#but if anyone actually Knows the timeline and could give more likely dates let me know

[longelk]

What do you think Kaycee Hobbes' birthday is

March 17 is kaycee day, thats her bday to me :)

[theemissuniverse]

“YOU ARE MY SOUL” LIU KANG X FEM!READER

SUMMARY : You find out Liu Kang loved Kitana in another timeline and you’re angry. In the previous timeline, you were in love with Liu Kang and heartbroken over this. Also you’re one of Earthrealm’s champions

WARNINGS : MINORS DONT INTERACT. angsty but happy endings for everyone! oral f receiving, praise kink, p in v, edging, some other stuff I probably forgot

You were beyond mad. How could he keep this from you? How could he pretend that all was well in the universe?

Liu Kang had now finally revealed about him creating this timeline. He also thought it was time to tell you about the last one. That he was actually in love with someone else. A goddamn princess specifically.

As if you weren’t already insecure enough about the relationship. Your boyfriend was a goddamn Fire God. You couldn’t compete with that. Now you couldn’t compete with an Outworld princess.

You walked through your house, completely trying to ignore Liu Kang but Liu Kang kept following you. “My love, my past life means nothing as of now.”

You scoffed. You go into the kitchen and grabbed some things out so you could get started on dinner. “Give me a break. You were in love with goddamn Princess Kitana.”

Liu Kang watched as you angrily grabbed food out to make dinner. Nothing made him feel more guilty than this. He didn’t regret telling you. You had a right to know. He just hated how the whole situation turned out. “Everything was different in the last timeline.”

“Yeah, I bet everything was different. Hey, here’s a question-if you and Kitana were out having the time of your lives, where the fuck was I?”

If Liu Kang could throw up, he would. He didn’t want to tell you because he didn’t want you to feel bad about yourself. You again, still had your right to know. “You were in love with me…and you died for me.”

Your eyes went wide eyed at the reveal. You threw down the food that was in your hands on the kitchen counter. “Let me get this straight-you get to bone a literal princess while I get to be obsessed with you to the point of my death? Great.”

You went to the sink and started to wash your hands. You couldn’t feel anymore humiliated. Like you were a joke. Did he only date you because he felt sorry for you? “Are you only with me because you couldn’t get Kitana in this timeline?”

Liu Kang immediately shook his head. “Not at all, my love.” He came up behind you and gently rubbed on your neck to release some tension. “I did not plan for you to fall in love with me this time and I also did not plan for myself to fall in love with you. But I did. You are truly amazing, (Y/N). I wouldn’t have anyone but you. I’m sorry for making you feel this way.”

You were even more mad now because your anger was dying. Not only because of his words but how his hands worked your body. “Don’t do that. Don’t talk all sweet to me and rub up on my body. It’s not gonna work this time.” You said, drying your hands with the rag that was next to you.

Liu Kang’s hands went to your hips and he started to kiss your neck. “You are the only one I desire, (Y/N). The only one that I love. Please, let me show you how much I love you.”

Liu Kang brought you back into him. His hand easily slipped in your sweatpants and into your underwear. He found his way to your clit and started to rub it in circles.

You moaned. Liu Kang continued to kiss and suck on your neck. It was like all your anger for him was gone and you hated it. You hated how he made you feel.

“Oh my god…This is not going to get you out of trouble.” Your sentence was cut off when you felt Liu Kang pick you up.

He took you all the way to the bedroom and gently placed you down on the bed. Liu Kang kissed your lips sweetly before going back to your neck and sucking on it. You moaned louder. “Liu…”

Liu Kang pulled away and took your sweatpants off. Then went with your underwear. He bent down and spread your legs only to then start to eat you out.

“Oh fuck. Liu Kang.” Your hands went immediately on his head and you tugged on his hair.

Liu Kang’s hands were wrapped around your thighs. He tasted you like it was his favorite meal in the world. His tongue danced on your clit several times before licking up all your juices.

He started to suck on your clit. You tugged on his hair even harder. “Oh my…” Liu Kang was the only one that could get you to feel like this and you hated it.

Liu Kang rubbed on your thighs. Your whole body to him was a work of art. All he wanted was you. All he loved was you.

He slurped all your juices and pulled away from your delicious pussy. Liu Kang licked his fingers slightly and stuck them inside of you, going in and out.

You threw your head back. Liu Kang allowed you to grip on his bicep as he used his incredible God-like powers on you. The sex was always more overwhelming and pleasurable because he was a God.

Liu Kang watched you as you fucked yourself on his fingers and he admitted it was one of the most beautiful things in the world to him.

“Liu Kang. I need you. Please.”

Liu Kang didn’t stop fingering you. “What do you want, love?”

“Fill me up, please.”

Liu Kang stopped. He started to take off his pants and underwear. Once his bottom half was completely naked, he grabbed your thighs and wrapped them around him. “Are you ready, darling?” He saw you nod and then entered you.

Liu Kang stretched you out so well. You moaned as he entered you. He gave you one passionate but sloppy kiss on the lips before starting to move in you.

He loved making love to you. For him, it was one of the best things in the world. He loved to make you feel good. He loved that you would fall apart underneath him. He loved that you were his. He didn’t plan to give you up anytime soon.

“Faster. Please.”

Liu Kang listened to you and started to fuck you faster and a bit harder to your liking. He continued to have your legs wrapped around him as he made love to you. “My goddess, you look absolutely stunning like this.” Liu Kang lifted your shirt and rubbed all over your stomach. “I could not give you up if I tried. You are mine and I am yours.”

Him speaking so beautifully to you always turned you on even more. You whimpered at his words. Liu Kang felt your pussy clench around his dick and he grunted a little.

Liu Kang never really showed reactions during sex as he was a God, had control of himself, and has been alive since the dawn of time. He knew you hated that he would show no reaction and was trying to change that.

Liu let out his moans. You did feel good around him despite his God nature trying to hide it. To be honest, he already felt like he had to cum. He was lucky that he was a God and he could hold it for however long he needed to until you came.

“Oh my god. You make me feel so good. Please don’t ever stop.”

Liu Kang listened to you. It was like heaven to his ears. His hand was still on your stomach. He gave you light rubs as he fucked you. “You’re the only woman that can make me feel like this. You’re the only woman I desire to make feel good.” His pace sped up and he was hitting your good spot. “I am yours.”

Your mouth turned into an ‘O’ shape as he hit your good spot. You couldn’t even put it into words. You just flung your head back and closed your eyes.

Liu Kang continued to mercilessly hit your spot. “Say it. I’m yours.”

You knew if you didn’t, Liu Kang wouldn’t let up. “You’re mine. You’re all mine. Fuck, Liu Kang.”

God, you looked too good like this. Liu Kang slowed up the pace a little so he wasn’t constantly hitting your good spot. “You’re too good for me, my love. I don’t deserve you.” Liu Kang felt your pussy clench again and he grunted. He tried to slow up but he couldn’t resist you anymore. He started to pound into you harder.

“Oh, fuck. Liu Kang. Yes, yes, yes.” You loved when Liu Kang lost control inside of you. “Fuck this pussy. It’s yours all yours.”

Liu Kang felt like he could cum any second and was once again glad of his god-like ability. “Mine.” He gripped onto your thighs. “All mine.” He continued to fuck you hard and fast. “Nobody can have you but me.”

Liu Kang being possessive was the hottest thing in the world to you. You tugged on Liu Kang’s shirt, indicating for him to bend down and kiss you. Liu Kang understood and bent down to kiss you.

The two of you moaned as he went relentlessly in you. He didn’t even break a sweat at how fast he was going.

“I’m so close.” You said in the kiss.

Liu Kang was glad you were but he was going to do something he had never done: deny you to cum. “Hold it.”

Your eyes widen a little at this. “Liu, I can’t hold it.”

“Yes you can.” Liu Kang placed another soft kiss on your lips before focusing back on his pace. “I love you more than anyone and anything. Do you believe me?”

Your fingernails dug into Liu Kang’s back. “Yes, baby. I believe you. Please.”

Liu Kang did not let up on his pace. “Tell me your mine.”

“I’m yours. Fuck, Liu Kang. I’m all yours. Please. It feels too good.”

Liu Kang brushed away the tears that were welling up in your eyes. “Remember that the next time you question my love for you. Now cum.”

When Liu Kang felt you cum on him, he released into you. He continued going until you both were done.

Liu Kang pulled out of you. He gave you sweet butterfly kisses on your face, making you giggle. “I’ll start a bath for you.”

He tried to get up but you made him stay on top of you. “Not yet. Just hold me.”

Liu Kang kissed your cheek. “As you wish, my love.” He intertwined his fingers with yours and held your hand. “You are my everything. My soul. Do not forget that.”

You smiled at him. “I won’t.”

[felassan]

Some snippets from DA dev Luke Barrett on the unofficial BioWare forum, cut for length:

DA:I -

User: "I am still convinced that Bioware cut the healing spells and went with barriers instead because of the Multiplayer." Luke Barrett: I can't speak to any other games directly but I can give a bit of historic context for DAI. The game was initially a more dungeon/linear delving - see how far you can get - experience and there was no barrier of any kind. As a side note: healing has always been a hot topic in design because as soon as you include it there are many other conceits you now need take into consideration for the gameplay - one of which I will call 'the Anders problem'. Anyway, as DAI got the date moved and shifted more into the pseudo-openworld the concept of attrition (see how far you can get before having to return to camp) became less relevant and we needed to help the Players have more moment-to-moment agency around their survival. Unfortunately for various reasons (one of which is the sad reality of designing a game with a shifting timeline) the healing couldn't be re-added so we ended up with more of a mitigation strategy in the barrier system. It went through a lot of iterations but eventually landed on what it shipped with which I would call... acceptable (but just barely). Now, I will concede that a part of the reason it didn't return after that shift was an aversion to holy trinity gameplay specifically for MP but it wasn't the core reason. As a side story, trying to balance the game (as that was my job on DAI - and yes, it could be much better haha) we had to all but force Players to take barrier. It is intentionally the first skill in the first tree for the Mage and all the autolevel (I also handled that) is designed to get it right away." [source]

User: "Merry Christmas Luke! Sooo what was the hardest class you had to balance? [DA:I]" Luke Barrett: "I feel like anyone who was around for the post-launch content will already know the answer to this as it was the bane of my existence when I got put exclusively on MP after launch but the Knight-Enchanter barrier absorbing was a pain. Stuff like that is very challenging to feel good without being broken as they are relative to damage so scaling is fairly open-ended. Too little and the casual players won't get use out of it, too much and the character builders will be wildly OP. We actually had a 'no nerfing' guideline for the SP side so it was a hard battle to fix that silly thing 🙃." [source]

"As a fun fact, I did all the logic for autolevel on DAI and the guideline I was given was literally "make functional builds, but don't make something optimal that you'd play"." [source]

DA:TV -

User: "If you can, say thanks to the people making the no die option possible." Luke Barrett: "Done! My team handles this stuff so I let them know 😊" [source]

"Comically, I designed the majority of the items and skills and I am still finding it fun making awesome builds (been almost entirely doing playthroughs lately" [source]

"Was really important to the team that everyone could play the way that felt best to them." [source]

"Each specialization has a focus around a few specific mechanics, some of which are the weapons or damage types but you can go off script and make it work for sure (this was intentional in the designs)." [source]

"I designed all the skills and so they're each enjoyable to me to some extent. I have been playing through the game over and over the last couple months for balance purposes so I've played them all fairly extensively." [source]

User: "Necrotic sounds like it could be either Spirit or Nature." User: "For Rogue, it replace "poison". For Mage, it replace spirit (Spirit bomb). For Warrior, it's more spirit (especially Reaper), but some skills could work as poison too. So basically they merged spirit and nature." Luke Barrett: "Thats pretty close to spot on. They were actually heavily iterated on throughout development - I can't (at least currently) go into specifics as to why though." [source]

"the target for the progression vision is that you can make a viable build out of almost** any aspect of the gameplay." [source]

"As for timelines, We started DA4 in October of 2015 roughly. The entire team was moved to MEA for about 3-4 months to help it ship and I also spent all of 3 weeks helping out on Anthem. But otherwise I've been on some incarnation of DA4 for about 9 years now - pretty ready for it to release 😅." [source]

"yes, years of working on the same thing can cause some burnout but I've played through the full game probably about 8 times in the last few months and it's still fun (though some of the specific levels that haven't changed in a long time I've done 50+ times easily and I could do without ever seeing them again 😂)." [source]

User: "I do kind of feel that at this point the DA team has put so much work into creating and improving their tools and learning the ins and outs of Frostbite [...] But who knows what the devs in the trenches really feel" Luke Barrett: "I will say it does some things very well and some things poorly, relative to other engines. Personally I really enjoy Frostbite but I've been using it since 2012. In an ideal world, many engines would be viable and developers would make games suited to the strengths of a specific engine." [source]

User: "Since this game is much more stat heavy than prior titles, specifically when it comes to skills and gear, there's likely a need for some balance changes to be made post-launch. Does the game being playable completely offline hinder the data capture side for your team (in terms of analytics), or is this a non-factor?" Luke Barrett: "Generally speaking, most people leave data analytics on so we get more than enough data coming in. Additionally, I'll personally be watching several channels for things that are underperforming (relatively speaking) and not have to nerf anything. The rpg side is vast though and I'm sure people will find OP combinations/synergies that might need 'adjustments' but as long as it's fun and not an "I win" button that trivializes combat I'm pretty cool with it." [source]

Luke Barrett: "I can safely say there are many builds for each class that will feel very powerful if you're not on the highest difficulty 😉. What I'm really excited for is when the guides comes out that show people the fastest way to get some of the uniques that unlock 'special' gameplay 😊. Let's just say I love the feeling of rushing to Patches in DS1 and kicking him off the bridge for the Crescent Axe (iykyk)." [source] User: "Speaking of guides. Will there be a guidebook like there was for DAI? " Luke Barrett: "Not that I'm aware of but I'm happy to help feed info to somewhere like fextralife or the dragon age wiki after a week or so to help with those pursuits. Have to leave some time for exploration and discovery before the optimizers streamline the experience 😉" [source]

"Effectively, at least until the game launches (and likely a week or so after), you won't get anything interesting out of any of the devs save Mike Gamble or John Epler. Longer term I hope to be very active, at least for build mechanics and all the combat/rpg nuts and bolts conversations." [source]

"I started "da4" in October 2015 and so after 9 years of effort (minus 3 months on Andromeda) I'm quite excited for tomorrow and the launch week. I don't know if I'd say nervous, I feel pretty confident in the product, but definitely that eager kid before Christmas feeling 😊" [source]

"As the person who did all the balance, I will say that if you are comprehending how to make a cohesive build and understand the combat mechanics, you should play on Underdog. One of the downsides to having a lot of power growth vectors is the difference between people who engage vs those that don't becomes a chasm quite quickly. If you start blowing enemies up rapidly, turn up the difficulty (or play on nightmare where that will not be the case) - basically if it ever feels super easy or like enemies are health sponges you're probably on the wrong setting for your skill level. The custom difficulty settings are there to make the gameplay enjoyable (for whatever that means to you)." [source]

"As a tip from me, the balance is subtly tipped in the players favor until the last fight of the 3rd combat mission. Be warned if it's feeling too easy you may want to wait until after that to decide." [source]

[on DA MP] Luke Barrett: "It was actually pretty fun but very much not what most people wanted us to make (including internally). Also we had, let's say, limited staff who had a passion and background in MP so it was definitely the right call to go SP only. Now, it would have been nice had we just started that way but so it goes sometimes." [source] User: "You still play it yourself from time to time (DA MP), or have you left it be?" Luke Barrett: "After playing variations of DA4 for so many years (9!!!) it's hard to go back to anything with DAI controls/gameplay speed. Even the initial Joplin prototypes I was doing were much more snappy/twitchy - for everything good about DAI the combat was definitely in the middle of two different styles." [source]

[on aiming bows] "we actually used to have separate buttons for ADS and ranged attack but it was wildly overloading the controller. These RPG games need controllers with at least 2 more buttons (fingers crossed for the next gen)" [source]

User: "After the last few games, I'm really surprised by the current skill... tree?" Luke Barrett: "I call it a skill graph - aside from the beginning where you have 3 choices the entirety of it is 2 choice splits and it'll essentially make a build for you. Just go a little at a time and aim for whatever specialization seems most fun to you 😄" [source]

"Loot is not random so theoretically guides with drop locations should appear pretty soon." [source]

"Yep, Spellblade is the only spec that directly impacts fire damage but you can get benefits from most of them and still go fire. As for the specs, yes it would have been nice to support all of them but just wasn't in scope unfortunately. Mage has Mourn-Watch, Shadow Dragons, and Antivan Crows specializations - only the Rogue has a Veiljumper one. Deathcaller left side you can go beam based and use a Fire weapon. Evoker you'd likely need to do a hybrid ice/fire build." [source]

User: "Bit of a side question, but for those who intend to make more characters, is BioWare considering upping the amount of playable character slots you can have (currently at 3)? Or is there a hardware restriction here given the game is offline playable?" Luke Barrett: "Don't quote me as I don't handle the technical side of this but my understanding is we have to allocate a specific amount of HD space on the consoles so we basically have to pick a limit, relative to our save file sizes, and then divide that by number of careers. I'll inquire if this is something we can increase with an optional download or something but I suspect consoles are stuck that way, unfortunately." [source]

[on Patch 1] "It's been awhile since I actually did the content for this patch so I'd have to check but I have a pretty anti-nerf policy for SP games. I know I fixed up a couple enemies that weren't as hard as they were supposed to be and definitely boosted a bunch of synergistic things though. I'll take a look tomorrow but for those that don't know, the turnaround time on these things is about a month of it's not an emergency due to certification process with consoles. Longer term my goal is to keep an eye in telemetry of any underused abilities and items (or enemies with too many kills under their belt) and audit them just to double check if they need a boost or if people just haven't figured them out yet 😉." [source]

"The equippable items are all predetermined with a minor exception*. Some items are class specific (all the weapons, a small amount of armors and accessories, 2 runes) so when you play a different class you'll see your classes 'version' of that item. Things that are random (from a table/pool) are valuables. Exception: Near the very end of the game we do a few checks on what equipment you haven't acquired. A bunch of those final drops, and inventory on the final merchant, simply find stuff you don't have and give it to you. That's basically the only major RNG we have with loot. If you notice even 99% of the skills and item mods employ an effect after a condition is met X times rather than a more traditional 'proc chance'." [source]

[on modding] "Once this starts to pick up, feel free to PM me if anyone needs help 'finding' assets or has questions about how one might mod something. We don't officially support mods buuuuut we don't have any kind of anti-modding stance either" [source]

"To give the high level gist of the resource economy: - each class starts off with minimal ability usage, this is intentional to force people to learn the other combat mechanics as they're a necessary skill and it's easy to lean on a crutch like ability spam and kiting - abilities are designed to feel powerful on use, thus they all have a decent cost and can't be spammed* - weapon attacks generate your resource - in the bottom right of the center skills area is a node to make each class's resource easier to manage - halfway down all starting segments (N, SW, SE) there is always a node that boosts generation - there are +max nodes on all sides of the skill graph for each class, this is particularly important for the Mage as they start each fight at max - each class can build into being ability focused but starts intentionally rounded - loastly, the first ability is always a resource spender and 1 or 2 of the next available ones will be cooldown gated. It is recommended to have at least one cooldown based ability slotted" [source]

"So loosely the rogue momentum works like this: - each ability costs 50 momentum - hitting enemies generates ~2 momentum per hit (base), you get extra for bow weakpoints - when you are directly hit, you lose 15% of your current momentum, this means the more you hold the more you will lose (this loss has a small cooldown so you don't lose a whole bar when you get hit rapidly) - momentum carries forward between combats (compared to warrior rage which decays when out of combat) If youre having issues, make sure you get that skill in the middle section that reduces momentum loss when hit. As a helpful tip, the Quicken buff generates small amounts of momentum each second so it's a good way to get more if you're having issues." [source]

"I highly recommend using the belt that grants Quicken early game until you can generate momentum faster yourself. And yes, the time dilation affects everything in the world except the Player so all your buffs and things still tick at normal speed" [source]

User: "If I knock an enemy off an edge, if they were supposed to drop something will it appear on the edge, or is it lost for good?" Luke Barrett: "It should appear on the ledge. I will say the 'real' loot from enemy drops are all hand placed. The actual random stuff is just valuables and materials." [source]

" The way it actually works is very complicated with a lot of necessary exceptions but loosely - each ability has a base damage and ones that hit multiple times have an offset multiplier. - That value is multiplied by the sum of all your stat bonuses, conditional bonuses, resist and layer modifiers. - We then subtract enemy defense and multiply by 1-resist (with penetration being calculated here). - this new damage then gets multiplied by 1+crit+weakpointpoint (so those bonuses always feel meaty) and then multiplied by a random number between .95 and 1.05 just to give a little range to the floaties (basically just a presentation thing) - we then multiply again for buffs and debuffs so they, again, always feel meaningful - lastly, we take all added damage and add it flat on top" [source]

"Specific enhancements make enemies immune to the matching affliction. For example, Fire Enchanted enemies are immune to burning. Juggernaut enemies are immune to being staggered but otherwise it should work in everything." [source]

[bittenbyyou]

Inferior Flames (1)

MCU!AU | MCU!Peter Parker x Stark!Reader | MCU!Spider-Man x Stark!Reader

genre: enemies to lovers, angst, slow burn, lil cute moments

description: Your father wants you to knock Peter down a peg. OR Peter is bitter because you’re an Avenger and he’s not.

word count: 3.6k

warnings: Tony Stark being your father is already a warning as to how ridiculous he could be lol, mentions of Spider-Man: Homecoming, references from Captain America: Civil War, idk where this would fit in the MCU timeline per se b/c I’ve only recently started watching all the Marvel movies. 

a/n: maybe it’ll be a series? idk, if you like it, lemme know!

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

“Firefly, I need a favor.” Your father plopped onto the couch next to you, so you paused your show with the TV remote.

“What is it?” you asked, turning your body to give him your undivided attention.

“You know Spiderling, Spider-Boy?”

“Peter Parker, Spider-Man? Yes. How do you still not know his name?”

“My names are better.”

“Uh huh. Wait, he’s the one that rejected your proposal to become an Avenger.” You nudged him with your elbow, flashing a smirk.

“No, no. I don’t do rejection.”

“But he did turn you down.”

He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose to alleviate his frustration. “Sure. Whatever. Anyway, the kid wants to be an Avenger now. Been texting Happy nonstop about when’s the next mission and he’s wanting to see me tomorrow.”

You blinked twice and stayed quiet, a blank stare on your face as to why this was an issue. When he didn’t say anything, you gestured for him to elaborate.

“I don’t think he’s ready,” he added, crossing one arm over the other.

“You’re serious? Dad, you’ve never shut up about him ever since you gave him the suit. Even when I was abroad, I’ve seen what he can do. He’s amazing. You wanted him to be an Avenger.”

“I’m aware. But he said no and now… the ball is in my court.” The shit-eating grin on his face was soon replaced with a chuckle that sounded almost sinister.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I mean, he turned me down and now he wants me back. God, I’m making him sound like an ex-girlfriend.” He shivered in disgust and you rolled your eyes. “Anyway, I get to turn him down now. It’s great.”

“So you’re turning him down because he turned you down first. Petty much?”

“Hey, that is not what’s going on here.” He turned his attention to the paused TV screen instead of meeting your judgmental gaze.

“Dad, that’s exactly what you’re doing. You’re really letting your pride stop you from recruiting someone as amazing as Spider-Man? Let Peter join.”

“What, are you in love with him or something? You think he’s so amazing?” he asked while doing jazz hands at the word “amazing.”

You wouldn’t call it love; it was more along the lines of admiration. During your time abroad, your father filled you in on all his adventures and antics so if anything, it was his fault as to why you were somewhat enamored with Spider-Man. Deep down, you knew your father adored Peter, so it was only natural you did too.

“As a matter of fact, I do.”

“You can’t date anyone until you’re 21.”

“I’m telling Mom you’re being ridiculous.”

“I already told your mom and we’ve already established that I’m ridiculous,” he said proudly, as if it was a badge of honor.

“You told me you were proud of his decision to lay low.”

“I am. I was. But now the tables have turned and what kind of person would I be if I let him in so easily? The others think I’m crazy recruiting a 15 year old.”

“16 now actually,” you corrected.

“God, this is like deja-vu.”

You giggled. “I’m the same age as him and you’ve been wanting me to join too.”

“Don’t remind me. You were the first person to ever turn me down and I’m still recovering. I’m waiting for you to crawl back and beg me, saying ‘Dad, please! Let me be an Avenger!’ Like the kid is doing now,” he said, using a high-pitched voice when he was imitating you.

“Good luck with that. I have no interest in being an Avenger.”

“See,” he said, pointing his index finger at you, “that right there is why I need your help.”

You crossed your arms in the same way he did, skeptical of where he was going with this. “Go on.”

“I want you to pretend to be another recruit who wants to be an Avenger. I’ll tell him there’s only one position and make him work for it.”

“Dad…” you said sternly.

“What? He doesn’t know you’re my daughter. And I’m trying to protect him too. The kid’s been going off doing things on his own and not thinking clearly. He can wait on becoming an Avenger.”

“He stopped Vulture. He kept looking for those weapons when no one else would.”

“He’s reckless.”

“You’re using me to make him jealous.”

“A little,” he said with a shrug. “But I’m also looking out for him.”

“Uh huh.”

“He’s coming here tomorrow and I want you to battle him. If he beats you, he’ll get to join.”

“This is so stupid.”

“It’s genius, really.”

“You’re making a kid fight for something that you already want to give him.”

“No. Not yet.”

“You know he can’t beat me.”

Your father leaned in and pecked you on the forehead. “Exactly. Him losing will help him work harder to be better. This’ll give him that push he really needs. So will you help me?”

“Let me get this straight. You want me to fight Peter Parker and make sure he loses just so he doesn’t get to become an Avenger even though deep down, you want him to be one?”

“Precisely.”

“That’s the stupidest idea ever. And it’ll hurt his feelings.”

“No, it’ll build character. He needs to understand it’s not that simple. You can’t ask to become an Avenger and get it.”

“... But he can… because that’s what you wanted in the first place.”

“He turned me down so it’s only fair that he proves to me how much he wants it. Like a test. I’m testing him.”

“No. Dad, I’m not doing that.”

“I’ll enroll you in school right now instead of waiting for the following year.”

You sighed, contemplating his ridiculous proposition. He had adopted you when you were 10 on one of his missions overseas and has kept you a secret from the public. As much as it pained him, he could not bring you home right away because you required guidance on using your powers responsibly. You had to remain abroad for a while longer until the adoption forms went through and your mentors felt you were ready to leave the tiny village where you resided.

However, he and his wife Pepper, kept in touch and always checked in. He showed up every birthday and made it his mission to be a part of your life. Now that you were in high school and your powers were restored, he flew you into New York City right away.

It’s been a few months since your transition and you absolutely loved it. The Avengers who resided in the compound were very welcoming and so far, they were the only ones who knew of your existence along with your mom. Your father had yet to announce your identity to the world because he didn’t want the spotlight to overwhelm you. Originally he planned on having you relax a bit and then enroll you in public school next year, but going earlier was enticing to you.

“... Which school?”

“Spider-Man’s.”

“... Fine.”

“You do have a crush on him.”

“Shut up, Dad.”

The next day…

Upon entering the foyer of the Avengers Compound, Happy led Peter to where Stark was. The man stood in the middle of the main entrance hall, sporting a classy suit and sunglasses. Peter clenched his fists in determination, carefully reciting the words he wanted to say in his head since the car ride over.

“Hey kid. What do you want?”

“Mr. Stark,” he squeaked. He shut his eyes in humiliation, clearing his throat and lowering his voice a bit to sound more confident. Once his eyes fluttered open, he puffed out his chest and said, “I changed my mind.”

“You changed your mind,” Stark deadpanned.

“Yes. I want to be an Avenger.”

“You understand why I’m skeptical.”

“Um… yes, but—”

“Look, you turned me down last time and am I used to rejection?” Peter opened his mouth to answer but was immediately cut off. “The answer’s no, but I respected your decision. All that talk about looking out of the little guy—great—so what changed?”

“I’m ready for more than that now.”

“No, you’re not.”

“That’s not what you thought when I took on Captain America,” Peter argued.

“Trust me, kid. If Cap wanted to lay you out, he would’ve.”

Peter furrowed his eyebrows at the realization that he got off easy, questioning his entire existence.

Stark pressed his palms together and pointed at him. “You really want to be an Avenger?”

The boy nodded eagerly. “Yes.”

He inhaled sharply through gritted teeth. “See, here’s the thing: there’s someone else.”

Peter’s face fell, heartbroken at the thought of being replaced. “What—What do you mean there’s someone else?”

“Well, after you turned me down, I recruited someone else. If you really want to be an Avenger, prove to me you’re better than her.”

“Wait, her?”

“Yeah. You think you got what it takes?”

“Well it’s rude to attack a lady—”

“No. Gender equality’s a thing, right? You beat her up, she beats you up. You both end up in casts—”

“Casts?!”

“Suit up and let’s go.”

With no other choice, Peter obeyed and did what he was told. His thoughts were racing at the thought of battling someone to prove his worth. But this was his dream and he had to get out of his own head. After he finished suiting up, Happy led Tony and him to the outdoor training area that featured a wide-opened space with reinforced surfaces.

It had strategically placed obstacles to encourage agility and tactical thinking during battles. Additionally, the area incorporated holographic projectors to create any virtual landscapes to simulate specific scenarios for the Avengers to train in.

And that was where Peter’s eyes landed on a figure in the distance. You, who was practicing your combat skills with a large kung fu spear. The way you moved was calculated, graceful, like a beautiful yet deadly dance. You performed many high kicks and flips, mesmerizing Peter as your hands maneuvered the spear so flawlessly around your body. Your father and Happy watched you, proud smiles plastered on both of their faces.

“That’s who you’ll be battling today,” Stark said, clapping his hands together once to catch your attention. You stopped what you were doing and landed in a perfect split with the spear parallel to your body, noticing your father and Happy’s presence. You got up and rushed over, your eyes quickly finding its way to the boy in the iconic red and blue costume.

“Hi D-... Mr. Stark. Happy.” You turned to Peter, loving the fact that he didn’t have his mask on yet so you could finally meet him as him. He was far cuter in person, you weren’t going to deny that. “I’m [Y/N].”

Your dad wanted this “test” to be authentic, so you couldn't tell Peter you were, in fact, a Stark. Plus you didn’t look like a Stark anyway, with you being adopted and all. It’d be a cinch.

“P-Parker, Peter. Parker Peter—I mean, Peter Parker,” Peter said softly, shaking your hand. God, you were so pretty that it made him a fumbling mess. He wondered if you two were the same age.

“Great. Now that both you kiddos are here, you both know what you have to do, right?”

You and Peter looked at each other and exchanged awkward smiles. “Mr. Stark, I’m not comfortable battling a… um…”

“Girl?” you finished. “I’d be more worried about yourself, darling.”

The way the word “darling” rolled off your tongue caused Peter’s face to redden like a cherry.

“I’m not saying girls can’t battle, I’m just saying I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Are you going to hold back if the enemy is a woman?”

Peter opened his mouth to say something but to no avail.

“You said you wanted to be an Avenger. There’s only one position available, so we’re going to be testing you both. Happy will launch the simulation sequence and then you two will be fighting one-on-one,” your father explained.

“Good luck,” Happy said, trying hard not to laugh. The two men walked a safe distance away where they could observe you both.

“What’s the simulation sequence?” Peter called out before putting on his mask.

“We’re going to be launching drones at you,” Stark called back from afar with cupped hands.

“Drones?!”

“Yeah, we want to see how much you’ve improved!”

“In 3, 2, 1!” Happy shouted as he pushed some buttons on his phone.

You and Peter both stared up at the sky as a swarm of drones lined up in a similar fashion as the game Space Invaders.

“May the best Avenger win,” you said, sending him a wink. He laughed nervously as you immediately launched yourself in the sky. Peter gasped in awe.

“She can fly?!”

Hovering in front of the drones, you closed your eyes and pressed your index and middle fingers together, forming a "V" shape. Bringing the fingers perpendicular to your forehead, it felt as if you were beckoning an unseen force. With unwavering focus, you opened your eyes, and the spear you held multiplied tenfold, floating effortlessly beside you. Extending your arm forward, you pointed confidently at the drones, issuing a resolute command for the spears to launch their attack. Explosions scattered throughout the sky as you managed to wipe out half the drones with one attack.

“And she can multiply things. Great,” Peter huffed, launching a web at one of the drones to join you.

“She’s going to destroy him,” your father said, chuckling to himself.

“Kid, come back. Don’t be such a sore loser.”

Peter shook his head while removing his mask, muttering self-deprecating thoughts to himself at his performance. You watched as he walked away, rubbing the back of your neck.

“Did I go overboard?” you asked, a tinge of guilt eating away at your conscience. Your father chuckled and waved off your concern with a flick of the wrist.

“No, you did great. He’ll be fine.” He went after Peter and placed a hand on his shoulder to prevent him from going any further. “Hey. You put up a good fight.”

Peter spun around, exasperated and using his hands to express his frustration. “I lost. There was no way I was going to win. She can fly, she can multiply things, she can use telekinesis, she can breathe fire—is she part dragon? How was I supposed to compete with that?!”

You saw him pointing at you from afar, giving him a small smile but was only reciprocated with a frown.

Tony put on a contemplating face. “Is she part dragon…?” he mumbled. “Anyway, I told you that I had to find someone else after you said no. And she’s earned her place. I’m sorry you’re disappointed, but you lost fair and square.”

“But—”

“No buts. You aren’t ready. So lay low, be a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, and work your way up. Go to school, focus on classes, and finish that homework you’ve been putting off.”

“I don’t need to go to school.”

“Yes. You do. Even she goes to school,” Stark said, pointing over in your direction.

You went over to where Happy was, your eyes still glued on your father and Peter. “Happy, he looks so heartbroken.”

“I know. But it’s for the best. Kid’s too eager and knocking him down a peg might do him some good.”

“I feel bad.”

He patted your back and gave you a reassuring smile. “He will be okay. Your father appreciates your help.”

You immediately straightened your posture when you saw Peter come over with your father.

“Anything you want to say to [Y/N]?” your father asked, giving Peter a gentle nudge from behind.

“Congratulations,” Peter said, mustering up as much strength as he could to give you a smile. Because he really was happy for you, but it hurt for him. The smile didn’t reach his eyes and the pitiful gaze in yours wasn’t helping.

“Thanks. You did really well.”

“Yeah, but I have all the bruises,” he joked, pointing at his face in a circular motion. You took a step forward and placed your palm out in front of his face.

“May I?”

His eyes widened in confusion, but he nodded anyway. An ember glow emitted from your hand and all his bruises healed in a matter of seconds.

“You can heal people too? What on earth can’t you do?” Peter was both fascinated but also very annoyed at your perfection.

“I can only heal minor bruises,” you said quickly.

“Of course,” he muttered.

“Happy, take him home for me.”

“Got it. Come on, Peter.”

“Bye Peter,” you said, giving him a shy wave. He only gave you another meek smile before walking away. You glared at your father, who only let out a sigh of relief.

“Great job, kiddo.”

The next day at school Ned practically crashed into Peter, who was at his locker minding his own business.

“Dude, dude, dude!”

“Whoa, what is it, Ned?!” Peter said, a hand on his chest from the sudden heart attack that was his best friend.

“There’s a new girl and she’s so cute. Have you seen her yet?”

Peter closed his locker shut, wracking his brain for a moment when he saw an unfamiliar face today. “No, I haven’t. What’s her name?”

“Uh… I can’t remember. Was it [wrong name]? Or maybe [another wrong name]?”

Peter looked down the hall and somehow amongst a cluster of students, he spotted you walking towards him. Like a moth to a flame, his eyes somehow went straight to you and only you. Irritation overcame him as he remembered the battle from yesterday. How you beat him so effortlessly, so ridiculously cool and being all perfect. And now you’re at his school? What, were you mocking him?

“Ned,” Peter said, placing a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Is that her?” He pointed at you and nodded his head in your direction.

Ned looked over in your direction and snapped his fingers. “Yeah! That’s her.”

“Dude, that’s the girl,” Peter muttered.

“Huh? What girl?”

He thought about how he sulked on the apartment balcony, venting to Ned about you. “The… girl… remember what I told you over the phone yesterday?”

It took a few seconds, but Ned’s brain finally clicked. “She’s the one that beat you? Her? Oh my god, you didn’t mention how cute she was!”

“Will you keep your voice down? She’s coming this way!” Peter opened his locker again and hid his face behind it. Ned shook his head in disapproval.

“Are you embarrassed? Come on. Challenge her again.”

“I can’t.”

“I’ll do it for you.”

“No, dude, stop. You aren’t supposed to know about her. Mr. Stark will kill me.”

“But she goes to our school.”

Peter hid his face in his locker until you finally passed. He let out a huge sigh of relief, feeling like he had dodged a bullet. That was, until Ned shouted out, “Hey! New girl!”

You stopped at the familiar label people were referring to you as. Once you turned around, you saw Ned’s huge smile while Peter still cowered in his locker. The boy you were walking with scoffed at Ned’s boldness.

“You don’t need to engage with them. They’re nobodies.”

“That’s not very nice, Flash,” you said, frowning at his poor choice of words.

“If we’re nobodies, why is she friends with Peter then, huh?” Ned exclaimed loudly. If a black hole could open up and swallow Peter whole, now would be the time.

“What, you know Penis Parker?” Flash asked you, incredulous at the new information. Peter carefully pulled his head out of his locker enough to take a tiny peek at you. He wondered what you were going to say.

“Yeah. I know Peter, Flaccid Flash,” you replied, bumping into his shoulder deliberately as you made your way over to Peter and Ned. The entire hallway filled with laughter at your stinging remark.

“Hi. I’m [Y/N]. I think we maybe got off on the wrong foot. How about we start over?”

Peter looked at your extended hand as if it was a foreign object, standing still as a statue. When his brain finally registered what you said, Ned had beat him to it, shaking your hand so fast like he was in the presence of royalty. “We would love to start over. I’m Ned. Peter’s best friend.”

You let out a laugh. “Hi Ned. It’s lovely to meet you.”

Without thinking, Peter grabbed your other hand. “Come with me.”

You didn’t have time to react and he led you to the nearest empty classroom, thankful class hadn’t started yet.

“What are you doing here?” he interrogated, letting go of your hand. You leaned against the wall, crossing one foot over the other.

“I go to school here now?”

“But why here?”

“Because… it’s a nice school?”

Peter placed a hand on his forehead, his jaw clenched as he thought of what to say next without sounding like an ass. “Look, you beat me and you’re an Avenger fair and square. I’m happy for you, really.” His words became soft and broken towards the end. “But seeing you reminds me that Mr. Stark will never be impressed with me. So can you give me space?”

His voice was frail but sincere. You got off the wall and gave him a nod. “Okay. I’ll leave you alone.”

“Thank you.”

Before Peter could leave, you asked him one last question. “Sorry, but could you tell me where gym class is? I have it first period.”

It took everything in Peter not to curse out loud. He had to fight back his bitterness and said through gritted teeth. “Yeah. I have it first period too.”

You smiled to yourself, trailing closely behind him as he led you both to your first class. Together.

Reblogs and thoughts are appreciated! Thank you!

Update: I might be in the middle of writing a part 2. :) Your support means a lot!

[thestarstoasun]

This entire fluff of Will being an adorable child was written as emotional compensation (mainly) for @actual-gremlin. Anyone else can take it as emotional compensation for my normal posts though!

Quick Note: Because timelines are actual torture this is at least a year before The Lightning Thief, mainly bc for the sake of plot I needed Luke to not be entirely evil & he really turns after his own quest/when Percy arrives/is claimed.

When Will was younger, he found a tabby cat in the woods near camp while following Connor to find flowers for their older sisters. The cat was missing half of her tail, but was surprisingly affectionate towards them. Will fell in love immediately, and while he wasn't a vet, his vitalkinesis told him that more than just her tail was injured. She was malnourished and dehydrated with a sprain in her front paw.

"Do you think your siblings will let you keep her? Do you even plan on keeping her?" Connor asked with his arms full of flowers.

"It really depends on what she wants. Poor angel. I would like her, but I wanna make sure she's okay first." Will's small arms held the cat and he pet the underside of her jaw, grinning when she started to purr.

"I didn't even know you liked cats. How could you hide this from me?"

"Ma used to take me to the pet shelters before she would play her concerts at night when touring. And I didn't hide anything. You're just a bad friend for never asking. Hmph."

"Wha? Hey!" The two boys laughed as they approached the Big House. Will's face grew determined seeing as his biggest challenge would be inside.

"Good luck, soldier. If they don't let you keep her, I'll sneak her into Hermes for you. Luke wants us family to be happy, so I can figure something out." Connor did his best to move the flowers around so he could give a salute.

"I lied earlier. You're a great friend...when you aren't playing the pranks of the century." Will nodded his head, took a deep breath, and walked inside the chamber.

---

Will was happy to note that the infirmary was mostly empty save for, surprisingly, Luke and Lee. What was even stranger though was Luke wasn't in a cot. He was sitting on top of Lee's desk, something that Will had be reprimanded for several times.

"Why doesn't Luke get scolded for sitting on your desk?" Will pouted walking towards his big brother and the Hermes counselor.

Both of the older boys jumped, but Lee just looked over at Will and smiled kindly. "He already was. You know how Hermes kids are."

Luke turned his body around to face Will as well with a mischievous grin. "Lee has tried to kick me off of the desk several times, but I outsmarted him."

Lee's face flushed, but Will completely missed the interaction between them, looking at Luke with amazement. "You managed to outsmart Lee!? But he's smart, but also a little dumb-"

"Hey!"

"-so I can also understand."

"William. Why is there a cat in your arms?" Lee asked, out of curiosity and to redirect the conversation away from his dating life. Will was, perhaps, his only sibling who remained mostly spared from growing up too fast, and Lee was determined to keep it that was for just a little longer. Romance just went over his head, which was the innocence a child should have.

"Oh yeah! I found her when Connor and I were...-" Will pursed his lips and thought about how to say they snuck into the woods without getting into trouble. He had never met their dad, Apollo, so Lee was really the closest to one he felt like he had. And Lee had perfected the disappointed parent look- Will blamed Michael for that. "...taking a stroll through some trees to look for flowers and I found her! She's injured and I wanna help her."

Will was determined to at least be able to nurse the cat back to health, even if Lee wouldn't let him keep her. His arms were wrapped protectively around the cat and she relaxed onto Will's shoulder.

"A stroll through some trees?" Lee raised his eyebrow as if he was questioning whether or not to let the deceit go. Apparently, Will was very lucky, because his big brother just sighed. "You know we aren't vets. How can you be sure you can help her? How do you know its a her?"

"I'm a healer." Will said it with so much pride that Lee couldn't help but smile just a little bit. "And vitalkinesis, dummy."

"Michael is such a bad influence on you. He's got you insulting me in my own infirmary."

"Isn't he also the only one of your siblings, other than this one - but he's gotta only be a fourth of a person -("Hey!") who can get your stubborn ass to take a break?" Luke spoke up with an amused smirk.

"Language. There is a small and impressionable child here."

"Mikey says bad words all the time," Will spoke up, looking between the two counselors extremely confused.

"I'll have a talk with him about it. If you want to try to help the cat.." Lee noticed Will's puppy dog eyes and let out a swear of his own in Ancient Greek. "You can try to help her, but we don't have any cat food so you'll have to see if she'll eat tuna. And we aren't keeping her." Will nodded along with a small pout.

Instead of giving confirmation, Will walked to a cot and set the cat down before humming a soft healing hymn.

"We're gonna end up with a cat, aren't we?"

"You guys most definitely are. That kid has you wrapped around his fingers."

"It's the eyes! You'd think he was an Aphrodite kid, but he just pulls the puppy dog eyes and I give in."

"Lee, that's just you being a sucker."

"I'm just a better brother than you. All of the poor, sweet children that have their ears tainted by the horrors spoken of in the Hermes cabin tell me so."

"I'm going to go tell Castor and Pollux to start awful rumors about you. Overdramatic, absolute pushover, workaho-ouch!"

"Don't be mean. I'm going to go help Will. If you would be so kind, could you possibly sneak Cabin 7 some stuff for our new cat? I really don't think I'm getting out of this one."

"Yeah, sure. Good luck with being 'Cabin Mom'. I have my own rats to gather up soon; Connor and Travis should probably be first."

Will had healed the sprain and gotten the cat water and a can of tuna which she was currently happily drinking and eating away at. He sat in a chair by the bed watching her with a wide grin. Seeing her eating made him really happy and when she would look up, he reassured her with a "It's fine. There is plenty." before she went back to eating.

Lee ruffled Will's hair when he made it over. "Things going good, Sunshine?"

"Mmmmhm! She likes tuna, I think. Or maybe just really hungry."

"We can try a few things coming up to see what she likes. Overeating can also make her sick. Sometimes cats, and people, do it when they're malnourished for so long and have, for instance, they're favorite food for the first time."

"Really?"

"Yeah. It's why when you say you're not hungry, I always say eat two bites and you don't have to eat anymore if you still don't want any."

"That makes sense! Its much nicer than back in Texas when I would stay with my Granma and Gramps. They had dumb rules." His nose scrunched up as he recalled the nights he just really didn't feel good, the very few times he got sick, and was forced to sit at the table for hours.

"Those rules are the worst." Lee agreed and pulled his little brother in for a hug. "There are some rules that are good though."

"Like what?"

"Rules you have to follow for us to take in your new friend."

Will's eyes sparkled with excitement as he listened to the rules carefully, curls bouncing as he nodded along. The small lecture ended in a sacred oath, even more sacred than a promise on the Styx, a pinkie promise.

Bear, as Will had named her - though no one knew why since she didn't look much like one, grew healthier each week. She gained more weight, especially when she realized she could get extra treats by going to multiple Cabin 7 kids. Her fur grew fluffier (giving her a bath had been Michael's job - the punishment for swearing around children.) which Will absolutely loved, because she cuddled with him at night.

She had almost gotten herself caught multiple times because she tried to follow Will out of the Cabin. (Lee was going to get gray hairs by the time he turned 20, though he'd be ancient then. He was sure of it.)

By the time Chiron did find out about Bear, Lee had gotten the other head counselors on his side if this came to a debate. Luckily, many of them liked Will and seeing him being a kid with a cat probably helped sway the tides, or maybe some God was looking out for them. Either way, Chiron agreed to let her stay since they had clearly taken care of her this long.

Will went to sleep that night holding Bear a little closer, while she simply curled up to the boy. In a few years, he would lose so much, and she would stay through some of the hardest moments in his life, but right now he was just a boy with his big siblings and their cat.

[nhescio]

Okay I have a visceral need for a hannigram time travel fic but instead of the typical Will or Hannibal fix-it, the person that time travels back is none other than Frederick fucking Chilton. Like imagine Chilton wallowing around all crispy and stuff after being human torched wondering what he’s done to deserve everything he’s been through. And when he’s finally okay enough to be discharged from the hospital to go home, an anvil falls on him or smth. And as he’s lying there incredulously, he’s like, yknow what? Im not even upset about this. I think Ive suffered enough near death experiences. Please just let this one put me out of my misery. And as his eyes finally drift shut, he hears an alarm blaring in his face. An alarm from his phone. His phone which, when he goes to shut it off, displays an impossible sequence of numbers— the plastic screen shinning with a date from four years past.

So after freaking out and confirming that he is indeed in the past, (and weeping in joy over his unmutilated body) Frederick does the obvious— he packs his bags, pays a visit to the bank, and gets on the next available flight out of the country.

And then his plane crashes and he dies.

But of course he doesn’t die because that seems to be a common theme in Frederick Chilton’s life!

So he’s jolting out of bed again to that same alarm and he tries not to tear his own face off (not that he would ever actually do that cause he knows how easily he could lose that precious face). And (after a few more tries) since this time loop bs isn’t letting him run away, he does the next best thing— phoning the FBI with a tip so that they would investigate Hannibal Lecter and put him behind bars for good. But of course Hannibal somehow finds out and discretely shakes the FBI off his trail while simultaneously sending one of his murderer protégés after Frederick. And so not even a month passes by before Frederick finds himself dying and waking to that infuriating alarm again.

And he keeps going through different loops trying to avoid being “murder tableau of the week”, but failing miserably every time. After dying for what feels like an infinite number of times, he’s realized two main consistencies. Number one, he can’t personally expose Hannibal Lecter as the ripper if he doesn’t want to be gutted, and two, the sooner Will Graham and Hannibal Lecter begin their weird courtship, whether from Frederick’s deliberate meddling or from ripples of unrelated actions, somehow he’s left with much less blood and chaos in the aftermath. In one incredible timeline, Frederick even managed to only sustain one life threatening disembowelment for three years before accidentally making a rude comment about Will Graham’s lack of a social life, thereby leading to a cold death in the Atlantic.

After this revelation, he vows to get Will Graham and Hannibal Lecter to bang each other as soon as possible for the sake of his own self preservation— going through elaborate plans like befriending and recruiting the FBI’s forensics team, or snapping Jack Crawford out of his obliviousness so he’d bluntly give them a nudge, or even once flirting with Will Graham himself to get Hannibal Lecter jealous (note: that attempt did NOT end up well).

And one day, after a shocked text from his “Sassy Science Matchmaking Squad” group chat proclaiming that Hannibal and Will, lovingly dubbed Hannigram by the group, had spontaneously quit their jobs and run away to Europe together, Frederick suddenly realizes he hasn’t been stabbed or burned or maimed or drowned or disemboweled once! He thinks back to his early success in this timeline— silently high fiving with Beverly and Jimmy (Zeller, the spoilsport, had refused to partake) while voyeuristically watching Will and Hannibal shyly having their first kiss in the shadows of a filthy crime scene. In fact, he didn’t think anyone in their immediate circle had been stabbed or burned or maimed or drowned or— well you get the point.

And as one year turns to two to four to eight with no word from Hannibal or Will except the occasional postcard, a sort of cautious optimism starts building in Frederick’s heart. The years continue to fly by until one day, Frederick finds that his hair has turned a snowy white, and that his legs are too weak to support his aching body. He tries to take in a breath to laugh but it comes out as a wheeze. He’s at the end of the line once more, but this time at the end of a healthy, fulfilling life. His only wish is that he’s finally allowed to move on. And as he feels his life slowly drifting away from him, Frederick wonders if he’s accomplished whatever divine mission that godforsaken time loop had wanted him to complete. It really feels like he did the best he could this life, preventing every possible death on the East Coast by sending Hannibal and Will packing early. Sure, he feels bad for the poor suckers in Florence or Paris that were probably flambéed for a pretentiously fancy brunch, but realistically, those two would always leave a body count no matter where they went.

All Frederick wants now is to pass in peace. With a heavy sigh, Frederick willingly closes his eyes one last time, content to move on into whatever lies in the beyond.

And he dies. For real this time. Woohoo!

The End

[luffyvace]

Boa Hancock & Neferatari Vivi x female reader for women’s day!!

ik I’m late to women’s day guys!! But I’m still gonna participate! (Totally not an excuse to write for some of my fav op girls that I haven’t written much for yet)

Hancock x a fem reader would be like the ultimate alternative timeline to her not falling in love with luffy lol

let’s say your in the kuja pirates specifically,

that would make more sense as to how you got closer since your on the same crew and obviously get to interact with her more versus just fan girling in the crowd lolol 😂

just the same as luffy, she’d realized her love for you after getting worried for your safety and feeling ill (love sick 😀) mid expedition at the fact that you might be hurt

when everyone gets back to the boat she tried to unsuspectingly scope you out (tried because she was actually frantically searching for someone and wouldn’t say who as everyone panicked-) and as soon as she saw you she sighed in relief! But soon after, she started blushing and she felt a warm fuzzy feeling!

what was this? Is this what they call..? Love?!

it was such a joyous feeling..! She couldn’t believe she was feeling such intense emotions at your presence alone!

”Lady hebihime!! Are you all right?!”

”Lady hebihime!! Are you all right?!”

”Lady hebihime!! Are you all right?!”

”all right..!”

”right..!”

”right..”

Your words echoed over and over again in Hancock’s spinning head. You..we’re worrying for her?! Your so…kind!- So!- so!- your such a selfless woman!!

and yeah that’s pretty much how it went HAHAH

you can pretty much guess you’ll get special treatment from then on, she’s in love with you after all!! Naturally it’s her duty to protect her lover! 😊 (you haven’t even asked her out yet Hancock! - Glorisa)

she invites you into the palace and gives you the best food and treatment straight away!! Put your feet up dear! Are you hot? tired? Do you need water?? “Hurry up and bring the giant fans! My lover is hot!”

no pun intended even though you are 😉

“lover..? Lady hebihime..! May I ask what your talking about..😅”

”o-oh! W-well..I was just thinking…maybe…we could go on a date..?! ☺️😅”

“ME?? Hebihime!! I- I’m honored but what brought this about?! This is….strangely sudden, you know? Not trying to be rude!-”

”Hancock!”

”eh??- I mean!- hebihim-”

”Hancock!! Y-you..can call me Hancock..if you’d like!- I mean if you’d prefer to call me something else like a pet name, honey or dear m-maybe-…!”

”But!- hebihime-”

“-And to answer your question! What brought this about……I’m not sure myself…I have no idea actually, I found myself worrying about you and when I saw you again….When I saw you..! When I…..Kyaaa! 😍”

”Hancock!! Are you all right?! What happened!?

“ !!….You…! You!- You said my name!! This must be..! This must be!! What they call!- Engagement!~ 😍😍”

”huh?? 😀 hebihime?-“

“No! Go back! Don’t call me hebihime anymore!! We’re getting married next month so!- So call me by my name from now on! Okay honey?! 😍💗”

*mutters while being carried bridal style by Hancock* “I’m getting married…to the hebihime..😵‍💫💫”

and yes you actually did get married the next month :)

being the wife of the pirate empress is the liiiife 😎👍 you get whatever you want, whenever you want and however much you want of it!! Without a question! Your words are as absolute as sold gold on the island of women! Hancock will likely even ignore elder nyon/Glorisa for you <3

and yeah you can pretty much just imagine your dream life for the rest! Expect that to become your reality when married to Hancock bc even thanos snap can’t compare 🗿😭

Vivi is such an awesome girl - honorable mention okay? 😤👏

let’s say your not a straw hat tho :) just for funzies :3 imagine you’ve lived on alabasta just as long as she has and even infiltrated Baroque works with her. And also helped save alabasta!

best friends to lovers anyone?? Lesbian edition >:> 👩‍❤️‍👩 🧡🤍💖🏳️‍🌈

after it’s all said and done, and crocodile is defeated, you two say cya to the straw hats and you help Vivi rebuild her kingdom

somewhere during the time things start looking up as for alabasta’s cleanup, she confesses! Oops spoiler :}

“hey!!..I’ve been looking all over for you 😅”

“Oh hey Vivi! What is it?”

”oh nothing I just, well it’s not nothing…can we talk? Uh- you know..in private?”

”oh yeah sure! Come inside I was just cleaning up heheh, excuse the mess..”

“It’s nothing! Really, it’s fine no need to be so formal…we’re close, right?”

“Yeah :) what is it you wanted to talk about though? Is it something bad I’m nervous 😃”

”Oh! Nononono! Nothing bad nothing bad!-“

*sigh of relief* “hah, that’s good 😅”

*awkward yet adorable giggles come from both you and Vivi*

“well..what I wanted to talk about was…us, as in…who we are”

“Oh no Vivi don’t come out and tell me we’re aliens now we’ve barely finished cleaning up alabasta! 😭😂😂”

”what?? Hey! No! I-I’m trying to be serious here! 🤦‍♀️“

”OH! Oops 😄 go ahead go ahead!”

“I meant who we are as in, as a….relationship! Like- um..we’re friends right? Soo..if we could be……”

“Vivi..you mean..?”

”YEAH! 😭😅 I mean if- if we could be..more, if- if you want if not we can just stay friends-“

”No! I- hahah, I honestly never thought you’d ask, like- literally! I’ve kinda been waiting but you never did so is assumed-“

lots of awkward laughing and explaining of feelings ensue from there 💗(🏳️‍🌈😜)

actually being in a relationship with her includes training, yes training, because you never know what could happen. Just as crocodile happened and no one knew he would. So from now on she wants to be prepared, she refuses to be blindsided again—for the sake of her people!

she’s a cute mix of awkward, kind and a tad bit shy 💗 it’s like, she almost wouldn’t know how to act around you if you weren’t so close, but you are! So that makes things easier :)

she’s highly knowledgeable and I feel she’d have quiet a bit of hobbies. if you like to do similar things she’d love to partake in those activities with you! But if you have different interests, exploring each one as you teach her about them would be fun too! <3

Vivi is a literally princess, which means as her lover you get princess treatment! 😘 (all puns intended) She can afford it after all! Pell and Vivi’s father would adore you! You make Vivi so happy, how can they not?!

she talks about you more often than you know 🤫 “Dad!! Don’t tell her that!- it’s kind of embarrassing you know?!” oops Vivi heard him

well anyway 😊

Vivi is a very caring and protective lover as seen with Nami (when she stayed by her side the whole time she was ill). So of course that’s not any different when it comes to you, it’s highly likely Vivi knows first aid so if you get a minor injury? Be more careful!! 🩹❤️‍🩹💋 A major injury?! Hurry! Rush her to the royal hospital! Quickly! Giver her the best treatment! It’s okay, relax, she’s here 💖

Vivi will be with you through thick and thin and her loyalty is unwavering. She may not be the strongest banana in the bunch but she’ll certainly defend you with all she has if it comes down to it! 😤💪

Also!!! Can’t believe I haven’t mentioned this yet!!- Karoo!!!! Karoo loves you <33 Vivi thinks your bond is adorable, especially how Karoo always lets you ride on him :} you bring him snacks and drinks and he runs to you each time. If your tired of walking he’ll carry you without complaints as well so that’s a perk!

I feel the other spot billed ducks would love you as well! Karoo probably tells them how great you are 🤗 You might even like one of them enough to make them your duck! (I would, they seem cooler than a freezer 😎👍)

Okayyy~ lovely readers, followers and anyone new here..!

I hope you enjoyed these headcanons!!~

[moonyasnow]

All the characters I'd considered shipping my OCs with before I decided

Quick thing bc I'm bored

Not gonna include Lisle bc AroAce and also not Tomoe, since she existed before I decided to put all the others into TWST so shipping for her was just...kinda vibes-based, and not in the good way. Like I'd barely even figured out her character yet

And for Irina, Junia and Artemisia, the reason none of the others were chosen were literally just because their current partner was SO perfect for them I couldn't have gone with anyone else

Irina

Kalim (I think this is one of the more unhealthy relationships she could end up on. Not because he'd treat her badly, of course not; Kalim's just the sort who represses all his trauma (he straight up doesn't remember all the times he's been kidnapped) and I just feel like, paired with Irina, she'd just keep holding all the bad stuff in forever and pretending like everything's ok)

Ruggie (I think this would've been pretty cute. They're still good friends now though...and I honestly think they work better as just friends)

Floyd (Irina still literally had a crush on him before she fell for Malleus, so this one didn't even 100% go away. But yeah the reasons I considered it was because I think they match each other's freak in an interesting way. And Irina also knows exactly what it's like to always go through moodswings, so they can understand each other in that way. ...Irina would've loved the biting and squeezing so much tho-)

Leona (THE BAD TIMELINE. I'm not kidding. These two would in the best case scenario keep each other from improving and in the worst case actively make each other and their issues worse.)

Spike

Silver (literally the only NRC guy I could think of who'd be nice enough to be Spike's type)

Junia

Jade (Giving 'the straight-laced science girl' vibes but genderbent. Clueless autistic and clueful autistic)

Azul (I think it would've been cute bc Junia is the type who is just, so smitten with whoever she likes, and it's VERY obvious. And she'd think he was really really pretty and would love like, sitting in his lap when he scams people)

Veronica

@babyghoul138 :)

Ace (For a while I was actually even gonna go with this one long-term! Even made a meme including the ship and everything. Even started planning out a fankid! But then I realized I'd miscalculated and they just wouldn't work as well together as I thought. And I think Ace is just a bit too rough around the edges personality-wise for Veronica)

Sebek (This could actually have been a reaaaaaally interesting one. The thing that kept me from going with it was just that- Veronica wants to leave Briar Valley after she graduates. And Sebek would never leave Briar Valley. And as much as angst CAN be nice, I prefer it when couples are driven apart by stuff like war or disapproving families rather than just mundane stuff like that. Makes it too real, and just kinda depressing)

Victor

Jamil (Jamitor would be toxic yaoi central. Victor would be SUCH an enabler like 'yes, let's kick that smiling idiot (Kalim) to the curb and put you on the throne! Oh villainy looks so good on you~'. Then with their powers combined they would go on to rule the world.)

Azul (They've got suuuuuuuch similar trauma. And I imagine it'd start out with them 'dating' as like a business arrangement-- being married to each other would be good strategically for both of them and their goals; Azul gets access to a whole noble house's worth of funds and private lands, and Victor gets easy access to some of the best people in business. And then it'd turn into a thing of them both catching feelings realizing just how similar they are and can both relate to each other's trauma. They would also go on to rule the world.)

His ships with someone similar to him just made him too powerful

Artemisia

Idia (I decided not to go with this one 1) because as soon as Artemisia met Jamil I just know he'd be IT for her and 2) Artemidia would just kinda feel like them giving up and deciding to become hermits who don't leave their rooms TOGETHER and that to me was just way too sad)

Leona (They were already kinda friends in the background, and I couldn't stop thinking of the reference potential to Kimba the white lion. And just like with Idia, the biggest reason why not is Jamil.)

[peapodbond]

A (Mostly) Accurate Timeline of Tommy Kinard

Referencing Lou’s interview with Tommy’s Backstory, his actual age, the dates in Chimney Begins and Bobby Begins Again (with rough estimates of Hen Begins because those cute fuckers didn’t give me a date title card), and the ways that the characters interact with him.

(Lou's) Date of Birth: November 10, 1984.

1984 - 2001: Tommy was an awkward, overweight kid when he was younger. He flourished in classes such as shop, where he could use his hands and create things and didn't necessarily need to talk to anyone. Then he hit a growth spurt, got taller, and joined the football team. Tommy quickly becomes an all star football guy who stands up for any kids who were like him when he was younger.

Tommy says in 7x04 that he flew helicopters for the army before he was a firefighter.

2001 - 2005: In 2001, Tommy would have been seventeen. September 11th was likely the impetus for joining the army, which he could have done as soon as it was his birthday. Basic training is ten weeks for the army, slightly longer if he was aiming for a specialized group. Army tours of duty are between six and twelve months. He could very easily have gone through basic, done between two and four tours in the Middle East, and still joined the fire academy so that he has just finished his probationary year when Chimney comes to the 118.

(updated April 26th: I've been reliably informed by multiple sources that a pilot would have to spend a minimum of five years with the army, and to that I can only say that the writers must be blamed for their timeline. ;) let us assume that there was a reason (good or bad) that Tommy only served four years and I will not speculate as to which in this post because that crosses over from a timeline to headcanons and I want everyone to be able to use this if they want. please see this post for slightly more detail on my reasoning)

2006: 22 years old.

Chimney spends between ten and twenty-four weeks at the fire academy, so Chimney comes into the station in 2006/2007, depending on the time of year (c’mon guys give me something it’s LA and you don’t really have weather out there) and the episode covers most of his probationary year. Most likely it is two years from start to finish, as Chimney does spend part of the episode doing things other than starting at the fire academy.

Tommy is probably the probie who came in just before Chimney, and would have just finished his probationary year. There is a scene in the early part of the episode where Gerrard asks when Tommy’s girlfriend is coming by to cook dinner, but there’s also an offhand comment that she’s never been by the house before so who really knows if there was a girlfriend at all.

Sal DeLuca seems to be Tommy’s senior partner, the same way that Eli is Chimney’s senior partner, so they were probably paired up to show him the ropes when he showed up at the firehouse. Tommy definitely takes his cues from Sal, who takes his cues from Gerrard. Tommy is a bit of a bully because of who he is modeling himself after and the culture that he feels he has to assimilate into but he also does look uncomfortable at a lot of the jokes directed towards Chimney, and you catch him throwing a look to check on Chimney at the funeral in the flashback. After Chimney saves his life Tommy does reach out – awkwardly, but he still reaches out, and even asks Eli about him at the end of the episode.

2010: 26 years old. 

Hen has just arrived at the 118. These dates are based on the Twilight movie joke about being Team Jacob and the fact that Taylor Lautner was 18 when Eclipse came out (2010) and most of us agreed during the first two movies that we would not make gross jokes about minors, right guys? Right Sal? Tommy doesn’t react violently to the gay joke which could be proof that he’s comfortable with who he is even if he hasn’t told anyone. If he’d been truly insulted or grossed out by the joke it’s more likely he would have protested rather than blowing a kiss at Sal. (update May 6th: In 6x01, canonically 2022, Hen tells Bobby that she has been a firefighter for twelve years, so your girl nailed this timing and she's very proud of herself.)

Tommy is splitting his time between Sal and Chimney — we see them sitting together at the dinner table in a similar formation to the way that Hen, Buck and Chim sit together in the current 118 — but still lets himself take cues from the way that Gerrard treats Hen at the beginning of the episode. He is less of a bully than he was in Chimney Begins but still going along with the crowd because he doesn’t want to rock the boat. Saying that the east coast vibes means she was being called a bitch isn’t great, but that entire scene does play into generally accepted stereotypes about the east and west coast in the states and it is perhaps a bad attempt at explaining that to Hen, rather than bullying – but it comes off badly so it doesn’t really matter what the intent was. Chimney looks very disappointed in him for this. (Tommy talks in 7x05 about not being out but knowing that he wasn’t straight when he was in the 118, and we can only assume that showing up to the 118 and meeting Sal and Gerrard in 2005 made it very clear right away that he should toe the line of the rest of the house or find a new job.) The look on his face when Hen does her speech on the fire truck is definitely a realization of who he’s become and it doesn’t appear that he likes who he is.

He is one of the firefighters who is impressed by Hen’s idea about the firehose in the mudslide and he and Sal make a point to come to Hen before she gets called upstairs to see Captain Cook and tell her that she was right about the call and that she is a good firefighter. In the captain’s office Hen is told that a few firefighters made reports – given that in this episode we are mostly focused on Chimney, Tommy, and Sal as her teammates, and they’re the only three that talk to her before this revelation, I believe the storytelling wants us to assume that those three were definitely some of the firefighters who made a report against Gerrard, though we can also safely assume that the entire house reported him.

2014: Bobby is in Minnesota.

Late 2014/early 2015: Bobby moves to LA. Tommy is 30/31.

Based on the montages, this episode covers more time than the other two episodes (both between a year and a half to two years long) and ends with Tommy leaving and Buck coming in. Buck is just finishing his probationary year in 2018, so it follows that Bobby Begins Again covers the three years between 2014 and 2017, with most of Buck’s probationary year happening off screen before the pilot.

We are told during the betting scene that pre-Bobby’s arrival there have been two years of captains switching in and out. Gerrard was kicked out pretty early in Hen’s career at the 118 and Captain Cook came in (but was close to retirement) so it tracks that he was their captain between 2010 and 2012 and then left. 

You’ll notice that during the betting scene and a lot of the fire house montages, Hen is no longer the only woman in the house or on their shift — the higher ups were serious about changing the culture in the LAFD and they did in fact put their money where their mouths were.

As of Bobby’s arrival to LA, Tommy is the third part of the Chimney and Hen trio – they get drinks together, they shit talk work (and Sal), they lend each other money, they talk about how scars get you the girls. (Tommy is obviously still not out at work, but he could be dating someone, it's hard to know.) This is the 118 mirror of Hen’s support group with Athena, and they would not be spending time with each other outside of work if they didn’t like each other. At this point Tommy and Chimney have been working together for eight years! Between Chimney and Hen they have worn off most of the asshole edges that Tommy had in the first two flashback episodes. Chimney, Hen and Tommy sit together at family dinner and Hen arranges a cake and a party for Tommy — something that she wouldn’t have done if she didn’t like him at that point — when he gets his transfer to the 217 and starts flying again. (This is also the first instance of Hen getting a cake to celebrate things happening at the 118.)

Tommy has been at the 118 for twelve years. Chimney and Tommy have worked together for eleven years. Hen and Tommy have worked together for seven years. Bobby and Tommy have worked together for three years.

2019: 35 years old

Tommy has been at the 217 for two years and redirects a flight of their water plane to the subdivision when Chimney calls him. Chim says “Hey it’s Howie,” and still has Tommy’s number saved in his phone. We can assume that they are at least in sporadic contact and have been since Tommy left. We’ll call the odds 50/50 on the chance that Tommy has told Chimney (and perhaps Hen) that he is not straight at this point. Everyone says the Chimney can’t keep a secret but both he and Hen know that there is a difference between a secret and outing someone. (update May 6th: based on the lack of total surprise from both of them that it was Tommy that Buck decided to kiss so hard he got soot beard, I am even more confident now that at some point between leaving the 118 and season seven Tommy did in fact tell both of his friends that he wasn't straight. How and when he did is something I will let y'all decide in fanfic! Still trying to keep this post to things that can be canonically backed up.

Spring 2024: 39 years old

Steals a helicopter for Hen when Chimney calls, flies them to a capsized cruise ship in the middle of a hurricane, makes friends with Eddie and kisses Buck. Gets invited to Chimney and Maddie’s wedding as Buck’s date. (There is a higher than zero chance that he has already been invited by Chimney since they’re friends and he’s just shocked Buck considers that a good third date.)

References:

https://www.goarmy.com/how-to-join/requirements.html

https://www.operationmilitarykids.org/how-long-is-a-tour-of-duty-in-the-military/

https://www.operationmilitarykids.org/heres-how-long-basic-training-is-for-each-military-branch/

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-features/9-1-1-show-tommy-buck-kiss-relationship-lou-ferrigno-jr-1235872688/#

https://firefighternow.com/fire-academy-guide/

https://firefighternow.com/probationary-firefighter/

https://www.goarmy.com/careers-and-jobs/specialty-careers/aviation.html

https://benefits.com/veterans-benefits/types-military-discharge/

**updated April 26th with some extra references and a little explanation as to why the timeline is off (hint: it's the writer's fault ;) )

**updated May 6th with even more information (and now I kind of want to do Chim and Hen too)

[sunjaesol]

soljae | one shot, established relationship, fluff | prompt: symbolism

⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪

Anyone looking in on the outside would assume that Sol was some gold digger that somehow successfully seduced Sunjae and was now leeching off him for his money.

Which was a fair assumption. She was an unknown woman suddenly dating one of the biggest tv starts of the moment. He lived in a fancy apartment in Downtown Seoul with a bank account that he didn't need to look at every day to ensure he could afford the almond milk in his latte.

Obviously, anyone that knew her, that knew them, would know that was false. She wasn't a gold digger. She loved him earnestly and deeply. And he did as well.

But... she loved the attacked private park to the apartment building. After six pm, the gates closed and it was just for its residents. Sol loved strolling around right after dinner. It was a small luxury, but one they'd have to rip out her dead hands.

Or, you know, if Sunjae ever got sick of her, she'd convince him to let her roam around the park at night... like some dog, or whatever.

Fortunately, Sunjae loved her a lot. And so, they took a stroll together. The curry they'd ordered in had been quite heavy, so this walk helped with digestion.

With their hands clasped together, Sunjae and Sol enjoyed the evening air. Sol leaned into his side. The softness of his winter coat against her cheek made her feel happy and snuggly and silly. As a kid, she imagined being thirty-two and serious and stern, but right now she felt like giggling into her boyfriend's arm.

"I didn't know you were a cat," he observed.

"I love your coat," she said. "It's so soft."

"You want me to wear it to bed?" he joked. "Maybe you'll cuddle with me again."

Her jaw fell slack with indignation. "Hey! I cuddle with you! But when it's actually time to sleep, I want a cold pillow and space to stretch my legs."

Sunjae chuckled. "Because there's no space in the bed for you, my giant girlfriend."

Letting out a teasing scoff in response, she swatted his chest. "Ya..."

"I'm trying to say that I want more cuddles," he said, as seriously as when he spoke with his management. "It'll extend my life span."

Her eyes narrowed. "Don't joke about that. You died four times over, remember?"

His smile faltered alongside his stride. They came to a halt. It didn't mean to came out so harshly, but such 'jokes' distressed her a little. Joking about all the timelines that they've lost each other... it was an uncomfortable truth that they had to live with. That they were forced to remember.

He squeezed her hand. "I'm sorry, Sol. I wasn't being serious."

Sol nodded. "I know. It's okay. And I'll give you more cuddles."

A smile ticked up his lips, wry and imperfect, and his eyes crinkled with tenderness. "Only if you feel like it, babe."

"What if I never feel like it?" she challenged.

His brow quirked. "Then we wouldn't be soulmates." What a matter-of-fact way of him to say such momentous words.

She let out a huff, annoyed at the smooth utter, and crossed her arms. "Soul... soulmates... pfff..."

"Sol-ah..." he grinned.

She started their walk again, a quicker pace this time. He easily caught up. "Don't say such things in front of my mother. She'll call you deranged."

He kept grinning—giggling—clearly endeared by her frustration. Which only irritated her more. Why did he have to be so himself? Why did he have to be so... so...

Snatching her hand, Sunjae pulled her in and swept down to her level. He blinked innocently. "But I am deranged," he muttered, "so do you want me to lie?"

Her eyes widened, the flush on her cheeks reddening. "Since when?"

"Since I'm crazy about you." Warm fingers trailed the side of her face. "Since it rained fifteen years ago."

When she smiled at his words, Sunjae kissed her. Melting into his tender touch, she placed her freezing hands on his shoulders, gripping onto the knit scarf.

Sunjae never left it one kiss. Dizzying, the feeling of being kissed and kissed by Ryu Sunjae—how one hand always fell to the small of her back to press her as close as possible. His mouth opening by the second kiss, grazing his tongue just so against hers.

A third kiss. A fourth kiss. A fifth.

And then a snow flake fell on her cheek.

Jerking back at the sudden sprinkling, Sol looked up and watched in awe as snow flakes slowly descended down. It was like someone threw a million white feathers from the top of a skyscraper.

A laugh left her lips. "Oh... I didn't think it would snow today..."

Sunjae reached up and a snow flake fell on his palm. His eyes were drawn back to her, something indescribable flickering in his look.

Somehow, Sol understood.

In many different universes, they met in the snow. On a bridge, at a crosswalk, at school, their old street, a river, a parking lot. Most universes they'd never discover. But they remembered the ones that mattered.

Sol smiled. "I don't need an umbrella."

Sunjae placed a kiss on her forehead in response. "Me neither."

As snow began to fall in thicker sheets, the couple finished their lap around the park and went back inside the apartment building. They got to their apartment, hung up their wet jackets—a blue and yellow umbrella stacked underneath the coat rack—and crawled onto the couch to cuddle.

Sunjae and his damned cuddles.

[konstantynowitz]

How would Vinda and Queenie had kids together? Just curious! And how would that work according to the FBAWTFT timeline?

Adoption? Surrogacy? Idk. I don’t know how things work in the magical world lol but from what I know I don’t think there is such a thing as w|w pregnancies. There could be! But personally I feel like that’s a little too… outlandish? Of course everyone has different viewpoints on how these things work but for me I feel like adoption or surrogacy is the best option.

It could maybe be like a gestational surrogacy where either Vinda or Queenie transfers a fertilized embryo to the other (I think it’d be Queenie since I view her as being more maternal and likely would want to carry the baby). This would therefore make Vinda the biological mother, but as for the identity of the father… well I guess I could just leave that up to you to figure out for yourself. Could it be Grindelwald? Sure! As a reward for Vinda’s services as his most loyal acolyte he could’ve given her a baby. But then again the father could be anyone.

As for the timeline, I’ve made it so that Vinda would’ve had to successfully fertilized and transferred their embryo into Queenie within the year 1945, so that the baby would be born in 1946. This all happens after Grindelwald’s imprisonment so Queenie would’ve been pregnant while Vinda was put on trial alongside the rest of the acolytes. If we are going for the whole Grindelwald being the father thing, then it’s still possible because the ‘conception’ could’ve taken place in 1945 before he was imprisoned.

Queenie and Vinda’s second baby would later be born in the year 1948 and they probably would’ve gone through the same process as they did with their firstborn. Obviously if we wanted Grindelwald to be the father that would no longer be a possibility since he’s imprisoned, but then again there’s other fish in the sea 😅

I don’t know about the whole genetics thing works since if Queenie were the carrier of Vinda’s egg then they wouldn’t technically be her biological kids, but tbh I don’t really care. For creativity’s sake we’re gonna let at least one of their babies inherit Queenie’s legilimency. Maybe while they were in the womb they just… developed the ability? But that’s a long-shot.

If you’re also curious about Minette Rosier (II), she doesn’t have a second parent that’s named as of now. She could be used as a Rosegold lovechild but at this moment that remains undecided. Minette was born in the mid to late 1920s, so she’d be a bit older than her ‘half-siblings’ and therefore might not fit the timeline in order to be Queenie’s daughter. Of course, this can all be changed and I could give her a later date of birth! Or I could even take a risk and say that once Queenie joined Grindelwald’s Alliance (circa 1927) she could’ve immediately gotten into a relationship with Vinda and had Minette the following year. I don’t know if I’d actually do that, but I’m not opposed to it either.

Sorry for the long response! Thanks for the ask!

[chilagliasnsfwblog]

Hello! Can I request a Adriaen x Leo where they are at a bar and Leo gets jealous when he sees someone talking to Adriaen. Leo takes adriaen away and I don’t maybe they make out?

I would say they’re are somewhere in their 20s? You can pick the exact age. You’re free to make this a full smut if you want I don’t mind. Also this is in the good timeline after they defeat the Kraang!

The Bar

Sure! I probably won’t do a full smut (but we’ll see as I write this) but at most it will be hinted at.

I am in no ways an animal expert, I just write what I know based from other fics.

Warnings; Swearing, cock/dick/dropping mention, making out, sexual touching, etc

Also so no one is confused, this is not canon to my main story unless I say is it, and this is simply for fun.

——————————————————————————————————

Going to a bar was not something Adriaen would be interested in, especially on a busy Saturday night where mutants and Yokai of all kinds would be mingling. He didn’t like going to crowded places, it made him feel suffocated.

Still, here he was. Sitting on a chair at the bar with a drink in hand as he drowned out the noise of chatter and music. He only came here because Leo invited him out to show off a fun bar, he recently discovered in the Hidden City that he promises that Adriaen would like. He says that every time they go out somewhere new.

Adriaen agreed none the less to check the place out with him, only he was alone. Leo was spamming his phone about how he was going to be late, running into some trouble with your typical villains. Adriaen did ask if he was needed to help but Leo assured him that he could deal with it on his own.

And so, the waiting game. He felt weird, sitting alone and drinking the alcohol to keep himself busy. He didn’t bother chatting with anyone, they were strangers so why should he? Plus, the mutants and yokai were all here with somebody so it would be awkward if Adriaen just suddenly got up and joined a random group.

Not that he ever would in the first place.

“Another drink sir?” The bartender inquired, making his way over. Adriaen lifted his gaze, the bartender was a lizard of some sort, he couldn’t tell what species, that was more of a Donatello thing. “Yeah, I’ll have another one of these.” Adriaen nods, gently pushing his empty glass towards the lizard who hums and makes Adriaen a new glass. Sighing Adriaen reached for his phone, tapping away at it to occupy his time, he was also hoping for a message from Leo to pop up, but he got nothing.

“This seat taken?”

Adriaen instinctively looked up, a yokai weasel gesturing to the chair beside Adriaen. It dawned on the latter that the weasel was asking for permission to sit beside him. “All yours.” Adriaen responds, watching the weasel sit down and order a drink for himself. Adriaen returned to silently scrolling through his phone.

“You here alone?” The Yokai questioned, Adriaen didn’t realise he was talking to him until he felt staring, gazing up he realised the weasel was speaking to him. “Huh?” He mumbled, he didn’t quite understand, “I asked if you’re here alone.” The Yokai muses, embarrassed, Adriaen looked away slightly.

“For now…I’m waiting for someone.”

“Ah, a date? Let me guess you got stood up?”

The weasel laughs in attempt to be humorous but Adriaen furrowed his eyes, “He didn’t stood me up. He’s just…late.” He defends, picking up his own drink and taking a couple sips. The alcohol burned his throat, but he was use to it by now.

“They all say that. I actually got stood up tonight too. Asshole. But who cares, I can always just get another date.”

The weasel smirks as he turns to Adriaen when a sly look, “What about you? You got stood up, I got stood up, I’m sure we’re both pissed off. You can take your frustrations out at something…or into someone. Maybe with me?” The weasel scooted in closer, this time the air around him was giving off sultry energy, clearly he was trying to hook up with Adriaen, and Adriaen wasn’t interested.

He was told that he was terrible when it came to people flirting with him. How oblivious he was, so with age he taught himself to pick up on the advancements, he knew he still had ways to go and every now and then he’d miss the flirting tone but if someone, such as this weasel, was making it pretty obvious of their intentions, Adriaen of course saw through it.

“I’m glad your date stood you up. Saves them the trouble of going out with an ass like you.” Adriaen huffs, leaning away from the Yokai who narrowed his eyes at the turtle before he grins, “Ah, playing hard to get? That’s cool. I like my hook ups to be stubborn, gives me more pleasure….” The weasel reached his hand out to caress Adriaen’s thigh.

“…to break them—“

Before his hand could touch Adriaen, a green, three fingered hand zips in and tighten their grip on the weasel's hand, making both Adriaen and the weasel flinch.

“And where did you think you were going to put that hand on, hm?”

Leo stood in between them, his grip tightening against the weasel's arm. Leo was smiling but it wasn’t his usual gentle, outgoing ones, no this smile he had was clearly indicating he was pissed.

“Let go! Fuck!” The weasel hisses before he cried in pain at the death grip. Any more and the weasel feared his wrist was going to snap in half. “Leo!” Adriaen spoke up, placing a hand on the blue masked mutants shoulder, “Enough.” Adriaen ordered firmly, he really didn’t want to cause a scene.

Leo didn’t budge for a minute but stubbornly he lets go of his target before turning to Adriaen, his eyes sharp and clearly annoyed. “Fuckers…you’re crazy!” The weasel hisses, Leo turns his head to sprout his own insults and possibly start a bar fight, but before he could, Adriaen got up, grabbed his arm and dragged him away.

“Let go! I’ll show that punk!”

Adriaen didn’t reply and instead led Leo to the bathroom, he pushed him in and quickly closed the door, locking it so they wouldn’t be interrupted. “Calm down. You trying to get us kicked out?!” Adriaen hissed, before sending his own glare at Leo who scoffs and crossed his arms. “I only did that because that creep was going to touch you!” Leo explains himself, justifying his anger.

“I had it handled.”

“Didn’t look that way to me. You weren’t looking like you were going to do anything!”

Adriaen rolls his eyes, leaning against the door, which blocked the way out but that didn’t matter with the two at the moment. “When did you even get here? You didn’t text.” He changed the subject, to which Leo blinked at the obvious change in topic. 

“I was planning on surprising you…”

“Well you did.”

Leo lightly scoffs before slumping his shoulders, he took a deep breath as a way to calm himself down. Maybe he did go a little overboard, hell, Leo actually felt the bones of the weasel yokai being slowly crushed in his palm. Leo sometimes didn’t recognise his own strength when he was ticked off.

“You’ve calmed down?”

Leo weakly nodded at Adriaen, looking down in embarrassment with himself. Adriaen shifted on his feet before leaning off the door and making his way over, he stops in front of Leo and gently cupped the sliders chin, tilting it up so he can stare at Adriaen.

Adriaen held a tiny smile, showing he wasn’t mad or upset. It relieved Leo some tension he felt in his body, “Idiot…always playing the hero.” Adriaen softly muses, letting out a tiny chuff. Leo blinks before he too smiled, instinctively leaning his face into Adriaen’s palm.

“You know me. Always gotta help the ones in distressed.”

“Oh? Is that what you think I am? A damsel in distress?”

Adriaen smirked and playfully patted Leo’s cheek, “Please, I can handle a weasel. I actually already had it planned out.” Adriaen informs, catching Leo’s attention who couldn’t help but grin back.

“Oh yeah? What were you planning on doing?”

Adriaen let’s go of Leo and sighs, walking around the slider and leaning against the sink counter. “I was going to snatch his hand that was reaching for me. Twist it and smash his upper body against the bar, asking him what the hell did he think he was doing.” Adriaen informs, smiling a little bit as Leo made his way to stand in front of the black bandanna turtle.

“He might’ve been into that.” Leo teased, causing Adriaen to roll his eyes and scoff, “Then I’d make sure that kink was something he wouldn’t like anymore.” Adriaen shrugs his shoulders, he looks into the pools that were Leo’s eyes who had leaned in a bit closer, his hands on either side of Adriaen and softly gripped the sink counter so he wouldn’t tumble forward into Adriaen.

“I don’t know…I think anyone would be turned on if it was you.”

Adriaen blushed softly, but perhaps it was the alcohol in his system that didn’t make him scold Leo with his comment, instead Adriaen couldn’t help but encourage Leo. He moved his hand so it would graze against Leo’s fingers, the slider briefly flinching from the touch but relaxed when he realised it was Adriaen.

“Is that something you’re interested in?” Adriaen teases, leaning forward as if to challenge Leo who hums, staring down at the mutant before him.

Leo took in everything. The way Adriaen was blushing from the alcohol he drank. The way the tails of the black mask hung over his shoulder. The way his feet were crossed over together and his arms straight to keep himself upright and sitting on the counter.

His eyes were narrowed, not from anger, but from exhaustion, alcohol intake, curiosity….was that a hint of lust Leo saw sparkle in his eyes?

Leo took in Adriaen’s scent, clearly alcohol lingered off him, but his natural scent was also there. Leo loved that scent. 

Leo felt his lips part as he smelt something else off Adriaen. And it was getting torturous for him to compose his actions.

“Are you horny?”

It was a simple and blunt question. Well, it was also a statement that had Adriaen visibly flinch, he was shocked, puzzled, and self-conscious. He didn’t realise he was feeling such a way until Leo pointed it out.

“Um….”

“You are…are you hoping to be fucked right here?”

Leo leans in, whispering in Adriaen’s ear, which had the latter tense, keeping his eyes focused on the sliders form, the way Leo leaned in, Adriaen took a whiff of his scent, it was strong, his natural musk and it was quite obvious that Leo was radiating arousal. It was intoxicating.

“That depends…will it be you who will take me here and now?” Adriaen spoke, his voice confident but also alluring. Leo was going crazy and doing everything in his power to not pounce.

“If you’d let me…”

Leo was fully aware of how close he was to Adriaen’s face. He needed to only lean in a bit closer and the two would be touching lips, but he knew he shouldn’t do anything without the green light.

“Adriaen…?”

“Hm?”

Leo placed his hands on Adriaen’s thighs, gripping them slightly in eagerness. “Can I kiss you?” He softy begged, his panting becoming more apparent, he was being so patient, but it was eating at him.

He needed him.

He needed Adriaen.

“Yeah…go for it.”

Leo didn’t need to be told twice, the moment Adriaen gave him the green light, he dived straight to his lips. Perhaps he was a bit too excited, accidentally pushing Adriaen against the mirror behind him on the sink. Adriaen let out a noise of surprise, his hands shot up to hold onto Leo’s plastron. 

Leo hums, closing his eyes and licking his tongue against Adriaen’s lips. The latter shivered at the wet tongue, but he complied and opens his mouth, letting Leo explore.

Leo ravished at the taste, he pushed more into Adriaen, wanting every inch of him. The latter moved his hands up Leo’s plastron, going for his neck and pulling him in closer, one hand cradled the back of Leo’s head.

“Fuck…you drive me insane.” Leo moans out between the kisses, his body was hot, boiling. He didn’t even do much, just kissing and he’s already a mess. For him.

For Adriaen.

“Leo…” Adriaen moans out, one hand gripping Leo’s bicep, he wiggled his body down and pressed his lower half against Leo’s. The arousal was clear. It hung in the air. 

The moment Leo heard his name being called out, he dropped. His dick out on display, he was ready. 

“Adriaen, I want to fuck you. So, so badly…” Leo pants out, his hands twitching as they grip Adriaen’s waist, pulling him closer to his body. He was begging for more.

Adriaen felt his length against his thigh, and for a moment he almost felt his own dropping upon contact. But he held it in.

One hand instinctively reached down and lightly grazed Leo’s cock, it twitched upon touch and a breathy moan escaped from Leo’s mouth.

“You do…?” Adriaen pulls away from the make out session, his eyes clearly filled with lust, face red and body screaming for more of Leo. “You have no idea…” Leo responds, leaning forward and lightly bonking his head against Adriaen’s, he nuzzled before moving his face to be in between Adriaen’s neck and shoulder.

He was rubbing his scent on him. Adriaen shivered at this, as he lightly scratched Leo’s arms. 

“Fuck me Leo…fuck me real good.”

Leo was on him in a second….

——————————————————————————————————

Hope this was good! I didn’t go into full smut, but I hinted at it during the end. Reminder again that this isn’t canon to my story. And so sorry if this is short

[verdemoun]

backstage of a talent show where all her friends (who saw this with her), her aunty, her da, her grandda and the guy who she’s supposedly having an affair with are there, and the da starts trying to fight the guy who shes had an affair with, only for the ma to reveal it was actually an english tutoring group she was attending. and the main bit of this conversation that makes me think of them is da/lenny “why didn’t you just tell me?” ma/sean “i didnt want to say anything because well the idea that someone like me could go back to school-the idea that someone like me could even go to university, well it didnt seem possible. i thought theres no point in telling anyone about this because its not actually going to happen. its not real.” da/lenny “well lets make it real if thats what you want” SORRY FOR THE YAPFEST you dont have to make anything of this it just honestly made me think of ur au macsummers and how sean has better access to education but is insecure about his abilities AND I JUST WANTED TO SHARE MY THOUGHTS WITH YOU SORRY😭

that is the most precious thing i have ever fucking read.

maeve would have heard them having a hissed argument at her show, with sean preferring lenny to think he's having an affair over admitting he was considering going to school, only to drop 'that's da's teacher he's helping him practice his reading now just a remember i'm the star of the show rn'.

lenny was flabbergasted. sean looked humiliated. lenny couldn't stop himself asking why he didn't ask him if he really was trying to learn to read and sean admitted a) when lenny reads it's just distractingly hot. like lenny reading to him was one of their date things in canon era, he can't listen to lenny reading even if it's that stupid condescending sounding out words without wanting to jump his bones and b) sean gets. really short tempered and angry when he doesn't understand something. it's misdirected embarrassment but he is working with someone who to tutoring in prisons and is really immune to responding to sean's outbursts, whereas they both know it would start a fight because they have always fed off each other's energies better or worse. but mostly the first point.

lenny makes it clear that he is overwhelmingly supportive and if sean does decide to go to school he is with him 100% of the way and they can make it happen. he also squeezes sean's hand when sean tries to dismiss it as too hard and says it is fine if he wants to quit doing the lessons or whatever but he's just, so proud and in love with him for giving it a shot and maybe sean could read to him next date night, which earned him a questionably passionate kiss and maeve making the typical child disgusted by parents showing affection noise.

maeve proceeded to go on stage dressed as her grand-da darragh (who she has never met in this timeline but heard and loves all sean's stories) and give a speech about british pigs and the unification of ireland that ruffled more than a few feathers. especially when her monologue ended with adams family style fake blood spurting from her sleeves as she collapsed to the ground screaming 'for ireland!!' before dying. her parents were all very proud and talked the teacher down from suspension to 3 days detention.

[felassan]

post from Dragon Age: Dreadwolf developer Luke B. (Game Systems Director for Dragon Age) on the unofficial BioWare forum, discussing the reasons why in Dragon Age: Inquisition there was no healing mechanic and instead the barrier system was introduced in the gameplay:

"I can't speak to any other games directly but I can give a bit of historic context for DAI. The game was initially a more dungeon/linear delving - see how far you can get - experience and there was no barrier of any kind. As a side note: healing has always been a hot topic in design because as soon as you include it there are many other conceits you now need take into consideration for the gameplay - one of which I will call 'the Anders problem'. Anyway, as DAI got the date moved and shifted more into the pseudo-openworld the concept of attrition (see how far you can get before having to return to camp) became less relevant and we needed to help the Players have more moment-to-moment agency around their survival. Unfortunately for various reasons (one of which is the sad reality of designing a game with a shifting timeline) the healing couldn't be re-added so we ended up with more of a mitigation strategy in the barrier system. It went through a lot of iterations but eventually landed on what it shipped with which I would call... acceptable (but just barely). Now, I will concede that a part of the reason it didn't return after that shift was an aversion to holy trinity gameplay specifically for MP but it wasn't the core reason. As a side story, trying to balance the game (as that was my job on DAI - and yes, it could be much better haha) we had to all but force Players to take barrier. It is intentionally the first skill in the first tree for the Mage and all the autolevel (I also handled that) is designed to get it right away. Feel free to ask other DAI questions, I'm happy to answer about things I was directly involved in 😁. Anything DA:D related you'll have to wait for at least a few months after launch to grill me...though I'm hoping they let me stream at launch as an official thing 🤞." [source]

a user asked about what the hardest class to balance in DA:I was:

"I feel like anyone who was around for the post-launch content will already know the answer to this as it was the bane of my existence when I got put exclusively on MP after launch but the Knight-Enchanter barrier absorbing was a pain. Stuff like that is very challenging to feel good without being broken as they are relative to damage so scaling is fairly open-ended. Too little and the casual players won't get use out of it, too much and the character builders will be wildly OP. We actually had a 'no nerfing' guideline for the SP side so it was a hard battle to fix that silly thing 🙃." [source]

[bi-bard]

What was Kindness in Our Eyes is Now a Blemished Masterpiece - Sebastian Sanger Imagine [HBO's Titans]

Title: What was Kindness in Our Eyes is Now a Blemished Masterpiece

Pairing: Sebastian Sanger X Reader

Based On: Resolve.

Word Count: 1,809 words

Warning(s): kidnapping, cult behavior

Summary: In which two people want the other to see their side of something monumental, only to be met with stubbornness and refusal.

Author's Note: I did it! Another one done!

Part One of "September" [Release Date: 10/13/2023]

Part Two of "September" [Release Date: 10/15/2023]

YEARBOOK - SLEEPING AT LAST WRITING CHALLENGE MASTERLIST

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

When I think back to the night of the blood moon, I remember Sebastian trying to keep me from it. Trying to keep me safe.

And I think about how I refused to listen to him.

Sebastian and I were sitting in the back of the RV while the Titans explained what was going on. Where we were going, what we were actually facing... none of it sounded good.

"You shouldn't be here," Sebastian muttered to me.

I looked at him. "What?"

"This is too dangerous. You should've gone home."

"Well, no...," I said. "Considering the current situation, I feel safest with the car full of people with cool powers."

"You wouldn't be in this situation if you went home before."

"Sebastian, if they're going after you, then chances are that I wouldn't be safe no matter what I did or where I went. I would be at least followed no matter what."

His eyes closed. I leaned my head against his shoulder.

I wanted to convince him that I wasn't scared. That I was going to be brave and could face everything that was in front of us. But I think he saw through it. He could see that I was nervous about everything and that not knowing what could happen made me want to hide from the world.

That feeling didn't ease as we made our way into the underground base that was around the back of the supermarket that had been built on top of the old asylum.

Granted that I don't have a full grasp on how I felt once we got there. At that point, many of the memories became a blur due to the chaos of it all and the injuries that I got during the whole thing.

I remember snippets. Pieces.

I remember seeing a photograph of one of Sebastian's neighbors with another woman, who explained was the woman from the police station. We both agreed that I was right earlier. I was safer with the Titans than I was on my own away from all of this.

I remember seeing the storybook talking about Sebastian's destiny. The end of the world and the blood moon and all of that.

I remember the sounds of a hoard of cult followers finding their way into the asylum to surround us.

After that, it becomes a bit messy. I have jumbled memories about the asylum's layout. Of someone yelling for me as I got pulled away. Of someone's hands grabbing me and dragging me away before my vision started going dark.

But it was all messy. Bits and pieces assembled to make a picture that didn't quite work. An incomplete timeline.

The next solid memory I had was waking up in some cell somewhere.

I looked around the room. It was dark, looked as if it had been carved into a mountain, and was small enough that it felt like I couldn't take more than three steps before I found myself on the other side of the room.

I turned around and banged on the door. "Hey! Let me out of here! Now!"

I continued hitting the wall and yelling. I hoped that causing enough chaos would get someone to listen to me or at least give me some answers. I wanted to be as irritating as I had ever been.

"Stop!"

I froze when I heard a voice on the other side of the door.

"You will be called upon soon enough."

"By who," I asked, stepping forward to look through the small hole in the door. I couldn't see anyone.

"Mother has found a purpose for you."

"Well, you can tell your mommy to go fuck herself because I have no interest in taking part in whatever purpose she's 'found' for me."

"Have you always been so cynical," a new voice chimed in. A woman's voice. I found myself making eye contact with her through the door. "I promise that the wait will be worth it."

"You... You're the woman in the photo. The one from the police station."

She just hummed. "My original plan was not as effective as I wished it to be."

"Sebastian's mother," I murmured.

"Thankfully, I have been known for adapting well to new situations."

"You don't have him. Kind of an important element to your plan, isn't he?"

She chuckled. "But I got all that I need to keep him... including you."

I would have found my way to that cell no matter where I had been. At home or not. Unaware or not. I had always been some facet to her plan.

"Now, be patient, you will be called upon soon enough."

As she walked away, I found my hands beating on the door again. I yelled again. Louder than before. About how she couldn't do this. About how she needed to let me go. Anything and everything that came to mind that I hoped would appeal to some logical side of her. Nothing worked.

It felt like I spent days in that cage. In reality, it was hours. I didn't realize how easy it was to mess with a person's sense of time.

I wasn't visited by anyone else. Well, it didn't feel like that. No one else spoke to me. I had some silent entity that slid food into me once. The woman had come back once or twice, trying to convince me to join their little cult.

I refused.

I wasn't going to betray Sebastian and the people that had protected me. No matter how scared or tired I was. I refused to do that.

After far too long, the door opened. I stood up, trying to straighten my back and appear bigger than I was. Two men walked in, each wearing black robes.

"Mother has requested your presence."

I didn't have time to speak before the two of them grabbed my arms. They led me out of the cell and then walked me through the halls of whatever base we were in.

I was led into some great hall of sorts. There was an entire crowd of people in black robes. I wondered how many of them I would truly recognize if I looked at them for long enough. How many of them had quietly surrounded me for weeks or months or years.

I found myself in front of a staircase leading up to a pool of some liquid that I couldn't see.

Standing at the top of that staircase was Sebastian.

I let out a shaky breath. His eyes went wide as he seemed to do the same.

"(Y/n)..."

He quickly ran down the steps. I only had to take a few steps forward before he had wrapped his arms around me. I closed my eyes, burying my face in his shoulder.

"I was scared that I was never going to see you again," he muttered.

"So was I," I replied. I leaned back, cupping the sides of his face. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he put his hands over mine. "Are you?"

I shook my head. "It doesn't matter."

"Yes, it does."

"I hope you can understand my actions now," his mother spoke up, "after all that I have shown you."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "What is she talking about? What did she show you?"

She ignored me. "Take your rightful place and you will never have to be abandoned again."

"I never abandoned him-"

"And now he can ensure that you never will."

Sebastian stepped away from me. I tried to step forward and grab his hand again. I had just been released from a cage after being kidnapped and held hostage in some weird cave. He was the only familiar thing I had... the only safe thing.

I needed him to come back. I needed to hold on for at least a little while. I needed him to trust me. In the end, he had known me far longer than he'd known her. Surely, she hadn't had enough time to truly get to him. Not like this.

He turned back to look at me, simply nodding before going to walk back to the pool.

"Sebastian," I said quietly.

'It'll be okay," he promised.

I let his hand slip from mine. I was left surrounded by the rest of the cult followers.

I didn't truly know what was happening. The storybook that we had found in the asylum only told of the aftermath of all of this. Not how he would get there.

"This will make everything okay," he muttered.

It wasn't until I saw his mother pass some bowl over to Sebastian that it all seemed to click.

"No!"

I tried to run forward but was stopped by someone grabbing me and forcing me back to the ground.

May moved to stand in front of me.

"So brave," she said, grabbing my jaw. "All of that passion... out of devotion. I promise that you will have a place in his kingdom. That's why you're here."

I glared at her before jerking my head and pulling my head out of her hold.

"Now, quiet. You are about to witness the beginning of greatness."

As she turned back to face Sebastian, there was a loud crash. I scrambled backward a bit as I found myself staring into the face of a green gorilla.

"Holy shit," I muttered to myself.

That was the beginning of the chaos.

The members of the cult began to run out as the rest of the Titans made their way into the room. I shoved my back against the wall, watching everything unfold in front of me.

I couldn't hear anything. I heard yelling and fighting but it was all layering on top of each other. I couldn't hear what was happening.

I looked at Sebastian. He was standing next to the pool, holding the bowl close to his chest. I tried to wave him over. To get him out of the way of the whole thing. He didn't move. He just paused and furrowed his eyebrows at me. I copied him.

When I saw him lift the bowl to his lips, I shoved myself off the ground. I couldn't get to him fast enough before he stepped into the pool. I made it to the bottom of the steps.

I looked at the surface, waiting to see him come back out. As I listened to the chaos unfolding around me, I felt my heart drop further and further. I felt someone grab my hand and start pulling me away from the scene. It was meant to keep me safe, but I couldn't truly think about that in the moment.

All I could think was how this was the point when I knew that Sebastian had turned his back on me.

That I knew I had truly lost him.

And he would never be forgiven.

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

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[siriuslysatorusimping]

I just wanted to thank you for sharing your story. I love it by the way, are they going to make their relationship official? Oh they will continue as they are.

Thank you for reading!! I'm so glad people are enjoying my story 🥹🥹 And thank you for your question!! I've answered below the cut because it turned into a rant that I didn't mean to let happen...

OKAY, so this is gonna be a long response and I apologize in advance for this RANT. There will be a TLDR at the bottom for your convenience 😂 I have thought about these two A LOT. I have an entire section in my doc for this story for notes like this lol...

So, my intention with this story was to make it a real Friends with Benefits where they're both on the same page and it doesn't completely explode because one of them catches feelings and can't take it anymore. Will feelings be caught? Oh, absolutely they've already started to-.

I started the story really early in the timeline because I wanted to give them time for their friendship to develop, even if it looks more like a romantic relationship than a friendship. But I have this planned out all the way to where the manga is, post-Shibuya and post-Culling Games. Some of this is already written. I'll say that the very first thing I wrote for them is a part that will be set post-Shibuya.

They're going to become each others' haven of sorts over the years, and will slowly quit sleeping with other people casually without even realizing it. And neither will really mention it because they don't see it as something important to bring up. He never dates others anyway, only casual hookups, and she dates casually but never for long because she doesn't want to risk committing to someone she couldn't be honest with about her work.

Basically, the end goal for them is for it to be natural for them to realize that what they have is actually a romantic relationship without a label and decide to label it. But they're going to struggle a lot with that concept. Their communication will start to falter there because she won't bring it up, believing it would never be something he would want and he will have absolutely no clue how to bring it up.

Gojo is Gojo and having an official relationship isn't what he wants, or so he thinks.

And Rinko believes that he's destined for things that are too great and important for her to even be a footnote in. As the years go on, she will essentially force herself to believe that she is content to be by his side as his friend. It's going to take a lot of convincing from him to change her mind on this.

Rinko has already resigned herself to two things about him where we are in the story:

Gojo Satoru doesn't do feelings beyond lust and she tells herself she isn't arrogant enough to believe she could change that about him. She does probably too good of a job sticking to this.

- She'll end up hurting his feelings quite a few times when she expects him to be way more selfish than he ends up being with her and he's hurt to learn that's how she sees him even though he knows she has every reason to do so.

- This will also lead to a few issues because she's very guarded with him. She has huge defenses with him when it comes to seeing anything sweet or selfless that he does as anything but a carefree impulse that means nothing (we will be finding out the reason for this in a few upcoming parts that y'all aren't gonna like me for...) which will also end up hurting his feelings later on in their friendship.

- There will be an entire WAREHOUSE worth of unpacking for Rinko when she finally realizes that Gojo doesn't do those kinds of things at all for anyone else. Much less on impulse because he doesn't have selfless impulses with anyone else the way he does with her. But this bitch is just gonna rent a larger warehouse and pretend she's never heard of it even when Gojo literally shows her the receipt proving she paid for it.

2. There are walls he just can't take down with anyone. Can't get himself to do it because it's too much after he was so close to Geto and it hurt him so much when he lost him

- As a small spoiler, their biggest conflicts will always lead back to Geto. Every single real disagreement they have over the course of their friendship will lead, in some way, back to Geto.

Okay so I'm forcing myself to stop here.

TLDR: Eventually, they will make their relationship official. But it's going to be a very, very long time and many years of friendship with a lot of sexy times 😅