#could we try to imagine a world totally without that violence?

[metanarrates]

"queernorm" worlds are fine and i do understand why people like them + why there's a desire to make their depictions of queer experiences legible to an audience who lives under real-world gender and sexuality norms. but for me i always end up feeling a little dissatisfied by them because they still end up implicitly adhering to certain real-world norms that in-universe have no real reason to exist. can we not imagine a world in which gender/sex assignments entirely don't exist? what could gender and gendered expression even mean in that world? how would romance and kinship and care be reimagined there? how far could you potentially go in totally deconstructing those norms? wouldn't it be nice to imagine a world so different from our own that even the language we have to describe certain experiences is no longer the same? im dissatisfied by the inability to go much further, even if i do understand why people don't

[frequentrandomboners]

Rant about Marilyn Manson and Evan Rachel Wood Situation

IDK if this is the right place for this but I don't have anyone to talk with about it, and no one understands. AND my regular communities are in denial, and very hostile towards anyone calling them out on their double standards or hypocrisy.

Marilyn Manson decided to drop his defamation law suit against Evan Rachel Wood. I was a big fan of MM when I was in my early teens. But then he put out the heart shaped glasses music video. That's when me and my teenage circle started to dig deeper. We talked with other fans. We did what research we could with what magazines and websites and news was available back then. It became very clear that WE ALL KNEW and most of us were just in denial about everything that was going on.

That's when I stopped being a fan. I couldn't relate to MM anymore. I couldn't relate to his fan base anymore.

And to this day, you can't speak up about it. Not without MM fans turning on you and trying to sabotage you if not, explicitly, threaten your well being.

The same is true for ICP communities. I remember having to deal with ICP kids at the skate park when I was a kid. I love ICP music. It's their fans I can't stand. Any time an abuser who was "cool" and popular abused someone, or cheated on his girl, he was seen as a hero and the victim was the villain. If someone spoke up, they got "taken down" in one form or another.

That was through out the 90s and 2000s when I was a kid. I'm sure it was even worse before my existence. I can't imagine things being much better today except now we all have smart phones.

MM dropped his defamation law suit and is required to pay ERW's attorney fees. That should be a win for ERW but the internet, especially music news forums, and MM forums, see this as a total win for MM and a perfect excuse to vilify and demonize ERW.

The older I get, the harder it becomes to appreciate my own community, the metal music community, while on one hand welcomes amazing female musicians/bands like Crypta, Nervosa, SpiritBox, Poppy, etc. WHILE ALSO supporting Tim Lambesis, Ronnie Radke, and Marilyn Manson.

What even is going on here?

It's like you cannot stand up for victims, cannot speak out against violence against women, or misogyny, without being relentlessly harassed by (predominantly male owned accounts).

The red pill, "manosphere", continues to get stronger and stronger. Misogynist comments are allowed because there's just so many of them online. While anyone trying to speak up against it gets taken down because they're a minority seemingly by default.

The world just feels completely backwards. Idk what to do. I feel so helpless. I'm going outside to touch grass

[total-drama-brainrot]

Total Drama Psycho Noah AU, what if Sierra (who knew everything about everybody) tried to warn Heather + Alejandro NOT to mess with Noah, cause he's a total psychopath (but they don't believe her) ... Sierra doesn't have to worry about Cody getting hurt, cause he's a sweet boy, and Noah only hurts people that attack him first... What if after Heather + Alejandro later learns the truth, Sierra simply tells the duo: "I told you so..." 😒

You're so right about Sierra being one of the few who's In The Know about p!Noah (without his express input), thanks to her superfan status.

Sierra throws a bit of a wrench into this whole AU, really. Because there'd need to be justification for her either not saying anything about Noah's true colours, or having the others not believe her claims about Noah despite it being abundantly clear that her knowledge on them is pretty infallible.

But.

Playing in to the whole 'obsessive superfan' thing, Sierra wouldn't want to jeopardise the ruse Noah's so carefully crafted if he were, say, one of her favourite characters.

Because Noah (every version of Noah) is a fairly private person, all things considered. She doesn't have a lot of information to go off of- not in comparison to the fountain of knowledge she has about the rest of the cast, at least- but she does know that he must be keeping his true colours a secret for a reason. Would you want to ruin someone's carefully laid web of deception when it's been one of the most entertaining aspects of the show thus far?

Or.

You could take it down another route, and have Sierra outright dislike Noah because he's A Danger to her beloved cast, but have this dislike become evident before she can warn the others; Sierra's pretty crazy herself, so the cast would dismiss her warnings are her trying to rally them against the person she so clearly hates instead of a genuine effort to keep them safe. After all, wouldn't it be in character for someone as evidently unstable as Sierra to lie and spread 'baseless rumours' about the person she clearly despises?

(That second option's fun, because it adds an aspect of dramatic irony for the audience both in-universe and IRL; they/we know that Sierra's right, so her struggle to be listened to would be almost Cassandra-esque.)

Either way, she'd make a point of staying as far away as possible from Noah. Because Sierra (like the rest of the in-universe audience) are working under the impression that Noah's a ticking time-bomb, a constant threat of incredible violence against the cast, since that's exactly what Noah painted himself as during his confessionals. (Speaking of confessionals, I do have a justification as to why the contestants eliminated before Noah are also unaware of his unhingedness, that I'll cover in it's own post.) That's not entirely true, of course; Noah's a psychopath with a grimdark sense of humour, sure, but he's not about to start randomly attacking people in bouts of spontaneous hysteria- but the audience, and therefore Sierra, don't have the comfort of that little tidbit of information.

It all circles back to Noah being a private person. He holds his cards close to his chest; in this case, the audience knows what he's capable of, but they don't know that a lot of his Baby Craves Violence act is just that- an act. A joke he's pulling on the viewing world, that he admittedly gets a little too into to. The perils of being dedicated to the bit. Not that he doesn't have the occasional urge to commit felonies and acts of brutality against others, but he's got enough self-control to redirect that energy into causing less destructive chaos (most of the time).

-

So when his true colours are eventually revealed? Sierra is so vindicated, she almost forgets the danger (she thinks) she's in. Almost.

(In the context of the second option;) She's spent the majority of the season thus far warning the others against Noah, only to have her good intentions brushed aside time and time again (which, ouch! Imagine trying to help the people you idolise enough to literally stalk throw your concern for their safety back in your face) by their incredulity. Being proven to have been in the right the entire time would be a power trip and a half, because it'd validate her skills as the unofficial-official expert on all things Total Drama and she'd get to shove the consistent rebuffs back in the others' faces.

It's a shame she'd be so dead-set on disliking Noah on principle, because the two of them could be great friends. If Sierra had a stronger craving for chaos and disorder, she could form a Terror Trio with Noah and Izzy.

[kaziee2]

Not yet but soon

Summary: Reader a soft omega with a ready to kill alpha

Warning: Cursing, like really small violence, smug men

Pairs: [Alpha Yelena x Omega reader]

[Words: 2.4k] [A/n: not totally proofread, been in my drafts for like months, first ever writing a/b/o hopefully you guys enjoy]

“Yelena you have to let go of me,”

“No,”

“Whyyyyy,”

“Because I said so, I’m the Alpha..hmp,” Yelana complained with pouty lips, holding onto you tighter. 

You mentally groaned at her, after a minute of trying to wriggle yourself out of Yelena’s arms, you gave up and wrapped your arms around her, hearing a contented sigh from her. You look down Admiring her sleeping face, you never understood what made everyone so afraid of her. She is such a sweetheart. You both stayed in the same position until you fell asleep on top of her, cuddling to one another. 

It was late into the afternoon when you both started to wake up, neither of you wanted to leave the bed, but you knew you missed the morning report and most probably will expect a disappointed Fury, you wince at imagining his disapproval look staring at you. 

You looked to see your mate’s sleeping face, you savor the peace of the moment you and Yelena were in. These were just one of the rare times you both could relax without the thought of the world ending at every opportunity it gets.

But every peaceful moment doesn't last when suddenly you jumped out of bed surprised, when your door room burst open with a very angry looking Natasha. Her angry pheromones radiate around the room and you suddenly feel sick to your stomach. 

Yelena finally stirring awake when you suddenly jumped out of her arms, she instantly feels another Alphas presence (which she feels is familiar). She turned her head to face the door, ready to practically fuck up the person who dare ruin both her and your moment together but most especially for scaring you. 

Once Yelena sees Natasha at the door, she stands up and rushes to push her and her sister out of the room, trying to rid of the angry pheromones in the room. 

Once both were outside, you stared down the door feeling more calmer than you were seconds ago, the pheromones of an angry alpha still lingered in the air but soon it started to dissipate. You sat at the edge of the bed, hugging the blanket which Yelena uses often, her scent was strong on it. You can hear the bickering from the other side of the door, but you didn’t really delve yourself to know the reason for the outburst of the redhead alpha. You just laid down and waited for Yelena to return and fill you in.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?!” Yelena whispered with a harsh voice to her sister, “You were scaring (Y/N)! What is so important that you couldn’t have just knocked like any regular normal person would do?” she raises one brow while crossing her arms. 

“Well if you didn’t make me wait for you for fucking two hours in the training room, then MAYBE I wouldn’t be so mad,” Natasha with the same harsh voice, she points to her sister. 

“Pshh, I don’t need training, it's one damn day! I’m practically better than everyone here in physical combat, I’m at par with you сестра (sister),” Yelena huffs, “If anybody needs training, train the damn newbies. They have no combat training, go bother them.” Yelena was mad, she didn’t need this daily training all the time, her fighting skills are perfect.

“Yelena, you know damn well, we need to keep on training to better ourselves and for your information, those kids can technically still beat you up,” Natasha points out, “With powers maybe,” she hears Yelena mutter. 

Natasha thinks for a moment before having an idea that will surely get Yelena to train, “Why don’t you bring (Y/N) to train with us, they could just sit and watch us train,” she offers, “And why should I let my precious omega be bored to death with watching us?” 

“Why would they get bored, you’re there to entertain them. Flex your muscles, show your omega how strong you are,” Natasha says with a cogent voice. 

Yelena doesn’t seem so convinced but does think about it, you watching her, and her very broad muscles, you’ll practically drool over it! 

With one last attempt to get her sister to train with her, she gives her a deal she know Yelena would never refuse, “If you train with me now, I’ll let you beat me couple of times, to show off,” and with that Yelena agrees, “Not like I need that to beat anyway,” a smug smile on her face.

Natasha pats herself on the back on being able to convince Yelena to train with her. Technically it wasn’t so important and she could’ve just let Yelena miss a day at best, but nobody else was available or capable to match her hand to hand combat. Steve may be strong but his combat skills could truly need some work, she internally sighs at that. 

They both start to prepare themselves with Yelena going back inside the room with a smile on her face, excited to bring you to training with her (even with you just watching). Natasha, on the other hand, goes to the training room to set up a spot for them, since most likely there would be agents scheduled to train today.

The moment you saw Yelena walk back in, you knew something was up. She had this smug smile on, and her scent smelled of pride, now you're wondering what she's planning. 

“Detka (baby), change of plans! We’re going to train with my bitch of a sister,” Yelena announced while changing into her gym wear. 

“Don’t you mean you’re going to train with your sister, as you know. I am not an agent or an Avenger, I’m an assistant and you know how Maria feels about me joining your training sessions,” you remind her, Maria has always been so protective of you since you were the only omega female that has been hired into S.H.I.E.L.D.    

Yelena looks at you perplexed to why she would have to worry about Maria at all, “Oh detka (baby), you misunderstand me, I will be training with my sister, you will be there to accompany and cheer for me as I beat my sister,” you roll your eyes at that. 

“I guess it's fine. At least I’ll have a good view of something while waiting for you,” you purr your words while walking up behind Yelena and wrapping your arms around her midsection, putting your head to her shoulder, “None of that milaya(darling), do not start something you can not finish,” her voice held want but she held back. 

“We should go before my sister comes barging in again,” Yelena removes herself from your hold and holds your hand in her own dragging you with her as she leads both of you out of the room.

Upon entering the gym, you immediately recoil due to the smell of every alpha scent that hits you. It's not strong enough to make you want to puke but it does slightly make you dizzy. Yelena squeezes your hand to bring a sense of comfort when she notices you recoil when entering. You love her so much for that, she always knew when something felt wrong for you and would always try to help you feel better, marked or not.

Your loving gaze on her was quickly cut short when Natasha approached you both from the other end of the gym, “Yelena glad you could make it,” she said with sarcasm,”(y/n), it’s always nice to see you, glad you could come too, makes it easier for this one to comply simple orders,” she points at Yelena with a pointed look, “Well as you know Nat, if Maria finds out I’m here you're done for,” you smirk at her, “And you will most probably be sleeping on the couch for the month,” 

Natasha's eyes widen after some realization and now she looks absolutely scared, “Oh please don’t tell Maria about this,” she practically begs. 

“The black widow begging now, never thought I'll see the day,” you and Yelema both laugh at her, barely being able to hold it in. 

Natasha looks mad but keeps a calm and stoic face, “Let’s just start our training, come on Yelena. I set up a bench near out training spot, you can sit there (y/n),” 

When everyone was settled, Yelena walked over to you and kissed you on the cheek, “Watch me beat my sister,” she puffs her chest in pride, ready to show her mate how strong she is. You just roll your eyes at that. 

Few minutes goes by, and you’ve kept score on who won each time. You were about to score another win for Natasha when someone blocked your view, looking up you see a man standing in front of you, just by inhaling his scent due to him pumping it out to show himself off to you, he was an alpha. “Uhm…excuse me you’re blocking my view, can you please move,” your voice came out low, you were never good at asserting yourself. 

“What’s a sweet omega like you doing in a training room, hm?” he ignores your request and continues to flaunt at you. Showing his broad muscles, that just makes you want to gag, but you’re just too polite to do it. You give him a nervous smile, starting to get really uncomfortable with how close he’s trying to get to you, but you just keep on moving away until you reached the end of the bench you were sitting on. 

“Come on, don’t you want a strong alpha like me to take care of you,” he grins at you, “An omega like you need an alpha like me,” he gets closer to you prompting to wrap an around your shoulders, but before he could even get close he was quickly punched in the face, him staggering a bit to the left due to the force of the punch. 

“DON'T YOU KNOW WHAT A MATED OMEGA LOOKS LIKE! Ty sukin syn (You son of a bitch)!” Yelena yells at the male alpha, she was angry, angry like you have never seen, her chest was heaving and her eyes had dark intentions. 

You immediately snap out of your shock and stand between her and the alpha that was currently cowering in pain and fear. “Move out of the way omega, let me deal with this!” she yells at you, her pheromones overcome you, trying to make you submit but you stand firm. You felt if you let Yelena move towards him, there will be blood. 

Yelena growls in frustration that HER omega was protecting a piece of trash, she moved towards you but suddenly was held back, and she knew who the culprit was, her own fucking sister, “LET GO! LET ME AT HIM! I'LL SHOW HIM NOBODY TOUCHES MY OMEGA!” Natasha’s hold on her is strong, “YELENA! Calm down, just let him go, he learned his lesson,” but Yelena still tried to wiggle her way out of her sister's hold. 

From this point on, you couldn’t handle the stressful situation more so after defying Yelena’s orders is taking a toll on you. You immediately helped the male alpha recover and ordered him to get out, you hoped with him gone it would help relieve some tension in your alpha. But when it didn’t and you saw Natasha starting to struggle holding down an enraged Yelena, you took a more direct approach. 

Walking up to Yelena, she looked at you with anger and possessive eyes, you cupped her cheeks and kissed in the lips. The longer the kiss went on, you felt her body slump in ease, Natasha deeming it safe to let go, she did, and when she did that, Yelena quickly held onto you, Natasha took that as her que to leave both of you alone. 

Both of you only parted ways when needing to breathe became a necessity. Yelena looked at you softly, any residing anger in her had died down, she could never be mad at you, never at you. She loves you too much to let anything happen to you, and when that alpha started to approach you and started making you uncomfortable, she couldn’t handle it anymore and just marched her way to separate him from you, punching him just came to instinct. 

“I’m sorry moya lyubov’ (my love), I couldn’t bare the look at that svin'ya (pig) being near you and when he tried to touch, I lost it…oh I know you hate violence, bu-” you stopped her apologizing, knowing it wasn’t really her fault.

“I know love, I don’t blame you, it was probably my fault too anyway, I should have said something instead of just sitting there,” you kiss her on the cheek in gratitude, “Well he should’ve known better,” Yelena puffed her chess, and started to nuzzle her face in your neck, just right where her mark should be. 

You love when she does this, it always brings comfort to you. “I guess we made everyone leave,” you giggled softly when looking around the gym over Yelena’s shoulder. 

Yelena didn’t really care if there were other people around she just wanted to hold onto you and never let go. You quickly noticed how different she was acting when her hold on you got tighter, “Hey are you ok, what’s wrong?” you ask her softly. 

Yelena didn’t know when she started to feel this way, so vulnerable…she hates it and loves it all at the same time, she’s scared that the more she falls in love with you and you suddenly think she isn't a good enough alpha for you, it might just break her. She doesn’t want to lose you. 

“Yelena,” you gently called her and she looked at you, “Whatever you're thinking, it will never happen. I know you're new to this whole love thing and I know you get scared sometimes being soft, but I promise you, that I will always be there for you and we can explore the new things together,” you smile at her, and kiss her on the lips, but Yelena knew this kiss was different from the rest, it was filled with passion and love, and she loves the feeling of it. 

“I love you, my alpha,” 

“I love you too, my omega”

[yellowcry]

Fighting for the new day to come

Somebody tried to attack Encanto! And, protecting her family means Luisa had to do whatever it takes.

TW: Deaths, violence, blood

Luisa sighed, wiping her forehead. What time was it? It's should be an hour or two before her lunch break. Her stomast grupled, imagining a good yammy portion of the food that Mirabel would undoubtedly bring to her.

Her heart jumped at the scream. Old Arthuro yelled at the street, attracting attention. "We're under attack!" Luisa's eye twitched, fists tensed. Okay, don't panic. What was happening? Her blood pumped fast, warming her with adrenaline. "Doña Alma demanded for everyone to get to safety."

Encanto was attacked? By whom? Luisa's chest ached. The cold fingers of dread clipped her shoulder. She could almost feel their invisible weight grabbing her by the throat. Shoking her. She knew Abuelo Pedro died in attack on their village many years ago. Were everyone okay? Oh no,.what if they will be murdered the same way. The fear twisted her stomach, making Luisa gulp to hold back disgusting sickness. Shit, the situation was really bad. Luisa's own heart was pounding way too fast. "Where are they?" Luisa's throat felt way too dry. Her teeth gritted, craking against the pressure. Somewhere, under the panic and fear for the safety of the people, Luisa felt rage bubbling up. Somebody dared to some here, in her hometown and try to destroy it? No fucking chance in the world she would let it slide. 

The old man breathed out, almost relieved at the sight of Luisa. "Good, you're here... Can you.." He took off his sombrero vueltiao, holding it tight. 

Luisa took rapid breath, clenching her fists so tight that her knuckles paled like a moulded cheese. "I will deal with this." She was protector of the family, of the Encanto. It was a titular she wore with a big pride. The promise to ensure everyone's safety. "Where are they?" Luisa let out a low guttural sound. Her muscles tensed so much that a vein popped out, swelling from the iced pressure. 

The fear of what would happen if Luisa didn't  interfere was breaking her bones, twisting her inside out. Tiny drops of the burning sweat ran down her forehead. Her chest felt tight, anxiety wrapped it like a wrong-made corset. She needed to keep everyone safe. It was something she wished to be as long as she could remember herself. Keep everyone safe, protect them. 

Luisa's legs scudded too fast, way beyong anything  of a human ability. Which was probably because of her gift. And also from feeling bottling under her skin. Steaming like a boiled coffee. She heard a bang. It rang in her head with more strenght than an endless list of chores. She felt the smell of fire ripping inside her nose. There were several of them, wearponised. "You think it's blue hideover?" One asked, presumbably so someone who was their commander. At least if Luisa judged by the gold trimming of their suit. More proper than so the others had.

"We had no information about this place on the map. It must be a criminal place."

Luisa narrowed her eyes, gnarring throught her teeth. Did they just accuse Encanto in being a bad place?

She jumped onto the closest person to her, making them yell in surprise as Luisa twisted a muzzle pointed at her. Crashing in under her fingers in just mere seconds before they could even react.

The bullet cut into her skin, ripping the back of her blouse. The injury stinged with a nettle burn. Not too bad, somebody without her gift would have it way worse. But still barely pleasing. The fabric got stuck to her skin with sweat. The closest person to her, the one whos gun she broke was sent to the bright grass. While Luisa slammed his head against the hard ground. Seeing how it was swelling red with the blood.

"What the fuck is this thing?!" Somebody yelled so loud that Luisa's head ached. Luisa heard a numerous gunshots but wasn's sure how many was in total. 

"Stay away from my home!" Luisa growled, rushing into attack again, not paying attention to insults. Her opponent managed to turn to the side  just mere second before Luisa would've launch at him. They pulled out a slasher, scratching her side. It dig deep, drawing the blood out. Luisa twisted the blade on instinct, breaking it in just mere second. Her free fust tried to him the person next to her, who again, jumped back just a moment before it would happen. Not for long because Luisa pushed  herself forward, sending her opponent fly for several metres. Probably cracking several bones in the process. 

Another shot came to her head. "AHH!" Luisa yelled, gripping her head, while a bullet got stuck in her head, cracking her scull. Not even crazy amount of adrenaline she was on could wash away this amount of pain. It popped in her head, rising in agony. 

She grit her teeth. It wasn't  a proper time to cry about pain. Luisa rose up, just slightly trembling. At least of before the attackers looked afraid, now they were outrage terrified. Some part of Luisa's mind that wasn't  busy with the fight could understand it. Most people probably wouldn't be alive after getting shot in their head. 

"This isn't a human!" One of two yelled, trying to shot her again. Just for Luisa to fling to the side, only allowing it to sligtly scratch her cheek. Unpleasant, but nothing  compared to the shot that blew her brains up. Luisa let out a low breathe, annoyed.

Another hit, Luisa ran with a wind speed. Not thinking about anything  else. That one was blocked with a gun. The metal cracked from her strengt. But Luisa's fingers twisted, now drawing with blood. The same gun hit her shoulder. Probably  leaving some bruise with the cold metal. At the same time it got snapped in two, killed to the end. While Luisa's another hit got blocked again. Unluckely for them with their arms this time.  They uelled in horror as the bones snapped, breaking against Luisa's strength. Not for long until the strenght of the hit pushed them down. Luisa stepped on them, cracking their ribcage.

She had washed the last one of them down the horse they tried to climb on, ripping the fabric of their clothes in the process. Most likely to get away. Not for long. Luisa pulled them of, squeezing their neck so tight it cracked. 

Luisa looked around, panting through wide open mouth. She pressed her palms against her knees. Trying to see if there still was any danger. It seemed safe. Good. Luisa grinned in relief. It was over, everyone was safe for now. She just needed to get home and break the news to Abuela. That’s, of course, if Dolores hadn’t told them already.

Luisa wasn’t sure how she got to Casita. Now, as immediate danger had stopped beimg a threat, adrenaline stopped running so much inside her body. And when the hormone stopped controlling her body, pain that was drowned in the sea before crawled over, rising all over. And, hell, it hurt. Luisa’s blouse was soaked with blood, her back was getting red. The trickles of thick blood ran down the muscles of her arms and clung to her brown hair, which now were wet. The agonising pain jumped inside her head, making her feel like her brains were smeared out of her scull. Yes, her head was definitely the one that was killing Luisa the most. More so compared to the rest of her body combined. Unable to feel or think about anything else. The blood drawned out of the injuries. Luisa felt like she was a balloon about to pop out.

Luisa groaned, trying to keep her eyes shut tight. Light outline of pain was left inside her. Not hurting too much, but reminding she was not so long ago. What happened?Her head was foggy, but memories were crawling outside. A fight, yes. Luisa’s brething shortened as she practically jumped into sitting position. Were everyone okay? What if somebody else was hurt?

“Luisa, mija!” Her Mama placed a hand on her shoulder. “You’re awake, how do you feel?”

Luisa stared up at Julieta, looking around the calm blue tones of the room. Her parents’ room. “I’m okay, was anyone else injured?” She asked, ready to get up if anything was wrong.

The healer shook her head, petting Luisa. “Everyone is safe.” Luisa brethed out in relief, allowing herself to relax against the fluffy bed once again. “Do you want to rest? I can call your sisters if you want to.”

“Yes, please,” Luisa would love to see them and know they’re okay. She could probably just go herself. She wasn’t in any discomfort after being healed. But there was something cozy and home-sweet in laying in her Mama’s room like this. It’s been a while since Luisa was resting like this. She remembered being a little girl and curling between her parents after a nightmare. It’s been a long time since then. The probably wouldn’t even fit in the bed together.

It didn’t take long. Mirabel had clung to her in the moment she saw Luisa. “Lu, how are you? I was so worried.” The teelager felt Luisa’s back, making sure no damage was left untreated. Even is Mama’s food would’ve made it impossible for Luisa to still be hurt.

“Better than ever!” Luisa smiled at her to assure her little sister. Ruffling her curly hair before scoop into a hug. Heavens, she was so glad everyone was okay.

Isabela sad to the bed next to them. “Dolly is such a bitch!” The eldest sister chuckled, ignoring Mirabel’s demand to use proper language.

Luisa blinked, rasing her eyebrows. “What have she done?” Tilting her her head, and hugging Mirabel even tighter.

The youngest girl muttered, choking on her words. Okay, maybe Luisa held her just a bit too strong. “She tied us and Camilo to chairs. Said it was ‘so we wouldn’t get ourselves killed’.”

“Yes! Can you imagine?” Isabela made a theatric gasp, pressing her hand against her forehead. “I’ve lost my chance to be abadass in a very cool fight!”

Luisa couldn’t help but laugh at her sister being a drama queen, she couldn’t be surprised in the slightest at Dolores’ actions. Isabela wouldn’t miss a chance to throw fists, Camilo would treat it like some performance, and Mirabel… Well, Casita’s fall spoke for itself. Mirabel sniskered too, but hid it with fixing her glasses. Here Isabela herself was giggling. 

“But, if serious,” Her tone became more serious. She placed her hand on Luisa’s shoulder, sitting closer to her. “Are you okay? You were in am awful state earlier.”

Luisa’s eyes glimmered at the care. She could imagine, concindering how she didn’t even remember getting to Casita. “It really wasn’t that bad.” She assured Isabela. “It’s really only my head that caused problems.” She knew she had to thank her gift for this. Anyone else would’ve been dead on her place. Nothing else wasn’t coming beyond a simple discomfprt that a nornal person would get from a scratch. But all the other injuries probably weren’t making her family happy by looking at them.

Isabela and Mirabel seemed relieved by this. Luisa chuchkled, pulling her older sister on a hug with her free arm too (that’s why she has two arms). Everything was okay…And Luisa felt calmness spreading throught her body. She handled it well, her family was safe. And she couldn’t ask for more.

Luisa had to admit she felt strange about what she had done. Killing. The word tasted bitter on her tongue. She could never imagine she would have to do something like this. But did she regret it? Not in the slightest. These awful people would do the same thing to her family if Luisa didn’t stop them. She was protector, and everyone knew it. And she would do whatever it takes for everyone to sleep safe and sound. Sometimes she had to do things that were consindered bad to be on the good side.

“You’re better to prepare for Abuela’s teaching you about self-preservation!” Mirabel smiled weakly, but still was looking closely in case of Luisa’s possible harm. The stronger sister gulped. She remembered this with Mirabel. Damn, she would meet a long lecture of how worried she had made everyone by risking her life(which she actually hadn’t done!) and putting herself on danger.

“I’m terrified now.”

[not-wholly-unheroic]

15 and 16?

It took me awhile to think about how I wanted to answer these because they’re pretty deep questions.

(Content warning: Mentions of violence/torture, though nothing super graphic.)

15. Worst thing they’ve ever done

Okay, don’t kill me for this one but…as much as I love Hook, even Disney’s Hook has done some TERRIBLE things. We may not see it all play out on-screen, but within minutes of his first appearance, when Hook is contemplating how to get Tiger Lily to give up Peter’s hideout, he mentions some pretty gruesome possibilities—“boiling in oil…keelhauling…marooning!” If you’ve ever been burned by hot cooking oil, you can imagine how bad BOILING in it might be. As for keelhauling…it involved basically tying a person to ropes and dragging them under the bottom of the ship so that they would scrape against any sharp barnacles there, slicing open their skin. A person who was keelhauled might eventually die from blood loss or infection, assuming they didn’t drown first. A marooned person might starve to death or die of thirst if the little spot of sand they were dropped off on didn’t have much in the way of food or fresh water. And Hook is talking about doing these things to A CHILD. Presumably, if he’s considering such things, he has likely done something similar before. And then, of course, we DO actively see him trying to leave Tiger Lily to drown in the first film and tying Peter to an anchor to be sunk to the bottom of the sea in the sequel. Considering all of that, I suspect Hook has done many terrible things in his past and probably got creative with his torture methods. One of the worst I’ve heard of in legend (and one appropriate for someone with a flying nemesis) is the Blood Eagle of Norse mythology. I won’t describe it here because it’s pretty bad. But you can look it up for yourself. I wouldn’t put it past Hook to do something like that in his villain days…

16. Deepest, darkest secret they won’t even admit to themselves

This one depends on where we are in his story. Pre-redemption arc, I think the biggest thing he wouldn’t admit to himself was likely how much he actually NEEDED Peter to give his life a purpose and meaning. If he had actually ever managed to kill Peter…then what? If it happened before Tink dusted the ship, they might not even be able to leave the island. It would likely be more peaceful but I have a feeling the crew would have gotten extremely restless. And even if they COULD leave the island…after a certain point, they would no longer have a place in society. Pirates on wooden ships don’t belong in Wendy’s world. They’re a relic. A bedtime story. Nothing more. A modern ship of the time could have taken them out easily. He would have been happy for awhile but with no real friends or family aside from Smee and nowhere to go…his life would have still been miserable without Pan and he’d have even less of a reason to get up in the morning.

Post-redemption arc, I think the thing he doesn’t want to voice aloud but which really gets to him is the fact that he still struggles with his “old self.” He’d love to say that villain in him is dead and he’s a totally new man, but it doesn’t entirely work that way. The “old self” is still there, dormant but still lurking in the darkest parts of his heart and mind. And what legitimately scares him the most is the question, “What if the better me is just a fraud? What if the REAL me IS that man and I’m just lying to everyone…including myself…that I can be a better man?”

[saucedlx]

BNA: Brand New Animal

i remember BNA getting so hyped up and now i only see it because people do fanart of the characters for their designs without any mention of the plot. but to this day the plot sticks with me, cause whatever expectation i could've had for it, i did not think my main takeaway would be

cool premise, shame that they tried doing an eugenics plotline and totally fumbled it into agreeing with eugenicists' worldview

and i wonder if that's most other people's reasons for not really caring about the media itself anymore. or maybe it's just a broader sense of "it was mid" without thinking about exactly why they found it mid. or maybe no one cared about it except for the character designs and visuals in the first place idk

i still think about it from time to time cause i could so easily imagine a version of this show that doesn't fumble it so badly. and it's where i expected the plot to be going for a while. there was a big evil corpo pulling strings, and they were claiming some people are inherently more violent and they have the cure. and it turns out they were infecting people deliberately to make more of that violence happen. so clearly, those people aren't inherently violent and the corpo was just trying to exploit a marginalized group for profit, right? haha you'd think, but no. cause they made the city mayor (who's explicitly mentioned as a holocaust survivor) say "i hate to admit it but theyre right..... animal people crowded together are scientifically proven to become violent" and they like. say it's bad to use that as an excuse to hurt them and in the end they make a medicine to cure the violence and theyre all happy. but they go about it in such a fucked way; "the eugenicists are meanies and we shouldnt do what they say! but yea in this world lets just say theyre correct"

i didn't think it was possible to fumble this theme worse than zootopia but hey they found a way somehow

[mikasimaginairyworld]

The Umbrella Academy: Firecracker - Run Boy Run (2/30)

Umbrella Academy Masterlist

Warnings: violence, substances (cigarettes, alcohol), Five's weird relationship with Delores

Word count: 3582

"I survived on scraps. Canned food, cockroaches, anything I could find. You know that rumour that Twinkies have an endless shelf life? Well, it's total bullshit.", Five explained to Vanya while sipping his coffee.

It was way past midnight but neither cared. This was way too important.

"I can't even imagine.", Vanya admitted.

Five chuckled dryly: "You do whatever it takes to survive, or you die. So we adapted. Whatever the world threw at us, we found a way to. overcome it."

"We?"

Five smiled and looked down: "You got anything stronger?" He held his cup up. 

Vanya poured them glasses full of cheap whiskey. Five immediately drowned half of it. Upon seeing Vanya's disturbed look he scoffed: "You think I'm crazy."

"No, it's, it's just that... it's a lot to take in.", Vanya stammered.

"Exactly what don't you understand?", Five asked annoyed.

"Why didn't you just time travel back?", the question slipped out before Vanya could think about it properly. 

"Gee, wish I'd thought of that. Time travel is a crapshoot. I went into the ice and never acorn-ed. You think I didn't try everything to get back to my family?", Five scoffed.

"If you grew old there, you know in the apocalypse, how come you still look like a kid?"

"I told you already. I must have got the equations wrong.", Five angrily poured himself even more whiskey. 

"I mean dad always used to say that time travel could mess up your mind. Well, maybe that's what's happening?", Vanya asked.

Five aggressively put down his glass: "This was a mistake. You're too young, too naive to understand."

Vanya tried to hold him back while he grabbed his jacket and made his way to the door. "Five wait! I haven't seen you in a long time, and I don't want to lose you again. That's all. And you know what, it's getting late. I have lessons early and I need to sleep and I'm sure you do too. Here." Vanya fixed blankets on the couch. Five's gaze softened.

"We'll talk in the morning, okay?", she asked.

"Okay."

As soon as Vanya disappeared in her room Five pulled out a dirty bundle. He unwrapped it and began investigating the object. The prosthetic eye he was holding had an inscription of the manufacturer and serial number. Five knew what he had to do. He silently left Vanya's apartment without saying goodbye.

In the darkness, a car pulled up to the shabby motel. Exiting the taxi two figures in custom made, elegant dark blue suits made their way inside. They picked up their room key and package addressed to "Cha-Cha and Hazel", then disappeared in their room. 

Diego left the Doughnut shop through the backdoor as soon as he heard Eudora was there. Unfortunately, he walked right into her arms. "Shit, hang on. Let me just...", he didn't get to finish his sentence as she pulled up a tranquilliser and simply tasered him, completely knocking him out. 

"You don't talk to my witnesses, understand?", she lectured him as soon as he regained consciousness. 

"Let me catch you up to speed, Eudora."

"Don't call me that."

"Right, Detective Patch. What, are we keeping things professional?"

"I don't know if we ever agreed on things."

"We agreed on some things."

Eudora began going through Diego's pockets. "Did we really, though?", she asked not looking up.

Diego looked at her from behind lazy eyes with a nasty smirk on his face which he knew could do wonders. Eudora pulled out a walkie from his coat: "I'm confiscating this."

"Military surplus, practically giving it away.", Diego explained.

"And this.", Eudora waved a fake police badge in front of him. "No skin, super cheap. Bought it on eBay."

Eudora pulled out his black eye mask: "That you can keep."  "You used to like that.", he smiled at her disappointed. "Not anymore."

She grabbed his arm and led him away to the police car. "By the way, this might look like a botched robbery, but my gut's telling me there's something else going on here.", Diego said while he was being pushed into the police car. "You're not police, Diego, remember? You show up and act like you can be a part of this, and you can't. Not anymore." Diego tried to protest but Eudora walked away mumbling something about the Lord testing her. In the background Hazel and Cha-Cha were observing the crime scene. 

Five had decided to find out to whom the eye belonged. He was now at Maritech Prostetics with the eye, ready to fight anyone necessary to find the owner. 

"Can I help you?", a doctor asked.

"I need to know who this belongs to.", Five showed the eye he was holding. 

"Where did you get that?"

"What do you care?", Five asked back, harsher than necessary. "I found it. At a playground actually. Must have just... popped out. I wanna return it to its rightful owner."

"What a thoughtful young man.", the lady behind the desk commented.

Five looked at her disgusted: "Yeah, look up the name for me, will ya?"

"I'm sorry, but patient records are strictly confidential. That means I can't tell you...", the doctor. began explaining. 

"Yeah, I know what it means."

"I tell you what I can do. I can take that and give it to its rightful owner. I am sure they will be very grateful so if I can just..."

"Yeah, you're not touching this eye."

"Now you listen here, young man...", the doctor began but before he could finish the sentence Five grabbed him by the collar and pulled him down to his level. 

"No! You listen to me, asshole. I've come a long way for this, through some shit your pea brain couldn't even comprehend, so just give me the information I need and I'll be on my merry way. And if you call me Young Man one more time I'll put your head through that damn. wall.", Five threatened. The doctor shot a nervous look to the lady at the desk.

"I'm calling security."

Five sighed heavily but let the doctor go and left the building.  

Vanya went back to the Umbrella Academy to look for Five. She had woken up and had found him gone and was now worrying very much. She walked up the stairs until she reached his room. "Oh thank God. I was worried sick about you.", she sighed in relief when she found him looking out the window. 

​​​​​​​"Sorry I left with our saying goodbye.", Five apologised.

"No, look. I'm the one that should be sorry. I was dismissive and I guess I didn't know how to process what you were saying. And I still can't to be honest.", Vanya said.

"Maybe you were right to be dismissive. Maybe it wasn't real after all. It felt real. Well, like you said, the old man did say time travel could contaminate the mind. I think I'm gonna get some rest. It's been a long time since I've had a good sleep.", Five explained.

"Okay. Sleep well.", Vanya wished and left the academy. 

As soon as she was out of hearing range Klaus emerged from the wardrobe. "That's so touching! All that stuff about dad and family and time. Wow!", he exclaimed. 

"Come on, Klaus. We've got a job to do.", Five sighed.

​​​​​​​"Yeah whatever. As long as I get paid."

"You'll get your cut after the job, now come on let's go."

​​​​​​​"Wait, we have to get our story straight."

"Our story?"

"Yes, like was I the 16 year old, terribly misguided, hot dad?

"Sure."

"And your mother, that slut, she ran away. Left us to rot. Oh, and we met at a party. Her personality was mid but the sex was amazing!"

"What a disturbing glimpse into that thing you call a brain. Now come on."

"Hey! Behave yourself or I'll put you in air jail!"

While walking down Vanya overheard Allison talk on the phone with Patrick about their daughter. Allison angrily slammed the phone down. It was obvious it didn't go the way she planned. 

"Are you okay?", she asked.

"Yeah."

"Well, I've never met your ex-husband but he sounds like an asshole."

Allison scoffed: "That's one way to put it."

"You're probably better off here."

"No, I'm probably better off with my daughter. And you know, if I wanted advice, Vanya, no offence but it wouldn't be from you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You don't have a child. You don't know what it's like to love someone like this. Like, when you're apart from her you can't breathe. Like you would die - and I mean actually die - to know that she's okay and happy. You separate yourself from everyone and everything, you always have."

"Because dad made me.", Vanya silently admitted, sorrow in her eyes.

"Did dad make you write that book about us too? You're an adult now, Vanya.You don't get to blame your problems on anyone but yourself.", Allison said and walked up to her room.

Klaus and Five were sitting in the office of Maritech Prostetics. "Without the client's consent I simply can't help you.", the doctor explained again. Five was pacing around the office annoyed: "Well, we can't get consent if you don't give us a name."

"That's not my problem. Sorry. Now, there's really nothing more I can do, so...", the doctor shrugged.

"And what about my consent?", Klaus suddenly asked. Five looked at him confused. 

"Excuse me?"

Klaus slowly stood up: "Who gave you permission to lay your hands on my son?"

"What? I didn't touch your son."

"Oh really? Well how did he get that swollen lip, then?"

"He doesn't have a swollen -", the doctor was cut off by Klaus punching Five with full force in the face.

"I want it. Name, please. Now.", he said a feral look glistening in his eyes. Five looked at him offended and confused but didn't say anything. A faint trail of blood trickled from his lip.

"You're crazy.", the doctor stuttered out.

Klaus just chuckled: "You've got no idea. Oh. What's that? 'Peace on Earth'? That's so sweet.", Klaus took the doctor's snow globe and smashed it on his head. Five looked at him in confused disgust while the doctor began to panic.

He grabbed the phone to call security but before he could answer Klaus grabbed the phone: "There's been an assault in Mr. Big's office, and we need security, schnell!" Klaus slammed the phone into the desk.

"Here's what's gonna happen, Grant."

"It's Lance...", the doctor murmured.

"In about 60 seconds, two security guards are gonna burst through that door, and they're gonna see a whole lot of blood, and they're gonna wonder 'what the hell happened'? And we're gonna tell them that you beat the shit out of us.", Klaus pitched his voice ridiculously high imitating a crying sound. Five stood behind him proudly looking at him. 

"Jesus you are a real sick bastard.", the doctor whispered.

Klaus shot him a feral grin and spit out a shard of glass from the snow globe: "Thank you."

"It hasn't been manufactured yet! Well, this is not good.", Five was pacing around in front of the company building. It turned out that an eye with this serial number didn't exist yet. This had complicated things immensely. 

"I was pretty good, though, right?", Klaus asked and giggled happily.

"Klaus, it doesn't matter."

"Number Five Hargreeves!", Nailah's voice echoed through the walls as she shouted angrily and left the building coming directly towards Five and Klaus.

"Oh shit, we made it angry.", Klaus squeaked hiding behind Five.

"Nailah? What happened?", Five asked putting his hands up to signal defeat. Nialah approached him, her usually green eyes glistening now red.

"Easy there, Firecracker! Use your words.", Five tried again but instead he got punched in the face. He groaned as his head flew to the side.

"Feeling better now?", he asked massaging his jaw. As a response Nailah only slapped him across the face letting his head fly to the other side.

"I do now.", she said shooting another angry glance at Klaus who only ducked even more behind Five.

​​​​​​​"Would you like to tell us what happened that caused you this much aggression towards us?", Five asked again, feeling another bruise forming on his lips already.

​​​​​​​"I just got fired from probably the most comfortable job I've ever had because my idiot brothers thought it would be a great idea to walk in there and beat up my boss.", Nailah said crossing her arms. The fire has receded from her eyes but she still emitted heat.

"Yeah, sorry about that. We needed to find information on this eye.", Five said showing Nailah the eye. Nailah scoffed at the ignorance but didn't say anything.

"What's the big deal with this eye, anyways?", Klaus asked.

"There is someone who's going to lose an eye in the next seven days. They're gonna bring the end of life on earth as we know it."

"Yeah, can I get that 20 bucks like now, or what?", Klaus asked two which Five only scoffed. "You're 20 bucks?"

"Yeah, my 20 bucks."

"The apocalypse is coming and all you can think about is getting high?", Five asked in disbelief.

"Wait what? The apocalypse?", Nailah asked confused.

"Well I'm also quite hungry. Tummy's a-rumblin. Grrr", Klaus admitted making a grumbling noise.

"You're useless.", Five scoffed.

​​​​​​​"Five, you better start talking about the apocalypse right now or I swear to god I will kill you this second.", Nailah warned.

"Yeah, I would listen to what the lady has to say. We wouldn't want to anger it again.", Klaus said, comparing Nailah's angry state to a monster. Nailah shot him a dark gaze to which Klaus only blew her a kiss. 

Five sighed and gave Nailah the short version of his story. All three of them sat down on the stairs. Nailah pulled out a pack of cigarettes and ignored Klaus' begging and Five's disapproving look. 

​​​​​​​"Hey, you know, I've just now realised why you're so uptight. You must be horny as hell!", Klaus exclaimed to which Nailah shot him an sceptical glance: "Really? That's the explanation you've come up with? He's horny? It wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that he's pretty much a senior citizen?"

Klaus just ignored her: "I mean, all those years by yourself. It's gotta screw with your head being alone."

"I wasn't alone.", Five silently admitted.

Nailah raised an eyebrow: "Oh? Pray tell."

"Her name was Delores. We were together for over 30 years.", Five said.

"30 years? Oh, wow! God, the longest I've been with someone was... 3 weeks. And even that's only because I needed a place to stay.", Klaus chuckled and began rambling on about some dish his roommate/lover used to make that was delicious.

Nailah sighed and went back into the building to collect her stuff while Five blitzed away into a taxi only to wink viciously at Klaus as he drove by. Nailah chuckled at the sight. 

Deep into the evening Five decided to visit the Gimbel Brothers' mall. It was the place where he had met Delores and he wanted to know if she was still there. Five quickly found who he was looking for. "Delores.", he sighed at her sight. She was gorgeous. Beautiful fair plastic skin, hair of deepest red and eyes of lightest blue. Five was mesmerised just as he had been the first time he had seen her. "It's good to see you. I've missed you... obviously. Well, I... it's been a rough couple of days.", Five began.

He wanted to keep telling her things but out of nowhere two masked creatures in tight dark blue suits with guns emerged.  They began shooting in Five's direction hitting Delores in the process: "No!", shouted Five but his beloved had been hit. Five immediately took cover and crawled to were Delores' head and torso were lying. "Shit. It's them.", he mumbled to himself. 

"I'll be right back for you.", he whispered softly to Delores right after ensuring her safety. He ran along the clothing stands blitzing occasionally to avoid being hit by bullets. Suddenly he came across the woman. Before she could shoot him, she was kicked from behind landing painfully on her stomach and her gun sliding away. Five looked at his saviour. "Nailah?", he recognised her fiery eyes in the dark.

Nailah didn't waste any time: "Come on you moron. Let's go!" She pushed him forward now both of them running away from the gunned maniacs. ​​​​​​​"How'd you know I was here?", Five asked panting and running. "I was spying on you.", Nailah admitted shamelessly. 

They stopped at a selection of knifes, both grabbing one. At the next opportunity Five blitzed and Nailah slid each towards one attacker. Five slashed the woman's shoulder and Nailah the man's thigh. Blitzing and running they met again at the spot where Delores was waiting for Five. 

"I got you.", he whispered.

"What the fuck."

"That's Delores.", he explained looking for a way out.

"What? A mannequin?"

Five shot her a warning look and Nailah kept the rest of her comments to herself. 

At that moment the duo started shooting again. Five, Delores and Nailah started running again.  

​​​​​​​"Why aren't you using your power?", Five asked angrily.

"I can't."

"What do you mean you can't?"

​​​​​​​"I've spend too much time in the pod, I need to reload and it takes time."

"Isn't it feeling-intuitive?"

​​​​​​​"Only in life threatening situations."

"And this isn't life threatening?!"

​​​​​​​"Not life threatening enough."

​​​​​​​"Oh, really? You have preferences?"

"Oh you're one to talk. A mannequin? Really, Five?

They nearly escaped when they found themselves with their attackers in front of them. "Shit.", Five cursed when he tried to blitz all of them away but failed.

Luckily police sirens cars distracted the attackers for a moment long enough for Nailah and Five to take cover. The attackers assumed they had blitzed away and left the mall.

"Your power isn't working either.", Nailah hissed angrily, sweat running down her temples.

​​​​​​​"At least I can actually use my powers."

​​​​​​​"At least I don't sleep with a mannequin."

"At least I have someone to sleep with."

"At least I'm not stuck in my 13-year old body again."

"Too far, Nailah, too far."

"At least I can admit defeat. Come on let's get out of here.", Nailah pulled herself up and then helped Five to his feet. Walking back to. the Academy Nailah couldn't help but throw confused and disgusted looks at Delores which Five decided to ignore. 

Luther wanted to go back to bed but stumbled upon Allison on his way there. ​​​​​​​"What are you doing here? I thought you were gone.", he asked surprised. 

"I was gonna go but then Pogo showed me this...", Allison began.

"Well, listen. I was wrong about dad's death.", Luther admitted.

"What?"

"Yeah, I was wrong about Diego. You know, to accuse my own brother of that is just ... I should be the one to bring us back together not tear us apart."

"Would you shut up?", Allison interrupted him.

"Huh?"

​​​​​​​"You were right. About dad. Come on, I gotta show you something.", she said and they both made their way to the tape room.  

On their way there they stumbled upon five who was all bloody and sweaty and carrying a duffle bag.

"Five? What the hell happened to you?", Allison asked.

"Are you okay? Can we help?", Luther asked, reaching out his arm. 

Five caught him by the wrist in a surprisingly strong grip. "There's nothing any of you can do.", he said in an empty voice.

"Alright, Five, let's go.", Nailah came along climbing up the stairs in a similar state as Five, holing a liquor bottle.

​​​​​​​"What the hell happened?", Luther asked.

"Oh you know the usual. A bit of this, a bit of that. A bit of arson, a bit of murder, a bit of theft. The usual.", Nailah nonchalantly said taking a large sip from the bottle. 

Luther and Allison looked at her weirdly and then at Five who was still looking into empty space. Nailah shot them a sweet smile.

"Okay. Have fun you two?", Luther suggested.

"Thanks. Have a good night!", Nailah wished cheerfully and she and Five went up to their rooms.

Luther and Allison exchanged confused glances but silently decided to just accept this occurrence and move on. After all, besides Klaus, Five and Nailah were the weirdest of the siblings.

-> The Umbrella Academy Masterlist

[neowinestainedress]

i’ve been so busy this week that i didn’t even open tumblr at all (so i will reply later!!) but i was trying to fall asleep but i couldn’t stop thinking about fake dating enemy haechan but then they fall in love. i literally have no plot or any more details i just saw a tweet talking about fake dating being the best trope and i agree!! i love that process of slowly falling in love without them realizing and starting to break boundaries without them even knowing and idkkk its just sooo good and never fails to make me giggle and kick my feet in the air and i just also love haechan sm and i really think he suits so well every trope but especially the e2l or anything that includes bantering and fighting (like fake dating…)

anywaysss have a nice week rebs, read you later 🩷

- 💌

don’t worry! we have so many long asks to reply to each other i know it takes time

you know what i think would fit haechan a lot? a fake dating fic that is also arranged dating/marriage in a royal/fantasy setting (maybe even abo but with the right world-building). something where the families have been hating each other for YEARS and generations but now they’re both about to lose their status and relevance and the only solution is to get together through them. but imagine being raised to hate the other person and have nothing to do with them and boom all of a sudden you have to pretend to be madly in love 😍 i can’t really see enemies to fake dating to lovers in a modern setting. also i think that if there’s some political tension or something like this there could also be a risk of violence and you could get the scene where one of them is hurt and the other goes feral even if they totally do not care for each other (if one of the two dies the other will kill themself) + haechan screaming “where’s my wife?” when something happens to mc>>>>>>>>

one of my favourite things about fake dating is when they do something sweet or romantic when there’s nobody around and realise it after a while. i eat it up every time!!!

i also have another e2l idea in the drafts for over a year now i think but i doubt it will see the light of day 😭

i love how you write to me at the start of the week and i always reply in the weekend ajsoids

[theoutlasttrials24]

Outlast Trials: A Cold War Nightmare Unveiled

Imagine being a homeless dude, totally down and out, chilling on the streets, scraping for any leftovers in the trash. Then bam, you stumble upon a flyer promising a fresh start—a legit chance to shine, to be a hero, all while still finding time to buy PS5 games. Picture joining this Academy that sees your real worth, your true potential that's been held back. But here's the kicker: turns out it's all a Cold War-era hustle, just propaganda to recruit desperate folks nobody gives a damn about. Once you step into Murkoff's world, reality hits, but by then, you're already in too deep. The first mission is like a setup, stripping you of everything—your past, your fam, even your ID. You gotta erase your existence to survive. Kinda reminds you of that flick by David Fincher with Brad Pitt, the one that's too edgy to name. The game's all about "Trials." Not every loser Murkoff grabs can handle the big change, so you gotta pass tests—some pretty brutal—to prove you're up for the worst jobs, like whacking innocents or schooling kids in manners, Murkoff style. It's like being stuck in those fake towns they used to test nukes, except here, it's all about not knowing who's fake and who's real. And trust me, the psychos you meet? They're on a whole other level, armed with everything from sticks to drills, itching to bash your skull in or strangle you 'til your vision blurs out.

Stealth Tactics in The Outlast Trials

The Outlast Trials is hands down the most hardcore video game I've ever played. The enemies are grimy thugs yelling and cursing in decrepit corridors smeared with blood, piss, crap, and occasionally debating where to buy Xbox games. It's like a horror movie mashup of Hostel's sadistic tourists, Saw's brutal punishments, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre's psycho killers, all set in a vibe straight out of Stasi interrogation rooms or Argentina's Escuela Superior de Mecánica de la Armada. Plus, there are these monitors blasting propaganda like something out of John Carpenter's They Live, which adds a real masterful touch. But all that violence wouldn't mean squat without solid gameplay, and The Outlast Trials nails it. The stealth gameplay is top-notch. These maniacs trying to off us are way stronger, so even clocking them with a brick just buys us a sec before they're back on our tail. So, dodging them is key, though the maps are set up to make that a real pain. Best bet? Hide in wardrobes, under beds, or stay dead still in the dark, relying on night vision that chows down on batteries. And we gotta move quiet, dodging broken glass and noise traps like dangling cans or proximity alarms that scream like banshees.

The Outlast Trials: Authentic Cold War Prison Camp Vibes

In a scenario like this, anyone would go nuts. Besides keeping your health in check, you've gotta manage your mental state too. Neglecting it could lead to full-blown psychosis and hallucinations, messing up your vision and even making you hurt yourself, resulting in HP loss. Thankfully, after each mission (if you make it through before using up all your chances), you earn some virtual cash. It's not gonna flip the game, but you can grab a few gadgets to stun your tormentors a bit longer. This game is punishing, where every move could be your last, but that's exactly what The Outlast Trials is all about. In a nutshell: It's a killer stealth game where you dodge enemies by skulking in shadows, under beds, or in closets—silent as a ghost. Beyond that, it's hardcore survival horror, forcing you into grim acts while fending off psycho killers who'd love to rip you apart in the nastiest ways. The Cold War-era prison camp vibe is spot-on, and you really feel for the protagonist, heartbeat pounding like mad. Plus, there's multiplayer coop with three pals to round out the package.

[atmosphericradar]

Change Takes Time

Most people seem to have a warped understanding of social change throughout history. The two most common schools of thought appear to me to be: "Nothing ever changes; those behaviors that are fringe or hated today were always fringe or hated," and "Everyone has always secretly wanted to live under my personal idealized social order, but some secret powerful cabal has always prevented it."

Both of these conceptualizations are wrong, but they both reflect the fact that most societies change slowly. For people who don't want their social climate to change, the slow changes can be written off as statistical errors or resolvable mistakes. For people who want social change, the slow pace of progress can be agonizing to the point of conspiratorial thinking (or worse).

Why is social change so slow? Frankly, it's because societies are bigger than individuals can really conceptualize. To fully understand a society is such a monumental undertaking that very few people ever try to totally comprehend the whole of even just one. Critical Analysis would use "lens" to understand a society, but how many lenses would you need to understand the whole of just one society? How many professors would it take to form complete understanding? Could they even create a complete index of a society? Could they do it objectively? Or if not, could they acknowledge every last bias they might all have?

This is a gargantuan task. Nobody has time for this and also living their lives. And yet, social change still happens. Without knowing how the machine works, and while it is still working, it is modified and carries on.

This is why social change is slow. The machinery of a society is not just governments or businesses or religions, but it is also all of the people in that society. Every one of them must also change. All of the institutions trail inertially behind the people.

It's tempting to say: "people don't like change" and investigate no further, but that is such an oversimplification. People can adapt to small changes fairly easily, but big changes are traumatic. Someone concluding they like now fried fish is not likely to be a traumatic change, but someone concluding that they must cut contact with their mother probably is. The difference is in how fundamental the change is to the identity and material conditions of the person making the change.

Now stack everyone together, and we can see why societal changes tend to take decades of effort, violence, and discourse to truly change a society. Serious social changes require each and every person in the society to change not just their opinion, but also the way they view the world. Even a small change in perspective can have massive knock-on effects on people's sense of self, possibly unseating decades of assumed "facts of life". For some, those changes are too much to bear, and they will never change their social behaviors.

Now let's take a step back. If society shapes it's people's perception of what is possible, then it will also limit the typical imagination of its people in certain ways. If lots of people aren't questioning a particular aspect of a society, then that aspect will not change. Over the slow course of individual changes occurring or not (and the peoples' understanding of what is possible shifting), it may take many major changes before a society makes a particular change which, to a future observer of history, seems very obvious or deeply needed.

[saratogaroadwrites]

For King and Country (89/122)

For King and Country | saratogaroad rating: T total wordcount:  280,466 characters: Evan Pettiwhisker Tildrum, Roland Crane, Aranella, Batu, Tani, Lofty, Leander Aristidies, Bracken Meadows relationships: Roland Crane & Evan Pettiwhisker Tildrum, Aranella & Evan Pettiwhisker Tildrum, Roland Crane & Aranella, Batu & Tani, Batu & Evan, Tani & Evan, Evan Pettiwhisker Tildrum & Lofty, Rolander other tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Mother-Son Relationship, Father-Son Relationship, Place Slowly Becomes Home People Slowly Become Family, Found Family, For Want of A Nail warnings: none

Pulled from his world by mysterious powers, former president Roland Crane finds himself caught in the middle of a coup meant to take the life of the young King Evan Pettiwhisker Tildrum. Joining forces with Aranella, the pair of them set out to aid Evan in making his dream of a kingdom where everyone can live happily ever after a reality.

But the road to peace is a long and treacherous one and there is no promise of success in a world where darkness spreads ever thicker with each passing day. If they are to stand a chance, they must stand together, for king and for country.

(A retelling.)

=

“What do you mean, you haven’t found Teeheeti?” Evan asked. Confused, he tilted his head. “It’s an island, isn’t it? I understand that it’s hidden, but surely it remains in the same place…”

“Aye,” Lofty scoffed from his perch on Evan’s shoulder, “But Mum keeps movin’ the bloomin’ place all over the flippin’ world. One day it’s south ‘o Autumnia, the next it’s over by Jack Frost’s place! Can’t get to it without a flippin’ airship!”

“That seems a bit odd,” Leander said, adjusting his glasses as they walked through Goldpaw’s winding roads. “Why is she so intent on never staying in one place? Is someone hunting the Fairies?”

“Pah!” Lofty pulled a face, “Like to see the bloke who’d try that flippin’ trick. Nah, she’s just tryin’ to stay ahead of the Darkness, yeah? Us Fairies aren’t immune to the gunk, and make a right mess if it gets us.” He shuddered. “Trust me, the last thing you want to see’s a corrupted Fairy. Youe’d end up with somethin’ a whole lot worse than the White Witch!”

“If things would be so dire, why come into the world at large?” Leander asked, getting the door to the Library. Evan lowered the hood of his cloak, shaking off the excess snow before he stepped inside. “Why not remain safely hidden?”

“Really?” Lofty sagged, eyes narrowed. “Youe’ve got to ask? We live in this world by yur too, you know! Kinda gotta make sure it stays safe!” He heaved a sigh and lowered his voice. “I saw things were gettin’ dicey and wanted to help, so when Evan came lookin’ for a Kingmaker, I just jumped at the chance.”

Evan couldn’t help but smile. Lofty had certainly leapt at his chance, but his landing…

Well. Maybe it was best to just never speak of that landing ever again.

“I’m certainly quite grateful that you did, Lofty,” He said, “I can’t imagine doing all of this with any other Kingmaker.”

“Yeah, I bet!” Lofty laughed. “Somebody as stuffy as ol’ Oakenhart’d be real hard to deal with, eh?”

That was one way to put it, yes. Evan nodded, letting his feet guide him to the back of the Library. Madam Boddly’s usual spot was furthest from the door, and as chilly as the rest of the Library. As wood creaked beneath his boots and Leander’s, the old woman raised her head.

“Hmmm? If it isn’t little catkin king. Here to visit old Boddly, hmmm?”

“Hello, Boddly,” Evan said, finding his smile came a little easier than he’d been expecting it to, “How have you been? It’s rather cold in here.”

“Winter comes, winter goes. Bookie-wookies rather like the cold, keeps the bugs away, keeps them dry,” Boddly said, seeming content as could be. As Leander came to stand behind Evan, a knowing glint slipped into her eyes. Evan leaned back as she said, “Ooh! Pretty, pretty man. Come to visit Boddly as well?”

Rather gracefully, Leander put a hand to his heart and bowed his head.

“I have, Madam Boddly. We come to seek your guidance on a matter of utmost importance.”

“Oh?”

Evan spread a hand. “We’re looking for any knowledge you have on shielding people from magical backlash, especially if it’s from a large spell being broken unexpectedly.”

"Hmm?” Boddly seemed confused, “Why would kitty-cat king need such a thing like that? Going to cast Astra?”

That was possible? Evan shoved the thought away. “No, we’re.” He took a breath. Boddly was older, wiser, and would likely know the most out of any of them. Honesty would be best here. “We’re looking for a way to sever a bond between Soul Mates. I was told that the magical backlash would be severe, and so we’re also looking for a way to shield people from that.”

Boddly stared at him for a few seconds, blinking. He’d never seen her so surprised; he didn’t think someone as wise and experienced as Boddly could be that surprised! She shook herself, rings clacking against the head of her cane.

“Sever Soul Mates?” She asked, “Not possible, never possible! Magic of Soul Mates is old magic, very very old. Much older than kitty-cat king, older even than Boddly! Older than the world! Gift from God of Gods to humans many many years ago, the stories go.” She shook her head again. “Gifts from Gods cannot be broken, cannot be returned.”

“Told you,” Lofty muttered. Evan glanced sidelong at him, a distressed whimper building in the back of his throat. Surely it couldn’t be entirely true! All magic could be broken somehow, it was just a matter of finding out how. He shook his head.

“Are you sure?” He asked plaintively. “There’s no spell that could do it? No ritual?”

“No. Gifts from Gods old, old magic. Spells of life and death; raise the dead, end a life.” Her rings clinked, one after the other. “Dangerous, dangerous magics, not seen since the time of the Dark Djinn. No.” She thumped her cane to the ground and eyed Evan sternly. He fought to hold his ground and her gaze as she said, “No. Soul Bond cannot be broken. Must not be broken!”

“But—”

“Too dangerous! Catkin king’s heart too precious, too loved! Cannot be risked on such a thing, no.” She took in a deep breath and closed her eyes. “Must be kept safe.”

Why was it always that he needed to be protected? Evan clenched his fists. His entire family always put him first, protecting him, guiding him, risking life and limb to keep him safe, and what had he been able to do in return? Nothing! And now that he had the chance to do something, he was being told he couldn’t? No. No! He wouldn’t accept this!

“Please, Boddly!” He took a step forward, “We must know!”

“Must? Why must? Why not leave old magics where they belong, hm?”

“Because—” Tears prickled at the back of Evan’s eyes, threatening to spill over. “There’s. There is a…” He had to take a deep breath in order to get the words out of his throat. “Someone very dear to me is bound to someone doing very bad things, Boddly. If we do not break this bond, I fear he will not survive.”

Lofty rubbed the back of his head, trying to calm him down. Leander lay a comforting hand on Evan’s shoulder as Boddly contemplated them all. For a few minutes, only the sound of Evan trying to get his breathing under control filled the alcove. Once he had calmed himself down, Boddly made a pensive sound in the back of her throat.

“Little kitty cat king has good heart, strong heart, but must learn wisdom. See things more clearly, see with mind, not just heart.” Leaning forward, she reached over until she was able to crook a finger beneath his chin. Her skin was chilled, thin and papery, as she lifted his head to meet her eyes once more. “Answer Boddly a question, hmm?”

“Yes?”

“Would pretty-man want kitty-cat king to risk life like this?”

Evan and Leander both startled backwards.

“How did you—”

“Would father want son to risk life to save him?” She asked, speaking over Evan’s startled yowl, stealing the breath from his lungs with her one simple question.

Unable to answer, Evan stared at her. Would Roland want Evan to be doing this, looking for magic that would carry a high price, in order to save his life? No. Evan knew that he wouldn’t, even if he would have done the same had their positions been reversed. They already were! Roland was risking everything to help Evan, so why shouldn’t Evan do the same? He shook his head, a hand coming up to clench in the material over his heart. Whatever it took, he was going to find a way to save Roland. He took a breath, steeling himself.

“No. No, he wouldn’t.” He said honestly. “But I don’t care. I won’t let him go so easily.”

He would never abandon his family. No matter the cost.

“So please,” He said, “If there is anything you can tell us, anything at all, please. We may be able to find a way to safely use the magics if we’re given time to study them!”

At least, more safely than if they just jumped straight into casting. Boddly didn’t seem convinced. She looked at him for a long moment, searching his face. She seemed to find whatever she was looking for, however, because a soft smile slowly curved across her face.

“Stubborn kitty-cat king. Very well.” She sighed and began to rise to her feet. “Old, old magic will be needed. Spells from times long past. Wizard’s Companion might contain answers catkin king seeks.”

“A Wizard’s Companion?” Leander startled. Evan couldn’t blame him; as far as he knew, no one had seen a Wizard’s Companion since the time of Sage Oliver! “Such tomes still exist?”

Boddly’s smile widened.

“Let old Boddly keep secrets, hmm? Boddly will search, Boddly will find. Will send for kitty-cat king when time is right. Do one favor for Boddly before then, yes?”

“Of course!” Evan nodded, ignoring Lofty muttering about deals and headlong runs, “What is it?”

“Remember one thing: Gift from God of Gods strong, unbreakable.” She said sternly, “But gift between family much stronger. Hope, and trust, and love.” She reached over and booped his nose with the tip of one finger. Evan went cross-eyed to look up at her. “Never forget.”

He blinked, confused. What did that have to do with any of this? His uncertainty must have been written on his face because she simply smiled and began to shuffle past him.

“Return home, kitty-cat king. Much work to be done, world to build, nations to protect!”

Turning a corner, she disappeared out of sight. Evan tilted his head, glancing first at Leander and then at Lofty.

“Did…either of you two understand what she meant?” he asked. Lofty heaved a huge sigh.

“Tell you the truth? I never understood a word outta that old bag’s mouth.” He snorted. “Must be part Fairy or somethin’.”

“Perhaps so,” Leander adjusted his glasses, “Though I do wonder…”

“Leander?”

He shook his head, a pensive frown crossing his face. “I cannot help but wonder at her choice of words,” He said, “Perhaps it is nothing, but…”

But Evan knew what it felt like to cling to any hope one could find. He thought back over what Boddly had said; the bond couldn’t be severed, but the bond between family was strong than the old magic? Did that mean…he frowned.

“But it is worth looking into,” He said quietly. Any hope they could find, he would take. He took a deep breath. “We will find a way. I swear it.”

[lesbianjackies]

Run Boy Run

Chapter Two of Book One of Riddle Me This

Five Hargreeves x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 4,580

Warnings: language, violence

Summary: You and Five put your plan into action, but neither it nor Plan B seem to go as planned.

Taglist (lmk if you wanna be added!!): @insomniacwreck, @justbookworm

Vanya comes back with two mugs of coffee and a mug of tea. She hands you the tea and Five the coffee and takes back her seat on the couch. You deal each of you eight cards as Five recounts his experience in the apocalypse.

“We survived on scraps,” he tells Vanya. “Canned food, cockroaches, anything we could find.”

“I was able to find instant coffee and a couple boxes of tea,” you add. “Lasted us a couple years. The tea was pretty good.”

“The coffee was shit, though. At least it wasn’t as bad as that old box of twinkies I found.”

You shudder at the memory. “Oh, yeah. That rumor that twinkies have an endless shelf life is total poppycock.”

“I can’t even imagine,” Vanya says, her expression filled with horror and sympathy.

“You do whatever it takes to survive, or you die,” Five continues. “So we adapted. Whatever the world threw at us, we found a way to overcome it.” He holds up his mug. “You got anything stronger?”

Vanya nods, going to the kitchen and pouring him a glass of something alcoholic. She offers one to you, but you decline, pouring yourself some more tea instead. The three of you play your game without much conversation for a few moments, the shock in Vanya’s expression never leaving her face.

Five scoffs, noticing. “You think we’re crazy.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” you say, keeping your eyes on your cards. “I’m most definitely crazy, and I think it’s what gives me my whimsical charm.”

Vanya blinks at you but quickly shakes her head. “No, it’s just… it’s a lot to take in.”

“Exactly what don’t you understand?” Five’s voice seethes with a controlled anger.

“Why didn’t you just time travel back?”

Five scoffs again. “Gee, wish I’d thought of that. Time travel is a crapshoot. I went into the ice and never acorned.” He looks at her, pain glimmering under the surface of his irritated expression. “You think I didn’t try everything to get back to my family?”

Vanya nods, looking a little nervous. “If you grew old there, you know, in the apocalypse, how come you still look like kids?”

“I told you already.” The irritation in Five’s voice grows as he pours himself another drink. “I must have got the equations wrong.”

“I mean, Dad always used to say that…” Vanya swallows, “time travel could mess up your mind. Well, maybe that’s what’s happening?”

“This was a mistake.” Five slams the drink on the counter, alcohol spilling over the edge. “You’re too young,” he walks over to you and grabs your hand, leading you over to the door, “too naive to understand.”

“We didn’t get to finish our game!” you whine, scrabbling to pick up the cards.

“No.” Vanya walks after you. “Five… Five, wait.”

Five stops just short of walking out and turns around.

“I haven’t seen you in a long time, and I don’t want to lose you again.” Vanya’s voice is shaky. “That’s all. And you know what, it’s getting late, and I have lessons early, and I need to sleep, and I’m sure you do, too. Both of you.” She walks over to the couch and pulls a blanket over the cushions. “Here. It’s small, and you’d have to share, but I don’t have a spare room. Please, just… sleep, and then we can talk in the morning.” She starts to walk out of the room. “It was nice to meet you, (Y/N),” she says to you before she leaves.

“You too!” You wave as she leaves. “Goodnight!”

“Night,” she says with a thin smile before disappearing into another room.

Five sits down on the couch and you plop down next to him, wrapping the blanket around you. “We’re not really going to sleep,” he says, noticing.

You frown. “Why not? I’m so very tired, Five, and you need sleep, too. We’ll talk to Vanya in the morning, just like she said.”

“Vanya doesn’t believe us,” Five says, trying to keep the frustration in his voice contained. “Talking to her will be no use.”

“Who are we going to get to help us, then?”

“We’ll do it on our own.” Five pulls the eye out of his pocket. “We have this, don’t we?”

“Okay,” you say. “Sleep first, though. I can’t save the world with no rest.”

“Fine,” Five relents, seeing the desperation and exhaustion in your eyes. “But we leave first thing in the morning. Before Vanya wakes up.”

“Alrighty,” you say brightly, then yawn. “Goodnight, Five.” You curl up in the blanket with your head in his lap, falling asleep almost immediately.

“Night, (Y/N),” he says quietly, softly trailing his fingers through your hair. He stares ahead, far too many thoughts in his head and too much coffee in his system to sleep himself. He looks down at your sleeping form. You mumble a bit in your sleep, something about talking cats and rabbits, and he chuckles a bit before placing a kiss on your forehead. “I love you,” he whispers, wishing he had the courage to say it to you when you were awake.

“What if you somersaulted?”

Five stared at you. “What?”

“I said ‘what if you somersaulted?’”

“Yes, I heard you. What do you mean by that?”

“Maybe if you somersault and then keep somersaulting eventually you’ll end up in your own time.”

“That makes no sense.”

“It’s an idea, though.” You tilted your head at him from your place upside down on a bar. “Maybe if you count back from the year it is now time will move with you. Like two thousand and twenty-two, two thousand and twenty-one, two thousand and twenty - “

“Why are you saying so much nonsense!?” Five turned to you in frustration. “If you want to help, give helpful suggestions.”

“I’m just saying what comes to mind,” you said, unphased by his anger. “If I think long enough I’ll come up with something valuable. And what’s the harm in trying nonsense? We’re stuck in the apocalypse. I’m sure anyone who’s never been stuck in the apocalypse before would say ‘Oh, what nonsense!’ were we to tell them we were.”

Five shook his head and turned back to his chalkboard. He paused before writing down another number. “What other ideas do you have?”

Your face brightened with a smile and you spouted off a dozen more nonsensical suggestions, including making a circle of breadcrumbs and performing a ritual, trying to pull 2005 out of a hat, and seeing if a rabbit hole would lead you to the right time (which was the most ridiculous idea of all, considering all the rabbits that had previously existed were dead). Five didn’t really believe any of your ideas would work, but it was true that the very fact of being stuck in the apocalypse was almost as nonsensical as your suggestions, so he decided to humor you for the next few minutes. Which turned into the next few hours, which turned into the rest of the day, and at some point Five had to accept that he was humoring you because he had fallen head over heels in love with you.

He didn’t know how he fell in love with a crazy girl, but maybe the fact that you were crazy was what made him love you so much. Maybe he was crazy himself, or maybe the fact that you were literally the last person on Earth had something to do with it, but it didn’t really matter why or how. What mattered was that Five Hargreeves was infatuated with your madness, and he thought it might kill him if anything killed you.

Five wakes you up at the crack of dawn, as he said he would, and immediately teleports the two of you to the Umbrella Academy for quick showers and clothing changes. He rushes you to the point where you feel time might literally be slipping out of his hands and down the drain and you’re at the hospital in such a short amount of time you get whiplash.

A man wearing a lab coat walks over to you. “Uh, can I help you?” he asks, looking confused.

“We need to know who this belongs to,” Five replies, holding up the eye.

“Where did you get that?”

“Five found it in - “ you start, but Five cuts you off.

“We found it at a playground,” he tells the man. “Must’ve just…” He clicks his tongue. “...popped out.”

“Your name is Five?” the man asks, growing more and more confused and suspicious by the second.

“It’s a family name,” Five tells him. “We wanna return the eye to its rightful owner.”

“Oh…” says a woman sitting at a desk, “what thoughtful kids.”

“Yeah.” Five gives her an irritated smile. “Look up the name for us, will ya?”

The woman’s smile disappears, taken aback.

“Uh, I’m sorry, but patient records are strictly confidential,” the man tells him. “That means I can’t tell you - “

“Yeah, we know what it means.”

“But I’ll tell you what I can do,” the man continues. “I will take the eye off your hands and return it to the owner. I’m sure he or she will be very grateful, so if I can just - “

“Yeah, you’re not touching this eye,” Five cuts him off.

“Now, you listen here, young man - “

Five grabs the man by his lab coat. “No! You listen to me, asshole. We’ve come a long way for this, through some shit your pea brain couldn’t even comprehend, so just give us the information we need, and we’ll be on our merry way. And if you call me ‘young man’ one more time, I’m gonna put your head through that damn wall.”

“Oh, dear.” The woman picks up a phone.

“Call security,” the man whispers to her.

“Yeah.” She dials a number.

Five reluctantly lets go of the man and grabs your hand before storming out of the building. “Well, that was a complete and utter waste of time.”

“We could come up with something else,” you suggest. “Do you want a riddle?”

Five sighs. “If you think it’ll help.”

“We’re children right now

“So we’re not allowed

“To do anything without adults around

“If we had a parent with a goal like ours

“They’d help us achieve it with their adult powers”

“You want us to get some adult to pretend to be our parent?” Five says.

“Mhm! One of your siblings, probably.”

“No one is gonna believe us,” Five deadpans.

“What about your crazy brother?” you suggest. “He seems like he’d be up for just about anything.”

“Klaus?” Five thinks for a second. “I’d hate to fund his drug habit, but he might be willing to help if he paid him.”

“There! We have a new plan,” you say triumphantly.

“As long as it doesn’t go downhill like the last one.”

“Oh, stop being a Negative Nancy!” you scold him. “This plan will work.”

“Stop being a Negative Nancy!?” Five explodes. “The world is ending in a week, and you want me to be positive!?”

“Are you finished?”

Five fumes.

“Yes, I want you to be positive. I want you to be positive because the world is ending in a week. There is absolutely no point in being negative because all it does is waste time we could be using to try and keep the world from ending in a week.”

Five’s anger seems to fade, and he sighs. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

“I forgive you,” you say with a smile. “Now, it’s time for Plan B.”

Five teleports you to the Academy where you conveniently find Klaus in the living room, rummaging through the liquor cabinets. “Klaus,” Five calls.

Klaus swivels around and laughs at the sight of his brother. “Oh, hey, little bro! Looking to have a chat with your big brother? Need me to teach you how to shave, to give you relationship advice?”

“We aren’t here to play games, Klaus. We need you to do something for us.”

“Oh?” Klaus saunters over to you. “And what would that be?”

“We need you to pretend to be our dad,” you tell him.

Klaus laughs. “You’re kidding. Nobody’s gonna believe you two are related.”

“That’s not the point, Klaus,” Five says. “We need information from the hospital and we’re more likely to get it with the help of an adult. And you are the only adult unhinged enough to possibly get us what we need.”

“Why, thank you, Five. But if you want this to be believable she can’t be your sister. You look nothing alike, it’s just unrealistic.”

Five huffs. “Couldn’t she be adopted or something?”

“No,” Klaus says with a devilish grin. “She’s your girlfriend.”

Five rolls his eyes. “What? Fine, whatever.”

“And one more thing,” Klaus adds. “I expect generous compensation for my valuable efforts.”

“You can have twenty bucks if you do this for us. Deal?”

Klaus holds his hand out for Five to shake, who leaves it in the air. “Deal.”

“Find something professional to wear,” Five calls as Klaus leaves the room. Klaus salutes him. Five leads you up to his room.

“I told you it would work,” you say, plopping down on his bed.

“It hasn’t yet,” he replies, looking out the window.

“It has so far.”

Five doesn’t reply. Vanya walks into the room a few minutes later. “Oh, thank God,” she sighs. “I was worried sick about you.”

“Sorry we left without saying goodbye.” Five turns to her.

“No, look, I’m the one that should be sorry,” Vanya says. “Yeah, I was dismissive, and… I- I guess I didn’t know how to process what you were saying. And I still can’t, to be honest.”

“Maybe you were right to be dismissive,” Five says, and you sit up, confused. “Maybe it wasn’t real after all. It felt real. Well… like you said, the old man did say time travel could contaminate the mind.”

“I was there too, though,” you speak up. “I saw it.”

“Yes, and when we met you told me you were prone to hallucinations,” Five points out. “Maybe we both made it up.”

“We both had the same hallucination!? Five, that’s - “ He gives you a look and you cut off your sentence. “That’s… possible, I suppose.”

“Then maybe I’m not the right person for you to be talking to,” Vanya says. “Look, I used to see someone. A therapist. I could give you her information.”

“Thanks, but… I think we just need to get some rest,” Five says. “It’s been a long time since we’ve had a good sleep.”

“Okay.” Vanya exits the room.

You and Five start to leave after her but then Klaus falls out of the closet. “That’s so…” He holds a hand to his heart. “...touching, all that stuff about family and Dad and time. Wow!”

“Would you shut up?” Five hisses. “She’ll hear you.”

“I’m moist,” is Klaus’s reply.

“I thought I told you to put on something professional.”

Klaus is wearing a hideous floral suit with gold buttons and a hot pink lining. “What? This is my nicest outfit.”

“I quite like it,” you comment.

“Thank you, Five’s girlfriend.”

“She’s not my girlfriend,” Five says, annoyed. “We’ll raid the old man’s closet so you can wear something actually nice.” He walks out of the room, you and Klaus close behind.

“Whatever,” Klaus says. “As long as I get paid.”

“When the job is done.”

“Okay, but just so we’re clear on the finer details, I just gotta go into this place and pretend to be your dear old dad, correct?”

“Yeah. Something like that.”

“What’s our cover story?”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“I mean, was I really young when I had you? Like, sixteen? Like, young and…” His voice takes on a mocking tone. “...terribly misguided?”

“Sure.”

“Your mother, that slut. Whoever she was. We met at… the disco.” Klaus chuckles. “Okay? Remember that.” He snaps his fingers. “Oh my gosh, the sex was amazing.”

“What a disturbing glimpse into that thing you call a brain.” Five grabs your hand and starts walking down the stairs.

“Don’t make me put you in time-out,” Klaus says, following after you.

Five leads you into what you assume to be Reginald Hargreeves’s room and digs through the closet, pulling out a nice suit. “Change into this,” he instructs Klaus. Klaus begins to take off his clothes and Five snaps, “Not in here.”

Klaus sticks his tongue out at him and leaves the room. “I like your brother,” you say. “He’s fun.”

“You’re one of the first I’ve heard say that,” Five says.

“Really? That’s kinda sad.”

Five shrugs. Klaus comes back, finally wearing something nice. “Good. Let’s go now.”

“Goodness, you’re in a hurry,” Klaus comments.

“Yeah, well, the world is ending in a week, so…”

“The world is what?”

Five doesn’t respond, just grabs you and Klaus and teleports to outside the hospital. You walk in and meet the doctor you met earlier in his office. He sighs irritatedly but allows you to have a seat. “Like I said to your kids - “

“My son and his girlfriend,” Klaus corrects, earning an eye roll from both Five and the doctor.

The doctor sighs again. “Like I said to your son and his girlfriend earlier, any information about the prosthetics we build is strictly confidential.” He knows why you’re there before you get a chance to say anything. “Without the client’s consent, I simply can’t help you.”

“Well, we can’t get consent if you don’t give us a name,” Five says through clenched teeth.

“Well, that’s not my problem. Sorry, Now, there’s really nothing more I can do, so - “

“And what about my consent?” Klaus speaks up.

“Excuse me?”

“Who gave you permission…” He fakes a sob. “...to lay your hands… on my son and his girlfriend?”

“What?” everyone but Klaus says in unison.

“You heard me.”

“I didn’t touch your son, or his girlfriend,” the doctor says.

“Oh, really? Well, then how did he get that swollen lip, then? And how did she get a bruise on her cheek?”

“He doesn’t have a swollen - “

Before the doctor can finish his sentence, Klaus stands up and slaps Five across the face. You almost scream and then his hand is on your face too. Five runs over and cups your chin in his hands, eyes full of worry. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” You look at him. “Are you?”

He nods and lets go of your face, turning to Klaus indignantly. Klaus inhales sharply and leans over the desk to talk to the doctor. “I want it. Name, please. Now.”

“You’re crazy.”

Klaus chuckles. “You got no idea.” He picks up a snow globe sitting on the doctor’s desk. “‘Peace on Earth’. That’s so sweet.” He smashes it over his head. “Oh, that hurt!” he groans.

The doctor picks up the phone. “I’m calling secur - “ Klaus rips the phone out of his hands. “What are you doing?”

“There’s been an assault,” Klaus says into the phone, “in Mr. Big’s office, and we need security, now. Schnell!” He throws the phone down. “Now, here’s what’s gonna happen, Grant.”

“It’s… Lance.” The doctor stares at him, eyes wide with fear.

“In about sixty seconds,” Klaus continues, ignoring him, “two security guards are gonna burst through that door, and they’re gonna see a whole lot of blood, and they’re gonna wonder, ‘What the hell happened?’ And we’re gonna tell them that you… beat the shit out of us.” He fakes a dramatic sob. “You’re gonna do great in prison, Grant. Trust me, I’ve been there. Little piece of chicken like you. Oh my gosh, you’re gonna get passed around like a… You’re just- You’re gonna do great. That’s all I’m saying.”

“Jeez, you are a real sick bastard.”

“Thank you.” Klaus spits out a shard of glass.

Lance leads the three of you into the file room and looks up the owner of the eyeball’s name. “Oh, that’s strange,” he says after a moment.

“What?” Five demands.

“Uh, the eye. It hasn’t been purchased by a client yet.”

“What?�� Klaus jumps down beside him. “What do you mean?”

“Well, uh, our logs say that the eye with that serial number…” His expression turns into confusion. “That can’t be right. It hasn’t even been manufactured yet. Where did you get that eye?”

Five sighs and shakes his head. “C’mon. We’re leaving.”

“Wh- what? I asked you a question - “

Five ignores him and leaves. You and Klaus follow after him. “Well, this is not good,” he says as you walk out of the building, defeated once again.

“I was pretty good, though, right?” Klaus says. “‘Yeah. What about my consent, bitch?’” He explodes into hysterical laughter.

“Klaus, it doesn’t matter.”

“What? What? What’s the big deal with this eye, anyway?”

“Whoever owns it causes the end of the world,” you tell him.

“Yeah, can I get that twenty bucks, like, now, or what?” he asks dismissively.

“Your twenty bucks?” Five repeats incredulously.

“Yeah, my twenty bucks.”

“The apocalypse is coming, and all you can think about is getting high?”

“Well, I’m also quite hungry. Tummy’s a-rumblin’.” Klaus imitates the sound of his stomach growling.

“You’re useless. You’re all useless!” Five grabs your hand and starts walking away.

“Oh, come on.” Klaus follows you. “You need to lighten up, old man. Whatever her name is - “

“(Y/N),” Five tells him irritatedly.

“(Y/N)’s all loose and fun! Why can’t you be like her?”

“Because I’m not like her,” Five says darkly.

“Five is sane, that’s why he’s no fun,” you tell Klaus.

“That is an excellent point, (Y/N). Hey, you know what, why don’t you come with me? We could have so much fun away from Mister Uptight over here.”

“We could,” you say. “But I like him. And we also have to save the world.”

“Goodness, what is all this about saving the world?”

You open your mouth to respond but Five grabs your hand. “We’re leaving,” he says. “And you’re not getting your money,” he tells Klaus.

“What!?”

Five teleports you and himself into a passing taxi cab before Klaus can say anything else. “Don’t stop, just keep going,” he tells the driver. The driver falters for a moment but does as he’s told, a bewildered look on his face as he continues to drive. Five tells him to take you back to the Academy.

“Do we have another plan?” you ask.

“Rest,” he says. “You need it, I need it, and I’ve been putting way too much pressure on you.”

Your eyes flutter in surprise. “Oh. Can we… Can we find Delores tonight?” you ask quietly.

Five smiles and squeezes your hand. “We can. But for now, we’re just going to rest.”

You nod, smiling back, and he puts his arms around you before teleporting to his room. “Will you read to me?”

He nods. “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland?” Your smile widens. He truly knows you as well as you know yourself. You nod. He grabs the book and lays back on his bed, pulling you close to him so your head is resting on his chest. “‘Chapter One,’” he reads, “‘Down the Rabbit Hole. Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, “and what is the use of a book,” thought Alice, “without pictures or conversation?”’”

You’re asleep before he can make it to the next sentence; even though Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is your favorite book of all time and you would never dream of falling asleep during a reading of it, the small bit of sleep you got last night was not nearly enough and you were too exhausted to stay awake even for Alice and her mad Wonderlandian friends.

When you’re shaken gently awake it’s dark outside, and Five whispers, “Do you still want to get Delores?”

The sleep immediately leaves your body and you sit up excitedly, nodding. Five smiles and teleports you outside, getting in the car and driving to Gimble Brothers. He teleports inside the now-locked store and grabs a flashlight off a rack so you can see more clearly. You walk through the store, searching for your beloved mannequin friend, and eventually spot her in between two other mannequins.

You smile. “Delores!” You run toward her, Five following close behind. “It’s so good to see you,” you tell her. “Five and I have missed you so incredibly much, isn’t that right, Five?”

Five nods with a small smile. “It’s been a rough couple of days,” he says softly.

The moment is perfect, for a second, and then it’s ruined by gunshots completely destroying your newly found friend. “No!” you scream, and Five grabs you, teleporting you out of harm’s way.

He peeks out from behind a rack of clothes. “Oh, shit, it’s them.”

“The Commission?” you whisper.

“Hazel and Cha-Cha.”

You press your hands to your mouth in horror. Hazel and Cha-Cha are the Commission’s most skilled assassins now that you and Five are gone. And they wouldn’t be here unless they were trying to kill you. You dart out from behind the clothes rack and grab the now broken Delores.

“(Y/N), no!” Five yells, pulling you back right after you get her. “Stay here,” he tells you, but you shake your head, not willing to let him fight Hazel and Cha-Cha on his own. “Please,” he whispers. “I can’t let anything happen to you.” You open your mouth to object but he teleports away, leaving you behind. You sit there, covering your ears and breathing heavily and hoping it’s over soon, and then Five comes back and he grabs you. “We’re getting out of here.” You hold on tight to Delores and he holds on tight to you, running and teleporting through the store to avoid the bullets.

He eventually stops behind a large desk, holding you and stroking your hand with his thumb until Hazel and Cha-Cha leave. You hear police sirens and take it as a sign to leave; he teleports out and back to the Academy. You run into Luther and Allison on your way upstairs.

“Five?” Allison says, concerned. “What the hell happened to you?”

“Are you okay?” Luther asks. “Can we help?” He reaches his hand out but Five grabs his arm before he can touch him.

“There’s nothing you can do,” Five says, voice shaking. “There’s nothing any of you can do.” He releases Luther’s arm and pulls you the rest of the way upstairs.

He pulls you close to him and buries his head into your shoulder, and after a moment you realize he’s crying. You wrap your arms around him and rub his back as he sobs, saying nothing until he finishes.

“We’ll worry about everything later,” you say softly, wiping his tears away from his face. “Right now you need to sleep. I know you haven’t been while I was.” Five swallows and nods, letting you pull him to his bed and curling up close to you, falling asleep almost instantly. “I love you,” you whisper, something you wish you could say while he was awake.

[wandaromanova]

can i request wandanat x r? r wants to propose to wandanat and has been sneaking around to hide her plans of proposal. wandanat thinks r is cheating and maybe leaves her? you decide but angst please and i just love all your work i can't stop re reading them💕

Ruined

Pairing: Wanda Maximoff x Fem!Reader x Natasha Romanoff

Warnings: cussing, arguing, very slight violence, cheating allegations

A/N: hi! thank you for your request! im flattered to know that you love and re read my work! i may or may not have intentionally left this on a cliffhanger whoops 🤭 <3

Ruined | Regret

Word Count: 1.8K | masterlist

(gif is not mine)

You had first met Wanda and Natasha when you were tasked with being the Avengers’ liaison. You were tasked to handpick missions that you believed required the attention of the heroes and assigned team members onto those missions.

You worked very closely with the team, you even lived with them in the compound for convenience. In the time spent working for them, you had grown super close to everyone; most especially Nat and Wanda.

It first started off with the pair going into your office, always asking for missions. You had found it odd considering they never took a break. You didn’t understand why they’d seek out missions when they were clearly exhausted. You figured that maybe they just loved helping people so much that they got excited and anxious for missions, but little did you know what their true intentions were.

They wanted to spend time with you. They wanted to observe you close up and not across a conference table. They wanted to know everything there was to know about you. As creepy as it was, they wanted to get close enough to know what you smelt like. They wanted to know what your lips tasted like. They wanted the relationship with you to surpass professionalism.

Eventually, the two Avengers stopped asking for missions when they came in; they just went to your office for the sake of going there. They’d bring you various lunches every single day and shower you with small compliments.

You’d brushed it off as the women being very good friends that just so happened to be flirts. You were wrong. They were interested in you, in the same way you were in them. You couldn’t help but admire the two beautiful women.

Their green eyes, fit bodies, and kind smiles were a recipe for disaster, in the best way possible. With one look, you’d drop to your knees and do whatever they wanted. They just had to say the word and you would do it, no hesitation. Yeah, it sounds absolutely ridiculous, but it’s painfully and embarrassingly true.

Over the course of time, you had grown closer to Wanda and Nat. Your daily lunches turned into daily movie nights and dinners too. You saw them all the time and you didn’t mind it one bit.

They finally asked you out after a year of spending time with and getting closer to you. It was safe to say, you instantly agreed with a smile on your face as you let out an, “of course! fucking finally!”

•❅────────✧❅✦❅✧─────────❅•

Now, you had been dating the two women for five years. Yeah, it’s been a long ass time, but it still wasn’t enough for you. You wanted to spend forever with Wanda and Nat.

You wanted to get an actual house in the suburbs together. Not an apartment in the middle of New York, but a place you could call home. You craved the domesticity of it all.

You wanted to settle down and have kids with them somehow; whether it be by adoption or via surrogate. You just wanted to have a family of your own with the two woman you loved more than anyone or anything in the universe.

So, you’ve been sneaking around trying to keep your secret, well… a secret. You were planning on proposing to your girlfriends. Yes, this was a very huge step in a relationship, but you felt as though it was the right time. You guys had been together for five years! You were practically married to them already!

You would sneak off suddenly during your usual movie nights with Wanda and Nat or before breakfast to go and meet with different jewelers. You didn’t want to go into a store and buy their rings. That was not an option in the slightest. They were special and deserved special rings. They needed rings that were as unique and one of a kind as they were. It’s what Wanda and Nat deserved.

So, you were constantly leaving, whether it be early in the morning or the late hours of the night, on the search for someone who could make your ideas for their rings, a reality. You would hide your phone from Wanda and Nat’s view and even changed your passcode in order to prevent them from finding out. You’d face your phone down whenever you left it in a room with the pair, as well.

Unfortunately, in your excitement of what was to come, you didn’t realize how suspicious your behavior had been. You figured that you were being pretty discreet, coming up with pretty believable excuses. You even had some of the team help you with your lies, since you let them know what you had planned.

However, you forgot you were dating a world class spy and a witch. You were wrong, obviously. As each day passed, your girlfriends worried and assumed the worst. They let their minds spiral and searched for worst case scenarios. The worst one of all seeming the most likely; infidelity. They came to the conclusion that you were cheating on them.

•❅────────✧❅✦❅✧─────────❅•

Natasha and Wanda cried to one another on one of the nights you bolted off and zoomed out of the apartment with a lame excuse.

Wanda sat on the couch as Nat held her in her arms. They both had tears cascading down their faces as their thoughts were plagued by you; by your supposed betrayal.

“How? How could she do this to us? After everything we’ve been through? She’s goes and cheats on us?” Wanda spoke brokenly as she released a sob. Natasha pulled Wanda closer, the Sokovian woman placing her head in the crook of Nat’s neck.

“I don’t know. I really don’t know, Wanda. All I know is, this can’t go on any longer.” Natasha spoke, trying to keep her voice steady, but her voice failed her. She came out shaky as the sadness and hurt seeped in. You had betrayed them, or so they thought.

They sat there in the same position, waiting for your return. Finally, four hours later. You had come back to the apartment.

You were ecstatic as you made your way up to the front door. You finally found a jeweler that could make the perfect rings for Wanda and Nat! You couldn’t wait to get on one knee and present the rings to the two women who would forever hold your heart. You were over the moon excited right now.

However, your joy was quickly wiped away the second you stepped foot into the apartment. You took in the sight of Wanda and Natasha on the couch, staring at you with dried and fresh tears on their faces. You instantly shut the door and tossed your keys onto the counter as you rushed towards your girlfriends worriedly.

“Nat, Wands, what’s wrong loves?” You asked as you approached them, but Natasha abruptly stood up before you could get too close.

“Don’t you take another fucking step!” Nat snapped at you, and you stumbled backwards a little, in total shock. Your concern increased as you looked between the fuming redhead and the heartbroken looking brunette.

“Did something happen? What’s wrong?” You were so confused and desperately wanted to comfort your girlfriends. You don’t recall doing anything that could anger and upset them this much.

“Yeah, something happened. Our girlfriend is a fucking pathetic, cheating ass bitch who can’t keep it in her pants.” Natasha spoke with venom dripping from her tone. You literally let out a gasp, her words physically hurting you.

“What the hell are you talking about? I’m not cheating on you guys! I love you both more than you guys could even imagine!” You raised your voice, getting frustrated with the situation.

Wanda suddenly stood up and stuck beside Nat. She stared at you with anger clouding her sadness now.

“You’re not cheating on us? Then why the hell have you been running off at weird hours of the day? Why have you been hiding your phone from us?” Wanda began to fire a bunch of questions towards you.

You froze in your place. The answers to their questions weren’t what they thought they would be. The true answers were the complete opposite of cheating, you were acting weird because you were planning on proposing! But you couldn’t tell them that!

You stood silently as the two women stared at you, breathing heavily. They took your silence as confirmation of their suspicions.

“We fucking knew it. You’re a fucking joke, Y/N. Were we not enough for you? Was two women not enough for you?” Wanda inched her way towards you, eyes glowing red.

You backed away, not in fear, but in sadness. You really wished you could tell them the real reasons behind your behavior, but you couldn’t without blowing up your surprise.

“Did you really think you could go behind our backs without us noticing?” Wanda continued to stalk towards you, like she was about to murder you.

“I swear to you both, I would never, ever, cheat on you guys. You’re both more than enough for me. You’re my home, I’d never jeopardize that.” You tried to convince your girlfriends to believe you, but they weren’t having it.

“Stop lying to us!” Wanda screamed out as she sent you flying back with a scarlet colored blast as she used her powers on you. Your back connected with the front door as you groaned. That was going to be a huge bruise later, for sure.

“I’m not lying. When have I ever lied to you both, huh? Why the fuck would I start now?” You asked exasperatedly as you stood up slowly. You cringed at the pain radiating from your back.

“And here you go again, more lies coming out of your slutty mouth. The fucking nerve you have, Why don’t you go and fuck whoever you’ve been seeing and leave us alone?” Natasha spoke as she moved forward, placing her hand firmly on Wanda’s waist.

Before you even have the chance to speak, Wanda opened the door with her powers and tossed you out of the apartment. She abruptly slammed the door in your face. Wanda and Nat’s angry, pain-filled faces and scarlet colored magic being the last things you saw before the door blocked your vision with a harsh slam.

You sat on the ground in front of the door in shock. They thought you were cheating on them. They didn’t want anything do with you now. What the fuck were you supposed to do now? What did this mean for your proposal? Should you cancel on the jeweler? Or should you hold out hope and pray that they’ll hear you out eventually?

All you did know was that your proposal had been ruined regardless. Whether you told them about your plans or not, the moment was doomed the minute they began to suspect cheating.

Withholding the information from them, caused them to push you away. But now that you look at it, if you had just told them about the proposal, you’d at least be in their arms right now and not on the floor of your apartment complex hallway with tears streaming down your face.

You were at a loss, and you didn’t know if you could gain back the trust of the women you loved.

───────── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ──────────

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[mariacallous]

I woke up on Sunday morning to a call from a CNN producer asking if I would come on the news to talk about what had happened in Colorado Springs. I had no idea what she was saying, but as a Pulse survivor I could feel it in my gut. While she had me on the phone, I tried to get up to speed on what happened.

The news started to filter through: five dead, many more injured. I called friends in the area to make sure they were OK. Immediately, my heart was broken, and I was transported back to the worst night of my life.

I often refer to 11 June 2016, as my “last normal day”. I was a totally different person then. I worked at Starbucks. I was content to enjoy the sliver of happiness I found in the world. My best friends Juan and Drew were also my chosen family. I lost them that night. Nothing will ever be the same for me. It’s a weight I will carry for the rest of my life.

When I was young, I didn’t know the term “safe space”. But I knew how gay bars made me feel. There was a bar where I grew up in Portland called the Escape where I felt like I could be myself for the first time. But I was living at home back then, and going to a gay bar still felt like a dirty secret that I had to hide.

Then I moved to Orlando. Pulse was the first place I can remember holding hands with someone I liked without looking over my shoulder first. I dared to wear a real pair of skinny jeans in public without having to worry about what people would say. I came of age in that bar. It was a place where you can exhale and dare to imagine a better future for yourself.

I dabbled in music production for a time and Pulse was the first place I heard one of my songs play. I ran from one corner to another saying: “That’s me!”

It’s impossible to think about Pulse without remembering the horrible events of 12 June 2016. But Pulse was also a home. Obviously the night that the tragedy happened is emblazoned in my memory for ever, but it’s the beautiful, joyful times that stick with me.

Just over six years later, I’m filled with rage. My community has been under assault. We’re angry because we’ve been worried this type of thing was coming. We’ve spent months listening to hateful, vile, disgusting rhetoric spewed by rightwing figures like my own governor, Ron DeSantis.

DeSantis and Texas’s governor, Greg Abbott, have been caught in a pissing match over who can treat the LGBTQ+ community worse. They are supported in the media by a slew of rightwing talking heads who make money when they say shocking things: Christopher Rufo, Candace Owens, Charlie Kirk, Ben Shapiro. Their hate trickles up to Fox News hosts like Tucker Carlson, Jeanine Pirro and Sean Hannity, through conferences like CPAC and to wealthy figures like Stephen Miller, who spent millions running anti-trans ads through the midterms.

My community knew a tragedy like what happened at Club Q was coming. We kept sounding the alarm when armed protesters showed up at drag shows, when white supremacists were arrested outside of Pride festival after threatening violence, when a donut shop was firebombed because they dared to host an art show featuring drag queens. We begged those on the right to turn the temperature down, to stop assaulting an already marginalized community. They wouldn’t listen.

A recent Trevor Project poll found that 66% of LGBTQ+ young people said the current political climate had an impact on their physical and mental health. It breaks my heart that a place like Club Q, and especially the trans people who were there, had to pay the ultimate price of the hateful rhetoric of politicians trying to win votes.

I’ve seen a lot of people in my circle on social media saying: we’re all we’ve got. And that feels so relevant right now. I know that in this hostile political environment, it’s my community that has my back. It’s the drag performers, who have their reputations shattered by politicians every day but still show up on Saturday to entertain us with their artistry. It’s the Black trans women, who have been under assault not just for the past months, but decades. And as we saw with the trans woman who helped take down the Club Q shooter with her high heel, they’re willing to put their bodies on the line to defend us. The challenge for the rest of us is simple: are we willing to do the same for them?

When you’ve been touched by hate violence, you become part of this unfortunate club. There’s a look in someone’s eyes when they’ve seen the same things I’ve seen. There’s a dim to their shine, as if the innocence and naivety has been ripped from them. I remember seeing this very vividly when I first met the Parkland kids. I feel it with every survivor I meet. I would tell the survivors in Colorado to please lean on the rest of us. The cameras will go away when the next crisis breaks out, but we know what you’re going through. Most of all: be good to each other. Do what you need to do to feel well and whole and don’t feel guilty about waking up tomorrow. You belong here.

I’m hosting Thanksgiving this year. Drew and Juan should be there. If they were, they’d cook, because I sure don’t. After we lost them, some of their friends, from all different points in their lives, came together. We’re bonded by trauma, and a fierce love for our friends. We’ll spend the day drinking lots of wine, playing video games and looking through old photos. We honor our friends with the joy of being together. And when we go home, we’ll take our rage and try to use it to change the world.

[you-are-my-joy]

The Return of an Empress | 07

Title: The Return of an Empress

Pairing: OT7 x Reader

Genre: Isekai, Angst, Romance, Fluff, Smut (Later on), Slow burn

Characters: Empress!Reader, Advisor!Jin, Advisor!Yoongi, General!Hoseok, Advisor!Namjoon, Assassin!Jimin, Knight!Taehyung, Knight!Jungkook

Word count: ~9k

Summary: After one fateful night, you find yourself transmigrated into your favorite novel as the Empress that shares the same name as you. As a bookworm, most would think you’d be happy, but how could you be happy when the Empress you’ve become is expected to be killed in three months. The only thing on your mind now is to learn how to survive.

Warning: May contain depictions of violence and mentions of abuse throughout the story.

Masterlist 

<< previous chapter  | ♡ |  next chapter >>

In the 380th imperial year, on June 9th, two days after the nobles were caught red-handed and thus apprehended, was the day of the largest massacre of high nobility in the history of the empire. 

At 8 am in the morning, a total of 18 of some of the most well-known and influential nobles of the empire were executed by the city plaza.

With tired steps, you trudge inside your bedroom, immediately falling onto the comfort of your bed. You let out an exasperated sigh, tossing your head back until it rests on a nearby pillow. Despite getting rid of the duke and the rest of the nobles, you can’t help but still feel a sense of unease and tension. Would the original empress make the same decision? You don’t know the answer, but what you do know, is that you’ll most likely be haunted by the cries and screams of those who lost their lives today for the rest of your life.

It’s one thing to actually read of the graphic murders and deaths that occurred in the novel, it’s a whole different story when you actually experience and see first hand how gruesome the public executions truly were. Back in your world, you’ve never witnessed anyone’s death before, as it was the 21st century, public executions were prohibited decades ago. But suddenly you had to endure an entire morning witnessing the horrifying deaths of 18 people as their heads detached from their body, a large pool of blood staining the once clean pavement. 

You weren’t keen on torturing people, so you were merciful in the sense that you chose to execute them through a beheading, with a fresh and sharpened axe to be exact. In this world, beheadings, although gruesome and bloody, were seen as the most ‘humane’ form of execution as the deed would be done in one swift motion, a painless execution to some extent. 

You remember hearing many of the nobles and commoners who attended the public executions express their disappointment at your choice, thinking you were being much too kind considering the heinous crime they committed. Despite their disappointment, they were slightly relieved over your choice, many were still skeptical over the empress’s supposed changed behavior, but seeing you wince and grimace at each beheading finally convinced them otherwise. 

News spread like wildfire around the empire about what had occurred at the party, news articles being published nearly a day later. The most popular topic of course being the Grand Duke himself drugging the empress, and so countless of nobles all around the empire scurried to watch the spectacle. Thus, the grand finale of the execution came when former Grand Duke, Lee Joong-Gu finally stepped forward. 

Many people had looked at him in disgust, throwing rotten fruits and vegetables his way and cursed out his name. The entire time, he wore a solemn expression as he kneels down without complaint unlike the rest of the criminals who wailed pathetically until their last breath. 

You remember that in the midst of it all, he had looked up at you, your eyes instantly locking with one another, and you swear from where you stood, you saw a hint of remorse and guilt in his face. Your mind reeling as he tearfully mouths ‘I’m sorry’ to you, but before you could even react any further, the axe gets raised in the air and in the next second is swung down with much force. His head rolling down the pavement as the cheers of the crowd rang out excitedly at the gruesome sight. 

However, the cheers seem to fade from your ears as all you can focus on is the dukes rolling head. And somehow it stops, facing in your direction, empty eyes that were once so full of life, ingraining themselves in your memory forever. You blink away the tears forming in your eyes, confused as to why your body was reacting like this. You flinch as you stare at his body slumped over, but your view gets blocked when Jungkook steps in front of you.

The entire morning, Jungkook and Taehyung have been right beside you, acting as your escorts as you had requested. Always attempting to block your view when they noticed your grim and disgusted expressions at each beheading. Jin and Namjoon were also present, but they stood a few meters away from you, ensuring that the executions ran as quickly and smoothly as possible. Hoseok was present as well, but as the general, he was in charge of security and surveying the city plaza, prioritizing your safety over everything else.

The only ones who hadn’t shown up were Yoongi and Jimin. Yoongi, you had expected, though you had a glimmer of hope that he would make an appearance, but Jimin? You thought he would come to greet you after the party, but you haven’t seen him since he left you by the ballroom doors. You were extremely worried, thinking something bad had happened to him, but Namjoon reassured you that he was fine as he had ran into him the other day. He further informs you that Jimin wasn’t feeling good, which explains his sudden absence. Though you remained unconvinced, you choose to give Jimin his needed space, thinking it would be better for him to come to you when he was ready.

When the executions were over you stood up from your seat, ready to leave the area in a hurry as the overwhelming stench of blood nearly made you puke on the spot. But suddenly you heard loud cheers as everyone directed their attention to you, “All Hail Empress Y/n!” many of them yelled out, grinning at you as they praised your actions. 

You hadn’t expected to be well received so quickly, since less than a week ago, some of these same people trembled in fear over your presence. You send them a charming smile to express your gratitude, but this only seemed to ignite something in them as they seemingly cheered your name even more.

Despite the cheering, all you wanted to do was go back to the palace and rest. So here you are, groaning as you lay flat on the spacious bed. You feel the bed dip slightly to your left, prompting you to open your eyes to see Jungkook looking down at you with a small smile. “How are you feeling?” he reaches his hand out to gently brush a strand of hair in front of your face. 

“Absolutely exhausted,” you let out a groan, closing your eyes once more. And you weren’t only talking about the past few days. It seemed that you were never truly able to catch a break the moment you arrived in this world. You can’t even imagine the amount of work the past empress had to endure. 

Taehyung, having found comfort in your couch situated in the middle of your grand bedroom, hums at that, “Mentally or physically exhausted?”

You scoff before letting out a yawn, “Both.” 

Jungkook nods as he moves his hand away from your face to lazily trace shapes on the palm of your hand, “I'm sorry to hear that your majesty,” he replies, sending you a pitiful look, as he notices traces of stress and exhaustion written on your face.

Still with your eyes closed, you rest for a moment, “It’s fine. This is my duty as the empress.”

Jungkook nods, “I understand, but before you’re an empress, you’re a human. You need to rest, your majesty,” he says, concern laced in his voice as he continues tracing odd shapes on your palm. 

Though after a while, you’ve come to the realization that rather than shapes, he was actually tracing your name on your skin.

You open your eyes to stare at Jungkook who was too distracted writing your name to pay attention to your gaze. You just stare when a sudden thought crosses your mind, “Hey Jungkook, can you try calling me by my name?”

Jungkook seems to freeze in his spot, his hand stopping right above yours as he stares at you with wide eyes, “Pardon?” this seems to gain Taehyung's attention as well when you see him from the corner of your eye snap his head instantly in your direction.

You shrug, sitting straight up now facing him. Both your faces nearly inches apart that Jungkook instantly blushes and shifts a bit further away from you to calm his racing heart, though you take that gesture as discomfort instead, “What’s wrong? You don’t want to?”

Jungkook stutters as he waves his arms in front of his face in an ‘X’ shape motion, “N-No, It’s not that I don't want to… but why are you suddenly asking that of me?” Both Jungkook and Taehyung stare at you in a mixture of confusion and interest since they haven’t addressed the empress by her name in nearly 3 years. Not after she had scolded the both of them until they complied to her wishes. 

“I figured we might as well go back to our old ways you know?” you suggest, but after taking in their shocked reactions you quickly add, “Of course if you’re uncomfortable with my request then I don’t want to force you to do anything. But I do give you permission to call me by my name when it’s just us.”

Jungkook turns his head to Taehyung as they look at each other wearily, as if doubting your words and thinking this was all just one big test. He hesitantly turns back to you, “Is that truly alright?” he asks while fidgeting nervously with his hand. 

“Of course it is,” you smile reassuringly, your eyes staring at him in anticipation, “will you?” You ask, you try to hide your excitement in order to not pressure him, but who were you kidding, it’s practically written on your face.

Jungkook’s lips curve upward slightly as he couldn’t deny your request, especially when your golden eyes shined brightly at him, “Yes…. Y/n…” though he had said it in a shy whisper, you still heard him loud and clear. You didn’t think hearing your name come out of his mouth would affect you so much but you couldn’t stop yourself from smiling widely. It’s times like these that you’re extremely grateful for sharing the same name as the old empress. 

“Woah that’s not fair,” you turn your head to find Taehyung with his arms crossed, playfully glaring at you both, “why does he get special treatment and I don't?” 

You chuckle as Taehyung's pout reminds you of a child who got their toy taken away and wants it back. Your amusement grows even more as you sit back and watch Jungkook be equally as childish when he sticks his tongue out at the older knight. And Taehyung, the ever mature knight, mimics his actions in return. 

You grin at the older knight, wanting nothing more than to ruffle his hair, “this applies to you as well Taehyung.” 

Taehyung finally turns to you after seemingly having a contest with Jungkook on who can contort their face in a mocking way better, “thank you… Y/n,” he replies softly with a gentle smile now on his face. 

They’ll admit, addressing you by your name sounded strange coming out their mouth, but they couldn’t deny the nostalgic and warm feeling in their chest when they finally did. And your smile definitely brightened their day even more.

“Y/n.” you hear Jungkook call out softly, though he flinches when he gains your attention. 

You furrow your eyes in confusion at his odd reaction, “Yes?”

You notice his cheeks glow with a tint of red, “Sorry, it’s nothing. I just wanted to say your name in front of you,” the ending of his sentence becoming a soft whisper as he was embarrassed to have been caught by you. But he should’ve known better than to believe your ears wouldn’t catch him. 

You have to mentally slap yourself to stay calm and composed as to not squeal in delight to embarrass him further. So to spare him, you fight back a giggle as you beam back at him, “you’re more than welcome to call me by my name anytime you want Jungkook.” Gaining a wide smile from him in return.

“Y/n?” Taehyung suddenly calls out, causing you to face him now. Though he chuckles at your raised brow, “I’m not just calling out your name, I genuinely have a question.” You chuckle right back, nodding your head, gesturing to him to ask his question. “Are you still feeling sick?” You understand he wasn’t referring to earlier, rather he was talking about your symptoms from withdrawal. 

Thankfully after properly taking medication daily or as suggested by the royal physician, you’ve been experiencing a lot less symptoms as the days go by. Joy reminding and ensuring that you actually took them definitely helped with the process. 

You nod sending him a soft smile, “no, I’ve been feeling a lot better nowadays. Though, I’ll admit I kind of want to throw up. But I’m pretty sure the main perpetrator to that is the blood.” Despite having left the plaza awhile ago, you seemingly couldn’t get rid of the stench of blood in your nose. Even just the thought of it makes you involuntarily gag. 

Jungkook softly chuckles, “from being in countless battles, you’d think you’d get used to the sight of blood,” he jokes with a teasing glint in his eyes as he grew bold enough to hold your hand after tracing on it for so long.

You stare down at your joined hands, his large ones nearly covering yours completely. You feel him squeeze your hand lightly prompting you to look up at his mischievous grin as he caught you staring. You playfully roll your eyes, “it’s been awhile, alright, I forgot,” you grumble.

Though Taehyung hums at that as leans his head back on the soft cushions of the couch, “you seem to be using that excuse quite often,” he mutters, not looking you in the eye, but instead choosing to stare out your window.

At his statement, you gulp nervously. You immediately take note from the corner of your eyes the prying look of Jungkook as his hold on your hand seems to tighten. 

But before you could come up with yet another excuse, you hear a knock at your door. Someone was definitely looking out for you as you had no idea how to respond without you being even more suspicious than before. 

You sit up straight, briefly glancing at your knights who refuse to look you in the eye before calling out, “come in.” You quickly let go of Jungkook’s hand causing the boy to snap his head in your direction before his shoulders seemingly drop. Though he doesn’t say anything more as the doors to your bedroom open wide.

Soon enough, the double doors reveal Hoseok, Namjoon and Jin. They bow out of respect before briefly making eye contact with Jungkook and Taehyung, to which they send a curt nod, acknowledging each other’s presence.  

For some reason, you felt a shift in the air as the three men stepped into the room. As if they were... hostile? But that doesn’t make sense, you question. Shouldn't they be on good terms with each other? You thought, but you were so wrong when you could feel the tension around you. Something unspoken between the five males. 

You understand that you haven’t known these men for long, but even you could tell that there was a sudden shift in their relationship. You saw it in the ballroom and now your suspicions are confirmed when you observe their body language in front of you.

After many moments of silence, Namjoon finally turns his attention to you, “more of those journalists keep requesting for your time your majesty,” he reports, only now do you notice his tired eyes. He must’ve been dealing with those journalists since he got back, and from what you know, they’re almost as ruthless as those in high society. 

But before you could respond, you hear Taehyung let out an annoyed groan from where he sat, “They bombarded her all throughout the morning, can’t they give her a break?” he scowls when turning his head out the window as he caught a glimpse of those pesky reporters from the border of the palace walls. Their cameras steadily aimed at the palace, hoping to capture a lucky shot of the empress. 

“It’s alright, I can handle them,” you reply, having already mentally and physically prepared yourself for this since you knew this would be a hot topic in the empire. A topic that the reporters wouldn’t let go of until they were satisfied. But just as you were about to stand from the comfort of your bed, you feel a hand gently rest on your shoulder, prompting you to turn and find Jungkook staring at you in concern. 

“Y/n, you need to rest,” Jungkook says softly, “you truly did look sick early, maybe it's from withdrawals or maybe it's from the blood, who knows, but I think it’s best you rest for the day.” You knew it would be hard to go against Jungkook, especially when he had that determined look in his eyes. Though that wasn’t what everyone else was thinking as his statement piqued their interest. 

“Y/n?” Jin questions loudly. He had thought he was hearing things, but by the looks on Namjoons and Hoseok's faces, he indeed did hear correctly. Jungkook had addressed you by your name. 

The boy blushes, not having realized he had blurted out your name in front of them. But before he could explain himself, Taehyung beat him to it.

“Y/n gave us permission to call her by her name,” he boasts with his head held high as if he was bragging about some great achievement he got. Which in a way, it kind of was. 

Hoseok raises his brow as he turns to look at you now, “may I know why?”

You clear your throat, “well, when I got rid of the alcohol and drugs in my system, I wanted to make things right and go back to how they were before. So I gave them permission to address me by my name like old times,” you reply confidently, having already prepared an answer for this question long ago. 

Though after some time, Hoseok’s blank face shifts, “I see,” he replies with a smile, but you knew better than to trust that, you knew hidden in that expression was a man that still had doubts despite witnessing the downfall of the nobles before his own eyes. You had thought Namjoon would be the one you needed to be careful of, but it seems you were wrong in that sense as you become anxious at Hoseok’s judging stare. 

Jin clears his throat, an attempt to get rid of the growing tension in the room, “we also came to discuss plans regarding the property of the nobles as well as what's to come with their families and who would be the ones to take their positions,” he pauses before nodding his head in Hoseok’s direction, “we brought along Hoseok in case military services were needed.”

You nod, though you couldn’t help but wonder, “Where’s Yoongi?” 

Jin stills for a moment before tilting his head, visibly confused from your question, “why are you suddenly asking for him?”

Now it’s your turn to be confused as you furrow your eyebrows, “Because he’s also one of my advisors,” you answer as if it was obvious. 

As if sensing your confusion, Namjoon responds, “pardon our rudeness, your majesty. You just don’t normally call on him for these types of things.”

Now you’re even more confused than before, “I don’t?”

Namjoon nods his head in confirmation, “I believe it’s because he’s not from nobility, that it may hinder and influence his judgment on these types of cases,” he explains in the nicest way possible. 

Dumbfounded, you remain seated on your bed, “I see,” is all you could utter. You knew that out of the 8 of you, the only ones who came from nobility were Namjoon, Jin, and Hoseok. Their families were one of the few nobles who secretly opposed the former emperor, which made it easy for the main character to gain their support in the rebellion. There’s no doubt that Hoseok’s military family, Namjoon’s intelligence, and Jin’s abundant wealth, had an immense influence on the success of the rebellion. 

Of course that’s not to say that the others are any less important. Jungkook and Taehyung were among the best of the best in terms of strength and fighting, not to mention Jimin being an ace when it came to agility and swiftness. They had the skills to go against opponents 10 times their size, and yet somehow win. The three were known to be the best fighters in the empire, after the empress herself of course. Afterall, they learned everything they knew from her. 

Yoongi on the other hand, proved himself to be worthy to stand by the empress’s side as an advisor due to the fact that when it came to forming tactics, he always had the perfect plan to go along with every scenario. Much of the rebellion's success was derived from the various attack plans that Yoongi came up with.

He also knows how to handle her the best out of them all. He knows how to approach her when she gets mad or upset. And he is one of the few people who isn’t afraid to go against her if he needs to, only with her and the empire’s best intentions in his mind. 

But when it came to politics, Yoongi had a harder time due to the fact that he was just a village boy who didn’t receive the same amount of education as Namjoon or Jin. Granted neither did Y/n, having been born from the same village, but she was so determined to become the empress that she worked strenuously day in and day out in order to fit the role. Having Namjoon as her teacher definitely helped the process run smoothly. 

Sure Yoongi isn’t as book smart as Namjoon, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t smart at all. You know that despite things being said about him, his words and inputs at national council meetings have proven to be of great help to the empress and the empire in the past. 

And so without another word, you stand up from your bed with a newfound determination. 

Jungkook and Taehyung eye you in concern. “Y/n?” Jungkook asks, reaching out to hold your hand, causing you to stop in your tracks. 

“I’m going to go and personally find Yoongi. Regardless of our differences, he’s still my advisor, and his presence is just as important as every single one of you.” You feel Jungkook loosen his grip on you, allowing you to slip away from his grasp. 

“Shall we escort you there?” Jungkook asks tentatively, while Taehyung had already stood up, prepared to follow you on your command. 

But instead, you shake your head, “Considering what transpired last time, I don’t think it’d be wise to bring either one of you two along,” Jungkook rubs the back of his neck while Taehyung turns away as they’re both suddenly reminded of the way they had behaved towards Yoongi. Although they were opposed to the idea of you going alone, they couldn’t argue with your statement, since even they don’t know how they would react if they were in each other's presence again. 

“I’ll accompany her majesty,” Hoseok suddenly speaks up with a raised hand, resulting in everyone turning their heads in his direction, “I think it should only be fair after all,” he pouts, lowering his hand to cross both his arms across his chest. 

Namjoon raises a brow at his claim, “Fair?”

Hoseok nods as he accusingly points at every man in the room other than himself, “Every single one of you have spent more time with her than me, that's why I think it’s only fair if I escort her,” he declares with a puff of his chest. 

Taehyung scoffs at him, “Can you blame us? We’re her escorts, of course we’re going to spend more time with her,” he fights back a roll of his eyes due to Hoseok being of a higher rank than him. 

“Exactly, so I hope you don’t mind me stealing your ‘Y/n’ for the time being,” and before you could even utter a word, Hoseok strides towards you, reaching for your arm and practically begins dragging you out the room, “see you boys later!” 

Jin shakes his head disapprovingly as he watches Hoseok roughly pull you, “would you be more careful with her majesty!” 

Hoseok scoffs, “She’s not weak,” he responds as he turns around abruptly, your chest nearly colliding with his if it weren’t for his arms steadying you. 

“I agree, but she’s also not a ragdoll that you could just push around as you please,” Jin snaps back at him, eyes narrowing at the grip on your arm.

Namjoon nods his head at this, “Indeed. Be more gentle Hoseok,” he warns sternly as he shifts his body towards the both of you intimidatingly. 

And you don’t even need to turn around to know Jungkook and Taehyung were both shooting daggers at the general. 

Hoseok sighs and finally lets go of you with his arms raised above his head in defeat, “alright alright I get it. I’ll keep my hands to myself.” Though the men in the room only stare at him with unconvinced expressions as he smiles innocently right back.

You stifle a laugh at their reactions and begin to turn to leave, “we’ll be leaving then,” at this you turn to stare at each one of them, “while I’m gone. Behave.”

Taehyung scoffs, crossing his arms as he plops back down on your couch, “We’re not children Y/n.” But his pout tells you otherwise.

The corners of your lips quirk upward in amusement, “could’ve fooled me.”

He turns to you with an offended expression, mouth wide open and before he could give you a piece of his mind, you scurry out the door with Hoseok tailing right behind you. 

“Y/n!” You hear Taehyung’s voice yells out as he appears by the doorway in a matter of seconds. 

You turn around and almost laugh at his dumbfounded expression. Though, you nearly trip over your own two feet if it weren’t for Hoseok skillfully reaching out and steadying you. You quickly thank him before looking back towards your door to now find the rest of the men staring back at you. 

“We’ll set up a proper meeting tomorrow! See you boys then!” You call out before you’re reaching for Hoseok’s hand. He widens his eyes for a moment staring down at your joined hands before he feels you pull on him in the direction you were running to. 

You could still hear their protests coming from your bedroom as both you and Hoseok run away. But Hoseok can’t help but be more focused on your angelic laughter over everything else. 

“So what did the general want to talk to me about so badly that he wanted us to be alone?” you say finally after creating a fair enough distance from your bedroom.

From the corner of your eye, you see him smirk, “What makes her majesty think I had ulterior motives?” he asks innocently, his pace matching with yours as you both walk down the quiet halls.

You shake your head with a smile, “because you’re Hoseok,” you reply with a teasing glint in your eye. 

Hoseok lets out an offended noise as he dramatically brings his hand to his chest, “That hurts your majesty,” he pouts, “couldn’t I have just wanted to spend some time with you?”

You laugh at this, “Sure, but you and I both know that that’s not the case,” your mouth forming a smile, an attempt to show him you meant no harm. 

Hoseok finally lets the innocent facade fall as a smirk begins to form on his face, “Our empress sure has a sharp mind,” you hum in reply, prompting him to continue speaking,  “you’re right, I did want to talk to you.”

Though after some time walking in silence, he speaks up again, “But I had nothing in particular to talk to you about, I just wanted to see for myself whether you had truly changed or not,” he responds bluntly. 

“Your verdict?” you question with your arms behind your back, a carefree aura surrounding you. 

“Hard to tell for now,” he teases with a wink in your direction, “however, something tells me it won’t be long before I give you my answer your majesty.”

“Well let’s hope it’s an answer we both will like,” a wide optimistic grin now on your face.

Hoseok stares down at you, giving you a small smile in return, “Yes, let’s hope.” 

You two don’t speak for a while, though you can’t say it was awkward. There was a comfortable air between the two of you that you actually didn’t mind walking together in silence. You took this moment to look around the scenery, admiring the window view as you don’t really have much time to do that since Taehyung, Jungkook and even Jimin would often preoccupy your attention, not that you were complaining about their company, you rather enjoyed talking to them. But you can’t help but be grateful for this moment to yourself. So for the time being, you just look out the window, little did you know, Hoseok was staring right at you. 

Hoseok couldn’t help but admire the way the sunlight glows on your skin as if you were an ethereal being. Even the slight quirk of your lips mesmerizes him as he watches you bask in the sunlight. A picture perfect moment that he desperately tries to ingrain in his mind. 

“You know, you’re more than welcome to address me by my name as well Hoseok,” you suddenly speak out, turning your head causing the male to widen his eyes momentarily at your abrupt attention. 

But Hoseok’s eyes soften, giving you a small smile before turning his head straight in front of him yet again, “I’ll keep that in mind... thank you.” 

Neither of you speak again after that, just enjoying each other's company in silence. And after everything that you’ve been through, you didn’t realize that this was exactly what you needed. 

“Hey Yoongs”

The man hums, his eyes closed as he lays comfortably against the grass right beside Y/n.

“You’ll be with me forever right?” the young girl speaks up after some time.

At this, Yoongi opens his eyes as he stares at the far away look in her eyes, “Of course Y/n, where else would I go?” he furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, “why do you ask?”

She shrugs looking straight up at the passing clouds, “just making sure,” the wind softly breezing against her hair.

Yoongi nervously laughs as he turns away from her, “Sorry, but it’s gonna take a lot more for you to get rid of me,” Y/n chuckles at this causing the corners of his lips to curve upward at the sound. “Unless I got it all wrong. You’re not trying to run away from me once you become empress are you?” he questions with a teasing tone. Though he had a smile on his face, he couldn’t deny the feeling of anxiety at the possibility of her leaving him.

She scoffs before turning away, “Of course not, what would I do without you nagging me all the time, you’re practically my brother at this point.”

Yoongi feels a pang go across his heart as he faces away from her, “... right… you just see me as a brother huh,” he mumbles, more so to himself but she could still slightly hear him.

She tilts her head in his direction, “hm?”

Though he just shakes his head, “Nevermind,” now sporting a more cheerful expression as he nudges her shoulder playfully, “so suddenly I’m your brother huh?”

She nods her head, turning away from him, focusing her attention back to the sky, “Of course you are, what else would you be?” she genuinely asks.

Yoongi stills for a moment before responding with a long sigh, “Nothing,” he pauses, watching the clouds pass by both him and her as they lay on the grass in peace, “absolutely nothing.”

“Her majesty told me about it and left the job to me,” Jin responds in a tired voice as he lets out a sigh. If he had known accepting the empress’s orders would lead to this, he would’ve never done so in the first place. Because not only does he need to deal with a pile of work, but also a very pissed off Yoongi. 

“Why would she give you all the work and not me?” Yoongi asks, tone slightly offended and irritated. 

“I don’t know Yoongi, why don’t you just ask her yourself,” Jin replies tiredly as he massages his temple at his growing headache. It’s not that he wanted to get rid of Yoongi, but because he himself couldn’t provide him an answer to his question. He too couldn't understand why Y/n would give him all the work instead of him, frankly he wishes she would divide up the work evenly but alas, that doesn’t seem to be the case as every inch of his desk is nearly covered in piles of documents. 

Yoongi lets out a huff of air before standing abruptly. Jin stares at him and widens his eyes when he notices that he’s about to leave. Nervously he stands from his seat as well, “Where are you going?”

“I’m going to ask her myself,” Yoongi replies as if it was the most obvious answer, his hand reaching for the door handle.

Jin gasps, “I wasn’t being serious!” he moves around his desk to grab hold of the advisor.

But Yoongi shakes his head, stepping back from his reach, “I know you weren’t, but you’re right. If I want change to happen, I need to go to her myself,” he watches concern wash over the older male before placing a hand on his shoulder, “don’t worry, I won’t lose my cool,” he says in an attempt to reassure him.

Though both Yoongi and Jin knew he was lying. He was just telling him what he wanted to hear. Jin wanted to stop him, but in the end, he lets it go since he knows that once Yoongi’s got his mind set on something, it was nearly impossible to get him out of it, ”fine, but I don’t want to hear about you getting sent to the dungeons again Yoongi.”

Though Yoongi only chuckles, “I won’t get angry, don’t stress about.”

And boy was he wrong, because it hasn’t even been 10 minutes that he walked into her office until hell broke loose. 

“Just let them handle it Yoongi, why are you so upset, I’ve given you plenty of work before,” she barks angrily.

“I’m upset, because you never give me the same amount of work as them!” He snaps back at her, tone equally as harsh. 

She nearly growls at his attitude, “Would you relax Yoongi, it’s just pieces of paper! If I had known you’d get so fucking irritated over it I would’ve sent the entire pile to you if that’s what you really wanted!”

That’s not what he wanted. He wanted her attention, her trust, he wanted to be the first person she sought out when she needed help.

He wanted her. 

“Y/n-” he gets interrupted when Y/n grabs a pile of documents and throws it in the air in front of him. He watches as the pieces of paper float down everywhere in the room, making it look as if a tornado wrecked havoc in the area. 

“Here! Just do it all for all I care, they’re just damn pieces of papers anyway,” Y/n growls tiredly. Yoongi could not have come at the worst time. Not only did she have to deal with a raging headache, but now her own advisor was yelling in her face far too early in the morning for it to be tolerable. 

She could feel her head ringing at the volume of his voice, but when she told him to leave as she wasn’t in the best mood to argue, he kept refusing stubbornly, insisting she listen to his complaints because apparently what he needed to say was so important to go against her orders. And so when she realized his important reasoning was because he was upset over his workload, her anger only rose from there. 

With her already sour mood, him snapping back at her surely didn’t help his case either.

“I have way too much shit to deal with right now, don’t add onto it Yoongi,” she spats loudly, the piles of paper covering nearly the entirety of the floor around them. 

His shoulder drops, finally coming to terms with everything as he stared into the once cheerful eyes narrow dangerously into tiny slits.

The girl before him, was never and will never be his. 

For the past few days, Yoongi had been actively avoiding not only you, but everyone else. No matter how hard they tried, neither Namjoon or Jin could reach out to him. It was almost as if Yoongi somehow knew just when and where everyone would be to successfully avoid them. 

In the beginning of the empresses reign, no one took him seriously because he wasn’t from noble descent like Namjoon and Jin. when they would attend national council meetings, no one spoke directly to him as if his previous status of a commoner was still intact. And so he had to put on this whole ruthless persona for people to show an ounce of respect for him. He had to exert more effort to prove to everyone that he was equally as worthy as the other two advisors. That he was capable of doing the same amount of work, even if he didn't receive the same strenuous education as them.

And because of the comparison between him and the other two advisors, insecurities were born and shattered his mind. 

So seeing you put your trust in Jin and Namjoon hurt him a lot more than he would like to admit. The fact that they both knew and yet you hadn’t brought it up with him once was like a shot to his heart. 

And yet throughout his time spent alone, Taehyung's voice echoes in his mind.

“When was the last time you ever treated her as one of her advisors? When have you ever truly cared for her majesty?”

He groans out of frustration at the entire situation. Because as much as he hated to admit it, he was right. When was the last time he treated her with respect. Even though the rest of the boys joined the rebellion with him, never once did they blatantly disrespect the empress the way he did. 

And with the current situation, he doesn’t even think he deserves his position of advisor anymore. Never in his life did he imagine that someone was drugging the empress. All this time, he’s been bitterly blaming the empress about the current condition of the empire when in reality, it wasn’t even her fault. He pushed her away when she needed him the most. When she was suffering he unknowingly made things worse. And because of that, he doesn’t even know if he has the courage to face the empress ever again. 

Yoongi freezes when he hears a tentative knock at his door. Slowly, he raises his head from his hands before responding in a loud tired voice, “who is it?” ready to curse out the person on the other side of the door.

“It’s me hyung.” 

Yoongi widens his eyes at the familiar voice that he can’t help but rise from his seat. He carefully walks over and finally opens the door to reveal Jimin’s figure standing before him. For a moment, the two men stand opposite of each other in silence. 

“I need to talk to you,” Jimin finally says. Yoongi nods and steps aside for him to enter, still in complete disbelief that he wanted to speak to him after everything that’s been said between the two in the past month.

As if reading his mind, Jimin turns to him with an uncertain smile, “You’re probably wondering why I'm here,” Yoongi only nods, unable to produce words at this point. Jimin stops at the center of his office before continuing, “I know we’re going through a rough patch right now, but at the end of the day, you’re still someone that I deeply care about. You’re my brother and I’m just worried about how you’re taking the situation,” he explains with a nervous expression. 

Yoongi’s eyes soften, of course they weren’t on good terms at the moment, but Jimin was right, at the end of the day, they’re brothers. He could never truly hate or get mad at him, or any of them for that matter unless they truly betrayed him. 

Jimin wasn’t certain this would be a good idea, unsure how the older male would react to his presence. And so when he hears Yoongi let out a chuckle, although not so enthusiastically, that alone causes Jimin to visibly relax.

Just then, Yoongi lets out a long sigh, “I’ll be honest, I feel like shit. But I know she’s probably going through it way harder than I am,” he finally replies as he rolls his neck.

Jimin nods, “I’m sure she is,” he mutters looking away.

Though Yoongi raises a brow, Jimim’s tone almost hinting at the fact that he doesn’t know about your feelings which was surprising to Yoongi since he knows how close he is to you. At that realization he furrowed his brows, “you haven’t spoken to her, have you?”

Jimin seems to stiffen at his claim, he contemplated lying but knew the older male would see right through him anyway, and so he just shakes his head, “no I haven’t.”

“Why not?”

Jimin lets out a low chuckle, “I wasn’t able to keep a promise with her,” he answers softly, running his fingers through his hair.

Now Yoongi was even more confused than before, he wanted to ask more questions but felt like now wouldn’t be the right time based on the downcasted look on the younger man's face. And so he only nods in return. Though Jimin’s lips quirk up, grateful that he doesn’t push the topic further.

Jimin leans against the back of his couch, crossing his arms, “I saw you that day,” he added, wanting to change the subject. “The day at the ball,” he clarifies when he saw the puzzled look on Yoongi’s face. 

“You attended the ball?”

Jimin shakes his head, “no I was watching from above, her majesty wanted me to be her ‘eyes in the sky’, or something like that,” he pauses before chuckling, “she’s been saying some strange things recently.”

Rather than laughing along with him, Yoongi can’t help but feel annoyed, “Of course you fucking knew about it, too,” he mutters furiously under his breath.

Jimin widens his eyes at his sudden harsh tone, “Pardon?” 

Yoongi scoffs, now stomping his way to his desk, “The empress told you of her plans,” Yoongi uttered with resentment, “everyone but me.” 

And as if the world wanted to continue mocking him, here you appear through the open door, with Hoseok right beside you. You freeze in your spot, when you realize Jimin, who was now staring at you like a deer in headlights, was also present in the room. Despite his surprise, he bows out of respect. Though you can’t say the same about Yoongi.

“What are you doing here,” Yoongi curses at himself, he didn’t mean to take his anger out on you. You just happened to arrive at a bad time. 

Though his cold icy tone doesn’t deter you in the slightest, “I came to inform you that we’ll be holding a meeting tomorrow,” you explain hesitantly, careful not to say the wrong thing to aggravate him even more.

He raises a brow in doubt, “you came here to personally tell me?”

You nod, “the rest of the men wanted to have a meeting regarding the situation, but I didn’t want to attend if you weren’t present.”

Yoongi scoffs, “I'm not some charity case.” Although, Yoongi can’t deny the warm feeling in his chest from what you said.

You stop, taken aback from his words, “Is that what you think you are?” you pause before continuing, “Why do you think you became one of the empress’s advisors?”

Yoongi rolls his eyes at this, “Because you think of me as a brother,” he spats bitterly. 

“No, it’s because you’re one of the few people I trust most in this world, I know we had a bumpy road getting here, but you have to believe me when I say that I trust you,” you insist as you take a step closer into the room.

Though your statement seemed to have ignited a fire in him as he snaps his head to you with narrowed eyes, “If you trust me so much then why didn’t you let me know about this entire situation?!” You jump back at his tone, surprised by how angry he got.

Hoseok steps forward in an instant, “Hyung I had no idea about the drugs either,” he blurts out, trying to dissipate the tension in the room as he moves to stand in between you and Yoongi. 

Jimin nods in confirmation, shifting his body to stand protectively in front of you as well, “he’s right hyung, Hoseok also had no idea what was going on.”

“That may be true, but she still sought your help, no? She needed military strength, she needed someone to hide in the shadows and she went to you two,” he snaps at them. Hoseok shuts his mouth, unable to form words to counter his claim. 

Though it’s not like Yoongi was going to let anyone else speak, not until he was finished, “Where do I come into play? Jin hyung and Namjoon helped with the plan, Jimin looked out for you from above, Hoseok provided the military strength, Jungkook and Taehyung came as your escorts. But what about me?” At this point, Yoongi paces around the room frantically, you try to reach out to him but he jumps back as if your touch would burn him. 

“Why am I always in last place!” He yells at the top of his lungs, “Is it because I wasn’t born into high nobility like Jin hyung? Is it cause I’m not some fucking genius like Namjoon? Or as handsome as Jungkook and Taehyung. Or as confident as Jimin. Or as reliable as Hoseok?” He continues his rant when everyone is too stunned to react.

“Yoon-”

“Why am I never good enough for you!” He shouts, slamming his fist hard on his desk. The room becomes silenced in an instant. The only sounds coming from the broken advisor standing before you. 

“Am I not enough?” He sniffles, his voice cracking as he stumbles, grabbing hold of the corner of the table to stabilize himself. He bows his head low, an attempt to hide the tears forming in his eyes.

You turn to look at Jimin and Hoseok, giving them a solemn look as you nod your head in the direction of the door, wanting to speak to him privately. 

They seem to understand your gesture as they begin to silently make their way out of the room. Although Jimin hesitates for a moment standing by the doorway. He takes one last look at Yoongi and back to you, his expression unreadable before finally closing the door behind him. 

At the click of the door, you turn your head back to Yoongi, your eyes focused solely on him. Carefully, you take slow steps towards him, you don't know if he notices but if he did he didn’t take any further steps away from you. “Yoongi, you are more than enough for me, you have to believe me,” you urge as you stop a few feet away from him. Careful to not overwhelm and crowd around his space. 

His silence urges you to continue, “I just felt like you didn’t want anything to do with me so I gave you your space,” you explain softly, “But you’re still one of my advisors, I should’ve communicated with you better on the situation. I'm sorry.” 

You take a few experimental steps towards him, assessing his reaction carefully because if you saw any indication that he was uncomfortable by the distance, you would step away immediately. But he gave you none. Even when you were now standing in front of him, he didn’t make an effort to move away. Instead, he finally lifts his head, holding your stare as his tears now running down his face. 

You don’t know what got over you, but at the sight of his tears, you find yourself reaching your hand out until they cup his face gingerly. His breath hitches when your hand caresses his cheek, your fingers wiping away the seemingly never-ending tears.

“Yoongi, you’re more than enough for me,” you repeat softly as you stare into his eyes. Almost mesmerized as his glossy eyes shined back at you making it look as though you were staring at the night sky.

You lean your body forward until your arms wrap around his shoulders, bringing him into a tight hug, “I’ll always need you,” you say in a soft whisper. But no matter how quiet you were, he heard you loud and clear.

He sucks in a breath as a sob escapes his mouth. He doesn’t try to fight you, instead, he wraps his arms around your waist instantly, tightening his grip around your body.

But instead of calming down, his sobs grow louder at the feel of your body against his.

Concerned, you try to pull away but Yoongi only tightens his grip around you as he shakes his head. 

“Don’t,” he whimpers softly, clutching onto you tighter as if you would slip away forever, “please don’t leave me. Not yet,” he cries out. Your heart nearly shattering at the sound of his voice cracking. 

Your eyes soften as you once again relax in his arm, your hands rubbing his back reassuringly as he continues to cry, his tears falling onto the nape of your neck. “I won’t,” you soothe gently, “I won’t leave you Yoongi.”

He sniffles once more, “You’re really back?”

You don’t have it in you to respond with a straight answer. You just couldn’t bring yourself to lie to him like that, especially in his current state. Lying to his face knowing that the empress he knew was no longer the owner of this body. That you were a completely different person, but who in their right mind would believe you. 

So instead, you nod softly, reaching a hand to run through his hair. His tears stream down his face as he chokes back a cry at the feel of your nod. 

You smile bitterly, as you have to keep reminding yourself, the girl he loves isn’t you, it’s the empress. He’s not crying for you, he’s crying for her. 

You had seen this coming, but it still hurt a lot more than you had expected. The world for some reason just wouldn’t stop being cruel to you. 

A young man approaches the darkly lit room slowly, the only source of light being the fireplace that’s barely holding onto life as it seems as though it’s about to die out at any moment.

“Master, I’ve come with urgent news,” the boy announced, news so important he fidgets in his spot nervously as he anticipates his reaction. It’s silent in the room, the only sound coming from the crackling of the fire as the wood burns. 

There, sat in front of a large window was the boy’s master, he had not turned around to face him, instead, opting to stare up at the moon as it shines brightly down on him, “Speak,” he commands in a dominating voice.

The boy nods his head, “We received a report confirming the death of Grand Duke Lee Joong-gu as well as Sir Taehyung, Sir Jungkook, and Sir Jimin stepping down from the rebellion.”

The man hums, immensely intrigued by the sudden news, “and the others?”

The boy shakes his head, “there have been no reports being made of the others stepping down as of this moment master, though many speculate it’s just a matter of time at this point.”

The man bellows loudly at that, as he leans back comfortably in his chair, his eyes shining with mirth, “I told that damn duke not to get too greedy and look what happened. He got caught,” he scoffs as he turns fully around, hands crossed on his desk as he traces the letter he had received from the late grand duke a mere few weeks ago in a bored manner, “Seems what that fool said was of concern after all, her majesty has truly changed.”

The boy nods, “What do you suggest we do now?”

He turns back around, admiring the night sky, “tell my men to continue keeping an eye on her majesty. And report everything to me.”

The boy bows, “yes master,” he responds before turning away, ready to inform those of the new orders. 

“Well I’ll be damned,” the man whistles as he leans back on his chair, “so you truly did succeed in changing the story,” he chuckles and with a dangerous glint he stares up at the moon, “I can’t wait to meet you, new empress.”

A/N: Hey guys!! I’m so sorry for taking so long to upload this chapter, I had to focus on my final exams and all the assignments my professors piled on me at the end of the semester. So I tried to finish this chapter as fast as I could!

I hope you’re all happy with how things went in this chapter. Also sorry for all the drama, I just felt like it would be better for the reader and Yoongi to make up instead of making more chapters of them avoiding each other when they could just communicate about their feelings. 

Thank you everyone for supporting and reading my story! I also love receiving all your kind messages so thank you so much for that!

And as always, I hope you have a wonderful day!!

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