#and that’s not even touching how they’ve LITERALLY BEEN TO AND ESCAPED HELL GO LOOK FOR HIM THERE

[gaycrittercentral]

Oh oh oh, them holding hands? Or hugging after S3 because I'm a sucker for some fluffy angst

Aw HELL yeah dude snuggly mushy stuff is my favorite fuckin thing so why not both!!

Holding hands while they wreak havoc hdjfhsjhsjsb

God season 3 makes me WEEP AAAAHHFJFJSHSHDHSHGS 😭😭😭

Although personally I felt very let down by the ending (I just found it kind of narratively unsatisfying) so I like to imagine an au where Sam abruptly remembers that they’ve been to hell and that’s def where Max went, so he just calls Jurgen over the hell customer service line and bothers him until they finally yeet Max back out due to pure annoyance lmaooo

[marshmallowprotection]

Choi Twins 2023 Birthday Analysis

Would you believe me if I said that I don’t have much to say this time because the details are always too obvious to spend hours trying to figure out what the little details are? I wouldn’t be me if I wasn’t trying to figure them out, though... Anyway! Here we go, let’s talk about it!

So, Cheritz already gave away what’s happening in this picture. It isn’t much of a surprise to me because the theme this year is everyone as children. Which, that frightened me the very second we started on Yoosung’s birthday given just how many of our friends were neglected as children. They gave us one of the happier moments in Zen’s childhood, but we, the fans, know that Saeran and Saeyoung spent their childhood in shackles.

I’ve been speculating for months how they’d even handle this. Some of the hard questions I had to ask myself were: What if they have no choice but to draw the two of them apart? What if Saeyoung is in college and Saeran is in the church in this photo? What if it’s like the 2019 split screen? I didn’t think they’d go as far as to show Saeyoung in the field and Saeran in Mint Eye because they’d be older in their years and beyond what we’d consider their young childhood.

So, Cheritz choosing to show one of the only positive days from their childhood was probably for the best. I can’t tell y’all how scared I was we were going to get a photo of them sitting together in their childhood home with a smuggled piece of cake and a single candle. I mean, it’d be touching to think that Saeyoung would want Saeran to have a good birthday moment, but I don’t think anyone could’ve handled that theme.

“Secret Outings” is all you need to hear to connect the dots on this image. It’s a moment where their mother passed out and there’s a small window to get some ice cream, look at the clouds, or feel like they might just escape a living hell one of these days. I think the relief I have over this only comes from the fact that the Twitter Event will have the boys trying to find the good in the bad, and enjoying the realization that their present can be whatever they want it to be and they’re free.

I pray whatever image they’ve got cooked up on Twitter won’t kill me. If it’s the boys are kids trying to enjoy ice cream, I am going to full on cry for a week and i won’t be okay. They always add an image to the Twitter threads so there is really no telling what it’s going to be. It might be a single photo, or there might be two of them and I don’t know what’s worse. The thought of the boys together on the fleeting summer day of freedom... or them apart, celebrating as young boys who miss each other dearly.

Anyway! As you can see, my speculation is more or less taken care of. I know a few things about this photo. The boys are likely outside somewhere because the hard light that’s on Saeyoung’s head implies he is either directly in the line of the sun or he’s standing by a window where the sun is on him. It makes more sense to me that he’s outside from the harshness of the light. I can’t write off either for this situation, but there’s only so much I can dissect from the small window they gave us.

This could be inside OR outside. It’s a window but I can’t tell if they’re inside of a building or not. I would hope not, if only because the angle here seems like it’s... an outside view of a window. I don’t know for sure. I definitely can’t tell from the other half of the image. There are a lot of whites and blues in this photo... and I can tell y’all from experience over the years that anything that’s a light color isn’t going to reveal anything to you whatsoever.

It makes finding Zen and Saeran so much harder than it needs to be... literally. I’ve cried in group photos because if Zen and Saeran are there... it means I’ve got a chance of not only losing them to the background details, but I’ve got the worst chance in the world of screwing up which is which.

Speaking of that, a lot of people have been saying online, “Why is that hair so white?” Again, I’ll give you the answer to that, Saeyoung’s hair looks white due to the hard light that’s hitting him. It’s not Saeran. It’s not a photo of the boys as babies with the wrong hair color like they did with Children’s Day last year. This is just the way light theory acts out.

The Children’s Day photo was done just for the sake of keeping spoilers out and away from the front and center for fans who don’t know everything there is to be aware of at this point, and for the sake of consistency.

They don’t want to draw everyone drastically different from the way they are in the present. That’s why Yoosung, Jaehee, and Saeran don’t look like how they actually would.

Hard light brightens anything it touches. It’s called hard light for a reason, and if you work with photography or digital art, you’d have discovered this a long time ago when you were just starting out. Here’s an example of a basic hard light I’ve done on a photo of Saeyoung just to give y’all something to look at to clear up a round of confusion. You can see right off the bat that it makes him look bright to the eye. His colors are extra saturated and feel garish if you look at him for way too long.

See how his highlights become whiter? Yeah. That’s the same thing that’s going on in this photo. I hope that clears that problem up for anyone since I’ve seen it a lot since the preview was posted last night and I don’t know if anyone’s had a chance to explain how light works in photos.

So, all and all, I think what’s happening in this photo is simple. Saeran is nervous about being outside for too long and Saeyoung is trying to reassure him that the world can’t hurt them as long as they’re together. Which, in hindsight, it hurts so much to think about them having conversations like that and knowing what’s the next step in their lives while they’re none the wiser to it. Saeyoung is the brother who would do anything to see Saeran smile, and Saeran is the brother who has no choice but to cling to Saeyoung and pray for the best.

Saeyoung is wearing a black shirt or jacket. Saeran is wearing a hoodie that’s a few sizes too big for him. Whatever they have are things that Saeyoung got from a donation bin. I don’t think anyone here believes that Mother Choi would care enough to make sure they boys have something on their back. She gives them the bare minimum so she can afford to wet her lips with alcohol. As long as the two of them aren’t dead, that works for her. They don’t need anything but that in her eyes.

This is the first time we’ve seen baby Saeran drawn in something that isn’t the white button-down or the green shirt he wears in the flashback to the cathedral and the Special Believer package. It might be the first time Saeyoung has been drawn in something other than his black hoodie, too. I just don’t know if this one has sleeves? The color is too light on his arms to have sleeves!

It’s a notable detail to me because I would never imagine the boys wearing any clothes that make it easier to tell how small and malnourished they are. I know they’ve got bruises, too. Saeyoung and Saeran would definitely make a point of wearing clothes that cover everything up. They don’t want to attract attention to them. Their father could be anywhere... his men could be just around the corner. Their hair is enough of a dead-giveaway. They don’t need to make it obvious to anyone.

Anyway, I’m excited for the twin’s birthday and I can’t wait to see them. Boys, I love you so very much. You’ve been a part of my life since 2016 and I know that I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for you. That’s why I’m happy this year that the theme is everyone as children. They all survived and made it a place in this world where they had each other as family. The RFA is a found family and I am happy to be a part of it. I know we all suffered, but we have each other now in every sense of the word. They’re my family.

I survived, they survived, and I’m happy to say that you’ll get through whatever you’re going through, too. Our past is a part of us, yes, but it doesn’t control our future. That’s what I hope to see when the boys take to Twitter and recount their history. What we’ve survived may always be with us... but, our future can be the place we want it to be as long as we’re ready for it... and I think, Saeyoung and Saeran are ready to tackle the present and the future. I’d like to think we all are after seven years of being a family.

[sarah-dipitous]

Hellsite Nostalgia Tour 2023 Day 168

A Little Slice of Kevin/The Girl Who Waited

“A Little Slice of Kevin”

Plot Description: Castiel suddenly appears back on Earth with no memory of how he escaped from Purgatory. Mrs. Tran enlists a witch to concoct a demon bomb

Would I Survive the First Five Minutes??: I think so. Unless everyone at that park got pseudo-raptured

Where’s…oh, he was driving TO wherever he and Sam are kinda hiding out

This poor angel from the auction is being tortured by Crowley. Poor bby. Is he looking for other prophets??

I am in fact wondering that, Crowley.

I trust Mrs. Tran but I don’t trust this witch she’s working with

Omg Mrs Tran is so proud of herself 🫶🫶🫶

I know those are your routine questions but like….does a FIVE YEAR OLD HAVE ENEMIES???

Did you think you saw Cas again? I look away for ONE second

Omg. I love people. They think they’ve been abducted by aliens. You have rights other places, not in hell

Castiel is BACK back…sort of. He might not yet be at full power, but at least he’s topside and with the boys again

Oh. Oh there he isssssssssss, the Cas we love

If they ever actually kill Mrs Tran I’m gonna be so mad. She’s wonderful. She’s resourceful. Crowley sentenced her to die after kidnapping Kevin, and she grabbed her super soaker full of holy water and absolutely blasted that demon. I love her so much

I love how no one really says much when Dean goes into his minutes long flashbacks

I can’t take Jensen’s yelling seriously. It’s just not believable 💀 he’s so much better at angry whispering

HE’S BEEN BLAMING HIMSELF FOR NOT GETTING CAS OUT OF PURGATORY THIS WHOLE TIME BUT CAS NEVER BLAMED HIM ONCE

Mrs Tran KIDNAPPED THE DEMON LEFT TO KILL HER. She’s so wonderful

Oh. THAT’S why it’s called a little SLICE of Kevin ☹️

A farewell note from Metatron?? But we’ve yet to even meet him!!

Oh. Guess the demon bombs work

Oh. Cas IS…….using his powers recklessly despite not having all his strength back

Omg the Trans and Garth are going to be hanging out? I want THOSE episodes

He didn’t blame him…because he…stayed on his own volition. He stayed to atone for everything he’s done

Oh no. I don’t like this. I don’t like him being forcibly brought back to heaven…

No no no noooooo, I don’t like this for him. HE GOES THROUGH SO MUCH. At least with the Winchesters they kinda alternate seasons who’s gonna do something super fucked up and/or die

“The Girl Who Waited”

Plot Description: Amy is trapped in a quarantine facility for victims of an alien plague

Couldn’t he have told her WHICH button to push? Sure, but then we wouldn’t have an episode

The number of times she gets…not REALLY left behind by the Doctor but I’m sure it FEELS that way 😭and the fact that they keep pushing the not-really-even-there love triangle is silly. They haven’t done it this episode YET, but it could definitely happen

Ok but Rory DOES look good in the glasses

Oh no…oh it’s zero to one hundred in seconds flat with these robots. I get that the whole planet is under quarantine but there’s gotta be a step between “let me help you because you’re carrying unknown germs” and “I’m going to basically blow dart this medicine at you without actually knowing that you’re sick”

At first glance, at least, I would like to visit this garden Amy’s in

That was a RISKY MOVE making the robots high five, effectively deactivating them, though maybe only temporarily

“I don’t care that you got old. I care that we didn’t grow old together” 😭😭 he loves her so much

Oh….amyyyyy. I can’t imagine what it would feel like to be that touch starved for that long. Or I can only BEGIN to imagine it

She named her reprogrammed robot Roryyyyyy.

She LITERALLY disarmed it

Goddddd that CRUSHING LONELINESS she went through

This is a horrible position to put Rory in. He’s only just seen his Amy earlier today. This Amy hasn’t seen ANYONE in 36 years. If they save this Amy, the Amy we know has to wait 36 years to be rescued, but if they rescue the Amy they know, this one effectively dies…and she’s making Rory choose which version of his wife matters more to him

And SHE loves Rory sooooo much back 😭

I think the Doctor might be lying about if two Amys can exist at the same time even in something as impossible as the TARDIS.

Karen Gillan should always have a sword. Just saying

Having watched Glass Onion, the Mona Lisa could not be destroyed THAT easily

What is it with today’s episodes and one half of a ship choosing to stay behind while the other blames and chastises and guilts themself over the other person’s choice?? Both Cas and older Amy CHOSE to stay where they were and Dean and Rory beat themselves up over it

I was also right about the Doctor lying about being able to take both Amys

[moemoemammon]

MC's Chuck E Cheese Birthday Party!

(Feat. The Demon Bros and Luke)

✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦

Lucifer

Did everything in his power to try to talk you out of choosing Chuck E Cheese's as your party destination, but,,, it's what you wanted, so,,,

He'll sit in a booth and watch you like a moody parent. That is, until Mammon harasses him into joining in on the "fun".

LONG, DRAMATIC SIGH,,,,, if he has no choice, he supposes he could play a few games and give you whatever he wins. 

Satan somehow managed to convince him to play air hockey, and Lucifer surprisingly agreed. Yeah he was suspicious of his gremlin brother’s intentions, but it’d probably be fine.

What was supposed to be a friendly game between brothers has turned into an all out war. Their blinding speed turns the puck into a blur, and they’ve gathered a crowd-

Lucifer wins, but he doesn’t have a chance to celebrate because someone throws a fucking slice of pizza at the back of his head

Mammon

This isn't what HE would've chosen, but he guesses it's fine. An arcade means gambling in some way, right?

Makes a beeline for the coin drop game. He loves also loves the games that give you a 20% chance of winning a jackpot of some kind and honestly?? He's fucking GOOD... when Asmodeus isn't constantly poking his sides and making him mess up.

It takes him no time to figure out the algorithms of those games and now he's raking in all the tickets. Staff is suspicious as hell

Especially when they see a grown man walk up to the prize counter with his arms full of tickets, no children in sight.

"MC! Get over here and pick out some prizes! I won all this for yet birthday, so let me spoil ya!"

Ok thank you for the hundreds of stuffed animals and cheap plastic toys Mammon

Levi

See, Levi was excited when you suggested going to a human world arcade, but he didn't think you meant.... something like THIS. Why don’t any of the dance games have songs by Ruri-chan??? What a waste...

But it's still technically an arcade, so he might as well enjoy it since he couldn't go home. And maybe he could impress you by earning a ton of tickets! These human world arcade games are gonna be a cakewalk.

...Is what he thought, until he realized that the controls were so worn from millions of children manhandling them that he couldn’t play at all! Why couldn’t these stupid normie games cooperate?!

 But the thing that finally made him snap was when a little kid told him he sucked. 

Cue Levi abandoning all moral principles and absolutely OBLITERATING this toddler at Frogger. You think he won’t go all out against a baby?? You are wrong. 

It’s not about morals, MC. It’s a matter of his pride as a gaming master, so please stand back while he makes a human child cry.

Satan

See, Satan is all for celebrating the way you want to (and he's good at pretending like he's not bothered), but he can't really say that a pizza and sweat scented arcade full of screaming children is the best place to read a book

Regardless, it’s pretty funny watching you run around like an excited little kid, dragging everyone around to the nearest game.

Then he gets the great idea of harassing Lucifer into playing air hockey with him. “It’s MC’s birthday, so why don’t we let loose a little?”

All hell breaks loose and now they’ve attracted the attention of a crowd of amazed children, all according to plan. How humiliating would it be for Lucifer to lose in front of CHILDREN?

Thought he was slick and cursed the puck to move away from Lucifer every time he tried to hit it, but somehow he’s?? still winning???

Satan would’ve been pissed off if not for the mysterious slice of pizza that came sailing through the air and hit Lucifer in the back of the head

Asmo

The tables are sticky. Everything smells weird. Children are everywhere. Everything is so flashy and gaudy that it’s giving him a headache-

This wasn’t Asmo’s party destination of choice, but... well.. it’s fine as long as he sticks to you, right? 

Also refuses to touch anything because as familiar as he may be with sticky surfaces, this ain’t it chief.

Since he’s so bored, he decides to Mammon, constantly poking and tickling him so he’ll loose at the games he’s playing, and runs away when he’s attacked

Soon enough though, Asmo excuses himself to the bathroom, thinking no one notices how he’s dragging a staff member toward the supply closet-

Eventually comes back to tell you that he set something up, so now you can get whatever prize you’d like!

Beel

Pizza pizza pizza pizza pizza pi-

Yeah, Beel is fine with wherever you wanna go for your birthday. It's your special day after all! So when you suggest whatever the hell 'Chuck E Cheese' is, he's just happy you're happy

Also wants to know what kind of cheese they have. Asks you if Mr. Chuck himself can be eaten. Sad when you say no....

At the end of the party, you notice that the other staff members are whispering amongst themselves about the sudden disappearance of a certain rat mascot.

Beel is sweating. Why is there stuffing on your shirt collar, Beel.

Oh man oh no, Lucifer got hit with pizza! Beel thinks he should go over there and eat it for him. Sorry, gotta go-

Belphie

Belphie wasn’t a big fan of your choice for a birthday destination, mostly because there was no way he’d be able to sleep with all the music and screaming going on, but who is he to argue against your decision?

Besides, he soon realizes that the sky tunnels are the PERFECT nap spot, save for the occasional kid crawling over him.

It also gives him a bird’s eye view of everything that’s going on, including the intense air hockey battle between Lucifer and Satan.

Hey wouldn’t it be funny if he uhhh threw a slice of pizza at Lucifer’s head lmao yEET

Seeing Lucifer’s reaction is everything he needed to turn this day into an even better one. Now he can sleep peacefully <3

Falls asleep and gets left there on accident because no one can find him

Luke

Belphie is literally blocking Luke in and he can’t eSCAPe

All he did was follow a kid into the tunnels! They looked so fun that he couldn’t resist, despite his many claims that he wasn’t a child and shouldn’t be treated as such. 

But when he saw you waving at him from one of the tunnel windows, he became determined to crawl to every window he could find and wave from there, too.

Then Belphegor came along.

How can anyone sleep so soundly?? He’s been smacking, shoving, and poking the sleeping demon but nothing is working! Time to cry-

Also gets left behind because no one can hear him screaming.

[juviaafullbuster]

IN EVERY UNIVERSE

"JUVIAAAA"

He should have known. He should have seen it coming the moment he heard that blue cat call out her name. Of course nothing good would come from this. That stupid cat, exceed, whatever he is, was raised by Natsu after all.  But he didn't think much of it when he saw him flying towards Juvia, who was currently sitting with the other girls and landing in the middle of their table.

"Yes Happy?"

"Remember what I told you when we came back from Edolas?"

Happy was wiggling his tail excitedly, while trying to hold back from spilling the information immediately. After all, he lives for the drama. Juvia on the other hand was just looking at him, confusion written all over her face.

"Juvia isn't following.."

"You know, about the Juvia in Edolas and how the Gray there is obsessed with her.."

"Oh yes! Of course Juvia remembers that! The other Juvia is very lucky.."

"Yeah, and guess what? She got even luckier. Turns out they've got-"

"HAPPY!"

Gray had to stop him before he spilled too much. Why were they on the other side of the hall anyways? Juvia was always stuck to him whenever he came back from a mission. Why did she have to abandon him now of all times?

"What is it Gray? I'm busy delivering information."

"If you don't shut it that's the last information you'll ever deliver."

At that Happy visibly gulped. Gray was sure he was considering whether it was worth taking the risk. He probably still remembered the incident where Gray had declared him his enemy. Gray himself didn't remember much of what happened, just that it wasn't his proudest moment when he woke up half naked on an island surrounded by strangers. Now however, he was glad it had happened. At least that cat knew what he was dealing with and wouldn't dare to finish that sentence.

"Hey popsicle, are you threatening Happy?"

This just keeps getting better. Of course Natsu had to get involved as well. All he wanted was to enjoy being back home and spending some time with Juvia. And he wasn't doing either. Really, the last thing he needed was Natsu and his damn cat to ruin things for him.

"I don't threaten anyone unless necessary. So if you want to save him from trouble, tell your cat to back off."

"I'M AN EXCEED!"

"Like I care. Point is, shut up."

"HEY, DON'T TALK TO HAPPY LIKE THAT!"

"Stay out of it, flamebrain!"

"IF HAPPY IS INVOLVED, I'M INVOLVED."

"Whatever.."

He just needed to get to Juvia. There was no need to participate in the conversation with Natsu. Not that you could actually hold one. It would always end in a fight and if that idiot doesn't shut up soon, Gray was sure that this will be the case today as well. So he decided to be the bigger person and ignore Natsu, no matter how much he was provoked. However Natsu didn't get the message.

"What's up with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're being weird lately. Happy noticed too, right Happy?"

"Aye!"

"I'm not being weird, what the hell are you talking about?"

"I think it's because he's jealous of you!"

"WHY WOULD I BE JEALOUS OF NATSU?"

"He did tell me what happened.. is it because he has more woman than you?"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"You know, that snow woman. He had quite a lot on his side, you however just had-"

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?"

Like it wasn't bad enough that he was going to tell Juvia about their Edolas counterparts, she really didn't need to know about that whole woman in the depth of his heart thing.

"You're jealous of me?"

"Who's jealous of who?

"Gray is jealous of Natsu."

"Seriously?"

"NO!"

That's it. He's going to kill that cat. But first he'll have to deal with Natsu because he was costing him his nerves as well. So next thing he knew, they were throwing fists at each other until Erza forcefully stopped them.

"What is this about? Explain yourself before I pull out my sword."

"Grays being mean to Happy."

"That's because Happy is stupid! Probably got it from you.."

"SILENCE! Happy!"

"Yes?"

"Explain!"

"Well, Gray is being mean to me just because I wanted to tell Juvia about what we saw in Edolas. I don't see why he's so worked up over it, I mean I was just going to say that they're married."

"Who's married?"

"Gray and Juvia!"

Silence. The whole guild went silent. Well, except for Happys snickering. Gray could swear he felt his soul leave his body. He was certain he would never hear the end of it. After all, he could already feel the eyes on him.

"Gray and Juvia are married in Edolas?" It was Juvia who decided to break the awful silence. Happy nodded eagerly in response to her question.

More silence. Or as Gray would say, the calm before the storm.

"Is that true?" Juvia was looking at him with wide eyes. He knows her well enough by now to know exactly what was currently going on in her head. He could tell her imagination was going wild with wedding pictures. But she was clearly holding back from squealing, instead she kept staring at him, desperately waiting for an answer. Gray sighed.

"Yes.."

And then all hell broke loss. Mira was cornering him trying to find out as much as possible, while Cana kept adding her inappropriate comments. Elfman starting shouting something about marriage being manly, whatever that meant. By the time Gray had managed to escape from them Juvia was no longer in sight.

"Juvia?"

"She went outside, said she needed to cool down."  Lucy smirked proudly, making Gray fear her next sentence. "Good thing you're an ice wizard. Who else could cool her down?"

"Hilarious. I'm going outside."

"Of course you are."

Gray didn't bother reacting anymore. Instead he went to search for Juvia. The cold air outside hit him in the face. It wasn't until now that he realized how stuffy it was in there.

He distanced himself from the guild hall while keeping an eye out for his bluenette. He really had missed her during his mission and now that he was back, he wanted to spend as much time with her as possible. After all, he had finally acknowledged his feelings for her and after seeing their counterparts in Edolas and that vision he had been trapped in, it just made him long for her more.

Those feelings still freaked him out somehow. He wasn't aware that he was capable of feeling this much for someone. But Juvia had really broken down every single one of his walls. And he was really grateful for that. She was the one who kept pulling him back whenever he was close to the edge. She's his power to live, even though having admitted that so bluntly in front of her still got him all embarrassed. And her teasing didn't help one bit.

"Juvia!" He spotted her on a bench near the lake. She seemed lost in thought. When she heard his voice however, she immediately spun around.

"Graysama! Juvia is sorry for leaving so abruptly.."

"Don't worry about that. Are you okay?"

He sat down next to her. Usually he would leave a space between them, not wanting to give her any ideas. But things changed. And now here he was, sitting as close to her as possible, longing for her touch. Juvia smiled at him.

"Juvia is very happy that you're back."

"I'm happy to be back too. I.." He cleared his throat and looked away shyly. "I missed you."

"Juvia missed you too. Juvia was wondering whether you were doing alright, if you manged to stay dressed and whether the others bothered to pick up the clothes you discarded.." she kept talking but Gray was too focused on her beauty, wondering how he'd gotten so lucky having someone like her in his life.

"I want what they have as well." Gray had blurted out the thought before he could realize it.

"What who has?" Juvia questioned him. He could go back on his word, pretend he never said it. But what's the point? He was just making himself suffer by prolonging it. And he had promised her to be clear with his intentions once he got back, not that he got to finish that promise before he was swept back to Elentir. Point is, it was time for him to be honest.

"I want what Edolas Gray and Juvia have.."

"You want.. you want to marry Juvia!?"

"What? No!"

"No?"

This wasn't going the way he wanted it all. Gray sighed.

"One day."

"One day?"

"Yes, one day I'm going to marry you. But I think it's still a little early for that. To be fair, our counterparts in Edolas are older.."

Juvia just kept looking at him in disbelief. He couldn't blame her. It wasn't exactly his style to be so open and honest. They didn't start dating yet and he was already talking about marriage. Juvia had really impacted him..

"Listen. I want to be with you. Like Edo Gray is with Edo Juvia, like Fairy Nail Glen is with Fairy Nail Juvina.. I want Earthland Gray to be with Earthland Juvia as well."

"What's Fairy Nail? And who is Juvina?"

"That's a long story.. point is I want to be with you. I'm sorry I'm not as clear with my intentions as the other me. But that doesn't mean I want you less than he wants his Juvia.."

By this point Gray was a blushing mess. He couldn't bring himself to look at her, too afraid to see her reaction. He had literally just run her over with emotions.

"Graysama doesn't have to be sorry."

"Huh?"

"For not being as clear with his feelings. I feel in love with this version of Gray, the Earthland version. Juvia wouldn't change a thing about you."

Gray smiled at her. She was truly too perfect. How did she always know what to say? She seemed so calm and collected while he was literally trying his best not to freak out.

"And Juvia would like that very much as well. Earthland Gray and Earthland Juvia being together.." she was looking at Gray sweetly and he couldn't help the smile that took over his face.

"I promise to be the best version of myself for you."

"You already are."

They smiled at each other and Gray tucked behind the hair that had fallen into her face. He found himself leaning closer and he saw Juvia doing the same. He had just closed his eyes, just a little away from finally kissing her after thinking about it for so long, when a voice interrupted them, making them jump apart.

"Gray loves Juvia!"

"Quiet Happy!

"They are so cute together."

"About time he made a move."

How had he not seen them hiding behind that bush. He'll admit Lucy, Wendy and Charles were hidden pretty well, but Natsus pink hair and Happys blue fur were visible to everyone. And Erza hadn't even bothered hiding. He must have been too focused on the girl in front of him to notice. Said girl was now blushing furiously.

"I'm going to kick their asses.."

"Juvia thinks it's sweet that they're so supportive of you. You have a great team."

"How are they a great team? They literally interrupted a very important moment."

"Juvia knows.. but Juvia is very happy already."

"So you don't want me to kiss you?"

"Juvia didn't say that!"

He was truly enjoying teasing her. So much, he was able to ignore his friends presence. So instead of letting them ruin their moment, he leaned in and finally, after so long, kissed her. It took her a moment to react, but once she did, Gray felt like the luckiest person in the universe. He was never going to let her go.

"Juvia loves you very much."

"And I love Juvia very much."

He kissed her again, already addicted. His friends were cheering, probably happy that he finally made a move. He couldn't blame them, it took him long enough.

"All that because I told her about Edolas Gray and Juvias marriage. Imagine what she'll do when she hears about Greige.."

"Who's Greige?"

"HAPPY!"

♡♡♡

Here you have it, my contribution to Gruvia day! I hope you like it, let me know what you think :)

Also, I'm still fangirling over the drawing we got today. Maybe I'll write something about that too one day..

Anyways, happy Gruvia day! ♡

[raphael-simp]

Two Years Ago - Raph x Reader

You never liked talking much.

Never really knew why, you just didn't. Of course, you would still carry a conversation to be polite, but the answers were short and spoken barely above a whisper. There were many times where you tried to change this about yourself, but the attempt didn't last for more than five minutes before you shrunk back into yourself again.

Then how the hell were you friends with four, loud and rowdy mutant teenage boys?

You didn't even know the answer to that one.

And to be honest, the memory of how you met the four of them was still slightly hazy. Of course, Donnie told you what had happened to you, but you personally didn't believe it. Why would robot alien beings want to kidnap a random girl walking home from her night shift? It still didn't make sense to you, nearly two whole years after it happened.

You were fourteen going on fifteen when you first met the four.

You worked at the convenience store not even two blocks from your apartment building, and you had switched shifts with your co-worker Abbigail so she could attend a funeral, which meant you now had the night shift.

It wasn't that big of a deal to you; she asked, you agreed, nothing more was said on the matter.

You texted your parents to inform them of the shift change and told them not to wait up for you, which they obviously denied much to your annoyance.

The shift ended at ten o'clock, but you still needed to do till and make sure the money count on the register matched with what you'd counted. That process alone took you about half an hour, so you really didn't leave until ten thirty. You made sure you switched off all the lights and locked all the entrances before you put the store keys in your jacket pocket and began your short walk home.

It was nearing winter, so the weather was beginning to turn cold, and you weren't exactly the best at dealing with temperature drops. You stood tensed as you speed walked towards your apartment building, wanting to get out of the darkness as fast as you could. There was one building near the end of the street that you almost always completely ran past; a run down looking, white parking garage with the paint peeling and chipping everywhere. It creeped you the hell out, mostly because there were always these two guys that stood at the old entrance, their stare boring into your back as you'd run past. Every day you expected them to run after you or shoot at you, but they never did anything.

Until tonight.

When you looked you didn't see them anywhere, and although you thought it would soothe you, it just made you more anxious.

'Where are they...?' You thought to yourself, nervously glancing around, trying to find the two.

Let's just say you didn't have too look far.

A large white van came screeching around the corner, running over the curb and nearly into you before it lurched to a halt. The back doors flew open and three identical looking men filed out and made their way towards you. In fact, they looked like the men that would always watch you at the entrance to the parking garage...

You literally froze. You didn't scream, move or look away until one picked you up and threw you over his shoulder. After that, you screamed absolute bloody murder, praying you'd get the attention of someone- anyone -that could do something to help you. Thankfully, help came rather quickly, just not in the way you thought.

You fought as hard as you could to at least get the man to slightly falter his grip around you; you punched, kicked, pounded- you even bit him, but it hurt you more than him.

You flailed like a fish out of water and kept screaming, even louder if possible as you got carried closer and closer to the back of the van.

Your voice was cut off when you landed harshly on the ground, trying to use your hands to catch yourself but only hurting yourself even more. You were a shaking mess, trying so hard not to cry but suspectingly failing, bursting into tears and sitting down properly, hugging your knees tightly to your chest as you cried into them. You were absolutely terrified out of your skull.

When someone tried to touch you, you screamed again, though it came out more as a strangled cry than anything else. You'd hurt your throat badly from all of your screaming and had no doubt lost your voice because of so.

"Well we can't just leave her crying in the streets, dudes. We gotta do something!"

You heard hushed voices talking a bit in front of you, but didn't bother to look up or fight. You wouldn't do that unless they actually did something, and that was what you were waiting for.

You cried to yourself, waiting to either calm down or for whoever was in front of you to do... whatever.

But they never did anything, they were quiet for the forty five minutes you were crying and calming yourself down.

"You're gonna be okay, alright?"

You slightly looked up from your knees, and honestly at this point, four giant turtles standing in front of you didn't phase you right now.

One of them was kneeling in front of you, it was wearing a tattered red mask and looking directly at you, with electrifying green eyes.

It looked up at one of the others, but you didn't bother to follow his gaze, your eyes were too tired.

"Don, do you need t' look at 'er?"

"I don't see anything major wrong with her, I think it's just shock right now... to be safe I wanna take a look at her, if she'll let us of course."

It looked back at you, the one with the red mask, and you did your best to keep your eyes open and listen to what he had to say. You were just so tired...

"My brother wants t' take a look at 'cha t' make sure ya weren't hurt too bad durin' that whole thing, okay? You alright with that?"

You barely nodded your head and lied it on your knees, involuntarily passing out.

When you woke up after that, you started freaking out and tried to scream, but found you barely had a voice. You were achy and sore all over and you could barely remember why.

Of course, you properly freaked out when you saw the four turtle figures again, but the ones in red and purple- who were the only ones in the room with you at the time- explained everything that had happened.

Donnie had picked up radio chatter that the Kraang were going to abduct another test patient that night, and the turtles rushed to the location that was shared, and ended up there just in time to help you and destroy the Kraang bots.

You hadn't been too badly hurt; bruised arms and shins from pounding on the metal robots, scraped hands, scraped knees, and a possible emotional blackout, to explain why you didn't remember what had happened to you.

You merely nodded along, trying not to stare too much at the two creatures in front of you, who introduced themselves as Raphael and Donatello.

"(Y-Y/N)...." you stuttered out, thinking that they at least deserved to know your name, after all they've done. Your voice was barely above a whisper, so the boys had to listen carefully to hear your name.

Raph and Donnie smiled, glad to hear that you at least trusted them to that extent.

You asked what time it was, and nearly flipped shit when Donatello told you it was almost 1:30 in the morning. Your parents were going to absolutely lose their minds on you! You scrambled to stand up and nearly fell over, thankful that Raphael had caught you.

"I-I need to get h-home." You breathed out, avoiding eye contact and trying to hide your face behind your (H/C) hair, to hide the fact you were red. Why you were red-faced?

You had no clue.

"I'll take ya. There ain't no way in hell you're goin' alone after this." Raphael stated, standing you back up on your own two feet. You would've fought him on it, had you not have agreed with him. If those Kraang guys still wanted you...

you didn't want to be left alone again. So you just nodded and let him walk you out. You didn't see the other two brothers while you walked out, so you assumed they were somewhere else.

Raphael led you around the systems of the sewer and helped you out of the manhole cover, and once out you took a deep breath of fresh air and closed your eyes in an attempt to clear your thoughts.

"I know you've had a rough night doll face, but we should probably get going."

Your eyes snapped open and you felt your face go warm, and instinct brought you to hide your face with your hair and jacket sleeve. You avoided his gaze and just nodded, speed walking to the sidewalk until you realized:

You had no idea where you were.

"Wh-where are we...?" You wheezed out, slightly turning to face Raphael.

"Just a couple blocks from where we found ya. We gotta take the roofs though... can't really walk out in th' street lookin' like I do."

You nearly asked why until it hit you like a brick. Again, you just nodded and climbed up the fire escape after him. You took notice how some of the roofs were pretty far apart, and hoped to God he didn't expect you to jump over them. Thankfully he didn't, and tried to stick to a route that involved just taking a step across. But for those that involved jumping, he just lifted you onto his shell and jumped across before setting you back down again.

Each time he did so he'd ask if you were okay, and you nodded in response hiding your face. And each time, he'd smile and mutter a small "cute," under his breath, which he didn't know you heard.

Once he brought you to where he and his brothers had found you, he told you to lead the way to your apartment, and you pointed him in the right direction. "So," he started, "Kinda wish we coulda met under better circumstances, (Y/N)."

You nodded in response, keeping your gaze down and stepping over a wooden plank. How the hell'd that get there?

"...You're shy, aren't cha?" Raphael asked, and again you nodded. Not only that, it hurt to talk, but he assumed correctly. He chuckled and lightly nudged your shoulder with his.

"Ya don't gotta be 'round me, I don't bite... much."

You looked up at him with both confusion and shock written all over your face, and it just made him laugh.

"Relax (Y/N), I'm kidding... just a little though."

You rolled your eyes, and yet you couldn't help the small smile that danced across your face.

The both of you walked Ina comfortable silence until you saw your apartment building across the street and elbowed Raphael's arm, pointing to it.

"This is my stop." You whispered, not daring to bring your voice above that. He nodded and hoisted you onto his shell, having to go around the roof tops to avoid going down to the streets. He set you down on your apartment roof, once again asking if you were okay.

"I'm fine, Raphael." You responded, pushing your hair behind your ear. He smiled at you and slightly tilted his head.

"Call me Raph, doll face."

You bit the inside of your lip and looked down, nodding your head. You didn't want him to see your warm and red face, it was extremely embarrassing for you.

"Hey," Raph's voice made you slightly look up, since he wanted your attention. He handed you a folded piece of paper with a number scribbled on it- wait, was this his phone number? Was a guy giving you his phone number? To your face?

"You don't gotta, but if ya don't wanna walk home alone again I'm available if ya need it."

You completely lifted your head to look Raph directly in the face, and he took pride in one thing; making you smile like that. You have him a single nod and held the paper with both hands.

"Trust me, I will.. Raph."

Now it was his turn to smile.

The two of you just stood on the roof for a couple minutes, staring and smiling at each other before something on his belt beeped. He jumped a bit in surprise and glanced at it.

"That's my brothers- I gotta go. You'll be okay?" He asked, taking a small step back.

You nodded, putting the paper in your pocket. "I'm home now. Go."

His smile grew and he backed up towards the edge of the roof.

"Try not t' get into trouble doll face! Just save a little to give me an excuse t' save ya again!" He shouted, just before jumping to the roof next to yours and taking off, eventually disappearing.

"I think I like that. Doll face..." you thought to yourself, still smiling like an idiot. You stood on your roof for God knows how long more before you came to your senses and carefully climbed down your fire escape and slid through your window.

.

"Was that really two years ago...?" You thought to yourself, flipping a pen between your fingers.

Yup. It was.

Two years ago these four boys saved your life, and two years ago you met the boy that kinda saved you, in a way.

It took him time, but he got you to slowly expand your comfort zone. You didn't stutter every time you spoke anymore, and you didn't respond with simple gestures anymore and used actual words that really carried a conversation. And at the same time, you helped him.

You kinda found out about his anger the hard way, having him lash out at you when he was beyond pissed off, and though it did hurt, you didn't blame him. In fact, you made it your goal to try and help him with it.

He'd expressed to you before how he'd never liked his short temper, and so you helped him. You showed him ways that he could release stress and repressed emotions, like actually using his drum kit and playing when he got pissed, or just sitting with you and either talking, or just sitting in silence.

Coming up in December would actually be a year since Raph had asked you out, too.

It didn't really come as a surprise to most, since the both of you were pretty open about affection with each other even before you two decided to make it official, just because.

The two of you would always sit close together, hold each other's hand, cuddle each other and he'd even kiss your cheek every now and again. Every movie night, you bet that the two of you would sit or lie with each other, and Raph would play with your hair or lightly trace an invisible pattern on your arm.

All in all, it wasn't really a surprise to Raph's brothers, April or Casey when he'd asked you out. The only person it surprised was you, but even then you'd accepted in a heartbeat.

And to this day, he still calls you doll face.

Two years later, the boy's nearly eighteen and you the same, you've found a new family.

And a new love.

"(Y/N), doll face, cmon we're headin' out with or without ya!" You rolled your eyes and smiled, shoving the pen in your jean pocket and getting up, grabbing your jacket.

"Yeah yeah, I'm coming Raph!" You called, walking out of his room and slipping your arms through your jacket sleeves as you jogged out to the entrance to meet the boys.

About a year ago, after you'd actually learned how to properly, they let you join along on some of their patrols. Raph made you carry a small dagger though. Just in case you got separated and something happened to you.

Speak of the devil, he heard you coming up behind him and turned around smiling. He extended his arm to you, waiting for you to end up at his side before putting his arm around your waist and pulling you close to his side, kissing the top of your head.

"All ready and fashionably late, doll face?"

You scoffed and rolled your eyes, shoving him while failing to hide a smile of your own.

"Shaddup Raph, I was doing important things." You said, zipping your jacket up.

He just chuckled and raised his arms in mock defence.

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry baby." He said, lightly pressing his lips to the side of your head and cheek in chaste kisses. You turned your head at the last second to catch his lips in a quick kiss. While he smiled and put an arm around your shoulders, Mikey mock gaged.

"Yup, think I'm gonna hurl-" he said, making a queasy face. Raph reached out with his free hand and punched his baby brother in the shoulder.

"Oh shut it Mike, not like ya don't see it regularly." Mikey hit Raph's arm back, which quickly escalated into an arm punching war. You tried not to laugh too much, looking over to Leo and Donnie, who were trying to do the same thing.

"Alright alright alright guys, that's enough!" Leo called, laughing a bit to himself.

"We gotta get going before it gets too late, we gotta take (Y/N) home by midnight. Let's move out!"

With those words, the five of you took off running towards your normal exit to the top world.

//////

gUIS IM IN ABSOLUTE L O V E WITH THIS ONE SHOT I LOVED WRITING IT SO GOD DAMNED MUCH AAAAAHHHHHHHH

PS THIS WAS WRITTEN AT LIKE 11 pm - 2:30 am SOOOOOOOOO

[nightingaelic]

Companions react to a Courier with the Eye for Eye perk just walking around with half their limbs broken because the pain is literally making them stronger.

TW: Blood, gore

The courier was nowhere to be found when their companion awoke beneath the soft firelight of the Dead Horses' torches and the bright eyes of the man who led them.

"I believe they've left us for the evening," the Burned Man said in his usual aloof tone, even as he reclined behind his workbench in Angel Cave. "I've never walked the path of a courier, but I imagine it transfers a certain restlessness to an individual. Staying in one place loses some of its charm. Your particular courier, however, lets that instinct drive them to the point of being foolhardy."

As if to prove Joshua Graham's speculation correct, the courier staggered into the cave, their clothes torn and bloodied. Despite sporting an obvious limp, an arm curled protectively against their chest and deep claw marks all over their face, they were shouldering a yao guai's severed head alongside their full traveling pack and wearing a wild smile.

Arcade Gannon: "God dammit." Arcade disentangled himself from his bed roll and rushed to the courier's side, ignoring Graham's obvious disapproval at his taking the Lord's name in vain. "I told you not to run off into the canyon without packing extra stimpaks. Here, let me-"

The courier stopped his fumbling hands with both of theirs. Arcade looked down in shock at the broken arm that was firmly grasping his fingers, then up into their frenzied eyes. "Six, you need-"

"I don't." The courier spat some blood out onto the dirt floor of the cave. "I don't. The Sorrows... White Bird..."

Arcade mentally cursed the tribe up the river, then just as quickly withdrew the malevolent thoughts. It wasn't their fault the courier went looking for injuries. "Datura root? Okay, sit down, over there. Take a load off."

The courier limped over to the chair Joshua Graham was offering. They sank into it with a sigh and let the yao guai head fall to the floor, where it began to bleed onto their boots. "Thanks," they said. "I should-"

Arcade stuck them in the arm with the stimpak he kept concealed for these occasions, and they screeched, loud enough to cause even the Malpais Legate to jump. "Fucking hell, Arcade! Not again!"

Craig Boone: Boone jumped to his feet. "I can't be your spotter if you keep leaving me behind, Six. Tell me you haven't been using that junk again."

In answer, the courier pulled an empty Sunset Sarsaparilla bottle rigged with a hose and tin foil from inside their pack and tossed it aside. "Last dose, I swear. Not that it helped much in close quarters."

They lifted the yao guai head high over their own, striking a victorious pose. "Shouldn't bother the Dead Horses or the Sorrows again, unless there really is a ghost out there."

Boone and Graham stared at the courier, particularly at their bent arm. "You require medical attention," Graham pointed out. "Shall I fetch the shaman?"

"No thank you." The courier made a face and heaved the animal's head across the room. It flew through the air in a nice arc, bounced twice, then rolled to a stop at the Burned Man's feet.

"Six..." Boone said testily.

The courier groaned, familiar with the serious tone. "Fine. But I've had worse scrapes, and you know it."

Lily Bowen: "Pumpkin!" Lily shrieked and rushed to the courier's side. Her hands flew up and around them, but every time she attempted to touch them she recoiled out of fear of causing pain. "Pumpkin, you need to see a doctor."

"We've been over this, Lily," the courier replied, attempting to skirt around the nightkin that blocked their way. "It hurts, but I work through it, and I always come out on top of whatever caused it."

"Sweetness, you're bleeding." Lily finally located a portion of the courier that wasn't in danger of extra bruising and took hold of them, sweeping them up into a gentle fireman's carry. "We'll go visit that nice Waking Cloud lady and get you fixed up."

"Lily, put me down!" The courier squirmed atop the super mutant. To the surprise of everyone involved, they managed to unbalance her enough to send both of them tumbling to the cave floor.

Joshua Graham looked down at the courier, who was wrestling for control of their leg in order to escape Lily's grasp. "God protect you," he said, but it wasn't clear who he was speaking to.

Raul Alfonso Tejada: "Mij@." Raul approached the courier carefully, trying to locate all of their new bumps and scrapes. He was more than familiar with their latest attempts to prove their own strength, but it pained him to see them like this. Still, he knew better than to try to force medicine into them, now. "Estoy aquí para ti. Can I help?"

They tensed for a moment, as he'd expected, but a few more soothing words sent their shoulders back down. "Sí. I'm... I'm tired."

Ignoring the Burned Man's protests, Raul claimed the room's chair and carried it over to them. They eased into it, wincing slightly but still clinging to their belongings. Raul convinced them to hand their weapons, pack and bear head over one by one, all the while assuring them that he meant no harm, no offense, no judgment.

"You can't keep doing this, Six," he said, when they finally let him inspect their broken arm. He could see the bone under the skin, out of place in an obvious way that would've had him laid up in bed for weeks.

"I can handle-"

"I know you can." Raul fixed them in his gaze. "I can't."

They smiled sadly. "Lo siento. I'll try to be more careful."

Rose of Sharon Cassidy: Cass rolled her eyes. "Figures. Waited until I was asleep, then you ran off to have all the fun on your lonesome. Let's get you cleaned up, Six."

She lunged for the courier, but despite their precarious state they managed to dodge her. "Uh-uh. I'm invincible. You're gonna ruin it."

"Invincible?" Cass dashed to block their escape. "Sure, you can probably still kick my ass, but you sure as hell can't outrun me."

"Might the pair of you take this little game outside," Graham grumbled from his seat.

"Shut it, Burnt Man," Cass shot back.

The courier couldn't help but giggle at that. "Burned. Burned Man."

"Oh, you're gonna give me grammar lessons?" Cass lunged again and managed to seize a handful of the courier's tattered coat. "Give them to me up close. I dare you."

In response, the courier grabbed Cass' arm with their broken one and easily flung her around them in a circle, until she went somersaulting away onto the ground. "There's lesson one."

Cass sat up and jammed her hat back on her head. "Fine. Damn."

Veronica Santangelo: "How are you walking?!?" Veronica stared, open-mouthed, at the bloody figure in the cave entrance.

The courier shrugged, then winced at their own movement. "Does it matter? I'm alive."

"Yeah, but life won't be much of a comfort if you don't get some of those fractures set right." Veronica rose from her bed roll and approached them carefully. Her eyes flickered from wound to wound, and she tutted as she drew back the loose pieces of fabric that the yao guai had ripped to shreds. "Get over here and make yourself useful, Graham. Six, you probably shouldn't be awake when I start putting you back together."

They withdrew their limp arm from her grasp firmly. "Leave it be. It gave me the energy I needed to finish the thing off."

"Adrenaline will do that," Veronica agreed. "But its shelf life is short. Pretty soon you're going to be wishing that bear took your head off. Graham, I meant what I said, go find me some boiled water and bandages or I'll personally deliver your location to Caesar myself."

"Caesar is well aware of my current whereabouts," Graham replied evenly. "You would do well to listen to the Scribe, courier."

"Both of you?" The courier deflated. "Fine. Just get me a drink before you start moving bones around."

ED-E: The eyebot beeped in an alarmed manner as the courier swayed on their feet. It swiveled its dome between the injured friend and the bandaged man, who caught the movement and shook his head. "While you were updating your programming, your master was testing the limits of their own abilities, robot. It is not my place to interfere."

ED-E made a flat blaaaaat sound at him that sounded scornful, and floated over to the courier's side. The courier laughed. "Don't worry about me, little guy. It takes more than one yao guai to ruin my day."

Rex: The scent of the yao guai's and the courier's blood filled Rex's nostrils, and he rose from his sleeping hollow with a whine, unsure. When the courier beckoned him, he trotted over and began licking their visible wounds, sparing a growl here and there for the yao guai head that hung on their back.

Graham regarded the cyberdog with something akin to affection. "He senses your pain, courier. You would do well to set him at ease."

"He's seen me closer to death than this," they replied, scratching the dog behind the ears with their good arm. "And if the White Legs hear about the courier who walks through broken bones, maybe they'll think twice about attacking the people I'm friends with."

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 311: Hand Gun

Previously on BnHA: Horikoshi was all “thinkin’ about dropping in some woke analogies of the very real and very presently relevant issue of racial profiling idk what do you guys think” and then shrugged and did it without waiting for an answer, and ngl it was a bit sudden, but I’m here for it. All Might was all “DEKU YOU NEED TO EAT” and Deku was all “OKAY” and took his hero bento and went to go stand dramatically on a tower in the rain whilst having some highly anticipated Vestige flashbacks. OFA II was all, “sup, I guess I’m not Kacchan... OR AM I,” and ngl I think he is?? Alternate universes anybody?? Hello??? But anyway, so OFA the First a.k.a. Yoichi was all “remember that time you guys rescued me from my evil brother and Two took my hand and we Had A Moment?”, and Two and Three were all “ahh yeah good times”, and it was very nice and very, very gay. The chapter ended with it being very unclear if Two and Three have actually lent their power to Deku yet or not lmao. Y’all need to get your shit together dudes.

Today on BnHA: Horikoshi is all “what if I gave a random bad guy a fucking tommy gun that shoots nails” and jesus christ calm down son. The Hawksquad, a.k.a. SQUAWK as per @hotchocolatier​, are all “time to drive aimlessly around town acting like Deku has a restraining order on us because that’s literally the best plan to combat the League we could come up with,” and I have no further comment. Hawks is all “idk about you guys but I want to know more about AFO and Tomura’s whole deal” and I can’t remember the last time I identified so strongly with one of these characters. All Might is all, “[EXPLODES???]”, and the chapter ends with that mysterious hot girl from the Tartarus breakout being all “HELLO I CAN TURN INTO A GUN AND I LITERALLY DON’T GIVE A FUCK” and (1) WOW, and (2) IT’S TRUE, SHE CAN, AND SHE REALLY DOESN’T. GODDAMN.

(ETA: so this wholly escaped my notice on the first go, and also has nothing to do with the chapter itself, but I only just realized that this chapter was scanlated by a new group, TCB Scans. they actually did a very good job, and I’m curious if they’ve found a new RAW provider, because the quality this week is actually crazy good in comparison to what we’ve been dealing with for the past few months. I’m gonna have to get caught up on what exactly happened here lol.)

so what will it be this week? more Vestige antics? more of Sad Nomad Deku standing on buildings and pretending like he’s some cool aloof antihero, as if he could fool us when we all know his hero backpack is secretly stuffed full with his nerd diaries and the remnants of all the hero bentos that All Might keeps giving him?? or, just putting it out there, just a crazy thought, but you don’t suppose we might actually cut back to U.A.? mmm. side-eyes emoji

maaaaaan I’m starting to get tired of this trend of beginning chapters by dropping in on random power-tripping civilians and/or Shindou lol. just once can we get a chapter that opens with someone I actually give a fuck about

oh at least Endeavor is here

A WHAT SUPPORT ITEM!??! HOLY SHIT DDLKJSLFKJL

lol somehow that’s more terrifying than bullets for me?? like I’m fully aware that bullets will fuck you up way worse and that in real life nail guns probably don’t work like this AT ALL and only have a range of like... hold up let me just google... up to 100 to 150 m/s and distances of up to 500m wait WHAT

okay wait. hold up. like I was expecting google to tell me nail guns only shoot a few feet at most, and instead the first search result is some CDC blog article that’s ��dispelling” the “””myth””” -- please note my repeated sarcastic quotation marks -- that nail guns can fire 1400 feet per second, by explaining that actually they can fire anywhere from 315 ft/sec to 1,295 ft/sec, and that “it is in the pneumatic nail gun user’s best interest to handle these tools as if they were a firearm despite having a lower velocity” dlkjdslkjflkl

SO THAT SCENE IN IRON MAN 3 WHERE TONY RAIDS A HOME DEPOT AND BUYS A BUNCH OF RANDOM TOOLS AND SHIT AND GOES ON TO STAGE A ONE-MAN INVASION OF AN INTERNATIONAL TERRORIST’S FLORIDA MANSION HQ IS ACTUALLY TRUE. YOU’RE TELLING ME THAT THE FILM “HOME ALONE” IS ACTUALLY A DOCUMENTARY. “the Discovery Channel television program “Mythbusters” compared the penetration capacity of an airborne projectile shot from a pneumatic framing nail gun to that of a 9mm hand gun” HELLO YES AND A MERRY “WHAT THE FUCK” TO YOU AS WELL

anyway, so. there’s apparently a reason why the Number One hero, who can burn people with the intensity of a sun going supernova, is hiding here behind this concrete support column making frowny faces. nope. nuh uh. he ain’t about that. I don’t blame you buddy

so now he’s barrel rolling out of his hiding place and setting this dude THE FUCK ON FIRE because HELL NO. BAD ENOUGH I HAD TO WATCH THAT FUCKING MUSHROOM EPISODE LAST WEEK! YOU TAKE THAT SHIT SOMEWHERE ELSE

LOL look at his face

I know the context is actually him being all “I know I’m responsible for basically everything that happened and so that’s why I’m so grim and serious about this mission to set things right piece by piece,” but in my mind this pissed-off face is 100% all because this dude tried to shoot his eye out with a nail gun. look at that. you made him go full flame face again. beard and all. protecting his face so that it can hopefully melt any stray nails that get too close. nope nope nope

good lord. so what’s up next. let me guess the guy fighting Best Jeanist has like an atomic chainsaw or some shit

lol nope we’re just cutting back to Hawks and Jeanist chilling in the Jesla after they’ve wrapped things up

Jeanist has got some serious Groot energy you guys jesus christ he’s like 12 feet tall

oh snap someone threw a pipe at him now

today is just the chapter of Endeavor being assaulted by random DIY tools I guess

I mean, I get why they’re pissed at him obviously; I would be too lol. but tbh I also don’t really understand the “get out of here we don’t want your help” attitude that all of these people suddenly seem to have?? like it if were me, I would be fucking DEMANDING for him and the other heroes to be working round the clock to fix their stupid mess. I mean who else is gonna do it?? it’s their mess, I sure don’t want to be the one to clean it up instead. anyways but whatever lol

oh shit?

so they haven’t dropped the whole “OFA secret potentially gets revealed to the world” thing yet after all. that makes sense I suppose, it did seem like that whole thing wound up playing out a bit too easily

anyway so yeah

the locals are definitely none too happy. well at least Dabi’s got something to be cheerful about I guess

so now we’re cutting to the interior of the Jesla and they’re chitchatting about the current investigation

oh wow this actually makes a bit of sense now. so there was a reason they were keeping their distance from Deku

please note that even in this abstract Endeavor’s-Mental-Image-Of-Him panel, Deku’s eyes still don’t have the light in them anymore :( my poor son

also ftr I still think using Deku as bait in this particular sense is the shittiest idea ever ngl. like sure, let’s let the sixteen-year-old run around battling miscellaneous escaped prison convicts while we stay several kilometers away ON PURPOSE despite the fact that you’re using him as bait to draw out the Big Bad, who just a reminder can destroy anything with a mere touch and who you were all basically helpless against. what exactly are you all planning to do if Tomura or one of the other League VIPs actually shows up to retrieve him?? are you even keeping tabs on him at all in real time?? jesus

(ETA: well that escalated quickly lol.)

Horikoshi is all of a sudden dropping whole pages of exposition here and I can’t be bothered to summarize this lol so just,

a big fat YES to what Jeanist said, though. that’s why imo they would have been better off laying a trap at U.A. rather than just wandering around out in the open. I assume they’re trying to cut their potential losses because U.A. is full of students (and civilians), but those students also happen to be more capable than pretty much anyone else in the manga at this point. and tbh they’re already in life-threatening danger regardless of how things play out from here on, so they might as well at least try to use the few advantages they have right now. U.A. is almost certainly going to come under siege at some point anyway, so they might as well prepare for it

lol I don’t think I’m explaining this very well because I don’t have the patience right now to break it down point by point like it really ought to be, so for now I’ll just say that imo “U.A. siege” stands a good chance of being the eventual endgame even now, and so this whole “Deku runs around being bait” arc is really just killing time until then lol. like and subscribe for more rambling nonsensical takes such as this. maybe next time I’ll even put it all into one single sentence for maximum meandering senior citizen rant value

well it’s nice that they’re finally talking about all of this I guess

we readers have known all of this for months now but this confirms the heroes are finally caught up. ALSO, Hawks is so fucking smart, as always. kinda wonder if things would have played out differently if All Might had let him in on the secret a bit earlier. probably that’s why Horikoshi made damn sure they didn’t find out until after the War arc lol

OH MY GOD YOOOOOO HAWKS OUT HERE ASKING THE REAL QUESTIONS

“anyone else wondering why AFO bothered to raise Tomura as his fake heir for fifteen years when he was secretly planning on taking over his body the whole time” YES, [raises hand] lmao Hawks where the hell were you when I was debating this “AFO is the final villain and Tomura is just his pawn” thing on multiple occasions over the past several years lol

lmao seeing them debate the metaphysics of OFA and all of its mystical bullshit is seriously surreal you guys

JEANIST HAVE YOU CHECKED OUT MY META TAG I HAVE WRITTEN SO MANY ESSAYS. I ACTUALLY WAS PLANNING ON WRITING ANOTHER ESSAY ABOUT THE THING THAT I’M PRETTY SURE HAWKS IS ABOUT TO BRING UP, BUT I NEVER GOT AROUND TO IT WHOOPS, BUT MAYBE I WILL NOW LOL LET’S SEE HOW IT GOES

yes!!

WHICH AFO FUCKING ENSURED HE WOULD BE BY LITERALLY PLANNING OUT EVERY LAST DETAIL OF HIS FAMILY TRAGEDY, FROM SECRETLY GIVING TENKO THE QUIRK TO MAKING SURE NO CIVILIANS OR HEROES WOULD HELP HIM UNTIL AFO FINALLY STEPPED IN. I’M 1000% CONVINCED THIS IS THE CASE YOU GUYS. NOT JUST BECAUSE I’M NOT A FAN OF “THE WORLD IS A FUNDAMENTALLY SHITTY PLACE, ACTUALLY” TAKES BECAUSE MISTER ROGERS TOLD ME TO ALWAYS LOOK FOR THE HELPERS, BUT ALSO BECAUSE IT LITERALLY JUST DOESN’T MAKE A LICK OF SENSE OTHERWISE. THEIR ENTIRE HOUSE CAVED IN FFS, YOU’RE TELLING ME NONE OF THE NEIGHBORS FUCKING OVERHEARD THAT SHIT AND WENT “UMMMMMMMMM” AND WENT TO SEE WHAT WAS GOING ON?? “DIDN’T THERE USED TO BE A HOUSE HERE, AND LIKE A WHOLE FAMILY, AND SHIT?”

LIKE I’M SORRY, BUT IT’S ONE THING TO SAY IT’S REALISTIC THAT NOT A SINGLE PERSON WOULD ATTEMPT TO HELP THE WANDERING TRAUMATIZED CHILD AFTERWARDS (WHICH I DISAGREE WITH AS WELL BUT AT LEAST THAT’S MORE SUBJECTIVE), AND IT’S A WHOLE OTHER THING TO ARGUE THAT IT’S REALISTIC THAT NO ONE WOULD BE FUCKING NOSY. LIKE THAT’S A WHOLE DIFFERENT LEVEL OF “THAT’S NOT HOW ANY OF THIS WORKS” ENTIRELY LOL. anyway tl;dr AFO is a piece of shit and Tomura’s entire worldview is based on a magnificently intricate and savagely cruel lie more at 11

anyway so after all that ranting it looks like that wasn’t even what Hawks was talking about after all lol. I just went off for absolutely no reason lol oh well. instead it seems that Hawks is suggesting that Tomura’s carefully cultivated hatred might not yet have actually reached “can defeat OFA” levels even after all of that trauma. interesting!

don’t mind me, I’m just sitting here while my brain furiously scrambles to put together all the parallels between Hawks and Tomura that it never noticed before until exactly this second. like I’m not even sure that was the intent here at all (I need to check out another translation or two lol), but regardless my mind decided that now would be the perfect time to make the connection between these two twenty-somethings who both had horrific childhoods and spent years being molded by their respective manipulative guardians, and developed eerily similar “laugh at everything because what else can you do” coping mechanisms to deal with it all hmmmmm

anyway so they were talking more about their strategy, but now all of a sudden Jeanist’s phone is beeping??

AND NOW WE’RE CUTTING AWAY TO ALL MIGHT AND HIS MIGHTMOBILE DAMMIT so that means the call to Jeanist was actually something important then!! WAS IT BAKUGOU OMG. DOES YOUR INTERN WANT A WORD FFFKLFSJK please it’s been so long I just need a little crumb or two to tide me over lmao have mercy

anyway so All Might’s following the GPS tracking device he’s apparently got planted on Deku (which in my conspiracy headcanons he’s actually had for a long time now, like since before DvK2 lol because HOW ELSE WOULD HAVE HAVE KNOWN THAT THEY WERE FIGHTING EACH OTHER IN GROUND BETA, PEOPLE) and thinking angsty thoughts about Deku’s sucky life

AND NOW ALL MIGHT’S PHONE IS RINGING TOO?? BAKUGOU HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE YOU CALLING. “WHERE ARE YOU HIDING THE NERD GODDAMMIT”

OMG

lol is he under attack or is he just finally giving All Might the slip like we all know he SECRETLY PLANNED TO ALL ALONG oh my poor dumb angstmuffin

OMG AHHHHHHH WHAT

DID ALL MIGHT JUST FUCKING DIE LMAO NO OF COURSE NOT, BUT WHAT

WHAT IS HAPPENING OMG

THE FUCK IS THAT. AT LEAST IT’S NOT A NAIL

OH IT’S A SPEAKER!! OMG DID THEY TAKE ALL MIGHT HOSTAGE

“THEY’RE HERE” WELP, TIME TO SEE JUST HOW SHITTY THIS SHITTY PLAN REALLY IS LOL

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

SHE!!!!

omg. AND OVERHAUL JUST CHILLING THERE IN THE BACKGROUND ALL “WHAT DO YOU EVEN WANT ME TO DO I’VE GOT NO FUCKING ARMS” YEAH GOOD RIDDANCE LOL

DOES THIS GIRL HAVE ONE GIANT LEG OR WHAT, LIKE WHAT’S THE DEAL HERE

-- HOLD UP WAIT, THE GUN IS HER ARM, HOLY SHIT SHE CAN TURN INTO A GUN -- OKAY HOLD UP BECAUSE I NEED TO SAY THAT IN BIGGER TEXT BECAUSE !!!!

YOU GUYS, THE COOL TARTARUS GIRL IS BACK AND HER QUIRK IS “CAN TURN INTO A FUCKING GUN.” THIS IS NOT A DRILL!! MY BEST GIRL MT. GUN IS FINALLY BACK ON THE SCENE WITH HER QUIRK “CAN DO ANYTHING A GUN CAN DO.” “I HEARD Y’ALL WENT AND NAMED ONE OF YOUR HEROES ‘GUNHEAD’ EVEN THOUGH HIS HEAD ISN’T EVEN A GUN, LIKE WTF IS UP WITH THAT LET ME SHOW YOU HOW IT’S DONE” DANG OKAY

lmao only fifteen pages this week, and STILL NO KACCHAN (THEN WHO WAS PHONE!!!), but man I don’t even care because finally we’ve got a cliffhanger that’s actually deserving of being a cliffhanger! hot dog. okay then

[lux-i-fer]

On Why Dan Could Have Replaced Rory's Character:

Someone tell me why we had to get Angsty Emo Teen Upset at Her Father For Something He Hasn't Done Yet instead of a genuine discussion between Dan and Lucifer about the real reason behind Lucifer refusing to bring him to Earth to exist as a ghost. Like you're kidding right? Lucifer explaining to Dan that having to watch your loved ones suffer without being able to comfort them not being something that he wants for his friend to experience is ten times more powerful than listening to Lucifer profess his undying love for a random time traveling daughter who absolutely despises him.

If the showrunners really wanted to show that Lucifer was finding his calling why not do it with Dan? Dan has been the butt of Lucifer's jokes for so long and it's only been recently that they've become friends, especially with Dan's betrayal in s5. Lucifer showing genuine sympathy for Dan's situation and sitting down with him to explain how torturous it will be to exist on Earth as a ghost would be a much more realistic approach to the Lucifer discovering that he doesn't want to become God storyline.

Lucifer opening up to Dan and using his past experiences with immortality (ie. watching people you love grow old/move on and not be able to do anything about it) would have been such a touching scene.

Instead of hiding the truth about escaping Hell from Dan, Lucifer should have sat him down and gave him the option to choose. For the sake of maintaining plot consistency, Dan would have still chosen to go to Earth as a ghost. Then, when he does become a ghost, Dan quickly realizes that Lucifer was right. He demands that Lucifer fix this situation, but Lucifer insists that he can't change Dan's situation since he has yet to assume the celestial throne. However, he tells Dan, in order to maintain the balance of the universe, he wouldn't be allowed to save Dan, even if he was God. This discussion would set up the dominos for Dan to start looking for ways to ascend to Heaven and allow Lucifer to double down on his doubts about becoming God.

That simple plot fix would eliminate the need for Rory and spare us a confusing new character introduction in the last season. Not to mention that it would change literally nothing about the rest of the "Lucifer becomes the Hell Therapist" arc.

I feel like it would have given so much more purpose to Dan's ghost arc and would have given Lucifer a jumping off point to start reexamining why he wants to be God.

Tldr: Rory is a pointless character. The writers should have just used the characters that they'd already spent six seasons developing instead of jamming someone's oc in at the eleventh hour.

[drarrily-we-row-along]

Day 41: Embrace

"Potter," Malfoy greeted with a nod, walking past him as though Harry wasn't the host of the baby shower and going straight over to Hermione. Harry watched as he greeted her with a warm embrace and a kiss on the cheek before taking a step back and putting his hands on her swollen belly. "I still think that you should name her after a constellation."

"We don't even know that it's a her," Hermione laughed.

Ron wandered over and Malfoy rested his hand on his shoulder for a moment as he said, "It's a her. I have a sixth sense about this sort of thing," he added with a wink.

"We're still not naming her after a constellation," Ron said. "How pretentious do you think we-"

Luna coming through the door interrupted him watching Malfoy cozying up to his two best friends. "Oh, hello, Harry," she said, before tilting her head in that peculiar way of hers, "I see you're being plagued by the jimmiricks."

"Sorry, the what?" he asked politely.

"Jimmiricks," she repeated, "They've pronounced all of those feelings of longing and rejection," he said, patting his arm conciliatorily and flouncing away before giving him a chance to respond.

"I haven't got feelings of longing and rejection!" he called after her, ignoring the weird look that one of the women who worked in the justice department with Hermione sent his way.

It was a lie. He knew it and Luna probably did, too, thanks to whatever wacky little creature she could see. He'd be way more inclined to believe that she was nuts if she wasn't always right.

He turned, his eyes immediately seeking out that shock of blond hair, frowning as he watched as Malfoy laughed at something Ginny said, resting his hand lightly on her forearm. Luna slipped up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist and he smiled, clasping his hand over her arms and looking over his shoulder at her.

And it wasn't that Harry felt like Malfoy rejected him outright, it was just that he was the only person Malfoy wouldn't touch.

(Read more below the cut)

They'd all been friends for five years and the most willing contact that Harry had ever received was a stiff handshake toward the beginning when Malfoy and Ron had become auror partners and then friends.

He hadn't really noticed at first but Harry had watched him, as he was wont to do, and the fact of the matter was that Malfoy was always touching someone but that someone was never Harry.

"Thanks so much for this, Harry," Hermione said, distracting him from his increasingly circular thoughts.

"Of course!" he replied, shoving his thoughts back into the dark corner they'd emerged from. "I'm happy to," he added. "Ready to start the shower games?"

-------

Shower games went as well as shower games can go, really, until they got to the diaper derby.

"So, let's partner up," Harry called, "Then when I say go, one partner uses the roll of toilet paper to make a diaper on the other. Ron and Hermione are obviously the judges." He waved his arms, "go find a partner."

It took a few minutes but eventually it became clear that there was an odd number of people. Malfoy was left standing somewhat awkwardly without a partner.

"Errm," Harry said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Do you want to, um, you know?"

Malfoy smirked at him, "I would like to um, you know."

"Shut up," Harry replied without any heat, feeling embarrassed and awkward and why had he thought this game was a good idea? "Umm," he said, "you have two minutes, begin."

"Right," Malfoy said when Harry turned to face him, "I have a better fashion sense than you, so you are wearing the diaper."

Before Harry could protest, Malfoy was holding the roll of toilet paper to Harry's waist and Harry froze.

Malfoy was touching him. Willingly. And sure, it was for the purpose of a game, but still, he could have just insisted on sitting out.

"Relax," Malfoy huffed, "I won't bite."

"Right," Harry said, not relaxing one bit. Malfoy was touching him rather intimately, all things considered, it was better to keep himself still and focused lest he embarrass himself any further.

"Right," Malfoy repeated, sounding resigned and disappointed, and Harry didn't quite know what to do with that.

The two minutes seemed to somehow last for an eternity and end in the blink of an eye. Harry could scarcely pay attention to the judging. They didn't win but they didn't lose either, and as Harry was about to turn and congratulate Malfoy, Luna floated over to them and said, "oh, Draco, I see that Harry's jimmiricks have infested you as well."

Harry's head whipped to look over at the other man.

"Jimmiricks?" he asked.

"They amplify feelings of longing and rejection," Harry murmured.

Malfoy's mouth popped open and he looked like he might have replied but Ron interrupted, clapping them both on the back and congratulating them.

"Excuse me for a minute," Malfoy muttered before disappearing.

"What did you do?" Ron asked.

"Me?!" Harry asked incredulously.

Ron rolled his eyes, "Spill."

"It's not me!" Harry protested. "Malfoy's the one with the problem with touching me."

Ron's eyes widened, and if it's weren't for the nature of this conversation, Harry would have found it comical. "That is a lot of information-"

"Not like that!" He ran his hands through his hair, "He just is always casually touching everyone except me."

"And why do you think that is, mate?" he asked.

He shook his head, "Because he hates me. Because I spent too long antagonizing him and now-"

"That's not it," Ron interrupted him. "Just go and talk to him," he said, nudging Harry toward the balcony window that Malfoy had escaped through.

Steeling himself, Harry made his way out onto the balcony. "Hey," he said awkwardly as he stepped outside.

"Don't," Malfoy said without looking at him, "just leave it. Luna's just-"

"Yeah," Harry said, stepping up and leaning on the railing next to the other man. "It would be easy to think that she's just a little bit unhinged except that-"

"She's always right," Malfoy finished with a sigh.

"You touch everyone except me," Harry said, the words rushing out without his permission. "All the time, you are like a super tactile individual. Except when it's me. That's what my jimmricks are about."

He scoffed, "Well, I wouldn't want to soil your perfect, savior image."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," Malfoy said, "Just that you've made it quite clear that you don't want me to touch you."

"What? How?"

Malfoy turned and glared at him, his silver eyes flashing, "What is this, Potter? You know damn well that you stiffen up every time I am near you. I see you with your friends, with literally everyone else, but whenever I am around you're quiet and you're always watching me. And then there was whatever the hell that was in there. Your body language is anything but inviting."

"Wait," Harry said, "you've got this all wrong-"

"Then explain it to me!" Draco hissed, "because it's exhausting being attracted to someone who hates you and spending every second that you are in their presence wishing that the earth would just swallow you whole so that you don't have to see their disdain for you."

"It's not disdain," Harry murmured, reaching out and touching Draco's hand, his fingers brushing lightly against Draco's. "It is literally anything but disdain for you. I spend every moment of the time we spend in close proximity to one another wishing that I was anyone but me."

"What?"

Harry shook his head, "Draco I am dying for you to touch me. Not in like a creepy way," he hastened to add. Then, "Not that I'd be opposed to like-" he broke off, rubbing a hand over his mouth. "Suffice it to say, I am attracted to you, too. And very unopposed to you touching me."

The corner of Draco's lips twitched, "So, you don't hate me?"

"Godric, no," Harry said, huffing a laugh. "I thought you hated me."

Draco bit his lower lip and shook his head slowly.

"So, would you maybe like to go out sometime?" Harry asked.

"Yes, he would," Ron said from the doorway to the balcony, startling them both. "Sorry to interrupt, but 'Mione couldn't find the spinner for the next game."

"Right," Harry said, just remembering that they were in the middle of a baby shower for his future god child. "Right, sorry," he said, "I'll be right in."

Ron nodded and disappeared back inside.

"Sorry," Harry said.

Draco shook his head, "Don't be." He leaned forward and pressed a soft, chaste kiss to the corner of Harry's mouth. "Yes, I would like to go out sometime."

"How's tonight?" Harry breathed.

Draco smiled at him, "The works for me," he said, then he added, eyes twinkling with mischief, "Maybe I can show you just how much I have been wanting to touch you, too."

----------

Day 40: Hesitant | Day 42: Sensitive

[avatarvyakara]

Tiles on the Roof

An Encanto Fanfic

Prompts 61-72

"The Mountain Pass"

https://archiveofourown.org/works/36486091/chapters/91640209

First | Previous | Next

CAUTION: contains references to violence, particularly in the context of, well, La Violencia.

61. Contraste

(nm) contrast

Things turn strange around the time that Mirabel reaches thirteen.

Up until that point, she might not have had, well, a gift, but that was still less of a worry for her because there wasn’t that much difference in how she was treated. She always knew her family loved her, even Isabela (you know, from time to time), and Abuela even managed to remark on her sewing once in a while. That was kind of their thing, the making of clothing, the way they bonded. No hugs—much less ones Abuela instigated—but a touch on the shoulder? Almost as good. A reach across the gap.

And then the whispers start coming in, along with people coming to town with only the clothes on their backs.

By default and by common sense, the people of San Ambrosio do not vote. But then, the major issues of the Conservatives and the Liberals—particularly those relating to land ownership—are practically non-existent within the encanto. Somehow there’s always enough land to farm, and with Tía Pepa bringing the crops all the sun and water they need there’s usually a surplus. Nobody can buy up the land because it’s understood, quite implicitly, that the land is not for sale, even among the San Ambrosianos—nor are essential crops sold outside the valley. Mamá’s meals handle most ailments; the village doctor has been in friendly rivalry with her for decades, but accepts payment in kind like she does. Papá helped organize something or other for money made from the local variety of coffee grown by the whole village, which takes up a decent chunk of his day. Tourism money is up for grabs, calderilla at best, something for a little extra (there are never too many tourists around anyway). But—no big landowners, no mayor, no police.

Not like the outside world, el fuera as they called it. Not like the Colombia where presidential candidates could be murdered brutally, where uprisings caused chaos and destruction, where the backlash led, on Papá’s birthday of all things, to the consolidation of a Conservative-run military dictatorship. Tourists still come to the valley, but so do refugees—the town grows as others burn. Outside the encanto, the world is going mad.

And people say they've managed to escape pursuers at the borders. Others are trying to get in.

The magic is strong, Abuela says at breakfast the next morning (after a late-night conversation trying to reach Abuelo, she will tell Mirabel years later, asking for guidance that she can never quite hear). The magic will hold. The Miracle keeps them safe, and the mountains tall, and the pass only open to those that mean them no harm. The magic is strong.

But she almost always finds a way to avoid Mirabel after that.

62. Redención

(nf) redemption

“Does it work?”

Diego Valderrama gestures to the stumpy hand at the end of his right arm, missing all but the bottom-most joints of his fingers. “It does. It takes time, but it works.”

“It doesn’t look like much.”

“Oh, I don’t know. A couple of years ago there was nothing above the elbow.”

Julián Pérez stares at him with his one good eye. “Don’t play games with me.”

“No games. My prima Julieta works miracles.” Diego grins. “Quite literally, in my case. If anyone can fix your face, it’s her.”

“...it might be a relief. I wouldn’t be ashamed to show my face in public. To my wife and kids.”

“The encanto is for second chances, mi amigo,” says Diego. “Dolores told me about your little...mistake.”

“She what?”

“Calm down. The Madrigals are the reason we aren’t in the middle of whatever Hell is going on outside. In forty-nine years they’ve not done us damage even once. You’re not in trouble.”

“That’s insane! Señor Valderrama, I stole from the families around here. I hoarded the coins. I was going to take the lot if we had to run again. Why am I not being punished?”

Diego looks a lot like his cousin Agustín, if a few shades darker, an inch or three shorter, and with a much more luxuriant moustache. Unlike Agustín, the look in his eyes is patient and analytical—he stares into Julián’s eye like he can see right down to the soul.

“Hmm. If you had to run, eh?”

“Yes. That’s all our life has been, for months now.”

“Then what could you be if you didn’t have to run, Señor Pérez? What do you want to be?”

“...a teacher. I was a teacher back in Villa Carola. My wife was a nurse.”

“Visit prima Julieta first thing in the morning, then. Both of you. She can always use an extra hand in diagnosing and caring for long-term illnesses, and she can give you an estimate for how long the repair will take.” Diego’s face hardens. “As far as we’re concerned, what’s happening outside? That’s not who we are, not really. We may suffer through it, but how can anyone thrive in such violencia except the brutal and the unscrupulous? No. San Ambrosio won’t punish you for being afraid, Julián. The Madrigals make it so we don’t need to fear. What we will do is assess your character when you have nothing to fear.”

“How can we not be afraid? You don’t know, Diego. What they were going to do to my little girl...”

“I know.” Diego’s face is grim. “How do you think I lost my arm? But not here. Never here. The only trouble in this valley is the trouble you are unable to leave behind. Do you understand?”

No, Julián doesn’t. But he’s trying to.

63. Frontera

(nf) frontier, border, demarcation

"Do you know where the mountains that surround you are?" asks Señor Originario. He's speaking in Quechua, the slight slurring and clicking consonants making him sound like a living rockslide in the hills.

Bruno tries to concentrate, as they watch the jungle in the early morning, and to reply in the same language. "I don't know. I think Mamá said they rose near the Caño Cristales. That's where the…soldados?"

"Soldiers."

"Right, where the soldiers found them, and where mi papá was killed. Mamá doesn't talk about it much."

"I'm not altogether surprised," says the taita. "But somehow I doubt she would be able to find it anyway, if she tried to leave."

The sixteen-year-old scoffs, then flinches in anticipation of being hit. (Señor Originario does that from time to time.) "That…um…how do I say ese no tiene sentido?"

"Why doesn't it make sense?"

"It doesn't make sense, thank you, because people do come and go in the valley. There's that kid, Agustín, the one with really bad luck, he comes and goes every summer. And we get…turistas, too, people from the outside. So it seems to me like you can come and go from San Ambrosio."

"Good use of the inferential suffix," says the taita with a thoughtful nod. He switches to Wayuunaiki, which sounds a lot more fluid to Bruno—like a rushing river. "But you forget—he wants to find the encanto, every year, yes? And every year he and his parents come to visit his aunt Lorenza. But they know where to find her, and she wants them here. They could bring other people with them, yes, but the magic here is strong, very strong. If Agustín did not have family here, do you think he would be able to find it?"

"I…I do not know."

The taita sits back. "The encanto, this place, it is a place of refuge. And I tell you this: that we are no longer next to the Caño Cristales. And yet we are. San Ambrosio does not appear on any government records in the Republic of Colombia, or rather it appears in the records of several different departments. Because the land is removed, do you understand? It is land on its own. A symbol of what this place could be, if left to its own devices beyond the meddling of outside forces. We are in the Andes; we are by the sea. We are deep in the jungle; we are in the grasslands. And if you want to leave, then you can go anywhere. And only those the community wants to return can return." He grins. “That is why I do not leave, Bruno. Few enough people know I am here, and although I am no threat I doubt many see me as a friend. Better to stay high on the borders, where I can see without interfering.”

Bruno understands this. But something is niggling at him. "But…"

"Yes?" Back to Spanish.

"What happens if we leave…can we get back? The Family Madrigal? If Mamá goes back to that place, and I hope she never does, then she can get back in, right? Or Julieta, if she actually does fall in love with that kid and goes to live in, I dunno, Ecuador or something?"

Now Señor Originario switches to Romani, fast, crackling words like sparks off a fire. "Don't worry, Bruno. Your mother, scary as she may be—don't protest, it was a compliment—is loved and wanted by her family. Nobody thinks of her as a threat to the encanto. If she leaves, she can come back home again quite quickly. Same with your sister. Madrigal or not, it doesn’t matter. All they need is someone willing to call them home."

"I don't understand why you left, but…didn't leave."

"Oh. Well, because, huh, the mountains around the encanto are very tall…"

64. Actuación

(nf) performance, acting (occupation), action (accomplishing a purpose)

Camilo is a shifter, and at heart he’s an actor. And San Ambrosio is a stage, a great big show waiting to happen. Sometimes it feels like he and Mirabel are the only ones who know that—does nobody else hear the songs that she sings, that the world sings with her, that Camilo gets to join inon? Well, Dolores does, but the others? Not so much. But once you know, there’s no limit to what you can do with the audience.

The new arrivals are tired and angry and lost, and sometimes they’re so lost in poverty that they’ll try to swindle others out of what they have to keep alive. Camilo doesn’t judge—Abuela does that, and Padre Flores—but he does like to hang around people his sister has her suspicions about. And if he learns a trick or two, well, that’s between him and Dolores. But mainly he just makes them laugh. Laughing people don’t think as much about hunger, especially if he’s just the debut act before a meal.

To live in the encanto, you need a job. Something. He doesn’t have Mirabel’s skill with settling people in and finding their talent—his prima has always been the best at that—but he can always smooth the way in the meantime. And, well, if things get rough...nobody needs to know he doesn’t have Luisa’s strength. Plus, he has a whole set of figures that are...less than attractive.

(He had to give up the “Tío Bruno foretelling doom if you don’t get your act together” role after Mami found out, though. He hates getting his mother upset. Managed to successfully rehabilitate fourteen people with that act, mind you, so it was worth it. Especially since Nobody Talks About Bruno, so who was going to contradict his interpretation?)

65. Urbano

(adj) urban, urbane

Julieta is the only one of the triplets to have left the encanto before Bruno disappeared. She went back to visit Agustín’s parents when they got married, to get their blessing. And she honestly had never felt more confused in her life.

Bogotá of the 1920s is strange. It’s high on the altiplano, built into the hills like San Ambrosio—maybe not as lush, but then what ever is? And the buildings are enormous, the Colombian National Museum alone is big enough to house her whole village. It’s full of colour and noise of a very different sort than what she’s used to—there’s always the rattle of a tram through the city, the roar of an airplane overhead (more and more popular, Tino tells her, but they’re unlikely to catch on). The food is nice—she tries some ajiaco from a street vendor, tries making some ajiaco with the street vendor, accidentally cures the street vendor’s arthritis—but perhaps a little bit stale compared to the fresh-picked ingredients she has at home. There is a museum dedicated to gold, an actual bullring, literally the oldest library in the New World...the city is so big. And there are so, so many accidents in this city. Cars crashing, collisions of various sorts, objects falling from high buildings, the occasional fire—all of which Tino just stands aside for or shrugs off like it’s nothing. But the oddest thing? In the old neighbourhoods, where Agustín’s parents live, the two-story houses have practically no decoration on the outside. Beautiful balconies, yes, but not much outside the front door. Bogotá is not a night-life city, at least not in the sense that she knows it. It gives more attention to the night than the life, in a lot of ways.

“It’s just...mi amor, you know I have to go back. But I never realized just how different this place is. I can’t make heads or tails of it, and that makes me feel...well, a little stupid.”

Tino hears her voice even if he can’t really see her face. He takes her hand and gives it a squeeze. (Amazingly, he hasn’t had a single accident since they arrived here a week ago.)

“Mi vida, stupid is one thing you could never be. I don’t fit into San Ambrosian life very well yet, does that make me stupid?”

“You’re accident-prone, not stupid. And even then there’s supposed to be that silly curse on your family, right?”

Tino steers them gently away from a lamp-post before it crashes behind them.

“That old thing? It’s a nuisance. But it’s just part of life. Juli, you gave my grandfather relief from his dementia by helping him make breakfast. He’s talking more clearly than I’ve heard him do in years. And you know what? I don’t even think it was the food this time. It was just you being yourself. The most incredible person I know, with the biggest heart and the biggest brain of anyone in this city. So...is it okay if I—watch out—” a car skids past at about twenty miles above what’s safe for the inner city— “come back with you? Because, well, it’s up to you, but—”

“Tino.”

“Yes?”

“We are literally getting married next month. I think it’s safe to say that I want you to come back with me. Even if it means leaving your home behind. So long as you’re okay with that.”

Agustín holds her hand in both of his, presses it to her heart. “Never again. This is my home. If you’ll have me.”

She’s probably not blushing. Probably.

“I might do.”

“…besides, being honest with you, it’s far too loud in the city.”

“Much too loud. I like the ice cream, though. You don’t get that in the encanto.”

“Not yet, anyway...watch out for the bottle.”

The step over the bottle. It rolls away and nearly trips up a banker.

“How do you know to expect all this stuff?”

“Years and years of practice. Plus, the wildlife in this city has a grudge against everyone, not just me, so it’s spread out a bit more.”

She laughs at that.

66. Desarmar

(v) disarm, disassemble; feminine singular past participle desarmada

Luisa is not a fighter. None of them are, not really. If the valley were to be attacked, she’d have to act from the sidelines, or at a range, throwing things at the people coming to take her home for their own.

She doesn't like to think about that. For all her strength is greater than that of anyone she knows, Luisa can't imagine hurting someone. Not deliberately. That would be…wrong.

Better to hope that the encanto keeps them safe, then.

(But the pressure keeps building up, and building up…and when it finally gets too much, when she finds even the piano she first brought to her parents at five years old too heavy to lift, she despairs all the more. She's weak. She can't help. She can't do what needs to be done. And she never learned how to protect. And now the outside world is closing in and she can't help and they're all going to die and it's all her fault and what is she going to do she's never felt this broken before—)

67. Linaje

(nm) lineage, ancestry

"This is our home, we've got every generation…"

The song has been tickling away at the back of Félix's head all day. But it's got a point, the song does. Every generation in one house.

Los ancestores, parents or grandparents during the exodus from the town of San Cristóbal, now long-lost—that's Abuela Alma. Los migrantes, children or young adults during that exodus—that's Félix, just about, by all of two years but it counts, if only out of the smidgen of showmanship he permits himself—after all, he was old enough to remember the Miracle itself. Los milagranos, children born of or just before the Miracle—that's Julieta, and his Pepa, and Bruno (he's allowed to think about Bruno, he adds with a touch of defiance), and for that matter Agustín as well, now that he's living here full-time. Los campesinos, the children of the first settlers and those raised to help with the farms—that's Isabela, and his Dolores, and even Luisa. Los ayudantes, the "townies", who have never known anything except the well-worn village of San Ambrosio and do their part helping around town—that's his Camilo, and Mirabel. And now the most recent, the generation as yet unnamed, still yet to make their mark—that's his Antonio.

Six generations have lived in San Ambrosio, and six still live in the Casa Madrigal. Three generations, so far, have been granted gifts—four if you count the Miracle itself for Abuela Alma. Safe and secure and one after the other, and that’s how it always will be.

68. Decoración

(nf) decoration

Isabela’s role is to be perfect. She knows this. She knows she doesn’t really have much choice—her gift is to generate flowers out of thin air. What can you do with that besides make the town look beautiful?

But that’s important. As much as it frustrates her, as much as it feels like she could do so much more if only she could think for a minute, she’s the one on call. Isabela Madrigal is the perfect representation of what San Ambrosio can be—peaceful, bright, colourful, alive. She’s worked hard at that. And a part of her does truly enjoy being able to look down from the pedestal she’s grown for herself and show off a bit.

And then she looks at Mirabel, her sister who didn’t get a gift, who wasn’t pushed into one frame of mind from the start, who can choose to be and do anything that people who aren’t Madrigals can do and still chooses to support and love the family that she’ll never really be part of, and feels just the slightest spark of envy. Mirabel is a reminder of everything the family shouldn’t be just by existing, which means Isabela has to try even harder to keep up the family honour. And she still makes a halfhearted effort to act like a Madrigal and it works; Isabela is admired and adored in town, but her youngest sister is loved. Life would be a lot easier if she just...had a gift. Could be shunted to one side like Isabela was. Or maybe, because she didn't have anything binding her to the valley, she could just leave—

No. There are limits. Something in Isabela knows the world is bigger than their village, from the stories Má and Pá tell at least, but she also knows just how bad it can get out there. All the nightmare tales that Dolores hears from the New Arrivals, which sometimes make her come to Isabela in tears in the middle of the night, and for Dolores she’ll drop the sneer and she’ll listen and soothe because she is the symbol of the perfection of the encanto and she hates it but Dolores needs it—she wouldn’t wish that on her sister. She wouldn’t wish it on anyone.

(But the encanto is more than roses and orchids. Until she realizes that, she’ll never feel at home here, not really. Mirabel could leave but shouldn't; she can't leave but feels like she should. Another reason to feel…frustrated with her sister.)

69. Murmurar

(v) to murmur; 3rd singular present indicative murmura

Dolores' grandmother—her, well, other grandmother—wasn't originally from San Cristóbal itself. Her other grandfather used to travel around a lot, and on one of his trips to the Caribbean coast he picked up a bride from a village there. She spoke her own language, nearly Spanish but mixed together with another, rolling and booming like waves on the shore; sometimes Dolores can still hear her muttering phrases to herself as she wanders about town, and it's actually quite nice. And her Papá used to sing her lullabies in that language, so that's another thing she likes about it.

Still.

Once her room…changes, a little, and allows her to find new sounds as opposed to just blocking out the sounds around her, she asks Abuela's permission for her other grandmother to come by one day. As a birthday present.

"Hmm. Not too long, huh? You have work to do in the town."

Papi is thrilled to see his mamá up at the house, and Mami brightens right up too. Ofelia Castillo is short and a little stout but bright-eyed and grinning—Papi got her smile, and so did baby Antonio. She even gets a laugh out of Camilo, who is going through Adolescence when he’s allowed a moment to breathe (pobre Mirabel has been putting up with that the most).

"How are you, moná mí?" she murmurs—Dolores has tried to explain that she isn't hurt by loud sounds for the most part, but Mamá Ofelia always lowers her voice all the same.

"I'm alright, Mamá Ofelia," Dolores replies with a smile. "I just wanted to give you a special present for your seventy-fifth birthday."

"No need, no need! I'm a year closer to the grave, that's all it is." Mamá Ofelia grins again. "Is it something to do with the uangá?"

She nods, and wonders if she thought this through properly. The Castillos have always been a little wary of the Madrigals' magic.

But her other grandmother doesn't complain, just keeps on smiling.

"Then by all means."

Casita is nice enough to gently slide her up the stairs—even with Tía Julieta's meals (which she doesn't eat very often), Mamá Ofelia is a tad weak in the knees.

Dolores has her doubts about her gift sometimes. But she wants to know about the outside world, no matter what Abuela says, and she’s the only one who can do so safely. And it's worth it to see the tears of sheer disbelief and joy as her grandmother hears the ocean for the first time in fifty-five years.

70. Frío

(adj) cold, cool (temperature/mood)

Sometimes Pepa wonders what it would be like to be a cloud instead of just make them.

“Tell a story!” she demands.

Bruno sighs. “Ah, well. What kind of story?”

“A story about flying!”

“Hmm.” Her seven-year-old baby brother (okay, so she was his age forty-nine minutes ago, but that’s a long time) scratches his chin. “Well, where are we going?”

“Beyond the encanto! Somewhere new!” Pepa is feeling pretty darn happy about this idea.

“How about to Iceland?” suggests Bruno, who tends to pay more attention in geography lessons than she does.

“Iceland? What’s in Iceland?”

“Uhhh...ice. Lots of ice. The whole land is one big, huge, giant hailstone that fell out of the sky hundreds of years ago.”

Pepa nods. That’s practically at the beginning of the universe as far as she’s concerned.

“Why doesn’t it melt?”

“Uhhh...it is melting, but it gets very very cold up in the north, so it freezes again every winter. Anyway, we start out in the capital, Reino de Quique—”

“That’s not what it’s called!”

“It is in this story.”

“Fine. We visit El Reino de Quique, where they only eat fish—”

“Sharks,” says Bruno, wisely. “They eat sharks raw.”

“Ewwwww,” she giggles. “Imagine getting Juli to make that.”

“Oh, no, that would be terrible,” laughs Bruno. “Anyway, we’re still flying, right?”

“Yes. On a cloud. We get on my bad-mood cloud and I keep getting sad about missing Mamá and Julieta and that keeps it nice and thick so we can travel.”

“...why don’t we try that now?”

“Let’s do it!”

Pepa gets as frustrated as she can about little things, trying to ignore the feeling of excitement. Maybe they can visit Quique’s Kingdom in Iceland after all!

“Here I come!” calls Bruno. And jumps off the roof of the house.

“Bruno!”

Mamá is just in time to catch him as he falls through Pepa’s cloud and nearly hits the ground quite hard.

“What were you thinking? You could have gotten yourself killed!”

“...sorry, Mamá,” says Bruno, quietly.

“And you, Pepa, what are you doing with that cloud? What’s gotten you so upset?”

Pepa doesn’t know why, but Mamá sounds more and more tired when she has a cloud these days. Like there’s something wrong with Pepa for having a cloud, instead of there being something wrong with Pepa so she has a cloud.

“We just wanted to try to fly to Iceland.”

Mamá blinks, and then says, in a voice that lightly chills Pepa's mind, “The two of you could have gotten yourselves very badly hurt. And what good would it have been then, eh? We are safe here. No more nonsense about Iceland, you two. No more talk of leaving the encanto.”

“But Mamá—”

“None. Now come back inside, it’s nearly time to eat.”

They have their own ways of rebelling. Bruno reads about fish non-stop for ages. ("When I grow up, I want a pet whale.") And Pepa starts practicing making snow.

In a way, Bruno’s story is rather a big part of the tale of how she met Félix.

71. Inocencia

(nf) innocence

By common consensus, they refuse to mention the world Beyond to little Antonio until he's (much) older.

Sometimes humans have an Understanding, take the time to see into the mind of one or two of the more thoughtful among them. The ones who try not to eat one another without making sure they can't Speak first, usually. But Antonio, the Shining Mind, is different—he calls to them, calls to them all, his thoughts lighting up the world around them like a tiny primate sun. So much joy there, when he Hears them. He doesn't just bond with them, he brightens their lives.

No-place-possible-for-discussion, says Parce. The jaguar growls, a little sadly. Forest-of-destruction. Destroyed-lair. Human-cavern-with-pelts. Guardian-Shining-Mind-too-precious. Guardian-Shining-Mind-protected. No-place-with-loss-mentioned. Lair-with-new-family.

When he's older, says Pico. We can ask him for help when he's older. The dashed arsonists aren't going away any time soon, and we have at last found some kind of sanctuary. You can feel it in the framework, you know, if you look hard enough. Shining-Mind will come into his own soon enough. For now, he deserves a little time just to be a chick.

Chispe the capybara looks at them both slowly, and twists his head to the side in a shrug.

Eh.

Eloquently put, says the toucan approvingly. Although your point about child development in humans could use some further elaboration.

Capybara-speaking? asks Parce, confused. Capybara-mumbling. Capybara-practically-unintelligible.

Parce, Parce, Parce…you've really got to learn to think under the emergent, let the canopy and the understory into your understanding of the world! It's no good being a beloved companion of the most remarkable human under the sun if you can't let your mind expand a little!

Parce-sane. Others-otherwise, the jaguar says pointedly. Parce-mind-open, Parce-mind-practical.

Meh.

Not the soundest argument made by beast nor man, old bean, but reasonable under the circumstances.

"Are you guys okay?"

Never better, dear boy, says Pico warmly. Did I mention your cousin nearly got herself thrown off a ledge but survived? I was really rather impressed by how she got down. Humans really do have remarkable survival instincts.

"She did what?"

72. Renacimiento

(nm) rebirth, revival

You took my husband from me, thinks Alma at the river. We had a good life. It was getting so much better. And because of the stupidity and greed and anger rumbling on the horizon like a flood, my Pedro died holding back the tide. Now the tide has broken and the dam has fallen, fifty years later but it has fallen. We are back in danger, and I failed us all.

And yet…here we stand in the sunlight. And Pedro is singing to us.

The river is calm and cool, and where once she fled across here under cover of night she comes back now at daybreak. She crossed without her husband. Now she crosses again, part of the way, to reach her granddaughter. Her Mirabel.

Alma is not well-versed in magic. She tried to be, tried to pretend to be, but she doesn't have the Knack, the aptitud, that her children and grandchildren do. She can't hear the song of the clouds like Pepa, feel the energy filling and fuelling her family like Julieta, see down the tunnel of years like Bruno. She is normal. And "normal" to Alma has for forty-five years meant "powerless".

And what she sees now is her granddaughter, no powers, no gift from the fallen house—but a gift nonetheless, in and of herself.

"He sent me you."

How close they have come to extinction. How quickly the tide could turn. And yet—how easy it is, to stand here in the river and hear Pedro's voice one last time.

The family is not safe, not yet. Alma wonders if they ever truly were. But the family is together. Nearly. And they can still stand together and work as they will, because they are greater than the powers that protected them. And she remembers that now.

It would probably be a little too much to ask if you know where Bruno is, mi media naranja?

And then her long-lost son charges out of the bushes on a horse and a mission and she can almost hear Pedro laughing in the waters.

(She ought to come back here more often.)

[thirstyforcharacters]

Tequila (Bucky Barnes x Reader)

Summary: Every person has a soulmate. When your soulmate experiences pain, so do you, and any bruises, scars, or other markings that they get appear on your skin. Or, the story of how aliens attacking Las Vegas was the best thing to ever happen to you.

Notes: Hello! I already did a very similar soulmate AU for Sam Wilson (which you can read here), but I love soulmate AU’s so much that I decided to do one for Bucky, too! Hopefully, I made them different enough that they don’t seem too repetitive. Did I write this while I was supposed to be watching a documentary on Bach for music history? Maybe. But I think this was a much better use of my time. Hope you enjoy! (no y/n, no pronouns)

Warnings: canon typical violence, alien invasion, blood (not too much tho), car crash

WC: 1.9 k

For all of your life, you couldn’t feel your left arm.

When you started to crawl, your parents noticed you only used your right arm to pull yourself forward while your left would hang limply at your side. Your parents brought you to the doctor, deeply concerned, but when she examined your arm, she found nothing wrong. No x-rays showed broken or deformed bones, and no MRI’s showed any problems in the brain. By all medical standards, you should be able to move your left arm. You just couldn’t. Everyone hoped that it would go away, but to their chagrin, it remained unmoving throughout your childhood. You obviously knew your arm was there since you could clearly see it, but you couldn’t feel the nerve endings inside it. When you poked your arm with your other finger, you felt absolutely nothing. And weirdly enough, your family said it was always cold to the touch, no matter how warm the rest of your body was.

You had a feeling that it had something to do with your soulmate, and when you reached adulthood (specifically around 24), you were almost positive that was the reason. You often woke up with random injuries that you knew you didn’t give yourself. Gunshot wounds, deep slashes, broken bones, and large bruises were commonly branded on your skin. You were positive that if your soulmate was getting shot at every other night, then they almost definitely had some sort of damage done to their arm that affected your own. But if they had had this condition since you were born, how old were they? That was always a question that kind of weirded you out. You didn’t particularly want to be “meant to be” with some wrinkly, old person! Especially if they were somehow getting themselves into this much trouble. And now that you thought about it, none of these injuries were on your (or their) left arm. How could that be if they’ve literally been hurt everywhere else on their body?

When you weren’t in and out of the hospital with randomly serious injuries, you were quite busy cooking up a storm in Turkey, Tacos, and Tequila, your restaurant in Las Vegas. You and your best friend, Nicolás, had opened it three years ago; you were the head chef and he ran the business side of things. The two of you had talked about opening a restaurant together since you were teenagers, so both of you had moved to Vegas together after college/culinary school. Together, you found that you were an unstoppable team, and within a year of opening, you were one of the most popular restaurants throughout all of Vegas! Most times, because you were so busy, your soulmate problem stayed in the back of your mind. But every once in a while, a bruise would appear on your eye or a large cut down the length of your leg, and you would be reminded again.

Nic, as you called him, already found his soulmate. Oliver had moved in with you a year ago, and joined you side by side in the kitchen. You became almost as close with him as you had with Nic. They were adorable together, and never made you feel like the third wheel. There were some times, though, where you found yourself a little bit jealous that they had found each other so quickly, and that neither of them had ever suddenly started bleeding all over a nearly complete order of mango fish tacos.

Whenever you got a little down about it, Nic would always clap you on the shoulder and say, “You’ll find them someday. And when you do, break their nose. They deserve it for the hell they’re accidentally putting you through.”

It never failed to make you laugh. You had half a mind to do just that when you met the love of your life. You just didn’t know when that would be.

On yet another hot and dry Nevada night, you were closing up at the restaurant (or morning, you supposed, since it was nearly 1 am). Nic, Oliver, and your other employees had gone home already, so it was only you that remained. You turned off the lights and locked the door. You pushed your way through the drunken crowds and tourists on the street and made your way to your car. As you were opening the door, you could hear gasps of shock coming from the crowd of people roaming the streets. You looked up and saw an eerie flash of green across the sky, and a strange-looking, portal appeared in the sky! Shrieks of fear permeated the air as grotesque, reptilian creatures began spilling from the portal.

Frantically, you flung yourself into your car and turned over the engine, hoping to escape the clutches of these aliens. Though your apartment was in the opposite direction of the portal, as per usual, there was a decent amount of traffic, so you weren’t sure how good your chances were. But you figured you’d at least be safer in your car than exposed outside of it.

You were able to pull into traffic and weave through it fairly well, making good use of the side streets that only the locals knew about. But the creatures were overtaking the city faster than you could drive. You knew you didn’t have long before they caught up with you.

Just when that thought popped into your head, a blinding flash of light appeared in your rearview mirror. A loud bang, almost like a cannon, sounded, and through your mirror, you saw a truck hurtling toward you at breakneck speed! You attempted to swerve out of the way, but the truck crashed into your car, shoving it against a street light! The driver’s side of your car crumpled against the lamppost, and the glass in your window shattered at the contact. You attempted to cover your face with your hands, but a piece of glass still managed to make a pretty deep cut above your left eye, as well as a few pieces of shrapnel sinking into your legs. The whiplash from the contact damaged your neck as well; pain spread throughout your neck and back. All you could do was sob in agony. You had never felt this much pain in your life.

Your hand was trembling as you unbuckled your seatbelt, but you found yourself unable to leave your car! The driver’s side door was crushed, the truck was smushed against your passenger door, and there was no way you would be able to climb out of the backseat, nor lift yourself out of the broken window with the injuries you sustained. You were trapped. You waited for a little bit, until some of the chaos surrounding you died down; even in your damaged state, you knew that no one would be able to hear you even if you screamed for help as loudly as you could.

You strained your ears, and were able to hear gunfire, commands being shouted, and the hissing of these reptilian creatures. Eventually, instead of the noise of a battle, you could hear voices trying to dig people out of the rubble. Somehow, they sounded familiar, but you couldn’t place how. Well, if they were rescuing people, you figured they were your only chance.

“Help,” you screamed, “I’m trapped in my car! Please help me!”

You heard footsteps sprinting in your direction and a voice call, “Don’t worry, we’ll get you out of there!”

You watched in amazement as the truck on your passenger’s side was surrounded by a glowing, red presence, and moved out of the way! It had to be the Avengers! Who else would be able to do something that crazy? You were brought out of your thoughts by your car being dragged away from the pole, making you jump. A face popped up in your shattered window. He was gorgeous; bright, blue eyes, short, chestnut hair, and a warm smile. He took hold of the broken door and wrenched it from its fastenings.

“Hi. My name is Bucky Barnes. This is Wanda Maximoff,” the man said, gesturing back to a woman wearing scarlet, “we’re going to get you out of here, okay?”

“Okay,” you replied, relieved, “thank you so much!”

He smiled again, “Oh, it’s no problem. You should probably stay there until the EMT’s get here. Moving might make your injuries even worse.”

You nodded slightly in reply, but the pull in your neck made you groan in pain.

He winced, “Try not to move that, either. You may not be bleeding there, but I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”

“Okay.”

“Here, let me help you with that. I can at least stop the bleeding,” he offered, gesturing to your forehead and leg.

“Oh, thank you!” you answered.

He nodded and reached for some bandages he had in his jacket with his metal arm. His left arm. Suddenly, you noticed things you didn’t notice before. He also had a large cut above his left eye, in the same spot as your injury. It wasn’t bleeding, though, perhaps because of his enhancements. You noticed him moving his neck in a circular motion, seemingly to stretch it out. He had holes in his pants and small puncture wounds on his legs, in the same spots where glass was sticking out of you. Again, though, they were already healing. Could that be why you had never felt your arm before? Because your soulmate’s was metal? It would make complete sense.

“Are you okay?”

You didn’t even realize you had zoned out until Bucky addressed you. He was gently cleaning the wound on your forehead.

“Yes,” you whispered, fixated on the wound on his forehead.

His eyebrow raised, “Are you sure? You seem a little out of it.”

“I-I’m fine. I just noticed something kind of strange. I think the cut on your forehead matches mine.”

He touched his forehead, “Oh, yeah, I forgot about that with the adrenaline and everything. Only got it maybe 20 minutes ago.”

“That’s when my car crashed. And you’re having neck pain, like me,” you murmured, “and your arm is metal. I’ve never been able to feel my arm.”

His eyes widened, “Really? You think we’re meant to be?”

“Maybe,” you replied.

He nodded, “It seems likely. What’s your name?”

You gave him your name and he smiled again.

“I’ve been waiting for this for a century.”

You giggled softly, “I guess that explains why I’ve been experiencing this since I was born. I was afraid you’d be gross and wrinkly.”

He chuckled, “Well, hopefully you don’t think I’m either of those things.”

“Definitely not.”

The EMT’s arrived then. Bucky stepped aside and the medics removed you from your car.

As you were being loaded into the ambulance, Bucky approached you.

“How can I get in contact with you after this?”

“Just come by Turkey, Tacos, and Tequila. It’s my restaurant, I’m almost always there,” you told him.

“Okay. I’ll drop by sometime soon, when you’re better of course.”

“Looking forward to it.”

“Me too.”

As he was walking away, you couldn’t stop the grin forming on your lips. Sure, what had happened to you today was terrible. But you knew you would heal, and now, you had also finally met your soulmate. No wonder why you were randomly injured all of the time! If today was any indicator of what the rest of your relationship would look like, though, you’d probably need all of that tequila you were selling for yourself.

[limitlessgojo]

Blood Bound: Blackened Bond (Ch 17)

Warnings: Action, Coarse Language, Fighting, Descriptions of Blood, Death, Gore, Graphic Depictions of Violence, Japanese Mythical Folklore, No Major Character Death, !Character Suicide!

Previous Chapter: Non-Standard

Next Chapter: 百鬼夜行 - Hyakki Yakou

Word Count: 3k

Tags: Kamo Noritoshi x Reader, Soulmates AU, Angst, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Fem!Reader

Taglist: @lessie-oxj @rizzo-nero @whoreuc @fkngkumiko @isl3t @gojoussunglasses @onepotatostand-blog @s-t-f-u-b-i-t-c-h @sunaswife @lordguameow @track5enthusiast @nayydoesthings @a1hina

Notes: If you want to be tagged for every update, and specify if you're okay with NSFW posts or not, please mention it in the comments below ty ❤

Extra Notes: PLEASE CHECK THE TAGS!!! This is one very loaded Chapter. Some might get triggered over the graphic depictions of violence. This is close to a bit of gore.

Chapter 17: Inferno: Flames of Hell

You wake up in the infirmary. Hiroki had healed you beforehand. You abruptly sat up, looking around the room, before finding him, cleaning some medical tools. “Thanks Niichan.” He smiled as he came over to hug you and messed up your hair.

“It’s okay. I didn't think Satoru would push you this hard. He’s a good teacher for you, much as I hate to call him a good teacher. Did you consider going to Tokyo Jujutsu Tech instead? You could’ve gone ya know, we wouldn’t hold you back.”

You mulled it over. “I think I’m staying here. I’ve settled in and everyone around me is amazing. They’re like a second family to me.”

He smiled before looking a bit annoyed. “Yeah well, glad you like them at least. Someone’s been waiting all this time for you. Rude if I don’t let him see ya, right sis?”

Hiroki walked over to the door and opened it, revealing Noritoshi with one hand up as if to knock.

Your mouth opened and closed.

“Y/n.” He was still so determined. What makes him have so much faith in you? You looked back to Hiroki, but he only gave you his trademark "Get your shit together" look and waved you off.

You walked up to Noritoshi by the doorway, and he stood back to let you through. You both ended walking quietly side by side in the hallway.

Noritoshi smiled, you didn’t run away from him for once.

"Y/n, can we… talk if you're up for it?" He asked quietly, a small sad smile on his face.

You took a deep breath, turned to face him and were thrown into a vision.

◇◇◇

"They've found us, run for it, love." Hotaru dragged you away from the small inn you were both staying at.

You stumbled after him and ran off. A member of the Abe clan had seen the both of you in the midst of fighting curses at an abandoned shrine. They tried to chase the both of you down, but you both fought back and ran further away until they’ve lost sight of you.

But currently, you are facing a much larger problem. A shadow in the distance. Just the silhouette of the curse was enough to etch despair deep in your bones.

With four large arms, two faces and a gigantic body, Ryomen Sukuna could be identified easily. You grabbed onto Hotaru and tried to push you both forward with your technique.

"Uraume. After them. I've heard rumours about a fated pair. It seems as if they are the ones." Sukuna smirked.

"As you wish." Uraume quickly caught up to the both of you.

They quickly froze your escape path, sealing you both in a circle of ice. Hotaru held you as you activated Inferno to break the ice and continued running. You were both dangerously running low on cursed energy. Especially as Hotaru had just fought over a dozen of curses.

"Hooh?? The woman does have power. I want her." Sukuna's eyes lit up madly. He shot a flaming arrow, forcing you to push Hotaru behind you.

Sukuna focused and slashed both Hotaru from behind. Uraume shot shards of ice towards you, but Hotaru shifted your positions.

You watched in horror as your lover took the attack for you. He was bleeding profusely and even his technique couldn’t help him from anemia.

“No no no no no, stay with me.” You screamed at him.

“Misaki, my love, for you I’d burn down the world, travel across thousands of miles, and kill anyone who tried to hurt you. I love you and I’m sorry we can’t be together much longer.” He teared up while cupping the side of your cheek.

“No, don’t go.” You leaned down to press your lips against his, trying to give him a bit of air. But it wasn’t enough. His hand fell limp and he breathed his last. Kamo Hotaru died in your arms.

"Hotaru, no." You sobbed out painfully, hugging his cold body to your chest.

"The talk of the town huh? You must be the soulmate pair judging by the marks on your hands." Sukuna stepped up with Uraume right behind him.

He was a terrifying sight upclose.

You froze as he knelt down and lifted your chin, "What a beauty you are. I wouldn't mind playing with you for a while and having you all to myself, before eating you up." He licked his lips lavisciously.

"So young, and such soft skin." Sukuna's hand trailed down your cheek and squeezed along the curves of your trembling body.

You never felt more dirty in your life. A man other than your lover, touching you like this. "Be my toy, would you? Your lover is dead after all. Why not humor me?" Sukuna jeered. He didn’t care about your silent sobs, even relishing in how you looked right now.

Utterly destroyed. With a monster claiming he wants you for himself.

He grabbed your chin roughly and forced a kiss on your lips. You snapped out of your shock, feeling your anger overcome your fear.

‘I'd rather die than let him have me.'

And so, you pushed Sukuna and Uraume far away and built a solid air barrier around you and Hotaru.

You thrust a hand out and an oil lamp came flying your way. It broke in front of you. Inferno was activated to spread the flames quickly. 'We are meant to stay together, my love, even if it means death.' You quickly slit your throat with a harsh cut, not wanting to die a slow death in the flames.

You choked out blood as Sukuna came near. He shattered your barrier easily with Dismantle, reaching for you. You panicked. You weren't going to die in time.

And you did the craziest thing you could think of. Activating Niflheim simultaneously with Inferno. Freezing everything around you, except for the still burning flames consuming you and Hotaru.

It didn't help too much. Sukuna produced flames out of his hand, while Uraume easily manipulated the frost.

Lightning shot out of your hands dangerously in your confusion. You don't know what you just did. But it didn't matter. You were quickly losing consciousness.

Crimson splattered onto the ground and over Hotaru’s corpse. You burned past the limits of your cursed energy, releasing bolts of lightning.

Sukuna’s hand reached out and activated his reverse cursed technique on you. “Not so fast.” He looked angry.

He was able to seal the cut, but with the last of your energy, you used Inferno on your body, bursting into flame before Sukuna and Uraume.

They were forced to back away and stared as you and Hotaru both turned to ash, the heat an insane temperature they couldn’t approach.

Sukuna threw his head back and cackled, "The lengths people go to for love. What fools Jujutsu sorcerers are!"

◇◇◇

The vision ends. You and Noritoshi gasp harshly. The hallway is covered in ice.

You slowly realized you unconsciously activated Niflheim. You swiped your palm through the air. All the windows along the hallway simultaneously opened.

The vision was far too vivid.

You covered your throat with your hands as though to stop a wound from opening, remembering how the dagger dragged through your neck bones. The flames felt painful as they ate at your body without your cursed technique protecting you from them.

Noritoshi kneeled down and touched his gut. He felt the poison of Sukuna's slash and Uraume's ice eat his body. After his past soul had died. Hotaru's spirit watched the events transpire from above you. So he was able to see it from a 3rd person's point of view.

How Sukuna had wanted you. How you ended your life for him.

You staggered back from Noritoshi, face as white as a sheet, running for the bathroom with bile rising up your throat.

That vision was eerily reminiscent of how Sora-nee died in your arms. You were on the borderline of hyperventilating.

Noritoshi ran after you, “Wait!”. You stumbled into the girl’s bathroom, opened a cubicle door and vomited everything out into the toilet.

The sounds of retching were loud even from outside. Noritoshi halted in his tracks when he saw that you’ve gone into the ladies room.

Fuck manners. If it was to take care of you, he doesn’t care about being gentlemanly or if he was called a pervert. He rushed in, wrapped his arms around you, pulled back your hair and rubbed soothing circles on your stomach.

You were vomiting pretty hard, to the point where it hurt your abdomen. “My dear angel, shhhh it's okay, I'm here.” You continued heaving and reached back with one hand to push him away. But Noritoshi was incredibly stubborn, not letting go of you.

“Noritoshi I literally smell like shit, please leave.”

“Nope. I don't care. I will take care of you. As your soulmate I’m responsible for you.”

Your eye twitched at that.

Both of you were still trembling from the aftermath of the vision. How terrible and cursed it was, that past life.

You closed the lid, flushed the toilet, then lifted it again. You leaned over with heavy breaths, but it looks like you’re done puking. Noritoshi just sat behind you, his hands stroking your belly, keeping your body warm.

It was nice. But he’s not yours anymore. It was only then you felt something wet on your shoulder. Noritoshi was crying.

“It almost… felt like I just lost you… My darling...” loud hitches of breath echoed in the bathroom.

You froze, not knowing how to comfort him at a time like this. You patted his head, and he leaned into your hand.

Even as you close your eyes, the images keep racing through the back of your eyelids. Flames. Blood. Lightning. Hotaru.

“I need to wash up in the sink.”

Noritoshi gave a soft grunt in reply, arms tightening around your waist. You stood up and half dragged him out of the cubicle. He never lets go. His arm is still around your waist, making you half waddle around the bathroom with him like a penguin with its child.

You brush your teeth with the spare toothbrush Jujutsu High has for its guests and rinse your mouth with several cups of mouthwash, the strong scent of mint hanging in the air. You spat it all out, but you still felt nauseous.

You turned and wiped away his tears with your sleeve. He bent down and tucked you under his chin, breathing in your scent. You were both alive. It was fine.

You pulled back when the door slammed open. It was Momo and Mai.

“......”

“.....”

The four of you had a stare off before realizing Noritoshi wasn’t supposed to be in there.

“Kamo kun, you’re in the wrong bathroom. Have you dumbed down so much you’ve forgotten?” Momo asked with wide eyes.

Mai stared at you and noticed how sick you looked. You just shook your head at her and quickly walked out of the bathroom, shrugging Noritoshi’s hand off of you.

'To hell with all this.', you thought to yourself

◇◇◇

"Wait!"

Noritoshi caught up to you in the hallway, grabbed your hand and turned you around to face him. He stopped caring about where he was.

"I'm never giving up on you. I won't, because I love you and I know that now."

You sniffed hard, tears running down your cheeks. You've had enough of this confusion. If you're being truthful to yourself, you missed him.

You missed Noritoshi and his kind words. His touch and his kisses. His soft bits of encouragement and picnic dates.

You want him back. It was just as Hiroki had said, you were pushing Noritoshi away without giving him a chance to explain himself.

But the vision completely broke you. You pulled your hand away, "Don't touch me. Don't follow me. Don't come near me." You whispered.

Noritoshi swallowed hard. "Why won't you let me explain myself?" But you just shook your head.

"Maybe we weren't what we thought we were." You didn't mean it, but you still forced the words out painfully.

Noritoshi flinched, "Why would you say that? You believed in us. I still believe in us. In you."

You closed your eyes and took a deep breath, "That vision. Why did we have it? We could be dooming ourselves by staying together, Noritoshi, I can't do that to you. Maybe I am cursed to hurt the ones I love."

He scoffed. "Preposterous. They are our past lives, but they aren't us. We are different people with different choices. You’re not cursed Y/N, since when have you become so narrow minded?"

You stiffened. "Maybe I have always been so. I'm just tired of everything now. Plus I need to take down that damn curse, even if it kills me." You spun on your heel.

Something inside Noritoshi snapped. He now understands how it feels to be pushed away like an outsider. He grabbed your wrist, ignoring your angry whispers as he single-handedly dragged you back into his room.

This man was strong. Not even your hardest tugs threw him off balance. He slammed the door shut once you were both inside and you felt a bit shaken, not having any place to run.

"Why are you trying to do this all by yourself?! You may be a Special Grade Sorcerer, but that doesn't mean you're invincible! A war is not won by one person. Can't you trust me?" He hissed.

"Trust you? Trust you?! How about me? Big words from someone who didn't even want to let me meet or know the people he holds dear to him."

This was the most idiotic argument you had in your life. You didn't even mean half the words that you were saying. Just wanting to win a pointless argument you wished never existed in the first place.

"I thought you agreed to speak to me if that was still bothering you. You said we would work things out together." Noritoshi shook your shoulders.

You held your tongue not knowing what else to say. Noritoshi was still so sweet after all this mess. Pulling you into a warm embrace, patting your head as he cries into your shoulder.

"Will you stay with me at least? During the war.”

"Of course." You didn't even think as you agreed. Even Noritoshi looked surprised at your lack of reluctance. "I won't lose you."

You both stood awkwardly there, not knowing what to do. Noritoshi didn't want you to leave yet, wanting to bask a bit more in your presence. His mark cooled down as his hand slipped into yours.

But you stepped and turned away from him, ignoring how his fingers desperately clung onto the hem of your shirt. "I'll go then… Don’t want to intrude... "

"Would you like to stay for dinner and talk?" He called out hopefully.

"Thank you for the offer, but I'll be with Hiro-nii in my room." You purse your lips.

"I love you." He said once more. There was no room for hesitation in his voice.

You paused, temples throbbing heavily from the onset of a headache. Too many thoughts raced through your head and not all of them were good.

"I don't know what you heard the other day, but I will never take in any concubines. You're my one and only, Angel."

You only half believed him right now, his words going in one ear and leaving through the other. ‘People can lie. He is capable of lying.’ your shitty brain just makes every situation sound worse each time. This type of negative line of thinking was so unhealthy.

He must have understood your thoughts.

"My love please," he's begging you now. You turn to him, face full of confusion and hurt. You opened your mouth, and thought better.

This wasn't the best time to run your thoughts.

"I’m sorry for being in a really bad headspace right now. Are you willing to wait for me?" This time it was you who asked him this. Noritoshi studied your face before nodding. “That’s okay. As you have with me, I will do the same with you.”

You sucked a deep breath, eyes watering. “I’m scared.”

“It’s okay to be scared, we are just kids. We aren’t supposed to bear the weight of saving a nation this early on.”

“I don’t want to lose anyone anymore.”

“You won’t. We won’t.”

“I’m sorry for being such a pain. I know we need to talk about all of this, eventually.” You couldn’t help the whimpers that came out of your mouth.

“I love every bit of you. Even if you're like this… No... Because I understand how you feel. You have a right to be angry, because I held back a lot of things from you. But that doesn’t mean I don’t miss you or love you.” He carefully put out a palm facing up, allowing you to make a choice. You slowly put your hand over his.

“For real?” you whispered so quietly, he had to strain his ears to hear you.

“For real. Since when have I lied to you?”

‘Not once.’ you numbly thought.

Who knew a man could be so delicate. He held your hand lightly, not daring to squeeze it. Just a sign of openness and faith. He lowered his head towards you, eyes hooded.

You shivered as his lips brushed against the back of your hand. Soft, warm and plush. Like the first time he kissed you on the cheek. Shaky yet loving.

"Get some rest then, good night." You left the room.

He wondered if you still loved him now. Gone were the nights you soundly slept in his arms. He could barely pull himself together as he readied himself for dinner and bed.

Back in your room, you sobbed into your pillow. It hurts so much, because your faith in Noritoshi isn’t what it used to be. You wish for yourself to trust him like you did before. It’s frustrating.

There are times you wish you never heard that conversation. But that means staying ignorant to his familial affairs which won't do you any good in the long run.

Love is painful. Love feels like you've filled your lungs with water and you can't breathe. Sometimes it's like that icy inhale of the cold morning air on the winter solstice.

But it also keeps you going. The warmth of being in Noritoshi's arms earlier was more than enough to convince you to stay.

Blood Bound: Table of Contents

[tiptapricot]

Give Me Markael Headcanons 🤲

Hee hee hee yessir >:-) (though it doesn’t have to be, this is generally set in a the boys live post movie setting, or at the very least an amiable post vampire reveal AU)

Things start, unsurprisingly, because Marko is bored

He’s craving someone to pick on and fuck with, and Michael presents the perfect opportunity to do so

Marko comments on his looks, his hair, teases him about his music and fashion tastes, even jumps on his back to mess up his hair or interrupt a conversation, and Michael responds with gruff annoyance or short comebacks, or a harsh shove away

It’s a push and pull kind of dynamic (sometimes literally), ranging from playful to genuinely rude, and it stays the status quo for several months

(Implied sexual content under cut)

Marko even goes after Michael without the boys around, pops up at his house and follows him around the boardwalk to get an early jump on that night’s round of torment

It’s absolutely excessive, and would drive anyone up the wall, but the strange thing is that after awhile, Michael starts reacting less and less, until he’s just absentmindedly nodding along while he does his own thing. He stops being bothered to a weird degree, almost like no one’s there, and that frustrates Marko

Because if he can’t get a rise out of Michael, what’s the point? Where’s the fun in it?

Eventually he gets so worked up that he bursts

“What the hell is wrong with you? You can’t just ignore me, Mikey. You can’t pretend I’m not talking, say something!”

And infuriatingly, incomprehensibly, Michael still maintains his cool. He quirks an eyebrow, shrugs, and says he doesn’t see what the big deal is. “I just stopped caring. I mean you’re not really an asshole,” he reasons, “so why should I be mad?”

And that… Marko doesn’t know how to respond to that. Because… what? He is an asshole. He definitely is. Right? He hasn’t been nice to Michael by any stretch of the imagination, so what the hell is he talking about?

When Marko fails to respond, Michael puts his hands in his pockets and goes to do his own thing on the boardwalk, leaving Marko behind thoroughly confused and even more frustrated than before

No one has ever responded to him like that. No one has just decided… not to go along with his game of cat and mouse, just brushed him off like it was the obvious choice, and he doesn’t know… why. It doesn’t make sense, and he doesn’t know why it’s so offputting

He’s quieter around Michael after that. He still seeks him out and follows him around, but instead of making the usual jabs he just… examines him

They sit on the beach together, and walk around town, and bum around in Michael’s front yard, and talk. Well, Michael’s really the only one that talks. Marko asks the questions, and then trails after him like a curious cat, listening to the answers

At first he’s trying to figure out the why from before, harder and more quizzical, but somewhere along the way that goal goes out of focus. The questions become less about solving something and more about hearing about Michael’s life, about hearing his voice, about seeing him every night

Eventually Marko starts tentatively asking things about his family, his parents, and there’s always this feeling of unfinished-ness hanging between them afterwards, this knowledge that Marko wants to say something too, but just never does. He listens instead, keeps his mouth shut, and listens

And that should be fine, he should be fine with that. Marko tells himself so, over and over. He chews on the loose threads of his glove and listens, focuses on the way Michael smiles when he talks about Sam or Lucy, or on how his voice deepens to something hard and unsteady when he talks about his dad. He tries to focus on Michael, even as something creeps under his skin, wriggles into his fingers and his legs, tense and expectant, edging on panic

This isn’t going to last, he realizes. It can’t. It’s been too long, too easy, that’s not how things work. Something is going to go wrong soon, Michael will get bored or angry or something

Marko stops being able to focus on what Michael says when they meet, too busy listening for a change in tone or topic, for a sign that the gentleness has run out

It’s going to. It has to. Gentleness never lasts for Marko

One night Michael pauses mid sentence and Marko stiffens. “Hey, do you—” he begins, and there, that’s it

Marko snaps into action, adrenaline spiking, and in the next second Michael’s lips are smashed against his own

There’s a moment where they stay suspended, where neither of them move and Marko knows his heart would stop if it was still beating, but then Michael melts into him with this sweet little sound and there are hands working under his jacket and—yes this is much more familiar, this is easy, Marko doesn’t have to think about this

He slips out of Michael’s room before sunrise, something heavy in the pit of his stomach that he tries desperately to ignore

They go on like that for awhile, no more talking, just touching, until one night Michael stops Marko before they can start and doesn’t let him continue

“Hey… what’s going on with you,” he asks, and there’s that gentleness again, that strange strange gentleness that Marko knows is earnest because that’s how Michael is. But why now why… here? Is this not good enough either?

If so what does Michael want?? He ignored Marko’s jabs and insults, he hung around with him seemingly without expecting anything in return for months, and now he’s not satisfied with something physical either. And Marko is dumbfounded

He leaves again, wordlessly, and tries to mull things over on his own, but he’s right back to the why, and he still can’t figure that out. It makes no sense

The others can see he’s worked up, Dwayne and David keep exchanging those glances, and Paul tries to reach out but Marko’s to snippy and tired to explain

That night he confronts Michael again, this time about all of… whatever they have right now, about what he wants, and it ends up just being a long, long, talk

Michael doesn’t want anything, as it turns out. Well, he wants Marko, but he doesn’t want him to be anything. He just likes him. Likes having him around, likes doing things with him

It’s a strange thing to hear

By the time they’re done, by the time they’ve talked through more than Marko thinks they have in the last year, the horizon is tinged red and there’s a new hole in the edge of his glove

Michael gets him too much, he thinks. They both have shitty parental experience, they both crave people and contact and belonging, sometimes to a destructive degree, and they’re both much too connected to their human lives to fully relate to any of the boys

That’s one of the bigger things. Even though Paul has technically been a vampire for less time than Marko, he still doesn’t have the same ties to his human life, doesn’t have the same baggage Marko does

With Michael Marko can actually talk about it. He gets it, he gets the grey areas and the gives and takes and the blurred lines, he gets that even if things sucked there’s still that want to go back to it, a need to keep it with you

Marko hasn’t had that in so long

It’s those spaces that are filled with each other that make their relationship, though, and that’s mutual. Michael grounds Marko, makes him slow down, remember, process, yes, but in return, Marko helps Michael let go

He drags him into races along the highway, teases him and flirts with him, kisses him in public and stands too close and casually touches him in ways that make him blush and sputter

Marko gives him an escape, gives him a place where he can forget his responsibilities for awhile and just have fun

They both provide balance for the other. Michael brings Marko back to himself, reminds him he’s not just Marko the vampire, that life isn’t all about adrenaline and parties, and Marko gets Michael out of his own head, reminds him he doesn’t always have to be perfect and responsible, doesn’t always have to be the big brother or the reliable son

There’s a giddiness to their relationship, innocent and recklessly cynical at the same time

Marko’s torment morphs into a love language, they get drunk and dress up in stolen clothes, break windows and lay on the beach with their feet in the water, howl on the highway and whisper against each other’s throats, excited for every moment no matter how fast or slow

That duality permeates every part of their relationship, it’s excitement spilling into closeness, sparks melting seamlessly back into embers, a mix of dark oranges and blues and reds

It’s a taste of newness that still feels familiar, and it’s exhilarating in its rightness, in it’s closeness, in its awkwardness, and in its gentleness

And, against all odds, it lasts this time

Headcanons masterpost

[thetwistedargent]

“  don’t be so dramatic.  ”

[ So, I just took this prompt and RAN with it. There will ABSOLUTELY be a part 2 of this fic. Hope this gets you all hot and bothered. ]

Elizabeth Keen. Fugitive. Criminal. Murder. Ex FBI Agent. finds herself very tipsy at some sleazy bar with an even sleazier man. He reminds her of Tom, of familiar, of a life that doesn't even seem like it was once hers. She needs to be forget who she, at least for tonight. This is her escape.

Of all the absolutely utterly stupid and reckless things she’s done recently—including trying to blow him up in a hospital— this is the dumbest, Red thinks to himself.

It wasn’t easy finding her, but when he did there she was, all vulnerable and exposed (literally, if she bends over he’s positive he’ll be able to see everything). She was stupidly drunk--or at least on her way to being there--and dressed in the shortest dress silver sparkly dress he’s ever seen.

And fuck him, if it's not the most erotic scene he's ever seen.

He watches his would-be assassin in utter shock and horror—and maybe even slight arousal— until he sees an unfamiliar hand slide up her thigh while her tongue disappears into some stranger’s mouth who looks just enough like Tom that he wants to throw up. And he’s had enough.

He strolls right up to her, yanking her hard by the arm and off of the started strangler who takes one look at Red’s murderous face and runs for the hills. At least this one is smarter than the last one.

“What the hell are you doing?” He admonishes, forgetting for a minute that they’re engaged in his deadly cat and mouse game where she’s trying to destroy him.

Well, if this was her plan all along, then she’s definitely succeeding because now they’re both out in the open and exceptionally vulnerable and all he can think about is how that pitiful excuse for a man thought he was worthy enough to touch her like that.

“What’s wrong? Did I make daddy angry? Should I have asked for daddy’s permission?” She practically spits at him, her words full of anger and bitterness.

She boldly steps closer to him until their chests are pressed against each other.

“Elizabeth” he warns. They’ve had this conversation before.

It never ends well.

“Oh, wait, you aren’t my father.... or my boyfriend for that matter. I don’t know who the fuck you are! It’s none of your business what or who I do in my spare time.”

He's jaw twitches as she confirms his darkest suspicions about how the night would have ended had he not intervened.

She's obviously seemed to forget the war she’s waged on him. Maybe the dirty bar they’re in acts as a sort of de-militarized zone.

Red grips her arm tighter, no doubt it’s going to leave a nasty bruise. She winces in pain, but doesn’t back off.

“You’re playing a very dangerous game, sweetheart.” He can taste the vitriol in his own words.

“Oh, am I?” She teases defiantly. “I think you’re the one who’s playing with fire here.”

“Mhmm, and why is that?” He says with a hint of curiosity in his voice.

“All this time, you’ve been in control, been able to control me, but not any more.”

A smirk spreads across his face just before he slams her against the cool brick wall, pinning both her wrists against the wall with a bruising grip. His entire body presses against her, holding her in place.

“Does it look like you’re in control here, Elizabeth?”

Even as his grip tightens around her wrists, she lets out a chuckle.

“No, but it certainly feels like it.”

She moves her hips just enough to be able to slightly grind against his erection that’s pressed into her.

He swallows hard.

“You’re not as in control as you think you are.” She teases.

His jaw twitches angrily. She’s right. He’s blinded by his jealously, throbbing cock, and that fucking dress.

He leans in and whispers against her ear with his hot breath. “Don’t be so dramatic. I could easily snap your neck right now without you ever seeing it coming. I could drag you out of here and end this little charade of yours by locking you up in some hole where you would never dare challenge me again, or…”

Two things they both knew he would never do.

“Or you could shut the fuck up and actually do something besides talking in circles over and over again without really saying anything at all. And let’s be real, Raymond, you and I both know that you’re not going to do a damn thing to me.”

“My patience only extends so far. You need to be taught a lesson for what you’ve done. Going behind my back. Working with that she-devil. Stealing my money. Having me locked up and almost executed. Trying to kill me!”

Lizzie licks her lips at his words. She's quite proud of her work, and even more proud of his reaction.

A smirk spreads across Red’s face, a slight realization forming in his mind.

“Is that what this is all about? Was daddy not giving you enough attention? Do you want to be punished like the rebellious little girl you are?”

Liz turns her head to the side in defiance away from his gaze, but she can’t hide the telltale sign of her cheeks flushing with arousal.

Red takes the opportunity to shift so that he’s holding both of her hands with only one of his.

He presses his face against her neck and drags his teeth against her skin. He can feel Liz’s breathing hitch against his body. He knows exactly what he’s doing to her, and he’s just getting starting.

He quickly shoves a hand between their bodies and under her sinfully short dress.

“Tsk, tsk, Lizzie. No panties and dripping wet. What am I going to do with you?” Red asks as he slides his fingers, already covered in her wetness, against her clit over and over again.

Lizzie let’s out a soft groan. Her body shivers against his. Still, she doesn’t say a word.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart, I’ll give you exactly what you need.” He growls deviously before jerking his hands away just as he finds a rhythm she seems to enjoy.

Before Liz even has time to process any of it, he’s dragging her by her arm towards Dembe and the Black Mercedes that’s waiting in the alley for them.

The look on Red’s face is the only warning Dembe needs to not say a single word.

“I’m not going any-“ Liz starts to protest, but is quickly silenced by Red yanking the door open and tossing her in the backseat with her legs facing the car door.

He climbs into the backseat and is immediately on top of her as soon as the door shuts behind them. His hands go straight to her thighs to push up her dress and reveal the delicious flesh it barely covers.

“Red!” She says with a groan of annoyance mixed with arousal and slight embarrassment, especially knowing that Dembe is driving.

“Shut up, Elizabeth.” He commands in a voice that sounds more like a growl than anything else before shoving his face between her legs and devouring her dripping wet pussy."

[tobiosmilktea]

the love club — miya atsumu

ten: eye for an eye

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a/n: i haven’t written anything in ages so my writing is trash rn, but hopefully atsumu and y/n being cute will make up for not updating two days ago 👉🏻👈🏻

you could’ve sworn you had told atsumu to come exactly at 6:30 pm, sharp. any later, you would’ve left the cafe the moment your shift ended without a single text to inform him that your patience was waning. you figured that was most likely going to happen considering a little birdy told you that inarizaki’s volleyball team was going through their hell week as nationals was just around the corner.

at least, that’s what you thought was going to happen.

if anything, miya atsumu himself arrived thirty minutes before the time given to him. it was enough to cease your stirring suspicions of him being late and a good enough excuse not to see his smug face, but the unfortunate tides have come across and drenched you in ill-fate—all gross and a bit powdery too at this point.

“there’s a handsome boy waiting outside for you, (y/n).” matsui-sensei, the owner and head baker of pink elephant cafe, not to mention your boss announced as he barged into the kitchen, all loud and boisterous.

despite being nearing his thirties, your boss still acted childish from time to time as there was an notion of implicate suspicions in his tone with that smirk he wore on his lips, his imagination running wild as a boy never really asked for one of his best bakers (not to mention the prettiest) attention before.

you swiftly hid your phone in the back pocket of your jeans as you let out a sigh, “tell him i’m not here.”

“it’s a bit too late for that,” says matsui, adjusting the red bandanna tied around his forehead to pull back his growing black curls and to catch his sweat. “he told me that your meeting with him was important so i said him that i’m letting you off your shift early.”

“why the hell would you do that?” your voice raised a few octaves, but hopefully not enough to travel through the kitchen doors and into the bakery.

matsui held his hands up in defensive and he throw you a playful smile, “listen, i think i’m doing  you a favor, kid, considering that i’m pretty sure you haven’t even had a boyfriend yet.”

your eyebrows furrow in annoyance as you threw the rag you were using to clean the tables at your boss, yet he caught it before it could slap him straight on the face. “what makes you think this guy’s gonna ask me out, we’re literally just working on a project together.”

“trust me, (y/n), my intuition’s ringing.”

“unbelievable,” you scoff and you roll your eyes again.

“seriously though,” he continues as you make your way towards one of the blast ovens. the sweet aroma of blueberry muffins swiftly greeted your senses as you pulled it out with your mitted-hand, “you literally run a love advice hotline and never been in a relationship. don’t you think that’s a bit weird?”

you let the question simmer a bit as you didn’t bother to let the tray of muffins cool the full five minutes and you immediately attempted to pull them out of their metal molds. “not as weird as a grown ass man asking a couple of teenagers love advice.” you shot back, recalling how just over a year ago matsui had found out your other job.

the story was quite the funny one, actually, but long story short—you had forgotten to turn off the love club notifications during work and being the nosy boss he was, he ended up seeing his instagram handle right on your phone screen. there was certainly no way of excusing yourself from it as you ended up telling him everything. in the end, he didn’t mind as he was now engaged.

“hey!” his exclaimed, distracting you from carefully pulling out the muffins as you hissed out in pain. the tips of your fingers burned from the scorching heat of the freshly baked tray, appearing crimson and sore to the touch. matsui was too caught up in making a snarky comeback to even notice your quiet yelp of pain. “we don’t allow slander in this establishment, kid, now go before i fire you.”

you snort playfully at his words and you untied your flour-coated apron, hanging it up on one of the hooks near the doors before leaving the kitchen and into the bakery.

a deep sigh left your lips as you gently apologized for almost bumping into one of your coworkers who was making their way to get a customers order. the cafe wasn’t too busy, but was lively enough to certainly keep the employees on their toes. you almost felt bad for leaving your shift so early.

your eyes scanned the array of tables and chairs with slight fatigue before they landed on a familiar boy’s obnoxious blonde.

his broad back was towards you as he was slightly hunched over, probably from texting. you made your way over to him as you spoke over his shoulder, “you’re here early.” your tone was flat and uninterested as you watched his eyes widened the moment he met your gaze.

“hi,” was all he could say as you sat across from him.

you let out a huff as there was a stupid look on his face to which filled you with the urge to just deck him right on the nose to wipe that expression off his face, and yet, the feeling was suddenly replaced with a feeling too foreign for you to identify as he smiled a toothy grin at you.

oh god, help me now.

in the end, you and atsumu had actually gotten a lot of work done in two hours. considering that you were just a conclusion away from finishing, you were genuinely surprised you only had three urges to fight this man the entire time.

you supposed it was the way atsumu almost seemed like he was in a rush, a mere kick in his step as he started typing away at his document in speed. it almost left your mouth gaping and your eyebrows furrowing in confusion how well this man multi-tasked from doing his work while maintaining a conversation with you. granted, they were quite the strange topics from who would die in a zombie apocalypse first (to which you said that you’d feed atsumu to the zombies in a heart beat) then jumping straight into both of your plans in the future after graduation.

as you two took in each other’s entertaining quips of stories and random tidbits that for once, you found yourself enjoying atsumu’s company rather than hating each waking moment of it.

but, you were obviously known for not being the most talkative in terms of your lack of wanting to overshare information about yourself that would most likely turn into some kind of self-imposed altercation. you simply sat there, adding small grunts of agreements, surprised gestures, and the occasional witty retort to match atsumu’s playful behavior.

some time along those two hours, matsui came by and dropped off a bowl of berries by your table that atsumu liked to steal. he would think that his quick hands would go unnoticed as he swiftly snatched at your snacks, but unfortunately for him, it’s as if he hadn’t known that you did in fact notice.

there was only two berries left in the bowl and knowing atsumu’s greedy ass, you gently placed your hand to rest on the brim of the bowl, waiting a few beats to past for atsumu to reach his hand out again only for you reach out at the same time.

“dude!” the setter exclaimed as you grabbed the last ones, “not fair, (y/n).”

you could only hold yourself back from a melting smirk as you only popped one of them in your mouth, “stealing the majority of the food is rude, miya.”

“as if getting them before i could is any better,” he retaliated. 

a breathy chuckle had escaped your lips as you held out to last berry for him to take. it was the one time you were actually going to be nice to this guy and yet he hesitated to even take it the moment his gaze fell upon your extended hand.

“are you gonna take it or not?” you say with a bit more authority.

however, you were immediately taken aback and atsumu grabbed your wrist and pulled it closer. the berry in the palm of your hand had fallen back into the bowl below as the boy before you looked at your red fingers. “did you burn yourself?” he asked gently, slight worry washing over his eyes as his gaze flickered back towards you.

you snatched your hand back from him as you shook your head, “it’s nothing.” you answer, taking your attention back towards the project in attempt to ignore the fact that your heart was suddenly racing much faster than before. you literally refused to meet atsumu’s eyes as you could feel the heat rushing towards your cheeks. having him see your slightly burned fingers was already embarrassing enough, seeing your tinted red cheeks wouldn’t have helped either.

your gaze that was locked onto your assignment swiftly flickered back towards him as you heard atsumu shuffle through his backpack to pull out a couple bandages. “i know it’s not much to help burns, but these bandages should at least protect them for the time being.”

three strips were slipped towards you as his a saccharine-sweet smile melted upon his visage. taking his offer, you took and placed one bandage at a time, slightly struggling with each finger until atsumu took the pleasure of helping you on the last one.

you felt your breath hitch in your throat as you noticed how his hands were great in size compared to yours. and despite being a volleyball player and assuming his hands would be rough and a bit calloused, they were much softer than you could’ve imagined.

perhaps you hated the way your urge to punch the living daylights out of atsumu suddenly morphed into a heart beat punching the living daylights out of your ribcage.

“thanks for the last berry, (y/n).” he muttered as his hands left yours and popped the last piece of fruit in his mouth.

oh god, please help me now.

fun facts! —

matsui is a family friend so he had known y/n since she was a kid. he ended up hiring her the moment she turned 15 (they even have a handshake cause they’re homies)

akaashi, kenma, and tanaka have never actually been to pink elephant cafe and they’ve been trying to visit for the longest time

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