#heck in her battle lines when you use her they all seem to be close Rhea even plays with Flayn

[randomnameless]

i know you said hopes had negative character development for the cast, but who do you think is better in hopes than in houses?

Better like in better writing, or better as in I appreciate them more?

Without a doubt, I'd say Felix and Sylvain who are better in Nopes than their FE16 versions, and in a way... Rhea herself, thanks to having more screentime when she isn't PTSD'ing lol

Call it chauvinism, but Sylvain in Nopes was scrubbed out of everything that made him... unlikable/feel flat in Houses.

His sob story about people only wanting to fuck him for his title/crest really felt... straight out ripped from some High School AU, with John McChad acting like an ass because the only girls who want to date him are interested in his situation as a heir of his dad's big company, and not because they love him. Yay. Great. Perfectly what I'm looking for in my medieval fantasy game where you whack people with swords.

Add to that the focus on crusts being the supposedly only reason why people are lusting over him - and not because, hey, you're a member of one of the most important noble houses in the Kingdom - to play in the general "crust bad" orchestra that can lead on the Supreme path, and the fact it's never ever adressed, and we have... this, which completely, to me, hides the other parts of Sylvain's character - like being someone who thinks outside of the box and resolves to lessen the reliance on his relic to defend the border by... creating a situation where they'll be no tension at the border, aka, a peace with Sreng.

Now, Sylvain works so well in Nopes partly because all of his "wah ladies only want my penis because i'm rich :'( " is erased, so we see a character who takes his duties as the heir of Gautier seriously, assists his Lord and friends and bring "new ideas" to help everyone. Sylvain, under his frivolous appearance and behavior, actually thinks and learns and suggests a lot of things that are quite useful, a bit like a "what if Sain wasn't only interested in courtship, but was raised as a future lord and had insight and suggestions on what to do". So sure, it's not as quirky and memorable as John McChad's sophomore year of school, but it fits better, imo, in the FE series.

As for Felix, well, it's more or less the same, his entire "duh boar bad chivalry bad and stupid - but wait no don't die and i'm sorry to have hit you dad i liked you but I was too busy playing the tsundere that I never got to say it to you before you died" schtick felt... old and annoying in FE16.

Sure, Felix can have his own, personal feelings about Dimitri being a hidden boar, but Felix is also the only heir of Rodrigue, and will become the next Duke Fraldarius, aka the second most important person in the Kingdom after the King himself, and the one tasked to protect it. Should Felix completely ignore his feelings and do what is expected of him, or take his role seriously? No, and Nopes has him give some "boar this, boar that", but Felix isn't a petulant 16 years old who wants to be "edgy" anymore, Felix is the next Duke - something he never shied away from, especially in his FE16 paralogue! - and has to start learning the job, thinking about Faerghus in something else than small jabs thrown at Dimitri and how to protect its people and second the King.

Heck, Felix's support in Nopes with Dimitri where Dimitri confesses about the ghosts, where Felix tries to carry him, the more or less cutscene where the general feeling is him saying to Dimitri he can count and rely on them... Given how FE16's Felix was written, even in AM, I can't see it happen before Rodrigue's death... and yet, in AG, Rodrigue is still alive (his optional death doesn't change those scenes), so when FE16's Felix realises there were more important things to do to help both his friend and country and dad but he only noticed it too late because he was too busy... being edgy, Nopes has him drop the edgy act (not completely drop it though, else it wouldn't be Felix anymore!) and act (lel) as his FE16 self, but only, without needing his dad to die first.

As for Rhea...

Having more screentime seriously helps, just like being allowed to talk about non plot relevant things with someone else than Billy or about Billy, I gushed a lot about the Nabatean paralogue, but it depicts her relaxing with her family (pissing on the "u r the only person i can talk to myself not the archbishop" pandering shit from FE16 even if FEH pissed on it first) and making tiny baby steps at apologising and confessing part of her guilt (for something completely stupid like Seiros the Warrior "borrowing" Cichol's shield to gift it to Willy!) to a member of her family.

Would that mean she would have confessed about the rez Sothis plan to Seteth earlier on? I... don't know, don't think so, and we don't have enough interactions between the two.

Compared to FE16 where she is an oyster until Billy turns green and Seteth nags her again and again and again, here she willingly makes the first step to apologise... sure, it's for something silly and not, resurrecting their mother, but it feels like a small progression (tiny baby steps) from FE16 where she has to be reveal stuff due to forced circumstances.

I also like how it sort of teases (or maybe that's just me lol) Seteth realising that Rhea still misses days long past to an unhealthy degree (tfw too much nostalgia), or just, having to remind her twice that those days are gone. Would he later realise her strange nostalgia hides something more deep, and ultimately her wish to "return" to those days by resurrecting Sothis?

idk, it's fuel for HCs and AUs, but for what it's worth, this paralogue and Nopes in general help flesh out Rhea more than what FE16 does, aka tying 80% of her mentions/appearances to Billy and Sothis.

(hell, in Nopes, she finally has lines with Flayn!)

[phantomthiefgaige]

What if Chihiro Fushimi Joined SEES (Part 2)

Had to rewatch the P3 ending to amp myself up to do this. Don’t mind the tears…or the river of em flowing through the post. That’s normal. Anyway. This part will be covering some misc stuff like School life, minor changes, and right up to the June full moon operation. With that being said. Lets get into it.

TW//Bullying

“SOTERIA!!!”

Soteria is Chihiro Fushimis persona. The goddess of safety and salvation, deliverance, and preservation from harm…funny that she will exactly USE harm to protect others from it.

While Soteria does learn spells like Tetrakarn and Makarakarn and some defensive increasing skills. That’s not all her Persona can do.

This persona is well known for its high magic stat, but more importantly…she’s the teams nuke button.

Her most upgraded move besides the Agi skill line is the Megi skill line. For those who don’t remember. Megi moves are pure almighty damage, a damage type that can’t be blocked.

Why did I decide to give the terrified nervous wreck a nuke? Cause I thought it would be funny. Don’t worry, it drains her magic fast so you can’t go spamming it. You’re gonna have to actually use her fire skills until much later on when she gets an sp cost reduction skill.

Soteria is best described appearance wise as a graceful looking woman with angelic wings yet in her hands are a giant shield and a crackling hand mixed with agi and megi effects. She’d have some unique patterns on her arms and would have her eyes covered by a flower crown.

Now enough about Chihiros Persona, lets see how this girl is with the rest of the teammates and what she does outside of battle.

Of course she’s still the student council treasurer so she’s in there with Mitsuru from time to time but really, it’s more of a “friendly business partners” relationship rather than a true genuine sisterly friendship for right now.

Now on the other end of things are her dorm-mates. Yukari is often really close with Chihiro. She talks to her quite often about her mangas and how club meetings go while Yukari just listens or at least tries to act engaged at the very least.

Yukari can be a bit protective of her but not often. Just helping at times when she gets too nervous around Akihiko. Other times though, despite Chihiros protests, she throws the girl to the wolves with one particular man to help her overcome her fears. That one man is…

Junpei….is…an interesting case with Chihiro. They both like manga and nerdy things at times so besides the male fear thing, you’d think they’d be the best of friends. Well, kinda. She’s too nervous right now to fully hang out with him and watches from a corner usually. Often wondering how he has so much time to slack on his studies when she’s seen his exam scores. She’d reprimand him if she had the courage to…

Yukari is definitely gonna help this girl slightly tolerate this man if it kills her.

Or at least have her join the “Stupei, Ace Defective” roasting club.

Both options work too.

Chihiro doesn’t have much to talk about with Akihiko. If Junpei was a bit much for her at this level, then a guy who talks about getting stronger and fighting with, to her, not much in common is gonna put her off a bit more…but then again, she seems fine with Hidetoshi so who knows? Maybe they’ll be better friends in the near future.

Insert Makoto Yukis/Door Doors social link here.

What? You thought I was gonna write something for Makoto now? It’s basically going the same as her SL. They’re friends and she likes being around him.

…

…

…

Okay fine, maybe I’m planning something but you’ll have to wait until later in the story. For now. They’re friends. Like…rank 4 at best.

In the overworld, Chihiro can often be seen staring at Bookworms, thinking of going in. Heck maybe even considering asking for a part time job, this girl surrounded by books would think it’s a dream job.

She can also be spotted around the mall, checking out the CD shops or wondering if maybe someday Makoto will take her into Club Escapade…but she’s gotta get her own courage in check so we’ll check in on this subplot later.

At night, there is a rare chance that you won’t be able to use the computer there because Chihiro’s on it.

She’s either gonna be studying or looking at this weird new webcomic. It’s apparently about a boy and his three friends playing a video game? You aren’t sure yet because all you see is a boy kissing his poster goodbye while his friend plays the violin. It’s weird but hey, nobody said she can’t have weird interests.

Now that the current dorm life is out of the way, lets get into the story this time.

A reason Yukari may be a bit protectivr if Chihiro is because she’s been hearing about this currently being bullied by three girls.

It’s really starting to piss her off actually. But she bites her tongue for right now.

Most of May and such plays out as normal but instead of the ghost hunting team being just you, Yukari and Junpei, this girl gets in on it too…she wishes she wasn’t because she didn’t know wether to be afraid of ghosts or Junpei in the dark, or confused by how laughable his missing girl story was.

Nevertheless she joins their investigation with some reluctance…mainly Yukari saying it’ll help her.

For once though when they decide to go to the sketchy alleys of Port Island Station at night, she’s siding with Junpei in possibly wanting to back out.

Dear lord the girl was not only not made for scared, but for seeing Junpei get headbutted by a terrifying guy while being harassed by others.

And then there’s Shinji…

Poor girl just about fainted when she saw him. He’s downright terrifying. He seems nice but the poor gi-oh…she passed out. Poor thing.

When she gets back to the dorm she’s out for the whole night, cuddling with a pillow from fear…yeah Yukari may need to apologize later to her for doing that.

Weirdly enough though, the fact she felt like she “survived” something like that feels a bit relieving in her. Like she CAN do scary stuff and will be braver…eventually. For now though. Fuukas case takes high priority.

Hearing this Fuuka girl was getting bullied by Natsuki was bad enough, learning she could be dead is slightly pissing her off…then she learns Mr. Ekoda hid this information from everyone…someone hold this girl back she’s gonna take her paper fan and jam it down his throat.

Thankfully she heard Mitsuru got to him but she’s still pissed. Who knew this sweetheart could have a tipping point that deep.

It doesn’t make her fear into a hatred thankfully, I mean…seeing Junpei get knocked down at the station made her feel scared sure but like she wanted to help and just felt powerless…maybe that’s why when he heard this girl was being bullied and her missing status was hidden was what caused her to lose her cool for a little.

Come the time to save them, she begs Makoto to please go with him to save Fuuka. She feels like she needs to meet this girl.

He doesn’t care

But she’s in the party with Aki and Junpei.

In retrospect, not a good idea for her but she’s holding back her fear to save this woman.

Authors realization: OH SHIT, I FORGOT HOW SHE FEELS ABOUT NATSUKI!!!!

So with Natsuki she feels, understandably, upset that she would bully this girl and locked her up. Though she does promise she’ll help find Fuuka.

Now back in Tartar Sauce, she’s slightly relieved yet worried to be split from the all guys party. When she finds Makoto though, she’s much calmer. When they find Fuuka though…dear lord this girl is so glad she’s alive.

Then she sees Mitsuru and Yukari are down for the count and hey, she can actually do damage to them��it’s weak damage though. If only there were some persona user who could read enemies weaknesses an- oh Fuuka did it.

The rest of the story here mainly plays out as normal.

Now with Fuuka on the team, how are she and Chihiro gonna get along?

Dear lordy, these two are like sisters. Scared, timid, shy, other similar words can best describe them to a T.

Fuuka looks up to Chihiro as her Senpai while Chihiro looks up to her as someone much smarter than her.

These two have a lot of study sessions together and it’s sort of the opposite of Yukari so far.

Instead of having Chihiro try and work past things asap, she’s more into having her take her time and do things at her own speed.

They even suggest starting a manga/book club too.

Fuuka isn’t fully into Mangas? Well by golly Fuuka will try for her new friends sake

And this is where we end for this part. Sorry it’s a bit sloppy and has so much run offs, it’s unorganized and all over the place. Okay a lot more work is needed but there was a lot to go over and I set my ambitions a bit high. I’ll try and organize things a bit better next time and make things more coherent.

Special thanks to my co-author @maze-of-my-design for the relationships list for this gal and helping with ideas for this series.

Hope you enjoyed reading it y’all.

[otakween]

Digimon Tamers - Episode 29

This episode was all over the place! I kinda wish it would have narrowed its focus because they kept introducing new concepts and then immediately dropping them? The German expressionist world was aesthetic af though, not gonna lie.

Notes:

The whole food conversation was weird and confusing. Guilmon and Terriermon eat some bitter chocolate that doesn't fit in with the background and has nothing to do with the plot (unless of course it becomes relevant later). Then Ryo says this line:

I listened closely to the Japanese to see if it was just a bad translation, but nope, that's what he said. I think maybe what they're trying to convey is that you can eat a small amount and be satisfied? However, the way it came off was "in this world you eat when you're hungry" which is literally how the real world works lol (unless you eat when you're bored I guess).

The haunted castle with the beds was verrrry reminiscent of the Bakemon episode from Adventure. Almost to the point where it felt a little copy-paste. At least the beds were legit this time.

The scene where all the kids (besides Ryo) have insomnia was well done and so was the part where Takato finds his mom's letter. I had insomnia last night, so it kind of hit different haha.

A little late to be noticing, but are Takato's eyes pink or are they brown and just look pink in certain lighting? I kinda hope they're intentionally pink because that would be the bolder choice.

Apparently there's a scarecrow digimon that's literally just a scarecrow (barely sentient). I kinda like the design, but what's the point...?

In addition to the random scarecrow digimon they also introduced a dog-like digimon inspired by western animation (like Looney Tunes). I guess they were thinking of the Roadrunner cartoons because of the desert setting, but that scene felt suuuper random. (I did think it was kinda funny when he calls Culumon "cat" in a heavy Japanese accent though lol). Oh and also, why the heck was there an Otamamon and Gekomon in that scene. How are they not drying up?

The title of the episode mentions the haunted castle, but then they really did nothing with that. There was a Knightmon in the hallway and that's about it. Yet another thing they introduced and then dropped immediately.

I feel like the only reason Takato's mom hid her letter was for dramatic effect. She didn't really need to hide it?

Culumon insert song!! That was unexpected. Culumon continues to be a little idiot. Also at one point they said "kuru (coming) culu" which amused me.

Makuramon has a deeper voice and more serious personality than I would expect from a monkey character. Pretty cold of him to bail on his dragon friend. I guess he's not a strong fighter

I don't really get why they made such a huge deal of the king device card that Ryo used. We've seen digimon grow huge already with matrix evolution, so I wasn't that impressed by it. The only thing I was kinda taken aback by was how violent Cyberdramon's attack was.

Ryo leaving to "satisfy Cyberdramon's instinctive urges" seemed kind of like a weak excuse to split up the gang. I bet he'll return during some decisive battle or something.

[hungrydolphin91]

X2 continues

Last we left off, my sister and I were about to get the final waymarker! ...Or so we thought, but Maxwell seems to be blocking the way...

On the GHS, Riddeaux tells Spirius HQ to 'get those Exodus scum on the line.' Sis: "And then Alvin's phone rings."

After learning about the hostage situation on the ship, Jude supposedly texts Gaius to bring him up to speed, assuming Gaius didn't accidentally delete the message. Me: "'Oops, hope that wasn't important.'"

I totally forgot that theres a timed part of the rescue mission, no idea what the consequence of failing is but we did get pretty close

In the end, my sister chose to hold onto fractured Milla as long as possible. Hoesntly, who wouldn't? It does give me hope about her accidentally getting the bad ending later, the same way I did >:)

Ch 10: Milla Maxwell The End Me: "It sure was."

My sister got me wondering, how the heck does Rollo stay so fat when he's always walking behind Ludger??? He's almost never shown being carried, and with all the world traveling they do he should be super trim

Leia has the one end of battle quote, "Strength is power! Wait those are the same thing." Which seems like a quirky Leia moment but became relevant later because...

I was arguing with my sister, who has insisted multiple times that she's gonna pay off the whole 20 million gald someday, to maybe give the bank more than 10,000 at a time so theyll stop nagging us for having over 200,000. Her: "But I need this money to upgrade our equipment! I just think it's wise to be prudent." Me: "Those are the same thing!"

The game gives you notifications when characters outside of the party learn skills, like Gaius for example. Me: "I hope the skill he learned is how to charge his phone."

Alvin will NOT stop telling Jude his terrible dad joke ("Job well done" "Eh, I prefer medium rare"). He needs new comedy material so badly.

Anyway this new joke somehow got combined with our old inside joke of every empty tunnel being an 'Alvin' for betraying our hopes and long story short I was asked to draw this nonsense:

We made it to the end of Gaius's second chapter (why did they put 2 hard boss fights in that one smh) where Gaius tells Tanner about the deaths of his 4 subordinates, who he only realized were actually his friends 10 minutes ago, then leaves, saying "This is the end of my story." Sis: "He's become self-aware, he knows his chapter is ending!!"

The last portion of debt has been paid, and Bisley wants to speak with us at Spirius. I'm reaaaaally hoping we get to Victor next time :)

master post here

[thatslayer]

Faith probably ought to stop walking towards this thing, but she can't seem to stop herself. Oh, she's watching his skinny ass. Knows there'll be a line she'll eventually cross that'll put her within arms reach but, honestly, she's kinda curious to see what it can do. Other than talk your face off.

It suggests her interest in shoving the obvious corpse of somebody she used to know through a meat grinder is somehow rooted in a need to kill and Faith half rolls her eyes, "See, now I know you're full of it. If that was Lance's head you were in? Psht. He could'a told you that freshman psych crap doesn't work on me. But, like, it's not Lance, is it? Don't play a playa, Son. Might be the actual husk and, ew… but that ain't him. Dude was a piece of work. I mean, he was fun. Energetic as heck lay, always up for somethin' scary, but at the end of the day? Let's just say we weren't exactly solid." she manages not to sound bitter about it, but she's in her Slayerness and on a roll with it. She motions to him with a little spirit fingers, "This? Whatever the hell you got goin' on here? Way closer."

When she's about a yard off, she slows. God, this is fucked up when you're up close. The last time she saw Lance, the real Lance, it was a photograph on a beat-up motel TV screen. A publicity photo, probably a friggin' glamour shot, knowing him. Layered over aerial footage of the building he disappeared in. Seeing him now, moving and talking and threatening her. It's a lot. If it wasn't for Elijah's calming influence, it would have been overload after the first run-in. Still taking everything she's got to not flip the switch, do away with her emotions because she knows what would happen if she does. Yeah, she'd survive this but Faith still battles with who she used to be and there's no telling how much damage she'd do without guilt and conscience tempering what's wrong with her. Call her a sap, but she doesn't like the idea of walking through life without feeling for her maker, either. She feels his pull on her even now, the warmth of his blood in her system. The way she keeps distance, exercises caution for his sake, if not for her own.

There. That's the second time that zombie thing's asked her the particulars on her turning. Her brow hardens a little, bends over one eye and she takes a step back. Looks down her nose at him, like she's just realized he's pumping her for information. Whatever, it's not like it's not common knowledge. Faith was already infamous in her world, as Slayers tend to be, given how few there are. Nowhere near as highly visible as the Mikaelsons. Fuck, it's not even common knowledge. It's lore, at this point. "Let's just say I met somebody who didn't wanna live forever without me. Good offer --- Seep all day. Party all night. Never grow old. Never die. Kinda hard to pass that up. Your turn, Babadook. The hell do you want with my boy, there?"

Her smirk is met with an even bigger one. Surprisingly enough, it’s perfectly aware of the fact that she’s being sarcastic. Just like the man it has decided to attach itself to though, it doesn’t quite give a damn about it, feels nothing short of validated instead.

“Thank you. Might’ve copied a thing or two there” it replied with a chuckle and a wink aimed in her direction as it patted its host’s chest a few times, right on top of the heart that was rapidly thumping away inside. Getting more and more nervous by the second because no, Lance did not like that look on Faith’s face and truth be told, he could barely even recognize the woman he once knew.

Because sure enough. She’d always had that thing about her, being distant and cocky and all in for danger and violence. But calling him nothing but a meat suit? Not giving a single fuck about him getting hurt or fucking killed? Way to go. Though sure enough, he supposed that it wasn’t like she could recognize him, the man she once knew, that much either. Given how he was still being paraded around by this thing with no care in the world. Under any other circumstance, he would’ve fought way harder for control. Fought at all, compared to right now, where he wasn’t. Truth be told though?

He was fucking scared of what she was capable of these days. Knew that unlike Aza/thoth and her and all the other creatures he now knew existed…he was just some fucking guy. A survivor, sure, but he knew his limits, knew he didn’t stand a chance her. So back, he stayed. Let it be in charge, knowing what it was capable of. Even if it left a sour taste in his mouth, brought just the subtlest of a twitch to his cheek.

“Oh, I am very patient. Frankly, I’ve got all the time in the world” it said with an even bigger grin, making him look almost insane once again. Especially when it switched right over into the next expression from one second to the next, gave her a little frown.

“You’re a smart woman. I’m sure you can answer that question all by yourself. Do tell though : is killing him really about getting me anywhere, or is it really just about you enjoying the hell out of the act itself? When exactly did the vampire slayer turn into the slaying vampire? Great twist. I love it” it countered, making each ‘p’ pop in the sentence with a maddening grin.

[girls4keigo]

A Bird Whisperer’s Guide to Fighting Villains and Falling in Love | Hawks x Hero!Reader

Summary: Hawks needs help to defeat an upcoming hero attack in Tokyo. What better hero to ask than the one he’s been crushing on for months

Warnings: F!Reader, Hero!Reader, Fluff, Cursing

Reader plays hard to get. Reader has a nature quirk and can control natural elements and talk to animals. Reader is a popular hero

a/n: hi! this is my first post i hope you all enjoy! :)

————

You sighed, trying to keep your composure while talking to a bunch of big name heroes. The fundraiser events that your agency made you go to were unbearable. Standing around for hours listening to the most mundane heroes try to impress you with their line of work. But hey, if it helps boost approval ratings I guess it’s not that bad.

For the past year you’ve slowly been climbing the ranks of the hero world. With a powerful quirk and unique fighting styles it was hard to go unnoticed. By now you were familiar with how the industry treated female heroes. It seemed as if the general public cared about anything but your hero duties.

It was all love, relationships, “Who are you dating?”, “What’s your skincare routine?”

You honestly didn’t expect any different but geez, it sure did piss you off. And now that you were in the top 3, you weren’t expecting any of it to die down. Might as well just get used to it.

You continued to chat when suddenly your ear twitched as you sensed a certain birdie approaching.

Oh God.

“Hey. Mind if I steal ya away for a little?” Hawks’ signature smirk appeared on his face as he approached you.

Hawks seemed to really be latching onto you for quite some time, well since the new hero rankings were announced. You were on your way to surpassing the number 2 hero and had gained a lot of notoriety in the past couple of months. 

He was clingy for sure, always play flirting, inviting you to lunch, showing up at your agency unannounced. It was obvious that he was just trying to get a reaction out of you. You’d be surprised if he admitted to actually having feelings for you. Well, not that you cared anyways. Your job was to save civilians, defeat villains, and do things that any other normal hero would. Love was simply not on your agenda.

Holding back a heavy sigh, you complied and stepped off to the side with Hawks.

He seemed delighted by your decision, using his feathers to fetch you a glass of champagne off of one of the caterer’s trays as you two walked over to the bar area.

“So your agency makes you come to these lame things too, huh?”

You didn’t answer, not very interested in the direction that the conversation was going in.

“You look nice.” He bit his lower lip, dragging his eyes vertically across your figure.

“Thank you.” You replied, taking a sip of your champagne.

After you both had made your way over to the bar he instructed his order to the bartender, asking you if you wanted anything and keeping the same dumb smirk on his face when you denied.

“Rarely ever see you in a color other than green. I mean, I guess it’s your entire thing but I really dig this red look you’ve got goin’ on” He mused, as he watched the bartender carefully make his drink.

He wasn’t lying. He’s been eyeing you since you walked in, you look good.

“What do you want, Hawks?” You asked, visibly annoyed.

“Damn.” He chuckled, “Small talk isn’t your thing, noted.”

You side-eyed him, getting impatient with his overly relaxed demeanor.

Catching the hint, he got straight to the point. “There’s some trouble going on in Tokyo.”

Now you were intrigued. You took another sip of your champagne, “Petty villain attacks like always, isn’t it?”

You turned towards him, he got a good look at your face before he answered.

Fucking pretty, he thought to himself.

“That’s what I thought at first but it’s getting harder to believe that as I do more digging.” He looks around before inching closer to you, trying to keep his volume to a minimum. “The League is planning something big next week. The ‘Rain of Terror’, they’re callin’ it. They’re trying to ease the amount of big attacks in the city to let our gaurds down. And frankly, I think it’s working.”

Your eyebrows furrowed. “How do you know all of this?”

“I’ve got connections,” Was all he said, with a shrug.

Ok, whatever. You’ll confront him about that later. “And this ‘Rain of Terror…’ what does it entail?”

“Bombs.”

“Shit,” You muttered.

“Big ones. Huge ones, actually. I don’t know how the fuckers did it but they found a way to make these huge, bioengineered clouds that ‘rain’ bombs.”

You grew uneasy. Raining bombs? Over the entirety of Tokyo? The amount of destruction it would do to the earth, to civilians, made you panic. Hawks sensed your uneasiness but continued anyways, “I want us to team up. Your quirk would be useful with the entire controlling nature n’ weather thing.”

He loosened up from his serious expression, talking a bit louder and showing a teethy smile, “Plus I think we’d make a pretty good team. I’ve already got a plan so we’ll meet up at yours tomorrow.”

“As in my house? Why not anywhere else?” You questioned.

“Well,” He grabbed his drink and used his free hand to rub the back of his heck, “This isn’t really the typa thing we can talk about in public. Mass hysteria, panic, that type of thing. And my living situation is pretty…complicated right now.”

You felt a small tap on your shoulder, followed by the voice of your high school aged sidekick. You turned to the younger hero. “Uh..Y/N? It’s time to go. I gotta be back by 11.”

You sighed before turning back to Hawks.

“Kids and their curfews, right?” He commented.

“Fine. I’ll have my agency send you my address. Don’t come during the day.” That was the last thing you said before finishing your drink all in one quick sip and making your way to the exit. You could feel his eyes on your backside until you left the venue. And the singular scarlet feather rushing in front of you to open the car door for you was really the cherry on top.

You rolled your eyes.

“Woah.” Your sidekick mused, “He seems to really like you. You should give him a chance, he’s hot.”

You giggled at her comment, “He doesn’t really like me, y’know? He flirts with every female hero.”

—

You heard a slight tap on the window leading up to your balcony. You already sensed him flying towards you when he was about a mile away, but your bedroom? Reluctantly you walked over and opened the sliding door.

“Never heard of a front door?”

“Well that’s no fun, is it?” He said, displaying his signature smirk. You looked cute out of your hero clothes. Hair tied up and messy, and in big comfy clothes.

Adorable, he thought to himself. He walked in as if it was his own befroom, slipping off his shoes, gloves and jacket and placing them in the corner of your room.

“Make yourself comfortable I guess.” You deadpanned at him, “And we’re still going downstairs anyways.” He shrugged.

He couldn’t help but be taken aback by the layout of your room. There were plants in almost every corner, on every shelf. Vines growing on your walls, half read books strewn across your bedside table and dresser, your pet birds of all different shaped and sizes flew freely around your room, chirping every once in a while. “So you’re a bird whisperer, huh?” He said, looking around.

“I’m an animal whisperer.” You said, “That’s kind of like my entire thing.”

He let out a hearty laugh before making his way out of your room.

“Tea?” You asked, heading towards the kitchen as the winged hero made himself comfortable on your couch.

“Sure.” He picked up your remote with one his feathers, flicking through the channels.

He turned his attention to you a couple moments later as you took a seat across from him at your coffee table, setting down two mugs of green tea.

He explained his plan carefully, paying close attention to all details and pausing for any questions you might have. You had to admit, as much as an annoying asshole this guy could be, he knew what he was doing. You could tell he plans his strategies very carefully, as much as he likes to come off as lazy and laid back to the general public. He was a damn good hero. And you hated admitting it but he was right, utlizing his speed and your ability to control weather, it wouldn’t be all that hard to stop villain attacks.

Hawks also couldn’t help but admire you. You seemed attentive, always paying close attention to detail and asking a lot of questions. I mean he already knew you were good at your job, watching some of the viral videos of your fights with villains.

—

When the day finally came, it went as smoothly as planned, of course with a little bumps along the way. Still, the few civilians that were hurt only had minor injuries, and you and hawks made it so only a couple bombs hit the ground.

You, Hawks, and some other minor heroes who had joined mid-battle regrouped to talk about how to resolve the collateral damage.

“It’s not too much to be honest, I’ll have it all repaired by midni-“

“Wow! What an incredible display of courage from Hawks and Mother Nature, currently sitting at number 2 and number 3 of Japan’s Hero BillBoard Chart!” A loud reporter exclaimed, accompanied by a camera crew.

Of course.

You tried your best to ignore and keep talking to fellow heroes until a microphone was shoved in your face. The face of the reporter gleamed as she talked to you. “Tell me Mother Nature, how does it feel working with number 2 hero Hawks?” You winced at the question, but answered nevertheless.

“Hawks is a  diligent hero with a lot of experience under his belt despite being so young. It was great working with him.” You answered, forcing a smile on your face.

“There’s speculation that you two planned this together..is this true? How were you able to predict this attack? More importantly, are you two dating?” Those questions hit you like a truck.

“Um..no comment.” Was all you could answer with.

Nevertheless, the reporter persisted, “Well there has to be something going on. It’s just my opinion but you two seem perfect for each other.” She giggled at the camera, “Please! The public is dying to know!”

Before you could even muster up an answer to the reporter’s overwhelming question, a giant scarlet wing came between you and the reporter, blinding both her and the camera from your view.

“Hey. She said she doesn’t wanna talk about it. Let’s respect personal boundaries, yeah?” Hawks said in a nice but slightly defensive tone.

You blushed, looking up at him. As nice we he was trying to sound, he looked angry. And damn right he was. How dare they talk to you like you’re no more than just some D-list celebrity? You’re a fucking hero, who cares about dating speculation when you just saved Japan’s largest city? And how dare they ask questions about him when you were the one doing most of the work. He was enraged, and it was his natural instinct to protect the thing he cared for.

Before you knew it, he latched his arms around your waist, pushing you into his chest.

You were flustered. “What are you-“

“Let’s go.” Was all he said before flapping his wings, sending you guys soaring through the air.

You held on to him for dear life, damn was he fast.

Hawks smirked to himself, feeling your rapid heartbeat against his chest. You were trying your best to hide your blushing by burying your face in his neck, granted that probably made it worse because he could already tell by how hot your face was.

God, she’s adorable

As soon as you two landed on top of a building, you pushed him away as quickly as possible.

He chuckled, putting both of his hands up in defense, “You’re the one making this awkward y’know? Plus you owe me for saving your ass.”

You were angry. Was it because of the downright rude questions that the reporter asked you not too long ago, was it because you knew tabloids would be posting all about you and Hawks for the next couple of days, was it because you were..warming up to that damned bird?

And then you started. “Just so you know, this..us..is not a thing. It will never be a thing. I wish you’d just stop flirting with me all the damn time. Just move on to the next female hero. I actually don’t care what you do. Just leave me alone. I don’t understand why you have to be so clingy, it’s annoying.”

Hawks did nothing but smile, listening to you ramble.

“You know…I-“ He interjected, only to be interrupted by you.

“And geez, you’re so goddamn entitled. I owe you? I don’t owe you anything. I didn’t even need your help. You’re no different from any other guy, you’re fucking insuffer-“

Hawks shut you up with a gentle kiss on your lips.

Oh.

“You talk too much.” He said in a low whisper, before pulling on your chin to kiss you again. You kissed him back, resting your hands on his chest, completely indulging in the moment.

Fuck. Your knees were weak. As much as you wanted to keep going you pulled away, blushing furiously and refusing to make eye contact with him.

“Oh? So now you’re shy?” He chuckled, pulling you closer to him. He tried to catch your gaze but you just moved your head away from him each time.

“Someone might see us. This is bad,” You were able to muster out.

“You’re so fucking cute.” He said, making you blush even more. He continued, “I don’t flirt with you for no reason, y’know? Sure, sometimes it’s just to tease..but I think you’re amazing.”

You felt like you were melting in his arms. Unable to find the right words, you panicked. You were gone in seconds, manipulating the wind so it could carry you back home, the same stupid blush unable to leave your face.

“Call me!” He yelled.

That damn bird.

[cazimagines]

Every day, it feels like I've lost them again

Synopsis: Sam shouts at Zemo for the things he has done. Though Zemo doesn’t show it the words hurt him deeply. Later on the reader finds Zemo and talks to him about his past.

Word Count: 1.8k

Warnings: Hurt/Comfort, Bit of angst, Sad Zemo, mentions to his family’s death and his attempted suicide

Author note: I had plans for another Zemo one shot but then I watched a sad Zemo edit which made me cry and here we are

Cross posted on my Ao3 account under the same name

MASTER LIST

The streets seemed silent as you sadly walked home. The only sound was your footsteps dragging along the floor. The silence between all of you was piercing. Today had been an enormous failure, and you all were feeling it weighing down on you. Pushing down your hopes for things to improve. Zemo had somehow found out where the flag smashers would be, from a trusted source, he said, so you all went charging off to talk to them. It was a trap. Zemo didn’t know it was a trap either, though Sam still believed otherwise. You all had barely got out of there safely. It had been close, too close for your liking.

“There’s always tomorrow,” Zemo says, hating the stone cold silence coming from everyone.

“But there’s not,” Sam spits back angrily, “That was the one proper chance we could've had to talk to Kali, and we failed”

“You shouldn’t be so pessimistic,” Zemo argues back, rolling his eyes.

“Pessimistic. Are you for serious, pessimistic,” Sam says shaking his head at Zemo, “You hear this guy I’m the pessimistic one”

“Leave it Sam” Bucky mutters trying to push him along, but Sam refuses.

Sam steps towards Zemo, standing just a few centimeters away from his face, his eyes glaring daggers at him. Zemo stops walking, clenching his jaw and tilting his head to stare back at Sam, not breaking eye contact.

Both you and Bucky glance at each other, not really sure if you should stop this or let it happen.

“You could have led us to our deaths today, Zemo, which I am sure was your intention. You make it clear that you wouldn’t hesitate to see any of us off to our funerals. All because you got butt hurt about the avengers preventing Ultron from destroying the earth at the cost of your country.”

The breath leaves your mouth as the words slip out of Sam’s mouth. Your lips, slightly ajar, turn to look at Sam. He’s breathing heavily, glaring at Zemo. Zemo’s lips curled down into an angry frown and his eyebrows furrowed. You could see his fists curl up, something Bucky must have noticed as well, and he put a hand on Sam’s shoulder to pull him away from Zemo.

“Sam this isn’t the time”

Sam finally gives in and pulls back, but Zemo steps forward, grabbing onto his jacket. Bucky reaches for his gun, but Zemo waves his hand at him, motioning him not to.

“You don’t know the first thing about me, Sam.” is all he says, letting go of Sam’s jacket roughly and storming off.

It would be hours later till you saw him again. During that time your mind was often thinking back to Zemo. When you really thought about it, you realised you knew nothing about him. Heck, until recently you didn’t know he was a Baron. All you had been told was that he was a Sokovian who wanted to split the avengers up because of what they did to his country. Being a Baron, you supposed that made it more personal for him. Still, it felt like something was missing. Something didn’t add up.

You laid in one of the many guest rooms tossing and turning while all these thoughts flooded your mind. Eventually you gave up on the idea of ever getting sleep tonight and got up. If you weren’t sleeping, you might as well get some midnight snacks. Heading into the main room, you notice the door leading to the back was open, letting a chilly breeze float in.

Heading over to check it out, your eyes lie upon Zemo sitting on top of a fallen over tree trunk in the back patio, looking up at the night sky. His coat was wrapped around him to keep him warm, and his face was expressionless as he looked up to the night sky that was scattered with the stars. He hadn’t noticed you staring at him, his mind was far from where his body was.

After a few moments of just staring at him, you broke the silence, “Zemo?”

His head instantly snapped to you, surprised to have been caught unaware.

“Oh, hello y/n, can’t sleep?”

You shake your head, taking his question as an invitation to go over and sit next to him, “No, to many thoughts in my mind to go to sleep”

“Ah, a common problem for an insomniac”

“I assume you have similar reasons, since you are out hear”

He looks away from you, smiling weakly at the floor, “Yes something like that, sleep comes rarely to me”

Your eyes flutter down to the ground, not really sure what to say, “I’m sorry to hear that” you whisper

You both sit there in silence for a few minutes. It wasn’t an awkward silence like what you were used to. No. It was a comfortable silence. You were both thankful just to have someone beside you at that moment. You shudder slightly as the wind picks up, making the hairs on your arm stand up. Zemo notices and slowly shrugs off his coat, placing it around you. You smile politely up at him in thanks.

“May I ask what your thoughts were?” Zemo asks gently, glancing back over to you

“You probably think it was about our failure, right?” you say and Zemo nods his head slightly

“They weren’t, actually. I didn’t suspect us to accomplish anything. It seemed to good to be true. No, I was thinking about what happened after. Between you and Sam”

Zemo’s face instantly shifted, his mouth pulling into a frown and his eyebrows furrowing, “Ah” is all he says

“What Sam said was way out of line. I can’t understand the pain you must feel about losing Sokovia”

Zemo hums to let you know he heard but doesn’t say anymore, his gaze just returns to the sky.

You didn’t want to push him too far. Over this time you had gotten to know him and almost considered him a friend, but you couldn’t help but be curious. You wanted to know more about him.

“But there’s more isn’t there. Something we don’t know,” you say gently

You can see him swallow and his fingers dig into his palms as he tenses at your question.

After a moment he finally responds, “Yes, you’re right. I... I had a family who died that day. My father, wife and child. I told them to go out of the city to the countryside. That was where my father lived, you see. I had to stay behind as I was a part of this Sokovian kill squad. Even as royalty, I still had duties. I had faith in the avengers. They would sort everything out. But they didn’t. When the battle was one they just returned home, leaving us with the hard task of finding all the dead. I assumed my family would be safe, yet it took me two days after to find their bodies.”

Your body gets overwhelmed with coldness as you hear his story. The memories of the battle flooded your mind and you could feel a bitterness creep into your mouth. You could have stayed behind to help. Why didn’t you? Your eyes water slightly as you sympathise with him and feel the guilt lie on your soul.

“Oh god Zemo, I’m sorry I shouldn’t have asked,” you are quick to respond

“No...it’s okay. If I didn’t want to tell you, I wouldn’t have said anything��

You look up to the night sky and reflect over his words. All the pain that Zemo must feel, holding onto, and you did not know. None of you did. You were sure if Sam knew he wouldn’t have said the things he did. You knew what Zemo did was wrong, but damn you couldn’t help but empathise with him.

“If you want…” you start, hoping what you were choosing to ask wouldn’t be going too far, “would you like to tell me about them?”

Zemo finally looks away from the sky, his eyes looking to the ground. He swallows again, slightly sniffing before speaking.

“My Son, Carl, he was four when he... when he died. He always did this cute thing where if he didn’t like the food on his plate he would pretend he was gifting the food to you to show his love for you”

You chuckle slightly thinking about it, “That does sounds cute”

“He was the most precious thing in existence. He always wanted a sibling like his friends had. He loved the idea of being an older brother. Every morning when the mail arrived, he asked if he had a brother or sister delivered to him. Me and my wife… we were planning on having more kids. We knew he would've made the best big brother. We hoped for a girl, you know, to even things out”

“What was she like?”

“She was so beautiful. Like the goddess Venus. Many men tried to win her affection, but she settled for me. I had never felt like a luckier man. She was so kind, so generous, so loving. My perfect angel”

The tears that had been threatening to fall from Zemo’s eyes broke the dam and fell down his cheeks.

“If I could, I would give up everything I have, everything I own just to hold them in my arms again”

A sob breaks out of him and he holds his hand up to his mouth as his eyes crinkle up as more tears fall. He tries to wipe them away, but he can’t stop crying. You put your arm around him and pull him into a hug which he gladly accepts. He wraps his arms around you and buries his head into your shoulder as he sobs.

“I miss them so much”

You say nothing, just rub your hand on his back reassuringly. He takes a few minutes before he speaks again.

“I tried to end my life after I completed my revenge. So I didn’t have to live another day without them. But I failed. I spent the next seven years without them. And everyday it feels like I’ve lost them again,”

“What do you plan to do… after we have finished here?”

You can feel Zemo’s body tenses in your arms as you ask that question, “I think you know, y/n”

You pull back from him to look into his blood-shot eyes. “Zemo, I know this is so very hard for you, but please don’t. I know with your wit and cunning you can think of a way to escape all of this safely. I will not pretend to know your wife, but if she is anything like what you have told me about, I’m sure she wouldn’t want you to either. She would want you to find some happiness in life,”

Zemo finally moves away from you, standing up off the tree log and taking one last look at the sky before then looking back at you. He’d stopped crying by now but the tear stained cheek and dark under eyes were evidence of what had just occurred. The side of his lip tried to twitch up into a slight smile but it faltered,

“Thank you, y/n”

Taglist: @multiyfandomgirl40 @ineffablebean @freyjasamael @avgravy @jayxkelsi @huntheimpossible @checkurwindow @there-goes-thefighter @bunniwritesx @montypythonsholysnail @yallgotkik

[nasaty]

Noctilucence

Student Aizawa x (she/her) student reader, so much angssssttt and grief and a bunch of fluff. (Do not bring any pedo shit into my presence or I will fucking destroy you)

This will be 9 chapters long. Ch. 2 here.

MANGA SPOILERS until episode 107 comes out. - also this requires context that I am not providing from MHA manga and the arc with Aizawa in Vigilantes. TW: death.

Lmk if you like it and I can post more!

Ch. 1 the Clouds

As someone who was uniquely talented and had a very useful quirk, the first few weeks of your first year at UA went by quickly. You were favorited by your new classmates because of your intelligence and your extremely powerful healing quirk, so everyone wanted you at their side. You decided to take the path of general studies, being that you wouldn’t be in combat much but more so in rescue services, you would be more well rounded that way. After the first few hectic weeks blew past, things seemed to settle and you realized you hadn’t made a lot of friends, just some colleagues and acquaintances, which was fine, networking is important, but didn’t make you feel like you fit in as much as you should. Everyone was friendly with you but usually just on the surface, so they can get you to you help them with something. You obliged, since the whole reason you went to UA was to learn to effectively help people in the first place. You drifted along in classes and were generally abject with your life, until you met Oboro.

You were asked to sit in on a few sparring matches by hero course 2-A’s home room teacher since recovery girl would be out for about a week. Since your quirk allowed you to heal from a distance, you stood with 2-A’s sensei and took in the abilities and personalities of your future colleagues. Being that they were in their second year and you in your first, you’d hardly seen them at all yet, but were mesmerized by their quick thinking and mastery they had obtained after such a short time. Though you meant to take notes, you were too distracted and hypnotized by each heros proficiency.

These sparring matches were essentially used as a practical midterm, so each pair had a designated time which meant you would probably be there all day, even though a few pairs went the day before. Each midterm took about a half an hour, sometimes more, and the heros seemed equally matched. Standing next to 2-A’s sensei, you felt small and cold because of the gyms air conditioning. One side of the gym was plain, almost like a basketball court. The other was a rocky, almost impossible looking terrain where the matches were taking place. You yawned as you looked at your watch, noticing it was well past lunch but neither of you had eaten yet.

The next pair came into the gym on opposite sides and shook hands, and the home room teacher blew the whistle signaling the start of the match. You instantly recognized their quirks; one had some sort of blast quirk that was very bright and dynamic, and the other had the ability of creating and manipulating clouds of some sort. It seemed clear to you soon after the whistle who would have the upper hand, but that flipped rapidly as the battle went on, immersing you in the adrenaline filled motions the boys made with precision. The larger boy with the sunglasses seemed to be somewhat irritated and yielded a bit, while the cloud boy with light blue hair was surprisingly agile and stealthy, even when his opponent’s blasts broke through his barrier. You hear him shout things a few times, almost teasingly at the larger kid, but it appeared to be light hearted.

Blast kid had connected one good hit on the cloud kid’s arm, and you heard it reverberate through the gym. You barely had the time to blink before thick clouds covered them both. Their home room teacher nudged you as if to signal to be prepared to heal either one of them since you had both lost sight. Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, cloud kid bursts from the top of the mist and pulled out a quarter staff, (you could’ve swore it appeared out of thin air,) and in no time, disappears into the mist again.

The vapor slowly dissipated and you saw cloud kid with an adorably bright smile on his face, while his opponent was pinned to the ground, scowling.

“I wasn’t even trying that’s why you were able to beat me. I don’t even care about this midterm,” he barked.

“Sure man, either way it was a good match! Thanks!” The winner said as he held out his hand to help him up. The other scoffed at him, stood up on his own, and mumbled something to himself. He exited where he originally entered the gym.

The homeroom teacher called out to cloud kid, “Oboro! Come here, that hit sounded rough.”

He lightly jogged over to you both, having not even broken a sweat, and was entirely gleaming. Seemingly bursting with energy he proudly shook his sensei’s hand as a small congratulations on the victory, and turned to you.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you around before,” he pulled out a granola bar from his pocket and started eating it sloppily. He spoke again before you had a second to respond. “Are you new here? A transfer student maybe? I’m Shirakumo Oboro, but you can just call me Oboro, or Cloud, or whatever you want. I don’t mind!”

For a second you were wary that he was being friendly to get you to do something for him, but then realized he had no idea who you were, so he was actually just that nice naturally. He surprisingly just met you and allowed you to call him by a nickname.

2-A’s Sensei leaned in, “Hey you’re on lunch now by the way, sorry it’s late, you’ve got an hour and a half till you need to be back here for the rest of it.” You thanked him silently with a head nod and he sauntered away. You made eye contact with Oboro.

“Hi Oboro,” you grinned, “I’m Y/n, I’m a first year so that’s probably why we haven’t met, but I am subbing for recovery girl today.”

“SUBBING AS A FIRST YEAR you must be pretty freakin cool then” he downed some water and some of it got on his shirt. “What is your quirk then?”

“I can heal people from a distance if I know what the issue is. So like if someone has kidney failure I can’t see that, so I might not be able to figure that one out, but if someone has a broken bone or something I can see that and fix it. So I’m learning a little internal medicine on the side so I can diagnose properly to heal.”

“Dang dude that’s sweet I just make clouds,” he bursted out laughing, and then heard your stomach growl, it has been a few hours since you’ve had anything to eat.

“Hey Y/n I have lunch right now too, do you wanna come down to the LRC with me? (what some kids called the Lunch Rush Cafe,) I can introduce you to some of our classmates.” You liked how he said our classmates, he’s genuinely very sweet and made you feel warm and welcome.

You started walking towards the cafeteria and filed into the hallway, following the crowd.

“I’ll still go down there even though I’ve eaten half my lunch already” he said pulling a sandwich out of his other pocket.

You giggled, “You have your whole lunch in your pockets?”

“Yeah?!” he stated with a mouthful, “you never know when you’re gonna need more energy, like after that match! At least I don’t eat those weird energy pouches like Shouta!” He laughed boisterously. You wondered who the heck ‘Shouta’ was.

You each went through the line in the busy cafeteria, Lunch Rush quickly handed you your meal and Oboro stuffed too many energy bars in his pockets.

“My friends eat on the roof if you wanna come up there! It’s….not exactly allowed but it’s not *NOT* allowed”

You pondered the thought of doing something that risky as a first year, but shook it off, knowing that Oboro wouldn’t lead you astray. Even though you had just met him, you were as comfortable as if you had known him for years. You nodded and hummed, signaling for him to lead the way, (you didn’t know how to get to the roof anyway,) and followed close behind.

[bleachhaven]

Young reader (appearance 21-27 range) seducing Shunsui and wanting to be his girlfriend. Reader pursues and is somewhat shameless about her feelings on his chest and butt.

A/N: There’s nothing I love more than Shunsui being showered with adoration! Thank you for your ask!

__

Kyouraku Shunsui being blatantly pursued

Newly recruited into the ranks of a squad, you were still a lower seated officer with barely any experience — battle or otherwise.

Sure, the Gotei 13 was full of very attractive men. I mean Kuchiki Byakuya was so attractive that the only thing that kept all the women at bay was his prickly personality. But you...you had eyes only for one man — Kyouraku Shunsui. To say you had it bad for the Soutaicho of the Gotei 13 would be an understatement.

Trust me, no one would blame you. He’s so sweet, and easy going but with a dangerous aura around him. Respectful and flirtatious and charming...the modern world just didn’t make them like that anymore. You could just tell that Shunsui would treat his woman right. And you were hoping beyond all odds to be that woman. Even if you weren’t even a blip on his radar. He was the Soutaicho and you were the youngest recruit, fresh out of the world of the living.

The first time Shunsui finds out about your ridiculous infatuation is purely by chance. He was at the pub all of Gotei 13 spent nights away indulging in sake and other spirits from the World of the Living. He didn’t frequent them as often as he used to but it was Matsumoto-san’s birthday and he couldn’t really miss his drinking buddy’s big day for anything. He was actually on his way out when he heard his name being mentioned by someone he didn’t know. So he stopped. He was drunk and curious enough to eavesdrop.

“Shunsui...” you sighed. You were surrounded by your friends. “How could I want any other man but Kyouraku Shunsui? Have you seen him? He is just so freaking hot!” You gushed completely unaware you were overheard by the object of your affections himself. So of course you carried on with the gushing and the sighing. “He is so muscular! He looks so strong! Like he could maybe lift me with one hand. Wouldn’t that make for some interesting bedroom activities?!” You winked making your friends laugh at your crazy crush on the Soutaicho...while Shunsui stood there listening in and found himself contemplating if he really was that strong. He shook himself out of his thoughts so he could focus on what you were saying.

“That ass. Those shoulders! That hair! Gosh! I just want to run my hands through his gorgeous brown curls and drag him down and just...I don’t know! I just want to kiss him. Oh heck. I just want to eat him up like...” Shunsui’s eyes widened in surprise. He hadn’t been so blatantly objectified and lusted after in a very, very long time. Not since his academy days...and that was literally a thousand years ago.

But before you could continue entertaining your friends with your ridiculous crush on the Soutaicho, one of them spotted just who was standing close by listening in to their highly inappropriate drunken conversation.

Finally caught, Shunsui offered the group a sheepish smile. You were red as a tomato, gasping in shock. “Soutaicho! Oh my god! I’m so so sorry!!”

But Shunsui simply smiled in that lazy way that made your heart flutter. “I don’t know if I am strong enough to lift you in one hand but I am flattered. Very, very flattered I must say.” Then with a wave he was gone, leaving behind a laughing group of friends and you embarrassed beyond belief

Shunsui was not going to take you seriously! He had absolutely no intention to. I mean compared to him, you were practically a baby with your whole life ahead of you. Why would you actually want to settle for an old man like him? Not that he has insecurities about his appeal to women but he can’t take your flirtations too seriously. So he doesn’t.

Except that incident at the pub opens the floodgates for you. Sure you were shy and embarrassed at the moment but it also sort of made it easier for you to make your interest known. And oh boy! Did you make your interest known or what?!

Every time you saw him out and about, you found yourself giving him the nod with a wink and a “hey there, handsome!” Nanao was scandalized of course. Shunsui on the other hand didn’t know whether to laugh or feel flattered by the compliment. Honestly he didn’t know what to do with you.

You got bolder as you went. If you caught him alone, you wouldn’t be too inappropriate but if it was around people, you would sidle up to him and say things like “ooof look at those guns!” Or silly pick up lines like “Are you tired from running around my mind all day?” Honestly it was ridiculous and Shunsui absolutely loved it. Who wouldn’t love being complimented so publicly?

You never held back words when it came to letting him — and anyone else who happened to be around you — know just how much you appreciated certain aspects of him. “I definitely could bounce a quarter off that booty! Damn!” Or “It should be illegal to show off that manly chest on a day to day basis!” Once, it went far enough for the words “Damn I’d tap that” to slip out.

Nanao, being the pragmatic individual she is, calls you a stalker but stops when she notices that he’s actually looking forward to seeing you as he goes about his day.

Eventually Shunsui decides to call your bluff, thinking you would back out of the whole thing if he seemed to reciprocate your feelings and actually asked you out on a date. He couldn’t think you were serious after all.

Except you don’t! And Shunsui ends up going on a date with you instead.

He honestly doesn’t expect to fall for you or have anything in common with you considering how different you two were but your love for the arts and beautiful things keeps the conversation flowing so easily that he finds he doesn’t want the date to end!

In the end, he’s the one to ask you out on a second date.

—

ASK BOX is open for requests!

You can check out more of my work on my Masterlist!

[kantrips]

Alistair & Celia Headcanon Collection

Some Amell x Alistair (largely fluff) headcanons! Includes some from Origins, Warden time at Amaranthine and the Inquisition-era. Some of these I have had since my first playthrough, but others I may have read elsewhere, loved and thusly absorbed so please let me know if I can link anyone!

Origins

The first time they meet at Ostagar, Celia thinks Alistair is the most fascinating person she has ever encountered because no one in the Circle had a particularly boisterous sense of humour. Alistair is oblivious to her heart eyes, and also holds back because he’s worried she won’t survive the Joining.

Even after the Joining, Alistair tries very hard not to ~feel feelings~ despite the clear signals Celia is hurling at him because he assumes she won’t like him once she gets to know him more/she will get bored of him/ she will leave like everyone else i.e. the boy is hecking damaged.

Celia laughs obnoxiously hard at all Alistair’s jokes because a) she finds them unexpected, and b) because, like a dork, she wants to prove she gets the punch line. Alistair is perplexed by her reactions at first, and cautiously wonders if she is mocking him. Once he realises she is genuinely amused, it bolsters his ego significantly. 

Celia has no concept of personal space and sits and walks very close to everyone. There wasn’t a lot of room at the Circle so she forgets she can spread out. Morrigan makes it clear she needs to back off (Celia doesn’t need telling twice) but Alistair is more relaxed and gets used to it quickly after the confusion of the first night when she blithely sets up her bedroll right next to his. Alistair assumes she is a bit scared of sleeping in the forest but really she is just accustomed to the need to cram as many apprentice bunks into a room as possible.

In a way, Alistair is also used to sharing small spaces (Chantry and Wardens) so it doesn’t bother him at all when Celia chooses to sit pressed against his side, walks so their arms bump together, or unconsciously brushes an eyelash from his cheek. He quickly grows to like her overfamiliarity (for some reason…).

Similarly, Alistair eats Celia’s leftover food if she can’t finish it or doesn’t like it, even before they’re a couple. She just offers one day and after that it becomes a given. The others side-eye them but they are happily oblivious.   

Celia gets in trouble from the rest of the party for getting distracted yelling encouragement and cheering Alistair during combat. In turn, Alistair gets in trouble for turning around mid-battle to thank her when she buffs or heals him. Morrigan advises that if they are both so determined to get killed, she is more than happy to assist with hastening the process.

Celia’s mabari, Trevor, is quickly accepting of Alistair and his proximity to Celia because he observes Alistair protecting Celia in battle and thusly deems him to be a ‘good dog’ and considers that they are equals in the pack.

Alistair and Celia vandalise each other’s wanted posters whenever they come across them. It gets competitive.

Celia doesn’t really want to be in charge of saving the world but has three things working in her favour: 1) she absolutely hates letting people down 2) has an intense need to finish what she starts 3) she is in possession of a bossy streak.

That said she spends the entire Blight screaming internally to an extent not even Alistair fully grasps.

They go to the Circle Tower first, because Celia thinks she will have the best chance of getting help from people she knows and is also ‘homesick’ in the sense that she is very glad to be free of the place, but stressed enough with everything going on to crave something familiar even if she resents it. The events there devastate her. Along with the loss of friends and mentors she has known since childhood, being trapped by herself in the fade particularly terrifies her as she has never truly been alone for so long before in her life. It reminds her of the Harowing which totally blindsided her. She is very teary, untalkative and introspective for some time afterwards, but both Trevor and Alistair have the correct instinct to stay close without trying to interact with her which she finds incredibly comforting.

Accustomed to making potions, Celia will not under any circumstances deviate from a recipe while cooking, whereas Alistair just chucks everything in to use up leftovers and see what happens. Alistair gets meals together super quickly whereas Celia takes forever. A little unfairly, Celia is perceived as the better cook because she produces very consistent meals, while Alistair’s experiments sometimes do work, and sometimes don’t, with people tending to focus on the disasters rather than the successes. Meanwhile Celia is rather: “should I add half a sprig of rosemary? No I mustn’t: it would be far too daring!” so everyone learns to tip their own seasonings into their bowl before even tasting her food.

When they’re travelling and walking for days on end, Alistair and Celia make up a lot of games in the vein of ‘I spy’ and ‘would you rather?’ They can occasionally persuade others to participate though no one enjoys them or gets quite as invested as Celia and Alistair (who are actual children).

A game stops abruptly one day when Celia guilelessly asks if Alistair would rather be Emperor of Orlais or King of Fereldan and he gets extremely defensive and answers, “Neither.” Having no context for this reaction (yet), Celia (a stickler for the rules) pushes him, insisting his answer isn’t allowed and that he’s cheating until Alistair gets grouchy, stomps off and refuses to play anything for days. 

Celia figures he must be overtired, but his unhappy reaction does come back to her later at the Landsmeet and contributes to her already firm resolve not to put him on the throne.

When bored, Alistair also periodically asks Celia to, “Do a trick!” with her magic and she usually obliges with something small and silly which Wynne always scolds them for (but they continue to do anyway).

Celia does not like Eamon one bit and makes it clear from their first meeting. Alistair actually gets a bit annoyed at her because she is polite to 99% of the other people they meet and he can’t understand what her problem is. Celia won’t say because she doesn’t want to drive Alistair away so she remains coldly civil towards Eamon and commences a long, looong process of nudging Alistair towards having the realisation himself that a) Eamon is manipulative, selfish and cruel and b) Alistair deserves better.

Celia wants to collect some of the books they find which is not practical given they are constantly travelling, but Alistair carries as many as he can in his pack and suffers in silence for it, ultimately finding it worth it for her enthusiastic gratitude.

Celia cuts Alistair’s hair and does a very respectable job after weeks of him complaining it’s flopping in his eyes (they used to cut each other’s hair in the Circle). Zevran pretends she did an awful job, gasping in horror at Alistair’s appearance, much to Celia’s ire. Alistair (internally weeping) tries to be brave until he can check his reflection in some plate mail and see it is fine.

Celia is very naïve about how the ‘real world’ works having been at the Circle since she was a child. This is especially evident in Denerim and Alistair has to explain how money works and grab her before she wanders down dicey looking alleyways.

Alistair nearly dissolves into a paroxysm of agony when he points out his favourite type of cheese at the Denerim Markets and (accustomed to the very limited range of bland foods provided at the Circle) Celia innocently asks, “There is more than one type of cheese?” Alistair makes it his mission to educate her. She doesn’t like most of what he feeds her but doesn’t say so to protect his feelings given he seems to take the matter so incredibly personally.

Leliana convinces Celia to sing one evening at the campfire. She’s breathy with a very limited range but manages okay, and Leliana plays and harmonises in support. Watching on with a goofy smile plastered over his face, Alistair comments to the surrounding companions about how talented she is and they’re like “…she’s really not mate.”

When they both wake up from a blightmare (or Celia has one and wakes Alistair with her flailing) they sneak about and eat anything they can find then sit up and have massive deep & meaningfuls (i.e. in the spirit of going for a long drive with a friend or being in the garden with someone outside a party and spilling your guts). Eventually they start blaming the depleted food stores on Leliana’s nug, Schmooples, much to Leliana’s displeasure.

Given Celia usually responds so well to his jokes, Alistair gets a bit peeved when Celia starts replying to some of his more severely self-deprecating humour with an unamused, “No you’re not,” or, “That’s not true.” He defensively argues it’s just a joke, but he does stop doing it so much as time goes on.

Celia is SO excited when Alistair gives her the rose. She never in her life thought she would be the recipient of a proper ~romantic gesture~…however she accidentally sits on the rose about five minutes after she gets it. Celia is devastated. There is a lot of panic and tears and she keeps one petal pressed in a book but has to unceremoniously ditch the rest in secret.

Celia doesn’t tell Alistair about this until years later and she’s terrified he’ll be hurt but he just laughs because he was so worried he was going to be the one to squash it and then she destroyed it basically the minute she got it. Alistair acknowledges it was an impractical gift given their situation. Celia gets mad and says it was a PERFECT gift and is annoyed at how funny he finds it given this has been a crushing, guilty secret hanging over her for years.

Following this, every time Alistair gives her any kind of gift, he can’t help but throw in a ‘Don’t sit on it!” and cracks himself up, especially when Celia gets grumpy about it and accuses him of spoiling the moment. It happens so often that when Alistair chooses a horse for her and plans to teach her to ride, Celia manages to cut him off with, “Yes, I know Alistair: I can sit on this one,” and steals his thunder.

Alistair periodically says Celia’s name just to check if she’ll answer, especially after a long period of quiet or to see if she’s awake à la screaming in the chantry because it’s so silent. When she responds he says, “Nothing” or “Never mind” but he finds it vaguely comforting just to hear her reply and it’s a habit he never loses, even when they have been together for years and he is much less isolated generally. Alistair doesn’t realise he’s doing it, and it never happens frequently enough for Celia to notice: she just assumes he has lost his train of thought.

They sometimes conspire to purposely fall to the back of the group while on the road so that they can hold hands. Everyone knows full well what they are doing, but Alistair and Celia think they are being incredibly ~sneaky~.

The first time they sleep together they laugh. A lot. Before, during and after.

Alistair snores loudly but only when he’s on his back. Celia is used to the noise of people sleeping around her at the Circle so it doesn’t bother her and she doesn’t want to disturb him because she knows he needs the rest.

When they are known to be sharing a tent however, their companions will slap on the walls of it and demand she kick him until he stops snoring. Celia will relent and gently prod and nudge Alistair until he rolls over with a bit of sleepy grumbling.

I think everyone has this headcanon to the point it is basically actual canon HOWEVER I am legally obligated to include it: Alistair is a professional body heat distributor and Celia drastically cuts down on the number of blankets she uses once they are sleeping together. If she stands in front of him on cold days, he understands the non-verbal signal and will automatically wrap her in his cloak.

Also might as well be canon: Alistair likes to be the little spoon. He doesn’t say, but Celia knows.

Decidedly not a fluff one (you can skip to Amaranthine to avoid) but the ritual with Morrigan fairly significantly messes Alistair up (both the act itself and his consideration of the repercussions i.e. Kieran). He’s jubilant and relieved at their victory over the Archdemon, but in the background struggles to process and there is some fallout once the victory celebrations lull and he has time to fully register what happened. Alistair grapples with a lot of guilt, disgust and confusion. He doesn’t know how to express it or where to direct his emotions so it mainly manifests as self-loathing. He wants to talk to Celia about it but can’t articulate his feelings which makes him feel worse.

Celia tries to comfort him, but he needs space on and off for a long while after and she gives him it. She feels a lot of guilt too, and never stops wondering how much it was actually his choice to do the ritual, worrying that she made him feel like he had to do it. Eventually they discuss it openly and honestly, which eases both of their minds somewhat, but it takes a long time to get to a point where they can talk on the subject. Meeting Kieran at Skyhold also helps Alistair down the line, though it’s obviously painful.

Amaranthine & Inquisition

Alistair keeps an eye out for people struggling, especially new recruits who are having trouble fitting in. He takes them under his wing and is very good at building people up and making sure everyone is included. He’ll just start enthusiastically greeting people like they are his best friend and squeezing himself onto the bench next to them at meals until everyone else follows suit.

For recruits that don’t respond well to his ‘mother hen’ type attention, Celia is good at assigning tasks that specifically highlight their strengths and builds their confidence/sense of purpose which also gains them the respect of their peers.

Alistair has been known to stand behind Celia while she is giving mundane orders/making speeches and pull faces or impersonate her, turning stony and impassive when she spins around accusingly because people are laughing.  

But if anyone else talks smack about her he gets very, “Sorry mate, just to clarify was that comment directed at my wife, your Commander, the hERO OF FERELDAN, VANQUISHER OF AN ARCHDEMON!? That’s lucky, I didn’t THINK IT LIKELY. Because that wouldn’t be WISE, would it now?” etc. with some loud, fake laughter and firm backslapping for the worst offenders.

The plan for them to part ways so that Celia can search for a cure goes very badly, especially because Celia (under a lot of stress and not coping™) eventually devolves into, “I’m in charge and I say so,” which is a big betrayal of their agreements both to stay together, and make decisions together on equal footing. She realises this and takes it back but Alistair is demoralised and gives in with a bit of petty, sarcastic reverence e.g. saluting and, “Whatever you say boss, don’t know why I dared to utter an opinion how foolish of me...” so they still part on slightly strained terms, even after later mutually apologising and trying to make the most of their time together before they go.

Both regret the argument during their separation and write horribly soppy letters to each other, but something still feels uncomfortably unresolved until they are together again. They pine. So much. It’s disgusting and cliched. There is considerable sighing and staring at the moon or deep into tankards, very much to the ire of those around them. Alistair can be particularly annoying: “This roll reminds me of my wife...she eats bread sometimes...”

After Celia sends the letter to the Inquisitor, she writes to Leliana directly along the lines of, “I know it was incredibly subtle but I wanted to check: did they get the message? That I will destroy them if Alistair gets hurt?” and Leliana replies in the vein of, “Hon, it wasn’t even remotely subtle ffs…”

When reunited, though ecstatic and nearly delirious with joy and relief, it takes a while to rebuild the trust they once had, especially for Alistair. There’s an unfamiliar awkwardness that flares up unexpectedly, but it doesn’t last and they’re both fully committed to each other and to staying together permanently this time.

Celia and Alistair have a conversation recapping everything that happened while they were apart in which Celia is all, “Poor Hawke. Honestly I’m shocked you didn’t do something obscenely idiotic like try and sacrifice yourself thank the Maker for that…” and Alistair is there, nervously sweating, looking for an exit, loosening his collar etc.

As they settle back into their old routines Alistair will occasionally blurt out things like, “I really like having breakfast with you,” and then berate himself internally for how trite that sounds but Celia replies on cue, “I love waking up next to you and the way you groan when you stretch your back out and the way you check your hair twice before you leave the room and the way you complain if I don’t eat my crusts and the way you still hold my hand when we’re walking...” and basically they’re just blissfully happy being comfortably domestic and even as they get older they are forever just teenagers in love.

The Wardens at Amaranthine acquire/receive a griffon egg and the hatchling imprints on Alistair and decides he is their mother. It can’t cope with separation, crying constantly if Alistair goes out of sight, and won’t let anyone else feed or handle it so Alistair carries them in a sling 24/7. He gets to give orders and run training sessions with the tiny griffon occasionally poking its head out just to glare at everyone.

Whenever the baby griffon squeaks, Alistair automatically replies, “Well said,” or “Excellent point, Ser Beaksly” with a totally straight face.

For the first few months, Celia gets nipped or scratched if she approaches Alistair unless he wraps the griffon up. It so badly wants to fight her. Celia is permitted to sleep in her own bed, as long as the griffon sleeps curled on Alistair’s chest and Celia doesn't try anything outrageous like touching her husband even fleetingly. It gets a little frustrating as the months drag on, but the image of Alistair with the sling over his armour, or with the griffon snuggling possessively around his neck staring daggers at everyone, is so entertaining that Celia can’t get truly annoyed about it. As the griffon gets older it does learn to tolerate other people and becomes more independent but remains very protective of Alistair and favours him above all others. Insert the ‘Ah yes. Me. My husband. And his thousand pound murder-bird-cat child’ meme here.

Modern AU Bonus Round

They share headphones while commuting.

They occasionally end up wearing sort of matching outfits, mostly unintentionally.

They consistently refer to their dog, Trevor, as their son to the point that people who aren’t familiar with them assume that they actually have a child.

[aknosde]

Omnes Una Manet Nox

The chronologically first installment of my Reyna Swap AU, Alea Iacta Est // Reyna Avilla Ramírez-Arellano // Fluff & Angst, but minor on the angst // the night before Reyna disappears //  tw: mentions past minor character death // light swearing // 4.4k

ao3

—————

“That went well, didn’t it?” Jason asks with that familiar, absently intense energy. They’ve just descended the steps of the Senate after their monthly meeting with the consuls.

The two consuls, in their late thirties, oversee all of Camp Jupiter. Of course, the legion manages their own grounds and budget, under Jason and Reyna’s command, but the little oversight they do get is from the consuls.

Johnson was one of New Rome’s praetors, a few years back. He doesn’t care much about the legion, being from a legacy family and largely skirting his training and service, and he never ceases to make that known. Malhill is the one that always gets under Jason’s defenses. He’s good on policy, good on veterans, good on kids, everything that they could want. But he was the legion’s champion only ten years ago. A direct son of Apollo, a talented archer but an even better bender of light, a legion praetor, and he’s had his eyes on Jason’s career since day one. Reyna’s seen the way he eyes Jason whenever she and Jason are in New Rome, already pegging him for a consul position once Jason’s old enough.

“It went well, Jace,” she says. “Your mission plan is flawless, the only thing that could make them happier is if you’d go on it.” She regrets the words as soon as they’re out of her mouth.

Her remorse is tangible, visible in the line of his spine, the way he taps the place in his pocket where Ivlivs would sit if they were not inside the Pomerian Line, the subtle flick of his wrist.

Not for the first time, she thinks about Mount Othrys. Everything it took from her. Sometimes when she sleeps–not often, but enough–it plays over in her head. But something is always wrong.

She’s leading the charge, but suddenly it’s Jason next to her instead of Michelle. Or Jason and Michelle run into the throne room, but when she closes the door behind them it locks. She makes it into the throne room, slaying all of the Dracaena, but when she enters Atlas is holding Jason over his head, instead of fighting him hand to hand. On the good nights, Michelle isn’t dead when she bursts through the door, on the bad, she watches Michelle die. The one constant is Jason, gold ichor dripping down his face in a horrific mask. When she and Jason land the killing blow, together, she can always see it.

He doesn’t talk about it, of course. Not about Michelle, not about his election, not about the mountain. But she can see it weighing on him through the big things, like how he hasn’t been out of camp borders since the battle, and the small things, like how he glances up at the stars, as if one will come down and crush him any moment.

She rolls her right shoulder, feeling the ligaments shift, as if it will rid her of the thoughts, prepare her for a topic of conversation that often hits a little too close to home.

“Did you hear how Johnson pronounced my name? He’s even worse than you.” Maybe the small huff of a laugh Jason expels is worth it. “‘Miss Ramírez-Arellano,’” she continues, in a nasally imitation of the consul.

“I don’t say it that badly.”

“You say it like a white boy who didn’t know Spanish was a language until two seconds ago.”

“Ramírez-Arellano,” he says, better than consul Johnson, but she still hates hearing it. That girl is long gone, the only thing connecting her to Reyna is Hylla, and although Reyna loves her sister, she’s grateful for the distance that keeps Hylla from being a constant reminder.

“‘We were– were very, erm, dazzled, by your most recent proposition.’” She continues the impression until they are walking through the Praetorian Gate, Jason half hanging off her shoulder and giggling like they’re thirteen again.

He has a nice laugh. A friendly one. It seems to feed off of her volume, her effort, fluctuating the longer he goes. He shouts at her to stop several times, but he’s doubled over in armor, snorting, and all she wants to do is make him laugh like this forever.

It only gets worse on the steps of the Principa, when he decides a good revenge plan is to trip her. The building is dark like the rest of the legion. Two lamps, invisible under the light of day, flank the double doors, but the light is faint and barely makes its way to the stairs, washing everything in a pale yellow. She side steps his foot–his sneakers have reflective decals on them for the sake of the gods, he’s an idiot–but he’s shifted his weight so much that he ends up tripping himself.

They stumble through the doors, still chuckling, and make their way across the great hall as quickly as possible. They must have gotten a new tender for the Principa, because the lights are off like they forgot that people actually live here. Only two people, but still. The darkness makes the place unsettling, and now she’s counting on Jason to keep her occupied. A job he seems all too willing to fulfill as he runs through the next set of doors, still in full armor, clashing against the wood.

Upstairs is worse, she decides. The abandoned lounge reminds her of her childhood living room. Any moment her father could rise from one of the low couches, ready to scoop her up and throw her in her room, that crazed look in his eye.

Something clangs and she jumps.

“What the heck is this?” Jason’s whisper-shouting when she catches up with him in the hallway outside their rooms. He’s partially on the floor–hands keeping him from being face flat–and something is crinkling under his knee.

For some reason all Reyna can say is: “Did you just say ‘heck?’”

“Shut up,” he whines, and she wishes the lights were on just so she could see his ears turning red.

“Of course, farm-boy.”

He’s sitting back on his heels now, she can see the object’s dark outline as he holds it up, rustling in his hands.

“Seriously, what is this thing?” he asks, looking up at her.

“A bag with my old clothes,” she says, squinting. “I was going to see if any legionnaires need some.”

“And you have it by your door so you don’t forget,” he says, explaining for her. In the stress of running for office, of war, she forgot the ways in which they are attuned to each other. She forgot that she doesn’t have to explain and defend her every little action to him. It’s sad that it’s taken her almost two months to remember.

He sets the bag back down, nudging it into almost its exact spot, and hefts himself to his feet with a sigh. His brow furrows once he’s standing, looking out into the middle distance, but he sees the quirk of her brow and quickly explains himself, “We have that meeting with the centurions tomorrow after breakfast.”

Jason is a social person. A true extrovert. He hates being alone, working alone, and the quiet that comes with both. So what he’s really saying is that he has work left to do and wants some company. And who is she to deny him that? “Do you want to work in the main hall, office, or my room?”

He grins, clapping his hands and then raises his palms to the sky. “Bedroom, praise Fortuna.”

“Five minutes, Sparkplug,” she says, bumping her shoulder into his own as she sidesteps him into her room. His eyes follow her as she goes, like she’s his North Star, and damn him for making her heart skip a beat, because in the empty space Venus’ words always echo. She stomps them down, before her face can fall, before the hollow silence can fill the hallway, and in their place she jams a smirk. “If you’re lucky I’ll even edit your speech.”

As her door clicks behind her she can hear him groan, “I just prayed to Fortuna.”

She stands with her hands on her hips, briefly surveying her room to decide what to do first.

Being praetor has its perks, like private bath and bedrooms across the hall from her best friend and king sized beds, but it also means she is no longer in the practice of keeping her space ready for inspections. Her comforter is pulled up, but her bed isn’t made, files are scattered across her desk and on her dresser, and her wardrobe is wide open.

She decides on doing everything at once, which involves a crooked path across her room as she shucks off armor, not bothering with her armor stand, and changes out of the nice clothes she wore to meet the consuls. All the while she turns on lights, puts on sweats, makes her bed, and tucks away files.

Jason knocks on her door five minutes later, that ever punctual bastard, just as she’s zipping her hoodie over her tank top.

“Help me, Reyna,” he says, holding a typed copy of his speech out to her in both hands like some sort of trophy. “You’re my only hope.”

She snorts, snatching the pages out of his hands. “Nice reference.”

He cocks his head to the side, brow furrowed, and she bets if he were actually a wolf one of his ears would be turned as well.

“You just made a Star Wars reference,” she says, but he looks just as confused.

“What’s Star Wars?” He asks warily.

She swears to herself in Spanish, because otherwise he’ll tease her about the legion’s anti-swearing policies, collapsing dramatically back on her bed, and sighs. “It’s a movie trilogy, wolf boy.”

“Ah.”

Another thing she forgot, apparently, is how little Jason knows about basically anything outside of camp. He says he arrived when he was three, and wasn’t even allowed into the city until he was eight, which apparently means he’s never been to a movie theater.

By now he seems used to her telling him about the more innocent aspects of the mortal world, and at the very least takes his lack of knowledge in stride. If only he would watch the movies and shows she’s downloaded on his laptop for him.

When she looks up after reading his introduction he is sitting at her desk, picking at some invisible blemish while subtly putting highlighters away, and looking around her room.

“If you start cleaning I’m throwing you out.”

He grumbles to himself, but she makes out a yes ma’am somewhere in the mix, so she decides to throw him a bone.

“If you want to occupy yourself I have a speech about legion veterans you can fact check,” she says, faux casual, not that he can tell. He needs to do something before he starts picking at his nails instead of the wood.

“Sure.”

“It’s in one of the red folders.”

“Would that be the one on the floor under your desk or the one on your dresser,” he says, sounding far too cheeky.

“The one on my dresser, and stop pretending you’re better than me, asshole.”

He clutches his chest dramatically, walking to her dresser. “Better than the best? How could I be?”

“Mmmhmm,” she responds, half ignoring him in favor of his speech, aware of the ticking clock.

It’s truly impossible for him to stay awake past ten, a fact that is only proven the next time she looks up and he’s asleep at her desk, pen still in hand and a research paper opened on her laptop. No matter how often she reminds him that the regimented lights out of the legion no longer applies to them, he just can’t seem to break the habit.

“Jason.” She nudges his shoulder, extracting the pen at the same moment so he can’t smudge her speech.

His head jerks, eyes alert, but voice groggy when he says, “What’s going on?” All legionnaires wake up in a similar manner, but for some reason it only strikes her as amusing when he does it.

She hadn’t thought of what she was waking him up for, besides a need to do it, and her mind wanders to the Forum, wondering if her favorite café would still be open at this hour. She’s starving, she realizes. Their meeting with the consuls had been pushed back and they had had to skip dinner to make it.

She grins. “Are you hungry?”

“Uh, yeah. How did you know?”

“Roof s’mores?”

“Reyna,” he drags out the last syllable, fading it into a sigh. “That takes energy.”

“Okay, but–” She holds her hands out, weighing them. “Would you rather spend the energy to just walk across the hall and go to sleep, or climb up to the roof with me and roast us a couple marshmallows?”

Jason looks at her like is that a real question? which had been her intention. She folds her hands into a pleading gesture and pouts emphatically–he’s always more flexible when she acts a little silly. “Please, Jace. I got that cheap chocolate you like. I’ll even get the stuff myself, you can go straight up.”

“Fine.” He rolls his eyes and she smiles, satisfied, and already on her way out the door.

The praetorian kitchen reminds her of office break rooms on television, besides the fact that it looks perpetually unnatural, mostly due to the fact that only three people go inside–her, Jason, and the Principa tender–and it’s always pristine. The only things actually kept in there are coffee, tea, and of course: her and Jason’s secret stash of s’more supplies, buried in the back of the cabinet with the untouched bowls.

By the time she’s through the roof access door, conveniently placed to hide it from the view of anyone on the ground, Jason is already sitting by the dark spot of ash that signifies their pastime. Because, yes, they started coming up here long before either of them were elected Praetor.

He’s a dark outline against the night sky, sitting criss-crossed and looking down at the façades of the other legion buildings, and briefly she has the thought that somebody could make a painting out of this. She slides her old Camp Jupiter ID back between the lock and door jamb, willing the thought to disappear with the potential of the fire alarm going off.

She shivers as she sits next to him, nose wrinkling with the cold now that she’s fully vulnerable to the elements. Without a word Jason removes his sweatshirt and passes it to her.

“I’m already wearing one.”

“Mine is thicker, trade me.”

And because he’s Jason, she does.

It’s slightly big on her, his shoulders just a few inches broader than her own, and a forest green. On the back is a printed vine of purple flowers and a date. She recognizes it as one of the prizes of the Ludi Florae, or Games of Flora, from Floralia last year. The festival sits right between April and May, and last year’s was the grandest of all. Or so Jason says. Everyone had been anxious about Mount Othrys, and apparently all of that energy had been funnelled into the events.

Reyna herself had been busy running for praetor. All she remembers from the festival is campaigning. And Jason, running up to her looking flushed, this sweatshirt thrown over one shoulder.

“Remember when I told you that you were the best, Jace,” she says sweetly once she is safely swaddled in his hoodie. He’s right–it is thicker.

Jason grins up at her, wrapping his hands around two marshmallows. “I may recall something along those lines having been said a long, long time ago.”

“Well, I just want to inform you that I retract that statement, because this sweatshirt is ugly and the cuffs are burnt.”

The electricity that had been slowly coursing over the ridges of his fingers flares for a second, and his hands fly open as if he was handed metal straight from the forges. “Oops.” Both of the marshmallows are burnt, but his lips are turned up in a poorly concealed smirk.

“I forget you’re a heathen,” she says primly, sticking her nose in the air instead of saying any of the less wholesome options at the back of her throat.

“Does liking burnt marshmallows make me a heathen?”

She pretends to mull it over for a second, extracting the rest of their supplies. “Yes. You have to buy the next bag because you’re mean and I say so.”

She takes the burnt marshmallow regardless, sandwiching it between her own chocolate and graham crackers. Jason takes three squares of the Hershey bar he likes for absolutely no good reason, and does the same. She shakes her head. He’s the fucking all American boy who sticks with the classics even when he doesn’t know they’re the classics. She has no idea how he does it.

They don’t talk while they eat, regrettably the silence reminding her of her childhood, no matter how hard she pushes against it. She looks up at the stars, trying to forget the cold kitchen, cold house, even in hundred degree heat. It’s times like this when the ring, and the chain she wears it on, weigh heavy on her neck.

It feels like a noose right now, just as much as it feels like freedom, like power, every other second of her life. Like a sentence, compelling her to pay for her crimes, to confess to them, to wreck her world so terribly that she would lose up from down and die. A fair punishment.

“What are you thinking about,” Jason asks a while after they’ve finished. She looks at him, sitting back on his hands, looking at her, not the sky. It’s dark on the roof, but the light from the street lamps seems to center around him. It glints off his hair, visibly blond even in the night, and pours into his eyes. They’re always so blue. So blue it looks fake. But they never cease to pull Reyna in. Sometimes she swears she can see lightning arc across his irises.

He’s always asking her questions like this. Innocent and curious, no ulterior motives, no goals. He genuinely wants to know. And if she doesn’t answer, he’ll drop it, because he always does. It’s not something she’s used to, even after all these years; this place she has in his mind, if not his heart. A place of utter respect. He doesn’t question her because he knows what she is thinking, and when he doesn’t, he accepts her. Would he still, if he knew what she did to her father?

She breaks his gaze with that thought. It’s too much. “My sister,” she says instead, and it doesn’t feel right to look back. Under oath, Reyna would say that Jason is the most important person in her life. Her best friend; the person she sees every day, talks to every day, eats with and works with. He is the closest thing she has to a family here. And she– And she loves him. Maybe as a little more than a friend. But talking about her sister while looking him in the eye feels too intimate, too intense. “She would like you.”

It is something to say, simply to say something, but maybe she isn’t wrong. There is something in Jason that reminds her of the Queen Anne’s Revenge, and not in the way that haunts her nightmares and twists her sheets around her until they become bonds she can’t quite break free of. Being on Blackbeard’s crew, that’s how Reyna learned hard work, in a way she never had before. It had instilled a drive in her, to change everything, to rewrite systems, to make something so beautiful it was unrecognizable. And perhaps Jason doesn’t have that same drive, but he knows the work. He goes out of his way to do it dirty and hard and long. He refuses to take the thousands of shortcuts he’s offered. And Hylla would admire that, she thinks.

“I had a sister,” he whispers.

For a second–just a second–she’s stuck. “What?”

“I had a sister.” He picks at a loose thread on his jeans for a moment, and that’s how she knows he’s serious, because he hates ripping his jeans more than almost anything else. He’s refusing to meet her gaze. “Thalia Grace.”

He says her name soft and tender. She can imagine him, standing over a hearth, cradling the name between his palms and looking at it the same way he first looked when he was gifted Ivlivs. Big, round eyes.

“That’s really nice, Jace,” she says, because he rarely surprises her, and for once she doesn’t know what to say.

He looks up at her, smiling tightly. His eyes are sad. Is that how she looks when she thinks about Hylla?

“You can tell me about her, if you want,” Reyna says when the moment becomes two, and then three, because Jason doesn’t bring up things he doesn’t want to talk about. But Jason also has his own ideas about debt, about worthiness, and it is clear to her that he told her about his sister in exchange for Reyna talking about her own.

He smiles at her. A real smile, if small. She feels warm, and it’s not from his extra thick sweatshirt.

“I don’t remember a lot about her, but… She had black hair. So dark, like the night. And her eyes, they were amazing. Bright blue, like a perfect sky. Sometimes I can see them, in this half-memory half-dream, and they’re so strong they look like how an electric shock feels.”

“Like yours,” she whispers, and Jason hums in a way that makes it frustratingly unclear if he heard her or not. She hopes not.

“When I was little,” he continues, after another moment of staring wistfully over the Twelfth Legion, “I used to imagine she was looking for me. That one day she would find me, here, be proud of me for– I don’t know what. Love me, or something. All that stupid shit.” He trails off again, picking at his nails, but she can’t bring herself to chide him.

There are things that she knows about Jason, true as the sun rising in the east and the pull of the moon on the tides and the sound of imperial gold on whetstone. She knows that he works hard, works with the public, flushes under the compliments of people older than him because he has never had a concrete parental figure. Not even one to hate, to fear, to mourn. She knows that he never trusts praise from these people because he knows his parentage, knows they know, knows that he is connected to his father in the eyes of these people in a way he doesn’t feel himself, and never will.

Truths of Jason that are pillars in her understanding of him, that were pivotal in their relationship. But like so many supports, they were never acknowledged. Truth has no need to be stated, and she has no compellence to state that which is unnecessary. He talks of Thalia, telling Reyna that he wants his sister to want him, to find him, and to love him not because he is a son of Jupiter, but because he’s him.

She doesn’t say, I don’t care about you because you’re the son of Jupiter, I care about you because you are my best friend. And she doesn’t say, I care about you because you listen to people, because you care about them and what happens to them so instinctively that I cannot understand it. She doesn’t say, I’m proud of you, and you should be proud of yourself.

She doesn’t say those things because he knows them, because they are truths, and truths do not need to be said.

But still, something must be done.

She– She’s always been bad at the physical things. She can do a handshake, a fist bump, but she has never been a hugger, no matter that Jason is. She’s never managed a hip-check, or a shoulder pat, or ruffled his hair in any way that wasn’t rough and meant to hurt.

But that doesn’t mean she can’t try.

She goes slow, leaning over slightly, feels the cool breeze breaking on her knuckles. Gently, perhaps more gently than she has done anything in her life, she takes his hands, detangles them, presses her finger pads against the bleeding bits where he’s torn his skin away. She closes her hands around his own, cups them in her palms.

He looks up at her, tears welled on his water line but nothing has spilled, and she feels his hands move in her own, feels him latch on, like when they were young and late for assignments, running across the grounds and refusing to leave each other behind. She looks into his eyes, wide. Electrifying. Just like she knew they were.

She waits for the moment to stretch and break, like moments oft do. Her last move is to give his hands a squeeze, hopefully reassuring, and he gives her another small smile and moves to wipe his eyes with the sleeves of her sweatshirt, the one he’s still wearing.

“We should probably be going to bed,” she says, because she doesn’t have anything else to say. He laughs, wetly, but in that way everybody laughs when they’re told something they already know. It makes her smile; it’s special when he does it.

Everybody isn’t wrong, she thinks as she and Jason part ways outside their rooms, Jason Grace is special. But not because he is the son of Jupiter. He’s special because Reyna had never wanted friends, and here he is, her best. He’s special because he does things, normal things, and they make her smile. He’s special because he does everything in his power to ensure he deserves the love he receives. And gods, she thinks, does he deserve it.

She slips off her necklace and gets under her duvet cover, curling up and fiddling with the cuffs of his sweatshirt. Chunks of the polyester-wool fabric are hard and melted from undoubtedly unfortunate rendezvous with electricity. She finds one, right where his thumb would rest, and rubs it between her own thumb and index finger as she falls asleep.

When she wakes up, she’s on a school bus.

—————

Others in this series: Amicus Certus in re Incerta Cernitur

[otakween]

Digimon Tamers - Episode 7

This episode was great. We finally learn more about the scientist people (HYPNOS) and Ruki/Takato get some friendship development. Not a ton happened (I can tell by my lack of screenshots), but as usual the vibes were great lol.

Notes:

Like I said in my previous post, this show doesn't have a formula. There wasn't even a battle or monster-of-the-week this time! So refreshing.

I really wonder where they're going with the "Culumon doesn't need a tamer/home" plot line. I kinda hope they respect his independence and the moral doesn't end up being "everyone needs a partner!" As a happy single person I kinda felt seen when he was like "loneliness? What's that? Sounds dumb!"

So HYPNOS is kinda like the FBI, tracking all of our internet activity. Seems sort of ahead of its time for 2001! That's a major concern nowadays (obviously). When they were like "if the general public found out they'd be furious!" I was like...woah. Prophetic. (Although maybe we were worried about that already in 2001. I dunno. I was 9...damn I shoulda been watching Digimon Tamers. I was the perfect age!)

Speaking of the internet! Ruki's grandma being into chat rooms and being like "maybe your parents will buy you a computer" was great (remember the "family computer?") Since Ruki's 10 (and her mom is pretty young) she has a young, hip grandma. It's nice to see an anime grandma that's not so stereotypical. The fact that Ruki was like "ew computers!" was unexpected...

I totally don't get why Takato feels it's okay to walk around in broad daylight with Guilmon in Tokyo yet everyone else hides their digimon. It's totally inconsistent! And then there was a scene in the school hallway where Jian was just chillin' with Terriermon on his shoulders. What the heck??

Ruki not wanting to be called "Ruki-chan" was great. Says a lot about her character. I wondered what the equivalent was though since using first names without an honorific is usually seen as a sign of closeness. I guess it's not that big a deal when you're 10? I checked the dub and they just made her angry about Takato referencing his dream about her. That was a smart way to localize it.

Guilmon fading in Takato's arms was very Infinity War Spider-man vibes. Especially with Guilmon's innocent reaction.

Whelp. I had to look up what "Yuggoth" was because it sounded familiar...it's an HP Lovecraft reference. I see what's going on here. There was that Cthulhu reference in 02 by the same director...

Good to see some non-stock animation of the HYPNOS people. They don't seem very good at their job lol. Maybe they need to get out of their little room more.

When Guilmon said "Renamon bye bye!" I died of cuteness ;w; Renamon doesn't treat Guilmon that nicely, but he still sees her as a playmate.

[pokemoncreepypasta]

Nasty Plot

[STORY SOURCE]

Does anyone remember that old Celebi event from 2011, released around the end of February?

There wasn't really anything notable about the Celebi itself, it wasn't shiny or anything, and its moveset really wasn't all that notable or special... Well, except for that ONE move.

When you put it on your HeartGold/SoulSilver game, it triggered some sort of in-game event that I had no idea how to access. Nobody ever told me what I was supposed to do, but I had no idea that it'd be anything like THIS.

It all started after I eagerly rushed in and out of GameStop to receive my adorable Celebi. It was one of my favorite Pokémon, and I was ready to play with it as soon as I got home.

When I started up my game, I gasped when I didn't see it in my party. I panicked for a moment, until I remembered I just had to go to the Pokémart to get it, and was relieved. I happily hummed to myself as I ran to the Goldenrod City's huge Pokémart place.

I talked to the delivery man. I didn't even pay attention to what he said and just skipped through all of his text.

Once all was said and done, I opened up my party. I went into a squealing fit when I saw Celebi sitting at the bottom.

I switched my new Celebi to the front of my party and then exited out of the menu. I ran out of the store and immediately turned around and talked to it.

”CELEBI seems to be feeling great about walking with you!”

I talked to it again.

”Woah! CELEBI suddenly hugged you!”

I squealed as I read that text. My Celebi already loved me!

I raced out of the town and went into the tall grass. I ran into a wild Drowzee.

"Psh, that's easy to beat..." I whispered to myself.

I selected fight and looked at Celebi's moveset. Leaf Storm, Recover, Nasty Plot, and Healing Wish.

I clicked on Leaf Storm. Leaves started swirling onto the screen, and knocked out the Drowzee in one hit. Celebi's Special Attack lowered afterwards. The battle ended.

I opened the menu and looked at Celebi's summary. I clicked on its moves. I then realized that Leaf Storm was the only move that did any damage, and it only had 5 PP. I decided that I wouldn't use Celebi for battle much, but I still wanted to play with it.

I took a moment to think about what I could do with it that didn't involve battling.

Then an idea hit me, "Pokéathlon!" I shouted out loud to myself. I ran to the Pokéathlon Dome and entered the Speed contest.

Celebi, Yam Yams the Yanma, and Dune the Dunsparce practically owned the entire competition.

I entered the contest again. When I next checked the clock I realized I had been playing the game for an hour already. I decided that maybe I should take a break.

Just as I was about to turn off the game though, I received a call from the Daycare Man. He had an egg for me.

I remembered that I had a Ditto and Eevee in the Daycare that I had forgotten about, so I raced back to Goldenrod City and went to the Pokémon Center.

I put all of my party Pokémon in the PC except for Celebi, just in case I wanted to hatch more than one egg.

Once I was done, I went to the Daycare Man. After hurriedly skipping through his lines of text, he handed me my egg.

"Alright, now we just gotta hatch it!" I told my Celebi, despite the fact that I was speaking to an inanimate object. I ran in circles for several minutes, then into Goldenrod, then back out.

I clicked on the egg's summary and sighed. This was going to take a lot longer than I originally thought.

I decided I would randomly battle a Pokémon for the heck of it. I ran into the tall grass and another wild Drowzee appeared.

I clicked on fight. I was about to select Leaf Storm, but I decided I would try out Nasty Plot just for the heck of it. I selected the move.

Puffs of smoke and questions marks appeared around Celebi. Then a hand pointing upwards popped above its head. Its Special Attack rose.

Drowzee tried to use Hypnosis, but it missed.

I selected Nasty Plot again for no reason. The smoke and question marks appeared once more, then the hand. Drowzee used Hypnosis again, but missed.

I used Nasty Plot one more time, just because I could. Same animation as before. Drowzee still attacked and missed.

I used Leaf Storm this time around. The Drowzee fell with no problem. Celebi gained its boosted experience, and the battle ended.

Not thinking anything of the battle, I went straight back to walking around to hatch my egg.

I walked over to the Daycare Man and noticed that he had another egg for me. I talked to him and skipped through his text like usual and received my egg.

As soon as I got my egg, an exclamation point appeared above Celebi's head. It nudged my trainer. She turned around.

My trainer turned south and stared down the route. Celebi slowly inched towards my character, then quickly retreated. Nothing happened for a minute. Then I realized I was in control now.

"Well, that was weird..." I muttered to myself.

I talked to Celebi again.

”CELEBI is a picture of innocence!”

I didn't really understand what that meant.

I opened the menu and clicked on my party. Instead of two eggs like I was expecting, there was only one.

"Where's my other egg..?" I thought.

I exited the menu and talked to the Daycare Man to see if there was some mistake of some kind. He informed me that my Pokémon were doing just fine, and that they didn't seem to like each other. I pouted.

I turned around and talked to Celebi again, to see if maybe it could help me.

”CELEBI is a picture of innocence!” 

That information didn't help me much.

I sighed and gave up. I couldn't think of anything else that could help me get my egg back. I decided I would just run around and try to hatch the one egg I did have.

After a couple of minutes of running in circles I got another call from the Daycare Man. He said he had another egg for me. I was already standing by him, so I walked a few steps and spoke to him. He said the usual, then gave me my egg.

As soon as I received it though, an exclamation point appeared above Celebi's head. It nudged me the same way it did last time. My trainer turned to it, saying that Celebi pointed to something in the distance.

My trainer turned down the path again, and Celebi slowly inched towards her, and then I was in control again.

I immediately went to my party. Again there was only Celebi and one egg.

"What keeps happening to my other egg..?" I asked to myself, which lead to nothing. I exited out of the menu and talked to Celebi.

The same text appeared as before. I scowled, and talked to it again. "CELEBI is a picture of innocence!" Again, "CELEBI is a picture of innocence!" No matter how many times I talked it kept saying the same thing over and over again.

I really didn't know how to react. I was a little creeped out, but not much. I decided it would be best to just shrug it off and keep playing. I started running around a bit more, not really knowing what else to do.

After a single minute I got very bored, and talked to my Celebi again.

”CELEBI is thinking.”

”CELEBI got an idea!”

I waited to see what it would do, but nothing happened.

I checked on my egg to see how close it was to hatching. It was turning out to hatch a lot sooner than I had expected. I exited out of the menu and took a step.

"Oh?" The textbox appeared.

It took me to the scene where my egg hatches. I squealed as I waited for my new baby Eevee to hatch. It cracked, cracked, popped open...

“Nothing hatched from the Egg!”

Nothing was in the egg.

"Hey, what gives?!" I yelled at my DS as the screen started to fade away.

Once it was back at the overworld, I looked at my party. There was only Celebi. I exited and talked to Celebi.

”CELEBI is a picture of innocence!”

I glared at it, wishing that it would fess up and admit it had done something. I kept talking to it over and over, but this time it kept saying the same thing over and over.

I eventually gave up. I ran into Goldenrod and went into the Pokémon Center. I went inside and talked to it one last time.

”Huh? CELEBI is holding something...”

“Would you like to take it?”

I was a bit shocked, and clicked yes.

”Oh! It seems just too important to let go!”

I scowled and went to the PC.

I put Celebi in and replaced it with my female Umbreon, Angel.

I left the Pokémon Center and went to the Pokéathlon Dome. I thought that maybe if I played there for a while and left Celebi alone for a bit, then it might go back to normal. I entered a couple of contests, but failed at most of them. I couldn't focus straight.

After playing for only about thirty minutes, which isn't long for me, I decided I wanted to pick up the rest of my team and proceed with the game's story.

When I went into the PC, I gasped. None of my Pokémon were in there.

Except for Celebi.

I selected Celebi and put it in the first of my party.

I was on the verge of just releasing Celebi, but before I could consider it, I realized that Celebi was holding an item, which it was suspiciously hiding behind its back, no doubt.

"Stake..? What the heck?!"

”Stake can’t be taken away.”

I tried taking it away to investigate, but it didn't work.

I was now completely confused at everything that was going on. I scowled and exited the menu. I talked to Celebi one last time.

”CELEBI is a picture of innocence!” 

I highly doubted that.

I walked out of the Pokéathlon Dome. Not long after I had taken a couple of steps I got a call. It was from Joey. He talked about his top percentage Rattata, as usual.

”CELEBI wants to meet Joey!”

When he was done talking, Celebi nudged my trainer and prompted this text, along with a Yes/No option. I selected no and continued walking. I was still pretty fed up at Celebi having gotten rid of all my Pokémon, and I wasn't about to cater to its requests.

But after a few more steps Celebi nudged my trainer again. I selected no once more, then walked a few more steps.

But I was stopped again. I sighed and selected yes. I didn't really have much left to lose anyways.

My trainer started to spin like when you use an escape rope. She teleported in front of Joey. He started talking to my trainer without me pressing anything. I wasn't given a yes or no option.

Instead Celebi snuck up behind Joey, then quickly flew back to my trainer.

I was then given a yes or no option. I selected yes, thinking it was the best answer.

The battle started. Joey threw out a Pokéball.

“Youngster Joey sent out nothing!”

But instead of his prized Rattata coming out, nothing appeared on the screen.

My trainer threw Celebi out.

Before I could select anything, Joey's sprite moved back onscreen.

“My RATTATA! Where is it?!”

The battle then slowly faded to black.

Once it got back to the overworld, Joey spoke.

“My RATTATA... It’s gone...!!”

Joey's sprite started moving around, as if he was searching for his lost Pokémon. I immediately turned to Celebi.

”CELEBI is a picture of innocence!”

I was getting really annoyed at this Celebi, even more than I already was.

Celebi suddenly flew away from my trainer. I was wondering what it ran away for.

That was when I noticed the POKÉDEX, trainer card, BAG, and POKÉGEAR options in the menu were missing.

I growled out loud and started to chase after Celebi. It was waiting for me just off screen. As soon as it saw me though, it started to fly away. I chased it in circles for several minutes, but it was always much faster than my trainer.

I eventually just stopped.

After a few moments, Celebi floated back over to my trainer. I talked to it again, but the only thing I got out of it was the urge to strangle that legendary so badly right then.

I opened the menu and looked at my party. Angel was missing.

"Alright, that's the last straw..!!" I gripped my DS so tight I nearly broke it in two. I exited out of the menu and thought about what to do for a moment. That was when one of the biggest light bulbs ever went off in my head.

I turned my DS off.

I hadn't saved the game since I had received Celebi from the delivery man, which I was very thankful for now. I sighed in relief, thankful for it all to be over.

I turned my DS back on. When I got to the menu, I selected "Continue".

When it had finished loading though, my trainer was standing in the middle of virtually nothing. Everything was black.

Before I could react properly, Celebi floated up to my trainer.

I talked to it, prompting its now signature catchphrase. A heart icon appeared above its head.

Then it quickly floated away, and my game froze. I tried moving, pressing every button, but nothing would work. I turned my DS off, hoping that my save file would work this time around. When the title screen loaded back up, I pressed start.

”The save file will be erased due to corruption or damage.”

I threw my DS to the side and screamed into my pillow. I wildly thrashed my arms and legs about like a possessed child.

Once I had finished letting my anger out, and my throat had become sore from too much screaming, I sat up. Tears began streaming down my face. I sat there and cried my heart out.

After several minutes, I had stopped crying. Although still sniffling, I grabbed my DS. I went back to the menu and selected, "New Game".

When it loaded, I was shocked to see that I was in Goldenrod City, with Angel right behind me.

As soon as I took one step, I got a call from the Daycare Man. He said he had an egg for me.

I ran to the Daycare. I talked to the Daycare Man, slowly going through his text this time, and I received my egg. Afterwards, I opened my party to look at my egg, just to make sure it was still there.

When I opened my party, I breathed a sigh of relief. My game was back to normal, and I could finally hatch my long-awaited Eevee.

Maybe it's just because I had gone through so much emotional torture just to obtain it, but I had a really good feeling about this egg.

Whatever this Eevee was when it hatched, I vowed to cherish it.

After running around for several minutes, my eyes sparkled with hope as it prepared to hatch.

But I was met with a horrifying wake up call...

“CELEBI hatched from the Egg!”

"No... Nooo!!!"

I scowled to see that familiar face next to me in the overworld. I checked my party, and Angel was gone yet again.

I spoke to the little devil just to see what it had to say for itself, and it replied with one simple thing...

“CELEBI is a picture of innocence!”

[itsnothingofinterest]

BNHA is a series that really loves foils and parallels. This is an understandable love, because it’s a cool concept, and it’s generally agreed BNHA does it in cool ways. The way the villain trio each foil one of the main UA students, or Endeavor & his family and Ujiko & his Nomu, Izuku again and Shinsou…Hawks & Twice I guess.

But one that I think is really cool, yet doesn’t really get brought into discussion a whole lot, is All Might & Shigaraki; because those two actually have a lot of interesting similarities. So having notices their similarities, it seems only fair to compare and contrast them. It is my duty as a BNHA meta writer after all. So join me, and let’s go over what cool things these guys have in common.

The way of the Shimura

One thing they have in common is the teachings on Nana…at least in that, every quality All Might learned from Nana is also present in Shigaraki. The near constant smile that exudes an aura of confidence, and the habit of remembering your origin and motivation to power through the toughest of hurdles. And in addition, there’s the fact they even have a plan for the toughest of hurdled like that despite their god-like power; because being OP is no reason not to give it your all like you’re a cornered rat.

But what’s interesting about this is; they got these traits from different sources, and that has an effect on how they use them. All Might learned this stuff from Nana, and its stuff he consciously does as a result. He told Deku once that he smiles to stave off his fear, and his origin power up was preceded by him remembering Nana telling him to remember his origin for a power up. The smile is actually something he’s ended up inadvertently teaching to the next generation, with guys like Deku & Bakugou sporting big grins to mimic their hero.

Shigaraki however, did not learn these traits (I mean he’s obviously not mimicking All Might, and no one ever told him the limit breaking trick). No, instead he almost seems to have inherited these tricks, and as a result he does them far more naturally. He doesn’t stave of his fear with a confident smile, he just is confident. He doesn’t have to remember to get a boost by remembering why he’s fighting, he just kind of does it as soon as things get rough (assuming he doesn’t do it from the word go). And it’s impressive enough that he seemed to figure out the limit breaking trick on his own in the first place. What I’m trying to say is that Shigaraki is better than All Might.

No but I do think it’s a cool detail how they have these traits in common due to their connections to Nana, and how they individualize these traits due to the difference in those relations to Nana.

Literal Symbolism

Moving on to their most ‘neat little’ similarity, and one that’s pretty easy to pick up on, is their status as symbols to their allies and enemies (including civilian level guys on both sides of the conflict). They both have this way of inspiring faith in everyone on one side of the conflict and great fear on everyone on the other. Heck, Shigaraki has on occasion been called a symbol of fear in reference to All Might’s common title as the symbol of peace.

Even if it might be a minor thing overall, I actually think this is the coolest parallel between the two because it’s something nearly equal yet opposite about them; because generally speaking, the people one of them inspires are the people the other terrifies. Those on the heroes side, weather on the front lines or watching on TV, hold All Might in the highest regard and are terrified of Shigaraki & his League of Villains. Conversely; anyone who doesn’t support the heroes, whether they be some level of criminal/villain or just a civ unsatisfied with the current system, tend to be afraid of All Might but find Shigaraki appealing, perhaps even inspiring of hope.

That last bit I think is actually the biggest difference in the types of symbols they are though. Although both inspire fear in their enemies; what All Might inspires in his allies is peace, ease, he is here to save the day. What Shigaraki inspires in the unsatisfied or oppressed is, in some way the opposite; hope. The way things are now is going to change, former certainties are inverted, and things are getting flipped on their head; and for those at the bottom, that sounds like it could turn out pretty good for them. That’s the biggest difference in how those two exist right now.

How to Change the World in 10 Very Violent Steps

But I think the biggest thing they have in common is; Tomura’s goals and the way he goes about getting them are not to dissimilar to how All Might did things when he was starting out.

They both had the same starting point; thinking that society is really messed up and someone should to do something about it. And so under a powerful mentor, they set off to fight against vague bad things like “crime,” “oppression,” “apathy,” “conformity,” & “injustice”; which they quickly figured could be done by fighting specific groups of people responsible for the badness, either ‘villains’ or ’heroes,’ and on occasion some specific person or people on the top for at least a while.

From there, using all their power and great determination, and with a variety of motives from altruistic to rooted in personal revenge, they do all they can to oppose their enemies and bring them down. And anyone who gets in their way, well they get what’s coming to them; and no fuss is made because they probably deserved it if they were working for the bad guys. Besides we know their type; they’re the people who “spread chaos” or “sweep their mistakes under the rug” or whatever. So it’s okay, even if they die. And you may be wonder what I’m talking about because All Might’s never killed anyone; but remember that Hero Aca’s Japan is pretty big on the death sentence if Tartarus’ existence means anything, so he is at least “responsible for deaths.” But again, they deserved it so it’s okay; or at least that’s the mentality.

And honestly, even though we can tell the big difference in morality between their actions; it’s easy to see why Shigaraki couldn’t, and instead see their actions as the same. After all, Shigaraki thinks of the government & specifically those running the hero system as just as despicable as All Might perceived All For One to be…and he is not far off on that so far. But the difference is in those below them. AFO’s empire was protected by criminals; while hero society is protected by heroes. And we can tell the difference there, but why would Shigaraki? He’s an outsider to society, so he just sees another rival empire; what’s the difference to him between the villains that maintained AFO’s or Overhaul’s order and the heroes maintaining their own order?

(Of course, there is the vast difference in civilian casualties to consider, but we can’t expect too much from a guy taught morality by AFO.)

But y’know, I’m actually interested in the implications there. Because if Shigaraki is, in a sense, where All Might once was; what might that mean for his future if he were to succeed in his ambitions? And what might that mean for Izuku, who’d likely be coming after him.

Conclusion:

So what’s the point in all this? Well for one, it’s cool. Foils are cool, simple as that; but especially when we’re talking about two of the coolest characters in the series. All Might & Shiggy are both symbols, they’re both connected to Nana and both got the same things from her, and they both wanted to improve what they saw as wrong in society, and did/do so through violence. But there’s more to fils than aesthetic.

What really interests me by looking at their similarities, and what I want to close on, is the cyclical implications that arise from them. For you see, while All Might intended for Deku to be “next” it doesn’t look like that’s how it’s gonna turn out; not immediately anyway. Or, to go further back; first there was All For One as the driver of society, and then he got beaten & in a way usurped by All Might. Now it seems Shigaraki will be the one to fill the vacuum All Might left as the one to shape society, and then if things stay on course, Deku will beat him and fulfil that position himself. If that is how things turn out; it will imply a cycle of great heroes and villains taking the reins of society from each other in great battles, possibly for as long as heroes, villains, and quirks shall exist. And that sucks; which means somewhere along the lines, something is gonna have to change.

[dizzydancingdreamer]

Showers and Cuddles and Blood, Oh My! | The Mikaelson Boys

Hey lovelies! Coming at you with another Mikaelson boys sharing fic because the last one seemed to go over well! I'll probably continue on that route if the response stays the same. I mean, heck, if I can have all three I'll take all three so why not! Hope y'all enjoy! Stay tuned for more, I have some juicy stuff in the works ;) Much love <3

Description: Elijah and Klaus leave Y/n with Kol for the weekend while they're out hunting enemies, all is well until they return, scared and hurt. Y/n works her magic Y/n powers and makes it all better. Happy ending yay!

Pairing: The Mikaelson Boys x Fem!Reader, leaned in Klaus' favor

Warnings: THIS IS AN 18+ ONLY FIC!!! Angst-y, mentions of blood and battle, Smut (not full, just foreplay things)

Word count: 3909

Tags: FLUFF, angst-ish, smut

(Photos not mine but the mood board is :) )

“Kol, pass the popcorn,” you yell at him from across the living room without dragging your eyes from the television screen, not willing to miss a second of The Bachelor just because he’s hogging the snacks.

He’s had the bowl in his lap for the vast majority of the show, slowly munching away on the goodies you had made. If he was on the couch with you there wouldn't be a problem, you could just scoot over and you wouldn’t have to look away, but he’s on an armchair across the room. To be fair, you had made him sit there. You didn’t want him to distract you. Kol’s attention span is worse than a kindergarteners and when he gets bored he gets touchy. Literally. One caress from Kol would pull all your attention, a risk you were not willing to take.

You can feel his gaze on the side of your face but you remain strong, “why don’t you come get it, huh princess? Isn’t it lonely over there?”

He’s bored and trying to make you cave. His words hit hard in the pit of your stomach and your thighs clench. Your cheeks flame but you refuse to pull your eyes from the scuba date this bachelor has taken his date on. You can’t remember her name. She’s blonde and tall, but so are all the others girls on the show. You’re only a couple episodes in so you’re yet to really lock down the details. To be honest, you don’t ever really remember the names until the last couple episodes.

You can hear him start crunching again and you swear you see red for a second, “Kol, damnit, give me the popcorn. Now!”

All he does is laugh, pushing you over the edge. One second you're on the couch and the next you’re across the room, ripping the bowl from his loose grip. You don’t eat it, though, you just resist the urge to throw it across the room before setting it on the coffee table. His face is smug as you stand in front of him, simmering with something hot. It’s not rage though and that pisses you off. He won and he knows it.

He leans forward, pulling you by your hips towards him, a sultry smirk on his face, “come here.”

He scoops you onto his lap, pulling your mouth to his and wrapping his arms around your shoulders. You sigh into his mouth, your legs dangling over the edge of the chair. Your hands find his hair and tug gently at the roots. You can feel him smile against your lips.

“It’s impossible to watch anything with you in the same room,” you mumble as his lips trace your neck, stifling a traitorous moan, “this is the third time I've attempted this episode.”

“I’m sorry,” no he’s not, “I just missed you.”

How he could miss you even slightly right now you have no idea. Elijah and Klaus have been gone for a few days, off hunting an enemy they refused to tell you about, leaving you to the youngest Miakelson’s wills for the entire weekend. To say you’ve left his sight for even a few minutes would be lying. Not that you didn’t soak up every second of time with him. It’s not everyday you get to be alone with one of them without feeling bad about ignoring the others. It’s a tricky situation.

His hands grip the edge of your tee, ready to pull it off, “you’ve had me to yourself for three days. An hour without touching me will not kill you, Kol.”

Even as you say it you cant help but attach you lips to his neck, leaving a few small kisses before sucking harshly at the base of his throat. His hand grips your hip and you know that if you were still a human it would have left bruises. The other wraps in your hair, pushing you against him a little bit harder.

“Ah, fuck, yes it will, princess.”

He starts lifting your shirt when the front door opens. Heavy footsteps land in the front hall and the smell of mud and something sharp hits your nose. You pull back from Kol slightly and he doesn’t protest, just as intent on listening.

“I, fuck,” you hear Klaus hiss from the near the door, causing your heartbeat to spike, “I’m not healing as fast as I should be.”

As fast as it had spiked, your heart stops, “it’s the wolfsbane, she knew it would slow the process.”

You look into Kol’s eyes, your blood running cold, a feeling you had forgotten existed. As soon as he nods you’re flying out of the den and into the front hall where you stop dead in your tracks. There you find Elijah. At least, you think it’s Elijah. It’s hard to tell who it is by the sheer amount of mud caked onto their body. Head to toe, mingled with something bright red. You already know what it is. Wherever there isn't mud on his body there’s blood, still wet in some places. You can smell the metallic tinge in the air and your heart breaks.

What’s worse is his face. His eyes look shattered. Like all the life has been drained from them. Your chest squeezes painfully at the sight. Your Elijah, your rock, ready to crumble. His hands shake at his sides. He just stands there, looking at you like you’re about to disappear. Klaus is no where to be seen.

“Y/n,” Elijah falls to his knees, the thud echoing through the silent house, “baby.”

His voice is small and, if it’s even possible, scared. In less than a second you’re in front of him, hugging him impossibly tight to your stomach. His arms wrap around your waist as he clings to you desperately. He’s trembling in your arms. You feel like someone’s hand is wrapped around your heart, crushing it. You move to sit down, pulling him against your chest.

“Eli, what happened honey?” Your hands bury themselves in his hair and you wish for his sake that it was under the same circumstances as it was with Kol.

“There were too many, Y/n, they must have had close to a hundred men,” he pulls you onto his knees, burying his face in your neck, “they weakened us before they attacked. I don’t know how. Magic, maybe. Sealed off the land so we couldn’t get out. They just kept coming, I’ve never seen anything like it. Even after their hearts were out they kept coming.”

For a man who has seen the very worst that war has had to offer, he speaks like he can’t comprehend the battle he was in. Like all the wars before this one, even combined, were nothing compared to what he just witnessed. His words make you cry for him. They make you angry like you’ve never been before. You clutch him tighter to you, placing a kiss to his matted hair. His relieved sigh brings some comfort but not enough to make this all better.

“I was so scared, baby,” he chokes on his words, his voice dripping with cold relief, “I thought I was never going to see you again.”

You sob at his words, burying your face against his head. Somehow, beneath all the mud and blood, there's still a hint of Elijah. This faint pine scent that makes you crumble against him and hold on for dear life.

“They did something to Klaus,” your heart drops further in your stomach, “they injected him with something. I think it was wolfsbane but I don’t think that’s all. He’s not healing as fast as he normally does.”

You gasp at his words, “Elijah?”

He shifts, pulling back slightly. There are tracks on his cheeks, glimpses of skin, where he had been crying. You reach to wipe some of the dirt from his face, letting your own tears flow freely. He turns his head into your hand, closing his eyes for a moment and kissing your palm. For the first time since he got home you see him smile slightly.

“He needs you, baby,” always the noble one, your Elijah.

You look at him, reluctant to leave him like this, “Elijah I-”

His warm lips cut you off. You revel in his taste. It hasn’t changed and for that you’re eternally grateful. He kisses you slowly, his hands cradling your face carefully. You savour every second his lips are on yours, memorizing every line and curve. You could stay in this moment for a life time.

But Klaus needs you, too.

“Go, I'll see you soon,” he places one last kiss to your lips, smirking slightly, “besides, I really need a shower.”

You run your hand over his hair one last time, pulling out of his hold and making your way up the stairs to Klaus’ room. Any of the relief you had felt from Elijah disappears as fast as it had come. There are muddy boot prints leading to his door, his jacket, sopping and caked in grime, dropped on the floor. His flannel, less caked in mud and more so in blood, piled a few feet away from the jacket. It brings tears to your eyes once more. The part that makes your heart stop, though, is the scent. You can smell the blood before you're even halfway down the hall, hot and tangy.

A sharp bang sounds from inside his room, followed by a pained groan. You knock lightly on the door, unsure of whether or not to just walk in.

“Go away, Elijah,” he sounds angry but his voice lacks it’s usual passion.

“It’s not Elijah. It’s me, Klaus, it’s Y/n,” your voice is quiet but you know he can hear you.

He pauses for a moment and your chest constricts, wanting nothing but to hold him and make it all better.

Then you hear it, he’s crying, “Y/n?”

As soon as he says your name, sobs your name, you’re through the door. At the sight of him, as it was with Elijah, the wind is knocked from your lungs. He’s on his knees, a ghostly parallel to his brother, but he’s bleeding. He is coated in blood from head to toe. His arms got the worst of it, soaked to his elbows like a pair of crimson gloves. There are slices all the way down his torso, deep ones. His head rests on his hands, his shoulders shaking furiously from the cries wracking his body. Klaus has never been small but right now, curled on his bedroom floor, he looks undeniably smaller.

“Oh, baby,” your voice is a hoarse whisper and he looks up at you with tortured eyes, his mouth falling open.

You run to him, falling to your knees before him, letting him pull you against his chest. His skin is hot, working in overdrive to heal the cuts. You rest your face in the crook of his neck, kissing his skin softly. Your arms wrap around his chest, trying to avoid his wounds but it’s impossible. They’re everywhere.

He clutches you tightly, his body shaking uncontrollably, “it was mother, she turned these hybrids into something else. Dark magic or something. They were dead but they kept coming.”

When he pulls away slightly to glimpse at your eyes, your breath catches in your throat. Up close you see them, bites. All over his arms and chest. Huge hunks of skin torn from parts of his body. Thankfully, they appear to be healing but not nearly fast enough for your liking. Your eyes well up again and you let the tears drop with his. He’s terrified. Your soldier is painfully afraid and it breaks your heart for the millionth time today.

“Klaus, what can I do, you need to tell me what to do sweetheart,” your hands cup his face, trying to wipe the droplets but they keep coming.

He sighs into your touch, his shoulders relaxing slightly, “just stay with me for a little while. Please, love? Don’t leave.”

Your heart aches for him thinking he even needs to ask, “of course I won’t. I’m not going anywhere. It’s just you and me, darling.”

He nods, standing on shakey legs. You follow suit, letting him pull you into a proper hug. Now that he’s on two legs, he towers over you, his face pushed into your hair, breathing deeply. After what feels like hours, he stops shaking. You just stand there, your arms tied around his waist, rubbing circles on his back. He still feels strong under your touch. He’s still your Klaus. Just a little bit worse from the wear.

“Come on, let’s get you cleaned up, yeah?”

You run your hand over his face before grabbing his hand and pulling him with you to his attached bathroom. He follows without protest, moving his hands to your hips as you lead him towards the glassed in shower. You let him go for just a second while you start the shower which elicits a groan of protest. You turn the dial to a gloriously warm stream before going back to the muddy blonde. Your muddy blonde.

You reach up, drawing his lips to yours in a gentle kiss. He dips into your touch, pulling away to lean his head on your shoulder. You reach for the button of his jeans, popping it open with both hands. He places a soft kiss to your shoulder, just as you had earlier. You’re pushing him to keep touching you. It will ground him. You tug the zipper down before stepping away.

You give him a millimeter smile and revel in the way that, despite everything he’s been through, his eyes still dance over your figure when you pull the tee over your head. Your chest swells in pride that you can make him forget some of the pain and let it give way to love. You step out of your leggings next, letting them pool at your feet. His eyes roam every dip and curve of your body, igniting some of the fire that has been missing.

Standing in front of him, you’re left in nothing but your black bra and matching panties. He pushes his own jeans down his legs, leaving them as he walks back to you, twirling you so your back is to his chest. It’s working. His hands on your back make you shiver. His fingers trace your spine lightly, trailing up until they stop at your bra clasp. His lips land on the back of your neck, pushing your hair to the side as he nips lightly at the skin. His fingers skillfully undo your bra, pushing the straps down your arms until it falls, joining the growing pile of clothes at your feet.

His arms circle around you, pulling you flush against his hot chest, “so beautiful, love.”

You release the breath that you didn’t know you were holding at the sound of his voice. He sounds better, a little more Klaus like. A little more in control. His hands are flat on your stomach, dragging down you abdomen. His thumbs hook in your panties as he pulls them down your legs. They, too, join the pile at your feet. He grips your hips with strong hands, pressing another kiss to your shoulder, pulling your skin back into his mouth and biting down harder with blunt teeth.

You spin in his arms, drawing his face down to yours once more, “Come on, darling, water’s getting cold.

You press a quick kiss to his parted lips before scampering into the shower, a cheeky grin plastered on your face. He wastes no time in pushing the boxers down his legs and joining you under the warm water. He hisses quietly when the water hits the bites, closing his eyes. You pull him into your arms for a moment, allowing him to adjust to the pain. You can’t imagine what he’s going through right now.

When he opens his eyes again, you grab a washcloth that’s hanging idily to the side and a half empty bottle of soap. The label says ocean breeze and you can’t help but giggle. You lather the soap, which, for the record, actually smells pretty good, over the cloth before bringing one of his arms to your chest. That’s where you start, rubbing the material gently over his stained fingers, watching the stream of water pool deep red at your feet before swirling down the drain.

When you finish with his first arm, you move to the next. Over his bicep, down his forearm, caressing his wrist and palm like you had the other. He sighs when you place a kiss to his knuckles, gently putting his arm back by his side. Somewhere between his left arm and his right he had let his head fall back against the shower wall. Your heart soars to see him finally start to relax.

You move next to his chest, beginning at his collar bone. You run the cloth over the nastiest bite, one of the only ones still left healing. Klaus grips your waist when you do, clenching his jaw tightly.

“I know hun,” you coo to him, kissing his tensed face, “I need to do it, though. It’s almost over.”

He doesn’t answer, not verbally at least. He just wraps his arm around your shoulder, placing a kiss to the side of your head and letting you continue. You do your best to rub the dirt away quickly before leaving it be. You move down his chest, over his defined muscles, swirling the cloth over his skin lightly, drawing some quiet groans from his lips. They aren’t pained this time, however. They're something else. More familiar. Hotter.

You run the cloth down his toned stomach, savouring every crevice and dip, drowning in the praises that are flowing louder from his mouth. Heat grows rapidly in the pit of your stomach and before you know it you’re holding back your own sounds. Your head falls against his chest, his hand wrapped in your sopping hair, as you pass his belly button.

“Fuck,” he yanks your head up, crushing his mouth against yours deliciously.

The cloth falls from your hands, replaced with his shoulders which your grip furiously when he flips you around, pushing your back against the tiled wall. His mouth moves to your neck, sucking harshly and drawing the first moan from your lips. His fingers draw down your shoulders, tracing the curve of your breasts, his thumbs rolling over your nipples, pulling a gasp from your mouth.

“Klaus,” you’re panting and he’s hardly touched you, “this is supposed to be about you.”

“Trust me, love, it is,” he says before placing his mouth over one of your breasts.

Your hand flies to hair, holding his head against you, the other clutching desperately at the shower wall behind you. His hands find your hips, holding you against the wall beautifully. He bites down lightly on your nipple before running his tongue over it soothingly. Your whole body feels like it’s on fire, everywhere he touches you white hot. His blue eyes find yours through the water streaming around you, shining brilliantly for the first time since you found him.

His hand dips down, trailing fire down your stomach, until his fingers swipe over your clit once, then it’s lightening. His eyes are on you, watching every little movement you make. He does it again, drawing closer to your core, his thumb circling your most sensitive part. He stands up fully again, his lips finding your ear, tugging it between his teeth.

“God, Klaus,” you’re a mess at his touch, “please.”

He smirks at you, pausing his actions, his voice a husky whisper against your skin, “what should I do, love? Tell me. Shall I take my time or finish this now?”

He’s back. This is the Klaus that you’re used to. Fully self-aware and dominant. Strong. Above all though, he’s undeniably yours and yours alone.

“I- Klaus,” you tug his hair, pulling to try and regain a semblance of control, “I need you.”

He kisses your earlobe once more, his voice low and sultry, “as you wish, darling.”

* * * * *

What feels like hours later you emerge from the shower, dripping and sensitive but beyond happy, a pleased Klaus trailing close behind you. His hands refuse to leave your body as you lead him into his bedroom. There he opens his dresser, pulling out a black t-shirt that will most definitely swallow you and a pair of boxers and handing them to you before choosing a pair of grey sweatpants for himself. You pull his shirt over your still wet hair, revelling in his scent. You follow it with his boxers, fully embraced in all things Klaus.

“Now that is a sight that will never get old, love,” Klaus’ breath tickles the back of your neck as his arms wrap around you.

You lean into his touch, playing back the memories of his body tangled with yours under the shower once more.

“Back at you, Sweetheart,” and you mean it, he looks positively eddible in those sweatpants.

He growls lowly, sending another incessant wave of heat through your body, “love we need to leave this room before Elijah tears the door of it’s hinges. I’ve been listening to him and Kol pace for the better half of two hours.”

“Kol,” you say loud enough for him hear from anywhere in the house, which isn't very loud honestly, “can wait. He has had three days. He needs to learn to share.”

You swear you can hear him pouting from the kitchen as Klaus chuckles softly. Footsteps echo up the stairs, stopping right outside the door. You smile up at the blue-eyed blonde in your arms, knowing exactly who it is. He kisses your forehead, mouthing that he’ll meet you soon.

You open the door to face a tired but grinning Elijah, “Kol can wait but I'm just about done, baby.”

You can’t help but admire him, standing in the doorway in a simple hoodie and shorts. This is the side of him that only you get.

“Well, sir, how can I argue with that?”

“Uh huh,” he shakes his head at you, pulling you into his arms, making you erupt with giggles when he walks away, leading you back to the den where this all began.

You wave to Klaus, who winks back at you, mirth laced deep in his irises. You tuck your head into the crook of his neck, closing your eyes, finally at peace.

The night ends with the four of you cuddled on the largest couch in the den. Your back is against Elijah’s chest, his arms circled tight around you, not letting you go for anything. Klaus’ head is in your lap, his legs sprawled behind him on the remaining length of the couch. One of your hands is laced through his hair. His are clutching your legs. He’s fast asleep. Kol sits on the floor, your other hand resting around his shoulder, pulling him to lean back against your side. There's a fresh bowl of popcorn on his lap. He still isn’t sharing any of it. The television screen shows the image of a man and a woman scuba diving together. You couldn’t be happier to finally relax with all three of your Mikaelson men.

[stellar-imagines]

SCENARIO REQUEST: ❝a silent voice.❞

[ Fandom: Boku no Hero Academia ] [ Characters: Bakugou Katsuki ] 

「Scenario of Bakugou, Midoriya and Reader who were childhood friends and one day, Bakugo loses his temper and sets off a loud explosion causing Reader to lose her hearing. Years later they meet at UA and Bakugo didn’t know about the hearing loss before she introduced herself in class.」

BAKUGOU KATSUKI

“I’m deaf.” those were the words you wrote when it came to your turn to introduce yourself to Class 1-A

Bakugou had thought you looked oddly familiar. Standing in front of his classroom, fiddling with your UA uniform with a few other people he don't recognize, lined up next to you. Aizawa went ahead and introduced the Support Course students who will be working with the Hero Course students for a special assignment. The ash blonde didn't seem that excited to be working with someone he barely knew. Heck, he never liked group projects to begin with anyway. When the pairs were being announced, the ash blonde kind of waited until he heard your name to be called because he wanted to know if you were someone he knew before.

"Bakugou Katsuki and [Last Name] [First Name]."

Now that he heard your name, he recalled being in the same class as you were back in the first year of Middle School. Bakugou couldn't remember properly because it was such a long time ago but he recalled that you, along with Midoriya were childhood friends. You had to move to Osaka because of your father's company moving headquarters or something along those lines. Since the end of first year in Middle School, he hasn't seen you nor contacted you. He remembered you at the girl who stuck by his side like glue, admiring his quirk just like Midoriya.

When you approached Bakugou, you gave him a nervous smile, offering a handshake. The guy grunts and looks away as Aizawa and Power Loader went on to explain the assignment involving the two classes. It was a fairly simple assignment, the Support Course students were to design an support item for their assigned student whereas the Hero Course students have to utilitize the support item in their battle with other students. It's nothing too difficult as Support Course students often made their own items during their free time. Just after the class was dismissed, Bakugou watched as you gave him a small wave and walked away.

"[Nickname]! It's been a long time." Midoriya had approached you, much to Bakugou's surprise.

"[Nickname]?" Bakugou muttered to himself. It didn't take long for him to actually remember that you were one of his so-called childhood friends, someone who tagged along with him back when he was much younger.

He knew you but at the same time he didn’t. You weren’t the meek quirkless girl back then who didn’t have friends to hang out with except for him and Midoriya. Bakugou finds your behavior a bit weird and creepy. You refused to speak to him whenever you see him and when it comes to discussion, you’d both just text each other. How you got his number was surprising but he soon learned that you had asked his classmates. It would’ve been much faster if you asked him directly. He did mention that to you but you relied with overhearing that he didn’t like giving away his contact number to just anyone. You had a point there but this was different.

Working with you wasn't as difficult as he thought it would be. You were very open to new ideas and had no trouble telling him outright that there were things that you couldn't do or things that just can't work. Bakugou was on his way to your workshop when you told him that you finished a prototype for him to try out in the training gym. You wanted to record a few things along with his feedback. On his way, he spotted Midoriya and you talking but from his perspective, it seemed like Midoriya was the one doing most of the talking. From a distance he could see Midoriya speaking while making hand gestures. It didn’t seem like you were talking that much though but it was a given since you’re deaf.

It so happens that Bakugou was supposed to pass through this very hallway to get to your workshop. You waved a goodbye to the green haired boy before jogging towards your workshop. 

”Why the fuck are you gesturing your hands so much you nerd? It’s not like she’s a fucking kid.” Bakugou grumbled when you were finally out of sight.

”K-Kacchan!?” Midoriya jumped slightly, surprised at the ash blonde’s sudden appearance.

”Damn girl. Who the fuck does she think she is? Does she think I’m going to learn sign language for her sake? How did she even end up like that to begin with?” Bakugou wondered out loud.

“You mean.....y-you don’t know?” the shorter boy’s expression was a mix of surprise and confusion.

”Know what now?”

He felt guilt twisting the insides of his stomach when Midoriya spilled everything to him. He didn't realize that loud explosion had caused you to go deaf. At that time, he was super pissed at Midoriya for standing up to him and acting like a know-it-all. He recalled you jumping between the two males to stop the dispute but alas Bakugou had let out a loud explosion and rang in our ears so horribly that caused you to collapse onto your knees. He assumed that you were overreacting when you cried and held your ears, calling you both weak and a waste of time before leaving the two of you alone. It was the end of his first year in middle school and you had moved before he knew what happened with you.

“[Nickname] lost her hearing before she moved. When you used your quirk last time, it completely damaged her ear.”

"Oi." Bakugou spotted you walking in the hallway, carrying a box filled with his equipment in it. Now that he's standing right in front of you, he couldn't faintly make our the burn mark by your ear that was undoubtedly his doing. You tilted your head, wondering what he wanted from you. The guy motioned you to hand over you items which roused more confusion.

"Hand it over." he said. You blinked a few times, wondering what's with the sudden change of heart. You weren't sure what to do when he just took the box out of your hands and began walking. You stood there in silence, opening your mouth to speak but stopping midway. You can no longer remember how your voice even sounded like and had a feeling Bakugou will mock you for it so you stayed quiet.

He stopped all of a sudden when he didn’t see you follow him. Bakugou turned around and make a gesture, telling you to come over. You followed without any hesitation and stood by his side. He grabbed your hand, causing you to jolt in surprise before gazing up at him as if to see what he was trying to do.

”I don’t know if you can hear me or not but I won’t fucking let go because I won’t know if you disappeared or something.” he muttered. You blinked a few times as Bakugou began dragging you towards the direction of Gym Gamma.

Looking at your joined hands, you found yourself reminiscing the times you said his hands were special as it was the source of his quirk. It was warm, big and calloused from training. Even though he may be the reason why you don’t have the confidence to speak and proper hearing, he’s still someone you looked up to. Bakugou was not a bad person and this just proves it right. Even after this whole project ended, the two of you still keep in touch with one another. 

You bumped to him in the hallways quite often and you would give him a small smile and wave at him. Bakugou would respond in his own way, giving you a glance and nodding his head. This time round, the two of you were with our own respective friends. You waved at them but it was meant for Bakugou. The other guys, Kirishima, Kaminari and Sero waved back and said hello to you while Bakugou did the usual. Your own friends greeted the group of boys with a brief good morning. Once you were about to walk away, Bakugou stopped right in front of you which caused you to do the same.

Bakugou briefly signed a goodbye to you which was quite surprising because you never knew that he learned sign language. Then again, the two of you never actually talked besides through texting. You find yourself smiling and signing the same thing before jogging over to your friends. Bakugou finds himself avoiding your gaze as he signs something again. The guy left right after you wave a small nod of acknowledgement.

”Whatcha signing over there with [Last Name]?”

”Is it some secret code or something?”

”Hah? We’re not 10 year olds, you idiot.” Bakugou scoffed.

”Since when did you and that Bakugou guy get so friendly with each other?”

In response, you shrugged and hid your blushing cheeks from your friends.

Go out with me on Saturday.

Was what Bakugou had signed before you two went your separate ways.

Total: 1566 words Published: 05.05.2020

Thank you for requesting! ｡٩(ˊᗜˋ)و*｡ Hello people, it’s the third week of online classes and I feel like it’s been a decade. ― author Lou

Thank you for requesting! We’re both suckers for Silent Voice? But we can’t do something as amazing at that.― author Natsuki

Requests are closed for now! Matchups are closed!

Please do not mind the grammar mistakes and typos.