#and that's before all the damn fees lmao

[kleinewahines]

I'm back from my trip (i've BEEN back since last Tuesday) but I'm currently dealing with Some Bullshit Medically and also I'm involved in my synagogue's choir. Can you believe the High Holy days are almost here again? I swear I was saying Shana Tova just last month. Now I'm going to be saying it again lmao

[julysn]

random kyle headcanons

(these r my hcs + only one is nsfw)

ship: kyle broflovski x reader

general warnings: hi

other notes: this is such a mess

a/n: this is me using the hours of sp i binged during the summer to good use

FOR SOME FUCKING REASON I THREW IN UNWIND AU. AND GENSHIN AU SOMEONE HELP ME.. Me when i combine all of my fixations.

anyways if ur curious about those.. check their wikis

.𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚ high school hcs ✶ 𓏲ּ ꩜ .ᐟ

✶ ࣪˖࿐ he's the kid thats super smart and kinda quiet and no one wants to mess w him except cartman. sosososo helpful and kids are always asking him for help on assignments

✶ ࣪˖࿐ GOOD FIGHTER.

✶ ࣪˖࿐ his idea of rizz is helping his crush with picking up their books and helping them out with homework

✶ ࣪˖࿐ all the teachers adore him so he can get away with skipping class and using his phone whenever he feels like it. it’s actually kinda rare to see him on his phone in class or skipping but it’s mostly bc of the boys 🤷‍♂️

✶ ࣪˖࿐ basketball team captain + he’s one of the best players in the school.

✶ ࣪˖࿐ one time cartman made fun of kyle and said "tolkien shouldve been captain bc hes black and ur just a stupid jew" during basketball practice and kyle "accidentally" shot a ball at his face. he didn’t get in trouble bc the teachers were like “oh cartmans prob lying” LMAOO

✶ ࣪˖࿐ he would buy u girl scout cookies,. he would only buy ur favorites and make stan and kenny sneak them into ur backpack during passing period.

✶ ࣪˖࿐ when he has a crush on u.. you will somehow be brought up in conversations w his friends. whenever he’s changing in the boys locker room he always finds a way to mention you to stan and kenny. meanwhile cartmans like “who cares” but kyle will talk about u a LOt!

✶ ࣪˖࿐ when u got assigned to sit next to him, he’s always helping you out (bf material) (i love him)

✶ ࣪˖࿐ passes notes to u to make sure u understand the subject. they read like “hey, you understand what to do, right?” or “you know what we’re learning about, right?”

✶ ࣪˖࿐ 100% mews during class. thats why hes so quiet. he doesn’t put his hand up for questions bc hes mewing!

.𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚ ur husband + baby daddy hcs ✶ 𓏲ּ ꩜ .ᐟ

sorry amab fans.. HERES A UTERUS (and tits) LMAO

✶ ࣪˖࿐ whenever the baby wakes u up in the middle of the night hes like "no. GO BACK TO SLEEp" and goes to comfort the baby for twenty minutes while u drift off

✶ ࣪˖࿐ HES SUCH A GOOD DAD UGH

✶ ࣪˖࿐ sometimes he wants more kids bc of how sweet u are. like he’ll see you playing with the kids and his mind will wander off to how it’d be if you were pregnant again

✶ ࣪˖࿐ you were insecure about your breasts getting bigger and heavier and he reassured u and said he would love u no matter what (even if u were a worm aahhaahhha..)

✶ ࣪˖࿐ “sweetheart do you want me to pick up the kids from school? i’ll buy us food”

✶ ࣪˖࿐ SO DAMN SWEET

✶ ࣪˖࿐ ur kids are now 12 and 13 years old. and one day kyle got kenny to babysit them. lets just say when u came home they were saying not very pg things LMAOO

✶ ࣪˖࿐ whenever he helps the kids with their homework he pulls out his reading glasses and they’re low on his nose and you find it SO cute.

✶ ࣪˖࿐ he wakes up before u because his shift starts earlier, and whenever u wake up there’s always a hot shot of espresso waiting for u

✶ ࣪˖࿐ typa dad to be chill and lenient but whenever hes mad at the kids… dear lord !

✶ ࣪˖࿐ whenever ur stressed from the kids or work, he always prepares a relaxing and hot bath for you. and he goes all out. dimmed lights, lit candles, rose petals everywhere, a perfect bubble bath with your favorite scents. you can tell he’s obsessed + in love and hes not afraid to show it

✶ ࣪˖࿐ affectionate and sweet. he will do anything for u. he cooks dinner for u. he makes coffee in the morning for u. he takes the kids out so u can have a break. you’re his one and only

.𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚ genshin au hcs ✶ 𓏲ּ ꩜ .ᐟ

✶ ࣪˖࿐ either dendro or geo vision. i dunno

✶ ࣪˖࿐ polearm or sword user 😜

✶ ࣪˖࿐ I FEEL LIKE HE WOULD BE FROM FONTAINE OR SNEZHNAYA IDK THO

✶ ࣪˖࿐ would either hate the fatui or b one of the harbingers

✶ ࣪˖࿐ are we seeing the vision guys

✶ ࣪˖࿐ got put into the slammer/fortress of meropide and didn't know how to use credit coupons so he accidentally gave all of them to someone (and was really mad after he found out what credit coupons were)

✶ ࣪˖࿐ you’re a receptionist at the fortress. and when u first met kyle he tried flirting w u (his rizz was absolutely horrible AT THE Start) and u were like “stop. stop holding up the line mr. broflovski” and he said “of course not, mrs broflovski” and shot u a cheeky wink (hes using his redhead jewish rizz)

.𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚ unwind au hcs ✶ 𓏲ּ ꩜ .ᐟ

this is a mess. i'm sorry.

✶ ࣪˖࿐ he 100% tried to pull the akron awol/connor lassiter shooting a juvey-cop with his own tranq gun move. (it probably worked)

✶ ࣪˖࿐ omg. scenario where you guys find out u both are getting unwound so u both kick awol and go to a safe house and he acts slightly possessive and jealous of u because he doesn’t wanna lose u 💘💘

✶ ࣪˖࿐ he would ABSOLUTELY hate hayden when they first meet. but they would be friends later on. this is canon bc i said so and i am always 100% true (not clickbait)

✶ ࣪˖࿐ you guys def met at the graveyard and he was head over heels for u. like head flew away from yo heels. he saw u in the crowd when the admiral was giving his speech and kyle went BRIGHT RED

✶ ࣪˖࿐ the both of u are at the graveyard. and ur a medic. and kyle purposely gets bruises or tiny, practically painless cuts so he can visit and be like "hi y/n 😓😣 can u take care of me it hurts" BOY ITS JUST A LITTLE CUT! but u care about him so u do it anyway. he’s always blushing a little whenever you take care of him and u always shoot him glares which he finds to be super endearing

✶ ࣪˖࿐ les by childish gambino plays in ur head as the two of u meet in a harvest camp bathroom and he says "i love u." and then kisses u deeply. and then he says "if we get unwound i hope our parts end up on the same body" and u shed a tear

✶ ࣪˖࿐ THIS IS SORTA ANGSTY. OKAY. kyle gets unwound and while the procedure is happening all he can think about is u. like he’s sad he didn’t get to confess to you before they took him away and he wishes he told u how much u mean to him before he was dragged away to a harvest camp

✶ ࣪˖࿐ nsfw: when y’all were at the graveyard, u guys had sex in one of the jets while it was empty. best decision of ur life

✶ ࣪˖࿐ OMG TITHE KYLE. TITHE KYLE. HES A TITHE hear me out guys hear me out,..

✶ ࣪˖࿐ he would be the #1 radio free hayden fan (canon) (real) (i said so) (guys its real)

✶ ࣪˖࿐ him stan and kenny escaped a harvest camp and beat up the guards that chased them and they became literal legends

✶ ࣪˖࿐ harvest camp. and every time he sees u he gives u a kiss on the cheek when the staff aren’t looking.

✶ ࣪˖࿐ he wants to be affectionate w u SO BAD whenever u guys are at a harvest camp he can’t stop sneaking glances at you. and whenever he hears ur name get mentioned he immediately starts eavesdropping

✶ ࣪˖࿐ OMG OLAY I GOT ONE you guys met in sonia’s basement and it got cold at night so he let you sleep in his arms for warmth. and it was so cute. like you sat next to him and it was cold so you guys hugged and fell asleep (the other kids were jealous)

[dekusleftsock]

Before the leaks tonight, my main notes in the department of “Izuocha not gonna be canon next chapter” is that tsu and Izuku were repeatedly chosen and placed to be in the same, worrying attitude for Ochako’s distance/absence.

Tsu was such a good subtle detail for this chapter as well. That gay ass signaling on Izuocha was so good. Like “this is platonic! Her and Izuku worry over Ochako equally!” And damn Horikoshi you really highlighted, underlined, and bolded in big bright letters Lavender Marriage for these two lmao

My other main detail is the way that Ochako’s/Izuku’s feelings are presented.

Specifically with this last little caption (that isn’t there in the officials for some reason???) on the very last page—

Pika’s translation btw

Maybe y’all don’t get it bc you need it put into perspective: the very idea that there would be a “no ships ending” is… absolutely insane. The fact that it’s the main opinion as well is even crazier.

And to put it into perspective even more, the reason it’s a common belief has to come from the idea that Ochako’s feelings are simply unrequited. A “no ships ending” wouldn’t make sense without it. Do the people saying that realize that it’s what they’re saying? “No time” isn’t a good justification, he had the time, he just used it on… other characters instead. If you believe this, you’re making the argument that Ochako’s story is about unrequited love

This line “The girl’s hidden feeings, and as for deku—..”

I fully understand what the feelings are talking about (Himiko’s death, the respective villains even if they aren’t equatable, etc), but it’s the implications of the way it’s written. It’s presenting it as Ochako’s feelings… for Izuku. It then asks the question, “..DOES Izuku feel the same way?” Because I mean, does he?

Now, I don’t think we’re getting any sort of confession. I could say in detail as to why, but that would be more like repeating the same 5 posts on my feed all week.

Because ultimately, it won’t happen. It’s another bait and switch, like it always is. And Horikoshi knows this.

So that’s why it’s so amazing that this line is here, it’s teasing, almost. Like “Look! The straight relationship is on the horizon! Just follow the cookie! It’s totally where you think it leads..”, and then signaling the warning bells in your head that not everything is as it seems.

Why make Ochako break down crying? Why not confirm Himiko’s death? Why make all of this romantic heartache? Why make straight shippers hold their breath, and then lead them into this supposed security?

Why ask a question on feelings, if it’s supposed to be a given?

[cerealandchoccymilk]

Trigun Bookclub: Trigun Vol.1, Chapter #05

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CW: Some of my analysis in this post handles the topic of death and suicide (there will be a warning around that portion). There are also more spoilers than usual. Stay safe!

I’m doing a deep-read of the Japanese original print (reread) and Overhaul 1.0 (first read) side-by-side, and writing down everything I notice from small details, version differences, translation differences, etc.

As always, here are the silly silly non-analysis panels:

And the rest is under the cut >:)

[link for if the images aren’t in horizontal rows]

Milly and Meryl (especially Milly goddamn) rolling nat 20's on their perception checks. It really is scary how good their sixth sense is.

In the previous chapter, Vash asked for (and for a while was using) a 3rd class seat, but it looks like he asked for a grade-up or something to accomodate for Kaito.

A sort-of mistranslation - Kaito means that Vash talks as if he were someone from the Big Fall (because in that time period, there's no way any human from then would be alive), so it should be more like "You talk as if you were actually at the Big Fall, over a hundred years ago." The existing phrasing could also mean that, but this would make it less ambiguous. Also, I would replace his "I/my" statements with "we/our," since it's not specified and he assumes Vash is just a human that's talking weirdly.

This line is really interesting to me from a rereading standpoint. At this point, Vash's origins and age are still a mystery, and this is the first hint at it. Vash's expression makes me think that maybe he was reminded that no one other than him (+Knives+the people at the Home ship) is from that time period. To the overwhelming majority of people, No Man's Land is their only home; this life is all they know.

Don't have much to say about this one that's not in the image. Vash's pussy is out again. Excellent (horrible) form. Kaito is either a bit worried about how hard he fell, or he doesn't give a shit and is just nervous/cautious about the mission.

I love how over-the-top neon is. Smoking a firework!! Damn!!

A decent amount of lines from Neon and the BL gang (I'm going to call them that exclusively) are in katakana English.

I like how he says "maggots" in place of the...rude 3rd person pronoun (??)(that sounds kinda stupid in english lmao) Neon says something more like "It's about time that boy set everything up!!" referring to the small bombs he was putting in the vents.

His pose here reminds me of kabuki. I'm not sure about details, since I don't know much about kabuki... But it looks like a stereotypical kabuki pose. Another over-the-top point for Neon.

In Japanese, the first line has "reeking of manure" describing the wagons. For the "Big Man" in Japanese, the kanji for the sandsteamer (砂蒸気, usually ruby-ed サンドスチーム/sandsteamer) with the ruby note saying Big Man (ビッグ・マン). Also, the guy mentions that the chasing them off is part of the fee they paid.

More over-the-top-ness from Neon. In the Japanese version, the first line looks a lot like one of those super long German words to me lol (究極華麗弩級盗賊). The portion saying "The Bad Lads Gang!" in Japanese is pretty much just "Hhhhhheaaaddd!!!!" (as in leader).

The introduction for Neon actually has play on words/kanji. The word 降臨 (kōrin) is originally for Christ's coming or descent, usually used for any arrival of someone "godly" (fyi Japanese has a much more casual sense of godliness than in English). What it says here, though, is 光臨, which replaces the first hald with the character for "light" (also kō). How bright can this guy get!?

Did Kaito nicely go through the trouble of moving Vash onto the bed before venting? how... that's a grown man...

And here is Rem's first appearance!! Just now realized that her name is probably based off of REM sleep (the stage of sleep associated with dreaming). The two are wearing similar (but not the same) clothes, with Rem wearing a tucked t-shirt and jeans, and Vash wearing an untucked button-up and jeans. I'm not smart enough for this but there's gotta be something to analyze here along with the fact that Vash is an adult (the dream isn't entirely based on memory)... Also, this is the first time we see Vash in a casual outfit.

This may very well be me reading into things too much, but it stuck out to me that Rem is barefoot while Vash has sneakers on. I had two speculations about this. One is that Rem has been at that picnic for longer than Vash, and Vash just got (appeared...?) there. I'm not sure about Western picnic customs/etiquette, but in Japan, you always take your shoes off when sitting down on the tarp. Rem is the one that set the picnic up, but Vash hasn't had the chance to even take his shoes off. this sounds kinda stupid now that im typing it out. idek (throws computer out of window) [death/sui cw] The other, more messed up one is that it symbolizes Rem's death. This one is definitely more overanalysis-y!! It reminded me of what Reigen did during the final arc of MP100...iykyk. During the Great Fall, Rem willingly stayed on the ship to save humanity, sacrificing herself. I'll spare the details, but in Japanese culture, people often take their shoes off before committing suicide. It's a frequently used symbol in art that handles the topic. Rem being barefoot may be symbolizing her resolve at the time of her death, of being prepared to die if it means she can save one more person. [/cw]

did i write all that for a single panel. this aut really be isming OH MY GOD MY COMPUTER JUST RAN OUT OF BATTERY I HAD A HEART ATTACK. I FORGOT IT WASNT PLUGGED IN HOLY SHIT THANK GOD FOR AUTOSAVE.

This line of Vash's is also interesting. Is he viewing "people" from an outsider's perspective, as an independent Plant? Or is including himself in that, questioning the meaning of his own current life in the desert planet, too?

In Japanese. way he responded to Rem's giggling looked a bit childish to me, like he reverted a bit back to his childhood, or he's just being a more relaxed around Rem. mom........

Ok okokok. In Japanese, she (more literally) says "All I can muster/the best I can do is ask my heart [the destination] (read: what I can do)." This may be a translation correction but I honestly was not thinking about that at all during the annotation lol. I'm too sleepy to actually talk about the importance of this line and the way it's phrased. but you get it. you get it.........

Silly Vash face for the first time in a while!! Vash's reaction upon waking gives me the impression that this is the first time (in a long while, at least) that he's dreamed about Rem...? he looks so cute..........................help...................

And that’s it for Chapter #05! As always, the Japanese annotations are in the reblogs.

i know i'm getting very behind. theres absolutely no way im going to complete all this in real time with the book club. and all this stuff about rem is not helping. send help

[lizzie-is-here]

like the dawn

part xiv- the calm before the storm

“one day, you and i are gonna wake up and be alright. maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but one day. one day, i promise you” - fisher amelie

summary: you, steve, and bucky take refuge in wakanda. but the next steps of your recovery are daunting.

wordcount: 3.6k

warnings: trauma, nightmares, steve feeing excluded once more, a brief allusion to sexy time, cliffhanger lmao

a/n: ok so originally this was a 15-part series, but i’ve extended it to 20 lol. hope y’all are still enjoying! and like i said last time, this series will likely be put on a brief hiatus soon so i can write my christmas series/thing! love y’all so much 🤍🤍🤍

taglist: @whelvedfeelingsstuff @sebsgirl71479 @rebloggingmyrecs @babyblublossom @local-mr-frog @thenyxsky @capsiclesdoll @moonlightreader649 @saranghaey @almosttoopizza @itsivymusic

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Once everything was settled, it was decided that the next best move would be to go to Wakanda. A road trip could be saved until after you got deprogrammed.

T’Challa was more than welcoming, promising that you would be allowed to freely travel the streets of Wakanda once your treatments were finished, and going even further to offer you a safe home at any time.

And Wakanda really was a safe haven. They’d escaped the oppression so common in the rest of the world, and had truly flourished in their hiding place. It was magical.

You had thanked him profusely, and had been led to meet the princess.

Shuri Udaku’s reputation preceded her. She held a record for the highest IQ in the world, and at 18 was running an entire country’s technological developments. And she was damn good at it, too.

“This is my lab,” she’d said, waving an arm out. It was still clean and organized, but lacked the cold-stone sterility of HYDRA. Colorful art decorated the walls, and a few messy post-it notes clung to the tables and chairs.

All the while, Steve was discussing with T’Challa exactly how the treatments would work.

Both of you would be put under, cryo-tubes coming in handy once more, but during your sleep, they would work their magic.

Something about this place was special, and Shuri was confident in her ability to pluck every trigger word from your head in the matter of a few weeks.

She gave you some clothes to change into, and when you returned, clad in white, she sat you down on a table.

The doctors were patient and far kinder than any you’d experienced, even before HYDRA. They didn’t look at you differently, only made polite conversation and explained every move they made.

You appreciated their warnings. They’d ask before touching you, and moved your wings around with delicate hands.

Now, you’re awaiting the final preparations for the cryo-tubes. These, which Shuri proudly presents, will make the process much more tolerable.

Rather than being shoved into a dirty tube and frozen in a painful and shocking process, she promises that these will lower the temperature in intervals of 12, as well as pumping in some nitrous oxide to relax you.

You sit next to Bucky, leaning on him as a doctor checks his pulse.

“How do you think Steve’ll do?” you whisper. You should only be under for a month, but you know it won’t be easy for him.

Bucky shrugs. “I think he’ll be okay. Might cry a bit.” You elbow him lightly. “But he’ll be alright,” he adds.

The blond comes over to the two of you.

“I can hear you, you know? Enhanced hearing and all that.” He taps his ear. You smile, taking his hand.

“I’ll be fine, promise,” he says, kissing your forehead. He does the same to Bucky.

“You sure about this?”

The brunet sighs. “I can’t trust my own mind. We can’t.” He chuckles, a sad smile making its way onto his face. “So until they get this stuff out of our heads…”

“…Going back under is the best thing,” you finish. “For everybody.”

“Maybe not for everybody,” Steve mumbles, and you catch on.

“Shuri said it’ll only be about a month.” You run a thumb along his knuckles. “We’ll be back soon, Stevie.”

As the three of you hug, you hear Bucky whisper to him.

“You aren’t losing us again, punk. We aren’t going anywhere.”

The king and princess approach, seemingly reluctant to split the three of you up.

“The cryo-tubes are ready when you are,” Shuri states. Her tone makes it clear. You can still back out.

But your brain has no qualms about reminding you of exactly what happens when The Angel of Death and the Winter Soldier take the lead.

A brief flash of Steve, bloodied and dying in the burning helicarrier is all you need to make your decision.

“We’re ready.”

Your chamber is noticeably larger, another kind consideration by the Wakandan team. You climb in on your own volition, merely helped along when you struggle to turn around.

You exchange a glance with Bucky before you both nod.

Shuri readies a tablet, and slowly slides her finger across the screen. A soft hissing sound comes from all around you, and goosebumps cover your arms in seconds.

A light, floating feeling settles in your mind, and you can hear your heart slowing, slowing, slowing.

This time, it just feels like going to sleep. No breath being stolen from your lungs or screaming until you pass out. Your eyes slowly shut and the last things you see are your boys.

It’s the most quiet that your mind has been in 70 years.

———————————————————————

“I’m gonna lose it. Shit, what if something goes wrong, and they wake up as-“ Steve can’t even bring himself to think the words. He’s been pacing for what feels like forever. It’s been too quiet without you two, and when he finally couldn’t handle it, he gave in and called the team.

“They’ve come so far, and if they get set back… they won’t be able to live with themselves,” he rambles.

“Not to mention that I haven’t slept in bed alone in, what?” The blond captain counts the weeks. “Two months! Two months, and now they’re just-“

From the FaceTime call, Natasha’s eye twitches.

“Rogers,” she begins, exasperated beyond belief. “It has been. One. Hour.” She claps to emphasize her point. “They have been under. For. ONE. Hour.”

Ok, she has a point there. More than a point, honestly.

Steve knows he looks crazy. Probably is crazy. And it’s impossible to miss how the doctors glance worriedly at him every so often.

No, he hasn’t left the lab. The team is too nice to ask him to stop sadly staring at his best friends and lovers in the cryo-tubes.

“Get your star-spangled ass out of that lab, Cap,” Tony says through a mouthful of cereal. “You’re in the most technologically-advanced country in the world.”

Steve can hear Peter as the teen cuts in.

“Well, Mr. Stark, I don’t think he’s that interested in seeing more tech he isn’t familiar with.”

“Was that a burn?” Sam. “I’ll count it. You did good, kid.”

Steve can’t help but smile when they devolve into bickering, and the phone is forgotten on the dinner table shortly afterwards.

“Bye, guys, I’ll call again later,” he calls. A few people respond before he hangs up.

“Guess I should get out of here,” he says to himself.

You and Bucky look so peaceful, though.

Clad in white, Bucky looks so different. He’s stuck with dark colors, mostly to blend in but also out of habit. But the white looks good. It looks ethereal.

And as cliche as it is, the only word he can conjure up to describe you is angelic. The fluff of your feathers cradles you as you sleep. You’re so still. But you look content.

Steve’s never looked so stressed. He lost you both so long ago, and found you and lost you and found you all over again. He can’t handle this.

And it’s only been an hour.

———————————————————————

As talented as Shuri is, the super-soldier serum bests her tech occasionally.

Every so often, in intervals you aren’t sure of, you gain enough consciousness to hear through the cryo-sleep.

Most of the time, it’s just doctors taking notes, or Shuri mildly commenting about how she has to fix another “broken white boy”.

But today, you can hear Steve. No one else is around.

“Hey, (Y/N). Hey, Buck.” The sound of a stool being dragged over and a notebook being opened makes its way to you.

“I know I’ve been visiting all the time, but I needed to talk.”

“These past weeks have been hard. I… I miss you.” He pauses. “But Shuri’s been digging through those files you gave her. And some of the stuff in there…”

Steve wishes he hadn’t looked in that box. The detailed notes describing exactly how they broke you down and destroyed you until you caved.

They started with the experiments. Hours of being strapped to a table and injected with foreign needles.

Then they trained you. Taught you exactly where to strike to kill and where to strike to wound. How to use every weapon under the sun and exactly which ones did the most damage in your hands.

Then the brainwashing. That chair. Steve had to stop reading when the files began to describe how you’d screamed and begged to not go back into that room after your first session.

But you didn’t go down easily. You fought for twenty years. In and out of cryo-freeze, you fought them tooth and nail and gave them more hell than they had ever expected.

But they won. And now you ended up here.

“I just want to keep you two safe. And I know you don’t need it. But you did the same for me.”

“Captain Rogers?” T’Challa’s voice is far away, and even Steve’s voice is beginning to fade away.

You hear them leave, and then it’s just darkness again.

———————————————————————

It’s another two weeks -longer than predicted- when you’re taken out of cryo-freeze.

Bucky’s let out first, and Sam gets a sore stomach from laughing over the phone when the former assassin falls flat on his face getting out- right in front of the camera.

Your boys decide to not let you suffer the same fate, and are there to catch you when you realize that your legs don’t quite work right after a month and a half frozen.

Steve takes the role of mama bird in an instant. “How d’you feel, sweetheart? Wings sore? Want a blanket?”

You yawn, wings stretching and shaking off the little bits of frost that accumulated on them. “‘M alright. Tired. Cold.”

Bucky brushes away ice crystals, equally as cold but more concerned about you. “Let’s get checked out and then we can head outside, thaw out a bit?”

Shuri is speedy and gentle in her assessment. She moves around the lab with a distinct intuition of where every tool she needs sits. It reminds you of Tony.

She carefully extends your wing, maneuvering it slowly.

“These are amazing,” she gushes. “The way the lightweight bone grafts to the original, the feather pattern is-“

“Shuri,” T’Challa chides. She rolls her eyes with a smile, obliging anyway.

“Take it easy,” she says to you and Bucky. “Just because you’re super-soldiers doesn’t mean you can go throw yourselves at the nearest training room. Your bodies need time to recover, and so do your minds.”

“So, are they… gone?” Bucky asks. The Winter Soldier. The Angel. It’s almost too much to hope for.

The princess takes a deep breath before shrugging. “We won’t know until we can test the trigger words.”

At your visible apprehension, she holds out her hand.

“It will be done in a safe area, supervised by the Dora Milaje themselves. Two weeks from now should be plenty of time to recover.” She passes over two bracelets.

“Kimoyo beads. They will take you to your temporary home, allow communication, and really anything you need.” She proudly points to them.

You know she’s probably tired of how many times you’ve thanked her, but you do so anyways. Following her instructions, you, Steve, and Bucky begin to head through the city.

Steve watches the way you and Bucky interact with the crowd. He’s been treated with awe and prestige ever since he came out of the ice. People ask for his autograph and pictures.

The same people have only looked at you two with disdain.

But the people here aren’t afraid. They smile at you in the street and offer samples of food. A woman holds up a delicate lattice of gold chains, gesturing to your wings.

“I don’t have money, or anything to trade-“ you begin. She shakes her head and drapes it over the tops of your wings. It sits nicely, though probably designed for the shoulders. She shoos you away with a knowing grin.

“Look at you, all dolled up,” Steve laughs. You blush, shoving him.

“Oh, hush, Mr. Star-Spangled Man with a Plan. Get us home.”

The home in question is a comfortable hut. Far enough away from the city for some peace, but close enough to walk easily.

Inside, you find a small kitchen, a large bed on the wood floor, and a small shower and bathroom blocked off by a curtain. Despite the humble appearance, you find that there’s hidden tech in every corner.

The carved wooden sink runs with perfectly cold water, the small fireplace is in perfect condition. Even the curtain covering the entrance, upon further inspection, is found to be sewn with vibranium thread.

You lay down on the bed, sprawling out and shaking away the last chills. Your boys are quick to join you.

Steve lays beside you, while Bucky happily drops his head onto your stomach.

“Miss us, Stevie?” the latter asks.

“So much.”

At his tone, you pause. “You weren’t alone this whole time, were you?”

The silence that follows is telling.

“The team visited a few times,” he says, immediately jumping to do some damage control as the two of you frown. “But it was mostly just me.”

“I’m sorry,” you whisper, kissing his cheek.

“You’ve got nothing to be sorry about,” he promises.

Bucky fiddles with the kimoyo beads. “We’ll make it up to you.”

Extending a pinkie, you listen as the Border Tribe finishes up their evening patrol. They sound the horns, and silence follows.

Your boys link pinkies, and everything is peaceful.

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

———————————————————————

True to your word, you and Bucky spent the next few days making up your lost time to Steve.

Days were spent exploring Wakanda and its culture, and nights were spent huddled up in your hut, often with the curtains tightly shut and with hushed whispers exchanged in the darkness. Well, sometimes they weren’t exactly whispers.

The market was a common day trip, buying fruit or just frivolous items. You bought more jewelry for your wings under Steve’s encouragement, adorning a few of the ink black feathers with gold rings and charms.

But you wouldn’t use your powers. Besides healing a few bumps and bruises on the local kids that loved to play around the hut, you’d avoided casting even the smallest ball of light.

A part of you feared that, if you used them, it would awaken the Angel. The two were intertwined, in your eyes. One couldn’t happen without the other stirring to life.

You dreaded that two-week mark. So did Bucky. The few nights leading up to it were peppered with nightmares and restlessness.

“I can’t hurt anyone else,” Bucky had sobbed late one night, clinging to Steve as you prepared some tea. He’d woken all of you up in a violent nightmare, screaming and tangling himself in the covers. “I need to go back under, I-“

“What you need to do is breathe,” Steve had urged. “You’re alright. The Dora Milaje will be there, and they won’t let you hurt a fly. Besides, Shuri was almost sure her treatment worked.”

“I can’t trust ‘almost’,” he’d pleaded.

As you watched them, you’d had a moment of forgetfulness and had touched the searing kettle. Wincing, you flung your hand back, watching as the blistering receded in seconds.

Carefully lifting the teapot, you’d poured a cup and offered it to Bucky, running a hand through his hair.

“I know you’re worried, I am too.” Sighing, you plucked a bit of grass from your wing. “But we need to trust Shuri’s work. It’ll be ok. We can’t just go into cryo forever, love.”

It had been twenty minutes before you lulled him to sleep, and another thirty before Steve joined him.

But you’re too anxious to go to bed. Sneaking out of the hut, you stare out into the darkness. Some goats bleat, evidently disturbed by you.

“Oh, hush,” you whisper. “I’m just going for a fly.”

The goats don’t respond, blinking lazily. One bleats and bumps his feeding trough.

“No. The last time I got near you-“ You point at the goat, tone becoming accusatory. “-you tried to eat my feathers.”

He gives up, turning back to the covered area of his pen. Turning your focus back to the path in front of you, you stretch a bit, preparing for the flight.

You take a running start, barefoot as the soft earth slowly recedes from beneath you. Leaping up, you rise, powerful flaps propelling you skyward.

There’s no clouds tonight. Just stars and the bright lights of the city a bit of a ways away.

You veer towards the skyscrapers. It’s a few minutes before you’re in the heart of the city, narrowly turning between buildings and enjoying the cool air.

The lights dance in shimmering colors, and a few buildings have music pouring out of their doors. It’s lively, even this late.

You hear it before you see it. A soft thrumming from behind you. You flip over, slowing down until you’re upright.

It’s a hover bike, you think. When it gets closer, you recognize the rider.

“Princess,” you greet.

Shuri waves you off, chuckling at the formal greeting.

“You’re out late,” she comments.

“Could say the same about you.”

She shrugs. “Needed to clear my head. You, too?”

You nod. She leans on the handlebars, unfazed by the 300-foot drop.

“Are you nervous for tomorrow night?” The assessment. The trigger words.

“A bit,” you admit. “It’s not that I don’t trust you, or the Dora-“

“You don’t trust yourself.” You pause. She raises a brow.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” you say. “Bucky and I- we don’t want to hurt anyone. We’ve done enough of that.”

Instead of offering pity, or a sympathetic glance, Shuri nods.

“I get that. But it’s not your fault.” There it is. You’ve heard those words so many times. But it felt like you, you were there, so it had to be your fault.

The princess continues. “I don’t mean that just to make you feel better. I mean, mentally, psychologically, it wasn’t you.”

She presses the bike forward, fast enough for you to comfortably fly beside her.

“What do you mean?” you ask.

“The Angel of Death and the Winter Soldier aren’t you. You are your memories and experiences. Really, a person is their brain and consciousness. The body’s just a tool to keep you alive.”

“So, HYDRA took away the memories and experiences. They took away you. And in your place, they trained someone else with what was left. Just the fact that you’re worried about hurting people because that’s what the Angel did proves that you aren’t her.”

“I know you’ve heard it many times. I heard it when my Baba died. I’d thrown myself into my work, blamed myself for not creating a better suit for him.”

She lands the hover bike, and only then do you realize she took you back to the hut. The sun’s beginning to rise.

“But it wasn’t your fault. Really. Truly.”

You can’t come up with an argument. You chuckle, shaking your head. “You’ve got me there, Princess.”

She smiles. “I’ll see you soon?”

You nod. “Yeah. Tonight.”

And she’s gone. Speeding off far faster than her mother and brother would approve of.

“(Y/N)?”

Your boys are peeking out of the hut, confused and squinting in the growing light.

“Was that Shuri?” Steve asks.

“Yeah. Went for a fly, and she ran into me. Talked for a bit.”

You greet them both with a kiss, sighing into the feeling as the sun warms your feathers.

Bucky wraps an arm around you, clearly still just as worried as he was an hour or so ago.

“Tonight?” he asks.

You and Steve nod. There’s no postponing this, no outrunning it. Shuri was adamant that two weeks was the ideal period.

So two weeks it was.

———————————————————————

The trek up the hill was much worse than the weeks leading up to it. Rocky ledges offered little purchase, and moss caused your feet to slip every so often.

You used your wings to boost you and you went, charms jingling in your feathers. You’re accompanied by Ayo, an experienced Dora Milaje, and Steve.

The blond wasn’t supposed to join you. But she found it hard to deny his wounded puppy look when she tried to pull you and Bucky away.

“We’re nearly there,” Steve assures, traversing the steep rocks. You jump up a ledge, wings flapping wildly as you correct your balance.

There, in a clearing, is a campfire. It’s small, unassuming.

Ayo vaults up behind you with her spear. She gestures to the ground.

Once Bucky makes it up the hill, he sits with you. You take his hand, nodding in reassurance.

“Sergeant Barnes?” Ayo calls. “It’s time”

Bucky takes a deep breath, and you can practically feel the weight in his chest. His metal arm recalibrates, buzzing as the nerves fire rapidly.

“You sure about this?”

The warrior doesn’t back down. “I won’t let you hurt anyone.” Stepping closer, she begins.

“Желание, Ржавый, Семнадцать.” Her voice is quiet, but the words bury in your soul.

“It’s not gonna work,” Bucky whimpers. You almost reach for his hand again, but you know you have to let him do this.

Ayo pauses, but continues. “Рассвет, Печь, Девять, Добросердечный.”

You can see him struggling, fighting off the Soldier. When you glance over to Steve, he looks about ready to spring over and cover the brunet’s ears.

“Возвращение на Родину, Один, Товарный ваго.”

The last word is said, and it’s still Bucky in front of you. The exhale that follows his realization is broken, punctuated by silent sobs.

“You are free,” Ayo smiles.

Steve hurries over, embracing him and turning to you. You know it’s your turn. And if it worked for Bucky, it had to work on you, right?

Right?

[swampgallows]

i watched the defunctland fastpass video again the other day and while i do miss disneyland the new system sounds like hell on earth. im just grateful i got to rule that park during the golden years of the paper system. i know that park like the back of my hand and knew exactly which passes to get and when, and i was always "the runner" (grabbed everyone's tickets and ran to the kiosk to generate all the passes). one of the people in the comments was saying they had a relative who was such a good planner he actually sold customized itineraries to people and im like damn that coulda been me lmao.

late 00s/early 10s was a perfect time for me because they still had socal premium passes that were barely over 300 bucks (essentially a dollar a day), functioned as a parkhopper (no additional fee to go to dca), had free parking (i took the bus but it was a perk when someone drove), discounts on food/merch (another perk for out of towners), and zero blackout dates. during halloween season when they turned space mountain into ghost galaxy i went alone on the bus, got cocoa and stood in standby (with the benefit of being single rider), rode it and left. and with the combination of being in college and having a disney pass i was living in the high fantasy of the american walkable community. i walked where i could in the real city of course (to my detriment) but obviously at disney nobody was going to harass or mug you. it was my 'third place' for a long time, esp cause many other ravers and people in my friend groups had passes, or worked there and gave out freebies. i was never a mallrat as a teen but disney performed the same function in my college years. of course by the time i was set to graduate the price of the premium pass had more than doubled to $700+ before being eliminated altogether so it was only a short couple of years but man they were good. perfectly aligned

oh man and the crud muffin parties on top of that? the walk-up 24 hour taco bell? the carls jr inside the gas station??? there will truly never be a time like that again. i was ALIVE i was AUTONOMOUS i got to LIVE!!!!!!!!!

[kianavonna]

Been up crying to Janet Jacksons 'I get lonely'.

I was so busy crying I didn't notice a guy in the hostel came downstairs until he was in my line of sight. He asked me for help trying to figure out the scan code ID that lets us get back into the building if we leave after midnight. Through him trying to figure it out we found out all we need to do is touch it to the scanner outside. Sounds obvious but I was so afraid of getting locked out I never tried it.

Idk what I need.

Maybe a good night out? Maybe a night in the arms of a fellow nigga lol.

I made a deal with my mom. If my deposit back from my last apartment is less than I want it to be I'll get on the next thing smoking back to LA, even PA to live with her. We will see. I have a few more hours until the post office where I had that check sent opens up. I want to give Japan a chance but if I don't have any money in that check after maintenance fees are taken from the deposit, even if I fight it cause I know that will be bullshit, I will use what money I do have already and head back home to America. Even if I have to live in a damn shelter to go back home to the US lmao. I'll go back.

Edit 06/11/2024: welp call me shell shocked, I really did wind up in a damn shelter. Maybe it’s because it had been so long since I was homeless that I thought that wouldn’t seriously happen but sure enough yes it did. Everyone from back in the US I was cool with told me not to trust my mom, not to go back to her house. I wanted to believe I’d be different this time. No. But I will never trust her again, I don’t want her in my life again and she isn’t someone I consider a mother to me anymore. She had been furious with me for going, said it was dangerous and I was crazy for going, is abandonment in the U.S safer to navigate mom?

Looking back on this post though, I really did feel on the fence about staying even before my cousin passed. I couldn’t take the loneliness. Part of me wishes I’d stayed. But I’m here now back in the US. Gotta make peace with it being what it is. In regards to that, I guess I can’t blame her completely for convincing me to come back to the U.S.

Emotionally I was so scared I wanted to head back, I wanted someone to hold me and tell me everything will be okay. I missed her arms, I’ll never feel them again.

[styxnbones]

7 9 29 38, and also A and D abt cass!! <3 (also this is the not-couples ask meme if it wasn't obvi c':)

7.What triggers nostalgia for them, most often? Do they enjoy that feeling? Cass kinda has a weird relationship to nostalgia- I think I've mentioned before that she has the Eidetic Memory merit, so time doesn't cloud the less pleasant parts of her memories, it's all fresh in her mind like the day it happened. So to them, "nostalgia" is often a sort of uneasy or uncomfortable thing, and generally specific places are most likely to trigger it- like, for example, she might have to drive past her old middle school on the way to somewhere and be like "fucked up that this is a place that still exists"

9.Do they swear? Do they remember their first swear word? lmao. as evidenced above- yes Cass swears, and they do it quite a lot. They started pretty damn young too- they picked it up from their grandma, who used to vaguely keep an eye on them as a little kid since their mom couldn't afford daycare, and whose favourite word in the whole world is "fuckdamn" (or "damn fuck/fucking" or any combination thereof)

29.Do they usually live up to their own ideals? Cass' ideological framework can be summed up with a very simple and all-encompassing "I Do What I Want." and on a nightly-basis she does a pretty good job of sticking to that. There have been more than a few egregious breaches in the past, (the life of a fledgling is not one filled with a great many choices, and neither is the life of a human child), but they do their best to leave those behind them and not dwell on it.

38.What memory do they revisit the most often?  At any given time, the memory she's going over is probably whatever is most pertinent to her job- their incredible ability to perfectly recall anything they encounter allows them to operate their business on the guarantee of "no trace left behind" both in regards to the information gathered as well as ancillary communication and records keeping (unless of course a client wishes to pay an extra fee for the acquisition of original documents) But, as far as "fond personal memories" go, probably the first time they left the apartment after their embrace. Sitting at the very top of the building's roof in the dead of night, staring out at the moon and the busy city around them, breathing air as fresh as it gets in LA even though they haven't needed to for years.

A) Why are you excited about this character? Mostly I'm excited to just be giving them a new lease on life. I'm not usually the sort of person who will like "maintain" old ocs- like I played her, and that game ended so her story was Over, and in situations like that I rarely think about those characters much ever again. But, in Cass' case, I stumbled across her old character sheet and backstory and some of my notes from the chronicle and realized that there was still a lot of good stuff there, and a lot more good stuff that I remember wanting to include in her story that I wasn't able to at the time, and I wanted to see what she would have been like if I could have. So now, even though I'm not in any active chronicles, I get to have the fun of reinventing her to show off to all my cool vtm mutuals.

D) Have they always had the same physical appearance, or have you had to edit how they look? Basically the only thing that's really changed about her visually since I rebooted her was that I now imagine her as just sort of like an average weight for her height, instead of the rail-thin anime-character looking physique I drew her with when I was 12

[dearestsilhouette]

yet again writing practice because I have motivation (so I shall use it)

also this is a remake of another thingy I made in the past!!!! :3 it’ll be linked here <- !!

tws just in case:

implied death

useage of heavy duty firearms / guns (usage: to threaten and murder)

physical violence

also this is fairly long in comparison to some other writing stuffs I’ve made lmao

.

.

.

And so I ran.

I just…ran and ran on.

I’ve wanted this endless eternity to end since the start of everything, and that damned exit door was my main priority. My escape from the hell that was previously Earth…

I’ll be able to leave.

I’ll be able to see her.

I’ll be able to see Tennis again.

I’ll be able to-

My train of thoughts were quickly cut off as soon as I got to the door with a violent shove to the tiled marble floor.

It hurt a lot more than I thought it would, both mentally and physically.

“Ooooh Kiara…Kiara, Kiara Kiara. Karma catches all~!” Another figure would happily emerge from the bright, blinding light of the exit door before it slammed shut.

This other person, if you could even call them that, looked…odd. Off from the rest of what I’ve seen.

They kind of looked like that Allie person I’d encountered at the library (or, well, the LIARbrary, as she often called it) in terms of style. A black hoodie wrapped around their waist, a racer color scheme consisting of red, black and white. The clothing they wore was baggy, especially their pants. Seriously, they were way too oversized, how was she casually wearing those pajama looking pants while carrying such a large weapon?? Acting as if you’re at a sleepover as you point a large ass gun near somebody, while somehow maintaining a threatening outlook? Jesus christ…

Their clearly dyed, past shoulder length red hair stuck out to me, as well as a pretty bad looking scar near her lips on the right side of her face. Most of it looked old and mostly healed, but the further edge of it looked a lot…newer. As if recently bestowed. Their eyes were also interesting; one of them were similar to that of a void. All black, a string of nothing seemed to leak out of it, but not dripping. The other was a solid white other than a thin outline of a pupil, but yet that was still barely recognizable. They ALSO casually held an AK47 in their arms. What the hell. What a combo, I guess.

“…how do you know my name…?” I’d mutter against my will, holding my breath in fear of what this…person could know. The knowledge they could hold could be either little or a lot, and I doubt that first option.

“Ahhh, don’t worry about it, hun! Anyways, it’s about time for you to leave.” The figure put a lot of emphasis on the word ‘leave,’ going from an innocent, causal tone to a clear indication that they were pissed off at my presence.

I couldn’t even get another word out before my breath was taken away from this ‘person’ aggressively stomping right in the middle of my chest. Multiple times. Ow. Fortunately, the first and second times only took me off guard. The other two I kind of expected.

They pointed the gun’s nozzle straight to my forehead, adjusting themself slightly. They pushed aggressively at my chest, an innocent, childish smile plastered into their sly face. They knew what they were doing, and they enjoyed it.

“I know what you’re thinking, dearie,” This lame excuse of a person would start, “Oh, nooo, but I did everything I needed to? I got to the exit fair and square! Why am I getting killed?? Well, it’s because there’s no actual exit! Your memory card will be restarted over and over again, driving you to insanity! It’s the lovely fee of life, wouldn’t you agree? Though, since you got this far, I am willing to give you an option.”

I physically couldn’t think, let alone talk with this large gun pointed right at my face. I was staring at it with a pained, fearful anticipation, wondering if this was just a threat or if I was actually going to get shot.

Why did I do this? What was the point if I’ll just reset?

My name, my personality, my sense of self…gone. What was the point?

“…hello? Lie-ara? Are you gonna speak or are you just gonna keep staring into the nozzle of my gun? Do you WANT me to shoot you??”

I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out. I couldn’t speak. Not with the amount of thoughts rushing through my mind.

“Hm, too shocked? Well, I guess I don’t need to give you options since you can’t speak! What’s the point if you won’t respond~?”

They’d adjust the gun in their hands, holding it in a tight grip as she brushed their finger against the trigger.

“Goodnight, foul fuck.” They’d quietly mutter to me, pressing down on the trigger and letting the gunshots speak for themself.

It wasn’t even a second before I discovered how white white could be.

Why? Why did I try doing this?

I’ll never meet Tennis again. I’ll be a blank slate, born anew.

We’ll have to get to know eachother all over again.

As I felt myself fade, I couldn’t help but wonder…

…who was this person? What was their name? Who are they? Who WERE they before all of this? And how did they change so much…?

My questions quickly disappeared, however, as I let myself go.

Off to restart. To do it all over.

…again.

[allisonlol]

heyy! can i request chuuyas so on vacation w the pm girls ? uhh a hawaii vacation or something :))

a/n: THE CUTEST REQ EVER ?! ily for this

Chuuya’s S/O on Vacation With the Port Mafia Girls

work had been slow moving for awhile at the port mafia, so what better way to spend your vacation days than on a trip to hawaii with the other girls?

with permission from mori, you start preparing for your trip and asking around the port mafia if anyone wants to accompany you

chuuya would’ve loved to go but, as an executive he has more...pressing matters to attend to 🙄

gets all pouty when you mention that you’re going on a trip without him, but lets you go on the condition that you call and stay in contact

however! kouyou, higuchi, and gin are all more than willing to join you on vacation

the four of you pack your bags together the night before and take a private taxi to the airport early in the morning

you’ve been to hawaii in the past but none of the other girls have so you’re excited to show them all the tourist attractions

after reaching the destination, the four of you head to the hotel you’d booked to drop off the luggage and get situated

the hotel in question was the five star luxury mauna key beach hotel

the building sat right in front of the beach, surrounded by palm trees, and you’d booked a top floor room with a balcony

only the best for the port mafia, am i right?

upon arriving, you facetime chuuya to show him around the hotel room and update on what’s happened so far

you go out on the balcony to pan the camera over the view as he drops comments about the hotel you’d chosen

he’s also secretly taking notes for perhaps taking just the two of you back there on a date…🤔

after ending the call with your boyfriend, the other girls are itching to leave the hotel and look around the area

you jot down a list of the events everyone wants to check out 

higuchi won’t stop remarking on how beautiful the beach looks, so the four of you decide to go there first

the water is a clear blue and just the perfect temperature; not too warm or too cold

kouyou sunbathes while you and higuchi splash around in the ocean

a crab tries to attack higuchi at one point and in a panic she grabs it off of her & throws it into your hair ??

gin builds a little sandcastle 🥺🥺

the heat of the sun’s harsh rays start to get too intense, so y’all check back into your hotel room to cool off for an hour

you guys probably rack up thousands in fees from raiding the minibar...you have to keep calling room service to refill the drinks/snacks inside LOL

(low key me, tho)

after cooling off, you lead the group to the dock where a yacht is waiting

the yacht takes the four of you for a sightseeing ride around parts of the island, stopping every now and then so you can take pictures

gin notices some turtles in the water and excitedly points them out 🥰

this is the happiest you’ve ever seen the group be tbh. it’s refreshing to see everyone enjoying themselves for once

the captain of the yacht says it’s ok for you guys to snorkel with the turtles for a bit, and provides you with the sufficient gear

you all gear up and dive into the clear water to swim around with the turtles !! at one point a giant school of colorful fish surrounds you and it feels like something out of a movie-

once the yacht ride is over, you all opt to walk down the shore to the forest where there’s a sightseeing trail

you almost run out of phone storage with the amount of pictures you take lmao

it’s completely worth it tho !! the number of cute selfies you get with gin are priceless <3

you also snatch some cursed shots of higuchi trying to climb a tree and falling down

to end the events, the four of you board a sunset dinner cruise and enjoy some high end meals while the sky washes from orange to dark blue 

wish i was there with y’all...damn

you also take this as opportunity to call chuuya again and tell him about everything that transpired

you flip your camera to show him the ocean illuminated by the sunset, plus all the fancy food you got to eat >:)

chuuya tries to berate the type of wine they’d served but you insist that it’s better than any of the kinds he’d given you 

and today, i present to you the top five ways to get into a fight with chuuya...

kidding <3

higuchi tries to call akutagawa so she can tell him everything that’s happened but of course he doesn’t answer...poor higuchi

after the cruise, it’s around nine at night and considerably cooler out 

no one’s ready to go back to the hotel quite yet, so the four of you stop at a nearby bar to try all the drinks. it isn’t midnight until you leave, and everyone’s become pretty wasted

as soon as y’all step foot back into the hotel room, you collapse onto your respective beds and fall asleep 

overall? a super eventful and relaxing trip, it was great to get a break from mafia business for once 

too bad ur boyfriend couldn’t go

a/n: this ended up being so long wtf- probably bc i was so hyped to write it since it’s such a cute idea ^^’ my favoritism for gin really popped out too

[darling-i-read-it]

The Raven

Takeshi Kovacs x fem!reader

Word Count: 2.6k

Warnings: murder, insinutations to smut, injuries, drinking

Author’s Note: he !!!!!!!! HE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! anyway enjoy

I was gonna wait to post this but I feel like you guys deserve it so here you go lmao

Summary: You and Takeshi both stay at the Raven and get to know each other.

I don’t own these characters. They belong to author/director/creator

(not my gif)

You ran your hand through your hair as you stepped into the Raven. You held your side, feeling the blood seep through your fingers. Poe materialized behind the counter, his eyebrow raised.

“What happened to you?” he asked curiously. You shrugged, a weak smile on your face.

“Nothing that won’t be fixed with a hot shower and a glass of bourbon,” you said through gritted teeth. Poe nodded and walked around the desk and over to the bar. You leaned against the counter, trying not to bleed all over it as you waited.

“Should I provide medical assistance?” he asked. You shook your head.

“I can handle myself.” Poe walked back over to you and handed you the glass. You took it and downed it in one drink. The liquid stung your throat as it always did but it was a welcome feeling after everything you had been through. “I’ll be taking that shower now,” you said as you put the glass down. You were about to turn when you noticed Poe’s face. He looked like he was trying to muster the courage to tell you something. “Are you kicking me out?”

“No!” he said much too quickly. That meant one thing. There was something that might make you want to leave. You raised an eyebrow.

“Spit it out Poe.” He let out a sigh.

“I have another guest.” You scoffed.

“Are you serious?”

“Don’t be so surprised. I run a very nice establishment.” You nodded. You had been the only customer at the Raven for months. It started as just wanting to go under the radar then you ended up liking it there. No one ever came. Poe was good company. You paid a monthly fee instead of a nightly one, he liked you so much.

“Anyone I should know?” you asked, wondering if it was one of your old enemies out to get you here. You hoped it wasn’t. You had no desire to leave. You would have to find a whole new space and you had grown comfortable here.

“No unless you keep friends with Envoys.” Your eyes opened wide and you forgot about the pain in your abdomen.

“An Envoy here? Well Poe, I can’t say you’re boring,” you said and then the pain was back. “As much as I would love to learn more, I really have to stitch this. What room are they in?”

“I can’t disclose that information,” he said. You scoffed, pushing yourself off the desk you were leaning on.

“Come on Poe.”

“I can’t. It’s in my mainframe.” You rolled your eyes.

“Are they on my floor?” He thought about it for a moment and then nodded gently, giving in.

“He is.” You smiled to yourself.

“He. Good to know.” You started to walk toward the elevator. “See you tomorrow Poe!” He waved to you, a fond smile on his face. He wondered if you would like Takeshi. He laughed quietly in the empty room. Takeshi would like you. He didn’t like many people but he imagined Takeshi would quite like you.

====

You brushed through your wet hair gingerly, still in pain from the stitches you had given yourself. Thankfully it wasn’t anything bad. You imagined it wouldn’t bother you at all in a couple months. You looked out the large window in your room and put your hair brush down. You deserved a few hours of shut eye. Maybe you could even sleep in tomorrow if no one came in to try and kill you.

Your mind lingered on the Envoy you were sharing a building with. You didn’t think any existed anymore.

You were about to shut the blinds down so the night sky couldn’t be seen anymore when you noticed something. Smoke. You took your hand off the blinds button and walked to the far side of the window, squinting.

Cigarette smoke coming from the building. So close it probably came from the room next to you. You scoffed. Poe put the Envoy in the room next to you. You imagined him, trying to picture what he may look like. A deadly killer.

You smiled gently to yourself and closed the blinds.

=====

Takeshi shrugged on his pants. The girl Poe had sent up had left ages ago but he had just now gotten around to putting his clothes back on. Tak ran his hand through his hair, taking a cigarette out of the pack and lighting it. He stared out into the city around him, watching the lights turn on in the buildings. The sun had just risen.

The room was so silent he heard the door open next door and shut closed. He perked up. He figured he was the only person staying in the Raven. What kind of person would stay here? Other than him.

He blew out some smoke and walked to the door, opening it without a second thought. You were walking down the hall away from him. He caught only the back of you as you turned the corner.

“Yeah, yeah I’m on my way. Let me at least eat breakfast,” you said into the phone you were holding up. Breakfast. That sounded good. He was pretty sure Poe would make him a complimentary breakfast if he asked.

He tossed on a shirt and jacket as he put out his cigarette before going to the elevator. He found you were still waiting, the door opening only as he approached. He had figured he would get a better look at you downstairs but in the elevator was fine too. You hung up the phone and stepped in. He soon followed, making you jump.

You looked over at him, meeting his eyes. The Envoy. He looked uninterested. But handsome. You had to imagine that wasn’t actually his actual sleeve but the one picked out for him had been a good one.

You hit the button for the first level. The doors closed.

“I didn’t think anyone else was staying here,” he said. Even his voice was enticing. You shrugged.

“I was here first.” He smiled a bit.

“Why are you staying at an AI-run hotel?”

“Why are you?” He nodded. He wasn’t getting an answer. That was fine. “Y/N,” you said, not offering a last name. You had to force yourself not to look at him. He thought about giving you only his last name, as he tended to do with people he didn’t trust.

“Takeshi.”

The elevator doors opened, revealing Poe on the other side waiting for you both. His eyes went wide.

“Friends already?” he asked. You scoffed.

“How many rooms does this place have Poe? You could have put us on separate floors at least,” you said, walking forward. Takeshi stepped out as well.

“I like to keep you close in case help is needed.”

“Why would help be needed?” Takeshi asked. Poe eyed him. You eyed both of them. Whatever Takeshi was here for, you imagined it was dangerous.

“Well you’re both high class people. I’m being precautious,” Poe said.

“Breakfast?” you asked Takeshi. He had things to do. He had things to do. He had to leave this place and go find answers, manipulate people, understand the world around him. He didn’t need breakfast.

“I like my eggs over easy.” Poe nodded, smiling.

He knew Takeshi would like you.

====

You had been trying to just go about your day of crime, not think about some man. That wasn’t your style. You didn’t dwell on anything. You couldn’t afford to. You had jobs to do, people to get rid of.

But Takeshi and you had a nice breakfast. Neither of you gave much up about yourselves but it was nice. Talks of the weather, joking about Poe. Simple things.

You walked back into the Raven that night late, like you usually did. You didn’t have any injuries this time around, thankfully. You holstered your gun when you walked in and smiled at Poe.

“You look much better today,” he commented.

“I am. No need for stitches.”

“Your companion doesn’t look as good,” Poe commented offhandedly. You squinted.

“My com-” You scoffed. “Takeshi is not my companion. We just stay at the same hotel,” you explained.

“And share eggs.”

“What’s wrong with him?”

“Came back today looking awful. Though I’m not allowed to let anyone up in his room myself.”

“I never asked you to let me into his room.” You met Poe’s eyes. “I’ll be in my room if you need me.”

You rode the elevator up to your floor. You walked down the hallway and paused at your door. You put your hand on the handle and kept it there for a moment. Takeshi didn’t need you to help clean up his messes. Breakfast had been fine but it had been brief.

You looked over at his door.

“Damn Poe,” you whispered to yourself, sure he could hear you somehow. You walked to Takeshi's door and knocked. There was some light shuffling and then the door opened. He was standing shirtless before you, a stitching needle in his arm as it bled.

“Can I help you?” he asked.

“According to Poe, it’s you I can help,” you said. You gestured to the half stitched injury. “I’m pretty good at that if you want company that isn’t an AI desperate to tear your pants off.” He thought about it for a second. You figured he would turn you down. He didn’t need your help, you knew that. He was perfectly capable. But you had to ask.

He opened the door further and you nodded once, stepping inside. You hadn’t seen any other rooms but yours. It looked like the exact same, minus some touches. He had out bandages and things on the table. He sat down at the chair and you sat down in the one beside him.

“I’ve never been good at stitching,” he admitted.

“We all have our faults,” you said quietly. You scooted the chair closer to him so you could get a better look. Your knee was between his leg and his knee was between yours. You tried not to focus on it. You ran your finger over his bicep and took the needle from him. “What happened?” He gave you a look. “Alright. I understand.” You started to work and remained silent.

Takeshi watched your focused gaze.

“You are good at that,” he said after a couple quiet minutes. You smiled, not looking at him because you were too tuned in.

“I’ve had to learn.” You finished up and leaned back, lifting your shirt enough to show him your stitched abdomen. He leaned back and nodded.

“You’re better company than the AI’s.”

“Don’t say that too loud. Poe has ears everywhere,” you whispered, laughing a bit.

“I don’t think I can hurt his feelings. He’s an AI.” You rolled your eyes.

“They have feelings,” you argued. You stood up. “I hope that heals nicely,” you said gently.

“It will,” he said.

“Goodnight Takeshi.” You started towards the door.

“Breakfast tomorrow?” You turned back to him and nodded.

“Wouldn’t miss it.”

====

You didn’t know much about Takeshi but he did open up over the next couple days. You had spent mornings and nights together but you always retreated to your separate rooms before sleeping. You had told him a little about yourself and he shared more about himself.

You liked him.

He liked you.

You sat on his bed, looking out the window.

“I think that building is a sleeve manufacturer,” you said, pointing to one of the tall buildings. He raised an eyebrow.

“I thought that was a cosmetics place.” “Same thing Tak.” He laughed, rolling his eyes. He was laying on the bed, his hands behind his head.

“The one next to it is run by an asshole.” He poured himself a drink off the bottle on his bedside table. You took it from him before he could get a sip, taking a swig and then handing it back to him.

“They’re all run by assholes,” you muttered.

“Is that why you run around killing them?”

“Hey, I wasn’t able to fight in a war against them. It’s the best I can do,” you said honestly. He pursed his lips and shrugged.

“I’d say you’re doing a halfway decent job,” he admitted.

“I try.”

You looked over at him, meeting his eyes.

“I wasn’t going to mention the new cut over your eye but it’s bleeding and now I feel I have to mention it.” He brought a finger up to his eyebrow, looking at the blood. “This sleeve,” he muttered.

“At least it’s pretty,” you said as you got up, grabbing a bandage and coming back to him. You sat down beside him and leaned forward, wiping the blood away and put the bandage on him.

“I can do that,” he said.

“You say that every time I do something and yet you let me keep going,” you muttered. You made sure it was alright and looked him in the eye. You quickly looked away, not letting yourself linger in his eyes. He was too dangerous and he slept with the AI in the building and he killed-

He kissed you before you could finish the thought and it all went out the window because he was a really good kisser. He cupped your cheek, grabbing you around the waist. He moved you closer to him so you were practically in his lap. He sat up and his hands moved down your back.

You pulled away but he kept kissing down your neck as you leaned over the bedside table, hitting the button and closing the blinds.

====

Poe had made the eggs at the same time he did every day. He had always made them for you and just decided to add Takeshi’s when he made yours. It was simple and you were always punctual.

Except today.

He waited patiently and twenty minutes after you usually came down, you and Takeshi entered the ground floor. You yawned, rubbing your neck.

“I didn’t mean to-”

“I’m not complaining Kovacs,” you said. Poe smiled.

“How was your night? The eggs are cold, you’re both late.” Takeshi sat down, taking a drink of the cup Poe left out.

“It was a good night,” he said.

“A decent night,” you teased.

“You sleep well?” Poe asked politely. You nodded stiffly, hiding a smile.

“Very well.”

“You both know I know everything that happens in my hotel right?” Poe asked. Takeshi shrugged.

“Then you should have known when we would come down,” Takeshi said.

“And you should have known it was Takeshi’s fault,” you said.

“I didn’t hear you complaining,” he muttered. Poe smiled.

“I know you two would like each other.”

[itzztay]

What parties would be like in each Twisted Wonderland Dorm pt.2 | Headcannons

-warning(s): mentions of drinking, language

-A/N: would you believe me if I said I was too busy to write the other dorms until now? well that's a lie I was just lazy but here it is now so lets all just forget about it xoxo

Scarabia

Ok like Savannaclaw I feel like Scarabia would also have some really good parties

But with a little spice

Yeah they have good music and everyone’s having fun

BUT JAMIL’S COOKING + KALIM GOING HARD ON THE DECORATIONS

The party will just be so ✨ immaculate ✨

Like LED lights, confetti, balloons, light up pool

Scarabia only knows how to throw parties of the year

Ugh I’d give anything to go to a Scarabia party

I feel like Jamil always says to keep the guest list to a minimum but leave it to Kalim to invite everyone in the damn school

Jamil would have a pretty high tolerance but I doubt he’d drink because he has to make sure Kalim is safe

The only thing I see going wrong at this party is if Kalim decides to have a bit of a drink

Which would result in him bouncing off the walls like he’s a toddler who just ate a whole box of sugar and his magic going haywire

Better get your umbrellas and stay away from him cause his unique magic is going to rain on everything around him

Hopefully, though, it would never come to this but Jamil probably has “measures” in place to fix everything

But who are we kidding, Jamil would never let Kalim drink LMAO

Pomfiore

I've been waiting for this one *chuckles*

Now Pomfiore may not throw raves or ragers

But they do throw some fancy-ass Galas

Like imagine a literal fairytale come to life

Prince suits, renowned orchestras, fairy-lights, and tons of publicity since Vil is hosting

Vil puts Rook in charge of decoration while he takes care of the guest list and I just know Rook will always surpass expectations

Chocolate fountains ✔️

Fine wine ✔️

Tons of rare meat and vegetable dishes ✔️

c'est magnifique 🤍

At the end of the night, Epel plans for a fantastic firework show outside the ballroom

It’s literally the most beautiful thing anyone has ever seen

It almost surpasses Vil’s beauty

Almost

Anyway, you do not want to wanna miss one of the best parties of the year

Ignihyde

Y’all what do I even say about this one LMAO

They are literally the introverted gamers of the whole school there just ain’t NO way in hell they throwing a party

However…

I bet the conversation of parties has happened at least once in chess club

Probably Idia telling Azul he’d never gone to one before

Azul being the “good” friend that he is, decided to throw a surprise party at the Ignihyde dorm later that Friday before Idia came back from club activities

Idia probably shit his pants when a loud “SURPRISE” came from every direction as Octavinelle students popped up randomly

*Cue Idia nervously shaking as Floyd shoves a drink into his hand and the party gets underway*

Little did he know it was going to get a lot worse

See our “good” friend Azul decided that Octavinelle wasn’t enough and decided to invite all of the other dorms too

of course not before charging them an entry fee (I mean how else are they supposed to pay for the damages that will most likely occur)

As you would expect, things got crazier and crazier as more people arrived which was giving Idia the most fucking stress he’d ever experienced

Idia.exe has stopped working

Like predicted, at the end of the night, the dorm was obviously trashed as hell and Idia was in the corner rocking himself, scared from the events that just occurred

Let’s just say Idia is NEVER going to trust Azul again

Diasomnia

Diasomina parties are absolutely legendary

They’re extremely exclusive so no one other than Diasomnia dorm members and those who are invited by Malleus can get in

So when MC and Grimm got an invitation in the mail, Ace and Deuce were so jealous

Apparently, Idia and Ortho were also invited but due to Idia’s misfortune when it comes to parties, he definitely would not show up

Idk i get the vibe that they would be more tight-knit type parties like a big get together

Since Malleus is a prince and everything he probably have access to all sorts of entertainment that he can provide for the party

I can definitely see him accidentally booking the same celebrity Leona booked to perform at his party (Savannaclaw hatred of Diasomnia definitely increased)

In terms of how crazy these parties can get, I’d say the only ones getting wild are Lilia, Grimm, Yuu, and MAYBE Malleus if Lilia somehow got him to loosen up

Sebek would obviously be strictly against anyone drinking but that doesn’t stop Lilia from handing out drinks to everyone in close proximity

Meanwhile Silver tried to stay awake but the music somehow lulled his ass to sleep

Lilia would really be fine (since he’s pretty old and I bet has a high tolerance) but would pretend that he was affected just to get everyone to have fun

Probably is hammering away at an electric guitar on stage with whoever they got to perform

Malleus on the other hand…

Man I hope Diasomnia or Crowley has some good insurance cause I can just see him getting a bit too excited and lighting things on fire accidentally

At first, everyone thinks “oh pretty visual effects”

Until Yuu and Grimm realize that Malleus’ aimless fire breathing lit Silver on fire (who’s probably still asleep btw)

Luckily, they’re able to put him out and keep Malleus relatively calm for the rest of the night

And Sebek watched it all in utter horror because 1, he was worried for Malleus, and 2, because he would most likely be stuck with cleaning duty since he wouldn’t be trashed the next day.

RIP Sebek

[firelxdykatara]

ppl love to forget that katara: 1. has her own taste, 2. developed around aang, he needed her for his development and vice versa, 3. ZUTARA IS SHIP BETWEEN AN OPPRESOR X OPPRESSED!!! Ignoring all of the development they had with their respective partners and the trauma Zuko caused Katara!!

In the infamous words of one Luke Skywalker: amazing. every word of what you just said was wrong.

It’s actually kind of ironic that you bring up Katara’s taste, since, throughout the show, we have examples of the guys she likes, to greater or lesser extents in canon--Jet (explicit romantic feelings on her part, word of god that jet was her first kiss--a kiss that would have been consensual, incidentally, something you should keep in mind for later) and Haru (she denies the crush, but that could just as easily have been because of the abomination he’d been growing on his lip rather than denying those feelings ever existed), both of whom have much more in common (in terms of both emotional and physical maturity, and physical appearance) with Zuko than either of them has with Aang.

Zuko’s book 3 hairstyle is almost exactly reminiscent of Jet’s, even, if not quite as floofy.

(This is probably in part because of Jet’s function as a foil of Zuko within the narrative, particularly given their book 2 encounters, which I think just further solidifies my point that, were it not for extenuating circumstances [like the fact that Zuko was introduced as an enemy and they had significant obstacles to hurdle before they could be friends], Zuko would have been exactly Katara’s type. Had they met under different circumstances, she could have been the girl he went on a date with in Ba Sing Se. Just something to think about.)

So, yes, we’ve established that Katara has her own taste. Her tastes seem to be boys with great hair who are taller than her, the same age or older, and of a similar maturity level.

Aang falls short (heh, short) on all counts. So it isn’t Katara’s taste in boys that led her to be interested in him. Hm!

Next, you claim that Katara ‘developed around Aang’--that she was necessary for his development, and that he was necessary for hers.

Let’s take a moment to examine that, shall we?

I will absolutely grant you that Katara was necessary for Aang’s development--only to a point, of course, but we’ll get to that later--but was he really necessary for Katara‘s growth? I suppose I could grant you this on a generous technicality--he did, after all, provide her with the means to finally leave the South Pole and find a waterbending master to teach her (although she wound up largely self-taught anyway). But that had nothing to do with his relationship to Katara and everything to do with the structure of the plot--Katara and Sokka find Aang (and he never would have gotten out of that iceberg without Katara’s own righteous anger, so even that leads back to her own power), and then they go on a quest to find teachers for the Chosen One and save the world.

The story could not have begun without first finding Aang and then providing means for the other main characters to travel with him (or, in Zuko’s case, chase him), but this has nothing at all to do with Aang’s relationship to Katara. Aang was not a mover in Katara’s developmental arc--if anything, he acted as an obstacle more often than not, his actions ranging from innocent but obnoxious (playing and flirting with girls rather than helping with chores like picking up vital supplies, leaving Katara to do all of the quite literal heavy lifting and keeping her stuck in the role of caretaker that she’d been thrust into following the death of her mother), to deliberate and harmful (hiding the map to Katara and Sokka’s father, a truly selfish action, regardless of his lack of malicious intent, and one for which he never actually apologized), to somewhere in between (”she didn’t really mean that” he says to the man refusing to train Katara because she’s a girl, when yes, she very much did mean that, and Aang was no help in finally getting the old codger to eat his words--Katara had to shove them down his throat her own damn self).

While Katara’s overall arc wasn’t exactly big and dynamic (like Zuko’s redemption arc), or in-your-face (like Sokka getting force-fed Respect Women Juice and his eventual growth into a tactician and leader), it was very much present and woven into her character--and Aang had almost no part in it. He provided her with the means to get to the North Pole, but left Katara alone to fight the patriarchy herself. He messed around while Katara took it on herself to do the chores and keep the Gaang alive, but he did almost nothing to decrease that burden so she could grow out of the caretaker role. (Contrary to popular shipper claims, Aang didn’t actually teach Katara to have fun. She already knew how to have fun. But she couldn’t indulge, because she had a responsibility to her family and her tribe, and later to her brother and Aang and Toph, and Aang goofing off and trying to get her to do the same only added to her burdens rather than subtracting from them.) He provided Katara with the necessary motive to learn to heal herself, but he certainly didn’t seem to learn from the experience of accidentally burning her, preferring instead to claim he was never going to firebend again, despite already knowing, at that point, that he was going to need to master fire along with the other elements to become a fully realized Avatar and defeat the Firelord.

He didn’t help Katara keep them alive during The Desert. (In fact, he ran off, leaving her to desperately try to keep Sokka and Toph from succumbing to the heat while worrying for his safety.) In The Painted Lady, Katara makes the decision to stall the Gaang and do what she can to help the Fire Nation villagers on her own--Aang agrees to help her when he finds out, but he wasn’t actually instrumental in her making that choice. The Puppetmaster was, again, Katara finding a master of her own, and having to deal with the fallout from that. And in The Southern Raiders, Aang was--perhaps unknowingly, if I’m being generous, because he is a child and could not reasonably be expected to fully understand the implications of what he was asking her to do or why it was impossible--actively impeding Katara’s development! She desperately needed closure, something he could not understand and actively belittled and dismissed. The only reason he relented in the end (but not without a condescending ‘I forgive you! Does that give you any ideas???’ parting shot lmao) was because Katara was planning to take Appa anyway, and letting her go (and hoping she’d just magically wind up doing things his way) was easier than trying to fight her on it.

While Aang’s existence was necessary for Katara to start down her own path, she needed neither his guidance nor his approval to follow it--and absolutely nothing would change about Katara’s arc if you removed their romantic relationship entirely.

Possibly because the only changes needed to do so would be to remove the two times Aang kissed Katara without her consent (which, hopefully, no one would actually miss), and the epilogue kiss (which was awkward and unnecessary to begin with, since ending the entire show on a romantic kiss as the final shot kind of missed the point of the story to begin with, but that’s another discussion). None of these kisses (which are the only moments in which Katara’s feelings for Aang are so much as addressed; do note that addressing them, or hinting that they needed to be, is not the same as saying she exhibited any sign of reciprocating them) altered anything about Katara’s behavior, her personal arc, or (and perhaps most critically) her relationship with Aang.

It’s that last point that is really damning, as far as ‘Katara obviously had feelings for Aang, she kissed him in the finale!’ goes. Because she didn’t ‘obviously’ have feelings for him. And the fact that he kissed her before the invasion and then she forgot about it (she literally had no idea what he was talking about during the play’s intermission until he reminded her that he’d kissed her) is pretty clear evidence that she didn’t actually have feelings for him. Not the kind he had for her.

I’ve been a teenage girl. I know what it’s like to be surprise!kissed by your crush. And I absolutely for a full fact know that I had not completely forgotten about that kiss three months later and had, in fact, spent most of my waking hours thinking about it and remembering it and trying to talk to him about it. Now, granted, I was not in the middle of a war, but even if I had been, I doubt I would have needed reminding about the fact that the boy I’ve supposedly been developing feelings for had kissed me and showed clearly that he had those feelings for me too.

At the very least, if Katara was harboring feelings that she was worried about approaching until after the war, her relationship dynamic with Aang should have shifted. But it didn’t. She acted the exact same way with him after the Day of Black Sun as she did before it--that is, as a mother figure and a caretaker, responsible for his wellbeing. (And it’s clear she never took him down off the pedestal she needed him to occupy, either--let it not be said that the unhealthy aspects of their relationship only went one way.)

And book 3 is, incidentally, where Katara went from being vital to Aang’s development to being detrimental to it--or, rather, Aang’s refusal to let go of his attachment to her (despite ostensibly having done as much at the end of book 2) was. Because despite having been told by, perhaps, the greatest authority left in the world on Air Nomad culture (even more than Aang, who had left his temple with a child’s understanding of his culture that was never able to mature because he got stuck in the ice berg while his people were wiped out) that he had to let go of his possessive attachment to this girl who never even expressed the possibility that she might harbor romantic feelings for him to begin with, after Azula killed him and Katara brought him back, he went right back into the mindset of Katara is mine, it’s just a matter of time.

And the narrative validated him for it.

Notice how, during Ember Island Players, Aang says the following (emphasis mine):

“We kissed at the invasion, and I thought we were gonna be together. But we’re not.”

First of all, if you go back and watch the scene, it’s clear it wasn’t a mutual kiss. Aang sprang a surprise kiss on Katara, which left her shocked and unhappy after he flew off. (The decision to have her looking away and frowning was a deliberate one on the part of Bryke, who wanted Katara’s feelings kept ambiguous. Heaven forbid you allow the animators to make it clear that this fourteen-year-old girl who was just kissed without her consent by someone she’d never once demonstrated romantic feelings toward might actually have some. Heaven forbid she have a little agency in her own romantic narrative. But whatever.)

Second, he says he thought they were gonna be together.

He thought.

He never once even asked Katara what she thought--or even how she felt. He just assumes. He assumes that if he kisses her, she’ll kiss him back and they’ll get together. He assumes that she must have feelings for him, even though her body language is closed off and she told him with her words that she did not want to talk or think about this right now, and kisses her regardless of those signals, upsetting her and leading her to storm off.

And the narrative rewards him, because despite the fact that they don’t have a single significant scene together after that second disastrous kiss, Katara just decides off-screen that she Does Love Him Really and walks onto the balcony to make out with him.

The upshot of all this being that, while Katara was indeed instrumental to a lot of Aang’s early growth and development, Aang was not necessary for her own arc, and their romantic relationship (such as it was) actively hampered Aang’s development in book 3, while removing it would change absolutely nothing for Katara (except saving her from some painfully embarrassing memories).

As far as your third point, I’m simply not going to get baited into explaining how reducing Zutara to an ‘oppressor/oppressed’ relationship is not only insulting to interracial couples irl (not to mention any other couple with a potentially unbalanced dynamic of societal power, since there are many more axis of oppression than just racial), but demeaning to Zuko and Katara, their personal arcs as well as their relationship development together.

However, I will point out that Zuko was not responsible for any of Katara’s trauma. She did not find violence and fighting in bending battles to be traumatic--in fact, she reveled in it. She enjoyed fighting against Zuko at multiple points (especially noticeable in their battle at the end of book 1), because she wanted to fight--she always had--and once she had the ability, she was ready to throw down with anyone who gave her the slightest reason. (Including, by the way, her own potential waterbending master.) Aang’s death at the end of book 2 was Azula’s doing, and while I think that contributed to Katara’s extreme reaction to Zuko joining the gaang, it was not something for which she actively blamed him, and it wasn’t something she believed would be repeated--she let him go off alone on a journey to find the original firebending masters with Aang well before she chose to forgive him. So she already trusted Zuko’s intentions and that Aang would be safe with him.

Finally, because this has gotten long enough already, I hope you now understand that Zuko and Katara getting together would not require ignoring any of their development with their canonical romantic partners. We’ve already established that Katara’s arc wouldn’t change in the slightest if all of Aang’s romantic advances were removed, and I haven’t even gotten into how Mai meant nothing in the grand scheme of Zuko’s development because I’m pretty sure that’s just self-evident. I mean, the video compilation put together by Nick showcasing Zuko’s journey throughout the series doesn’t include a single scene with Mai, though it does include several with Katara, and even Jin makes an appearance--because Katara, and even Jin, played key roles in Zuko’s personal journey, while his relationship with Mai happened entirely off-screen and her only real function was to showcase just how unhealthy trying to force himself back into the role of the Crown Prince was for him.

What development, exactly, is there between them to even ignore?

At any rate, I’ve gone on long enough--I hope you enjoy the fact that you activated my wordvomit trap card right when i was about to go to bed, anon, because I just spent two hours writing this instead. In case you’re interested in the TL;DR: at the end of the day, there was no meaningful, mutual development in Kataang’s romantic relationship, and those romantic feelings that did exist were largely one-sided and ultimately detrimental to Aang’s development in the final third of his overall arc. Meanwhile, Mai meant nothing to Zuko’s journey--rather like Aang’s romantic overtures, she could be removed from the show completely and nothing about his story would change--while Zuko and Katara were both vital to each other’s overall storylines, arcs and development. This, coupled with the fact that Zuko never actually traumatized Katara and, in fact, helped her achieve closure from the biggest source of her own trauma, means that Zuko and Katara have better and more believable build up that could potentially lead to a romantic relationship than either of them have with their canon romantic partners.

So no, anon, I didn’t forget anything--I think you may have, though. Perhaps a rewatch is in order? Make sure not to close your eyes for the back half of book 3 this time.

[kenmasangel]

getting back together after years

synopsis : the get back, part 1 “why am i even with you”

characters : sakusa, tsukishima

genre : fluff

warning : cursing, mention of alcohol

an : sorry for any gramma or spelling mistakes, everytime i’d right it was nighttime and i’d be really tired so i wasn’t able to focus 100%. please notice me of any mistakes masterlist

Sakusa Kiyoomi

years have passed since your break up with sakusa, it was a sad but necessary break up for you to move on and finally glow up

you also realized that the only person you truly ever needed was yourself and you worked hard to be the person you are today

“at the end of the day, men are trash,” you would try to cheer your friend who had a fight with her boyfriend in one of the best clubs of tokyo. “so wipe your tears and come move your hips,”

on the professional side you became tokyo's favorite journalist, sports related; not only because of your looks but also your professionalism and personality

every hot athlete you've ever interviewed tried to get with you, but they always got rejected

on the other hand sakusa joined MSBY Black Jackals; a professional volleyball team in japan's v.league, in the top tier of division 1

yes sir period

he never dated someone else, the break up kinda broke his heart but he'll never admit it

he also became more distant with people lowkey

however, one day your manager called you to tell you about who are you going to interview next

as she mentionned the name of a famous volleyball team you couldn’t stop your mind of thinking about your ex who used to play volleyball

little did you know that he was a part of the team

lmao who gon tell you

when you got back home you decided to do some research about that MSBY team or whatever

...

oh to your surprise when you saw sakusa kiyoomi’s face there

“no shit,” you mumbled to yourself lowkey annoyed

after the brake up you grew stronger and more independent as you put in mind that all men are trash, you didn’t want to go through that steretipycal sad phase where your self confidence would be all crushed. you wanted to remain strong and you learned how to truly love yourself without expecting anything from anyone as you had your own self

period boo

anyway, you kinda had numbed all your feelings, and to see him now made all your memories with him comeback; how you first met, your first kiss, your first dates and that fight

so here you were, in your appartement checking out their previous interviews trying to get all the juice you needed yet your mind would still zone out on his face

“just keep it pro, y/n, he probably even forgot about you, just keep it pro,” you told yourself before turning off your pc

the day of the interview, here we finally are. the MSBY team knew they had an interview with the most appreciated journalist of all times so they got ready.

“do y’all think they’re cute ?” asks atsumu, “if they’re cute you better back off guys, i’m sure i’m going to catch their attention anyway,” he cockily adds flipping his bang and flexing his muscles, no one bothered answering him at this point they were used to him

“they’re here,” their manager clapped in his hands. “don’t forget what i told you guys, they are very influent so don’t mess it up and don’t scare them away,” he looked at atsumu and bokuto who just stuck their tongues out

“good morning,” you greeted all of them and bowed, “i’m l/n y/n, the journalist who’ll interview you today,” you looked at all of them with a poker face. saying that sakusa was surprised would be an understatement; he was in shock, his brain forgot how to function correctly. you followed the others who took you to the room where all the staff would chill, offering you coffee, tea and snacks

sakusa couldn’t keep his eyes off you, seeing you after all these years was like a wave of fresh air; he was relieved to see you successful and blooming, what a beautiful sight he thought when he saw you laughing with his teammates as he got in the room. but at the same time his heart ached him as he remembred what made you two go separate ways and the guilt he tried to hide deep inside him all those years started creeping up again in his chest

“c’mon, it’s just an interview,” he sighed before sitting on a chair behind his team

the interview started and it was going fine, sakusa’s teammates were cool and you had a lot of fun interviewing them. you liked their chaotic energy and it happened for you to match it, they immediately liked you

“y/n-chan,” started atsumu getting close to you, ”would you like to go out with me tonight, we could have dinner together or just grab a drink-”

“okay barry b. benson, you’re not my type sorry,” you stopped him as you pinched his cheek making all his teammates laugh, you got a pout from him but he eventually laughed liking your attitude

“y/n-chan, why don’t you come and have dinner with us tonight?” asked bokuto with sparkles in his eyes, “oooh~ say please we’d love to!” joined him hinata with the same sparkles in his eyes

you akwardly chuckle looking at sakusa then bringing your stare back at them, “i don’t kno-”, “please come, it would be nice,” finally adds sakusa what made you look back at him

you kept staring at each other for  moment before you nodded makinf the three balls of chaotic energy; bokuto, hinata and atsumu scream a ‘yes!’ you exchanged numbers and you went back home

well, that wasn’t too bad you thought to yourself once back at you appartement plopping on your couch

for some reason your heart was beating fast and you damned those feelings you tried to hide and not get rid of for coming back

he was looking as handsome as ever, you were not going to lie

and that look in his eyes... was it regret ?

“as he fucking should,” you shook your head thinking about what he’d said in that fight

but you were young, he probably regrets, “stfu stupid heart,”

you got up and got ready for tonight’s dinner

“keep that poker face y/n, you’re doing great” you said to yourself before getting into the restaurant, you quickly saw hands waving at you, spotting the team and you went to the table. there was a place left next to bokuto and sakusa, just great, you tried hard not to roll your eyes and sat

the diner was going well, you were not bothered by sakusa’s presence, he didn’t talk much anyway and you had fun talking to the others who were really funny, the thing is that everyone got drunk; hinata and bokuto were hugging each other singing the yarichin bitch anthem, atsumu kept saying ‘ya like jazz?’ every time the someone would pass by, you and sakusa were the only ones in a good state. you couldn’t help but laugh at them trying to stop them but you’d eventually fail

“atsumu please stop,” you tried to stop him from getting on the table to ask everyone if they liked jazz, “i won’t unless you tell me ya like jazz, honey,” he wiggled his eyebrows as you couldn’t help yourself from laughing, “i do like jazz now sit down,” you finally said

sakusa kept thinking if he should talk to you or not in the mean time, he couldn’t help but to create two imaginary cases in his mind one for that says ‘yes’ and the other one ‘no’, he finally came back to earth when you sat back down after stopping tsumu from performing a jazz song

“but y/n i swear it’s a good jazz song, it is called... Jailhouse Rock by Elvis Presley,” he grins proud of himself, you stare at him trying to hold your laughter and when you were going to anwser you heared sakusa do it first, “no miya, and make the owl and the tangerine stop crying,” atsumu salutes him and goes to talk to the crying duo

“long time no see, l/n,” he finally says making your heart miss a beat

“never thought i’d see you again sakusa,” you answer, finally looking at him

“glad to see you’re doing well,” he adds. “even tho i wish we’d be on good terms,” you sigh turning your head. “gotta admit i am the one to blame,”

“glad to see you are mature enough to admit your wrongs,” you anwser him sipping on your drink

“i’ve always knew that i was the one who fucked up, y/n... maybe back then i just didn’t have the guts to admit it, nor to try keeping you close to me. i just saw how you were doing better off without me, and i thought it was better to let go even if it did hurt me...” he finally admits

all what you wanted to hear, craved to hear when you broke up with him. you felt some type of way, good memories you had with him flooding your mind and the feelings you’ve once had for the pretty germaphobe

what were you gonna say? were you finally ready to forgive him and move on or stay on your positions and just live like you’ve been living since the brake up

“well... we’re grown ups now, it’s all forgiven and forgotten,” you give him a small smile,

“thank you,” it was then quiet for a brief moment before he finally decided to man up, “i missed you,” he looked down at his plate

wow the butterflies in your tummy, heart and brain went off with no warnings, you stared at him with wide eyes trying to comprehend what on god’s green earth did he just say

did you miss him too ? did you hate him ? were you over the fight ? did you really stop loving him or did you just hide those feelings ?

too many questions yet no answers, as he realized you didn’t answer he mumbled few apologies but you stopped him telling it was fine

“it’s just... it’s been so many years and we didn’t end up on good terms,” you explain

“yeah, no, i totally understand that is normal,” you nodd looking down at your lap. “can i hold your hand?”

“pardon me?”

“can i hold your hand? fuck that y/n, can i have another chance? allow treat you right, to love you deeply. that guilt that built up in me kept growing with the years, and now that you’re finally here i just want one thing as i see your face is to make up for everything, even after years.”

oh wow, you were definitely not expecting that; not from sakusa who wasn’t this expressive with his feelings and especially not after all these years

you held his hand and smiled sincerly at him, “it’ll take me time; to figure out how i feel and to trust you again, but i’d like to give it a chance,” he smiled back, hope filling his eyes

after that night you tried to spend a lot of time together

usually he would be the one to initiate it

he did his best to prove you that you can trust him and that he became a better person for you

your heart would melt everytime he told you about a memory of you together or how he still remembered stuff about you

you were on your guards in the beginning but slowly you began to soften

eventually you got back together, but that’s another story

it took several months but you don’t even know how happy he was

oh and let’s just not talk about the media and how powerful you guys were

anyway you were happy and that’s what matters

Tsukishima Kei

ara ara what we have here

do you know how the life works in a weird way sometimes? a compilation of events that happen by sheer luck, fucking coincidences that are just way out of this world that lead you to bump into that one person even if you don’t want to?

no ? aight sorry

anyway, that is lowkey what life had in store for you and salt shaker man

tsukishima had gotten into that college he wanted to attend

he was happy but he would’ve secretely loved if you were there to share his happiness

oh how little did he know that you got into that college too

ahaha *awkward laughter*

homeboy found it out in a special way, not the best way there is but you know he had to know a way or another

he went to that party with his two roomates who actually lowkey forced him ngl

as he was making his way to the kitchen he heard someone laughing, a laugh he’s heard way too many times but he shook it off thinking about how many people may have the same laughter

“oi y/n, you look hot!” a male’s voice shouted

what ?

there was no way you were there and he decided to make sure by checking out by himself

he was CHOKED when he saw you there

“tell me something i don’t know,” you laughed as you approached the boy who called you. “what’s up hot stuff ?” he said as you were finally next to him

hot stuff? tsukki almost gagged at the horrible name you were just given, yet it was not false that you were indeed ‘hot’; you looked as flawless as ever, you did a 180° change

the sweet, soft, innocent y/n was replaced by the baddest bitch in the motherfucking block he almost didn’t recognize you. he wondered if you stayed together would you have gone through this change an didn’t notice you coming his way

“god, don’t stand in the middle of the- tsukishima ?” you stopped when you saw his face. “you attending a party, what a surprise,” you stood there a hand on your hip

“oh y/n, how are you?” homeboy didn’t know how to act at this point, he awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck

“i’m doing great actually, so did you get into here ? the ‘college of your dreams’,” he could feel the sarcasm in your voice, he also noticed how cold you were

“yeah, thankfully. where’d you go ?”

“oh i go here, the same college as you,” you fake a smile, he feels his heart miss a beat.. or two.“you know sometimes i look back, and i can’t help from noticing that being in a committed relationship didn’t stop me from attending one of the best colleges out there and you, on the other hand who didn’t want anything to do with a relationship got here too,” you spat, obviously you didn’t get to tell him how you felt when you broke up. “good thing i’m not in the same major as you though,” you sighed

“y/n i_,”

“no save it tsukishima, there’s no need to say whatever you want to say. at this point i’ve moved on, i just found it funny to see you here after what you’ve said and how i actually also got here; now i know for sure that you were the problem... and i hated myself thinking it was me,” you scoff. “hope i won’t get to see you often, good luck for the rest,” and with that you left, joining a group of friends who waved for you to join them

needless to mention that he was pissed and heartbroken

he was not expecting that from you, he always saw you as this delicate person whose kindness is infinite

now, oh now he didn’t recognize you

even your voice got more.. mature? cold? idk

anyway after your encounter he directly headed back to his dorm

he couldn’t sleep the whole night rethinking about all what those years with you and what you said, you hated yourself as you thought you were the problem

bravo tsukishima they hate you, he thought to himself

uhm lol so the rest of your college ‘journey’ went without the two of you seeing each other

you were both majoring in different stuff, the campus is huge, y’alls schedules didn’t match and you had different friend groups

yet rarely he would find you at the library at 4am, many empty coffee cans on your table, looking all sleepy with your glasses falling off and your hair in a messy bun

“fucking ass why on god’s poluted earth did i ever want to major in that fucking shit of a topic, couldn’t i do something basic like stripper or something ? ugh fml,” he caught you once in the middle of an existencial crisis

he couldn’t help his lips from twitching upwards and he couldn’t stop the memories of the two of you studying together flooding his mind

he never came close to you tho, especially after what you told him in that party

sad </3

you guys graduated from college fucking finally

congrats folks you did it!

and you thought it was the end of your story

how sweet, how naive

uh-uh baby life decided otherwise and you saw each other years later

in the same company 🤪 

“oi tsukishima-san, don’t forget we have a metting with the new manager in 10,”

how could he forget ? everyone has been talking about this manager for a week

tsukki was respected by all his work mates as he was such a good element what made him get the best promotions and claims from his boss

n e way

he got into the conf room where everyone was seated and took his place waiting for the new manager and the boss to come in, he was clearly annoyed and didn’t want to be there; he just wanted to finish his work on go back home

anyway his attention was brought back by his boss entering the room, “good evening everyone, with no longer introduction let me introduce you to y/l/n y/n your new manager,”

tsukki’s head SNAPPED, he almost broke his neck

tsukiskima.exe has stopped working

you were surprised when your eyes landed on him too but you’re a bad bitch and kept it professional

he couldn’t focus for the rest of the meeting, even tho it was just presentations and basic information for the future collaboration

the meeting ended and everyone went back home, except for you as you stayed in late to work on some stuff

you thought you were alone since it was late, but you were wrong since tsukishima had also stayed in late to finish up whatever file he was asked to analize

this is why you were startled when you heard some noise and a tall figure got out of the office ahead of you

“oh my,” you held your chest and relaxed when you noticed it was tsukishima, “i thought i was alone,”

“staying in late on your first day huh, didn’t know you were still here,” he responded, you noticed how his tone didn’t change from when you first met him in highschool, maybe his voice got a bit more deeper tho

you couldn’t help noticing how good he looked in his suit, it fit him really well. his broad shoulders covered by the dark blue vest, the first few buttons of his white vector shirt opened letting you lowkey see his collarbone

“yea well i’m leaving now, good night,” you quickly say and took your leave, seeing him after all this time was weird and you didn’t know how to feel

you still remember what you said the last time you saw him at that party, you were hurt and you said some things you probably regret by now and you thought that he probably hated your guts and as long as you wanted to be at the top in your  new work you still decided to stay away from him

“ugh what a dumbass,” you whined and slapped the back of your head thinking tsukishima was still in the floor you left him in, but he saw you and his lips twitched upwards

everytime he thinks you can’t look any better you prove him wrong, he thought to himself as he went to his car finally heading back home. after all those years life decided to still play with you guys and put you in the same company, i mean, he wasn’t complaining but he wished it wasn’t awkward between the two of you

you guys started working together, a new journey for the both of you started

he thought you still hated him and that is why he was cold with you :(

so you were both distant with each other and if you ever had to talk it was cold, formal and quick

it’s been a few weeks your collegues had noticed the tension between the two of you

they were lowkey sus of something but didn’t want to butt in

it was physically painful to watch

n e way everything was going more or less smoothly until a new face made an appariction in the company

“my god! what are you doing here?” you hugged the good looking man

“i missed you and i thought that i couldn’t live without you, so i am here to cling,” you pull away and playfully slap his chest. “nah more seriously i am here to get that bag boo,”

“as you should hun, so you’re a trainee huh? i’ll ask them to put you under my supervision,” you wink

“say less,” he flirtily gets close to you

“uhm, sorry to interrupt your i bet very educational discussion but y/l/n, here, the file,” tsukishima butts in out of nowhere, his voice colder than usual and his eyes lowkey darker than usual

“oh thank you,” and he left

“well, that was awkward,” your friend cringes

“shut up, yuuji,” you roll your eyes

“wait wasn’t that tsukishami? sushikima? suspicual tall bitch who broke your heart?” the last attempt made you chuckle

“yes, it is,” you sigh, going through the file. “i can’t believe you still remeber that!”

“miss girl, you were not the one listening at your own self sobbing at how some tall, blonde, salt shaker broke your heart and how you’d want to, and i quote “punch his beautiful face then hug him so tight that i’ll squeeze his organs”,”

you narrow your eyes at him then for quite a while, then you scoff, “i am glad you’re here, dickhead,”

“so am i, headass,” he gives you a sincere smile

yuuji’s presence made things complicated even more

tsukishima didn’t appreciate the new flirty, good looking, lowkey smart trainee who was under your supervision

he was more irritable than usual, he knew he had no right to feel like that but still, he couldn’t help it

everytime he saw you two together working, laughing, grabing lunch together or even just being in the same area it made him want to break walls

but he couldn’t

he also saw how yuuji would flirt with other female collegues and it made him furious; you didn’t deserve that!

deserve what tho lol you and yuuji were friends but since tsukki was blinded by his jealousy or whatever he was feeling he assumes you were a thing or soon to be a thing

dumb mf

anyway

your boss had assigned you an important file to work on

all cool and shit until he mentioned that you had to work with tsukishima

ahaha.......... right

you started working the day after

°3°

it was awkward as fuck ngl, y’all would share max up to 3 words in a matter of 20mins

each one of you was sitting in their side

the tension buddy, the tension!!!!!

idk how you survived

day 2: you slapped some sense in yourself and an old relationship that ended in bad terms shouldn’t affect your work years after

so you started talking more, always pro stuff, but still

kei was the same as yesterday but that didn’t surprise you since he was always like that and you weren’t expecting anything from him except contribute effectively to the work, what he did

day 3: work in progress, nothing less

day 4: same as day 3 except that you stayed in later than the previous days

day 5: yuuji bursted in because he had broought you food, he kissed your temple before he left wishing you good luck. tsukki almost gagged, homie was fuming in rage

day 6:

it was late, everyone had left but you and kei still working on that goddamn file, thankfully he had given enough time to finish the work

“y/l/n, the food is here,” tells you tsukishima as he got back into the office

“thanks, i almost died from hunger,” you get up getting what you ordered

you were eating in silence until tall man decided to speak up, “funny, huh?” you looked at him confused. “how we went to the same highschool, same college and now we are working together,”

you just let an “oh” thinking about what you told him in that frat party, “i guess you were right, i was the problem,”

“tsukishima look, it’s been years and it’s all forgotten now okay?” he looks at his food, his mind elswhere

“remember what you told me in that party?”

“tsuki-”

“i mean, now that we’re grown ups we can talk about it, right? i feel like i didn’t get closure, not like i deserve it but still,8

you just nodd and go sit in front of him

“well, i lashed out on you on that party because i didn’t get closure, i was obviously still hurt and petty and immature. Seeing you there was like a slap in the face, i really want to apologize but i feel like what i said was true,”

“and it was true, it took sometime to accept it and realiwe it, but you don’t need to apologize; i didn’t treat you right, so i am sorry,”

you give him a small smile, “i am also sorry, i shouldn’t have talked to you that way it was rude,”

“but true,” he adds and you chuckle

“yeah, it’s all fine now. we can start over again,”

“i mean, i’d like to,” he gives you a small, tiny smile but you could still see it

“y/n?”

“mmh?” you look at him, your mouth full and cheeks about to explode

“i know we just made up and stuff but... please be careful with that new trainee,”

“yuuji? what why?”

“look i’m a man and i know wha another man thinks when i see him in action, and he’s just... not trustworthy i guess,”

“tsukishima kei, tf are trying to say?”

“look, i don’t want you to get hurt! but he is all flirty with other women and it’s just a huge disrespect to you and your relationship,” he explains

you look at him with wide eyes than laugh your ass off, you couldn’t believe what you just heard

“tsukki, yuuji is my bestfriend we’re not dating,” you wipe a tear tha slipped

he just stares at you, “oh” is all what he could say

“thanks for worrying tho,”

“whatever,” he rolls his eyes

as the days went by you and kei got closer

he would tease you and you’d tease him back

“oi, salt shaker, put my stuff on a high shelf again and i’ll pull your highschool pictures when you played vb,”

“as if you still have them” he scoffs

“don’t mess with me!”

“whatever shortie- OW why would you throw the stapler at me?”

“it’s your mouth that i’m gonna staple next time,”

anyway it was all giggles and shit

you enjoyed working together and gaining your complicity back

the due date came, you had to present in front of 3 other CEOs and your own ceo

you did an amazing job, obviously

everyone liked the harmony between the two of you and how neat your work was

“WOHOO here’s my bad bitch,” yuuji hugged you after the deliberation

“stfu we’re not alone,” you laugh. “did i look good?” you ask

he smirks and checks you out, twirling you and wolf whistling, “hotter than ever and thicker than snicker,” you laugh at his remark

“uhm-uhm,” tsukishima came behind you

“hey, sushimika, good job out there,” yuuji gives him a big grin

tsukishima just nodds and his eyes dart to yuuji’s arm around your waist, something he notices

“erm anyway, Vanessa is calling me gotta go,” he kisses your head and leaves

“he’s one of a kind, i gotta admit,” you say pulling him out of his trance

“i mean, y’all are bestfriends so i’m not surprised,” you roll your eyes

“we did a good job out there, i mean i was better but you weren’t too bad yourself,” he smirks

“you’re so annoying,” you laugh. “i guess we make a good duo,”

you lookn at each other for a while before tsukki finally speaks up

“uhm look, i know it’s only been one month since we’re back to normal but... would you maybe like to have dinner with me?” he rubbs the back of his neck

“like a date?”

“you know what i mean y/n,” he rolls his eyes

“uhm sorry i don’t clearly see what you mean,” you grimace

“ugh alright, like on a date, would go with me yes or no ?”

you laugh at his impatience, “pick me up at 7,”

“is that a yes?”

“you know what i mean, tsukki,” you say as you leave

so the date went well

really well

you didn’t want to burn steps so you lowkey took your time in the process of getting back together

going on dates, talking everything out to build a strong base

work together was fun

i mean i’m not gonna talk about the sneaky make out sessions but haha you know 👀 

surely you got back together, even shared an appartement and you are the happiest you’ve ever been

he proposed 3 years after

fin

taglist : @fallingforyuu @ukhyeonn @yeonayona  @terminallyvolatile @bryai003​ @ichigo-post​ @virgyalizu​ 

i truly hope you like it, <3

[enby-ralsei]

In Love and In Grief

this is some tidalwave <3 gonna post it on ao3 tomorrow and this is the tentative title lmao. ill add the link here when i do. the title might change, or it might not. tumblr formatting + mobile absolutely wanted me dead so I'm surprised i could actually do this lmao.

- x -

Mark sees Tide after months of no contact. So many things have changed in their lives, but maybe one of them can be good.

- x -

Mark strolled into the same coffee shop he always does when he has a day off from work. The atmosphere was nice in there, with small tables having at most four chairs. There were multiple tables with only one chair that were perfect for a former villain to drink coffee alone. There were paintings of coffee beans on the wall. The lights were hanging from the banister like they couldn’t afford to put a real light fixture in, even though they definitely could afford it 

He stood in the short line, and ordered his usual coffee: 5 milk and 2 sugar. Some would say that that is more milk than coffee, and to that Mark would say “who cares”.

He sits down at his usual table in the corner. He sips his coffee, looking nowhere in particular, just enjoying the environment. That is, until he notices a man step into line. Tide.

He had never seen Tide come to this shop before. He always seemed to be the type to go to a larger chain coffee shop.

He watched as Tide ordered, and went to find a seat. Tide looked in his direction, and quirked his eyebrow. He started to walk over toward the table. He pulls a chair over.

“You know, it’s sorta impolite to take a chair when you could have just sat at another table.”

“Figured you could use some company.”

“What the hell does that mean? I’m just drinking my coffee.” Mark looked annoyed, glaring at Tide as he didn’t move an inch.

“Tide you can move along. I’m not doing crime shit anymore. I just do odd jobs now. You don’t have to watch me like a damn hawk.”

“My name’s not Tide anymore,” he remarks.

What?

“What? What the hell does that mean?”

“It means my name is Rinus now. Part of the whole, you know,” he glanced away, then back again, “process. I think you’d like what it means.”

Oh. Oh no. Did he really…

“You got depowered?” Mark exclaimed.

“Be quiet!” Rinus forcefully whispered, “I don’t want to pick a new name when this one fits so well.” A moment passes. Rinus looks down into his cup of coffee. “It means ‘of the sea’. Or at least, that’s what I read it meant. Didn’t exactly have much time to find a new name.”

So that answered that question.

“How much are you able to talk about here?” The music playing in the shop was quiet, the conversations of other patrons all blurring together into plain noise. Mark took a sip of his coffee. It’s cold.

“Basically nothing. I’ve already said a bit too much to someone who isn’t a hero.” Rinus said. Mark could tell that this was just Rinus being himself, but it hurt for some reason. Mark wasn’t a hero, and he knew that. He didn’t want to be one. It still hurt.

“Can we meet elsewhere? Like your house maybe?” Mark’s house was a wreck. Dishes were piled high in the sink, all motivation lost to do them until there weren’t anymore forks to eat with. The clean laundry was sitting in the hamper with the dirty clothes on the floor right beside it. His bed wasn’t made. There was a sole pizza box left on the table. 

He knew that he should have done something, could have done something, but he just felt so tired. There was a fatigue that never really dissipated, even with 8, 9, 10 hours of sleep. His nightmares would come and go, but the fatigue was always there, ready to lay a weary hand upon his back. Ready to force him to lay down at 7 PM when he should be doing something, anything at all.

“Sure. I can tell you more once you get to my place” Rinus replied. 

Mark was thankful for the lack of pushback. However,

“Where is it? I took the bus here.” Mark was hoping that Rinus would once again, not ask any questions about this. Court fees and lawyers and fines are all very expensive. He had to sell his wife’s car. At least he could keep her ring.

“Oh. In that case, I will drive you.”

That was not quite the reaction that Mark expected. That worked well enough. At least he didn’t have to figure out where the closest buses were and the schedules.

“Lead the way, Rinus.”

- x -

The two arrived at Rinus’ house. Actually, it was an apartment, right in the heart of New Haven City. They took an elevator up to the eighth floor. Rinus took the keys out of his pocket and opened the lock. Inside was… very normal. It felt far too normal. It was an average sized apartment for New Haven, maybe even a bit larger than average. There were basic plants adorning the small table in the corner of the room. There was a medium sized bed with navy blue sheets. On the dresser was a down-turned picture frame. Mark could only guess who was shown in it.

“Like how it looks?” Rinus asks.

“Kinda boring. Where’s that hero pizzaz you have? No equipment? Not even a pair of weights or something?,” Mark notes.

“Eh, can’t exactly be a hero anymore, can I? And there’s a gym on the first floor anyway.”

A moment passed in silence. It wasn’t uncomfortable, but it wasn’t comfortable either. Rinus gestured for Mark to sit on his bed. Mark did. Rinus sat next to him.

Mark looked toward Rinus. He asked, “Do I really gotta call you Rinus now? What's wrong with—”

“Yes,” Rinus interrupted, “Yes you do. I cannot use my prior name in any capacity whatsoever. Not even with friends. Or enemies, I suppose.”

“You think I’m your enemy. That’s cute.” Mark sees Rinus look away momentarily at his last remark. “You would invite your enemy over to your new place? Just because we met up by chance at some coffee place?”

“I guess I really cannot call you my enemy. You were Tide’s enemy, sure. But I am not him.”

Rinus looks…awfully sad. Moreso than Mark was expecting. Mark focuses fully on Rinus. There weren’t any tears in his eyes, but there was a kind of desolation in them. His eyes were a deep brown, maybe closer to black. He could probably stare into them for hours. The prospect of getting lost there sounded quite nice. Mark internally shakes himself out of the train of thought.

“You could probably call me an acquaintance and be done with it. Met me someplace, I don’t know.”

“I don’t think that quite covers our relationship well enough,” Rinus said. There was a strange passion in his voice. It wasn’t quite excitement. Maybe it was just plain and pure honesty. Mark hadn’t heard that in a while. For some reason Mark felt his face warm slightly. Damn New Haven heating. Turns on and off for no reason.

Mark felt a longing for something. He couldn’t tell what it was for. He was just sitting next to Rinus. Maybe it was a longing for attachment. The only people he really loved were dead or gone. Someone to just… be with. To be, in someone’s company, at someone’s side. To sit next to and say nothing and still feel comfortable in the silence. 

Mark looks down at Rinus’ hand. It looked softer than it did when he last saw him. Almost 6 months had passed since then. He keeps looking at his hand. It was medium brown in tone, with a red, black, and purple bracelet on it. Well, fuck, if that didn’t make Mark feel worse. Here he is, wanting nothing more than to hold Rinus’ hand when he’d lost the kids. His kids.

Ashe. His breathing faltered, just slightly. He regained control of it quickly, but the grief stayed. His heart sank, just like it had when they first told him that Ashe was possessed by the demon. Just like it did when the same demon killed his wife. There was a heaviness that returned. It always did, no matter how long it left for. It always came back.

Mark moved his hand closer to Rinus’. Rinus looked over and placed his own hand on top of Mark’s. If Mark didn’t feel as bad as he did right now, he’d probably be over the moon with joy. Right now he just felt apathy. It was nice, but it didn’t really help.

“Are you okay?”

Mark looks up. He looks over to Rinus. Rinus moves his hand once again, this time to fully hold Mark’s own. 

Mark just breathes. He looks just under Rinus’ face. He can’t look into his face right now. It would be too much. Whatever he looked like,whether it be pity, or sorrow, or just a smile, it would be too much. Rinus rubs his thumb gently over Mark’s hand.

“I’ll be fine.”

“So that is a no right now.” 

Mark didn’t respond. He just kept looking toward Rinus, avoiding his face. His hand felt warmer than it had in months. His whole self felt warmer, but there was still that feeling of deep sadness that he couldn’t seem to get rid of.

“Mark. Look at me.” And how was he supposed to say no to that?

Rinus’ gentle, sad smile was stunning. Rinus was stunning. Rinus let go of his hand. Mark felt his heart drop. Faster than anything. He felt cold, freezing cold, in almost an instant.

Rinus wrapped his arm around Mark’s shoulder. The warmth returned as quickly as it had left. He patted on Mark’s shoulder, as if it was always meant to be this way. Mark leaned his head down onto Rinus’ shoulder, heart still drowning in sadness. 

He wanted this. He had wanted this. And yet the grief never left.

Mark took a deep breath. His lungs felt like they couldn’t expand the full way, like his grief was blocking them somehow. “Saw your bracelet. Reminded me of my kid.”

“I’m sorry for what happened to him. I wish it had turned out differently. Better.”

Mark swallowed and leaned further against Rinus. He was really pulling out all of the stops. It took a lot of energy just to stay aware of the situation, to not just fade away into the depths of despair. 

Rinus wraps his other arm around Mark. Mark, in turn, hugs him back, head still laying on his shoulder.

“What, trying to make me cry or something. Not gonna happen.” It was getting close though. But Mark’s not crying on Rinus’ shoulder, not when this was the first time that they had seen each other in months. “If it means anything, I wish it turned out better for your kids too.”

Mark felt Rinus’ breath stilt. Rinus sniffled. 

“Oh, so one comment gets you crying though?” Mark jokes.

“I’ve been thinking about them all day. They aren’t dead, but God. They might as well be.” Rinus choked out.

“Whaddya mean?”

“Under orders to avoid locations that they have been at within the past 2 weeks. Their locations are documented very well, as are mine. They’re off doing some road trip somewhere and I’m. I’m here.” Rinus sniffs. “I miss them so much. So much more than I expected.”

Mark squeezed Rinus just a little bit more tightly. Laid his head down on his shoulder just a bit further. Held him close as he cried. Mark ran his hand up and down Rinus’ back, hoping it could help, even just a little.

They stayed there for some time. Mark wasn’t keeping track of it, and he doubted Rinus was either. 

Mark heard Rinus take a deep breath. “Mark,” he said, “I don’t want to force you to do this. But would you like to stay over tonight?” 

Mark lifted his head up to look at Rinus. His eyes were a little bloodshot. Tear tracks could be made out on his face if he looked close enough. He was beautiful.

“If you would rather I can most certainly take you home. It is fine either way.” Rinus continues. Mark knew immediately when Rinus said this that he would probably break down crying after Mark left his car to go home. Not that he wanted to go to his shitty, dirty house, alone, after being in Rinus’ arms.

“I can stay here, if you want.”

“I would… thank you, Mark. You really don’t have to stay if you don’t want to.”

“Eh, I don’t wanna pay for your gas money.” Mark would not want to leave Rinus’ arms, even if the world was ending. Even if there was another planet coming down to destroy the city. Even if a villain threatened everyone. “Let’s just lay down. I’m really damn tired.”

They both stood up from Rinus’ bed, having to let go of each other for a moment. Just a moment. Rinus pulled back his bed sheets and gestured for Mark to get into the bed. He did. Once Rinus turned off the lights, he followed right after.

Mark wrapped his arms around Rinus and squeezed him tightly, then loosened his arms a bit. Just enough to be comfortably wrapped around him. It was calm. It was nice.

[skyguy-snips]

Chapter 1: The Captain

Book 7: Battle Scars

Words: 1415

Masterlist | Taglist

Chapter 2

note: im very dfubk dnd its dsarurday night im so sorry pls enjoy chapter the new book!!!! ilysm. i'll edit/spellcheck inthe morning. srry lmao im genuinelu very drunk and my gf is trying so sober me up..... its barely working haha sorry anyways i hope you enjoy!! xoxo

note update: i am simply unwell this morning and it’s no ones fault but my own. send your thoughts and prayers lmao

Hurtling through space, Skylar let out a string of curses. She stumbled to the side, slamming into the wall as Tech took another harsh turn to avoid the shots coming from behind them. They had finally gotten that damn lizard thing, only for the previous owners to chase them from the surface.

Omega and Wrecker were in the main hold with the cargo, Echo and Tech in the cockpit and Hunter at the rear guns. Skylar stumbled again as a blast hit the ship, falling into the back of one of the cockpit chairs.

“How much longer until we’re in hyperspace, Tech?” Hunter shouted, firing the guns.

“That depends on when Echo plans on getting the drive back online,” Tech snarked, glancing at Echo.

“I’m working on it!” Echo yelled. Skylar just huffed, already done with their arguing. She watched them work for a few seconds before turning back to the main hold to check on Omega. She was unsteady as explosions rocked the ship, and she watched as Omega pulled the safety bar over her head and Wrecker tried to secure the creature next to her in its crate.

“I don’t think Ruby likes this very much,” Omega said. Skylar dropped into the seat across from her, a confused look on her face.

“You named that thing?” Skylar asked as Wrecker sat down in the seat next to her.

“What’s with these guys?” Wrecker shouted, his hands gripping the safety bar.

“Well we did steal from them,” Omega said. The lizard hissed from it’s cage, and Skylar flinched.

“Technically, the Rhokai stole the lizard first,” Tech called from the cockpit. Skylar shared a look with Wrecker, rolling her eyes. “We are merely intercepting it.”

“They don’t see it that way,” Hunter said, continuing to return fire. A rough blast rocked the ship, the lizard’s cage dropping to the floor and the door flying open. It immediately crawled towards Wrecker, who started yelling.

“It’s loose, it’s loose!”

The creature crawled up his leg, heading straight for his head as he jumped up from his seat.

“Get it off, get it off, get it off,” he shouted, running around in the small area. Omega and Skylar both jumped out of their seats, trying to calm him down.

“Stay calm. You’re scaring her,” Omega said, trying to grab the creature without being whacked by Wrecker’s flailing limbs. He ran clear to the cockpit, slamming into the back of one of the seats and falling backwards.

The creature went flying back into the hold, and Omega grabbed the crate from the floor. Skylar moved to block it’s possible escape route to the cockpit.

“Hyperdrive’s online!” Echo shouted, just as Omega dropped the crate over the creature, trapping it.

“Got it!” she shouted. Skylar grabbed onto her, knowing the jump to hyperspace would throw the small girl otherwise. Tech slammed the lever forward, and the stars blurred around them.

Skylar let out a sigh of relief, leaning down to help Omega close the crate and lock it properly. She made sure Omega was alright, and then she moved to help Wrecker off of the floor.

“You alright, big guy?” she asked, smirking at him. He rubbed his head, an embarrassed look on his face.

“Don’t be mean, Sky. That thing was attacking me!” he whined, pointing accusingly at the crate.

“Uh huh. Whatever you say,” she replied, patting his shoulder as she walked out of the cockpit. She passed Hunter, who nodded at her questioning look: He was alright.

She sat down next to Omega, smiling as she watched the girl peer into the crate to get a better look at the creature, ‘Ruby’.

----------

When they arrived at Cid’s, Echo placed the crate on the counter for Cid to look at.

“That’s one strange lookin’ lizard,” she mumbled, straightening back up to look at the group.

“What’s your client want it for?” Echo asked.

“Maybe it’s a pet. Maybe he wants to turn it into a stew. Don’t know, don’t care,” Cid replied. Omega’s face fell a bit at the idea of Ruby being turned into a stew.

“As long as you get paid,” Hunter finished as Cid turned to walk away.

“Now you’re catching on,” she replied, her back still facing them. “And guess what? That means you get paid too. Bring the lizard in the back.”

Skylar moved to stand by Hunter, nudging him with her shoulder. He glanced at her before turning his eyes to watch Echo and Tech head towards the office. They started following them, but Hunter paused, glancing at a few people along the far wall. She went to ask him what was wrong but they were interrupted.

“Hunter?” Omega called. They both turned around, finding Omega and Wrecker. The girl looked up at Wrecker, gesturing towards them with her thumb.

“What are you two up to?” Skylar asked, the hand not holding her helmet resting on her hip.

“The mission’s over. Can we go?” Wrecker asked, Omega giving them a blinding smile.

“Again?” Hunter sighed.

“It’s a tradition,” Wrecker said, Omega nodding along. These two were trouble, that Skylar was sure of. “It makes the kid happy.” Omega leveled Wrecker with a frown.

“Uh huh. The kid,” Hunter said. They just looked at him, sweet and manipulative smiles on their faces.

“Don’t take long,” Hunter sighed, turning to walk back to the office. Skylar couldn’t help but grin, knowing Hunter had the biggest soft spot for his brothers and Omega. The two cheered, jumping up and down before running from the bar. Skylar followed Hunter, glancing back toward the group of people along the far wall.

They entered the office, Cid tapping away on her datapad.

“All right, here’s your cut,” she said, handing Hunter a handful of credits.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. You said the job paid three times this,” Hunter argued.

“For me, not for you,” Cid said.

“And just how is this a mutually beneficial arrangement?” Echo asked, clearly frustrated.

“You’re breathin’, aren’t you?” was Cid’s reply, just angering them further. “Rather generous considering the debt you owe me.”

“What debt?” Skylar asked. Cid tossed the datapad onto the desk, and Skylar picked it up and scanned through the itemized list.

“Docking fees, port charges, gear, fuel, rations, and 20 cartons of Mantell Mix?” she read off. Cid didn’t reply, crossing her arms and leaning back in her chair. Tech took the datapad from her, reading it for himself while the other three glanced at each other.

“Now, I like you, but I’m not running a charity here. You need a big score for us to be square,” she said, pointing her staff at them.

“Like what?” Echo asked.

“Like retrieving that tactical droid, but you bungled that op,” she said, frowning. “I suggest you figure something out before you see my ugly side.”

“That’s not her ugly side?” Tech murmured, glancing at Skylar next to him. She elbowed his stomach where the armor didn’t cover, a small ‘oof’ leaving his mouth.

“What was that, goggles?” Cid asked, leaning closer to him. The argument was cut short, however, by the sound of blaster fire coming from the bar. They all turned on instinct, hands pulling out their blasters. They took off running, pausing in the doorway to the bar with their blasters aimed.

They saw two patrons go running for the exit, a cloaked figure standing by the far wall with a blaster in their hand. They sat the blaster on the edge of the table, their face obscured by their hood. However, a flash of blue and white caught Skylar’s eye, and her breath caught in her throat.

No. It couldn’t possibly be. It was just her mind playing tricks on her, there was no way this person was a trooper, let alone would she be lucky enough for them to be from the 501st. Not after what happened.

Cid shoved past them, angry for the disturbance.

“Hey, what’s going on in here?” she asked, nudging Hunter aside. “Who are you?”

She gestured towards the cloaked individual with her staff, their head turning to look at them. They stepped forward, and everyone’s hands warily held their blasters. The person reached up towards their hood, and all of the air left Skylar’s lungs.

Blue and white plastoid armor. She would recognize those tally marks anywhere.

He removed his hood, looking at them with an unreadable expression. Skylar felt Echo tense beside her, his arm lowering his blaster immediately.

“... Rex?”

-----------

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