#and so she becomes perhaps the First Character Ever in this Entire Goddamn AU to actually TELL ANYONE ANYTHIIIIINGGG

[crimeronan]

65 What thing are you most looking forwards to writing that you haven't yet gotten to ?

(Either original fiction or Empress AU don't have to say you don't want to reveal a surprise.)

from this ask game!

i'm really looking forward to finally getting willow in here, even though it's taken me 10,000,000 years. i'm a little intimidated though, on account of how it's been 10,000,000 years. afraid i won't be able to do her character justice.....

oh and! writing more about camila and vee! i've already written their first encounters both with vee shapeshifted and with vee Not shapeshifted (unpublished because the fic isn't done/edited), but i've yet to write the slow burn of the trust built between them After that.

there's a scene i haven't even Begun to write yet, but that exists in my head, where vee is like "i don't want to be a replacement for your daughter, i can't do it, i can't live up to that" and camila is like. ....who on earth said Anything about you replacing Anyone??

and that.... ough. i want to write it!

[naivesilver]

@bewilderedmoth​ FINE. Fine. Since today is a Monday and therefore a day much more suited for a vitriolic commentary on terrible insects, I shall fulfill your request and the anon’s. I’m warning everyone in the premises, though -  this is a “no fucks given” list, so it may get ugly at any time. Also, as usual, this is only for things that I’ve already watched, so if you know of some cricket horror and don’t see it mentioned, assume I’ve yet to get to that specific adaptation.

Alright then! To the barricades!

1) Disney’s Pinocchio (1940)

The first of his genre. Look at this asshole - he’s literally the last creature I’d entrust my child to. The fact Pinocchio had to spend his first couple days of life with this guy shadowing his every step is mind-boggling, and it’s made even worse by the fact that the Blue Fairy put him in charge of another man’s kid, as though she had the right to make that choice.

(I won’t fall for the desire of dunking on the Fairy more, as this is a Cricket list, but believe me, the temptation is there. It always is.)

As Disney sidekicks go, he’s one of the worst. He’s not funny, and despite having literally ONE job he manages to fail spectacularly at it. He’s snappish at Pinocchio, he abandons his charge about two hours into the new day, he spends a much longer time flirting with female-presenting inanimate objects/animals/supernatural beings than doing any actual childrearing. He should have been forgotten the instant the movie left the theaters, but instead Disney made him one of his main mascots, giving him the role of storyteller or ghost or whatever the fuck they need him to do at the time. So not only is he single-handedly responsible for every other entry in this list, I keep finding him everywhere I turn my eyes to. A knock-off version of his Ghost of Christmas Past self was in the new Ducktales, too, so my friend freenklin (who already has had to endure many of my complaints) received some VERY disappointed scream-texts as I was liveblogging my watch.

Just...no. Get him out of my sight.

(Also Ewan McGregor is bound to voice him in the live action and like??? Excuse me??? Are we supposed to not make Obi Wan jokes??? Will he abandon his young padawan Pinocchio to the evil Strombolitroopers???)

2) Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night (1987)

This movie is at the bottom of my Pinocchio adaptation ranking, and boy, does it deserve the dishonor. The story is a weird mixture of adaptation and sequel, approximately a tenth of the characters actually appear in the book, and I can’t forgive them for ruining what could have been the coolest concept ever (Pinocchio as a pawn in a fight of good vs evil) into this disgrace of a cartoon.

As for the Cricket, in this case he’s not even a cricket. He’s a glowworm, and he’s a goddamn puppet too, to whom the Fairy gave life. I wonder, is the entirety of her job just...transforming people’s creations into sentient beings so that they can lead others to a honest life? Tell me, ma’am, do you want to breathe life into my disappointing Powerpoint presentations too, so that they might bully me into graduating?

Anyway, if you’re wondering what purpose Gee Willikers (sigh) serves, the answer is NONE. Pinocchio gets rid of him at least twice (good for him) and as easily as drinking a glass of water, he’s a burden to the (admittedly cooler) additional characters, like the aviator bee, and not only is he ugly as fuck, but also so annoying every time he gets a chance to speak that it’s a miracle he wasn’t cut out in post-production.

In short, disgusting. If he entered my home I’d swat him with a flycatcher until he leaves.

3) Pinocchio (2009)

This is essentially Disney’s Jiminy Cricket, but female, anthropomorphic, and with a passion for books instead of pretty ladies or ladies-adjacent objects. Mind you, a sapphic Cricket would perhaps have saved more than one adaptation, this one included, but I’m glad they skipped that part altogether. This miniseries has enough issues as it is.

I’m sorry, she’s just too annoying. Luciana Littizzetto can be funny, but in small doses, otherwise her jokes start to become repetitive. Two hours straight - and yes, it’s that much, because SOMEONE decided to follow Disney’s footsteps a little too well - are too long even for the strongest of hearts. Plus, none of the characters’ costumes are very flattering, accurate or well-made (except for Lampwick 💖), but hers just might take the cake. It looks like a mixture between a teenager’s first attempt at steampunk fashion and a Mardi Gras costume lifted from the discarded items’ bin at a cheap store. Takes you out of the fantasy more than anything else.

4) Roberto Benigni’s Pinocchio (2002)

I’ve talked at length of the weirdness of this movie, but all in all it’s a pretty accurate transposition of the story, from the dialogue to the scenery.

Except for him.

The Cricket in this case does appear in the scenes belonging to him, but ALSO in a long and extremely useless sequence where he tries to find Pinocchio in the Land of Toys and gets kicked around by literally everyone present. Don’t get me wrong, that’s something I would have liked to do as well, but it was totally unnecessary, and it gave nothing to the overall story. This movie still holds the record as the most expensive Italian movie ever made, so wouldn’t it have been better for everybody to  skip that part entirely? Not only it would have saved them some money, but also it would have saved me from seeing this guy for an additional fifteen minutes on my screen.

Still, pretty tame compared to some of the others. Could have been worse.

5) Once Upon A Time (2011)

I debated long and hard before making this choice, and I’m not putting him in with a light heart, but before you come at me with pitchforks, please listen.

I like Archie, okay! He’s a fun character, the human side of his backstory was great and gave him a lot of depth and inner turmoil, and the concept of Jiminy Cricket being a therapist is amazing and hilarious. But he’s kind of a shit therapist, whose actions aren’t always what you’d expect from someone who’s supposed to be a conscience and a guide. And despite the show giving us the impression that he and Pinocchio had the same adventures as in the Disney movie (which doesn’t exactly endear him to me - if it wasn’t for his later character development he’d already be Lil Nas X-ing his way down to the bottom of my list), he and August never interacted on screen after the First Curse broke. Not once. And if there’s someone who needs therapy and support, that’s August Wayne Booth.

Yes, I did say at some point that I’d like to fix this in a fic. I’ll write it when I don’t have like eight projects on my table at the same time.

Finally, two scenes settled the matter for me: one, him pontificating at Snow about her trying to do everything on her own, without even pretending to help her set up the stroller she was struggling with at that very moment. I work with kids every day, I know exactly what she’s going through. Shut your mouth and open the damn stroller, Archie.

And two...That one fucking scene where he’s jumping out of Snow White’s cleavage. Honestly, what the fuck??? I wouldn’t even have remembered it if Libby hadn’t reminded me, so I suppose my brain tried to remove the traumatic memory before it caused any further damage, but it exists, and I’m still wondering why. What exactly was the deal with the writers, when they made that choice? I want a glass of what they were having, because by God, does it sound like a trip-inducing cocktail.

Aaaand we’re done! Remember, this is all part of my personal opinion, and I’m not to be taken seriously even on the best of days. Plus, my favorite cricket-esque character, aside from the book-accurate ones, is Gina from Piccolino no Bouken, who is a duck, a sassy little bastard and no closer to Collodi’s canon than any of these fuckers. So yes, when it comes to choices dictated by the heart, I am an hypocrite. Au revoir!

[tae-cup]

.hamartia.  ‘Prologue,

Pairing: Yoongi x Reader (f) x Taehyung (?)

Genre: Mafia!Au, Fluff, Angst (Mostly angst oopsies) I DO NOT CONDONE BEHAVIOR DISPLAYED IN THIS, PLEASE IT’S FICTION AND DON’T DO STUPID THINGS THANK YOU

Plot: Y/N is a skilled, well, torturer, though you don’t like to call yourself that; it makes what you do too real. When mafia boss Yoongi wants information or wants a hostage to suffer, you step in. However, one fateful day you are thrown Taehyung, another person who does your line of work. You need answers, he is determined not to give them to you. That’s when you try...a different approach, and Yoongi is not pleased. 

Rating: TV-MA

WARNINGS: YO IF YOU’RE NOT COOL WITH SUBTLE BI AGENDAS THEN I’M SORRY THIS IS NOT THE PLACE FOR YOU, Blood, torture, mafia things (ya know?), eventual smut, drugs alcohol, sadistic tendencies, a fundamentally flawed main character (I’m sorry i’m just writing myself pretty much), assault, harassment, stalking (not bad), romance (somehow), Maybe stockholm syndrome???

Word Count: 2.6k words

A/N: Goddamn let’s see how to pull this one off. I’m just dragging a bunch of my old dirt and making it 10x worse here haha. 

Hamartia

~ The word hamartia refers to a flaw or mistake that leads to a fictional character's downfall. Classical tragedies revolve around the main character's hamartia, the tragic flaw that sets a series of disastrous events in motion. Achilles' heel was his hamartia – his fatal flaw. 

-

-

      You grasped the man’s chin, your leather glove staining with warm blood. The man was tied to a chair, his legs and arms bound in a way you knew to be uncomfortably tight. His eyes were blindfolded, mouth gagged. Your eyes narrowed as you used the non bloody gloved hand to push some hair out of your eyes. Watching the man squirm was something that made you smile. Of course, part of you knew that inside you had been all screwed up. The old you would have started crying seeing the joy in your eyes. The joy of watching someone suffer. You felt zero sympathy towards those suffering. It was more of a learned behavior, if anything. You had decided that if this was your job in the mafia, then you should not only be the best, but also find pleasure in it. So that led you here; to this massive power trip. Everyone expected the most feared interrogator to be some man with a bald head and muscles. Instead they got this; some 20 year old girl with leather gloves permanently stained with blood. These gloves had been used by you for every job since the first one. In the beginning it was to trick yourself into thinking that these hands, the ones with the gloves, were not yours. Now, they were a sense of pride. 

“Tell me, mr. Joh,” You began, your voice sweet like honey, and just as slow as you undid his gag. “Why did you...” You thought for the right wording. It wasn’t just about getting them to say something, then you could be here for hours, no, it was also about asking the right questions. “Why did you betray our drug ring in Daegu?” start with the big question, then continue smaller when the hostage was difficult, as expected.

When the man didn’t answer, you clicked your tongue. Physical pain was all the rage in the industry when it came to getting information, but you always believed it to be the mental. That’s what made you different. You understood mental strain all too well. It wasn’t as apparent, but it had a higher rate of damage over a long period of time. You licked your lips. 

“Not very talkative, hm? Alright. I’ll go check on another guest.” You had a sadistic smirk on your face as you removed his blindfold, replaced the gag, and shut off the lights. The room was pitch black, not even a speck of light to be seen. That was the thing. A person wouldn’t be able to tell if they had their eyes open or not, it something was moving, if something was in there...watching them. 

You set your watch for three hours. That was an ample amount of time. Besides, you could tell he was going to be a goner without too much struggle. You were also glad you had asked Yoongi to make the walls soundproof in this wing of the base, it was extremely annoying to listen to screaming when you were trying to rest. 

Next, you slipped a door over. Your partner, Jimin, was busy with the young woman inside. She whimpered to be set free. You could tell she thought Jimin was you. If she thought this was bad--boy was she in for a surprise when you would start. Instead, you started your deceiving game. Jimin knew what you were doing the second you timidly opened the door. This was just another mind game. 

“Y-Y/N! What are you doing?!” You feigned innocence, rushing to the distressed hostage. She sobbed, looking at you with pleading eyes. 

“P-Please-” The woman could barely get a word in through her sobs. An evil part of you enjoyed it. The other part stayed silent. “Please you have to help me.” 

Once you had sufficiently calmed her down, you snapped your fingers, signalling Jimin to leave. 

“If you thought Jimin was bad, you’re going to hate this.” Your tongue grazed over your teeth as you tried to withhold a smirk. You had went from innocent girl to monster in a matter of seconds. The realization in this woman’s eyes was like heroine. You wanted more. You had wanted more since that first time. “You’re such a pretty thing. A shame that’s about to be ruined.” You leaned in, nose grazing her neck. Then you quickly pulled away as she continued her sobs. 

“Why are you doing this?! To save your own skin? Are you selfish?” The woman burst out, her lips trembling. “Selfish for your own life?” 

You could understand why she thought you were forced to do this. Once upon a time, yes. You hadn’t wanted to go down this path, but you had no family left and this had started becoming a second home. It was during training for this exact thing, but you had always been selfish. You had indeed saved your own skin. However, even now, Yoongi would ask if you still wanted to be doing this. You always said yes. After all, now you were his right hand man and he trusted you far more than anyone else. 

Your eyes bore into hers. 

“Don’t you know? Being selfish has always been my flaw. And right now, I’ll be selfish and indulge in one of my favorite activities.” You went and sat on the edge of the metal table in the corner of the room. You were so light- you couldn’t sleep and you barely ate, that’s just how you lived. Perhaps it came with the job. You fiddled with some buttons on the wall until you got the settings right. 

“Would you like some water?”

The rasp of the woman’s response was enough for you to know. 

“Good.” as you spoke, a single drop of water hit the woman’s brow, slowly sliding down into her eye. “I’ll be going now, toodles.” You said, almost innocently. 

-

-

“Yoongi wants to see you.” Jimin spoke as you entered the hallway. You glanced at your watch. You still had an hour before the man needed to be checked up on. 

“Fine, but it needs to be snappy.” You grumbled, grabbing a black jacket off the hooks at the end of the hallway. You wore black leggings, a gray shirt (White showed far too much blood) and a black, jean, jacket. You walked briskly up the stairs from the basement and into the base’s old file room. It was old and only ever used for the dusty passageway to the basement. It was built before there were computer backups. Jimin kept a fast pace behind you as you rounded the corner and went out into the main room. It was bustling with trainees on a lunch break. The room hushed ever so slightly when you walked past. You were feared and the rumors that flew around the room may or may not be true. 

“I bet she burned someone alive once.” There was a whisper, more audible than the rest.  You grinned slightly, slowing and speaking loud enough from everyone to hear. 

“It wasn’t just once darling, and I don’t do it anymore. It takes weeks to rid the building of the smell.” There was dead silence, your boots making a loud banging nose as you climbed up the metal stairs.

 Unlike the sub level where the trainees trained, the upstairs ground level was a brilliant facade. It was a huge mansion on the outskirts of Seoul, of course the first floor was to be lavish. The higher ups slept in this mansion. The trainees left through underground passages to get back to their dorms which were still underground on the property. You opened the latch with ease, nimble fingers undoing the simple metal bar. It was there so when guests came, they would never find out their little secret. of course, everyone knew Yoongi was the head honcho, not someone to be messed with, but groups from all over had been obsessed trying to find the training facilities for them. The groups figured they could stop the entire base of operations from the beginning. As you can see, it failed miserably each time. 

You checked your watch again. You didn’t want to keep Yoongi waiting and you supposed the hostage could wait a little longer. It wasn’t like they meant anything to you. 

As you climbed yet another flight of stairs, you found yourself annoyed at how much effort was needed to reach the laziest man you knew. At the end of the intimidating hallway lay a set of imposing dark oak doors. They were decorated with menacing rot iron markings and black iron knockers in the form of snakes. The tongues came out of the beasts, the ring acting like a piercing on the snakes’ tongues. You knocked on the doors, tapping your foot impatiently. 

On the outside of the house, it would look huge, yes, but you would also notice a rounded roof off to the side of one end of the house. It stood tall and on its own, yet attached to the house. That separate building was entirely Yoongi’s office. Extravagant, yes, but you knew it was a tactic to intimidate rivals. You could never be intimidated by him. 

“Come in.” The voice sounded lazy. Before you stepped in, you glanced behind you. 

“Jimin, when my watch hits zero you go question Mr. Joh, if that doesn’t work, you know what to do.” 

He nodded and walking away hastily as the watch was counting down seemingly faster than normal. You watched him leave. Then you slipped inside wordlessly. Yoongi stared at you, his eye examining your face. Your cheek was wet. Before he could ask, you answered quickly. 

“Hostage wouldn’t stop crying, must’ve rubbed off on me.” You said bluntly. 

“Ah.” Then his eyes traveled to your hands. “I thought I told you not to wear those dirty gloves in here. They stink of blood and remind me...never mind.” 

When he trailed off, you nodded, acknowledging your rough past with him. Well, actually it wasn’t rough at all...it was, it was sweet. And it’s also part of the reason you understood yourself a selfish person now. It wasn’t even to get back at him anymore, you just accepted it as it was. You quickly slipped off the gloves, placing them neatly in your pocket. 

“Sit.” You did as he said, plopping unceremoniously onto a leather seat, your right leg dangled off the side. His jaw tensed, seeing how care free you were. It still amazed him how you tortured people and yet smiled as if nothing was the matter. 

The pale man sighed, combing his hand through his hair. 

“Y/N,” 

“Yes?”

“We’re getting a very special guest tonight. He should be here by midnight if all goes well. I want you to take care of him, get me as much information on him. Even the smallest things, I don’t care. He is key to the newest rising mafia’s great success recently. I have his file.” Yoongi spoke drawn out, but snappy, liking to get all the information out at once. God forbid you interrupt him. You expected a large case file. Usually it would have details about that person’s life. Even the smallest thing could be useful. So it was much to your surprise when you got a manila folder with one sheet of paper in it. You slowly took out the paper. Your eyebrows scrunched up as you stared at his portrait. He was a handsome man with strong features. You pulled more of the paper out now. 

“Yoongi.” 

“Yes?” 

“What the hell am I supposed to do with this?” 

The file was blank. Completely blank, save his portrait. How could someone be so mysterious? You knew that your gang had the best hackers around. How come they couldn’t find anything except this photo of him? 

“Well, that’s why you’re here. We need more information.” He eyed you carefully. 

“Fine. But I can’t promise results.” 

“I know.” His lips perked up ever so slightly. You rolled your eyes in disgust. You knew that smile. In fact, you knew every piece of him, every intimate part of his body, what he liked, what he didn’t, as did he. You could tell he must be thinking the same thing. “You’re dismissed.” He knew he couldn’t trust himself around you still. 

You left in an annoyed huff and stormed back down to the basement. 

-

-

You grabbed some salt on your way from the kitchen. Then you shoved Jimin aside once you got down to the basement. He had been carefully carving the man’s back with an intricate design of the gang’s symbol; a bulletproof vest. You admired his clean lines, despite the moans of pain from the man and blood that pooled on his back. You pulled out your gloves and got to work, quite literally putting salt in the wound. As you absent minded-ly made the man scream in agony, you pondered how to get into this mysterious man’s head. You hated that you were so good at what you did, that you were assigned an enigma such as the man that would be drug in like an animal tonight. Jimin could tell you were upset about something, but he didn’t pry and left the room without a second thought. 

-

-

It was midnight and you waited. It was 1 A.M. and you waited. This was taking longer than usual. Then you heard the door slam open behind you. You had been waiting in the interrogation room for him. Jimin dragged in his body. 

“What took so long?” You sniffed. 

“Sorry, he wasn’t responding to the dosage of sleeping medicine I gave him so I had to up the dosage a lot more until he was compelled under.” Jimin explained, a tired expression on his face. He ran his hand over his face and sighed. 

“Great, now he’ll be under for a while.”

“yup, and I’m heading to bed.” Jimin yawned, not caring to help you tie him up as he left. You rolled your eyes and tied the man up. Perhaps it was your pride, but you enjoyed have a victim wake up to see your face staring right back at you. Usually they were startled, but this time it was you as you looked up to find him staring at you, expressionless. 

“Who are you?” His voice was gruff and low. 

“Now now,” You shook off the initial shock quickly and adorned an almost angelic smile. “I’m the one that’s going to be asking the questions here.” You crouched, looking up at him. Your elbows rested on your knees, displaying the bloodied leather gloves. He glanced down, took note of the blood, and swallowed. It was a detail anyone but you would’ve missed. That hesitation. You stood up and grabbed a dangerously curved knife from the wall. 

“So why don’t we start with you telling me what your name is?” You prompted, your voice ticking up as if you were a caring teacher. He looked around, though seemingly unfazed. 

“Kim Taehyung.” He said after a while. You nodded and wrote it down on a crisp sheet of paper, careful not to get any of Mr. Joh’s blood on it. 

“Mr. Kim, you are an honored guest here. If you need anything, let me know. Until then,” You chuckled a little. “Enjoy your stay.” 

-

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Please please please let me know if I should continue this series! 

I’ve always found it easier to reach the links when reading if they’re down here

Prologue | Part 1 

[mobius-prime]

235. Sonic the Hedgehog #167

Mobius 25 Years Later (Part Two): Tempus Aeternus

Writer: Ian Flynn Pencils: Tracy Yardley Colors: Jason Jensen

Lien-Da is incredibly happy with herself on this fine evening, sipping a glass of wine and bragging about how she and King Shadow orchestrated the arrests of Tails, Lara-Su and Sonic, and how as a result she's had a hand in "bringing down the line of Edmund." Rutan watches silently from the nearby stairs, looking conflicted and upset, while Dimitri (still confined to being a head in a bubble) coldly remarks at how ashamed he is to be related to her due to her behavior, even more ashamed than when he in the past worked with Dr. Finitevus. Wait, what?! That hasn't happened yet! A hint of what is to come in the main comic, perhaps…? After all, though Lien-Da implied that Dimitri was dead during the Return to Angel Island arc, we know he can't actually be if he appears in this future. In the dungeons beneath the castle, Sonic, Tails, and Lara-Su have been chained up next to a despondent Rotor. He is frustrated that the three of them don't seem to be taking their position seriously, as the first two mostly joke around about this "bringing back memories" while Lara-Su complains that Rutan will make fun of her for all this. At that moment, Knuckles walks in, looking very stern.

What, did you think Knuckles was gonna be the villain of this piece? Nah, he has way too heroic of a spirit to end up like that! (I mean, so does Shadow, but we already saw how that's being ignored in this arc, so.) Apparently, he was even counting on Lara-Su to overhear his conversation with Tails, precisely so that she would rebel and allow him to set up a coup like this without Shadow realizing that his head enforcer wasn't loyal. Tails says that he'll hack the castle's security systems to allow the others to get a clear path to the throne room, and Knuckles says he'll keep Queen Sally safe while Sonic battles Shadow. Lara-Su wants to come along, but Knuckles convinces her that now the best way for her to help is to get the injured Rotor to a hospital, which she reluctantly agrees to. Sonic and Knuckles race along the hallways to the throne room, where Sally quickly follows Knuckles to safety. Apparently, she too seems to know about the other timeline, surprised that her husband does as well. With Sally safe, Sonic tries to attack Shadow, but his punch has barely any force behind it.

Ouch. I mean, yeah, saw it coming, but ouch. Things are looking bad, until suddenly Lara-Su bursts in, ready to continue the fight on her own terms. Shadow becomes irritated at her smack-talk, and reminds her that he wields Chaos powers, only for her fist to glow as she smugly invites him to "join the club." Shadow tries to fire off some Chaos Spears in her direction, but she merely dodges them while reciting Tikal's prayer (you know, the "Chaos is power enriched by the heart" one) and performs a Chaos Control, freezing Shadow in place.

Bit of an ignoble ending to Shadow's story, don't you think? I said it last issue, but again, I'm really not okay with how this AU just wants to turn Shadow into this brutal villain. I mean, especially considering his whole character arc in the games - the only times he ever acts truly violent and uncaring of others' wellbeing is when he's being manipulated by an actual villain or otherwise brainwashed, and once he discovers who he truly is he's never anything less than a goddamn hero. I just think that turning Shadow the Hedgehog into Shadow the Evil Dictator is doing a huge disservice to him as a character, and not even bothering to try to work in an ending where he realizes the error of his ways is at this point just spitting in his face.

Meh, whatever. Knuckles comes running back in, concerned, but Lara-Su just excitedly informs him of how she defeated Shadow. She then says a seemingly nonsensical line about how she "already took care of him" that only makes sense if you assume that Knuckles asked her something along the lines of "But I thought you were taking Rotor to the hospital," so I can only guess that they forgot to include that dialogue bubble. Sally and Sonic walk into the next room, and she tells Sonic how Knuckles explained all the timeline shenaningans to her, and how she always felt that something wasn't right all these years. She then awkwardly explains that she never married Shadow for love, but only to try to bring stability to her kingdom. Frankly, I find that to be a pile of crap. Sally Acorn, the lifelong ringleader of the rebellion against not one but two different Robotniks, passively married an evil autocrat who likes to use torture on his enemies? Not fricking likely. Sally would have been at the head of the resistance against Shadow from the very start. It seems that even under a different writer, Mobius 25 Years Later is doomed to have every member of its cast acting completely out of character.

Wow, it's that easy to get back together after twenty-five years apart? *sigh* Look, I think the reason this two-part arc fails is because it's ultimately working off an already-flawed base. I understand that some closure needed to be brought to the tangled mess that Kenders set up at the beginning of this era, but hell, I think it could have been done a lot better. Some people do like the whole King Shadow and dystopian future thing, but personally, I think it's just as inexplicable and out of character as everything in Kenders' version of events. I'm just glad to be done with it, as next issue we actually get to go back to the normal, interesting stuff.

Hedgehog Day

Writer: R. Chacon Pencils: Dave Manak Colors: Josh Ray

Well, we do have this little story before that happens. Apparently everyone in Knothole has decided to put together a second birthday celebration for Sonic several days after the previous one, the one Scourge crashed. Sonic wakes up at 10am on the morning of the make-up party, and begins his morning routine as his alarm clock informs him that Mina's latest hit "Soldier Boy" has just finished playing (note that this issue came out one year before "Soulja Boy" was released, so it's not a reference), that it's going to be in the mid-70s (Fahrenheit) today, and that many important people will be at the celebration such as the king and queen and Mina herself. However, the announcer on the radio then says that everyone is wondering where Sonic is as the party has already started, which wakes Sonic up out of his sleepy daze. He realizes that he accidentally set his alarm for the time the party was to start rather than when he actually wanted to wake up, and rushes to get ready, racing out the door and nearly barreling into a bunch of reporters looking for him.

Ouch! Well, at least there's always tomorrow, right? The next morning, Sonic wakes up at 10am on the morning of the make-up party, and begins his morning routine as his alarm clock informs him that Mina's latest hit "Soldier Boy" has just finished playing, that it's going to be in the mid-70s today, and that many important people will be at the celebration such as the king and queen and Mina herself. However, the announcer on the radio then says that everyone is wondering where Sonic is as the party has already started, which wakes Sonic up out of his sleepy daze. He realizes that he accidentally set his alarm for the time the party was to start rather than when he actually wanted to wake up, and rushes to get ready. However, he hesitates before he races out the front door, struck by a strange suspicion that there's reporters outside waiting for him.

Hmm, something's a bit fishy here… The next next morning, Sonic wakes up and shuts off his alarm, a bit disappointed that he didn't wake up in time to listen to "Soldier Boy." He asks the alarm clock if it's going to be in the 70s for his party today, and the announcer dutifully reports that it will be, repeating the same spiel from the past two mornings.

I mean, maybe if you walked instead of ran, you might make it there in one piece, bro. But then again, this is Sonic we're talking about. He buries himself back under the covers to avoid the prying eyes of reporters looking in through his windows, but that doesn't stop them. They start looking for another entrance, ultimately climbing on top of his roof, which buckles and collapses under their weight. This time, Sonic isn't the only one stuck in the hospital, as all the reporters are injured from their fall as well. Finally, the next next next morning, Sonic has had enough and wakes up three hours before his celebration, making his way there and sitting in one of the folding chairs as everyone sets up around him, confident that now, there's no way he can miss the party!

Though the title of the story is a parody on the movie Groundhog Day, I do find it kind of funny that despite this clearly seeming like another fantastical and silly plot device, stuff like this actually does happen to people. They're called false awakenings, and consist of dreaming that you wake up and perform your morning routine, only to then "wake up" into another similar dream, and this repeats until you finally do regain consciousness for real. They can also be paired with stress dreams, meaning that you might wake up in a panic that you're late for school or work, only to wake up into the same situation again and again in a bizarre loop. So, in a way, this story is actually one of the most realistic in the entire comic! I'm sure that wasn't the intention, but the point still stands!

[mortallycoldmagazine]

Fic Recs!

So apparently it’s fanfic appreciation day? In celebration, here are some of my favourite fanfics- all MCU. I love them with my entire heart. READ THEM ALL!  :D (mostly stucky and stony, fyi) 

THIS IS IN COMPLETELY RANDOM ORDER. 

1) https://archiveofourown.org/works/13817463/chapters/31774497 - this is the only post-CACW ‘make-up’ fic that seems hella realistic and makes me actually forgive Steve. 114k

2) https://archiveofourown.org/works/14317536/chapters/33037362 - in which Bucky can turn into a white wolf, and how that affects the MCU’s natural pattern. 141k

3) https://archiveofourown.org/works/14910729/chapters/34537617 - In which Steve is Hades and Toni (fem!Tony) is Persephone. I love powerful, dark!Toni. It’s so beautiful. 41k

4) https://archiveofourown.org/series/41492 - If you want to cry like a baby, read this. AU where Tony comes back from Afghanistan and is diagnosed with cancer. SO DAMN POWERFUL. I’ve only read it once because it makes me Feel So Strongly agh. 290k

5) https://archiveofourown.org/works/7123282 - the first crack fic on this list! Teacher!AU in which Bucky and Steve are teachers at school who are infamous for their hatred for each other... and no-one knows they’re secretly married. Shoutout to @lesbiandanbeau​ for introducing it to me, it’s SO MUCH FUN. 18k

6) https://archiveofourown.org/series/582637 - incomplete series but it’s SO GOOD. In which HYDRA doesn’t give Bucky the serum- instead, they turn him into a sex demon. Contains a LOT of dub-con/non-con but it’s so damn good. 336k

7) https://archiveofourown.org/works/6606808/chapters/15115414 - powerful Fem!Tony (toni) makes me * feel things *. Pants things. Because she’s so badass, goddamn woman. (aka: the MCU...if Tony was actually Toni). 

8) https://archiveofourown.org/works/16176539/chapters/37798343 - even more fem!Tony. But this time, Toni has some ancient bloodlines to back her up. (vampire-ish, Addams family inspired Toni). Toni could bash my kneecaps in and I’d say thank you. 

9) https://archiveofourown.org/works/13640571/chapters/31325814 - in which Bucky is an (illegal) necromancer and Steve is the SHIELD agent that catches him in the act. But in a sudden change of heart, Steve lets Bucky go... and their relationship evolves from there :D

10) https://archiveofourown.org/works/18347003 -honestly, I’m surprised this is the first Soulmate!AU on here because I’m SUCH. A. SUCKER. For soulmate AUs. Steve/Bucky/Tony, with ‘writing on skin = I can see it on my skin’ soulmate AU. Beautiful. Captures Tony’s character really, really well. Damn. 30k

11) https://archiveofourown.org/works/1614746/chapters/3439820 - OH MY GOD THIS IS SO GOOD. I’ve always wondered what would happen if Bucky came back from CA:TWS and was completely and utterly compliant, and Steve didn’t realize just *how* deep it went. This answers that question. SO GOOD. 102k

12) https://archiveofourown.org/works/12823671/chapters/29276760 - in which Bucky’s mask is nailed to his face... but Steve saves the Winter Soldier anyway. It’s amazing. Goddamn. Read it. 71k

13) https://archiveofourown.org/works/8504761/chapters/19490446 - in which Steve is Death. Yes, Death. But Bucky is still Bucky. AKA: The story of how Bucky and Death somehow fall in love. 16k

14) https://archiveofourown.org/works/7469145/chapters/16973895 - IF YOU LIKE WHUMP, THIS IS 426K OF THE BEST WHUMP I’VE EVER READ. There basically isn’t a single moment when someone isn’t being punched, stabbed, whipped, starved, something. In which Steve and Tony are abducted by aliens and sold into a slave mining camp.  I love it with my whole-ass heart. 426k

15) https://archiveofourown.org/works/16295684 - one of the shortest fics on this list, but it makes me cry + feel hella empowered + fall deeper in love with Steve Rogers every time I read in. Aka- six times Steve was aggressively pro-choice. READ IT. 5k

16) https://archiveofourown.org/works/11779137/chapters/26559057 - you know how everyone reads a book in their lifetime that literally changes who they are as a person? This is that book, for me. It is so beautifully written, incredibly powerful, respectful, introspective, philosophical... I could literally rant about it all day. Wow. In which Steve Rogers and his Howling Commandos liberate a concentration camp; their mission? The rescue and rehabilitation of prisoners experimented on by Arnim Zola, among them, a man named Bucky. SO. AMAZING. 47k

17) https://archiveofourown.org/works/16204610 - crack at it’s finest. In which a Very Stoic Winter Soldier has a secret boyfriend. That none of his teammates know about. (spoiler alert: it’s modern!Steve). And his teammates * might * be under the impression that he’s actually a dog.  17k

18) https://archiveofourown.org/works/3476579 - OH FUCK. This fic makes me cry faster, and more, than any other fic I’ve ever read. Literally- 8k, and I cry at *least * three times every single time I read it. I don’t even know why- it’s just so, incredibly, absolutely bittersweet. I love it. Read it.  In which post-CATWS Bucky has a lot of brain damage, and is making his way through life despite it. Wow. 8k

19) https://archiveofourown.org/works/11838204/chapters/26720631 - in which Steve jumped after Bucky, and HYDRA acquired two Assets. SEE IT’S SO GOOD EVEN THE SUMMARY IS AMAZING. WOAH. SO GOOD. 55K

20) https://archiveofourown.org/works/7271731/chapters/16511242 - In which HYDRA kidnaps five-year-old Tony Stark, and raises him as ‘The Mechanic’. Of course, that doesn’t stop him from becoming IronMan. Or an Avenger. 54k

21)  https://archiveofourown.org/works/16457597/chapters/38540813 - SO GOOD. I’m a sucker for healing/recovering fics, but who cares. Amazing. Steve/Bucky

22) https://archiveofourown.org/works/18787102/chapters/44573662 - 3K OF AMAZINGNESS THAT’S INCOMPLETE AND MAKES ME WANT TO TEAR MY HAIR OUT. SO GOOD. SO GOOD. HOW IS IT SO GOOD. WTF. Irondad.... but not. Aka, Peter Parker travels through the multiverse to try and find Tony Stark. But instead, he finds someone with the same face.... whose name is Robert Downey Junior? AHHHHHHHHHHHHH 3K

23) https://archiveofourown.org/works/14772824/chapters/34165730 - this makes me feel. So Soft. You don’t understand. If you want 93k of Steve fretting about nothing and Bucky being confused yet adorable, this is for you. I love it with my entire heart. 93k. 

24) https://archiveofourown.org/works/349478 - WHY DOES NO-ONE TALK ABOUT THIS FIC. In which Tony gets amnesia, and starts forgetting things. And people. and Steve. 43k 

25) https://archiveofourown.org/works/12912708/chapters/29501541 - CRACK AT IT’S FINEST. I love this so much. Tony comes out as Ironman, and the entire world goes ‘yeah, right. no.’ It evolves from there... I’ve literally been ON THE FLOOR IN TEARS from laughter from this fic. I love it. Winteriron. 19k. 

26) https://archiveofourown.org/works/15878580/chapters/36997887 - another AMAZING crack fic. The metaphors are hilarious. You don’t understand how much I love this fic. It’s more than, like, Bucky loves plums. I LOVE IT. 44k 

27) https://archiveofourown.org/series/597010 - modern!bucky + cap!Steve. Bucky is the sassiest person ever and i love him for it. Read this series. You won’t regret it. 33k 

28) https://archiveofourown.org/works/15555630 - Why am I such a sucker for crack fics. 4k. steve/bucky. I love it. read it. it’ll take 5 minutes and your day will be So Much Better. 4k

29) https://archiveofourown.org/series/1021446 - lmao. In which a Very Stoic Winter Soldier has a secret boyfriend. (spoiler alert: it’s Steve). “BUT WAIT!” I hear you say. “Didn’t you already rec this fic? Wasn’t that #17?” and I reply “YOU FOOLS! I LOVE THIS TROPE SO MUCH I’M RECCING TWO FICS OF IT BECAUSE IT OWNS MY ENTIRE HEART!” and then you read them both. 2k. 

30) https://archiveofourown.org/works/13414524 - in which a Very Drunk modern!Bucky is dared by the modern!Howling Commandoes to ask this guy in a bar for a piggy back ride. Spoiler: the guy is cap!Steve. crack. the best group-chat fic I’ve ever read. 2k 

31) https://archiveofourown.org/works/2741975/chapters/6146123 - if you want the longest, most exhaustive breakdown of Stucky ever, this is your fic. 731k ( YES 731K) OF AMAZING METAPHORS, emotions, and so. much. pining. I love it. 731k. 

32)  https://archiveofourown.org/series/426577 - Post-CATWS. Bucky is addicted to heroine. and has adopted two children. What else is new? 131k

33) https://archiveofourown.org/works/10720710/chapters/23753940 - if you haven’t read Celestial Navigation, can you actually call yourself part of the MCU fandom? It’s. So good. I’m in awe. Always makes me cry lmao. 210k

34) https://archiveofourown.org/series/195689 jesus christ this is good and emotional and heartfelt and sincere and funny and just the best thing ever read IT. Post-CATWS. Bucky’s new mission: protect Steve Rogers. Now, if only Steve was aware of this fact, and would stop looking for him. 264k.

35) https://archiveofourown.org/series/429256 - * claps hands * UNDERAPPRECIATED FIC TIME. In which post-CATWS Bucky is taking down Hydra, recovering, listening to music, and.... has a psychic connection with a spaceship? Okay then.

36) https://archiveofourown.org/series/1120239 - so damn good. In which Peter Stark is abducted at 6 years old by HYDRA, and trained to be the infamous Black Spider assassin. What happens when, ten years later, Ironman captures him? 139k

37) https://archiveofourown.org/series/780747 - the most well-written, in character MJ I’ve ever read. MJ/Peter. I love it with my entire heart. They’re so cute. 

If I had to pick a top 5, though, they would be: 35, 33, 32, 23, and 34. (see corresponding list numbers) Perhaps. Choosing that was like choosing a favourite child ohmygod. Really, just read all the fics. 

Hope this helped you find some new fics to read! Happy reading, and have a great Fanfic Appreciation Day! 

______

Here I’m tagging a bunch of people who I follow and are into the MCU that I think might like this. Sorry if this is annoying. 

@petersbenjamin @pepperony3000 @antifastark @sleepyrhodey @sapphirestark @mariahiill @vanddyne @spideyjlaw @magunahstark @iron--spider @proof-tony-stark-has-a-heart @stevebuckyfics @hufflebucky @rescuetony @tropicalcap @fucking-hell-sebastian-stan  @fuckyeahblackwidow @sabrecmcstonyficrecs @nacho-bucky @jaamesbbarnes @ironfamjam @underoosstark @yellowdistress @lesbiandanbeau @musings-on-bucky-barnes @the-ss-horniest-book-club @fysebastianstan @siriuslypersea @omg-just-peachy @tonystarkd @cptniron @sad-stark @antifastark @caroldanverts @sleepytony @madasthesea @serumsteve @incorrect-spiderson @kentuckybarnes @evanstar @holostark

________

Feel free to tag anyone else you think might enjoy this! :D 

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 211: Jane, Stop This Crazy Thing

Previously on BnHA: The fifth and final joint training battle began with Team DekuRakaMinaTa VS Team MonoShinYanaYuiShou. (There’s probably a better way to combine those last five names. Maybe it’s time to retire this joke.) Anyways, All Might answered a phone call from Gran Torino and went to go chat with him about OFA, probably thinking to himself that surely he wouldn’t miss much in just the next five minutes or so! So while he was doing that, Shouda, Yanagi, and Kodai attacked Ochako, Mina, and Mineta with a bunch of huge flying objects. And Monoma confronted Deku and started taunting him, first trying to goad him into revealing his friends’ location, and then trying to bait him by snidely accusing his boyfriend of being the one who caused the demise of the Symbol of Peace. Fucking ouch. He almost baited me with that one tbh. Anyway, that really pissed Deku off, but because he’s a smart kid he still didn’t respond and instead went to blast Monoma with his air gun attack. Except that all of a sudden some weird fucking shit started happening and Deku’s right hand basically exploded with black lightning. Ah, well, you know. Just One for All things.

Today on BnHA: Flashback!Monoma (from like five minutes ago) bonds with Shinsou over having quirks that don’t necessarily make one think “hero!” at first glance. He asks Shinsou how he goaded Deku into opening his mouth back at the sports festival, and Shinsou says he insulted his classmates. Monoma is all “!” and we then cut back to the present, where Deku is all “NNNNNGHHHH” and scary black tendrils are lancing out from his arm every which way trying to either capture Monoma or flat out kill him (who can say). At first everyone is all “Midoriya fucking powered himself up again?” not realizing that for once it was unintentional and he has no control over it. Once Deku starts screaming at everyone to run away -- and the “new technique” starts ripping apart the entire fucking stage -- it kinda starts to sink in, though. All Might tells Aizawa they need to end the match, and meanwhile Ochako floats herself up and latches on to Deku and then calls out to Shinsou for help. Probably because she’s learned her lesson about waiting on the teachers to ever do anything, sob.

(As always, all comments not marked with an ETA are my mostly-unspoiled reactions from my first readthrough of this chapter. I’m caught up with the manga now at chapter 224, so any ETAs will reflect that.)

LOOOOOOOOL

so we’re opening chapter 211 in exactly the way that everyone was expecting! with a fucking Monoma flashback lmao

whoever was telling him that, they’re really fucking stupid by the way. Monoma legit has one of the best quirks in the game. all it means is he would work best on a team, that’s all

so he’s bonding with Shinsou (this is a flashback, obviously, so that first panel was a flashback-within-a-flashback) over them both having quirks that people looked down on

look at that, Shinsou. even fucking Monoma adopted you

oh my god hold up. do I ship it?? ...lol I’m not sure

lol well Shinsou is saying “that doesn’t make me happy” in response to Monoma declaring they were the same type. so now I know they can banter, and so the answer is yes, I do in fact ship it. this is not a thing I was expecting to happen in this arc. Shinsou I’ve gone from you being in the background every so often popping up to remind us you exist, to me having adopted you and shipping you with at least two people, one of whom is the kid who in the previous chapter was like “hey you know that thing that Bakugou secretly harbors horrible guilt over? let me just go and get in his boyfriend’s face and be all ‘yeah it totally was his fault.’” man. life sure is funny

and apparently this little weasel did it on Shinsou’s advice!

LMAO Monoma this is the role you were born to play. all you have to do to succeed is insult class 1-A omg. can you do it? it’s gonna be so fucking hard for you, so out of character. you’ll have to dig down deep

anyway so I’m not sure if this is Monoma or Shinsou monologuing here (though I’m leaning toward Monoma because he’s responsible for 8 out of 10 monologues in general when he’s around) (ETA: yeah it’s Monoma), but either way it’s an interesting speech

ahh, and now we’re back in the present!

ahhhhhhhhh

goddamn it Horikoshi. I have no idea whose thoughts these are. whatever, I’ll have to figure it out and come back to reanalyze it later

(ETA: so hey, now that we’ve caught up to this point, I finally have access to the Viz translations again! their translation makes a lot more sense, and makes it clear this is just a continuation of Monoma’s speech. here:

I appreciate the deeper look into Monoma’s psyche, but I don’t know if I buy into this argument that his quirk forces him to act unheroically. Shinsou’s quirk is a different story perhaps, but there’s nothing about the copy quirk that necessitates unscrupulous conduct in order to win the day. it just so happens that he is very good at goading others, and it only makes sense to use that to his advantage when he can. like, it’s a respectable strategy, if one that doesn’t necessarily win you a lot of friends. 

I for one don’t feel like he needs to justify himself; it’s a battle, and you gotta do what you gotta do to try and give yourself the edge, especially when you’re up against the fucking main character. but anyway, maybe he feels a little guilty deep down and has to rationalize it like this. or maybe he’s just trying to bond with Shinsou and be all “yeah I get you man, you don’t have a choice, it’s rough.” or maybe a little of column A and a little of column B, who knows. anyways.)

in the meantime, check out Monoma and Shinsou’s confused and slightly apprehensive expressions! “did Midoriya’s arm just fucking explode”

apologies to everyone reading this liveblog for getting myself spoiled btw. I probably robbed you guys of a delightful time of watching me freak the fuck out and thinking Deku had lost control of OFA again and was gonna blow his arm off or some fucking shit. but instead I’m just fucking excited because this little shrubbery of a boy is about to level the fuck up and he doesn’t even know it yet

you can see why alternate universe me would have been so concerned. it looks like he’s having a heart attack and being sucked into the void. it looks like Miroku’s kazaana from Inuyasha. oh my god

Monoma my respect for you just increased tenfold. look at you keeping your cool while not having the slightest fucking clue what’s going on

(ETA: actually this reminds me a lot of Katsuki facing the League of Villains and running his mouth at them and appearing confident but all the while having that one bead of sweat visible the entire time. Monoma has a lot more in common with him than he may think.

...in fact, I would totally read an AU where Monoma does more successfully in the cavalry battle and makes it into the tournament and consequently ends up drawing the League’s attention instead of Katsuki -- because he does do a very decent villain impression, this one -- and as a result he’s the one who gets taken. featuring a bonus rescue attempt led by Tetsutetsu and Kendou, and a Kamino arc that strangely enough ends up playing out very similarly to the one we actually got, in the end. anyways. it’s an interesting What If to think about.)

oh hey I just noticed the chapter title is “successor” and FUCK YEAHHHH are we gonna get the spoiler in this chapter? cuz then I can go back to not being spoiled again, so that’ll be nice

oh SHIT

“RUN” IS GOOD ADVICE MONOMA, I’D FUCKING LISTEN TO HIM?!

NOW IT REALLY LOOKS LIKE THE KAZAANA. except blasting black lightning shit out instead of sucking shit in

wow this is fucking amazing. I love the potential for future battles, given how powerful it seems to be and yet how he appears to have no fucking clue how to control it and so it consequently becomes a double-edged sword putting himself and his comrades at risk. it’s a lot like Eri’s power in that sense

also Deku is making some amazing faces in this chapter and I feel like we should be appreciative

Monoma is not doing a half-bad job of dodging this maniac who is trying to fucking kill him

jesus christ. maybe next time we don’t insult his boyfriend, Monoma

now he’s turning to call Shinsou and he looks pretty rattled tbh

but you know who doesn’t look rattled, like at all?

I burst out laughing in real life oh my god. they’re just like “...must be Tuesday”

I mean, this kid went from breaking all his bones to suddenly having super agility to being super strong without breaking his bones to using fucking wind attacks. they probably have no idea what his quirk is at this point and so they’re just assuming this is just another natural evolution

and the thing is, they’re not wrong

oh shit now Deku’s fucking flying toward Shinsou

have him brainwash you and command you to turn it off then!

also, I wasn’t sure with the previous chapter but now I am sure that they definitely do have sound (by “they” I mean the teachers and other students watching, that is), because they were able to follow all that stuff with Shinsou’s voice changer in the first match. so they can hear Deku saying that he doesn’t have control. so what I’m saying here is the teachers should definitely be calling this match off immediately

but will they? well, it’s U.A. so I think we all know the answer to that. it ain’t over till somebody croaks

jesus now we’re cutting to the scene from a distance and this shit is even crazier than I thought

TEACHERS ARE YOU GOING TO DO ANYTHING? NO? OKAY

TEACHERS, DEKU HAS LOST CONTROL OF HIS QUIRK AND IS SMASHING THE TRAINING STAGE APART AND TRYING TO KILL FRIEND AND FOE ALIKE. ARE YOU GOING TO PUT A STOP TO THIS FIGHT? NO? OKAY

ALL MIGHT, YOUR BELOVED PROTEGE AND ADOPTED SON IS FLYING AROUND UNCONTROLLABLY AND DOESN’T KNOW HOW TO STOP. ARE YOU GOING TO -- you know what. just, never mind

oh shit

ffff Aizawa looking at him like “what’s this now? ‘stop’?”

(ETA: Aizawa. Aizawa listen to me. I need you to look me in the eye and tell me honestly -- if All Might hadn’t said anything, would you have just fucking stood there until everyone fucking died? would you have done anything?? how much more of your problem child hupping all around the stage with this bucking bronco of a quirk screaming “STOP!! STOP!!” would you have calmly observed before it occurred to you to fucking do your job. tell me. be honest. listen, I love and respect you, dude, but sometimes you make me a little concerned.)

god I am loving this so much. this is not at all how I expected this last match to go

ahhhhhh noooooo

he’s scared! he says it hurts! oh shit I’m sorry Deku I didn’t know it was hurting you ah fuck

though that makes sense, because it’s blasting out of your right fucking arm, though, because it’s always that fucking arm, isn’t it. and whatever this new quirk is, it’s at 100% just like OFA was when you first activated it. and we all know that pretty much all quirks can do a lot of damage to the user if used at full capacity for too long

there’s another panel of Ochako staring in horror. there’s been a lot of those. is it just to show her concern, or is she planning something to help him (I have no idea what she could do though), or is she taking mental notes here and this means she’ll be hounding him with questions about his quirk after this and will eventually learn about OFA too?

(ETA: thankfully no one other than Shouto thinks to ask, and Shouto accepts the weakest of excuses without hesitation because this is the densest and most trusting group of kids to ever walk the earth. Deku your secret is safe for life. all he has to do is just shrug his shoulders every damn time. “fucking quirks, though. wild.”)

ahhh now we’re really getting into Deku’s POV and he’s freaking out bad flkajlkj

no baby no don’t cry it’ll be all right

fuck. he’s scared and he’s frustrated because everything was finally starting to go so well and he was finally getting the hang of things and on his way to being a reliable hero, and now this stupid fucking quirk is out of control again and it’s like nothing he ever experienced before, and it hurts and he has no idea what to do and he might hurt other people and fucking shit, someone help him!!

AHHHH

ONE FOR ALL YOU BETTER LISTEN TO HIM!!

is he crying blood??!

(ETA: sure looks like it. jesus Deku you’re dramatic as fuck.)

okay WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING

OH MY GOD

OCHAKO

girl when I said I had no idea what you could do to help him, that’s because I didn’t think you’d be crazy enough to fucking float yourself right at him when he’s losing it like this

goddamn that’s a ballsy fucking move though, shit

oh shit!

brainwash him and get control of him and then she can float him down to safety! yes!! do it!!

MY GIRL OCHAKO SAVING THE DAY AND MY BOY SHINSOU BEING BRAVE IN THE CLUTCH AND SAVING DEKU AS WELL AND HOPEFULLY GETTING INTO CLASS A FOR HIS EFFORTS. OH SHIT. THIS IS AMAZING. DOES THIS ARC HAVE HATERS?? I CAN’T UNDERSTAND WHY IT WOULD OH SHIT I FUCKING LOVE ALL OF THIS

Shinsou looks like a deer in fucking headlights by the way. like someone just caught him doing something super embarrassing. haha I love it

oh my god I’m gonna go read the next one

[flydotnet]

Tango à Trois - Chapter 1: Hollyhock

Next Chapter (TBA)

Summary: Aoi Zaizen is a confused bisexual girl with two crushes at once and who doesn't know how to cope with that. Miyu Sugisaki is Aoi's best friend with a crush and doesn't know how to cope with growing another crush. Yusaku Fujiki is a confused teenager with a crush on his classmate and doesn't know how to cope with having a crush at all.

Chapter Summary: (N/A)

Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS Pairs: Aoi/Yusaku/Miyu (subsets: Zinnia, Angelmaker, future Moonlight), secondary Kiku/Takeru and Ema/Akira

Chapter Count: 1/?

Notes: If everything feels kind of weird, it's because it's all set in a no-LI, no-Link VRAINS-ish AU for VRAINS I've come up with like eons ago in Internet time.

I came up with this ship on the fly (haha pun) in a group chat on Discord and stuck with it for some goddamn reason, and now I can't let go of it. In case you were curious yes I actually have some semblance of plan for this despite having this rushed, shitty first chapter because this is literally a random outlet for when I'm less inspired by my actual WIP novels lmao. While I know nobody is really gonna give a shit, I'm still posting it to show there are other ships than DSS around this hell of an Earth

xoxo, Fly

AO3 version available here.

Aoi had always been a rather confused girl when it was about romance. She used to blame it on her brother’s overprotectiveness, but seeing as she was still confused when he started dating Ema, her current future sister-in-law (there was no way they were getting split up, they were the perfect awkward couple in her eyes), that had clearly been a wrong hypothesis and, needless to say, she felt dumb because of it.

In fact, Aoi was confused enough by what love even was to begin with. It was about finding people attractive and wanting to spend something like eternity with them, right? So why did she find everyone attractive? Why were girls cute and boys handsome? Wasn’t she supposed to be like her brother Akira and find either boys or girls attractive? He had told her it was fine if she was into girls, but he had never said anything about being into both, if that was the term for it. What if that wasn’t natural? What if she was never meant to find both attractive? Was she defective? So many questions…

 So she turned to her childhood best friend, Miyu. The latter had always been more in-touch with relationships and socializing, she’d have an answer, right? So they sent each other messages on one night, because Aoi was way too shy and intimidated to bring up such a sensitive topic in a public setting like school (someone could hear them, and it’d be catastrophic). Sure enough, Miyu told her it was called being bisexual, and it was perfectly normal.

Aoi’s heart strangely fluttered when her best friend, her most trusted confident, confessed to her that she, too, was bisexual and into both girls and boys. Was it relief or excitement, she didn’t know. She couldn’t guess or make a solid supposition, she couldn’t know.

 On another evening, she took it to Ema to make sure it was normal. Her brother’s girlfriend, recently turned fiancée, had truly become the big sister figure she had never gotten: Ema was the best person to confide something to and yet make sure her brother would never be aware of it unless Aoi told him herself. Ema had taken the topic seriously yet lightly, never overdramatizing everything like her sister-in-law had the tendency to do. However, even after confiding that she, too, was a bi lady (there really were a lot of bisexuals in her circles, huh), the flutter in Aoi’s heart didn’t appear again. She put it on the behalf that it could have just been her relief making her heart be all weird, but… there had to be something more to it. She knew it.

Aoi’s next step was talking it out with a long-distance friend she had met right before her brother had gotten his current job at SOL: Kiku. By that point, she knew she was bisexual and to distinguish romantic attraction from platonic feelings (mostly by using her brother and Kiku as references), but she still wanted to talk it out with another confident. Much to her fortune, Kiku took the news very well, wording huge words of supports and wishing her all the happiness in the world she could muster. The encouragement would have not been this overwhelming would Kiku’s boyfriend Takeru not have heard her happy squeals and joined in on the fun. Aoi was pretty sure she was radiating red when she got showered with an entire dictionary of nice words.

Eventually, she told her brother about it. Even if he was the one person she trusted the most in the world, the one she’d no doubt count on would something ever go wrong, the man who had raised her instead of their parents since she had been ten, she was still tense when telling him about it. He had shown distress at first, mostly because of how nervous she was when asking him “big brother, can we have a talk, please?”, but quickly untensed when she spat out the information. A pat on her shoulder and a hug later, her ears almost went deaf when he told her he was proud of her for being brave enough to tell him and wished her the best of lucks. Her entire being destressed with all of this behind her, but that didn’t solve another issue that had risen.

 The fluttering in her heart.

 The thing was, Aoi had ever only felt her heart flutter in this strange, intense way around two persons: Miyu and a boy from her class that she had eventually befriended. She wasn’t surprised to figure out she had a crush on Miyu: it only took her a few days to get over it, strangely enough. Perhaps it was because they had known each other for years; and knowing her best friend was no stranger to being attracted to girls comforted her into getting over it and acknowledging her romantic feelings. They had always been very close, always holding hands as children in the park and indulging in it when nobody was looking in middle school: there was nothing weird about what they were doing, what she was feeling.

Perhaps there even was a chance for Miyu to be in love with her too.

 However, the boy was another question altogether. Yusaku Fujiki was his name: he had always been rather quiet, not overly shrouded in mystery but never proactive in group conversations. They had shared classes for a few years by then, mostly subjects where she rather preferred teaming up with someone as discreet and apparently socially awkward as Fujiki rather than anyone else in the classroom (it also allowed her to escape from alpha bitchy popular girls and guys trying to hit on her as soon as they crossed gazes). Eventually, they became comrades, then friends, hanging out in most classes and between those to pass the time. Miyu had never been in the same class or workgroup as her: but it wasn’t too grievous when she had someone to rely upon, her now-trusted Yusaku.

Oh, that phrasing may have been too forward.

While Miyu and she had always been on a first-name basis, as calling each other by one’s surname was not a thing in kindergarten times, it hadn’t been the same with Fujiki. Getting to know each other as classmates passing papers off to each other to pass the time, helping each other in subjects in which they absolutely sucked (hers was Maths, his was Literature, and they were fine with that), joking about shared teachers were how they bonded, different experiences still retaining value to them: but they had to grow comfortable with the other and being close to them.

It wasn’t an easy task for someone like Aoi, who had always been “the SOL Security Manager’s sister” and trying to be profited upon (and, usually, her brother could immediately tell and sent them off): but Yusaku wasn’t like the others. He had never given a single damn about her brother’s job (or her brother at all, now that she thought about it), had never seen her as anything other than a classmate he liked to hang out with even outside of classes.

 And that was where it hurt, in a way.

 She was convinced Yusaku only saw them as that: friends. Considering their respective characters, it was already a miracle they had befriended each other and texted the other so often (as in, every day, and she was always excited to see what next trivia he could send her about his cat Ai and his friend Jin and his online best friend Takeru… Wait, that name was familiar), she couldn’t ask him to do much more than that. They were too introverted to have a mutual crush on each other…

…oh wait, that was even weirder.

Okay, finding both genders endearing and attractive was perfectly fine. Aoi was bi, her best friend was bi, her sister-in-law was bi… but falling in love with two persons at once, if that was her case, had to be abnormal. No, her feelings for Yusaku had to be something else… Perhaps she saw him as a twin brother? No chance, it was different from how she felt about her brother… Perhaps she saw him the same way she viewed Kiku, a trusty friend? No, no luck there either, there was the flutter and the weird pulses to hold his hand and maybe kiss him passionately against the wall… But then, what did she feel for Miyu?

The same thing, yes. Oops.

[panharmonium]

apparently folks are doing fanfic writers’ appreciation day today (which i did not even know was a thing but it’s a great idea so!) 

so, big shoutout to @padmerrie​ who is my number one source of fandom content for literally everything, and has been since we were small children printing out lotr fanfiction, writing harry potter au’s, and drawing our own x-men and star wars comics...she writes stuff that is tailor-made for our specific fandom needs and exactly on-point with our personal reads of various characters, AND she writes for everything???  she writes me star wars fic, she writes me teen wolf fic, (and GIVES ME FIC BOOKLETS FOR CHRISTMAS, WHAT) and now she’s writing avatar fanfic, like IS THERE ANYTHING SHE WON’T DO

so big shoutout to all of her gems, including but definitely not limited to:

crackfic!Yarael:

“I just got my speeder back from the shop.  You may remember it being vandalized several months ago?”

Obi-Wan furrowed his brow and clucked his tongue.  “You mean when someone dismantled and reassembled your speeder in the library to make it look like the statue of Master Sharad Hett was about to crash recklessly into a shelf of archives?”

“Wait - what?  Now this I gotta hear about,” Vos said, his eye bright with gleeful intrigue.  However, Yarael threw up a single finger almost instantaneously, as if to silence any further questioning.  

“Yes.  That.”

“Ah then, yes, I remember it well.  And if I recall correctly, my padawan graciously offered to help you with the repairs.”

“Like I would ever let Skywalker within ten feet of my speeder,” Yarael spat. “Force knows he was probably the one who did it!  I’m still not entirely satisfied with the alibi that you provided, might I add.”

most accurate!Derek

[Scott] had been up all night trying to make sense of his physics homework for the fourth night in a row that week, and despite the efforts of his mom and Stiles, who both seemed to have taken it upon themselves to make sure he got through his junior year not by the skin of his teeth, he just wasn’t getting it.  Heck, even Derek took a shot at it, after a startling 3 a.m. visit that nearly resulted in a sleep-deprived Scott stabbing him with a pen.  It was an uncomfortable ten minutes that ended only when Derek hastily climbed out the window muttering something about his car and needing to get gas.

the BEST NAGROUPIES!!!!!  seriously.  before the padme book was announced, there was @padmerrie’s fic, and that was my only naboo-crew fix.

“I’m not afraid,” Sabe declared firmly.  Her expression was that of deepest trust.  Padme looked from her to Panaka, then back.  Sabe remained unwavering.  

“All right,” Padme sighed, shaking her head, unhappy with the decision.  

But Sabe smiled.  She turned to Panaka.  “Please leave us,” she commanded dramatically, shooing him away with her hand.  

Panaka frowned contemptuously.  “I believe the Senator is still the only person who gets to make demands around here.”

“It’s been a while since I last impersonated a person of importance.  I’m going to need time to brush up on my skills.”

“I don’t think you’ll have much trouble easing back into it.”

the most subtle, delightfully deft, brush of clone wars-worthy dramatic irony/foreshadowing chapter conclusions ever

“Perhaps I can persuade you to reconsider after a glass of wine.”  Palpatine settled himself behind the table and sat poised against the high back of his chair, which resembled that of a throne.  “How about joining me for dinner tonight?  Consider it a farewell meal before you departure after the vote tomorrow.”

“I would love to,” Padme said with a smile, “and thank you.”

“Perhaps you’d care to join us, Master Kenobi,” Palpatine offered.

Obi-Wan, who would rather have shared a cup of tea with a gundark than suffer through an entire meal with the Chancellor, said politely, “I’ll have to check with the Council, but if you don’t mind the intrusion, I’d be honored.”

“The honor is all mine,” the Chancellor said, and he smiled more broadly. “To be graced by Master Kenobi’s presence twice in one day!  I daresay if it weren’t for the circumstances, I’d be concerned.”

this lolarious allusion to a generational fashion faux pas obi-wan just can’t seem to shake

Anakin closed the door of his bedroom behind him and went to meet Obi-Wan in the living room.  He was already standing at the door pulling on his robes.  When he saw Anakin, he raised an eyebrow and looked him over.  

“Nice poncho,” he said, eyeing Anakin’s civilian ensemble.

“I found it in the back of your closet,” Anakin retorted.

“I know.  I put it there.  Are you ready to go?”

BADASS PANAKA SUBDUING A SENATE GUARD

Padme scrambled to her feet, but Panaka was already two steps ahead of her.  In one fluid motion, he was at the guard’s side and had grabbed his raised arm, which was preparing to strike again, and twisted it around his back.  The rifle fell from the guard’s hand to the ground as he cried out in pain.  Panaka maintained a firm grip, despite the painful protests spewing from the unarmed man.  When he attempted to pull away, Panaka yanked him against his chest by his twisted arm, causing the guard to let out another pained noise.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Panaka growled in his ear.

“Get off me, leatherhead,” the guard hissed angrily, spit flying from his mouth, but Panaka held him even tighter.  

“Make another move and I will pluck every last one of those feathers off your goddamn head.”

“Why, you - “

the best anakin and obi-wan

“I don’t understand how someone like Master Qui-Gon could have been taught under someone like Count Dooku,” he pondered out loud.

Obi-Wan smiled softly.  “What about us?  You and I are certainly different, are we not?”

“Yes, but you would never stray from the Order,” argued Anakin.  His expression was childlike, and Obi-Wan couldn’t help but be pleased at the boy’s remark.

“Perhaps not,” said Obi-Wan, his blue eyes twinkling amusedly.  “People change.  Jedi too.  And even when one has finished their training, the path is not paved for you.  Even Jedi become lost, Anakin.  But it is our willingness to ask for guidance that brings us back.”

He stared hard at Anakin.  The warmth left from his smile was still there, but there was an urgency in his eyes, undetectable to most, but not to Anakin. He gazed back at him and nodded, and as he did so, he thought of bringing up his nightmares about his mother - that perhaps this was the invitation he was looking for.

the obi-wan and padme team that we DESERVED, featuring them being peers who have important conversations and mutually admire and respect each other

“So did this dinner put your mind at ease or make things more complicated?” she asked, eyeing him.

Obi-Wan gave her a sour look.  “What do you think?”  They walked in silence.  It wasn’t until they had reached Padme’s apartment that Obi-Wan spoke again.

“I don’t trust him, Padme,” he stated matter-of-factly, drawing his arms across his chest.  He looked so serious, and Padme couldn’t help but smile.  

“He’s been my strongest supporter,” she said.  “I know his speech tonight was a bit maudlin, but what he said wasn’t untrue.  He’s always shown me great respect, even when we’re on opposing councils, which, I admit, feels like a lot lately.  But still.”

Obi-Wan shook his head.  “There’s a falseness to him that I can’t explain.  I felt it when I first met him, and it’s grown more palpable over time.  You must sense it.”

“It’s hard to tell truth from deceit these days,” Padme said evasively. “Especially when you’re in politics.”

Obi-Wan shook his head.  “Then you know how easy it is to mask your true intentions.”

literally like i just want to have christmas every day so i can read infinite fic booklets of this stuff

“Do not tell me you’re having second thoughts.”

Scott rocked his head against the seat cushion.  “No…I was just thinking about Allison.”

“Of course you were,” Stiles muttered under his breath, gripping his steering wheel bracingly.  Scott didn’t seem to hear him.

“She used to say this thing when we were dating.  About her dad.  ‘Don’t poke the bear.’”

There was a pause, and when no one said anything, he added, “You know, like, don’t bother him.”

Keeping his eyes on the dark, winding road ahead, Stiles replied, “Yeah, I’m not the one failing English, buddy.  I got it.”

i.......could just post the entirety of everything she’s written, honestly, but as that won’t fit - happy fanfic writers’ appreciation day to the person who keeps me flush with fic and fandom fun all year long!  

[wantisamlindyla]

Your Ghost - Chapter 1

New York, 1999.

He wanted her to live again, even if she could only come back to him through the pages of a book. 

A/N: Hi all. I’ve been sitting on this for a while I finally decided to post the first chapter.  I have a rough outline but I don’t know how many chapters there are going to be, maybe 6? This is AU, Mileven, takes place 15 years after Eleven disappeared. Most of season 2 still happened, but there was no Mike/Eleven Reunion at the end of episode 8. Will eventually post on Ao3, but I dunno when I’m gonna get my invite to set up an account. Enjoy!

28 October 1999

 “Ladies and gentlemen thank you for coming here today. There will be a book signing of this amazing book after this session. Now, the reason for why we are all here today, and why some of you have been lining up outside the venue all night, is currently backstage, waiting patiently for me to stop nerding out and pull myself together to introduce him!

 After publishing his first novel and topping the New York bestseller’s list at only the age of 23, he is here tonight to talk about his newest novel, titled the Ides of Winter, and the third book in the world famous Montauk series. Everybody, please join me in welcoming to the stage, Michael Wheeler!”

***

It was one month and 17 days into the book tour. Mike had one more stop in New York before he could call it a day and go home.

He was so goddamned tired, he still had several book signings, an interview with the New Yorker (with that pretentious prig, Howell), a TV appearance on the Today Show, and, a few radio interviews, before he can escape back to the Lake house in Lovell, Maine which he now called home.

It’s not all bad news though. New York means seeing Will again for the first time since Christmas.

Not that Mike has completely lost all touch with his old friends, quite on the contrary.  

After graduating from a fine arts course at his brother’s alma mater, NYU, Will had decided to stay in the city. He’d eventually landed an unpaid internship at a small start up animation studio. Now Will split his time travelling back and forth from California to New York as the head character designer on a number of superhero animated cartoons that Mike watched religiously on Saturday mornings.

It wasn’t hard to stay in touch with Will, it was just that this last year had been manic. Mike had barely fit in time for sleep what with working frantically to get his novel finished, having to attend stressful and tense meetings with his editor, forcing himself to return his lawyers’ phone calls about a copyright infringement litigation his publishers had commenced on his behalf, and having to deal with ideas about for the short story anthology he had been working on springing up at the most inconvenient times.

He and Will still managed to talk every other day though, either by telephone or AIM.

Ever since Nancy and Jonathan officially became a couple around Christmas of ‘84, Jonathan and Will became regular dinner guests at the Wheeler residence. He and Will had become almost inseparable, more than anybody in the party.

During his parents’ divorce, which took place during Mike’s sophomore year of high school, with Nancy and Jonathan away at college, Mike spent more and more time at the Byers’ residence, trying to escape the tensions at home, right up until he left for college in ‘89.

At college, Mike made new friends, attended dumb keg parties, dated girls, but he never lost touch with Dustin, Will, Lucas, or Max.

You didn’t help save the end of the world with your friends, twice, and then drift away from them over trivial things like distance and attending different colleges.

In fact, Mike had just met up with Dustin only a few months ago. Dustin had been in Maine for some reason connected with his annoyingly mysterious job.

After Dustin had graduated from MIT he had immediately been recruited by a secretive tech company in California. Dustin couldn’t talk about where he worked or what he did at his job. Whenever people asked him where he worked he’d tell them Cyberdyne Systems with a straight face.

He and Dustin had attended the Phantom Menace premiere together with Dustin’s then-girlfriend, Cindy. The boys had left the movie theatre deflated and heartsore while Cindy had tried valiantly to console them by saying all the wrong things.

Dustin called Mike a few weeks later to inform him that he and Cindy were no longer going out.

“I had to dump her Mike, she said she thought Jar Jar Binks was cute. Also she refused to share her food with me when we went out.”

“So?”

 “So? So? It’s weird. We go out for Italian and I end up having to eat an entire Pepperoni pizza on my own, which I don’t really mind, but then her ravioli looks good too, but she won’t let me have any because she likes us to have our own meals. And don’t even get me started on that time I took her to Wang’s Treasure Palace.” 

Besides those occasional and surprising visits during the year there was always Christmas and New Years at Lucas and Max’s place to look forward to.

Of all of them only Lucas and Max had opted to return to Hawkins. Lucas quit his mechanical engineering job and got a position as an assistant professor, teaching at the community college only after a few years in Chicago. Max got a job as a mechanic at a garage. They bought a house, got married, and got busy starting a family.

Mike smiled at the memory of last year’s Christmas.

He’d practically lived at Lucas and Max’s house the whole time he was there since the picture perfect Wheeler family Christmases that his mom had worked so hard to create during his childhood was now only a distant memory.

Nancy preferred to spend her Christmases in New York with Jonathan and Mrs Byers. The Wheeler home had been sold a few years ago when Holly had left to go to college. Holly preferred to spend her holidays in Chicago with her boyfriend’s family.

His mom was away on another cruise, and, his dad was busy with wife number two.

So, Mike spent his Christmas and News Years at the Sinclairs. He’d taught their three-year-old son, Robbie, how to build a snowman. He conducted a twelve-hour D & D Campaign, pelted Dustin with snowballs, watched a pregnant Max eat all the ice-cream and listened to her complain about how gassy pregnancy made her, watched a star wars marathon and gorged on pizza on Christmas day (just because Max was the only girl in the party did not mean that she would be cooking and cleaning for four man-child wastoids who liked to mooch off her and Lucas).  

Mike considered a detour to Hawkins for a visit after New York so he could meet the newest addition to the Sinclair family, baby Grace, who was about to turn 6 months old. He decided to bring it up with Will tonight at dinner.

Mike pulled himself back to the present and to the interviewer who was introducing him to her broadcast audience.  

“You’re listening to Terry Gross on Fresh Air. Joining us today is Michael Wheeler, author of the best selling book series, Montauk. The series is set in the 60s, in the small town of Montauk in upstate New York, the town is haunted by the misdeeds of its occupants.

The main protagonist is Millie, a brave young girl, with a few secrets of her own.

When Millie’s best friend, Noah, goes missing in mysterious and sinister circumstances, she sets out on a journey into the woods near the town to find him. The first two books in the series have already sold over 80 million copies worldwide and a movie adaptation of the first novel is currently in the works. The third book in the series, Ides of Winter, was released recently.

Michael was only 23 when the first novel in the series was published. He was awarded the Hugo Award for best new author in ‘95 and he has been named one of Time’s most influential people of the year. Michael thank you so much for joining us today.”

“Of course, thank you for having me.”

Terry was one of the best interviewers Mike had the pleasure of meeting. Her soft spoken and inquisitive questions put him immediately at ease, so much so that so he almost forgot he was being interviewed on radio.

He didn’t forget to lie though.

When Terry asked him about where he’d drawn inspiration from for his twelve-year-old girl protagonist, he told her Millie was a blend of himself and the two sisters whom he’d grown up with.

When Terry asked him what drew him to the supernatural and horror themes prevalent in his novels, he only talked about the books and authors he’d read growing up.

“Michael, my favourite chapter of your second novel is the Cave of Horrors. I’m sure you get that a lot. I just wanted to ask you about that chapter, because it’s pivotal, its when Millie comes to believe that she may have truly lost her friend forever, and you write so well about grief, and loss, and the trauma associated with that at such a young age. I guess what I wonder is, was this kind of loss something you had experience with?”

Mike pauses for a long moment.

He doesn’t know what it was, perhaps it’s the kindness in Terry’s voice.

Maybe it was the year he’d just had, it’d been especially difficult.  

Maybe it was the tour.

Maybe it was the thought of that big empty lake house waiting for him at the end of the tour.

Maybe he’s just so tired of the lies and the bullshit. He didn’t really even understand why he still did it; it’s as natural as breathing, but its been almost 15 years. All the men who could punish him or his friends for saying the wrong thing are long gone.

He doesn’t know why or what it is, but all of a sudden his chest feels as if it’s been cracked wide open and its like everyone can see the wound inside him, vulnerable and raw as the day it happened. He wants to tell the world about her, he wants to scream it from the top of the Empire State Building.

He’s twelve years old again, he can smell the tang of blood and the smoke of ashes that had never touched fire. He can hear the violent and desperate screams of a dying creature ringing in his ears and in between darkness and the flickering fluorescent lights, he sees her eyes, tired, resigned, and filled with pain.

Goodbye Mike.

He wanted her to live again, even if she could only come back to him through the pages of a book.

So he’d saved her the only way he knew how. She came back to life by people reading his book, by growing to love and adore Millie, the brave and wonderful girl that would face monsters and death in order to save her friends.

“I….I lost a friend when I was a kid Terry. I don’t really speak about it often. But the way that it happened….it was violent and sudden. I don’t think I was able to come to grips with it for many years. It’s hard to admit sometimes, I think I lie to myself about it, but so much of her is in my writing.”

Terry nodded thoughtfully even though though the gesture won’t be captured by the microphone.

“Did writing help you with dealing with that loss?”

Mike answered honestly, “I don’t know. Some days I think it’s made it worse, because she’s with me, everyday. I live and breathe the loss of her in work. But its just become inseparable from me, the pain. I think it’s just like an arm, or a leg. You heal, but you’re not ever the same. And you never really forget what you lost.” 

[houkuaichuii]

Take My Heart & Soul

“FIC EXCHANGE. I’LL GIVE YOU THE JEALOUS-PINING-MUSTANG ANGST AND YOU GIVE ME THE ANASTASIA AU.” - Chie, 2k17.

So a couple of days ago, I had a lovely discussion with Sarah (@queenwinry), which led to me screaming at her for an Anastasia!AU RoyAi fic of the famous boat scene, whilst offering this very angsty piece in return. I do highly suggest to read her one-shot after this as a pick-me-up! So make sure to do that!!

Word Count: 3,450.

Warning: Roy’s a... well, he’s drunk and he’s sad. I was not drunk during the process of writing this, however; I was just sad.

There was something unspoken about the winter air within the East City walls, something to which the drunken man could barely describe. It was calming, more so as the feeling of numbness ran through his fingers and his toes. However, he knew that there was much more to it than he could comprehend. Perhaps it was the way it nearly made him forget the ache within him, the pain that had taken place somewhere in his chest and called it its home. Or perhaps it could have been the number of drinks he had that night, but he shook his head at the notion and told himself that he was perfectly fine and was far from the edge.

He hadn’t appeared so intoxicated either; just a man who was enjoying a stroll during an ungodly hour. But Roy Mustang was a man who had mastered the game of facades, and was more than skilled enough to hide the truth to his character when it suited him.

So yes, he was drunk; his focus a haze, his mind a mess, but he knew where he was going as he walked through the empty streets. He followed a path he knew quite well, to a destination that was entirely committed to his memory through more ways than one. Or at least he believed so.

He was going home, that was what he convinced himself to do as he exited a deserted bar. But where was his home? Was it the empty apartment in between Fourth Ave and the Sixth, or was it a woman, who was enjoying her date with another? At the thought of the latter, short laughter escaped him, his heart far from being in it. Then again, his heart was never with him to begin with, as it was with the woman for as long as he could remember.

He had unknowingly given it as a whole, and once upon a time, he surmised that she had done the same. It was the basic belief of equivalent exchange; the well-known law of alchemy. And he, as an alchemist, nonetheless, lived by those words. But it seemed like he was proven wrong at some point, because of all things considered, it was more than obvious that her heart was not his to keep.

So many emotions dwelt in his core, just as how so many unanswered questions ran through that head of his. He was supposed to be a genius, the epitome of brilliance, an erudite--- he was the Hero of Ishval, the man who climbed the ranks too fast for his age. And yet there he was with his gaze dropped to the pavement, sadness claiming the colour of his eyes. He looked so wrong, he felt wrong too, though he could not bring himself to blame anyone else for the pain he was drowning in.

He waited far too long, assumed that he still had time, that she would have still been there at the end of the line. The universe, however, had other plans and the joke was on him. God, what a fool he was.

A selfish fool.

Roy knew that he should have been happy for her, even if it meant that her happiness did not mean him. He had acknowledged it long ago that she deserved someone better; someone who had not betrayed her trust, someone who did not remind her of a war, someone who saved her life rather than a broken man who was constantly dragging it into harm’s way. The woman he loved was in a good place, and he should have been content with such a simple fact. But the truth was the truth, and he was anything but. He was miserable, surrounded by darkness and living under a grey cloud.

And so he walked, and he walked, and he walked, the chill of winter biting at his nose and his cheeks. How does one escape the dark when the sun had left?

Everywhere he went, the whispers were there. There were the looks, the rumours that just did not stop. It all began as a simple matter, the idea that a doctor had plans to court the brigadier-general’s adjutant. It became a joke in the office, and at first, the woman in subject had no means to hold it in any form of regard. But everyone saw that the man was quite serious in the way he’d send in flowers, until he suddenly came to seek the captain for a dinner.

Of course jealousy had struck Roy immediately, and he was more than tempted to step forward. But noting that she deserved a break and that it was most likely a one-time thing, he merely held his tongue.

The action was evidently a bad choice, for dinners happened again, and numerous times after, leading to the words of engagement to reach his ears.

And that was when he had finally felt the soles of his feet hit rock bottom.

Everyone looked at him with confusion in their glances, wondering as to what his thoughts truly were. He kept to himself about the matter, albeit letting out a casual smile here, and his usual shrug there. “The Captain is in warrant of a happy ending, we should all just congratulate her.” Was what he told them. Even his ‘sisters’ heard of the talk, a flash of pity in their eyes whenever an Elizabeth was mentioned by someone who was uninformed. Still, he posed the image that he was truly all right, although those who knew him also knew otherwise.

How long he walked for, he could not say, but at the end of the night, he was climbing up a set of stairs. He counted the floors as he passed them amidst his daze, till he stopped in front of a certain door. He stared at it, his chest empty, yet heavy; his shoulders slouched in spite of being overcome with familiarity. He fished his key out of his pockets, but when it came to unlocking the door, it would not turn. He cursed under his breath, thinking that what he held in his hand was the key for the car he had left behind.

“What. A. Fucking. Idiot,” He called himself, banging his head against the door in defeat, one word after the other, “Can’t even get yourself into your own apartment.”

He was just so tired; beyond exhaustion as everything pulled back to port. He hadn’t been this bad since Hughes, but even then, he still had her: the only constant thing in his life.

To which will become not so constant anymore, for she’s been ripped out of his grasp before he even got a chance. He thought himself pathetic, all the while hating the man who stole the person he once called his.

Roy was supposed to be the one to show her the endless love and affection that he always did have for her. He was supposed to be the one who’d wake her up with kisses, who’d whisper sweet promises into her ear in the warmth of their bed. He was supposed to be the one who’d hold her hand as they took a walk through the park, letting Hayate chase the butterflies that would have caught his attention. He was supposed to be the one who’d wake up in the middle of night, just to soothe the cries of a child. Their child.

Roy was supposed to be the one to take her as his wife, to have and to hold, for better and for worst, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until death did them part.

He was supposed to be the one, as she was the only one for him.

Drunk and alone with his thoughts, Roy was about to sit himself down onto the floor when the knob turned and the door was pulled open. A slightly dishevelled blonde peered at him from the other side, surprise entirely too transparent in the eyes that had watched over him for so long. He was surprised as well, so to speak, because what in the world was his captain doing in his apartment? He mirrored her look through his own bleariness, blinking to clear his view.

“Sir, are you okay?” She asked, concern loud in her voice.

“What are you doing here?” He returned.

There was a pause as Hawkeye scrutinised him, a crease between her perfectly lined brows; question evident in her expression. She then stepped out and closed the door behind her, holding onto the robe that she wore.

“Did you go out drinking with the boys again, sir?”

He shrugged, “Possibly, I don’t really remember. But what are you doing here?”

“This is my apartment.”

Well, that certainly said a lot.

As realisation dawned on him, Roy released a breath, then a scoff. His gaze dropped to the floor, eyes closing without a single reply. So this was where home was--- it was where his legs had led him to. What a joke. The place he considered as home wasn’t even his own, and there he was, standing before her like a lost dog. He should have apologised and bid his goodnight, but his mind was awake and he couldn’t stop what he said next.

“Please tell me you didn’t say ‘yes’, Hawkeye.”

“Sir?”

“That--- that man, I believe that he asked for your hand in marriage. Tell me that you didn’t accept the proposal.”

“I...”

“Goddamn it, Hawkeye!” He looked at her then, albeit too fast that the world suddenly turned and he stumbled back before regaining his footing. He saw her move forward, hands reaching out to steady him, but he lifted up his palm and breathed. No, he wasn’t allowed to feel her touch, lest he was willing to lose the small control he had left.

What a shameful sight he made; face red from the alcohol, his hair unruly from the amount of times he ran his fingers through it during the night. Then to add to the list, he had just shouted at his captain even though she was far from being at fault. He shouldn’t have been there in the first place, but it was where his heart was and it seemed like his mind wanted it back; as if he was ever going to get it back.

Roy looked at the woman again, stared as he searched for words to say.

I’m sorry.

Don’t go to him.

Please don’t leave me.

I don’t want to lose you.

I can’t lose you.

I’ve always loved you.

I love you.

It was Hawkeye who broke the silence, however.

“Sir, would you like for me to walk you home?”

“Please don’t marry him.” Was the answer he gave. As short and concise as it was, it was no more than a whisper; a plea as others would have called it. “Don’t do it, Riza.”

If he hadn’t been so intoxicated, he would have noticed the effect that her first name had on her. He would have seen how her eyes widened slightly, her hand tightening its hold on her bathrobe. It was her turn to stare at him, keeping up a mask of coolness. But after a moment or so, she swallowed faintly and spoke.

“Roy, I don’t think we should discuss this matter right now.”

“Really? Because I think that this is the best time to talk about this.”

“No, it’s really not. You’re not in the right state to organise your thoughts and this discussion is over.”

“Riza, if you would just listen to me---”

She cut him off there, the sharp edge of a knife heard in her tone, “You’re drunk; you don’t even know what you’re saying, let alone will remember when you wake up tomorrow.”

“To hell I don’t!” Roy finally snapped, causing for the other to steel herself as he chose to continue, “And even if I don’t remember what I say tonight, I’ll be fine as long as I say it. You need to hear this, Riza. I need to say this, because if I don’t...”

“Roy, don’t do this.”

“If I don’t tell you that I love you now, when will I ever?”

A pause.

“Why are you doing this?” She asked.

Taking in a deep breath as he moved back against the wall behind him, Roy tried to clear his incoherent mind. He closed his eyes, not wanting to see the stranger that the other might become once he said his piece. After all, he almost lost her once before, and was on the verge of losing her again. The fear sickened him to no end, even through his uninhibited state. But the truth was in dire need to be expressed, and everyone knew that a drunken man’s words were a sober man’s thoughts.

“Because I’m scared, Riza,” He told her, “I’m scared of losing you.”

He heard her step towards him tentatively, the sound of her footfall loud amongst the silence that had then fallen upon them. Still, he kept himself in the dark, finding comfort in it.

“I thought I still had time, I thought that this could wait until I reached my goal--- I thought that you knew. But then the doctor came out of nowhere, and... I don’t know. I wanted to stop it, though. I wanted to say something to stop him from pursuing you, but when I saw you laughing with him, I just couldn’t take that happiness away from you.

“You deserve it. After everything you’ve been through, you deserve this happy ending, and who am I to stop you from getting it? I’ve asked myself this question so many times throughout these past several months, and each time I do, I never get an answer. I tell myself that I have no right to step into your affairs, that you’re free to choose whomever you like. But at the same time, I realise that I’m as selfish as anyone and I start to hope that you’d find something you don’t like about him.”

Another moment of quietude, filled with nothing but a sigh from him.

“But seeing as to how things have turned out, that obviously didn’t happen and now here I am: drunk, tired, wishing that I was the one who’d hold you, wishing that I was able to freely show my love for you whenever I choose to; wishing that I was that man.

“I love you, Riza Hawkeye. And the more I think about it, the more I know that I always did love you. From the first moment you opened that door back when I was just starting out my apprenticeship, and up until this very moment, I’ve loved you.

“I love your smile, how it’s so subtle and hidden; it’s been the same for as long as I’ve known you. I love the focus in your eyes, the way your eyebrows furrow together when something’s in your mind. I love your determination, your courage, and your compassion. You are an amazing woman, Hawkeye; one hell of a woman, really.”

And as he readied himself for his final words, Roy had set his gaze upon her. What he found was unexpected, however, as rather than meeting the amber eyes he loved so dearly, what he saw was a woman with her head down, her blonde hair a curtain around her features. She had a hand to her mouth, her shoulders seemingly trembling.

“I’m sorry for all of the times I’ve hurt you. You deserve someone better than me. But Riza, please don’t go to him. Please don’t leave me. I’m not... I’m not telling you this as your commanding officer, but I’m asking you this as the boy who grew up with you, who has only ever considered you.

“I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again: I can’t lose you. It is not that I don’t want to lose you, but it is more of the fact that I can’t. I know that it makes me sound selfish and egotistical, but I’m far from caring about my image at this point. This is the truth of how I feel for you, and I just need you to know that whatever happens, I will always love you.”

Unmoving from her spot, Riza did not respond, and Roy wanted nothing more than to envelope her into an embrace. For the first time in a long while, she looked so small, as delicate as he remembered her to be before the horrid of war. Oh, how he would have loved to go back to those times, when everything was simple and it was only the two of them in their world; no one else.

Just little Roy and Riza, the children who ran through open fields, the lake behind the trees being their destination. They were the children who walked under the moonlit sky, finally heading home after getting groceries from the nearby town. They were the youth who studied in candlelight together, secrets whispered between them. Just little Roy and Riza, the children who made promises to one another and were determined to keep them. Without a doubt, the promises were kept and new ones were made in their adulthood, forever binding them together.

Or maybe not.

“Riza?” Roy called, the silence suddenly becoming unbearable.

When she looked up, he was taken aback by the redness of her eyes, the tears that glinted under the hallway’s lighting. He clenched his teeth together, his hands curling into fists. He had hurt her again, and she was crying because of him. What was wrong with him?

“You are such a complete idiot,” Her voice cracked as she attempted to stifle her crying, causing for something within Roy to shatter, “Why couldn’t you just listen to me? I told you not to do this, and yet you still continued to make everything so complicated.”

Roy couldn’t hide the hurt that quickly struck his expression, her words understood immediately. He didn’t say anything, couldn’t form a response that would not have led the entire situation to an argument. Despite being as inebriated as he was then, he was earnest enough to note that he had done enough damage for the night. And so, he pushed himself off the wall, hands in his coat’s pockets and looked down on his polished shoes.

“You’re right. Maybe it would have been best if I hadn’t told you the truth, but you deserved to hear it, at least.” With that said, he squared his shoulders and raised his chin, his eyes quite sombre in comparison to the strength in his voice, “You should go back in, Captain, I’ve kept you out here long enough.”

At that second, the door opened and a man revealed himself groggily. He looked at Riza, who kept her back to him, before averting his attention to Roy. Traces of sleep was still visible across his chiselled features, and it did not go unnoticed that he was, in fact, shirtless. Roy nearly scorned at the sight of the other, vehemence growing in his being. Of course he was there, Roy wasn’t even surprised anymore.

Besides that, if he weren’t so in control, he might have set him aflame.

“Riza? What are you doing out here, it’s four in the morning.” The man asked, blinking the slumber away.

But before Hawkeye could answer, Brigadier-General Mustang spoke up, “I just needed to ask her a few things about the case. My apologies, I would have waited until later, but something urgent came up.”

“Some of us do need to sleep, Mustang,” The other countered, “Especially when Riza needs to rest after you make her work hard all day.”

“Matthew,” It was Hawkeye who raised her voice, “It’s fine. I was all ready awake and the case is vital, so it was only right for him to come to me as soon as possible. Go back in, I’ll join you soon.”

Just when the man was about to open his mouth for another retort, Mustang cleared his throat in interruption and said, “I’ve extended my stay long enough and I’ve heard what I needed to hear. Besides, the doctor’s right, you need to rest. Good night, Captain.” He gave his adjutant a short nod, although not quite meeting her eyes. He then ignored the other man, walking past him as he made his way back to the stairs. He could feel their attention on him with each measured step, his mind blank, except for the acknowledgment of the gnawing ache throughout his chest.

What a fool he was.

[bangtaninink]

can I request a "peaches and cream baby. peaches and cream" with vampire!seokjin please >.

CHRISTMAS DRABBLE BONANZA CHARACTER Kim Seokjin (Jin)AU Vampire

“Hyung!”

“Jungkook, shut up.”

“Nu-uh. You’re in deep shit now. Hyung!”

“What do you want, Jungkook?” Seokjin groans, sighing as he pinches the bridge of his nose. “This better not be about your goddamn collection of millennial cartoon memorabilia because I swear to god--”

“No, I’ll show you that tomorrow. Look.”

Seokjin follows the direction in which Jungkook’s arm points, all complaints lost on the tip of his tongue as his eyes grow wide.

“What is she doing here?” Seokjin asks, voice quietly.

“Taehyung hyung brought her here,” Jungkook replies, nudging Taehyung closer to where Seokjin stands, unphased by the way the elder smacks his arm.

“Hyung, I...” Taehyung starts.

“I told you all never to bring her here.”

You smirk from where you sit in the plush leather seat, crossing your arms over your chest as you raise an eyebrow at Seokjin.

“That’s not a very nice thing to say to a guest, Seokjin,” you say. “And I’m not even a guest, really. Aren’t I something of an... old friend?”

Jaw clenched, Seokjin tears his eyes away from you to glare at Taehyung, hands tightly gripping the younger’s arms.

“Why is she here?”

“Hyung, she... she knows,” Taehyung replies, wincing slightly.

“Knows what?”

“Knows where Namjoon hyung is.”

“That’s impossible. No one knows where Namjoon is. I haven’t seen him in centuries.”

“But she does.”

“How do you even know that? You don’t know her like I do. She could’ve just said that so you’d bring her here.”

“No, she didn’t. I know she didn’t, hyung.”

“How?”

“Because--”

“Because I’m here.” All heads in the room turn towards the door, Jungkook gasping loudly at the sight of Namjoon. “Hyung. I’m here.”

Seokjin feels all the wind in him punched right out of his body, his hands releasing Taehyung’s arms to fall slack at his side.

“Namjoon?” Seokjin says, voice barely audible.

“Hi, hyung,” Namjoon says, smiling faintly. “Long time no see.”

Namjoon barely has time to think before Seokjin runs to the other side of the room, arms wrapping around the younger in a tight embrace. Beside Jungkook, Taehyung presses his lips tightly together, blinking away the tears that threaten to fall from his eyes.

“Where in god’s name have you been, brother?” Seokjin whispers into the younger’s shoulder.

“In probably the closest thing to hell I’ll ever see.”

Seokjin leans back to look Namjoon in the eye, grip tight on the younger’s shoulders as if he’s afraid he’ll disappear yet again.

“I tried, Namjoon. We all tried so hard to find you.”

“I know you did, hyung. I know. _____ told me all about it.”

Seokjin turns to look over his shoulder to where you still sit, no longer with your arms crossed over your chest. He’s silent, more stoic than you’re used to, but you can see a look in his eyes that says something different, something that contradicts the control he is so desperately trying to cling on to in your presence.

“Hey.” Namjoon’s voice cuts through the silence. “What’re you two doing standing over there? Aren’t you going to give your brother a hug hello?”

Jungkook and Taehyung waste no time in bounding over to the other side of the room, and Seokjin steps back, letting the younger two wrap their arms around Namjoon. The elder chuckles quietly, stroking their heads, as the room is gradually filled with the sound of muffled sobs.

Wordlessly, Seokjin looks at you, not pulling his eyes away, even as a multitude of footsteps approach the library where you all are, the rest of the coven entering the room.

                                                       ▫▫▫

The house is filled with more joy than it’s seen in centuries, friends new and old walking the halls of the manor in celebration of Namjoon’s return. You sit just a few feet away from the fireplace, a goblet of blood held between your fingers as you watch the party unfold in front of you. You nod and smile in greeting to everyone that passes you, not surprised by the looks of confusion and curiosity at your presence.

It had been Namjoon who had urged you to stay, only his persistence convincing you not to return to your own house despite the look on Seokjin’s face at the invitation.

You can see the way Seokjin’s brothers sneak not-so discreet glances your way every so often, but you pay them no mind, content to just sit and sip at your drink, picking up fragments of the conversations around you.

“You...”

You look up to find Yoongi standing by your seat, his own half-empty goblet of blood in his hand.

“You look exactly the same, noona,” he finishes. You chuckle quietly, looking down at your drink.

“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard a vampire say, Yoongi,” you reply, shaking your head.

“But... you do. You haven’t dyed your hair, or changed the way you do your makeup. I feel like you’re even wearing the same outfit you wore when you...” You look back up at him when he doesn’t finish his sentence. Yoongi clears his throat and takes a sip of his drink. “Um. Well. Even... even if hyung won’t say it, I know he’s thinking it, so I thought, as the second-born, I should be the better man and say it to you, at the very least on behalf of our family.” He looks down at his goblet for a moment, before his eyes shift to look at you. “Thank you, noona, for bringing our brother back.”

                                                       ▫▫▫

“Come with me.”

You don’t need to look over your shoulder to know who it is. You feel fingers wrap around your wrist and gently tug, urging you to step away from the crowd that has gathered around Namjoon and the youngest three of the family where they dutifully recount the events of the last four centuries, filling Namjoon in on every last detail of what he’d missed.

You set your drink down on the nearest surface, stepping away from the circle to follow Seokjin upstairs.

It’s silent all the way up the staircase and into his bedroom (and you notice barely anything has changed since the last time you’d set foot in it). Neither of you speak until the door is shut and locked, just a few candles on his bedside table lit, enough to illuminate the room slightly.

“How did you do it?” Seokjin asks, not facing you as he extinguishes the match in his hand. “How... where... when? How did you manage to do the one thing my brothers expected me to do?”

“You’ve always been so hard on yourself, Seokjin. And impatient.” you say, running your fingers along the spines of the books lining the shelf beside his desk. “You haven’t changed a bit.”

He watches as you make your way across the room, almost to where he stands, and sit on the edge of his bed, resting your hands in your lap.

“It took me this entire time to get him back. A whole four centuries. I know... how much it must’ve hurt for you to have seen my loyalties drift away from your family and to another, considering everything you and your brothers have done for me.” You pause, and take a deep breath. “It hurt me too, to watch the disappointment become a little more obvious in your eyes everyday at the things that I did to you, to your brothers, but I... I don’t blame you for what you did. I would’ve done the same if I was in your position.” You feel the bed shift beside you as Seokjin sits down. “You did it for your family. I understand that now. Perhaps, back then, I was a little selfish in thinking that you’d let me stay regardless, but I... I understand that what I had with you doesn’t compare to what you have with your brothers.”

You don’t turn to look at him when he shuts his eyes and takes a deep breath, flooded with memories of the past, of a life with you living under this very roof with him as almost-family.

“They had him locked up in some kind of dungeon,” you say. “Kept him there for three and a half centuries, barely feeding him. It was painful for me to just stand there and watch him withering away while those animals mocked Namjoon, waved vials of blood in his face, made him beg for even a single drop. If I could have gotten him out earlier, I would have. But I... I had to wait. Had to wait four centuries before I could do anything. I had to wait until they no longer suspected me of spying on their coven for your sake. I... I had to do things to Namjoon in order to gain their trust, to show them that I was on their side, not yours. Your brother will never forgive me, but I don’t expect him to. He’ll tell you all about it, I’m sure. He’ll tell your brothers too. And I don’t expect any of you to all of a sudden welcome me back with open arms, considering the things I did to this family. I’m sure there could have been different approaches to this situation. I’m not asking you to take me back, Seokjin, or for you to forgive me and pay me back in exchange for your brother’s return.  I’m not asking for anything from you or from your brothers. I just... want you to know that bringing back Namjoon was the least I could do for what you and your family have done for me.”

You fall silent, listening to the laughter outside of Seokjin’s bedroom coming from the rest of the party guests. Melancholia washes over you in a subtle and quiet wave as the weight of your words sink in and make the air grow thick with tension, until you start to feel the first inklings of uneasiness at the lack of response from Seokjin.

You’re about to turn and look at him, searching for any sign of acknowledgement, but he beats you to it, pressing his lips to yours, hand cupping your cheek. It’s altogether new and unfamiliar the way he kisses you, urgent and tender at the same time, as if he’s afraid you’ll go but the night will last forever. You shut your eyes, feel your shoulders sink as the tension in your bones eases with each passing second. 

It’s Seokjin that pulls away first, slightly breathless, and for a moment, you chase after his lips before you open your eyes.

“I’m sorry I ever doubted you, _____,” he whispers, thumb stroking your cheek. You shake your head in reply.

“Don’t be.”

You barely have time to blink before he’s pushed you down to lie flat on your back, crawling over you to cage you in between his arms and kissing you with four centuries worth of longing. It’s clumsy and messy, the way the both of you undress, as if neither of you have any time left. You feel his fangs graze against your neck while your fingers claw at his back, your body arching off the mattress as you lie naked amongst the now-disheveled silk sheets of Seokjin’s bed.

“I missed you,” you whisper, breathless.

“I love you,” he replies instantly. He doesn’t let you answer before he pushes a finger into you, lips wrapping around your nipple, tongue laving over the sensitive bud. You shut your eyes and moan, your fingers curling around his biceps.

“Seokjin.”

“I missed this,” he mumbles against your breast, pushing himself lower and lower until he’s kissing the skin beneath your navel. “I missed it all. God, how is it possible that you smell and taste even better than before?”

Your fangs dig into your bottom lip as you bite down on the plump flesh, moaning again as he slides another finger in, tongue drawing slow circles around your clit.

“Seokjin.”

“Peaches and cream, baby. Peaches. And. Cream.”

“Seokjin. Babe, more.” You whimper as he pushes a third finger in, pushes in deep enough to have your toes curling with white hot pleasure. Your chest heaves with every breath, hands clutching the sheets in tight fists.

As impatient as ever, Seokjin does not let you suffer for too long, quick to withdraw his fingers from within you. He growls quietly as the room is suddenly filled with the scent of you, his patience wearing thin. But it’s during times like these that you too share the same impatience, and you push yourself up to flip your bodies over, pinning his arms over his head.

Seokjin inhales sharply, watching with an unfaltering gaze as you lower yourself onto him with a strangled whimper. You throw your head back and moan as he fills you up, hands coming to rest on his chest, a surprised gasp slipping out of you when he thrusts his hips up without warning.

“Feel good, love?” he asks, reaching down to grasp your hips, guiding their movements. You nod back, unable to trust your voice. The both of you groan at the way you roll your hips in a circle slowly, desperate for every inch of him to stay within you.

With another growl, Seokjin pushes himself up, supporting his weight with one hand while the other wraps around the back of your neck and pulls you forward until he can kiss you with a hunger to last a million centuries. You rest your hands on his shoulders, nails digging into his skin as you kiss him back, his fangs grazing against your bottom lip.

“Jinnie,” you whimper, moving your hips frantically as you chase your high. He lowers his hand from your neck to instead wrap his arm around your waist, holding you close.

“I’ve got you, love,” he whispers, lips pressed to your cheek, groaning quietly as your scent grows stronger the closer you get to your climax. “I love you, _____.”

“I...”

You don’t get to finish your reply before pure, unadulterated pleasure fills your veins, lips parted in a silent cry. While you tremble in his embrace, you bring your wrist up to Seokjin’s lips, and you don’t need to say another word. You cry out a little as his fangs pierce your skin just deep enough for him to get a taste of you, your blood sweeter than he could’ve ever imagined. He moans around your wrist, feeling his own climax arrive and he throws himself back to lie flat, lips painted red.

                                                       ▫▫▫

As you catch your breath, you lean forward to lie on Seokjin’s chest, licking your wounds shut before lapping up the blood that had started to drip down your arm. Wordlessly, he watches you, wrapping his arms around you as he rolls you both over onto your sides. You shuffle in close, leaning into his touch as he combs his fingers through your hair and licks his lips.

“I love you too,” you finally reply, lips moving against his collarbones. Seokjin smiles and presses a kiss to your forehead.

“Welcome home, _____.”