“Thanks,” he said almost under his breath.
It went quiet again, and you uncomfortably switched from one foot to the other as the tension filled the room like so many times before. Except for all different reasons.
“So why’d you leave?” He finally asked as his hands flew up with frustration.
Your body slumped as you sighed and sat on the arm of the chair right next to the door.
“Please don’t do this, Shawn,” you begged as you looked at the floor.
“No, I’m doing this. Why did you leave? I’m not just some guy you met at a bar, [Y/N]. I thought you had a little more respect for me than that,” he said, the frustration in his voice evident.
“Because you’re you,” you started. “You’re a pain in my ass and have been for the past nine years. I’ve had to watch you captivate the stage with this natural flair that only you could pull off, and I never could. Seeing you on Saturday was like being on stage as a freshman as Gabriella all over again, and I was staring at Troy, who had the confidence of ten people, showing this whole world what he can do, and I can’t. I couldn’t just let myself live in whatever fake world we made up Saturday night just to regret it Sunday morning.”
“Why are you saying this? It’s been five years since we last sang together, but it felt like yesterday when I looked at you doing that note change you always did when we sang that song. Whenever I perform with you, I forget that you’re you. I forget that you hate my guts half the time and the other half of the time you’re tolerating it because you have to,” he said, frustration evident in his voice. “You can’t make up excuses anymore, [Y/N]. What happened Saturday was not some performance. We’re not in high school. And even if we were, you are still just as amazing as a performer as you think I am, but you’re still stuck in this mindset that you were just put there by default.”
“Do you know how hard it is to perform with you when everyone who encounters you falls in love with you?” You almost yelled as you stood up, and Shawn stepped back. “I had to, and still have to, work twice as hard as you to get half of the recognition you did. We were never equals. I didn’t hate you, Shawn. I could never hate you because of how you made me feel like I was everything when we were on stage together. I have tried every night for the past nine years to forget the way my stomach would flip when you sang to me, and right when I thought I could, I was right back to it because of that fucking reunion.”
“Then why did you leave?” He finally yelled. “I thought I had finally figured you out, finally figured out how I could get you to be mine, and by the time I woke up, you were gone and probably halfway to New York. Why won’t you just accept that there was always something here, but you were too scared to ever admit it because of what other people thought of me?”
You didn’t say anything. You didn’t have anything to say.
“I have been chasing after you for nine years, and I’m just starting to think that I just can’t do it anymore,” he said quietly as he sat down on the couch opposite of you with his hand on his forehead.
You watched the way he rubbed his forehead as he caught his breath, the way his body slumped as he let out everything he’d always wanted to say.
“When I woke up on Sunday, I couldn’t get out of my head that I was just there because I was convenient for the night. That I wasn’t what you actually wanted,” you said slowly. “I didn’t realize there was something more.”
He sighed and looked up at you.
“But by the time I got back here, I knew I shouldn’t have left. I made that mistake, and I’m sorry that you had to deal with the consequences of it. Whenever I’m with you, I just get caught back in this old mindset that you’re always going to be better than me, and that’s a real blow to the ego, but it’s all in my head,” you said.
He didn’t say anything as you finished your thoughts.
“That’s all I have left to say,” you said after a moment.
“Then I think you should go,” you said just above a whisper.
“Shawn…” you started.
“I’ve had enough for one night. Please just go.”
So you did.
—
The following week was just as painful as the one before as you awaited the meeting you would eventually have to sit through with just Ross and Shawn. The calendar notification popped up Monday morning, so you knew Shawn called him as soon as he possibly could to set this up. You had a brief meeting with Ross on Thursday morning, and Shawn was planned to join you shortly after.
You walked with Ross to one of the rooms on the first floor to go over some notes before meeting Shawn. He pulled up his laptop and let out a sigh.
“I need you to be honest with me about how you feel about Shawn,” Ross said.
“Ok,” you said carefully.
“Because I asked around and the things I’ve heard have been exactly 50/50. People either love him or hate him. I can’t afford to have a hated man on our team,” Ross explained. “So I need the real story.”
You took a deep breath and stared at your own computer screen before looking up at him.
“I have known Shawn since I was 14. The first time I met him was a chemistry read for High School Musical. I had heard about him. I had heard…not the greatest things about him. That he had a big ego and knew he was good and wasn’t afraid to flaunt it. So, I went into that chemistry read with this horrible idea of him in my head. And I held on to it for a lot longer than I’d like to admit. But every day I spent with him on the stage, that chipped away more and more,” you said.
“What I said on Friday, about him knowing this is what he was meant to do, is completely true. People often take that the wrong way. I took that the wrong way. I wasted years hating him when he was just passionate about what he did. Once you realize that, he is genuinely one of the most amazing performers you will ever work with and just as amazing of a person,” you finished.
Ross nodded his head as he leaned back in his chair, crossing an ankle over a knee as he bit the end of his pen.
“I trust you,” he said after a moment.
Before you could say anything else, Ross’s laptop dinged to notify him that Shawn was here.
“You want to go get him?” Ross offered.
You nodded your head and walked out of the room and down the long hallway to see Shawn waiting at the end of it by the receptionist’s desk.
“Shawn,” you said with a head nod towards the hallway.
He didn’t say anything and followed you down the hallway.
Before you went in, Shawn stopped a few feet away from the door. You turned around and looked at him.
“This is make or break for me,” he said.
“I know.”
“What do you think it’s going to be?” He asked.
You sighed and leaned against the wall.
“Despite what has happened, I have done everything I possibly can at this point. I believe in you, Shawn, and I’ve done everything I can to get Ross to feel that same way,” you explained.
“You mean that?”
“Every word.”
You didn’t allow him time to respond as you opened the door and let him in in front of you. His nerves seemed to evaporate away as he shook Ross’s hand and took a seat across from the two of you.
Ross sighed as he sat down before he said, “I’ll cut right to it.”
Shawn simply nodded his head.
“We would love for you to join our team,” he said.
You watched Shawn relax, and it took everything in you not to jump up.
“Thank you so much, sir. You won’t regret it,” Shawn said with a smile that could light up the entire city.
“I know,” Ross said with a head nod. “You’re lucky you have someone as great as [Y/N] in your life. She did a really good job of talking you up.”
Shawn looked at you as your eyes widened at Ross’s blatant statement.
“Yeah,” Shawn said, still looking at you. “I am.”
The meeting went relatively quickly as preliminary paperwork was filled out and the basics were gone over. The looks Shawn gave you didn’t go unnoticed as you explained the necessary policies.
“Well, Shawn, that’s all we have for you today,” Ross said as he stacked up some papers and set them on top of his laptop. “You’ll be working mostly with me and [Y/N], but for the majority of the time it’ll just be [Y/N],” he said as he gestured to you.
You nodded your head as Shawn looked at you again and nodded along.
“You have my number, but call this number if it’s during work hours,” you said as you handed him your card. “I check my email constantly, so you’ll also be able to reach me quickly there if I’m in a meeting.”
“Got it,” he said as he placed your card with the other papers stacked in his arms.
“We look forward to working with you,” Ross said as he gestured forward. “I’ll have [Y/N] walk you out,”
You and Shawn walked out the door and down the hallway towards the front door as tension surrounded you two again.
“Can I see you this weekend?” Shawn said quickly as you reached the front door.
Without saying anything, you pushed him out the front door, and you followed behind him.
“Sorry,” he mumbled.
“No, no, just the receptionist is nosey,” you said with a head shake. “Ross doesn’t care.”
“Oh, ok.”
“Anyway…” you offered.
“Right, I just think we need to talk,” he said as he impatiently fiddled with his thumbs.
“What’s there left to say, Shawn?” You asked as you crossed your arms as an unexpected breeze blew by. “We both said what we needed to last weekend. I got you your management team. What else do you want?”
“I don’t just want you because of a management team,” Shawn said with hurt in his voice. “And I did not think you’d be the one I’d work with if they brought me on here.”
“We want to keep you with people you know-“
“That doesn’t matter right now. [Y/N], what I’m trying to say is I want to see you. I want to take you on a damn date because I’ve wanted to since I was 14 and heard you sing ‘Breaking Free,’” he said, sounding out of breath, rarely seeing him so vulnerable.
You felt the smile tug at your lips as you tried to keep a straight face.
“We do still have a lot to talk about,” you said.
“A shit ton, but it would be a lot easier to do that over a drink, and when I know you feel the same way I do about you.”
You rolled your eyes with a smile before you said, “Of course, I want to get a drink with you. As a date.”
“Thank, God,” he said as his body slumped and his breath left him.
“I told Ross about how I truly felt about you. That that big ego I thought you had was just passion for what you did, and I realize that now. And I’m sorry I couldn’t do it sooner,” you said before pausing. “You’re a good guy, Shawn,” you said simply as you looked up at him. “I don’t think I say that enough, and certainly not to your face.”
“Then say it again,” he said through a small smile.
“Never.”
He stepped forward, aiming to kiss you but you held your hand up before he did.
“I’m not going to kiss you outside my office, and I don’t kiss before the first date,” you said with a smirk.
He returned the look as he raised an eyebrow and leaned in to hug you.
You held on to him tightly as he gripped onto you the same way. You felt his lips graze over your ear.
“We’ve done a lot more than kiss before our first date.”
You pushed him off and walked towards the door, begging the blush to disappear from your face before you made it back to your office.
“See you tomorrow? Ed’s on fifth? Pick you up at 6?”
You turned around and looked at him as he started backing away.
“The Broadway bar? Really?”
“I have a brand,” he said with a shrug and his signature smirk.
You turned to go into the building before leaning out the door to look at him one last time.
“See you then, broadway baby.”
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You don't need to do this!
Requested by: @sourpatchspinster
Pairing: Doctor Strange x half demon!reader
Genre: Angst
Characters: Doctor Strange, Y/N
Description: Y/N is half demon. She knows she's supposed to bad, but she can't bring herself to be. Y/N wants to be good, be a hero. But when Stephen finds out about her secret, what will happen?
A/N: Sorry if it’s bad, it’s my first time writing for Doctor Strange, so feedback will be much appreciated :)
Y/N is half demon. Her mother was human, but her father was a demon. One of the worst demons, actually. That’s why everybody expected her to follow in her fathers footsteps. But, she never turned out that way. She took after her mother, who died giving birth. Y/N has never wanted anything to do with her father, especially after she found out about the horrible things he had done. She ran away from home, and started a new life with a new job, and even found herself a wonderful partner. But she never expected her father to show up in the city where she lived.
You and Stephen were having a cosy Sunday morning in after a very busy week of fighting evil.
“This is so nice, Stephen. No monsters, no evil, just us on a rare Sunday off.”
You were both cuddled together in bed, his arms wrapped around you, protecting you from the world.
You always felt guilty about not telling Stephen you’re secret, but you were afraid he would see you in a different light, especially with who your father is. He is one of the most notorious criminals in the world, every superhero knew about him. Nobody has ever been able to bring him down, not even the most powerful asgardian could.
On the television that was blaring in the background, your father was wreaking havoc on New York City. You sat bolt upright in the bed, not believing what you were seeing. “Woah! What’s up, sweetheart?” Stephen rubbed a calming hand across your back. “It’s nothing. Just looks like we won’t be enjoying our day off.” Stephen and you both sighed and went to get suited up.
Currently, your father, known as Amon, was tearing up the streets. Cars were totalled, people were lying injured in the streets with nowhere to run, he had them cornered.
“AMON! What do you think your doing?” Stephen and you had made it just in time before your father knocked down the Chrysler Building. He turned around and confronted who dared to question his actions. Amon was a little taken aback to see you standing beside Stephen. He always thought that you would take after him, rise in the ranks to become the most powerful of your kind. “Hello Doctor Strange, Y/N. I’ll be with you in just a moment.” Amon turned back around and dealt with the police who was currently shooting at him. He threw them in all different directions, disorientating them.
“Now, where were we?” Amon turned back around to find you and Stephen in a fighting stance. “Amon, why are you doing this? There can’t possibly be a reason why you would want to attack the whole of New York City.” Amon began to chuckle. “Mainly, it was to get my daughters attention.” You froze at his words, eyes widening. You weren’t ready for Stephen to know your secret, you didn’t want him to find out like this. “You’re daughter?” Stephen began to chuckle, not believing what he was hearing.
“Of course, she hasn’t told you, has she? She’s too ashamed of who her father is, too ashamed of where she came from. She was supposed to be the most powerful of us all, she would have slayed hundreds, thousands even. But then, she fell in love with humanity and decided she was too good to be one of us. She fled, and moved her. Settled for a very human life, which is far from what she is.” Amon motioned towards you, giving you a very evil smirk, but behind his eyes, he was hurting that his daughter decided to run away from him.
Stephen turned around, wide-eyed and confused. “Y/N, what is he talking about?”.
At that very question, you broke down and reeled off everything. You couldn’t lie to him, not after you had kept this bombshell from him for too long. “I’m so sorry, Stephen. Amon is my father but my mother was human, which means that I am half demon. My mother died when I was born, her body couldn’t cope with the power of giving birth to a demon. I did grow up with my father, he taught me all of the fighting I know. But when he sent me up here to wreak havoc, I just couldn’t do it. I fell in love with humanity, with humans. So I ran away. I didn’t want to be like my father any longer. I wanted to become a good demon, using my powers to save people, so I settled down here, got myself a normal job, and waited until people needed saving. I wanted to prove my father wrong, to prove that not all demons have to be bad.”
Stephen was staring at you, gobsmacked. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. His girlfriend, who he planned to marry, was half demon. “Why didn’t you tell me? I would have understood. You know I deal with stuff like this, with the mystic arts. I could have helped you to strengthen your powers and use them against our enemies?” Stephen slumped his shoulders. disappointed that you couldn’t trust him with the basis of who you are.
“It’s because she’s ashamed of where she comes from. She doesn’t want to be associated with the likes of us.” Amon interrupted your conversation, leaning your focus back onto him.
“Can you blame me? With all of the destruction you cause? Look around you. You are the embodiment of evil”. You snarled, powering back up.
At this response, Amon attacked. He first went for you, but you blocked him using your demonic powers. Amon was flung into the building behind him, leaving him a little disorientated. Stephen took this chance to try and exorcise him. He began to say the exorcism but Amon flung him back, gaining enough strength to stand back up.
“You think you’re better than me? Than your own kind? Your just the same, just a lot more powerful. You have so much potential. Come back home with me and I’ll stop destroying this city you love so much.” Amon tried to bargain with you, but you weren’t interested. You looked over at Stephen, who was gradually gaining back his strength. “I will never go back there. I will never revert back to who I used to be. I am better off without you, and it’s going to stay that way.”
With those words, you held Amon down with your powers whilst Stephen attempted to exorcise your father again.
This time, he was successful and your father was sent back down to Hell. You walked over to Stephen and attempted to give him a hug, but he backed away.
“Why didn’t you tell me? We could have avoided all of this, if you had just told me the truth.” Hurt, Stephen walked away from you and conjured up a portal to the Avengers tower. He needed some space to think about everything that’s happened and what he’s going to do.
Unbeknown to you, a news crew had captured the events of what had happened and the conversation that revealed you were a demon. You had to stay inside, afraid for your own life. All you ever wanted to do since arriving in New York was help people, now your father had ruined that. Your life began to crumble around you. Stephen had not talked to you in days. You began to fear that your relationship had crumbled aswell.
Stephen was under immense pressure to exorcise you. The Avengers team didn’t agree with you being able to walk the Earth, considering what you were. The citizens of New York City wanted you gone. He knew what he had to do, he just had to bring himself to do it.
After many days of contemplating what he was going to do, he conjured up a portal to your apartment and walked through.
You were lying on your bed, deep in your own thoughts when you heard the familiar sound of sparks, indicating that Stephen had finally come to see you. You jumped from the bed and ran towards the sound.
“Stephen, you’re finally home. I’ve missed you. I’ve been going out of my mind not knowing what is going to happen with us, but now I know.” You hugged Stephen and gave him a little squeeze. He, however, did not reciprocate the hug and gently pulled you away from him.
“Y/N, we need to talk. This, you, it’s not going to work. Now that the whole world knows what you are, they no longer believe you to be a hero, considering your father was the one who caused destruction to half of the world. I am under immense pressure from the team and the citizens of this city to exorcise you and send you home.”
At these words, you backed away, shocked at Stephens revelation of what he was planning to do. “No, Stephen, please. You know me. You know that I’m nothing like my father. I may be half demon, but i’m half human to. I’m still capable of becoming more human. I have never done anything to this world that remotely suggests that I am anything like my father. Please, don’t give up on me.” You broke down in tears, desperately pleading with your boyfriend. You know that he still loves you, but now that he knows what you are, you’re sure that has changed his perspective of you.
“I’m sorry, Y/N. I have to think of the citizens of New York and the rest of the world. You are simply too dangerous to be walking around, especially with what your father did to this city. I have to do right by the people, no matter how I feel about you.”
You were knelt down on the floor, hands clasped together, begging him not do this. Hesitantly, Stephen began to chant the exorcism, his eyes welling up, knowing that he is killing the love of his life.
As he got further into the exorcism, you were becoming weaker and weaker. You tried pleading with him one last time. “Please, Stephen. I love you, I know you love me to.” Stephen began to choke up at your words. He couldn’t let his feelings get the better of him. He reeled off the last of the exorcism and, just like that, you were gone.
Stephen knelt down by the spot where you were just moments before and began to cry. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart. I had to do what was right.”
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No Limit
characters— seokjin x reader (ft. members of bts)
summary— you and jungkook don’t even look alike. how was seokjin supposed to know you were off limits?
information— one shot. bakery!au. features less puns than you would think. i am still very new to writing smut, so be kind in that regard. if this gets a lot of love, might be continued in the future.
warnings—adult language; smut; mild violence; awkward situations; super hopeless seokjin.
no limit—
So it starts like this:
Jungkook has been talking about his older sister moving to Seoul for a couple of weeks now and Seokjin doesn’t really believe him because in the 2 years that he’s known the college senior, he’s never mentioned having a sister, just an older brother. The young man only has pictures of his mom hung up in his apartment and all requests to see what the girl looks like have been met with a stern shake of his head. Taehyung has never seen the girl either, says Jungkook doesn’t like to talk about her and he doesn’t know why. He’s heard the girl over the phone though and says she sounds, “cute.” And while Namjoon is certainly right in saying it would be weird for Jungkook to make up having a sister, Seokjin thinks Jungkook is just a weird enough person to do it.
“She’s coming today, hyung,” Jungkook says one Wednesday afternoon, too much energy radiating off of him. He’s dressed much nicer that normal, no holes in his jeans and a long sleeved shirt covering most of his tattoos. He even got a haircut, something he hadn’t had in a while. Jungkook can’t stand still, constantly wiping down the counters and rearranging the cupcakes in the display case. Seokjin gets so sick of his constant movement that he sends him to the kitchen to knead dough. “Okay, but hyung, if she comes in you have to let me know.”
“I don’t know what she looks like.”
He sighs deep, the sound almost morphing into a whine. “She’s probably gonna be wearing something bright or she’ll just ask for me! Seokjin please!”
“Fine, fine. Now get to the back, you’re making everyone uncomfortable. You’re gonna make me go outta business.”
When you walk in wearing a bright red coat, Seokjin doesn’t make the connection. You look around the shop for a bit and Seokjin is stunned because goddamn you’re beautiful. It’s like a movie, the white lights of the shop forming a halo around you and everything slows to a crawl. You make it to the register, eyes widening at the chocolate donut pyramid displayed behind Seokjin and he knows he’s fucked. “Hi,” you say and, yup, Seokjin is super fucked.
“I... Hi-I mean… Welcome to Baking News! How can I bake your day?” And the recovery isn’t as smooth as he would have liked it to be, but you still laugh way too hard at the puns and his heart swells.
“You’re funny,” you state earnestly. “I’m actually not here to buy anything, though. I’m looking for my brother.”
“Your brother?” Seokjin asks dumbfounded, because he would definitely know if anybody worked for him that looked like you.
“Yeah! He’s tall and skinny. Oh and he has really big teeth. He kind of looks like a rabbit when he smiles.” All of the air leaves Seokjin’s lungs because there is no fucking way you are Jeon Jungkook’s sister. You guys look nothing alike—hell, it’s questionable if you're even from Korea, that’s how different you look. But then Jungkook comes scrambling out of the kitchen and over the counter screaming “Noona!” like he’s a character in a goddamn cartoon. And you wrap yourself around him like a python, hugging him so tight that his face turns red. “There’s my bunny boy,” you squeal and Jungkook plants a big sloppy kiss on your cheek and—
“Holy shit, he does have a sister.”
.
.
Okay, so you’re not Jungkook’s real sister. He’s just weirdly obsessed with you and keeps calling you his sister, but you’re not his sister. At least that’s the conclusion Seokjin comes up with because you don’t have the same surname and you don’t look alike and you tell him that you haven’t lived in Korea in over five years. You share that tidbit of information over coffee two weeks after your arrival, pink scarf wrapped gently around your neck in a way that Seokjin deems more flattering than it should be. You share a lot of information with him in the time that you’ve been back, always coming into the bakery to get the first sugary treat you can get your hands on.
“Bunny boy tells me you make the best lattes this side of Seoul,” you tell him one rainy Thursday morning, leaned up against the counter. The bakery is empty except for you two, the usual morning rush having filtered out quickly due to the inclemete weather. Seokjin snorts because you always call Jungkook ‘bunny boy,’ even on days like today when he’s not here and it’s so cute the way the words come out of your mouth. They tumble out so effortlessly, whereas Seokjin can’t go two minutes without stuttering over himself while talking to you. So he just snorts because it’s easier to make sounds than it is to form words when you’re staring up at him like he’s the most interesting man in the world. “Is it true, Jinnie?”
“Jinnie?” He asks incredulously, because you’ve never called him anything other than Seokjin.
“Cute name for a cute boy,” you say with a shrug, as if it’s obvious. It’s not
His mouth is moving before he can stop it. “Cute? You think I’m cute? Just cute?”
“Yeah, why?” You chirp out with a sly smirk. Seokjin’s heart stops—but his mouth does not.
“I’ll have you know, I’m not just cute. I’m handsome. In fact, I’m one of the most handsome men in the world. Have you ever seen a face more handsome than mine? More beautiful than mine? I know you lived abroad for a while and have seen a lot of attractive men walking around, but I promise you that this face right here is better. This face should be on billboards all over the world.” This isn’t the first time that Seokjin’s gone off on this tangent, of course. Everyone has heard it before, taking the comedy bravado for what it is and laughing him off. But when he says it to you, it feels like he’s marketing himself. He doesn’t want you to laugh him off. He wants you to believe him.
Your head lolls to the side as he speaks, as though you are fully taking his words into consideration, and when he finishes, you grin. “Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Okay, Mr. Worldwide Handsome, do you really make the best lattes?” And Seokjin’s heart starts to constrict because even though your tone is teasing, your eyes are so sincere. He nods. You laugh. He’s fucked.
But he’s even more fucked because he can’t act on his attraction. Jungkook is scarily protective of you. He always seems to know where you are and who you’re with. He glares at any guy who looks at you for more than 10 seconds and shoves his hoodies over you if you’re showing too much skin. You mention downloading Tinder one Wednesday evening and the younger man nearly passes out. However, everyone’s accusations of him having a crush on you were met with immediate disgust because you’re his “sister.” In fact, he claimed on multiple occasions that you were the most despicable human being he’s ever met. “I pray that whoever I end up with is the exact opposite of my sister,” he mumbled one Sunday afternoon, frosting cupcakes in the kitchen. “She’s so fucking annoying. She doesn’t listen to anyone, no matter what they say. I don’t see how anyone could be attracted to her.”
“Ah, I don’t know man, I think she’s pretty cute.” Taehyung responded in jest, setting the completed cupcakes on a display pan.
“Stay the hell away from my sister you creep.” Jungkook all but growled out.
“Wow, the baby sounds serious,” Seokjin stated incredulously. “I didn’t know you could care about anyone other than yourself.”
“Shut up,” Jungkook replied, slightly embarrassed at being called out yet again for his so called selfish behavior. “She may be the worst woman I know, but she’s still my sister. I gotta make sure she’s well taken care of.”
“And you think I won’t do that?” Taehyung asked with faux shock. “I’m hurt.”
“Not a single one of you are good enough for my sister. She needs a doctor or a lawyer or someone super rich who can take care of her so she never has to work again. You guys all suck.” He stands up straight to admire his work before stating, with a frightening amount of cool, “If any of you guys tried it with her, I would kill you with my bare hands.”
So Seokjin tries his best to stay away from you. He attempts to keep his banter light, lessen his affection. He hopes to himself that you lose interest in the bakery, in the coffee, in him, but it’s difficult. You’re so easy to talk to. You think he’s funny, cracking up at all of his puns to the point of tears. When he winks at you, you smile so wide that he thinks your face might break. He falls harder for you every day.
It’s you that makes the first move though. It’s a balmy Friday night when you stalk in. Thirty minutes before closing, the bakery is empty except for two struggling rappers who loaded up on the discounted pastries that would otherwise get thrown away. You’re dressed up more than he’s ever seen you before, so much so that you look out of place standing next to the pastel pink sign touting the new peanut butter tira-miss-yous in your purple dress. “Well if it isn’t my favorite customer. What are you doing here so late at night?” Seokjin asks as you continue towards the counter.
“Bad date.” You mutter, before surprising Seokjin by pulling yourself up on top of the counter.
“Hey, who said you could sit up here? Didn’t anyone raise you with respect? That’s filthy! My sweets go up here.”
“I’m sweeter,” You quip and Seokjin chokes. You shift your body to face him a bit more. “Cat got your tongue?”
“Y-you—you can’t—Jungkook was right, you are disgusting.” He manages to stutter out, mind reeling at the thought of how sweet you actually were. “I have to clean that now. Get down.”
You ignore his request. “A pretty girl throws herself on a table in front of you talking about how sweet she is and you’re worried about cleanliness? Taehyung was right, you really are hopeless.”
He blanches. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
You sigh, unmoving. “So bunny boy sets me up on this date right? He says it’s with one of his good friends who really inspires him. Someone that has helped him out a lot. I get excited because I think that it’s you. I mean, you literally gave him a job. How much more help can he get from one person? So I get all dressed up and ready to go only to have someone else show up at my door. And don’t get me wrong, the guy was attractive but he wasn’t you. He didn’t even make a single pun the entire time when there were plenty of opportunities to do so. He was so boring, Jinnie. Like, what do business lawyers really do anyways? The guy told me he hoped I had a good time, but I didn’t. So I decided to come here looking for an actual good time.”
“I… what?” Seokjin asks, unable to accept what you were implying.
“Oh my god, hyung, she likes you!” One of the rappers screams out from his table near the window. “Stop being dense.”
“I’m not—” Seokjin begins to yell back, but you cut him off.
“Jin, would you like to see a movie with me tomorrow night?”
When he looks at you, he sees a hopeful expression. He imagines closing up the bakery early and walking with you to the movie theater. He imagines what kind of snacks you’ll like and wonders if you’ll share them with him. He imagines wrapping his arm around you and how well you’d fit next to him. He imagines pressing his lips against yours in the dark, tongues wrestling against each other as his hands traveled down your body. He gulps. “Uh… yeah. I’d really like that.”
.
.
Seokjin’s not good at being in a relationship. He’s had a lot of toxic relationships in the past, with a lot of cheating and mental stress. He’s spent the last three years filling the void with a lot of meaningless sex. On more than one occasion, former friends with benefits came storming into the bakery to scold him for his lack of commitment. He focused on himself a lot; on getting through culinary school, on perfecting his skills in the oven, on opening his own shop. He tells you as much on the fourth date, hand wrapped tightly around your own as you walk through a flower garden. You listen intently, nodding your head and adding “ohs” and “ahs” when appropriate. Then you sit him on a bench and kiss him hard, tongue dragging against the roof of his mouth before whispering against his lips, “I don’t care. I like you anyway.”
Seokjin is happy with you. He smiles for no reason during the day, sings louder in the kitchen when frosting cakes, cusses less when the chocolate doesn’t temper or the cookies burn. He feels lighter, knowing that come closing time he can be wrapped up in you. His friends notice too. Namjoon teases him about how much more cheerful he is, while Taehyung and Jungkook pry for more information. He offers them none, much to their chagrin. He wants to keep you to himself, afraid that if the others find out, they’ll ruin it for him. Especially Jungkook—though he thinks about the other man’s disapproval less and less as he spends more and more time with you.
The relationship progresses slowly. You go on a lot of dates, whispering in the back of movie theaters and stealing small kisses on street corners. Seokjin likes to hold your hand. He marvels at the way it fits in his own, how easily you are able to slide your finger through his as you talk about work or travel or a memory from your childhood. Seokjin likes to hear you laugh. You think he’s the funniest person you’ve ever met. He’s gone through a rolodex of puns to try and hear the bubbling sound that spills out of you. You laughed the hardest on the 7th date, plastic gun slipping from your grip at an arcade, when Seokjin tells you he wrote a dessertation on Sweetzerland in culinary school. You hug him tight, face pressed against his chest as you continue to giggle at his words. He thinks you fit well there.
You don’t sleep together until three months in—an eternity for Seokjin. He’s never had to wait that long, but he finds it hard to argue when you whisper, “not tonight,” in his ear. He always agrees, calming himself enough to make it through the rest of the date. He ends up jacking off to thoughts of how you taste in the shower. You’re the biggest tease when it comes to that—your taste. The casualness with which you insist that you are sweeter than any dessert he’s ever made always leaves him drooling. Eating girls out was never his favorite sexual act, but he thinks you’ll change that.
“You can’t—you can’t just say those sort of things!” He yelled at you once, during your tenth date at a sushi restaurant. The waiter threw him a dirty look, as did a much younger couple seated next to you. He’s always louder than he needs to be, but you’re the only person he’s dated who never complained. Instead, you rolled your eyes at him and swallow your food.
“Why not?”
“We’re in public.”
“I didn’t say anything bad.”
“Don’t lie. Don’t pretend that you’re innocent! I can hear you. I have perfect hearing. Doctor’s everywhere are impressed by it. You can’t get those filthy words past me.” He berated, making you giggle.
You slid your hand over the table to grab his, kissing the back of it gently. He can’t help but blush. “Don’t be silly, Jin. I never said what part of me tastes better than strawberries, just that some part of me does.”
“Which part then?”
“Why? You want to try it for yourself?” He threw his head back with an annoyed groan at your words, making you laugh even louder. The couple shushed you both, yet again, shaking their heads as though you two are the immature ones in that situation.
When it finally does happen, much like the first date, it’s on your terms. You’re sitting in his apartment, legs thrown over his lap as you listen to him complain about a mom who ordered a cake of a whale for her son’s 8th birthday only to show up expecting a Beluga whale and not a Killer whale like Taehyung had decorated. Suddenly you sit up, arms coming out to grab Seokjin’s face as you set a soft kiss on his lips. Then a second. Then a third. With the fourth, you up the intensity by slipping your tongue into his mouth. He shuffles his body slowly between your legs, refusing to let your lips part as he hovers on top of you. Your legs wrap around his waist, pulling him down as you grind your center directly where his dick sits in his jeans.
These types of makeout sessions have happened before; often right before you need to catch the train or bus back home. You always pull away after 15 minutes or so; that’s why Seokjin freezes when you whisper against his lips, “Do you wanna taste me?” He can’t formulate words. He’s thought about this moment for weeks now; planned a response for everything you could possibly say, but he’s coming up short. He’s sure he looks crazy, eyes bulging from his head. “Jinnie, say something.”
“A-are you… are you serious?” He manages to stutter out.
“We don’t have to do this if you don’t—”
“Oh my god, take off your pants right now,” he yells in excitement, sitting up on his knees. Your laughter rips through the air as he fumbles with the button of your jeans, shaky hands pulling them down your thighs until they get caught at your knees. He huffs in annoyance, lifting your legs himself to get the now offensive fabric away from you. As soon as the jeans hit the floor, Seokjin drops down to his stomach between your thighs. You open your legs with a content sigh, making him wonder if you’ve been waiting for this moment as long as he has. He drags his lips lightly over your thighs before placing a kiss on the crotch of your panties. You shudder. He chuckles. “Promise you’re as sweet as candy?” He asks, voice unintentionally deepening as he comes closer to his target.
“Pinky swear,” you whisper. Taking this as his cue to move forward, Seokjin’s fingers gently ghost over the black fabric of your underwear before pulling the crotch to the side and exposing your core to the cool air. He takes in the fluid shapes and subtle wetness already gathering on your folds in awe, shocking himself with all the ways he could still find you beautiful. Closing the last bit of distance between you, he takes a tentative lick from the bottom of your slit to the top, the firm tip of his tongue pressing against your clit in the process. The action causes you to rock up, hands settling at the top of his head. “Fuck,” you whisper gently, the breathy sound going straight to his cock. He repeats the act once more, though this time his lips around your tender bud and he gives it a light suck. Your fingers thread through his hair tightly, guttural moan exiting your throat. Pride swells in Seokjin’s chest—he’s the reason you’re making those sounds.
“Jesus babe,” he murmurs, leaving open mouthed kisses on your thigh, “you’re even sweeter than candy.” You let an amused breath at his words, any laughter that would have bubbled up dying as those kisses reached your lower lips. “Can I take these off?” Seokjin asks, pulling further at your panties.
“Please.” With a bit more confidence than before, he moves to take your panties off completely. As he settles back down between your thighs, he sneaks a peek at you. You’ve relaxed back down on the couch, head leaned back on the armrest although your eyes never leave him. “Jin, please,” you whimper. Your words spur him on and he dives face first in your pussy, tongue working itself deep in and around your core. Soft whimpers turn to loud moans as he continues, only motivating him further. The need to make you cum becomes his only goal. “Fuck Jin, so goo—oh!” You moan out, jumping in shock when you feel his thick finger press against your entrance.
“Can I?” He asks, lifting his head up for confirmation that he can continue. With your rapid nods, he presses his index finger into you, sighing as he feels warm walls flutter and constrict around him. Then, as if another force has taken over his body, Seokjin surges his whole body forward to kiss you while he thrusts his finger at a steady pace. You readily welcome his lips against your own, not minding the taste of yourself against his tongue, wrapping your arms around his neck to pull him closer. “Do you—fuck you are tight—baby… think you can cum like this?” He asks between kisses, your hips starting to buck into his hand. You mumble out an affirmative, pressing yourself closer to him.
He loses track of himself in the moment, one finger becoming two, thumb circling your clit, lips sucking bruises into your neck as you start to make desperate pleas in his ear for more, more, more. You give no warning when your orgasm hits you, just tensing up against him as your walls clamp down hard against his fingers. He litters your face with small pecks as he works you through it, fingers slowing only when he feels you begin to come down from your high.
“Jesus Jin, you’re really good at that,” you remark in a small voice as he removes his fingers from inside you, aftershocks continuing to rock your body.
He can’t help the cheshire grin that settles onto his face as he lifts himself off of you to get a good look at your fucked out form; your eyes are so dilated that they are nearly black, sweat sits at the edge of your scalp and brows, and your shirt is bunched up around your chest. He wants to kiss you again, wants to feel your legs wrapped around his waist, wants to feel everything you have to give and then some. “Baby,” he starts, suddenly feeling constricted by all the clothes he is wearing and how hot the room has gotten, “I could eat your pussy for hours on end, but I am so fucking hard right now. Please don’t leave me hanging.”
“Fuck that’s hot… do you have a condom?”
“Bedroom, bedroom, bedroom right now, come on!” Seokjin shouts, jumping up and pulling you off the couch with him, leading you through the short hallway to where he sleeps nightly. It’s a flurry of movement between the both of you, hands making bold passes over newly uncovered body parts as all remaining forms of clothing are removed. He lets an uncharacteristically animalistic growl when you finally wrap a hand around dick, moving it up and down at a near glacial pace. “Faster,” he finds himself begging, breathing harder when you comply with his request. He lets it go on for a while further before he gently pushes you on your back underneath him, hand digging in the drawer of his bedside table as he searches for the pack of condoms he knows is there. However, his movements stop and his mind goes blank when he feels you reach a hand for his cock again and grind his sensitive tip between your still soaked lips. He’s reeling, knowing he could slip right in if he wanted to, if you let him, despite how irresponsible it would be.
“Seokjin, condom! Hurry up!” You whine out, as if seeing his internal dilemma. Your other hand claws at his chest to further get his attention, snapping him out of his reverie and back into action.
When he finally locates a condom, he’s nearly rabid. He tears at the package and slips it on with such roughness that a small part of him worries he might break it. The bigger part of him, however, is focused on how delicious you look underneath him and how delicious your pussy will feel around him. He lets out a small huff when he finally gets the condom on, lining himself up with your entrance. He wants to take his time, wants to tease you a bit, but it takes one drag of the head of his cock against your slit for him to forget about all of that. He pushes inside of you slowly, warm walls clenching around him when he’s fully seated inside of you.
It goes by faster than expected. Your body accepts him so easily, like it was made for him. You suck him back in each time he pulls out. You tilt your hips up when he begins to thrust harder, eyes rolling to the back of your head each time his hips meet your thighs. His hands roam the expanse of your body, gently squeezing areas that are softer than he expected and running blunt nails against your sternum before one of them snakes behind your neck and pulls you up to meet him for a sloppy kiss. It’s messy, more tongue than lips and it makes you clench even tighter than before. Seokjin’s not sure if you’re close, but he knows he damn sure is.
“Honey I don’t think I’m gonna last much longer.” He bites out, slowing down slightly as he lays you back down.
“Then cum,” you whimper back, though it sounds much more like an order. Hitching your legs up on his waist, Seokjin uses the last bit of energy he has to drill into you, chasing his orgasm until it crashes over him like a tidal wave. It’s the most pleasure he’s felt in months. All of his senses are overloaded as he cums, pressing deep inside of you. His hips stutter slightly as he milks himself to completion, feeling even more content when you run your fingers up and down his arms slowly.
It’s that sweet gesture that brings him back down to earth. He takes his time removing himself from you, unsure if he wants to leave now that he knows exactly what you feel like. Placing your legs off of his hips and shuffling off of the bed to throw away the condom, he quickly returns and flops on his back next to you.
“We gotta—we have got to do that again.” Seokjin finally breathes out, heart still racing. You curl up beside him, skin sticking to his own in a way that disgusts him slightly; yet, he still pulls you closer. “I didn’t make you cum.”
“You made me cum once.”
“But not on my dick.”
“I still enjoyed myself.”
“Doesn’t matter. It’s an honor thing. You have to cum on more than my fingers.”
“Like right now? Or—”
“Don’t joke like that. My dick can’t handle it.” You giggle at his words and he feels something rising up in his chest that he can’t identify. Despite hearing all of your moans, whimpers, and whines for the past hour, he still thinks your laughter is the best sound in the world.
And later, when you start to drift off on his lap during a 90s movie marathon, Seokjin whispers promises into your skin that he’s never made before. You don’t say if you hear them, but relax further in his embrace.
.
.
“Oh this kid looks just like Jungkook.” Seokjin says one evening, sitting on the bed in your apartment. It’s the first time you’ve invited him in, having asked if he would spend the night because the bakery opens later on Saturdays and you want to sleep in with him. It’s such a cute request he can’t deny it. He thinks you’re so cute that it’s getting hard for him to deny you at all. He worries it will become a problem later, but he doesn’t dwell on it when your whole face lights up with happiness. Your apartment is quaint, with big white walls covered in pictures and knick knacks from your various adventures overseas. You float around the bedroom grabbing things for Seokjin—towels, extra pillows, a spare toothbrush—and laugh at him. “What’s so funny, huh?”
“That is Kook.”
“Really?” He takes the framed picture from your nightstand and looks at it more closely. It’s for sure you in the picture, just much younger. You sport messy hair and large t-shirt combo that would be embarrassing to most, but you’re holding on to a much smaller and skinnier kid with such excitement that it just reads as adorable. “Wow, you guys have really known each other for a long time.”
You let out an airy laugh of disbelief, placing the things on a chair placed in the corner of the room. “Since he was born.”
“Oh, so that’s why he calls you his sister,” Seokjin starts with a nod of understanding. “I thought he just had a crush on you or something. I didn’t realize that you’ve known him for so long. Your families must be really close right?”
You laugh again, but the tone is off. Seokjin catches it, but you’re crawling on the bed next to him and wrapping an arm around his back before he can question it. “Baby,” you start, voice light but edging on serious, “you know I’m actually bunny boy’s sister right? Like we’re really related. His family is my family.”
It’s a gut punch, hearing those words come out of your mouth. He isn’t sure how to process and he’s sure he looks like a fish as his mouth opens and closes as he tries to find something to say. He settles on, “What?”
“Jungkook is my little brother.”
“But you guys don’t even look alike.” He responds, feeling his brain short circuit. “You literally couldn’t be more different. And you guys don’t even have the same names. You can’t—it doesn’t…”
You sigh, unwrapping your arms from around him while shaking your head. “It’s complicated.”
“What does that mean?”
“Well for starters, we’re not blood related at all.”
“So you’re not siblings then?” Seokjin asks incredulously, because nothing makes sense anymore.
“Biologically no,” you stress, grabbing the picture out of his hands. There are red indentations on his palms from where he was squeezing it so tight. “But, legally speaking, we are siblings. All the paperwork I have will tell you I’m part of his family. But more than that, all of us were raised together as brother, brother, and sister.”
It really is a complicated story, Seokjin thinks as you explain your family history to him. Friends of friends, broken trust, being in the right place at the right time, and international trips brought you into the Jeon family. You never looked at Jungkook as anything other than family; Jungkook never knew you as anything other than his sister, biology be damned. “He never talked about you though,” Seokjin admits, head pounding from information overload. “Like ever. He only ever mentioned his—well your—brother.”
You roll your eyes at this information, but don’t seem surprised. “He was mad at me for a long time. He thought it was stupid that I left to try and reconnect with my bio family. Do you know he can hold a grudge for a really long time? He wouldn’t answer my phone calls for a year after I first left.” You let out a small sigh, flopping back on your bed. “We only really just got back to a good place. I think that’s why he’s been so clingy lately.”
Seokjin squeezes his eyes shut in frustration. “Ugh, Kook is really gonna kill me,” He mumbles, laying down beside you.
“Why would he do that?” You whisper, moving your body to curl into him. “He’s the reason I started dating you in the first place.”
“What are you even talking about?” Seokjin groans out. “Don’t say false things just to comfort me. It won’t work.”
“I’m serious. He’s like your biggest fan. He talks about you all the time. Hearing and seeing how much you cared for him meant a lot to me. It made me like you for more than just your looks. I wouldn’t have embarrassed myself in front of you so many times if I thought you were a bad guy.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
Seokjin hums mindlessly, thoughts still a jumbled mess in his head from all the information he has received. One thing sticks out in his mind though. He turns his head to lay a soft peck on your forehead. “You know you never embarrassed yourself in front of me, right?”
“What are you talking about? I practically begged you to take me on a date.”
“You saved me from myself. I embarrassed myself way more. I could barely talk to you without becoming a mess and tripping over all my words.”
“I wouldn’t want you any other way. You’re my mess.”
“Oh my god, Jungkook was wrong. You’re the best woman in the whole wide world and you're all mine, mine, mine!”
.
.
“Kim Seokjin, you motherfucker—” Here’s the thing, Jungkook is Seokjin’s youngest friend. He plays the role of the baby well, to the point where Seokjin feels as though he’s raised him. It’s so easy to forget that Jungkook is not as young as he acts; he’s always so kind and affectionate. He’s also the hardest worker at the bakery, always coming in early and staying late to make sure everything is finished. However, the boy was so much stronger than he looked. He worked out 6 days a week for fun and described getting tattoos as a pleasurable experience. Of course he would be able to pick Seokjin up and pin him against the wall by his throat.
“Woah, woah, woah, calm down!” Namjoon shouts, running up to try and pull the younger man away. Jungkook does not relent, fighting against his friend to continue to try and choke Seokjin. “Kook, listen man! This is not the way to handle this!”
“He fucked my sister!” He screams and the accusation sounds so much worse coming out of Jungkook’s mouth, especially because it’s true. Except there is so much more than fucking that’s going on, but he can’t get the words out of his mouth to say that through Jungkook’s yells. “Thought I wouldn’t find out? Thought she would keep it a secret?” He spits out, still struggling against Namjoon.
“It’s not like that—” Seokjin begins, voice smaller than he anticipated, but Jungkook cuts him off.
“Bullshit!” Jungkook screams, voice cracking with rage. “I know you. I know how you are. You think you can just use my sister to get off?”
Now it’s Seokjin’s turn to be angry, with the thought of anyone only being with you for your body making him see red. “Do you really think I’m like that? You really think that I would hurt her like that?”
“Never stopped you before,” Jungkook responds sarcastically. “What did the last girl say again? Jin just wants a human fucktoy.” Seokjin winces at the words he once found humorous. The girl, a pretty florist he met at a bar, came in with the intent to tear him to shreds. She was met with indifference and laughter. He never realized how quickly her words would come back to haunt him. “You think my sister is a human fucktoy? Is that what it is?”
“Shut up,” Seokjin barks out, unable to think of you in that way.
But Jungkook is no longer fighting against Namjoon, content with his words bringing the pain. “You’re not good enough for her. You’ll never be good enough for her. I’ll kill you before I ever let you treat my sister like one of your whores.”
“That’s enough,” Namjoon orders, frustration painting his features. “This isn’t going to solve anything. Jungkook, you should leave.”
Jungkook scoffs, pushing Namjoon away from him. “You’re on his side,” he accuses, pain in his voice, “You think it’s okay that he’s fucking my sister.”
“I don’t think anything,” Namjoon stresses. “But fighting in our place of business is not smart. People can hear us out there and whether you like it or not, your outburst is gonna affect more than just Jin. This can be dealt with later.”
Jungkook is quiet, though he trembles with anger. Seokjin wonders, briefly, if the man will swing on Namjoon. However, Jungkook just shakes his head and states, “Fuck your business. I quit.”
.
.
“Are you going to fire him?” You ask over the phone that night, worry evident in your voice. You canceled your date upon finding out what your brother did. You told him good faith when he tried to set you up another date with a doctor he knew, hoping he would be happy for you. He was not. You said you had to talk to him, make sure you understood where he was coming from before you passed judgement. He was your brother after all.
Seokjin wants to laugh. He can’t. He’s miserable. He wants all of this to end, but he doesn’t want his relationship with you to end. He’s tired. “I can’t fire someone who quit.”
“He didn’t mean it. He’s going to apologize to you.”
“Somehow, I find that hard to believe.”
But two days later, he finds you standing at his apartment door, Jungkook behind you looking at the ceiling in avoidance. Seokjin fights against his urge to hug you, to bury his face in the crook of your neck and plant a wet kiss against the skin that leaves you squirming and pushing him away from being, “gross!” He stares at you silently, but you smile at him like nothing is wrong. “Can we come in?” You ask sweetly, stepping in at Seokjin’s nod. Jungkook doesn’t move an inch, making you scowl. You turn to face the man Seokjin now knows as your brother and snap, “Get in here right now.”
The man obeys you, stepping inside of the apartment and shutting the door behind him. No one makes a move. Seokjin wants to choke on the tension. Finally, Jungkook lets out a deep breath and states, “I’m sorry.”
“Sorry for what?” You say with a leading tone.
Jungkook clenches his fist, jaw tightening. “I’m sorry for choking you in the bakery. It was unprofessional of me to do so.”
“And?” You continue. Jungkook closes his eyes and shakes his head. “Jungkook!” You shout, causing the man to flinch, yet his silence continues. Seokjin watches in amazement as you reach your hand up to grab the younger boy’s ear and tug hard. Jungkook howls in pain, trying to pry your fingers away. You don’t let up. “I don’t care about your pride or your protection. You are going to apologize to Jin properly right now!” Jungkook whines loudly. You twist your fingers and the boy’s knees buckle. The scary beast who pinned Seokjin against the wall was gone. In his place was a child, weak and subdued. He wants to laugh, but doesn’t. He’s sure that if he does, it will come back to haunt him later.
“Alright, alright, I’ll do it.” Jungkook screams out. With a final pull, you let go. Jungkook rubs his ear lightly and huffs, glaring at you. You return his stare. With another sigh, he turns back to Seokjin and states, “I crossed the line. I shouldn’t have hit you or said those things. It was wrong… but—”
“No buts!” You shout out, hand reaching up again. Jungkook catches it and grasps it tightly in his own hand. He shushes you with a look that says more than Seokjin could ever guess. He drops your hand and you let it rest at your side with a sigh.
“Can you leave?” Jungkook asks you. “I just want to talk to him alone. I won’t—I will not put my hands on him. I promise.” There is a sincerity in his tone that Seokjin has not heard in a while. It gives him hope.
Your head rolls back and forth, as if weighing out your options before stating, “Ten minutes, Kook. You hear me? Ten. And if he tells me you so much as even threaten him, you’ll have a whole lot more to be worried about than your ear!” At his aggressive nod of understanding, you turn to Seokjin. “I’ll be right back, okay?” You state, before leaning up to give him a kiss on the cheek. Seokjin notices the way Jungkook’s jaw tenses at the open display of affection. With one more stern look to your brother, you exit the apartment.
There is a beat of silence before Seokjin suggests they sit down in the living room. It’s awkward. Jungkook has been in this room before, even passed out there a time or two; but he’s as stiff as a board when he sits on the couch. He refuses to look at Seokjin, eyes trained on the coffee table in front of him. His breaths are measured and he opens and closes his mouth a few times as he decides what to say.
Finally, he speaks. “You don’t seem to understand that she’s my sister. My only sister, Jin.”
“I understand th—”
“You don’t. You don’t understand. I know I’m younger and you think I act like a kid, but I’m not. Not with her. I’ve spent my whole life protecting her. People always try to take advantage of her because… I don’t know. So many reasons.” Jungkook stops, struggling for words. He takes another deep breath and finally looks at Seokjin. “When we were younger, boys would bully her for being adopted. She would act like it didn’t bother her, but I could see that it did. I must have got into twenty fights making sure they kept their mouth shut when it came to her. After everyone, whether I won or lost, she would always be happier. And that was all that mattered. When she moved away I was so angry because who was going to protect her out there? Her bio family is shit. They never wanted anything to do with her. Then she started dating this guy who cheated on her and I couldn’t even get to him and I—” He stops again, having worked himself up. “I want her to be happy, okay? I don’t want her to be sad anymore.”
Seokjin is shocked. He’s never heard Jungkook speak so seriously and with so much passion. His eyes are glassy, tears clearly threatening to spill over. He looks ragged. There are dark circles under his eyes. He’s not even holding himself up properly anymore, body limp in the seat. It’s clear this has been weighing on the boy and Seokjin feels a wave of guilt wash over him. This isn’t what he wanted to happen at all.
“I’m sorry,” Seokjin states, breaking the silence, “For not telling you. For letting it get this far. As your boss—no, as your friend, I should have let you know.” Jungkook nods, swiping at his eyes roughly. “I do… I do care about her a lot. I don’t look at her like… if I only wanted her for sex, I would have stayed away.”
“Do you… do you love her?”
“I…” Seokjin hesitates. He’s never thought about it really, loving you. He’s never even thought about love in general. For years, he didn’t think he was capable of loving someone romantically. But when he’s with you, everything feels like it’s in its proper place. “I think—I do. ”
Jungkook hums in response, throwing his head back on the couch and really relaxing for the first time since he stepped through the door. “She loves you too,” Jungkook says as though it's a hard fact. Seokjin feels his throat tighten at his words. It’s been a long time since he’s been loved. “Like a lot. That’s the only reason I’m here… ”
“I won’t hurt her.” Seokjin says adamantly, hoping he sounds as sincere as he is.
“You better not.” He mutters. There is another beat of silence before Jungkook meekly asks, “Can I get my job back?”
“Ask Namjoon.”
“Fuck!”
.
.
So it ends like this:
After many apologies, Jungkook gets his job back. He’s put on samples duty for a month, standing outside of the bakery with a new pun-filled sign wrapped around his neck everyday. He hates it, especially when you show up to snap a picture and post it on your Instagram. Namjoon reposts one of them on the Baking News SEOUL account and it becomes the most liked picture on the whole page. You and Seokjin howl with laughter when you see the numbers, much to Jungkook’s annoyance. He still doesn’t approve of the relationship—at least, not completely. He rolls his eyes every time he sees a kiss or a hug; he insists you don’t stay in the bakery long, shoving you out of the door after five minutes because he’s sick of seeing you flirting with his boss; he scoffs when you come in more dressed up than usual for date nights. Yet, he makes sure Seokjin knows what types of flowers you like getting on your birthday and what your ring size is, “because that’s information you’ll need sooner or later.”
On Sundays, Seokjin closes the bakery early and brings you to the kitchen. He stands behind you, hand on your hip as he instructs you on how to ice the practice cakes he baked for you earlier. He knows you won’t do it perfectly, knows you’ll eventually dip a finger in the frosting to try it for yourself, knows you’ll try to get him to do the same and put some on his face when he refuses. It might start a food fight that will take too long to clean up; might make him bend you over the counter and fuck you until your moans reverberate off of the walls. Regardless, it always ends with you kissing him all over his face, exchanging soft “I love yous” until you’re ready to go home. Seokjin thinks he’s okay with both scenarios; thinks he’ll be okay with both for a long time.
#seokjin senarios#bts scenarios#jin scenarios#kim seokjin#namjoon#taehyung#jungkook#this took forever#goodness gracious#sailor belle writes#seokjin smut#jin smut#bts smut#au: baking news
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Riverdale 5x11-5x14
So I might have fallen behind a bit with Riverdale and have only now just caught up with the new episodes post break. I decided writing reviews for each episode was going to take too much time and to be honest I don’t have too much to say so I’m just going to do a quick run down of what I thought of the episodes and then go back to single episode reviews from 5x15 onwards. Overall I’m not overly impressed with the episodes, I feel like the season started out really good but as its gone on its just kind of lost its way and I don’t know if that is covid related and all the breaks but I haven’t enjoyed the episodes as much post like episode 8, though I liked ep 10 better than episode 9. But anyway lets get into the reviews. As always these are just my own opinions and there will be spoilers.
5x11
So the episode starts off with Veronica and Archie deciding to put a pause on their relationship until her and Chad are officially divorced which I personally think they should have done from the start because the way they got back together was way to fast, I mean she told Chad she wanted a divorce, kissed Archie and was sleeping with him, then she goes back to new york and sleeps with chad all in the space of like 2 episodes. Though I think given their scene at the end when Veronica is pushing a little for him to change his mind I don’t think she is as much on board with their pause as Archie. I will be honest I’m not really enjoying the way they’ve written Veronica this season I actually think they’ve made her kind of unlikable at times and she sometimes comes across a bit selfish I also feel like they don’t really know what to do with her character anymore. But I am glad Veronica and Archie have decided to take the break however I also think it might be a bit ominous for Varchie that they’ve done this now which I’ll get into more in a separate post.
Ok this might be a little mean of me but I was kind of happy when Archie called out Veronica when she came to him for help about her blue opal. About how she went to new york despite him asking her not to and about how she then came back without a divorce and having slept with her husband and not even telling him why she can’t divorce him just yet. But Archie is still Archie so naturally he does help her anyway.
Speaking of Veronica’s blue opal I did find it kind of hilarious that she seemed to care more about that then she did her father’s life. But you know fair.
Archie isn’t the only one Veronica asks for help though she also gets assistance from Reggie and we learn more about how he ended up working for Hiram, turns out his father is still running for the worst dad of eternity award and got into debt that Reggie is now working off. I did like the Veggie scenes though and I am really glad that reggie is getting more screen time.
This episode was an episode for the return of the side characters, Dodger and Darla are back and causing problems as per usual. Also there was that guy, Doc, Jughead was saved by who we heard about once in a story Jughead told about how as a kid he watched a guy being beat by some rich guys. To be honest I wasn’t all that interested in Jughead’s storyline this episode. I mean is that something that actually happens? Rich guys just randomly beating up homeless people like they did with Juggie and Doc. I’m not saying it doesn’t I just thought it was a bit nonsensical for these guys just to come out of a club and start beating up a guy just because. Still bless Doc for coming to the rescue and taking care of Jughead, I did like Doc and I wouldn’t mind seeing him again. But another thing that didn’t make sense to me is that Jughead didn’t recognise Doc. Like he was old enough to remember this traumatic experience of watching a guy get beat and feeling guilty about not helping but doesn’t recognise the guy until he gives Juggie his name. Yet Doc was able to recognise Jughead even though the last time he saw him was a child? Overall I am not sure what the point of Jughead’s storyline was this episode other than to maybe show how messed up he is at the moment with the blackouts and hallucinations, I suppose it was also so he could reach the realisation that he needed to go back to new york and work out what happened to him when he lost those days. He does leave a really sweet voicemail for tabitha before he goes though and promises to finish their dance.
The best part of this episode though was the storyline with Tabitha and Betty, also Jessica, and their search for Jughead. I really liked the interaction between Betty and Tabitha and I like that they are becoming friends. Tabitha was obviously really worried about Jughead. But Betty, wow, she couldn’t be less bothered about Jughead could she. I mean after hearing the voicemail he left for her I can understand why Betty is reluctant to get involved with anything to do with Jughead because that voicemail was yikes. I mean Betty did cheat and that clearly hurt Jughead so I am not saying that Betty is entirely blameless but I would expect the voicemail was still a shock as it had been five years since she had cheated and we know from the most recent episode (ep 14) that she and Juggie were amicable with each other and would talk on the phone so this probably came out of nowhere for her. However Betty is Betty and so she still helps. Which ultimately leads to Jessica showing up and I know we are suppose to hate Jessica but, like, I love Jessica. I was thoroughly entertained by her antics and thought she was actually kind of funny. She’s another character where I wouldn’t mind if she just randomly pops up and causes some trouble now and again. In the end as suspected Jessica is actually there for ulterior motives and wants Jughead’s manuscript. I actually really felt for her when she explained that she wanted it because she was afraid Jughead had written something that would look bad to her family and friends. It’s the same as how the serpents were upset about how he wrote them in the outcasts and how he threatens Betty saying once people read his books they’ll all know what kind of person she really is. I’ve spoken about it before but Jughead often uses his friends and others peoples stories in his writing and I am glad that the writers of the show are now showing the effect that has on the people who are the subjects of his writing. That being said I am worried that might not be the true reason Jessica took the manuscript and its possible she might actually try to publish it herself. Also it was kind of funny seeing Betty and Tabitha on the shrooms but, not ok Jessica, don’t drug people.
Archie was rounding up all the convicts this episode and to be honest I don’t really have much to say about this other than I thought it was really smart to use this as a way of getting money out of Hiram so they can repair the school that Hiram had trashed.
Meanwhile Penelope has started a ministry which means she gets early release from prison. Also I absolutely loved the expressions of cheryl and nana rose when Penelope told them about the ministry. I am glad that Cheryl at first was very wary of her mothers plans as oppose to just immediately going along with it, but alas she does get roped in to it when she opens a chest and finds Jason’s burned skeleton inside. I mean can we please please just let that poor guy rest in piece. Please. At this point poor Jason has been stuffed in a freezer, dumped in a river, buried and exhumed twice, set on fire in a viking burial and now he is stuffed in a trunk. Also I am a bit confused. Was Cheryl snooping in her mother’s room and discovered Jason’s remains there or was it her room and she was the one that had recovered him? But anywhere Cheryl seems to have a revelation when she sees the bird and ends up embracing the ministry life.
5x12
So episode twelve is kind of like the breakfast club episode where it is out of the timeline and kind of like a standalone episode but still has information about the plot of the season. This episode is the backstory of Hiram but we also get some great Reggie development in this episode. I didn’t hate the episode as much as I thought I was going to when I found out there was going to be a hiram backstory episode, but I also don’t think it was very accurate in terms of what we already knew from previous episodes. I think there were a lot of continuity errors. But those aside it was a ok episode. We learn that Hiram and his dad were shoe polishers and that Hiram clearly hated the way they were treated because they were poor and wanted more from life. We also learn that it was his father who first began searching for palladium after learning about it from a business man in new york and that’s why they decided to move to Riverdale. Hiram’s motives are to finish what his father started. Hiram catches the attention of a drug dealer guy and starts running drugs and gets money and new shoes and a car. His parents are obvious suspicious and aren’t happy about him getting caught up with those guys so his dad goes to tell the mob leader that he will fire his son or he’ll go to the cops which leads to him being killed by the mob leader. Hiram then kills the mob leader’s men and pretty much drives him out of town and then he takes over. Hiram clearly loved his dad but they had issues. Hiram would get very angry about the way others would treat them but his dad would often shrug it off. But I do think losing his dad had a big impact on Hiram and it was interesting to learn more about his past.
The other kind of plot in this episode was with Reggie and his dad which was obviously suppose to mirror Hiram and his dad. Only in this scenario Hiram is the criminal and Reggie is young Hiram. Reggie manages to pay off his dad debt but wants to still work for Hiram meanwhile his dad wants Reggie to quit working for Hiram. He even like Hiram’s father did in the past visits Hiram and asks him to let Reggie go. What’s interesting is that Hiram does, I am assuming its because in that moment Reggie’s father reminded him of his own father and he kind of forces Reggie into making the decision he himself wished he had made. But first he gets Reggie’s and Hermosa’s help in finding and killing the mob boss finally avenging his father’s death. Hiram also tells Reggie to go back to his father and forgive him and here is my problem with this. I get that its because Hiram regrets all the disagreements and the falling out he had with his own father and there’s Reggie and he reminds Hiram of his younger self and Reggie’s situation reminds him of his past but Hiram’s dad was a decent person and was a good father who always wanted the best for his son. Reggie’s dad on the other hand used to regularly abuse and beat his son. Yes he does show concern for Reggie in this episode but that doesn’t erase the years of abuse he inflicted on his son. It’s not the same and I honestly don’t think his father deserves Reggie’s forgiveness. That being said I suppose if Reggie is forgiving his dad not for his dad’s sake but for himself because he thinks that will help him heal and move on that I can be ok with that.
Come the end of the episode I don’t think I hate Hiram any less but still his backstory was interesting and I am glad that Reggie isn’t working with him anymore.
5x13
Out of all of these four episodes this one was the one I liked the most. So in this section I am going to divide it by plotline/characters.
Archie
So the episode starts out really intensely with Archie having a nightmare about his time at war and Eric losing his leg which honestly looks horrendous and I am not at all surprised that both Archie and Eric are now suffering from PTSD. It gets a bit dangerous too when Eric pulls a gun on Archie whilst having a flashback. Uncle Frank tries to help them by getting them a dog. As someone who actually has a therapy dog myself I know this is something that does actually help. But we do learn that sadly Vegas passed away whilst Archie was deployed. Also the dog Frank got is one that was used in dog fighting and ends up biting Eric. Archie’s reaction to finding out that there is dog fighting ring in Riverdale is to track them down and beat them up. I do think Archie was really struggling this episode, he was trying to get help for Eric but it is obvious that he himself also needs help. I actually really related to Archie and Eric struggling to get help for their mental health because it is something I have gone through myself and it can be really frustrating and can make you feel kind of helpless and I actually think they did a good job of showing that, which considering its Riverdale I was pleasantly surprised by. We also learn some more about Archie’s time in the war when he tells Frank the story about Bingo. At first he tells us that Bingo was a stray dog that their unit adopted who got caught in no man’s land. It is actually a rather harrowing scene where you see Archie and Eric in the trenches and Eric is badly hurt and you can hear this dog yelping in the background. It’s even more harrowing when you learn that actually Bingo wasn’t a dog but one of the soldiers in their unit. I feel like Archie changed it to being a dog to deal with the trauma of it all but when Eric tells Frank the truth and he then asks Archie about it Archie really has to confront what actually happened and that loss and grief of losing his friend in such a brutal way. Its obvious that Archie also feels responsible because he was put in that awful position of having to choose between saving Eric or saving Bingo he feels like because of the choice he made Bingo died. Despite what Frank said about not being able to save everyone I think he thought he could save them both and its really eating him up that he ‘let’ Bingo die. I also think that’s why he is so focussed on saving the town because he thinks it’s a way of making amends for not being able to save his men. I do think it was really sweet that Frank and Eric organised the dog rehoming thing to help Archie get some of his hopeful spirit back and show him that there are still some good people out there. They also decide to name their new dog Bingo in honour of their friend which is also kind of sweet. But I do still think Archie has a long way to go in his recovery as by the end of the episode we see him have a nightmare and then a hallucination of bingo but he does at least admit to the therapist that calls him that whilst he was calling on behalf of his friend he too needs help. I mean I am glad that he is going to try to get some help but I am still worried for Archie given what happens in ep 14 which I’ll talk about more in the section for that episode. Also we got that little Barchie crumb of the light shining through his window, a lit window in the dark.
Betty and Tabitha
So Betty and Tabitha have been working together to try and find the truck killer and whilst trying to get information out of a trucker Glen pops up and we find out that he has been arresting the girls working the lonely highway. I mean there is a killer out there and these girls are their victims, they are struggling to make ends meet and have been forced into this kind of work and Glen instead of focussing on catching the killer is arresting them, yup I agree with Betty, girl should’ve stabbed him harder. We also learn that Betty apparently quit the FBI and did I miss that because I don’t remember her quitting? I remember Glen took over the case and moved it out of Riverdale but I don’t remember her quitting altogether. But anyway Glen then takes her badge and gun which I guess is fair if she has quit and isn’t an agent anymore but at least Betty is actually trying to catch the killer unlike Glen who is clearly not. Watch it turn out to be him that is the truck killer, go on Riverdale I dare you. Despite being warned off by Glen Betty and Tabitha are still determined to put a stop to the murders and so decide to hold a coyote ugly night. I actually thought this was a really clever way of getting information and creating a database. In order to get entry to the venue all truckers have to show their ID and give their licence registration. am a big supporter of characters acting smart so I did like that plan. Also I love the coyote ugly movie (don’t judge me) so extra win there. I also like that the plan did incorporate alot of the characters. One thing I have been enjoying this season is that they are mixing up who is interacting with who. You had Alice working the bar, the girls dancing to keep the truckers entertained whilst Reggie and Kev searched the vans. Though I do have a question when they find the blood in the back of the truck and Betty says her and Reggie and Kevin are with the FBI where did they get those FBI jackets from? Are they just easy to come by like part of a Halloween costume or something? There is another thing that I thought was funny and that was that Betty makes it clear that no one is to go off alone with a trucker and yet at the end of the episode she does exactly that and it just so happens to be the killer who comes at her with a chainsaw of all things which was a little ott in my opinion but this is Riverdale so I suppose what was I suspecting. But at least Betty manages to capture him and she does the sensible thing and turns him over to the proper authorities, or no wait what was I thinking of course she doesn’t this is Riverdale so she’s just going to question him herself. Come one you all know it wouldn’t be as entertaining if she just handed him over to the FBI.
Veronica and Reggie
I really liked the storyline of Veggie working together in season 3 so I was really happy to see them working together again and I really enjoyed their scenes. I just think they work really well as a team. They also come up with a really great idea for getting investors whilst also getting one up on old Hiram. Obviously Reggie knows alot about what is going on with Soldale and knows that houses will never be built there. So they phone Hiram’s investors and tell them this little rumour that Soldale is a bad investment and convinces them to invest with them instead. This was actually another smart move by the characters so again I support it. And anything that ruins Hiram’s day is a win to me.
Cheryl and Kevin
Kevin after a little encouragement from Cheryl after she finds him cruising again decides to talk it out with Fangs but unfortunately for him and the viewers we fins out that Kangs ahs moved on...with Moose? I mean I feel for Kev its also upsetting to find out your ex has moved on I imagine it is even worse when your ex has moved on with your other ex. Kevin then also has a bit of a inner crisis when he receives a teacher of the year award and realises that this is not at all where he was expecting his life to be. He had dreamed of being in new york, writing and directing instead he is still in Riverdale and he’s still cruising and unlucky in love. Cheryl’s solution to all of Kevin’s problems is to invite him to join her cult, sorry ministry. At first Kevin is reluctant and not really interested but is finally brought around with the temptation of a musical number. So yup Kevin has joined Cheryl as a believer. Now I am going to surprise myself here and say I am actually interested to see where they take this and where this story with Cheryl and Kevin goes because from the promo pics and what not it looks like they are going to be taking over as leaders of the ministry. I don’t think this is at all a healthy copying mechanism for either of them though and I hope they do get actual real help soonish.
5x14
This was a weird episode and was kind of told in the style of the night gallery show episodes where Cheryl invites Minerva over and shows her three paintings and then tells her the story behind each. So again I am going to split this part in the three storylines we get told.
Archie
The first one is a painting of Archie as a miner, the portrait itself hilariously did remind me of the cover of a bad romance novel but the story itself wasn’t too bad actually I think out of the three I found his the most interesting. It does give us some more information about the shows plot for this season, pardon about one of this seasons plots. Cheryl has finally discovered that their is palladium under her maple groves and has the genius idea of digging it up before Hiram does. Like seriously why didn’t anyone think of this earlier? I mean it also ties into that long forgotten plot from the beginning of the series that Cheryl is indebt after spending seven years renovating her home. I am assuming she wants the palladium to cover those debts. So naturally she hires Archie and his construction crew to mine it for her because everyone knows that construction and mining are basically the same thing right? Though I did think it was really funny when Cheryl pointed out that Archie so far has been teacher, coach, fireman and bounty hunter. At least the show is aware of its own ridiculousness. So Archie and the boys decide to mine for the Palladium but whilst down there Archie has more hallucinations about Bingo. We also see Archie in therapy and we find out that Eric is also getting help and this actually does seem to be helping Eric which is good. Whilst initially it looks like things are improving for Archie he then gets a really bad reaction when down in the mines and becomes very paranoid which results in him storming into the therapists office and behaving very erratically accusing her of drugging him and working against her which clearly frightens her. When everyone else in the mines also then starts hallucinating Frank realises that there is carbon monoxide down there and that is what is causing the visions and for everyone to start acting aggressively. Surprisingly this is actually an accurate representation of what can happen with high exposure to carbon monoxide and we do love us some accuracy. However it does lead to one of the most frustrating scenes in the episode when Archie goes back to the therapist and begs her not to cut him lose explaining about the carbon monoxide and about how he is now seeing not just Bingo but all the men he lost. The therapist tells Archie that she is afraid to be around him and that if he is having hallucinations to that level that she doesn’t think he is safe to be around anyone. Like what kind of therapist is this. This is not what a therapist would do. If she was afraid to be alone with him then refer him to another therapist and if you are worried he’s a danger to others than admit him to a psychiatric hospital where he can safely get help. This therapist just kind of washed her hands of it and said not my problem. But this has left me feeling really worried about Archie and I do feel like he might end up going really dark and spiralling.
I do think that the gas could actually be leaking into the town from the mines though. I was thinking about it when watching the episodes but alot of the characters are having hallucinations and visions of some kind and at first it seems like it is related to that characters trauma but now I am starting to wonder if it is actually because of the gas. It could also explain the Mothmen hallucinations too. Speaking of the Mothmen they got a mention in this episode that made me happy. When taking a lunch break Fangs tells the story about how some of the truckers used to be miners and they tell stories about humanoid cannibalistic creatures that lived underground. Why does this make me happy you may ask well because I have been predicted since the beginning of the season that at some point all the the storylines will converge and I am hoping that come the end of the season we will get a big team up with all the characters. Previously we have had Betty’s storyline with the highway killer being linked to Jughead’s storyline of the mothmen and now we’ve just had the link between Archie’s storyline and Betty and Jughead’s. Which means I am one step closer to my big team up.
Jughead
So Jughead’s storyline was my least favourite out the three. We have finally learned the truth, the big mystery of what happened to Jughead that caused him to lose three days of his life. He was in a hole. Yup that’s it he just fell in a hole, got rabies and then hallucinated a rat king. Underwhelming is the best way I can describe what I thought of that. There were so many great theories out there on what could have happened that caused Jughead to have this trauma so bad that he literally mentally blocked it out and what we got instead was just that he got upset that Betty, who he broke up with five years ago, didn’t come to his book launch so he got drunk and fell into the sewers. I kind of feel like with them bringing back the voicemail, with him saying betty was the one that lead him out of the dark, that they are kind of making it all Betty’s fault, like she is the reason for his trauma and all his problems and if she just pays him some attention it’ll all be magically fixed and almost like its her responsibility to save him and I am not sure I like that. Don’t get me wrong I am not saying that your girlfriend cheating on you with your best friend wouldn’t do a number on you, but it is all about Betty when Archie betrayed him too. Like where is Jughead being cut up about the fact that Archie who was like a brother to him kissed his girlfriend? I don’t know maybe its just me but I am finding it a little one sided. I also think it shows how unhealthy his relationship with betty has become. I think if it gets to the point where you can’t function without a person then that’s not good and that’s not healthy and again maybe it is just me but I don’t see that as romantic which I am not sure if they are trying to play it off that way or not. I did feel really bad for Juggie though when he talks about how even though he disappeared into the dark for three days no one missed him and that he felt really alone. I do think maybe that’s more where his trauma comes from and I kind of wish the writers had developed that more rather than having it again be solely about Betty. Like if we had seen him reaching out to several people and inviting them to his book launch, like a text to his dad, a phone call to his sister or mum, reaching out to Archie or Veronica and then all of them making excuses about how they are busy and can’t come. Then have him invite betty and her say yes at first and you see him relieved because he has someone coming. Then have her cancel and him spiral. I just think it would have had a bigger impact. Instead, and maybe this is a bit harsh, but it came off as him just being some drunk who can’t get over his ex ad kind of like with Veronica I kind of feel like the writers are making the characters unlikeable. And to make it clear my problem here is with the writing not the actual characters themselves but to me they’ve at times made veronica seem unlikeable like when she sleeps with Chad, Jughead with the voicemail to Betty, Betty with her not seeming to care at all about Jughead, Archie with him sleeping with Betty and then after stopping that getting right with Veronica the next day. I don’t know if its just that they are trying to keep the core four separate for some reason? But it just seems a bit off, I know I said I wanted more varying interactions between the characters but I didn’t mean at the expense of the core four relationships. But maybe they are trying to show how it can take time to reconnect with old friends when you’ve been away from each other for a long time?
Anyway back to Jughead the other thing that was a little bit annoying for me was that the timeline was a little confusing. When Jughead is telling the story it seems like it all happened in like a year but its not its spread out over the seven years he was gone. We know that the voicemail was 2 years ago so putting it at five years into the time jump and that was the night he fell into the sinkhole. But in the story it seems like its only a few days later that Archie called when actually it would have been two years after Juggie fell in a deep dark hole. But then I suppose a confusing timeline is peak Riverdale so. But yeah I did find it made his story a bit confusing which was frustrating.
However Jughead does seem a bit more optimistic come the end of his story and I think hopefully things are going to start getting better for him I hope he does get some support from his friends though like Tabitha and Archie, I also hope he clears the air with Betty. Just so he isn’t feeling so isolated and alone.
Betty
So the last story is Betty trying to find out where Polly is from the trucker serial killer that she has chained up in her shop class at high school. Again not much to say about this. I thought it was smart to use Alice as a way to emotionally manipulate the killer and to make Polly seem human to him so he’ll tell them where she is. This does backfire however and we end up with that ridiculous scene where Alice tells Betty then as her mother she is giving her permission to kill him. Alice honey I’m not sure but my mum said it was ok is going to hold up too well in a court of law. Betty decided instead to see if she can scare him into telling her the truth. So she threatens him with some pretty dark stuff, saying she will cut off his feet, then his legs and the knees then the groin. Then his wrists and that he might have a heart attack at that point, but that she reckons he is stronger than that and that she has some tricks up her sleeve. Which is really dark betty really dark. Then when she is collecting a chainsaw she ahs a flashback and we find out that this is what TBK said to her which somehow makes it even scarier and worse, I really need Betty to talk to someone about this asap because just like I am with Archie, I am worried about where she is heading. We never find out whether she was actually going to go through with cutting up the trucker because when she gets back he has bitten off his own tongue and swallowed it so he would choke. Betty does figure out though that they are dealing with a family of killers who are hunting their victims.
Phew ok so that is all of the episodes that I missed. I know I complained alot in this review so apologies for that. To end on a positive note I am very excited for the next episode as we are going to be getting the pussycats back so I am hoping for a good episode.
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Gossip Girl Rewatch
I decided to rewatch GG for the first time in 8(?) years. I haven’t touched the show since it ended and it’s interesting the views that have and haven’t changed. For my own amusement, the big things I liked/hated I will discuss as well as any other significant changes.
Chuck and Blair
You know what, yeah they were toxic but honestly I still ship them as much as I did before. Not only that but from season 1 to 4 we saw how they could be good and right for each other but also how they could be so wrong and destructive. From the end of season 2 we knew clearly they loved each other in an all consuming way but they were both broken and Chuck so much more so (honestly talk about the worst family and childhood ever) that they didn’t know how to handle or put limits on that amount of love. By having both let go at the end of season 4 we had season 5 to see Chuck become a man worthy of love through his relationships to others (Monkey is cute as) and through therapy which I wish we had seen and heard more of - he never went to Blair with a hidden agenda to bring her into his orbit for romance, he only did that once when Dan set it up because it was clear that in that moment Blair’s happiness included Chuck and then the next episode to try and understand what had changed and then because her own mother asked him. During that season we even got the clear juxtaposition of his former self by having Bart there to see just how much better he was at handling emotions and life changes.
While Blair got to explore the other types of love to determine which she wanted for herself in season 5, as Blair said herself it was her season to “run away and try to kill” that intense love that had her losing her way. She had always had a fairytale in mind and she got it and it nearly destroyed her and everything that made Blair herself. She then got her simple love, that was easy and she was content but ultimately that wasn’t for Blair who has always been passionate about something. The difference was this time she wanted the passionate but knew who she was as a sole person, she finally saw herself and had validation from the one person more influential then Chuck - her mother. In season 6 I appreciated the second time around how they had this understanding and communication over them wanting to set up a future for themselves separate from their relationship before fully committing and building their lives together. This help Blair complete her powerful women arc and also helped end Chuck’s history of unhealthiness in dealing with business and Blair - he kept her separate until he needed to scheme and them scheming together, using powers for good was never framed as a bad thing but as part of there skill as a lower couple. I also loved how naturally they both could fit in and help the other achieve what they wanted in a true partnership, demonstrating the way they knew each other, could bring out the best in each other and work as a team. Funnily enough watching it again I have a new head canon of Chuck and Blair in the 5 year time jump and beyond with them actually having one of the most settled and “normal” relationships and lives because they got their not boring out during the show and the circumstances of their wedding - normal would probably be a relief lol.
Season 5
I didn’t actually watch a lot of season 5 when it aired because I couldn’t but I read reviews and such and I hated majority of what I read. But forcing myself to watch it I...still hated it. Louis stayed way to long and Blair was just a bad character. I appreciated her friendship with Dan, but the relationship just wasn’t one I could get onboard with; something always felt off. I also loved Chuck working on himself, his friendship with Dan, and Monkey was pointless but cute so I enjoyed that and Chuck just really given things and his happiness up for Blair’s until it became obvious that Blair’s happiness lead back to him. I liked seeing the darker side of Serena but wish she had joined forces with Nate and Chuck more. The 100th episode was not “a love letter” and I stick by that. I used to hate but now love that Bart came back and was everything Chuck had imagined him to be. The first half of season 5 tonally felt like a completely different show so even though I didn’t like the Dair relationship it was easier and more enjoyable to watch than Louis.
Dan and Blair
I used to hate everything about them together, but now I enjoy their friendship and wish they had kept that between them. I didn’t like how Blair went back to judging his status in season 6. That brings me to the one thing I really dislike and that is how they ended. It was obviously done to cause some drama in season 6 but I feel there could have been a great moment of conversation between the two where they talked out her choosing Chuck and they could have maintained a friendship. Romantically I didn’t buy it, to me I found it one sided or just off somehow but I understand why others could ship them but it’s not for me and I was happy for it to be a relationship that led them (more so Blair) to an understanding of what they want. For Blair it was that while she could have safe and easy love and be content she would rather the passionate love that could bring her to the happiest she has ever been. For Dan I would say he wanted that role of ultimate insider.
Dan and Serena
I always liked season one and to a lesser extent season 2 versions of them. But afterwards initially no, I hated that they ended the show together and thought both (Serena) could do better. However, rewatching knowing what I know now (Dan is GG) is slightly different. I still love season 1 and to a lesser extent season 2 them but I found myself actually rooting for season 6 them, I felt the shock again when it was revealed that Dan had set things up but I also understood him a lot more that the feelings were genuine. I also could see why Serena could be so forgiving especially after her GG stint in season 5. The one thing I still disagree with though is the line that Dan being GG was him writing a love letter to them all, just no girl. I will say though that may head canon for them is that in between that 5 year time jump their relationship was still a little back and forth and not as settled as Chuck and Blair which I use Lily’s line of “I never thought we would get here” as my proof.
Bart’s Return
Oh I did not like that when it aired. I found it so soapy but on rewatch yes it was soapy but I also loved to see not only that Bart was exactly as Chuck imagined (and that we had actually seen - remember he was the one who swayed Chuck as the end of season one) but we also saw how Chuck was different to him and how he had grown. Chuck was fairly open about his feelings to Bart, even initially instigating a hug until it was clear that Bart and his feelings equal weakness self was there. In season 6 I found the decision to take down Bart extreme and a soapy device but they had set Bart up as this ultimate powerful bad guy that would have destroyed everyone’s lives so the only way for it to end was by him dying again.
Vanessa
I hated her on the first watch but on the second one I didn’t but I also can almost pin point the second that they had no clue what to do with her. On rewatch I actually liked her character but also feel like she was treated badly by other characters and ultimately the writers. I wish we had gotten a small glimpse of what she was up to after the time jump (she was the only character we didn’t see then) but I will stick with my initial thought that her season 3 faux dreadlock look was not it.
Rufus and Lily
On initial viewing I was really disappointed that they didn’t end up together and that she ended up with William but on rewatch. I think it made an odd amount of sense. Lily and Rufus had a lot of love but ultimately were different in fundamental ways that just couldn’t transpire to long term happiness. William blackmailing his way into her life was (funny I laughed when Ivy was going off) not great but out of everything in Lily’s life that was the least of issues. I do still love the call back to the end of season 1 though by having Lisa Loeb end up with Rufus.
Blair and Serena
Not much changed with my opinions but I will say I could see the systematic way they slowly broke Blair and Serena’s bond in season 5. Every time they called each other their best friend it started to feel insincere to the point where Blair even dating Dan a guy Serena had been and was so clearly I n love with didn’t even feel like something she should consider as wrong because that was something a best friend did. I don’t know if I feel they built them up enough after the events of season 5 but I also believe they wanted there friendship instead of being “stuck with each other” as Blair so elegant put in the season 6 premiere.
I’m sure there are a lot of other thoughts I have forgotten and some I have communicated terribly but ultimately I was surprised to find myself actually enjoying the rewatch. Watching in binge form was definitely an appeal but it also gave me some understanding and enjoyment to storylines I had previously disliked.
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