#i have no clue whether she's actually serious this time or if she's making me stressed over nothing

[tuesziday]

My mother is threatening to put the house up for sale (again) and it's happened so many times that I can't tell if she's actually going through with it or not

[emotionally-damaged-carrot]

Eggsy Unwin x Male reader

New Recruits pt.1

I just thought of this when we had a power outage. I was planning to also make this a slow burn type shit? Idk if I'm good with that, so I will give it a shot. I tried to proof read but got bored half way, hehe sowwy.

Warning: none

Enjoy 🫰

"Fall out."

Merlin said as Y/n stood in the control room, feeling his whole body, his pockets, searching for that one missing object.

"You alright there, Excalibur?"

Merlin asked me as he entered the control room looking at him with a questioning look.

"I think I forgot something in their dorms."

"You can get it after the test."

"I need to get it now, Merlin."

Y/n exited the control room and opened the door to the dorms. Merlin was right behind.

"You can get your stuff after, Excalibur."

He crossed his arms as he stood in the doorway while Y/n walked around the dorm. The candidates giving me a questioning look.

"And who are you, you look too pretty to be in that suit. How about taking it off?"

Chatlie said, so he heard Merlin call him earlier. Y/n merely glanced at him as he continued searching.

"Back off, Charlie, or I will not interfere with the consequences of your actions."

Merlin warned.

"What's wrong with flirting with a cute boy?"

Charlie responded with a smirk

"Excalibur, hurry up so the tests continues smoothly pls."

Merlin called out to Y/n as he was on his elbows and knees looking under the beds and everything.

"Just a moment, I see it."

He reached out his hand under one of the beds and pulled out a piece of paper. He stood up and smiled at Merlin while waving the paper.

"I found it!"

Y/n exclaimed in joy as he walked towards the exit and leaving, Merlin rolled his eyes.

"Excalibur?"

Eggsy asked with an amused smile.

"He is the weapon of Arthur."

Merlin said as he left the room not before saying goodnight to the candidates.

"What the fuck does that mean?"

Eggsy looked at Roxxie for answers but she shrugged.

"Just get to bed, we have quite a day ahead of us."

Roxxie said as they went to their beds.

A few hours after they got to bed to sleep, the room began to fill with water.

*You lot get this shit already, please I am too lazy to write the whole thing 😭😭😭 nothing changed dw.*

"Good job, Charlie and Roxxie for firguring it out, if some of you are still clueless, if you manage to get a tube down the U of a toilet you have unlimited air."

Merling said as he looked at the candidates.

"However, you all failed."

Y/n said with a smirk as he crossed his arms.

"What do you mean?"

Charlie asked with an angry tone.

"Watch your tone, boy."

Y/n gave him a glare, his previous cheery mood now gone.

"The vital asset we are looking for in a kingsman, is teamwork. Look back inside and see if you can spot the reason for your failure."

Y/n said with a serious tone, the candidates looked back inside the dorm to see the body of a girl lying there lifeless, some let out gasps of surprise.

"Excalibur will lead you all to your actual residence while in here."

"Hey, I thought you said I would only observe? I'm not even meddling this time."

Y/n crossed his arms in protest.

"Yea, and you can observe whether they won't have trouble getting to their beds."

Merlin smiled at Y/n.

"Whatever, baldie."

Y/n ran out of the room laughing after saying it, while Merlin was about to hit him with the clipboard in his hands. Some of the candidate let out laughs while the others snickers.

"Follow him and he will lead you to your beds. Bloody childish."

Merlin said as he also left the room.

"Where would he be?"

Roxxie tried to ask Merlin but he already left and her voice slowly getting more silent. After waiting a few moments they heard some ruffling behind them and Y/n jumped into the room through the broken mirror.

"I heard a door, is he gone?"

Y/n asked as he hid behind the candidate and peeked out.

"He left."

Roxxie replied, confused.

"Now, about those beds, I actually have no clue where."

Y/n walked infront of them and stood there with a sheepish smile.

"I know a bed you can join me in, Love."

Charlie flirted, Y/n just gave him a disgusted look and motioned for them to follow him. Some of the candidates laughed.

———

"Right, now as you already know, teamwork is the most vital quality of a kingsman."

Merlin said.

"So, you lot are going pick a dog for the rest of your recuitment process. Go ahead."

Y/n continued.

"Eggsy, that is uhmmm.. nevermind."

Y/n spoke up slightly snickering after he saw Eggsy pick up the pug, with delight. He knew then that Eggsy was clueless.

"yea?"

Eggsy said confused.

"Continue."

Y/n hid behind Merlin who also had a ghost of a smile.

"Now, all of you run around the place 10 times with your companions, and you are not allowed to pick them up."

Merlin said as Y/n went down the stairs on to the grass.

"Excalibur will be observing and making sure nothing bad happens or no one cheats."

Merlin went inside the building.

"Chop chop then, get your packs beside me and get to running."

Y/n pulled out his phone after saying it and began scrolling on social media. The candidates did as their told, grabbing a pack and began to run.

"Who are you, exactly?"

Eggsy asked as he stood beside Y/n.

"Get to running before I give you a reason to run."

Y/n responded not even glancing at him.

"Can't you answer a simple question?"

"Can't you do a simple command?"

Y/n now stood up, 'he's just as tall as Harry.'

Eggsy thought to himself.

"Start running."

Y/n leaned down to come face to face with Eggsy. After few seconds, Y/n stood back straight and let out a way too high pitched whistle.

"Are you trying to defean me to run?"

"Look behind you."

Eggsy looked behind him just in time to see two massive dogs running towards them. He immediately picked up his pug and hid behind Y/n.

"Pick, you run of your own free will or you run for your life?"

Y/n asked as he stepped aside, the two dogs sat infront of them looking intensely as Eggsy.

"Former, thank you."

He said as he began to run.

"No carrying your dog or these two will have a snack."

Y/n shouted, as Y/n was about to sit on the grass the massive dogs jumped on him, nearly suffocating him and their fur was just too much and they kept licking his face. He let out a few screams of their names and soon he managed to stand up and began to run away fromt he dogs. But he was ultimately unsuccessful and the dogs tackled him and began licking his face and wagging their tails.

As this was happening the candidates that were near Y/n or heard his screams stopped to look at what was happening. They were laughing at his expense, after a few moments the dogs got bored and laid down of him, one on his chest and the other on his belly, bothe crosswise.

"Fucking hell, you lot should be running."

Y/n tried to scold them but he was having difficulty breathing with the dogs on him.

"Can someone help? I may be strong but if you have these two ass hats on you, your will to live becomes non-existent."

He managed to say even tho he was minutes away from passing out. The candidates' laughs were slowly dying down and they tried to help Y/n.

"Jesus, what the fuck are these dogs made of?"

Charlie said as the dogs refused to get up, and i stead of biting them, the dogs just let them to whatever.

"Usually they are very curious and try to explore new people, not in that way."

Y/n managed to free his arm under the dog and began tried to get his upper body up. He failed, horribly.

"Fuck sake."

He said out of breath as the candidates were tired and just sat beside him petting the dogs.

"What the fuck, stop petting them and help me."

Y/n said angrily, Eggsy began to pet Y/n's hair.

"Are you taking the piss, Unwin?"

Roxxie let out a snort as she saw.

"Excalibur, What the bloody hell is happening?"

Harry shouted from the stairs and began to make his way towards them.

"Dogs."

Y/n managed to shout out.

"(You decide on the dog names), come on, get off him."

Harry said as he tried to get the dogs off Y/n, they immediately got off him and began licking Harry's face.

"Fucking finally."

Y/n said as he sat up and took deep breaths.

"Hurry up, Merlin needs to have word with them."

Harry got up with the dogs standing beside him as he motioned to the candidates.

"You heard the man, fuck off."

Y/n laid back down on the grass.

"You're not off the hook for petting me instead, Unwin."

Y/n shouted and Harry let out an amused chuckle.

"I missed a lot, must've been fun?"

Harry sat down beside Y/n as one of the dogs went away and the other laid down beside Harry and rested it's head on his lap and he started petting it.

"I need to have words with that boy of yours, Hart."

"And you will."

.

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 406: Secret Menu Hero Name

Previously on BnHA: Kacchan was all “NOT EVEN DEATH ITSELF CAN STOP ME!!!” and saved All Might so easily and spectacularly that it immediately became clear why Horikoshi had to keep him on ice for fourteen months straight. All Might was all “thanks for the assist Bakugou-shounen, now please allow me to show my gratitude by lending you my SWEETASS ROBOT ARM that nearly gave makeste a fucking heart attack when she saw it, HOLY SHIT.” Kacchan was all “I JUST LIKE TO SMILE, SMILING’S MY FAVORITE” and he smiled the BIGGEST EVER and indeed has literally not STOPPED smiling ever since, and my heart is warm. <3333

Today on BnHA: A jubilant menace stirs in the air. A chill runs down Kid For One’s spine. A sudden crash behind him. He whirls around, only to be met with the face of Chaos itself in all its raucous glory. The boy is relentless. His pursuit, unending. His blows, unyielding. And his mirth, as perplexing as it is petrifying. What the fuck. Why won’t he stop laughing. He’s laughing. Horikoshi is laughing. The readers are all laughing. You’re laughing. Kid For One is shitting his pants while this cackling sleep paralysis demon gleefully chips away at his frail sanity, one frenetic BOOM at a time. And you’re laughing. :|

doo de doo, don’t mind me, just gonna scroll past the first couple pages of this chapter so I don’t get spoiled for the outcomes of all the other mini-battles I haven’t finished catching up with yet :’)

though I already caught a glimpse of a bloodied-up Shouji before I realized what was happening, so unfortunately that particular cat is now out of the bag. can’t believe the suspense of whether or not Shouji would survive his fight is now completely ruined for me. can you even imagine how tense it would have been wondering whether or not Shouji would get killed off. ...and you know what, even as I type this, I’m realizing that this is really not the type of sarcasm that translates very well across the internet, lol. and even if it did, it could just as easily come across as “WOW, MAKESTE REALLY DOESN’T CARE ABOUT SHOUJI AT ALL, HUH” sarcasm, rather than the “it’s not that serious guys, it’s just that there’s no possible way Horikoshi could ever convince me that he was actually going to kill off one of the kids” sarcasm it was intended as! so yeah. you know what, I’m just going to shut up about all this now and move on. glad he’s okay though

so now back to the Main Character Battlefield, where Kacchan is currently having way too good of a time for someone who actually WAS killed off by Horikoshi fairly recently

All Might is all “he’s so fast!” and yeah he really is lol. ngl, I had a fair amount of Kacchan endgame theory stuff riding on his ability to meaningfully upgrade his speed, so all of this is very satisfying to hear! and to be fair, I do wonder how much of it is owed to the boost from Gearshift as opposed to Katsuki’s own newly acquired exploding bloodsweat. but I’d like to think that even without GS he’s still incredibly fucking fast at this point. like easily still a Top 3 BnHA Speedy Boi

well shit lol now Edgeshot is reminding everyone that even prior to his “death”, Kacchan was briefly able to surpass Tomura’s speed with his upgrade

well there you have it! so yeah, that basically confirms he’s currently even faster than All Might was at his peak. just a homicidal little comet casually zipping around all of these other slowpokes

lol

just for the record, I still have no clue how Kacchan’s bizarre new upgrade actually works, but I am fairly certain that sweat is NOT SUPPOSED TO EVER DO THAT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES

like seriously though Kacchan, doesn’t this hurt? like at all?

(ETA: hahahaha. ouch.)

well whatever!! if Tomura was able to bypass Erasure’s loopholes with all of his hand nonsense, then Kacchan’s sweat has my permission to zoom around inside his bloodstream and randomly explode inside him to somehow make him faster without actually harming him in any way, AND THAT’S FINE. the time for nitpicking ended roughly around the same time that a soft-spoken paracord man dove inside of him to forcefully restart his organs

LOL

“DON’T GET ME WRONG, I COULD EASILY KILL HIM ANY TIME I WANT! I JUST DON’T FUCKING FEEL LIKE IT RIGHT NOW, OKAY. THAT’S DEFINITELY WHAT IT IS, AND IT’S DEFINITELY NOT BECAUSE HE JUST EXPLODED ME SO HARD THAT I SAW THE FOURTH DIMENSION”

meanwhile back in Dekutown it looks like Tomura has maybe finally broken free of his impromptu Blackwhip toddler leash

whatever man. how are you still not redeemed yet since I last saw you in chapter 369. you had like an entire year’s worth of chapters. get it together already!!

lol what in the actual fuck is “instadeath”

is this just a Funny Ha Ha fanscan way of referring to Decay?? or were there some additional Tomura quirk developments that I missed out on which were somehow even wilder than the infinityhands

Deku keeps saying that he’s for serious REALLY going to run out of Gearshifts now, but I don’t fucking believe a word this kid says tbh

it will be the “final one” once the fight is finally over, and not a moment sooner. if I know anything about Deku, which I do. and Gearshift, which to be fair I really don’t

-- oh, fuck yeah

what the hell is up with that swirly hand shit though, Kid For One. you better knock that off right now

OH MY GOD THIS FUCKING GUY FOR REAL THOUGH!!

:/ well at least this time you’re being ignored because he’s actually scared shitless of you. shh. don’t tell anyone

holy shit this chapter keeps hitting me with these random bits of information Destiel meme-style and it’s the wildest fucking thing

so while I did obviously clue in to the fact that something must have gone down in the Endeavor+Hawks+Toko+Jirou VS AFO battle, on account of AFO very clearly not being in Jakku anymore, I have not yet caught up to that part of the series, so I don’t actually know anyone’s status! hopefully they’re all alive and relatively unmaimed! although they very clearly failed at their One Job, but oh well

that being said, “AS STRONG AS DARK SHADOW” looooooool omg. DS what did you do. my boy left an impression. I cannot wait to read that, oh goodness

KFO YOU LITTLE TWERP, DIDN’T ANYONE EVER TELL YOU YOU SHOULDN’T LOOK DOWN ON OTHER PEOPLE OR ELSE YOU WON’T BE ABLE TO SEE YOUR OWN WEAKNESSES

seems like someone ought to have told you that. could have spared you a lot of pain and agitation to come. more’s the pity

hee hee hee

hello there

so now my feral wolfchild is having a big internal monologue about how he’s finally mastered his new superquirk through the power of being an unrepentant masochist

fsdkfj. listen up Kid For One, he may be “nothing but a pebble”, but I promise you, if you could fucking hear this kid’s thought processes right now, you would already be halfway across the planet. living out the rest of your days in hiding while checking underneath your bed every night to make sure this little hobgoblin isn’t secretly waiting there to pounce at you

FSDLKFJSLDKJFL SDFLKWJEFLKWLF WLKJFLDKS

(ETA: you guys will never believe this but I found a sneak peak of the as-yet-unreleased soundtrack which will accompany this scene in season seven of the anime! SPOILER ALERT!!!)

ACTUAL GHOUL. I AM ACTUALLY SCREAMING. MY SON HAS BECOME GENUINE NIGHTMARE FUEL

THIS IS MY FAVORITE, FAVORITE, FAVORITE THING EVER YOU GUYS. HOLY SHIT. I CAN’T BREATHE OMFG

OUCH. HA! HAHA.

(ETA: once again, I know this sounds highly improbable, but I actually found some 100% authentic footage from the anime version of this scene! I’m telling ya. once this hits the airwaves minds are gonna be blown.)

HE IS THE “WHO” WHEN YOU CALL “WHO’S THERE”!!! HE IS THE WIND BLOWING THROUGH YOUR HAIR

you have to admit though, this really is the exact type of behavior you’d expect from someone who literally just got spat back out from the pits of hell

oh my god hold up what is this sudden tonal whiplash?

you guys I seriously had to sit back and take a deep breath and calm myself down for a moment, because Final Form Katsuki is just So Much. like actually just THE MOST. that I had to physically force myself to slow down and take these next few panels seriously and resist the urge to keep on making jokes about how CLEARLY EVEN HIS PARENTS ARE TERRIFIED. LOOK AT THEM. MASARU IS SOBBING AND MITSUKI’S HAND IS TREMBLING. IN THE WORLD’S MOST EPIC TWIST, AFO GOES DOWN ONLY TO BE REPLACED BY KACCHAN HIMSELF AS THE FINAL VILLAIN!!!

but yeah I had to stop and calm down from all of that because, oh. Masaru has his head in his hands. and Mitsuki’s trying to get him to turn around, but her hand really is shaking though. and it just really hit me that the two of them have spent the last... thirty minutes...?? swept up in the highs and lows of almost losing their child, and then getting him back, and then watching him be so strong and so good and SAVING ALL MIGHT and RESTORING EVERYONE’S HOPES AND DREAMS. and they must be so incredibly proud, but at the same time he’s still caught up in this fight, and the fight is still not over, and they know the tide could still turn again at any moment. and I can’t even imagine what that must be like. especially with them having already watched their son die once today

oh my god Horikoshi you cannot freaking do this to me!

goddammit. and now I’m all caught up in my Bakufam feels. DAMN YOU HORIKOSHI, THE MITSUKI TEARS WERE THE LOWEST OF BLOWS

and now Kid For One is once again whining about this “pebble” who’s pissing him off even worse than All Might. you love to see it!

OH MY GOD?!?!

oh my lord?! is it finally happening?? ARE WE FINALLY GETTING THAT SWEET, SWEET CONTEXT AT LONG LAST? WILL A MAN FINALLY HAVE A NAME??

-- Horikoshi I swear to god

YEAH NO SHIT. NOW THAT YOU MENTION IT, THEY DO KIND OF BEAR A RESEMBLANCE. YOU KNOW, IF YOU SQUINT

okay, color me intrigued. so that is indeed why AFO was crying when we previously saw this flashback! this is actually so interesting to me, because it’s literally the one and only time he’s ever shown real emotion outside of generic battle-related stuff (anger, shock, surprise, etc.)

so he says Kacchan pisses him off because he looks like Two. and every time he gets reminded of Two, he remembers how his brother died. and, I guess, made him feel sad for the first and probably last time ever???

holy shit, Kacchan was right

he really is AFO’s Final Boss. like even more than he realized

*~*~*OH MY GOD*~*~*

HOLY SHIT YES PLEASE AND THANK YOU!!

OFA DOS PARTIAL NAME REVEAL AT LONG LAST!! FULL NAME REVEAL AND ADDITIONAL FLASHBACKS TO FOLLOW NEXT WEEK...?? YES? MAYBE? PLEASE????

I swear to god, if Horikoshi deliberately kept Two’s quirk and name Top Secret for YEARS only for them BOTH to wind up NOT ACTUALLY BEING REMOTELY SPOILERY OR WORTH ANY KIND OF SUSPENSEFUL BUILD-UP IN ANY WAY WHATSOEVER, I will. just sit here and be puzzled, I guess. lol. “sometimes I just like to fuck with people like that.” OKAY?? WELL GOOD JOB, THEN??

“Kacchan of the Bakugous” was so out of left field and I am grinning so, so hard right now. BAKUGOU NO KACCHAN. that’s officially the second Heroes Rising reference in as many chapters! sure feels like A Certain Mangaka is building up to a Certain Reveal about SOMEBODY maybe possibly still having SOMETHING which will remain unnamed for now, but which rhymes with “done for mall”! and that’s all I’m gonna say about that

except that it’s not, because I’d be lying if I said I didn’t also have fifteen other entirely different emotions about him proudly introducing himself to AFO not as Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight, but as someone even more powerful. “BEHOLD, it is none other than I... Kacchan!!! ( •̀ ᴗ •́ )و lolo get fucked you big dumb fart”

heh. but seriously. just me sitting here basking in the fact that he uses the name Deku gave him. the fact that he decides not to go with his formidable, much-agonized-over hero name in this one moment, but instead chooses to use a far more terrifying moniker, even if AFO doesn’t realize the significance. because Dynamight is a hero, yes. one of the very greatest and strongest!

but Kacchan? Kacchan is the boy with a dream. Kacchan is the boisterous child laughing at the danger, unafraid of the challenge. smiling in the face of the tallest wall. Deku’s motherfucking Image of Victory. hahahahaha. ouch

anyway so yeah! what a chapter. this may have actually derailed me because now my brain just wants to write a bunch of character metas even though I STILL HAVE THIRTY MORE CHAPTERS TO READ. and not to mention I still have to actually post all of them as well lol. but whatever! we’ll make it work. long live Kacchan of the Bakugous, and may his Secret Menu Hero Name always strike fear in the hearts of his enemies

[rollinouttahere-writes]

can I please have a dark chocolate Number 20 with Wyper please

Yandere Wyper x GN!Reader

846 words

Prompt:

I wanted to get something that reminded me of you. The problem is that everything reminds me of you.

You’ve known Wyper to be many things. Violent, fiercely convicted, stoic, and perhaps a touch irrational at times. It was true that he did care about other Shandians, he just went about showing that in his own way. This has never bothered you. You grew up with him, you knew that this was just who he was and to not take his standoffish nature personally.

When someone consistently acts the same for years and years, you don’t really expect to see a change at any point. At least not a major one. That all changed one day when Wyper approached you out of the blue and held out his clenched fist to you. Confused, you held out your hands, presuming he wanted you to hold something for him. He opened his fist, letting the necklace that was hiding inside fall into your hands, and then promptly walked away without saying a word.

Genuinely, you had been at a loss for words. Of all the things you’ve seen him do, you’ve never witnessed him to be the type to give gifts. It was odd to see, but you shrugged it off as some weird one time thing. Maybe he accidentally picked up the piece of jewelry and passed it off to you to get rid of it. That made sense.

Wyper would then go out of his way to poke holes in your idea. He brought you more and more items, seemingly completely random. Frankly, you didn’t know what half of this stuff was. If you had to guess, you would assume it came from the Blue Sea, but that came with more sinister implications. Maybe he just found the stuff lying around, but you knew the more realistic answer was that he’d forcibly taken it from any ships that came here from the Blue Sea. This would be further confirmed when you started finding flecks of blood on his gifts.

Just like the first time, he never said anything to you. He would drop it in your hands and leave with no explanation. No one else knew what to make of it either, beyond a couple of people joking around that Wyper had a crush. Even then, you could tell they weren’t being serious. The mere concept of Wyper having a crush was completely absurd.

Raki was the one exception. She was the only other person that was bothered by his strange actions. She wouldn’t go so far as to tell you to avoid him, but she did advise you to be careful. Wyper was a volatile man, it’s best not to test him, she told you. 

But you couldn’t let it go anymore. You needed to know why he was doing this and where he was getting all of this stuff from. Today, you decided to confront him the next time he came by to give you your daily gift. Whether or not Wyper would actually answer you was certainly up for debate, but you’ll cross that bridge when you get to it. 

The familiar footsteps of Wyper approach you from the side. You glance over and see what appears to be an article of clothing clutched in his hand. When he extends his hand to you, you quickly reach out and latch onto his arm to keep him from leaving like he usually does. His eyes widen by a fraction, but he otherwise doesn’t react.

“Why do you keep doing this?” Is the first thing you blurt out. You shake your head and try to clarify, “Why do you keep bringing me all these things? And where are you getting them from?”

For a long, intense moment, nothing is said. You’re left standing there staring at him pleadingly, desperately hoping for an answer. Wyper’s eyes bore into you. Nothing about his expression gives so much as a clue to what he’s thinking. His cigarillo rolls in his mouth as he grinds his teeth.

“I wanted to get something that reminded me of you. The problem is that everything reminds me of you.”

“Wha… What?” His response did nothing but raise more questions.

“I wanted to give you things that reminded me of you.” Wyper pauses and looks down at the clothing clenched in his fist, “But everything makes me think of you. I can’t get you out of my mind. It’s like a sickness.”

He takes your stunned silence as a cue to keep talking, “You make it hard to do what I need to. I hate it… But I don’t hate you.” Wyper’s free hand comes up and locks around your arm, dragging you closer to him. “I only took from people that didn’t deserve to keep what they had. Everything I’ve taken was better off in your hands.”

The article of clothing he had was roughly shoved into your hands, and he broke away from you with ease. He walks away as if nothing happened, leaving you more confused than you were before. You look down at what you’re now realizing is a shirt. With a large, very recent bloodstain on it.

[lowkeyerror]

Teamwork

Kate Bishop x Reader

Word Count: 3.3k

Notes: Honestly its been so long I dont even know what goes here... probably violence

Summary: The leader of the Avengers thinks that Kate and Y/n need to work on their teamwork so he sends them on a mission together.

An: I won't say that I'm back prematurely (like I did my last post like 4 months ago) but I will say I feel the need to post so perhaps I will

Masterlist

Kate was sweet like gumdrops. She was the kindest soul you had ever crossed paths with. Her doe eyes were always filled to the brim with emotion. Her skin was soft like clouds in the sky.

These were indisputable facts in your eyes, yet no one would know that by the way you treated her.

You and Kate were colleagues. Both young and upcoming heroes with a lot to prove. Technically you were on the same team, but you treated Kate as your rival.

You and Kate were not cute friendly rivals, but bitter ones. Mostly due to your nasty attitude towards her.

Though you actually quite admired how good Kate was at her job, you acted as though it irked you. Every time she was in the field, she came back a better hero.

She was good at adapting to others' mistakes. She might panic under pressure, but she never failed a mission. The most irritating thing is that she did it all with that award-winning smile plastered on her face.

You were also very good at your job, just a lot less enthusiastic than Kate. If Kate was a gumdrop, you were black licorice.

You worked endlessly on becoming a better hero. Your precision was perfect, it was your gift. There wasn't any chance you'd miss a target. Whether you were throwing a knife, shooting a gun, or trying to make a paper ball in the trash can.

As the youngest members of your team, the two of you often found yourself paired together.

Being paired with Kate was such a double-edged sword for you. On one hand, you got to be extremely close with the most beautiful woman you'd ever seen. On the other hand, you always acted as though you hated her.

" Earth to Y/n, are you listening to me?"

You slowly nod at your captain's words, not at all hearing what he said.

He tilts his head to the side," Ok then what did I say?"

You remain silent, not having the slightest clue of what he said. Kate couldn't hold in her laughter about your blunder. You glare at the brunette.

" I said the main point of focus in this team is our teamwork. If we're going to be working together, we have to respect each other at least. You are lacking in that department."

Kate laughs even louder, causing you to speak up.

" Why is she here for this?"

Sam speaks up," Because she's also lacking in that department."

Kate's laughter stops abruptly," What do you mean, I'm great at working with others?"

Sam looks between the two of and shakes his head," Every time you two are sent on a mission together, you bicker at each other the entire time. You lose focus, and you almost cost us the mission."

" Key word, almost. We've never failed a mission as partners. Our success rate is 100%"

" I don't like having to agree with Y/n, but she's right. Even without being buddy-buddy, we always find a way to complete the job."

Sam sighs," I've seen the tapes, I know the missions get completed, but there's a lack of teamwork. For example, you're hardly watching each other's backs."

" Kate's a big girl, she doesn't need me to look over her shoulder," you argued with him.

" This is what I'm talking about. Everyone on this team is capable of getting the job done on their own. Which means if we send more than 1 person, it is absolutely necessary for you to be looking out for your partner. If I don't see some proper teamwork on your next assignment, you both will be suspended from field work until you can sort it out."

" Are you serious?"

" You can't do that."

Sam slides a folder over to the both of you before standing up," Figure it out, because I'm not playing."

You were fuming when he left. This wasn't fair to either of you. Why were you being punished for being successful on your partnered missions? Just because you weren’t besties doesn't mean you deserve this treatment.

" If you scowl any harder, your face will be like that permanently," Kate spoke to you.

You glare at her again, and she puts her hands up in surrender," That's not very teamwork of you, Y/n."

You sigh and put your head in your hands," This is fucking stupid."

Kate rubs a hand through her hair," I agree. So let's get it over with."

After briefly scanning through the files, you both got prepared for the mission. You were going to check out a minor anomaly in some small country you'd never heard of. The locals had been recently reporting the same suspicious figure, seemingly scoping out the place and buying normal household things that could be used to enhance chemical weapons.

" So, how exactly are we going to demonstrate teamwork?" Kate interrupted the silence on your ride.

You shrug," Fuck if I know."

Kate rolls her eyes," Guess I'll be doing all the heavy lifting as always."

" What did you just say?"

She crosses her arms," You heard me."

You get up from your seat and walk over to her. You squat down so that your face is level with hers. From there you can smell that intoxicating perfume she wears. Her doe eyes are sharp as they look into yours. You almost compliment her, but then reality kicks in.

" Listen here, princess, there was some truth to what Sam said back there. We don't have to like each other, but respect is necessary. And I don't appreciate the disrespect from you."

Kate scoffs," You disrespect me all the time."

" Name one time."

Kate begins to open her mouth, then promptly shuts it.

" I make snide remarks, sure, but I've never said anything negative about your skill level or ability to get the job done because you've given me no reason to."

Kate tilts her head," Was that a- did you just compliment me?"

You break eye contact as you feel the tip of your ears heat up," Look, all I'm saying is don't act like I'm not good at my job."

Kate keeps a small smile on her face," I never said you weren't good, I just think I'm better."

" I'm not having this argument with you."

The rest of the ride was fairly silent after that. The silence was different from the usual bickering, but maybe the captain would see that as a step in the right direction.

When you arrived in the country, you could already sense that something was off. It was a mixture of a gut feeling and observation. It seemed like most of the townspeople had barricaded themselves inside.

" Something isn't right with this place," Kate speaks softly as you both walk further into town.

When comparing what you saw in front of you to what was in the file, it was easy to see large differences in the town. Though the town was small, it wasn't supposed to be vacant by any means. The robust amount of locals was the ones who reported an issue in the first place.

" I don't like it at all. Keep your guard up, Bishop."

The few people you saw wouldn't make any eye contact with you. They were quick to identify you both as outsiders. It was inevitable, as you couldn't blend in to a crowd if the crowd was non-existent in the first place.

The next local that past you was an elderly man, he stopped at the sight of you and spoke," You lot aren't from around here, are you."

" No sir, just visiting. Actually, we're looking for a certain hotel in town," you show him a picture of the place on your phone and his eyes go wide.

" You're looking for trouble."

There's a small pocket of silence which Kate fills," Why would you say that?"

" Cause you're looking for him. He's the only one that stays at that inn. And we all know to steer clear of it."

The man tries to leave, but you stop him," What happened to this place?"

" He happened… started getting rid of people he had problems with. People who gave him trouble."

" What did he do to them?" Kate presses further.

The man looks between the two of you," He blew them up. One minute they were standing on their feet, the next their head would pop like a zit."

The imagery he created freaked you out more than you'd like to admit, "Thank you for letting us know."

He shook his head," If I were you ladies, I wouldn't go looking for trouble. Too pretty to be headless."

Those were his last words as he continued walking after that. Neither of you moved from that spot. Trying to process what he had told you.

Things had gotten extremely serious in your head. You had considered going back to the quinjet and telling Sam that you'd need back up for this mission.

However, you needed this mission to go better than any of the other missions you had been on with Kate. That was literally the reason why you were both here.

" Put these on," you passed Kate 2 ear plugs.

" Why?"

You sigh," If this guy doesn't have powers, then it's likely that he's using nanotech to get into people's heads. So we need to cover possible points of entry."

When you finally get to the building, it's a little ways from the actual town. You're on edge. Kate walks a little bit in front of you while you watch her back.

By the time you see the trip wire, it's too late. It's not the entire building that explodes, just a corner of it. A corner that was going to fall on Kate if you did not take action.

It felt like slow motion to you. You saw the building about to crumble on top of her, and you were quick to lock your arms around her and force her out of the way along with yourself.

Your breathing was heavy as you realized the girl in your arms could've died. Your front was pressed against her back, and you could feel her ragged breathing as well.

You didn't let go of her until a voice interrupted the tense moment.

" Hasn't anyone ever told you that trespassing is illegal," a man emerged from the intact part of the building, smiling sadistically at you two.

" Who are you and what do you want with this town?"

The man cackles," This town is insignificant to me. It's simply my playground where I can test my masterpieces."

" Then what is it that you want?"

" I'm going to blow up the world, literally. It almost feels trivial to call it a bomb, but my masterpiece will destroy everything. There will be nothing left of this world when I'm done with it."

You're scared, but you can't let him know that," What makes you think we'll let you do that?"

" You two? You won't be around to stop me."

You realize it a half a second too late as another explosion happens under your feet. You brace yourself as best you can to prepare for impact, but you feel a hand latch on to your arm.

With the strength you have left, you help her carry your weight and stop you from falling to your death.

" I just need 1 shot," you growl as you stand up.

Kate sees the look in your eyes. She has seen it before, and it never leads any more good for the person you're looking at.

" He has explosives, it could be dangerous," Kate stood with you.

" Kate, go call for backup and a bomb squad."

" I'm not le-"

" KATE GO," You yell at her with your eyes focused on the enemy.

Kate wanted to fight more, to argue with you again, to postpone this situation. Yet she knew you were making the right call, she had to trust you at this moment and she did.

She took off running. You saw the man reach for what you assumed to be an explosive detonator. It took less than a second for you to whip out your gun and shoot the device in his hand.

He screamed as the bullet grazed his hand, the debris from the device burning into the skin of his palm.

" The next shot will be through your head, if you don't call it quits now."

" I didn't want to get my hands dirty, but if I must," he approached you at his own speed.

It took everything in you not to charge at him. You knew he was baiting you. So you took a shot at the ground right by his feet.

" Well, you're smarter than you look, but not smart enough."

You felt yourself being restrained and forced to the ground. Whatever held you down had a tight grip on your skull. Its cold metal prongs were cold and sharp against your skull.

" Don't bother struggling against my invention. You'll never get up. I'll blow your mind, and then the brunette's."

The mention of Kate made you fight against the bot. It also made the mad scientist laugh.

" Aw, how pathetic. I'll tell her about this after you're gone. Now open" he violently grabbed your chin and shoved something in your mouth.

He slapped you across the face one last time before walking away from you," Any last words?"

You were shaking, sweating, and scared. For the first time in this interaction, you let your eyes water. This felt like the end.

You'd failed and it had cost you. The part that made the tears stream freely was the thought that you wouldn't be able to save Kate. She didn't deserve to die like this. You'd hope she stayed by the jet and waited for backup.

" Oh right, there's a bomb in your mouth. Silly me," you watched as he reached for the detonator. Time seemed like it had slowed down.

He flipped a few switches on the remote before getting ready to hit the button. You closed your eyes, waiting for it to be over. Yet your eyes shot open when you heard the man scream in agony.

There was an arrow through his hand. Then another came down and through his foot.

" I will shoot this shit through your head if you even think about grabbing that remote."

Your face was still against the gravel, but you knew who had just saved your life.

She walked toward him with her bow at the ready. She picked up the remote, and before she did anything else, she shot the robot that was pinning you to the ground.

The tight grip on your head was now loose and limp. You slowly began getting to your feet.

Kate handed you the detonator. You did the opposite of what you saw the man do and saw the green light on the device turn red. There was still some fear in your heart about removing the explosive from your mouth.

The man had a smug look on his face when he saw you struggle," Well I suppose if it's disarmed its harmless right? Maybe it's heat sensitive, maybe it's touch sensitive, who knows. The only way to find out is by removing it from your mouth."

" Shut the fuck up," Kate shot an arrow directly past his head, grazing his ear slightly.

" You're going to be ok. Just take it out and throw it as far as you can."

You looked at her and for the first time ever she saw genuine fear in your eyes.

" You have to trust me," the look in her eyes was something you could not debate.

You didn't hesitate, you dug into your mouth, removed the device and chucked it as far as you could. It didn't land anywhere, instead it exploded in the air. It wasn't significantly sized on the outside. However, you knew if had gone off in your mouth you would've died.

You walked up to the man and pressed the butt of the gun into his temple. There was nothing more you wanted to do than blow his head off. Your chest heaved up and down.

The man laughed," Kill me then. I dare you."

You cocked the gun and your finger rested on the trigger.

" Y/n don't," Kate tried to reason with you.

You couldn't look at her, you'd fold if you did," He deserves it, Kate. You should've heard the shit he was saying."

" That's not for us to decide, Y/n."

You began to shake," Why not?"

Then the scientist laughed again, and that sent you over the edge. You took a small step back and fired the gun.

The scream you let out was primal. It ripped through your throat. It hurt more than you could ever imagine.

The bullet had taken the man's ear. His screams were nothing compared to yours.

Kate hugged you from behind as your legs began to fail you. With her arms around you, she kept her bow and arrow raised at the man.

Sam was confused at the sight when the backup finally arrived. The scientist was cuffed and taken in as other special forces handled the damaged building.

When the scientist was gone, Kate dropped her bow, but her arms stayed around you. Sam began to approach the two of you, but Kate signaled him to stay back.

" Y/n, talk to me," her breath was a whisper against your ear.

" I'm sorry," you said, trying hurriedly to get to your feet.

You didn't get too far before Kate yanked you back into her embrace.

" You saved my life, there's nothing to be sorry about," she gave you a small smile.

" But I-"

Kate shook you a bit," You didn't kill him so, it doesn't matter. He was trying to blow your head off."

" You saved my life too."

Kate nodded slowly," I did, you saved me first though."

" I was terrified, Kate. When he said he was going to kill you, I- I never felt that helpless," you were causing yourself anxiety just speaking about the moment.

Kate didn't hesitate to rest her hand on the side of your face, forcing you to look at her," I'm right here, Y/n. A few scratches and a few bruises, but I'm ok. Without your reflexes or your decision-making skills, I don't know if I would be standing here right now."

" Kate," your eyes accidentally drop to her lips.

" Fuck it," Kate muttered before surging forward and placing her lips on yours.

You kissed her back and it felt right. It felt like Kate was your other half. There was no competition anymore; just you and Kate.

" Well, I see you got the teamwork all handled," Sam spoke, causing the two of you to separate.

" We almost died on this mission. Our teamwork was fine before. The trauma we have is-"

Kate had more to say, but Y/n grabbed her hand," We're good."

" But-"

" Everyone is safe, the bad guy is behind bars, and now we get to go home; together."

Kate huffed and dropped her shoulders," Fine, but we're dealing with this together then."

" There's no one I'd rather tackle my demons with," you couldn't help but sound cheesy.

" Good, because you're stuck with me now in more ways than just coworkers."

You smirked," I'd gladly be stuck with you any way you'd have me."

Sam cleared his throat with a smile on his face," Ok, you guys are free to go. I'll wrap it up here."

Your hand never left Kate's as you walked back to the jet. Nor did it leave when you both strapped in for the ride. It was at that moment that you decided that you'd do whatever was necessary to hold on to Kate.

[supercalime]

I know Buck wasn’t originally written as bisexual but looking back to season 2, you actually can interpret buck being attracted to eddie. He may even had a little crush on him. But Eddie being canonically straight didn’t show any romantic or sexual interest towards buck. I think if he was canonically gay and interested in buck and made any moves towards it, he could have had his bi awakening or realization back then and could have caught serious romantic feelings for Eddie. You can’t deny some parallels between his first meeting with eddie and with tommy. The unknown jealousy and the ranting about them. But because eddie is straight and never showed any sign of beeing into buck, his (maybe) feelings for eddie turned into an incredibly great friendship. That’s why I think his feelings for Tommy are very real and don’t have anything to do with Eddie. Tommy is canonically gay and reciprocated the feelings and attraction to buck. He was the one who made the first move and kissed buck. Buck was clearly interested in him and tried to get his attention. I do think that if tommy wasn’t interested in him and didn’t kiss him, buck still wouldn’t have figured out that he’s bisexual and his feelings towards him probably would’ve eventually turned into friendly feelings. I personally tend to hope for bucktommy rather than buddie but I wouldn’t be mad if buddie became canon. But I think the only way would be to make eddie demisexual, because there were really no signs that he likes men in any way other than his strong connection and chemistry with buck. Different from buck where you can retrospectively see many unintentional signs.

Oh yeah! I want to make it abundantly clear that I’m all in the bucktommy train 100%

I fell in love with them and I’m more in favor of them than the ship that shall not be named. I can’t stress it enough, I want bucktommy to be endgame. I’m a bucktommy slut.

I do believe you can look back and see clues that maybe buck was into eddie, whether that was intentional or not. I believe the writers accidentally queer coded him and when they noticed they decided to run with it when they got the green light from the network.

But as you said, he could have had an initial crush on a friend and that changed with time. And that is completely fine! It doesn’t mean he had been in love with him the whole time and repressing it. Of course there is the possibility that buck and eddie can be an item, if the writers decide to go that route.

That being said, as of now, there are no concrete evidence on screen that buck and eddie were/are going in that direction. Like you said, eddie hasn’t shown he’s into men/buck and if buck was into eddie since the beginning and vice versa, i believe the writers would have pushed that queer coding to the max she-ra style to force the network to get them together. There had been opportunities for the writers to not be that ambiguous.

And yes! The canon bi buck storyline is not about Eddie and it shouldn’t be even if buck and eddie are supposed to be endgame. All the signs since 07x03 (when Buck touched Tommy’s shoulder and we all got a little bit of the gay vibe) have pointed that Buck had been into tommy and mistook who he was placing the jealousy on during 07x04. It’s a classic trope and I hate that b*ddie stans conveniently forgot how misdirection works to feed into what they want (not only that, but also stating as fact). When 07x05 rolled around and we got the coming out scene, it’s clear to me that there was no intention to place bucks attraction to men on eddie or eddie also realizing he’s queer. It would have been the perfect opportunity to sprinkle in some queer eddie but there was not even a subtle hint of that in that entire scene and I honestly hope their friendship stays that way.

Not to be a bitch but, why can’t they “just” be friends? It’s so rare to have these archetypes of characters be as vulnerable and devoted to each other, without an ounce of toxic masculinity, being true friends and nothing else. I whole heartedly believe what buck and eddie have is even bigger than family or romance, they are each others rocks and defining them as brothers or “husbands” does a disservice to their relationship. I think of them more as platonic soulmates. They are others ride or die, which reminds me a lot of Marjan and Paul from lone star (they have a very similar dynamic and despite theoretically having the possibility of being a couple - as a straight woman and straight man - I don’t see them going that way ever because that’s not what their relationship is. They love each other, would literally die for each other but are not and will never see each other as potential romantic partners).

On a waaaaaaaaay lighter note: I’m excited for next episode. We are surely getting more bucktommy and I simply can’t wait to see what the writers have cooking up for this lovely ship!

[masterdetectivexx]

Hi mtx hope you are doing well

what are your thoughts on last case? who do you think that old woman and who she is focus on is it amuro or conan? and what abt the baby is it possible for him to be KARASUMA ?!!

File 1126-1128 Review

I think this latest case was very refreshing, similar to the Butler shinkansen case, where we revisited classic DC mystery themes and settings that aren't often used. You immediately get a classic kidnapping case with the added trait of a seemingly gory and highstake threat from the start through the reveal of a head in a jar (File 1126).

The twist that the gory atmosphere was ultimately a fakeout is such a callback to the very old Ayumi kidnapping case (File 83), where the head she was stuck with was a prop as well. It was also a neat trick on how to create the illusion of a 3D head out of a 2D paper.

The trick of opening a lock with a mini-explosion using matchsticks (File 1128) was also quite genius and I hadn’t thought of such a way to actually work (as expected of Gosho).

Another revisited theme was Masumi and her protective and watchful gazes against anyone with potentially ill intent towards Conan, which I always love to see more of. Her noticing Amuro's nosiness towards Conan (File 1126) took me immediately back to Yusaku cold case in Bourbon arc (File 814), where she started glaring the same way towards Subaru after he alluded to figuring out Conan's true identity discreetly.

As for whether her eventually revealing to Conan, that Amuro is investigating him (File 1128), is gonna lead to any actions from Conan's side is all up in the air. Since Conan already views Amuro as an ally, he most likely wouldn't be too concerned of it, since unlike his Bourbon worries in File 1009 (after his recent Kudo Shinichi publicity) he has no reason to suspect the BO is onto Edogawa Conan.

One thing I somewhat got right was something I speculated in regards to one of the suspects that Ran and Sonoko found so familiar. I had speculated that Kanamaru was an employee who has worked in Poirot since before Amuro & Masumi intro, based on the clues that were given in File 1127 (Knowledge on behind-the-counter, familarity, etc).

I was convinced, but mainly hopeful, that we were finally getting the reveal of the mysterious never-appearing owner of Café Poirot. It seems however unfortunately that, while the line of thought was correct, it was rather a former employee who covered for the owner when he was hospitalized in the past (File 1128).

It was however cool to learn that Kanamaru had previously appeared as a background Poirot employee in the anime, making his general design and official manga debut pretty cohesive in the DC franchise.

Now... as for the important question of yours, who is the old lady that looked unique in how she appeared as a witness with a mysterious toddler in a stroller and who also appeared once again at the very end...?

She is none other than: Karasuma Renya's mother pushing her shrunken Boss son in a stroller!!!

Jokes aside, she did pretty much catch every other fan's attention the moment she appeared and it was a running joke that the boss has finally made his appearance xD

As for what I really think, I'm not really entertaining the idea that the Boss would have first of all shrunken into a younger age than our main protagonist (a 7-year-old), since it would lose any air of suspending disbelief and start becoming more comical than serious (especially since a toddler boss would be too vulnerable as a threat). The old lady also looked quite generic for a character design, which of course doesn't need to mean she isn't important, but it does ultimately lessen the chance that she is a major player in the story. What I however entertained was the possibility that she could be another named, but unrevealed, old woman character in the story, who has the best timing to appear in this stage of the ongoing plot. I'm talking about Haneda Kohji's mother, Haneda Ichiyo.

Considering that Gosho is very likely already setting up the introduction of Haneda Yasuharu (Kohji's named father in the marriage registration in File 947) through the mystery of Vader (respirator elder), it couldn’t be more fitting to have the also-named wife being setup to get introduced in such a discreet way that once she eventually appears in association with Vader (assuming it's Haneda Yasuharu), it will leave a bigger and better impression on the reader than a simple worthless appearance of a new character.

As for her motives for appearing around Poirot Café, it could be that similar to Vader, who this old lady is actually being watchful of is neither Conan nor Amuro, but rather Sera Masumi. Vader has had his eyes on Masumi and Mary (which again fits with him being Yasuharu) and seemingly realized that Akai Mary has become a middle-schooler (File 1096), so in a similar fashion, this could be Gosho sprinkling in some hidden continuation of that plot thread, but with the twist being that Ichiyo (Kohji's mother) is trying to confirm her husband's (Vader/Yasuharu) crazy findings by borrowing one of her housemaids' baby as a part of her cover as a passerby, rather than glamorously appearing in a vintage/expensive car that shows her status of being from the powerful Haneda family.

The ending of the chapter had a sidenote mentioning that many premonitions were swirling around Café Poirot, which is ultimately enough that it is referring to what Masumi brought up about Conan being investigated by Amuro, but it could also indeed covertly be including the looming old lady literally outside the Café hearing the rom-com commotion inside. What is however the most exciting is that the awaited Osaka Heizuha likely-confession case in Naniwa has been teased even in the to-be-continued note to be the next big 5-chapter case coming in Aug 7. I can't wait to finally see more development of not only the main characters of this stage (Heiji & Kazuha) but also Rum arc's new stars of this subplot that have thoroughly been a joy to follow (Momiji and Muga).

[ggomos-maribat]

Soul-Stitching: The Heir and the Guardian

Masterlist

Chapter 3: to remember and forget | AO3

CW: Panic attack, mentions of childhood trauma, mentions of death

If Marinette can put it in simple words, the Justice League's prison doesn't look like a prison at all.  

The neatly-done bed, a queen size perhaps, leans against a large headboard. There's a desk positioned at one corner with a rolling chair tucked into it; at the center sits a sofa set on top of a comfy rug. In the other corner, a narrow door leads to the bathroom. The room is well lit, the palette is quite friendly, and the golden accents speak of lavishness. 

She barely caught onto what the Justice League discussed with the Parisian Government, but suddenly she found herself escorted into the Watchtower. Into space. If he had not already known where she was taken, Adrien would've freaked out.  

Speaking of Adrien, her biggest inconvenience is her lack of direct communication with the others. She trusts that her second-in-command will take care of things while she's gone but if they do get into non-guardian-permitted trips, it's not her problem if they incur more expenses.  

She looks down on the special handcuffs they put on her. Apparently, they are supposed to suppress powers, whether of the meta kind or the magical kind, but as soon as the metal hits her skin, she realizes that the cuffs don't do anything to her. Next, she stares up at the two heroes ordered to escort her. They stare back at her.  

“Um . . .” The shorter one breaks silence, rubbing the back of his head, “You're not actually a bad person, are you?”  

Marinette blinks. “What do you mean?”  

“Are you actually Hawkmoth?”  

“What difference does that make?” She asks. “If I say no, will you let me go?”  

“I—um, no we can't but why didn't you insist that you're innocent?” The masked man asks, “With the right evidence you could've won, but you weren't saying anything. How do you not care about being imprisoned?”  

“I'm not the only one falsely convicted because of the flawed justice system, you know,” says Marinette with practiced nonchalance. “The judge said I'm guilty, so I'm guilty. Nothing I can do about that.”  

“But this is a serious crime. Terrorizing Paris? Causing widespread trauma?” This time, the taller leather jacket-clad one interjects.  

“How is this any different from the situation of the ones wrongfully accused? Does that mean I deserve freedom and they don't?” She tips her head towards the room. “Ironic, how you're imprisoning me, a supposed ‘world threat’, in a luxurious room. If you ask the people in Paris, they'd probably tell you I deserve a death penalty, so this is actually a light punishment.”  

The two seem to have difficulty replying to her words, until the shorter one sighs and tells her, “Still, keep in mind that you still have a chance. The members of the JL are still half-and-half about what to do with you. Some of them want to keep you here under close watch while you're serving your sentence. The others are pretty convinced you didn't do anything—they're having a pretty heated debate right now.”  

“What do you guys think?”  

“I dunno, really. You're weird,” says the tall one.  

“Cool. I'll take that as a compliment.” 

“As a detective, I'm taught to consider every clue first before I act,” says the other. “For now, I still can't say for sure.” 

“Okay, that's reasonable.” She gives a flitting smile. “Thanks for giving me the benefit of the doubt.”  

She can tell they're feeling awkward based on their expressions and stances. She holds out a cuffed hand. “I'm Marinette, by the way. Nice meeting you both.”  

Marinette nearly laughs at their astonishment. She's aware she's unexpectedly direct even though she's the criminal. The brightly-dressed man steps forward to shake her hand first. “I'm Superboy.”  

And the other tentatively follows: “Nightwing.”  

“Superboy. Nightwing.” She nods, finally stepping into the wide threshold of her room and activating the automatic barrier. “I like you both. Before you go, can I ask when I can eat?”  

The two share a look before Nightwing replies. “Your meals will be delivered at set times. There's some kind of chute over there.” 

“Thanks. See you around?”  

---

Marinette easily falls into a rhythmic routine inside her ‘prison cell’. Though the bed is beyond comfortable, and the meals are filling, she finds that she has nothing to quell her boredom. So instead of walking around aimlessly, she decides to make use of the space to exercise. The other heroes don't seem bothered by this; in fact, in the first two days, rarely anyone stopped by her room. Later on, she wonders if she can request a sketchbook or two.  

Finally, on the third day, she's taken out of her cell, bound into handcuffs again, and brought to what looks like an interrogation room. There is only one occupant—Superman—but the glass panel on one of the walls tells her otherwise.  

She looks up and down at the hero, who gives a polite smile and motions for her to sit. 

“I think you're already aware of the situation you're in?” Superman asks.  

Marinette nods. If unfair treatment and injustice is her current situation then, yes, she is very well aware of that.  

“I know there are things you cannot simply say in court.” His face is grim. “I was there the whole time. But you can tell me, and we'll see what we can do for you. It's safe here.”  

Her eyes stray towards the glass panel, wordlessly saying, ‘Is this what you call safe?’  

“Fine,” Superman sighs, “But can you at least elaborate on why you can't tell us. Is this a binding secret? Will you be harmed if you divulge anything or are there drastic consequences for it?”  

“I'd say a little bit of all three.”  

“Is there anything that will make you talk?”  

She shakes her head. “By keeping silent on the matter, I'm not lying, but I'm not giving the full truth either. I can't tell you because this is what I think is the best course of action to protect you and many other people.”  

“What do you mean?” he presses.  

“You know about what happened to Paris, yes?”  

“Hawkmoth and the akuma attacks . . .”  

“Let's say Ladybug and Chat Noir decided to globally broadcast the existence of miraculi, magical jewels that can grant anyone immense power. What do you think will happen?”  

“It will be chaos. Everyone would be fighting to get a miraculous for themselves.”  

“A perfect example of why knowledge is dangerous.”  

Superman looks like he's thinking it over; she can only predict that he's trying to guess what kind of knowledge she holds, and how far worse it is than the Paris situation.  

“Fine,” he relents, “Can you at least tell us about Hawkmoth's reign?”  

Marinette notes how he said Hawkmoth's reign, which leads her to inwardly ask if he's one of those who believes in her innocence.  

“Why?”  

“What?”  

“Why do I owe you my trauma?” She makes her tone calm but her words impactful. “I've set my expectations for the Justice League, and now I can say that you've gone below it.”  

“What are—”  

“What gives you the right to persecute someone from Paris when you neglected our city when it mattered?” Her eyes narrow slightly. “Much less ask that someone for intel you can't be bothered to find yourself?”  

It's already common knowledge for the Parisians: at one point, the young heroes had called on the JL for aid during Hawkmoth's time, but they were unanswered again and again. It’s just bemusing, how in the most urgent of times, they haven’t responded at all, but when a random girl is convicted of terrorism, suddenly they're all up in their feet.  

The silence in the room is deafening, and Marinette can tell the onlookers outside are speechless as well.  

Superman's voice is painted with deep regret. “I'm sorry. We’re trying to extend our help to the city, even if that doesn't make up for our mistake. We want to do that with you as well, but why do you want to be in prison?”  

Partly, it's because she owes Paris that much. The city never found out who Hawkmoth was, so their anguish was directed at the heroes instead for keeping them in the dark. Then a year later, they find a girl fitting into the profile of their villain. If she's the convenient scapegoat they choose to blame, then so be it.  

“I didn't go here on my own. You guys brought me here,” Marinette says pointedly.  

“That's not what I meant.”  

“You know I can't cooperate even if you try to convince me.” She looks at the window, even if she can only see her reflection. “I think it's best for you to spend your energy elsewhere.”  

---

“That sign is flickering,” Adrien comments with a mouthful of burger in his mouth.  

Eating double-decker burgers in a Batburger parking lot at nearly two in the morning certainly isn't their usual gig. But Adrien gathered from the reliable internet that the Batburgers are a must-try during a Gotham visit, so he decides to hunt for them. Kagami surreptitiously heard about his plans and wanted to tag along, as did Luka. Fei has to join to babysit them.  

“Here, Gami, flip it upside down. The bun will absorb the sauce,” Luka suggests to the girl beside him, who has been attempting to bite down on her burger for a minute already.  

“Seriously, we are being americanized,” quips Fei, who squeezes out some more ketchup on hers.  

“Aw come on, it's a celebration for Adrien,” Luka says, “He did a good job in his defense attorney debut.”  

The boy in question groans, pausing mid-bite to drop down his head on his free hand. “I did so badly! Even when I spent all night reading that textbook on French law and making my cute little badge. She was still proclaimed guilty!”  

“We all know Marinette doesn't mind.” Fei picked up her soda from beside her to let Adrien have a sip. “You could've, you know, told her you'll be representing her. To get the trial running more smoothly.”  

“I had it under control,” the blond insists, “It's just that they brought up the childhood issues card, which is a foul by the way, they basically breached her privacy. I'm still so mad about that!”  

“If I could give my critique, I'd say you should've done a worse number on Rossi,” says Kagami.  

“I couldn't. They would've kicked me out of that trial and disbarred me.”  

“Adrien, you're not a real lawyer in the first place,” Luka reminds him.  

“Whatever. That trial's done and we just have to think about what to do next.” Fei makes a face at the grease on her fingers and furiously rubs them into a napkin. “Marinette's aboard the Watchtower now, so we have to do our work down here—”  

“Marinette's in the Watchtower?!”  

“Yes, Adrien, the JL took her away, remember?”  

“Do you think if I turn myself in for fraud, the JL will take me there too?”  

“Adrien—”  

“What if I say my father's the supervillain, do you think they'll take me? That earns me criminal points, right?”  

Kagami delivers a light slap to his arm. “I thought we agreed that you would not joke about that.”  

Adrien lets out a huff of defeat, focusing back on his burger. Just then a noise sounds out from above them—looking up, he sees that a vigilante has landed on top of the restaurant, partially cloaked by the night. The figure offers a friendly wave, which Fei snorts at.  

“Did we do something?” Adrien whispers as he looks at his friends. “If this is about the camembert stash in our hotel room, I swear to kwamis, it's not me.”  

“What does the infamous Red Robin want with us?” Fei yells up at the stranger.  

“Oh good. You know me.” Red Robin drops down to a ledge, much closer so they can hear him.  

“This is about Marinette, isn't it?” Luka guesses out loud.  

The vigilante nods. “The Justice League is conducting its own investigation for her case. I was hoping to hear from you, since you four are her closest friends.”  

“What's there to hear from us?” Adrien asks. “I already gave my statements to the court.” 

“Before you ask us, we knew nothing about her involvement with the Butterfly miraculous before the whole thing blew up,” Fei supplies firmly.  

Red Robin taps his fingers on his leg. Adrien wishes he can see him better, because he's pretty sure the Gothamite is buzzing with eagerness. Entertainment. “This isn't a formal interrogation so I call your bullshit. You're obviously lying.”  

“Even if we are, you don't have the evidence for that claim.” Adrien licks the sauce that has gathered on his thumb. “The police already asked us. They got nothing from us.”  

“But aren't you concerned that your friend just got thrown into jail?”  

Ah. All the while, they've been munching on fast food in a deserted parking lot. Adrien can tell there's something wrong with that picture. 

Kagami smiles wryly. “Marinette assured us she'll be fine before she was arrested. Unless the Justice League has turned inhumane and is currently torturing her?”  

“No—no, of course not! A handful of the heroes want to prove her innocence, in fact. Don't you want to help out?”  

“Even if we do want to fight for her freedom,” Fei replies, “Are you insinuating that we try to break her out of space prison?”  

And Luka adds, “Marinette's very stubborn if you haven't seen yourself already. We can't help her if she doesn't want to be helped.” 

“Any idea why she's like that?”  

The four of them simultaneously shrug.  

“So your lips are sealed like hers. Got it.” Red Robin sighs. “Why are you in Gotham?”  

“Oh? Did tourists need clearance from the Bats before vacationing in Gotham?” Adrien quips, raising an eyebrow.  

“No, I thought you'll be in Paris. Imagine my surprise tracking you down here.”  

Fei crosses her arms. “Marinette's trial opened up fresh wounds in that city. Of course anyone would want to escape for a short while.”  

“You're not from Paris.”  

“I was close enough to Marinette to understand what it was like. I'm from Shanghai, which Hawkmoth also targeted once, in case you haven't done your research.”  

“You're having a getaway in Gotham, though. Why in Gotham?”  

“Why does that matter?” Adrien rakes a hand through his hair. “If you're concerned about our safety here, don't be. We have experience beating up akumas while half-awake.”  

“Actually we wanted to see what's so great about Gotham that Batman chose to neglect Paris all this time,” says Kagami casually.  

That seems to have struck a nerve. “We didn't know—!”  

“You ignored a city crying for help,” Fei says, “Sorry birdy, but this is a touchy subject if you ask all Parisians. They may have given Marinette to the JL, but everyone still holds a grudge. It's not just us.”  

Later on, they finally chase off the talkative bird, but Adrien has grown quiet. While the burger did lift his mood a little, Red Robin's appearance has soured it again. He angrily sips on the last of Fei's drink (which he promises to replace at another time), leaning against one hand on the pavement.  

“The nerve of them,” he mutters. “Now I don't want to stay in Gotham anymore. Let's go back to base.”  

---

Damian's heart is practically leaping out of his chest. The incidents in Paris and the convicted girl are all the talk in the Wayne manor. At first, he had no mind of looking into it himself until he saw a picture of her.  

Before he knows it, he's suited up, headed towards the Zeta tubes and the Watchtower, breathless but persistent. He knows that face from his dreams. He has memorized that girl in his memories. If there is a chance she's alive after all, he doesn't care how; he just needs to confirm it with his own eyes.  

Finally he's there and he sees her sitting on the foot of the bed. Her blue eyes widen when they meet his, and she presses herself against the wall when he subconsciously opens up the barrier himself. That's when it dawns on Damian that it is her, it's Marie in the flesh, the girl he killed when he was a child. Overwhelmed with the tightness in his chest, he drops on the ground, trembling. 

“Hey, are you okay? What's going on?”  

He feels her presence nearby but her voice seems warped, like he's hearing her underwater. He tries to blink his eyes back into focus, only to be met with a hazy double vision. Hot tears run down the sides of his face; he doesn't notice the hands holding onto his arms.  

“You—you . . .I don't—” he chokes out.  

The voice is closer now. “Stay with me, okay? You're going to be okay. Come on, deep breaths.”  

Damian cannot even control himself, which is such a foreign feeling. His body is wracked with sobs as he holds onto her tightly in the fear she'll disappear before him again. He can't form coherent words, nor stop the shaky cries from his throat. It's as if all the grief he's bottled up in his childhood is coming out all at once.  

She slowly shushes him. “It's okay. I'm going to touch your back now, is that okay?”  

He nods against her shoulder, hearing his heartbeat become less erratic. A small hand presses against his suit and rubs circles on it. He starts to savor the warmth— 

“What are you doing?!”  

He's suddenly separated from that warmth, but he can't register what's happening. He can hear loud yelling and footsteps rushing, and from the corner of his eye, he catches the movement of his father's cape. Damian whimpers, clutching his head.  

“I don't know! He suddenly came in and—”  

I needed to see her! 

“You used magic on him!”  

No, she didn’t harm me. I need to talk to her! 

“No, I did not, he's having a panic attack—”  

Stop, please—the words seem to dissolve on his lips.

“Stay away from my son!”  Damian doesn't know how or when, but he's being carried away from the warmth, from her. His body struggles to break free, but he's forcefully held down. The tears come again, unstoppable as his whole body shakes. 

←Previous Chapter | Next Chapter →

Fun Fact! The idea of Adrien being Marinette's defense lawyer came from a joke between him and Kagami. If you ask Luka, he'll say he had no part in it. They carefully kept the secret from Fei and Marinette until the day of the trial . . . for obvious reasons Taglist: @noisydreamlandkoala

[herlondonboy]

I had an idea and I was curious if you’d be willing to write a little something something whether it be headcanons or what have you.

Enid Sinclair X Werewolf hunter Reader?

Perhaps they show up to Jericho to investigate the missing hikers, or perhaps reader was sent to Nevermore to learn that other monsters aren’t so different from reader?

Please and thank you so so much.

a/n: hi! i wrote headcanons, hope that’s okay <3

Werewolf Hunter Headcanons

Pairings: Enid Sinclair x gn!reader

Summary: n/a

Warnings: mentions of guns, walking into a school with a gun, hunting

Word Count: 0.6k

- you were born into a famous family of werewolf hunters. It was your legacy to defend the world and rid it of its monsters. Well, actually, it was your destiny to betray your family and fall in love with a werewolf, but you didn’t believe that that would happen. By the age of eight, you were already surpassing your decade-older brothers and catching up to your dad. You were celebrated in the hunter world as the heir to Joseph Crackstone’s crown.

- You and your family rented out a house on your 15th birthday in Jericho. You had been born there, but they (your family) hastily made there to a new state, following the drama after years of radio silence. Your birthday present was going out with your brothers to help them find clues as to who or what the monster attacks the hikers was.

- You made it all the way to the gates of Nevermore before realising that you had split up. Testing your luck, you walked up to them and they opened for you. You tightened your grip on the hunting rifle in your hands. The children in the playground stopped playing to look at you. They weren’t used to seeing hunters allowed in. You walked in a straight line, the children parting like the Red Sea for Moses.

- Enid saw you from the other side of the playground. Despite what Wednesday and Thing had told her not to do, she bounced over to you. Just as you reached the entrance to the school building, Enid tapped your shoulder, making you spin around and aim your gun at her. Gasps were heard throughout the playground as you looked at her with a glare.

- “You look a little lost.” Enid said as you relaxed slightly, but not enough to let anyone else know. This was the wolf that was supposed to make you betray your family? Surely not.

- “Are you Enid Sinclair?” You asked, your voice was rough. She nodded with a pleased smile before jumping when you aimed your gun at her once more.

- Weems caught you before you could do any serious damage and your parents came to pick you up, scolding you for forcing them into a school full of those you hate.

- The next time you saw Enid was three weeks later. You went against your better judgement and made your way to Nevermore. You stood outside the gate, examining it. Enid waved at you and rushed over. “Hi!” She said cheerily. It was unnerving.

- “Hello.” You said back, eyeing her up and down.

- “I see you don’t have a gun to try and kill me again today.” Enid joked.

- “I have a semiautomatic pistol tucked into my waistband. Not to mention the one that’s strapped to my ankle.” You deadpanned. “If I wanted to kill you, Enid Sinclair, I would.”

- Enid just nodded and you left once more. She began longing to see you at the gates during break, and you started coming regularly. The murder threats decreased until you began to enjoy her company. Though you’d never admit it. She knew.

- You quickly discovered that you weren’t that different. Both outcasted but your family, though for different reasons. They thought too highly of you, they thought too lowly if her. You also weren’t that different from the other Outcasts. They just wanted to fit in in a world that hates them. You just wished to fit in a works that was made for you by people that know nothing about you.

[intermundia]

Sorry to bother you but I'm curious to know your thoughts on this.

I know it's not technically canon but the novelization does at point depict anakin wanting to leave the order to raise his kids and padme encouraging him to stay. I know he's his own person and all but having his wife pushing him to keep up the lies and secrets is kind a factor in his decisions I would say. Having someone you care for so deeply tell you to keep living a lie is definitely something that would mess with your brain and influence your perspective on things.

Idk. Just something that I feel is overlooked sometimes in the discussion of Anakin’s decision in not leaving. I would really love to know your thoughts on this.

“Anakin, not here. It’s too risky.” “No, here! Exactly here.” He drew her against him again, effortlessly overpowering her halfhearted resistance. “I’m tired of the deception. Of the sneaking and the lying. We have nothing to be ashamed of! We love each other, and we are married. Just like trillions of beings across the galaxy. This is something we should shout, not whisper—” “No, Anakin. Not like all those others. They are not Jedi. We can’t let our love force you out of the Order—” “Force me out of the Order?” He smiled down at her fondly. “Was that a pun?” “Anakin—” He could still make her angry without even trying. “Listen to me. We have a duty to the Republic. Both of us—but yours is now so much more important. You are the face of the Jedi, Anakin. Even after these years of war, many people still love the Jedi, and it’s mostly because they love you, do you understand that? They love the story of you. You’re like something out of a bedtime tale, the secret prince, hidden among the peasants, growing up without ever a clue of his special destiny—except for you it’s all true. Sometimes I think that the only reason the people of the Republic still believe we can win the war is because you’re fighting it for them—” “And it always comes back to politics for you,” Anakin said. His smile had gone now. “I’m barely even home, and you’re already trying to talk me into going back to the war—”

yeah so i think that padmé's encouragement to live the lie is deeply unhelpful. if i recall correctly, there are two key times anakin thinks about leaving the order, both of which are in her presence, and yet she is the one who offers pressure back toward staying. the above passage is taken from right after they are reunited, and it is so telling to me. padmé loves him as her husband, yes, but she also sees him as larger than life, and says things that absolutely feed his ego. she encourages him to think the rules don't apply to him, because he is so important and special.

she doesn't take his commitment to the order seriously with respect to what it means to be a jedi, but she wants him to stay there anyway. i think that this kind of encouragement is rather similar to palpatine's manipulations, though she definitely has less sinister motives, the result is the same. her permission to break rules exacerbates the potential weaknesses in his character that lead to his fall. it compounds with sidious's maneuvering. her pressure makes him feel like not only a tool of the jedi but also the democratic opposition, unable to have what he wants because of politics and duty that he doesn't personally care about. all he cares about is getting what he wants.

i honestly don't know if he was ever genuinely serious about leaving the order. he clearly does not take his commitment seriously, but he also craves the power that having high status in the order brings, both in terms of access to force training and the glory of being the youngest council member. he thinks of leaving only when he's directly looking at padmé, not otherwise. so basically it's unclear to me whether or not he actually meant to leave, but what is not unclear is that padmé absolutely pressured him and flattered him, manipulating him and trying to use him (not with bad intentions! with the best of intentions!), and it encourages him to the edge of darkness. his perspective is absolutely shaped by her words.

i just believe that they make each other worse. that is the tragedy of their relationship imho. they love each other, and it harms them both.

[konfizry]

So we all know the tales of series have lots of dlc swimsuits, which I find amazing considering they've been doing this for a long time

So I was wondering, do you think these swimsuits for these characters fit for them in terms of their personality and why

Alisha Diphda from Tales of Zestiria Beachside Girl

Velvet Crowe from Tales of Berseria Summer Swimwear

Shionne from Tales of Arise Regal Swimsuit

Nothing serious just thought I give you a fun question

Dear tim-ribbert-56,

Thank you for reaching out. Anime girls in swimsuit is one of my many interests and I am overjoyed to seize this opportunity to discuss them.

For brevity's sake I shall forgo any comments and lamentations regarding the swimsuits' status as DLC when such garments used to simply obtained from the games itself free of charge in earlier installments.

First, I fear there isn't much I could tell you about Alisha's swimsuit and how it compliments her character as my memories of her are but muddy visions i barely retained from a dropped jp ToZ playthrough and unfocused watch of the anime (which I cannot even remember whether I watched it to the end or not).

One thing I can say for sure however is that whoever designed her swimsuit must have really hated her. The mangled color (are those tiny irregular white spots sparkles or just a pattern? I'm not sure which answer terrifies me the most) make the fabric look cheap. The ruffly skirt is an affront to good taste and though I think I understand why the artist would include ruffles (it's always the same, really: to give whatever character they're slapped onto a hint of girlish innocence to balance out whatever other aspect of the design was deemed too prominent --edgyness, skimpiness, bulkiness, you name it--. they're fine on an actual child character but whoever is putting them on anyone over the age of 13 needs to take some time to think. i'm not saying don't ever do it but I am saying: think.) but if you look at Alisha's normal outfit, you'll be a seeing a lot of straight lines and geometrical shapes: we have rectangles, crosses, the checker-like pattern on the hem of her tunic, vertical lines going down said tunic, tunic which itself is a pretty straight cut, the collar is noticeably triangular, the greaves and gauntlets add lots of sharp edges and bulk as well etc.

The more "feminine" aspects of it shine through in subtle ways, I especially like the use of the pastel yellow-green tassels and ribbon that serve as a vector of "delicate-ness". It's pretty effective! You can tell Fujishima also had a field day with her hair, look at the ponytail, so airy. So graceful. Like a stroke of ink in water. Oh and also she's wearing hotpants.

Now if you look back at her swimsuit design, do you see the same amount if care and creativity? No. Just slap a bunch of ruffles and sad ribbons there you go done bye. It's just so sad. The jewelry is also lacking in refinement. Is that mickey mouse pendant? I'm pretty sure it's not supposed to be. The upper arm bracelet has potential but the beads are way too big and crude. There's no life to this design I swear. And what's with the tribal(????) tattoo. Genuinely. What was the plan. Am I saying a character's swimsuit should necessarily resonate with the base design? No, not necessarily but in Alisha's case it's kind of the only think I can reliably go off of. So yeah. Not a good swimsuit, she deserves better. But then again if the discourse around Zestiria and Alisha specifically hold any semblance of truth, "deserving better" is a significant aspect of Alisha as a character in the story so maybe this specific swimsuit is actually meta commentary on how little the narrative thinks of her. (don't ask me i dont have a clue)

Now onto characters I actually know about: Velvet. Does it fit her personality: No, she'd either go around tits out in nothing but an old pair of trunks that aren't even swimming trunks, or wear one of those full-coverage swimsuits, no middle ground. I think the pengyon (at least i think it's a pengyon?) that replaces her gauntlet thingy is cute. And the ripped mini-shorts and the fact that the bra part still allows for an underboob view and probably provides little to no support at all do a good job of resonating with her main outfit. Google tells me the hibiscus flower represents womanhood in the language of flowers and Velvet is ineed a woman. So there's that.

Last but not least: Shionne. She's the reason it took me so long to respond to this ask. Every time i opened the post, her butt would hypnotize me and I couldn't do anything. Her swimsuit design also incorporate elements that are reminiscent of her Noble Scarlet dress (the off-the-shoulder jacket gives a silhouette that is similar to the effect given by the pauldrons and even the sleeves of the dress itself that are under it, the little pouch on her thigh that replaces her... shell holder garter(?) etc). Now would Shionne the individual wear this swimsuit? ...sure? She'd totally get one of those one-piece swimsuits with cutouts that make it look like a bikini from behind, she's extra like that. It's also a very modern design both in terms of shape and print (though that's not specific to Shionne, the whole arise cast was given modern/sporty swimwear) which works well for her I think but she can also wear more traditional-looking pieces with ease. Speaking of traditional, the headband adds an element of softness and natural, it kinda screams cottagecore like that? Which I'm pretty sure Shionne totally digs btw. Though Shionne no doubt spends a good 15 minutes making the bow look Just Right And Effortlessly Cute. Then again I'm pretty sure that's exactly what cottagecore is about.

Summer is now over in the northern hemisphere where i live, yet if i close my eyes i might smell the chlorine fragrance of a bikini left to dry on a plastic chair in sunlight. I keep it alive in my heart.

[talesfromasnarkylisa]

Stranded In Arendelle: Chapter 3

After finalizing the trade deal with Arendelle, Rapunzel decided to talk to Eugene. Much as she enjoyed hanging out with the populace, she had a bad feeling the gathering was going to go awry. 

“Darling, I think we should go soon,” she told her husband.

Eugene was busy hanging out with a prince when Rapunzel approached him.

“Why?” Eugene was confused. “We’re having the times of our lives here! No property disputes to solve, no world ending disaster. What could possibly go wrong?”

“A lot, actually,” Rapunzel sighed. “The queen is as friendly as a rock. Actually, no. Rocks have way more personality than her. She absolutely refuses to directly negotiate with me. Her sister’s trying to marry a money-grabbing Southern Isles prince. She says Elsa would approve, but I just can’t see that happening. And I have no damn clue as to whether there’s a curse or a vengeful lost royal with magical powers, but there sure as hell are people with a serious vendetta against Arendelle!”

“Calm down, sweetheart,” Eugene tried to comfort her. “I’m sure there are enough bodyguards to secure everything.”

“Yeah, I don’t know about that,” worried Rapunzel. “I also talked to the advisor, and he told me Arendelle has a lot of enemies. Thus why they needed the trade deal.”

Eugene thought about what Rapunzel was saying. He was starting to worry a little, too. There were a lot of land disputes back in Corona. And with King Frederic’s state of health, it would be unwise to leave the kingdom with just him for too long.

“Ok, we’ll leave by the end of today,” he stated. “I just need to finish up discussing some possibly useful weapons for Corona’s defenses.”

“Fine by me,” Rapunzel responded.

…

To say there was quite a scene when Rapunzel and Eugene got back into the castle would be quite the understatement. As Rapunzel predicted, Queen Elsa was very much not fine with the red-haired prince - who as it turned out, was Prince Hans - marrying Anna. Everyone in the room stopped to watch their spat.

So much for that discussion, Eugene was disappointed.

The royals of Corona tried to get out of the castle. But before they could even leave the throne room, the doors behind them shut and locked. Anna pulled off one of Elsa’s gloves. The next thing Eugene and Rapunzel knew, the queen summoned ice spikes with her hand.

Looks like I know who has winter powers now, figured Rapunzel.

She pressed the button on Varian’s unfreezing device to keep the spikes from attacking her. As Elsa fled the palace, a snowstorm was left in her midst. Everyone - from the coronation guests to Anna to the populace at large - were shocked. In the distance, tourist cruises were rapidly departing to escape the icy weather.

“Run,” Eugene stared at Rapunzel. “If we get to one of those ships in time, we’ll at least make it out of here.”

Rapunzel obliged. They ran through snow, slush, and wind. They took every carriage possible until the services closed due to the worsening snowfall. Eugene slipped on ice twice, but only got a few bruises. The two made it to the dock when the last boat left.

They were now stranded in Arendelle.

July 22nd, 1843

Rapunzel and Eugene were in the library they initially planned to get Arendelle maps from. The princess was busy using the telegraph. After having trouble deciphering its beeps and boops at first, she took an instruction manual from one of the shelves.

“Any luck with the telegraph, Rapunzel?” asked Eugene.

“It’s taking forever to operate the damn thing,” she answered. “But yes. Varian’s almost done fixing an airship to send here for us in a few days.”

“With this kind of weather,” Eugene despaired, “I’m not sure an airship’s going to make it.”

Rapunzel closed the instruction manual for the telegraph.

“There should be antifreeze devices on the airship,” Rapunzel stated. “Besides, we were originally supposed to be gone for a week anyway.”

“True,” Eugene responded. 

All of the sudden, Rapunzel spotted Nuru in the library. She waved to her, and Nuru approached Rapunzel.

“Hello!” greeted Nuru. “What are you two doing here?”

“We were trying to get the telegraph to work,” stated Rapunzel. “so we could get back to Corona on time.”

“Oh,” Nuru put some books in her bag. “Do you have any idea where books about meteorites might be?”

As Eugene went to talk to the librarian. Rapunzel cleaned up the telegraph.

“I don’t know,” she answered. “I haven’t been to Arendelle before. Ask Eugene when he comes back. Maybe he’ll know.”

“Ok,” said Nuru. “It’s just that my kingdom has dealt with meteorite attacks for about a decade now.”

Something clicked into Rapunzel’s head. Meteor showers. Hawada. State of emergency. She suddenly remembered part of why Corona needed the Arendellian trade deal; because Arendelle had been refusing to directly help Hawada for a while now and King Frederic wanted to. Unfortunately, Rapunzel had no idea how to help Nuru beyond the rather shaky trade deal the former made to get enough money.

“You know,” Nuru told Rapunzel, “I’ve never experienced snow in my life. I kind of want to enjoy all the frozen white crystals outside. Make snow angels, build snowmen. Wanna come?”

Right, thought the princess of Corona. Nuru’s 16.

“When Eugene comes back,” Rapunzel responded. “I think he could use the fun too.”

“Yay!” exclaimed Princess Nuru.

…

Once Eugene came back, Rapunzel and Nuru started building a snowman outside. Eugene needed to finish up securing those weapons for Corona first, but he promised Rapunzel he’d come back to see the final product.

“There’s so much snow!” Nuru exclaimed. “It doesn’t even go below freezing back home,”

“First time for everything,” said Rapunzel.

Rapunzel gathered the carrot and buttons for the snowman’s face. In the meantime, Nuru struggled to find good packing snow.

“How do I make this into a snowball?” Nuru was frustrated. 

“Look for snow that’s kind of sticky,” answered Rapunzel. “Close to warmer spots.”

“But isn’t snow supposed to be cold?” asked Nuru.

“Yes,” Rapunzel responded, “but not too cold.”

The two princesses were interrupted by a raven haired woman walking by. Slightly younger than Rapunzel, she was fair skinned and wore a grey overcoat on top of peasant clothing. 

“Cool snowman!” she complimented. “Who built it?”

“Both of us,” stated Rapunzel. 

“I’m Princess Nuru, by the way,” Nuru told the woman.

The woman in the gray jacket smiled.

“Nice to meet you both!” she exclaimed. “The name’s Kirsti, for the record.”

“Do you know where Eugene Fitzherbert is?” Rapunzel realized that it was a long time since her husband left.

“The brunet southern guard captain?” wondered Kirsti.

“Yes,” responded Rapunzel.

“I saw him with a bunch of well-dressed men,” said Kirsti. “Either castle guards or soldiers. He didn’t seem happy to be with them.”

Rapunzel dropped the snowball she just started packing.

“I have to go now,” she told the two women. 

“Bye!” Kirsti left.

“May I come with you, Rapunzel?” asked Nuru.

Rapunzel sighed.

“Eugene could be in a very complex and dangerous situation right now. You’re a teenager. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“That might be true,” answered Nuru. “But this trade deal he’s helping out with affects my country which I’m representing here. Which I’m running half the time at this point, even though there’s an acting regent.”

The princess of Corona thought for a bit. Considering the alternative would have been to leave Nuru to fend for herself in a snowy foreign kingdom alone with a shady Westergaard in charge, Rapunzel decided to let Nuru come with her.  (Wattpad version: https://www.wattpad.com/1462062364-stranded-in-arendelle-chapter-3)

[aqueeracademic]

morse being queer (and other commentary) pt 6:

season 2, episode 2, “Nocturne”:

TW: discusses d*ath of a child

- this episode is all kinds of fucked up so brace yourselves for what i’m about to say

- little kids are creepy as shit don’t come for me

- jakes sitting in the chair closest to morse

- no shot he’s actually paying attention to the sports game

- i missed this show aww

- lucy boynton AND anya taylor joy in this episode is so wild

- i understand he’s dying but there was no reason to mess up priceless artifacts w his blood tbh

- once again NO SUBTITLES so i have 0 clue what thursday is saying

- morse’s panic™️ when joan jokes about going on a date

- morse doesn’t know anything about sports which means he’s gay

- but he DOES recognize indian style daggers

- morse likes bugs (i, too, am autistic)

- strange <33333333333

- i feel really bad for this girl given that her uncle is dead and all but she really needs to reconsider her dye job

- i love lucy boynton but this character makes me want to pull my hair out

- morse connecting w the Weird™️ girl at the school is smth that can be so personal

- “this is a very happy school” girl r u tryna be suspicious?????

- i know that this is a serious tv show but i was rooting for it to be an actual ghost the entire time

- them talking about morse is so 😐

- like they’re RIGHT but they shouldn’t say it

- “snuggle down spit spot” ok didn’t realize mary poppins was present in this episode

- lowkey this episode is scary as shit and i’m tired of pretending it isn’t

- don’t try and tell me u weren’t scared watching this

- debryn and morse!

- perfectly unbroken eye contact this entire scene

- try and name and single person morse is more comfortable around you can’t

- this museum curator is sooooooooooo

- if i speak.

- morse lying about being interested in football just to please jakes is so crazy to me

- literally the definition of pretending to like something for a crush

- frazil supremacy

- “a feeling of” -dramatic ass pause- “dread.”

- brother? just say it?

- monica 🥰🥰🥰

- every girl in this episode has absolutely atrocious hair i’m living for it (not u martha ur perfect)

- opening a girls school in a mansion famed for a gruesome and unsolved murder is perhaps a terrible idea and they should have thought twice about it

- thursdays tie is so tight wtf is he doing

- morse is obviously gorgeous but there are some angles where he’s so stunning it makes me sick

- the county police are so 🤮

- morse guessing immediately it was a prank and being shot down despite being right is 😐😐😐

- thursday will defend morse to the ends of the earth

- lady has a cane AND a broken arm she needs to catch a break

- morse just stealing the book is wild i would be so mad

- this lady telling him about the ghost and leading him to where she saw it and then insisting he don’t go there is so weird

- like don’t talk about potential evidence of an intruder and then tell the COP to not go up there

- can u guess whether i believe in ghosts yet?

- PLOT TWIST I DO

- the face he made when he saw it was a bible was so fucking funny

- bro was 🫤

- PLEASE why is this episode so scary

- had to turn all the damn lights on in my room

- “morse says he saw a child u can take him at his word”

- GO THURSDAY GO

- morse in a wife beater

- why tf didn’t he close his door all the way if he was gonna start taking clothes off

- look at his freckles i’m so sick

- “i got a mate over at county says u saw something”

- this translates directly to “i have a friend at the department you were teamed up with today and i asked him about you because i’m in love with you”

- i forgot how long these episodes are

- these americans are so fucking sweet i want justice for them asap

- it’s time for me to confess that i actually don’t understand a single case in this show

- i never understand the solution tbh

- i’m j watching bc it’s pretty

- thursday’s son asking morse if they were “going to do it tonight” and morse getting absolutely terrified

- “gonna do what” 😨😨

- babe calm down

- had to switch to the tv bc i cannot understand a word thursday is saying

- need the captioning

- jakes just smiling at morse while watching him walk away is so 💅

- this girl using the word “breeding” when referring to building a family definitely suggests a little fruitiness i fear

- sexy curator taking his glasses off seductively to look at morse™️

- the one thing this episode got right was how shit morse is with women

- them realizing it’s joan on the date is so fucking funny

- “where would you like your ashes scattered?” (morse doesn’t believe in burials?????)

- it is so bizarre to me that this teacher would be showering anywhere near a classroom and even more bizarre that she’s walking the hallway in a nightie and barefoot

- how does she think gently tapping the window is gonna get his attention when he’s already halfway across the field???

- this is why all the women die in horror movies

- joan literally saying they should kiss and him being like “that would never happen bc coffee is gross” is so real of him

- her lashing out insanely at the girl playing the piano and then being like “what’s happening to us” like you fucking psychopath that was ALL YOU who is “us”????

- “they were of their time” = racist

- “all women together? it’s against nature” sir what the fuck do u mean by that

- this episode is not nearly gay enough for my tastes 🫤

- STOP WHY AM I SCARED

- him thinking it was bunty and being upset about it makes me physically sick

- if you pay attention to jakes during the scene they’re discussing how the little girl got killed you’ll cry just like i did!

- his reaction to it is so visceral

- “gently, please” FINAL STRAW

- debryn fully relying on morse to solve the case is so personal

- the way that morse is spurred by debryn’s faith in him???

- morse has been awake for more than 36 hours how is that even possible

- morse is so good for telling bunty it wasn’t her fault and insisting she believe him

- morse absolutely LOVES it when the heterosexuals are at fault for something

- “haven’t you ever been lonely?” and then the camera focusing on morse ILL BE SICK

- jakes also absolutely loves blaming the hets

- “and you didn’t think to offer that up before now?” 😑

- get him!

- an entire phone call to a police station was MISSED because morse had an Epiphany™️ and never answered

- the way shaun evans has to deliver the explanation monologue 4-5 times in a row perfectly?? THATS acting

- they are driving WAYYYYY TOOOOO SLOWWWWWWW

- guys there is a murderer in the house RIGHT. NOW.

- go faster.

- ok i lied earlier this episode makes sense

- but most of the time i have 0 clue what’s going on

- i also lied when i said the curator was sexy he’s a murderer so i hate him and he’s gross

- maud being the only child who didn’t know who he was and also the only child who was a victim of him is so fucking sickening

- “don’t mind me, just make sure the girls are alright.” jakes i love you

- how did that fall take Black out but not kill morse??? is morse indestructible?

- i’m never gonna recover from the knowledge that the surviving child was blamed for the muders and hidden away because she had Down syndrome

- episode gets a 7/10 from me for being really good but not gay at all

[lyon-amore]

What if…? Duskwood Chapter 15

Chapter 14 ————————————————————————————-  

*Macie POV*

 I look at the phone as I try to focus. As much as I want to, Jake's not going to text me today, is he? I sigh going back to work.  Inside me there was a little voice like my parents saying 'Macie, forget about him, he's hurting you and he's not good for you'. I already know... I know perfectly well... But maybe I'm the one who's put a lot of pressure on him, wanting to know about him. I have grown up in an environment where research was the main thing, looking at people and every detail was important. Ah… How my mother hated it… 'Why don't you focus on playing with dolls or anything else that doesn't involve interrogations?' And yes, I played detective with my Barbie and listened to my father read the reports of his investigations, my mom was mad because I was only six years old, which over time I learned thanks to my father.

Why do I remember this now? Maybe because I'm betraying my investigative principles with my feelings. Dad never got emotionally involved. It was one of the rules. The important thing was the truth for those who really asked for justice. And that's what I should focus on.    "I won't let him dominate me," I tell myself, fixing the script that someone had messed up with a bunch of typos. "I'm going to focus. I will focus..."     Two minutes later, he was already in my head.    "I can't focus…" So this is what it feels like when you're really so in love? Well I hate it.    "Tick tock, tick tock" Lian approaches my table, gesturing on her wrist as if she had a watch. ". Time is running out to decide whether to go to the anniversary as a couple with Aiden or alone."     Ugh… Right… I was faking that too, I almost forgot that I have a life outside of research.    "Are you going or are you going to pass?"    "I don't know yet." I'm actually waiting for a confirmation from Jake. I don't want to have a date with another guy without knowing that he really likes me ", I don't really want to party either-"    "Stop right there." she points her finger at me, with a lost look. "You? Macie Connors that when you see a day off the first thing you do is want to have a good time? What happens?"    "I'm just really busy lately," and I'm not going to deny it. I have a bunch of little notes in my room about the investigation.     Until now I have not realized that I’m dealing with three things at the same time: private life, love life and detective life, all without rest, because when I get home, I think about everything that happened during the day. Oh! And we are going to add the threats of a kidnapper to the list, why not? Whoever I tell this to, they wouldn't believe it. And better not to.    "Busy is not enough" she crosses her arms, looking at me like an angry mother, "it seems you've changed."    "For better or for worse?"    "Mmm... how to say it?" She begins to think, a little doubtfully "I've never seen this Macie, it's like you're serious all the time."    "Me? Serious?" I let out a laugh. The last time they said that to me was when I was sixteen.    "Every time you come back from eating you look like another person."     <<Because it's when I come back from something that made me happy in a long time. >>     Lian doesn't know anything from before we met and I prefer it to stay that way. I've suffered enough to call attention again. When I get back, what I do is think about everything Jake and I have discovered. Something that makes me partly distract from my real work    "Hey… If you need to talk, you already know that Aiden and I are your friends right?" Her face of hers changes completely. It breaks my soul to take her away from all this. She was always a great support in my life, her and Brian. But I can't make her know.    "I know Lian, don't worry, everything is fine." I smile trying to calm her down.    "I hope so…" she sighs, relaxing "Well, I'll go to work too."    "See you later, Lian."     I feel like the worst friend in the world. When I get home, I throw away the clue paper for Jessy's initialed bracelet. Although I always thought it wasn't hers, I wanted to at least write down the theory for Jake, my partner. I talk a bit with Jessy and Richy to end the day. Jessy is worried about Richy, while he seems to laugh at the situation when I ask him if he has committed any sin, since he has been marked by The Man Without a Face, how can he laugh? My question was totally serious, I mean, maybe in another context I could have asked it, but… I don't know… I wouldn't be able to joke if in my case it was Lian who had been kidnapped. Of course, this from my point of view as a researcher, I analyze the group and its actions. That should have understood.

Sitting at the table, I jot down Jake's name in the possible theory that he gave the bracelet to Hannah. I have too many theories with Jake. Is he running away? Is he married? Is he Hannah's lover? Who is Jake really? Is he hiding or is he hiding something? As guilty of Hannah's disappearance I don't have a theory because the investigation doesn't make sense then.

Henry tugs on my pajama bottoms and I pick him up, caressing him carefully.    "What's up, sweetie?" I speak to him as if he were a baby "Did you want me to pet you? Is that?" he sniffs my face and I laugh at the tickling he does "I know, I've been so busy lately that I hardly pay attention to you."     I get scared when I receive a call on my phone. I was afraid to receive them at night, it is never good news. I let it ring for a while longer, seeing that he put 'Unknown'. It was him.

I like scary movies because I know they're not real. I’m one of those who starts to analyze them and see that everything can be impossible due to some ridiculous situations, but that doesn’t mean that seeing something that scares you gives you adrenaline. But I can only stand it in fiction. In real life… In real life I would faint at the sight of real blood, I can't even smell it if the meat is undercooked. Therefore, I can't stand the kidnapper's threats. Because I know it's real. He can really hurt me. Not a screen. 

The phone continues to ring. It is very persistent. I wouldn't know if it's for fear of another threat or because I'm alone in my house. The times he has called me I was with Jake. Now, in a big, silent house and with no one to tell me that everything will be fine, I’m a little afraid to answer. I don't realize my finger is shaking when I accept the video call. 

I look closely at the scared screen. It might look like one of those cheesy internet videos you watched as a teenager 'Looking for Slenderman in the woods!' where you later see a ridiculously poorly made 3D figure. But I knew this wasn't from some ridiculous YouTube person. It was from the kidnapper himself. I hug Henry tightly, swallowing nervously. 

I let out a big sigh of relief when the video call ends. I hold Henry to my chest, trembling. I want to think that I’m safe here… Right? Although my first instinct is to text Jake, terrified. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Macie Jake?! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 I didn't realize how much I needed him right now until I saw his name written on it. I'm really not as brave as I appear to be, huh? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Jake Yes. I saw it too. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 I feel relieved when he answers me, almost more secure. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Macie What are his intentions? Jake I don’t know Macie. I believe that there is more to come. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 I don't know why his words don't reassure me at all.

 I had been reading those words, until I noticed the following messages. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Jake Macie? Macie are you there? What's going on? Macie I… Sorry, is that the video call... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 I didn't dare tell him that he had scared me, it would sound ridiculous. A 26-year-old adult being scared by a lousy video… It was laughable… If it hadn't been for the same person who had chased your friend through the woods... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Jake Are you alone at this moment? Do you need company? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 And there he was… The kind Jake… The one who wanted me by his side. All my worries seem to melt away when I talk to him. Also fear. I smile reading to him. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Macie I just need a minute to calm down You don't think it could be a cursed video, do you? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 I try to joke around to take the fear out of my body, going to bed together with Henry still in my arms. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Jake We'll find out in seven days. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 I let out a laugh reading the reference. I feel like he said it to play along with me and make me feel better. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Jake Are you sure you are alright? Macie Yes I’ll be fine Jake I have recorded the video. Maybe we should look into it. But tomorrow. I do not want you to see it at this hour again. Macie Thanks 🙂 Jake :) In any case, I will be on the lookout again for another call that happens. But do not hesitate to let me know if you need me either. Macie Alright Sorry if I interrupted some important work... Jake This was much more important. Rest well Macie. Macie Good night Jake ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 I keep my phone next to me on the bed in case of an emergency. Henry is the first to fall asleep, while I take a little longer, as if waiting for another video call from that crazy man. Will the makeup I'm wearing manage to hide my dark circles? I feel that I have slept very little or rather: nothing.

 I put a coffee on my table. The second one this morning. The only thing that relieves me is that I'm going to see Jake.    “That's too big coffee,” Aiden laughs, walking past my table. “Didn't you have breakfast?”    "Eh... Nope." I answered, looking at the coffee. Is it really that big?    "Has someone invited you to be his partner for the party?" He asks me, a little nervous.    "No, no one" I lean in a little and whisper ". I think they don't dare out of fear."     He lets out a laugh and slaps the papers out of his hand.    "If no one has asked you so far" I look at how his eyes shine "do you think I still have a chance?"     I exhale a charged breath, looking at the table to avoid meeting his eyes.    “I'll let you know ahead of time if I'm going,” I finally tell him. I think it would be good to continue using him a little more so as not to raise suspicions with Lian and that her talent for romance discovers that I am like this for another man ", I promise I will reject everyone who asks me."    "Are you really capable of breaking their hearts?"    "Only for the first man who ever asked me: Yes."    "Then I'll be waiting," he says goodbye with the sheets in hand and the smile of a Hollywood actor.     I don't understand how he doesn't dazzle me like the rest. I mean… Not even before meeting Jake had I noticed him so much. I guess in Jake I've found what I've always wanted in a man, but until now I didn't know it. As soon as Jake opens the door, I see him handing me a coffee. I caught it surprised, looking at him.    "Thank you." I answered, drinking my third coffee of the day. Today I don’t sleep.    "I thought you wouldn't have slept after last night's video." He replies, following me. "Are you still scared?"    "I wasn't scared," I lied, leaving the coffee on the table "I just wasn't expecting 'If you watch this video at midnight you could die'" I look at him and raise an eyebrow. ". Although it surprised me more with your messages, I thought that you didn’t know what others felt by message."    "I still failed my guess." He sighs, scratching the back of his neck.    He hasn’t failed. I'm really a little scared. I don't want the next video he sends me to be of Hannah in danger. I couldn't take it because of the guilt that he hurt her because I was investigating.

I smile a little knowing that he knew how I felt. I feel special.    “Okay, let's go watch that video” I say, clapping my hands togethe. ”, prepare it.”    “We have changed roles and now you are the boss?” He teases, going to his chair.    "Sorry boss, I'll shut up and let you talk." I joked, taking the chair and putting it next to him.     As soon as I sit down, he plays it. I try to see something significant, but nothing. There didn't seem to be anything that stood out.    "Mmh, the call came from the forest again…" I commented, resting my head on Jake's shoulder as he stared at the screen. I take another sip of coffee before falling asleep, it's good to be like this with him "Somehow it seems to be important."    “You are absolutely right about that.” I look at Jake who doesn't take his eyes off the screen, then holds up his hand, counting. "Cleo was jogging in the forest when she was being filmed.” He holds up finger. "Richy was in the forest when he was marked.” He holds up another finger and then he looks at me, raising an eyebrow. “Do we have a legend come true as suspect?"    “Who you gonna call?" I ask, humming the tune at the beginning of the question.    “Ghostbusters?" He lets out a laugh before becoming serious again "But I was being serious" I see how he crosses his arms, without taking his eyes off me ", the first time you told me about the man without a face I didn’t really take it too serious" he maintains his green eyes fixed on me, making it clear that in the end what we were investigating is important. "However, now I think it is very possible that our perpetrator is hiding behind the legend."    "I would like to add something to that-"    "Please, don't let it be 'I told you'."     I laughs and shakes my head. I'd like to tell him, but seeing as he's come to that conclusion himself, I'll let it slide.    “It seems like people are supposed to stay away from the forest."    “I totally agree with you on that" he quickly turns off the computer screen, as if he didn't want me to see anything "Isn’t there going to be an extensive search of the forest happening soon?"    "Yes, next Sunday." I get up from my chair, remembering that I have also brought food. I think I got used to doing it, already in case of an emergency, "But apparently Duskwood’s forests are huge." I commented, while I did the same ritual as always in the kitchen. I remember that time when my tire got a flat, there was nothing but forest. Stephan would love to explore it with Sky for sure. Come to think of it, I'm sure Stephan would be terrified of Jake, he doesn't like hackers at all.    "They are indeed." Has he been in Duskwood? "Something else: I need your help Macie.” He walks over to me and turns the stove down.    "I’ve been waiting for that already" I say as I wink at him.     He looks at me with a small smile. I'm sure he must be laughing at me in his head.    "I enhanced the prescription from Hannah’s cloud some more and was able to make the doctor’s name legible again.” He leans on the counter with both hands and he looks at me. ”It appears Hannah went to see a certain "Doctor Ulric Barrett". I want you to find out the password to his computer for me.”     I nod briskly. I'm going to do something cool hacker! Wait… How can I get a password?    "How am I supposed to do that?" I ask, a little lost.    "It is not uncommon for people to choose things for passwords that mean something to them." He now looks at the food, waiting for it to heat up. "A beloved family member, a number sequence that has a certain meaning to them..." he is saying while he renumbers with his hand "Many people are openly sharing such personal information about themselves."     Why is it that I now understand how my cousin feels about hackers?    "You mean..." I say, thinking about what I think I'm thinking. I see how he smiles, without saying anything to me "On instagram, Facebook and others."    "Exactly." He finishes heating up the food and puts it on plastic plates, while we go to the table, putting mine back and I put the cutlery on ours. "What does Ulric Barret like? What he doing in his free time, what kinf of pictures is he uploading" he sits down and moves the cover in a circular way ". That might lead us to his password."    “Alright."    “Very well. Tell me the password as soon as you figure it out-“    "Right now I'll get to it."    "But first-“    "Yeah, yeah." I pick up the plate, rolling my eyes. “You shouldn't worry about me, you know?“    “You forget basic necessities when you do it.“    "No way!“    "I know you haven't slept by the look on your face.“    "I was watching movies.“    "Or that you were worried about the video call."     I ignore his comment. I don't want him to know, because if he does, it might take me further away from this investigation. With this new lead we have, maybe we'll get something important out of it. I put my best face on Jake, pretending to be okay.    "Jake, I really didn't care about the video call" I comment quietly ", what is he going to do to me? He is in Duskwood, I am here."    “Right, we shouldn't worry.“     I give him a smile and he returns it. He's already worried enough about Hannah that he's worried about me. 

I start looking for Mr. Barret on the internet and I find different accounts. I hit the first link, Instagram. I read the information: Duskwood psychologist, he loves rainy days, tea, dogs, nature, books and music... Nothing remarkable, it's time to look at the photos. I go looking one by one, in case I see something that catches my attention. It is then that I meet an adorable dog.    "How cute!" I exclaim out loud, without realizing it.    "What's the matter?" Jake looks at me letting out a sigh for scaring him by my scream.    "I'm looking at his dog," I replied, looking at the photos of her "I wish I could have a dog…"    "Are you saying that for Henry?"    "No, allergy…" I answered annoyed "The password is Laula" I answered confidently. I can tell that he loves his dog from the photos, I think it's important. She is so cute dressed to celebrate her birthday.    "Something good that you have taken from looking at the photos of her."     I look at Jake with an excited smile.    "Thank you for doing me the great honor of investigating."    "You're welcome," he laughs, and I watch as he braces himself. "Wait, let me try it."     Even for five words he is very fast typing. It seemed that he had given a single touch to a keyboard. He is so fast with his fingers, what else his could do with his fingers? Steal? Maybe he is a thief? Hmm... Lots of theories...    "Yes! It worked!"     I’m contagious with his joy knowing that it has worked.    "You can’t even begin to imagine how many times such a simple search is enough to gain access to a computer." I can see from his expression that he's telling the truth, what kinds of computers has he gotten into? Is it done illegally or because he works on it?    "That really makes me think." I say worried. I don't think my passwords are easy to guess, but I'm already afraid that they can get into my accounts. But I trust Jake wouldn't.    "You did a really good job," he congratulates me, and the smile he gives me makes my face heat up. I've fallen back into his charm again, no matter how much I don't want to. "I thank you for your help."    "We are an awesome team." I replied with a laugh.     Jake looks at me and I see how he starts to turn more and more red. He pulls his hood up, avoiding looking at me. Too late Jake, I've realized.    "Yes, I feel the same way." I manage to see a smile.     The atmosphere relaxes. It's the Jake who opened up to me. 

I can't stop watching him, my heart doesn't stop beating fast. I remember when he closed the door on me, at that moment I would have wanted one of those kisses that take your breath away. I wish it had happened, it didn't bother me that he was the one to do it, especially since it's what I want the most.    “God…” I hear him say, as he stares at the screen.    “What happen?" I ask worried.    "He may be a psychologist, but his entire desk is a mess," he comments, letting out a big sigh. "So then I better take care of the doctor’s computer now."    "Aren't you going to order it?" I arch an eyebrow, doubtful.    "No, not that" he laughs, although he doesn't seem very encouraged, ", I'm going to have to look through all the folders he has, it will surely take time to find something."    "I guess then I'll leave you working while I go to work." I get up grabbing my things. "Good luck, Jake."    "Thanks Macie."    "And…" I put my hair back better, smiling shyly "Thank you really for worrying about me, I think you were the only one who noticed that I didn't sleep well..."    "Please don't hide your thoughts" His voice sounds deep with his concern. I fixate on his hand, squeezing it tightly. He's not only worried, but he's also furious about what happened ", it's important to me that you're okay."    "Okay," I control myself by not approaching him and even kissing him on the cheek. I have to be more determined. I can't cut myself for the next one. For today I let him work. "Let me know when you have something."    “You'll be the first to know.” he teases, along with a laugh.     I nod and leave the apartment.

 Jake… am I selfish if I wish that after this investigation, you wouldn't go after Hannah but me? *Jake POV*

 I controlled myself enough last night not to locate her house after that call. I don't know how I was able to leave her alone, all because I thought I might put her in danger when she needed me the most. But it's true, as long as she isn’t in Duskwood, everything will be fine. She really didn't look good... I don't know how she manages to keep smiling despite what she's been through, is it so I don't worry about her? She shouldn't do it, not for me. This makes me care more about her mentality. I need her to be okay. And I don't even think about it because of the investigation, but because I care about her. I press my hands hard on the table. I have to calm down. Think about something else. 

I think when she has rested her head on my shoulder, I have been able to smell her shampoo. That calms me down. I take a deep breath trying to keep the image of Macie calm, if I imagine her scared... I don't think I can control myself from wanting to break something.    "I feel like I lost to you, Macie." I commented, placing a hand on my shoulder where she's placed her head.

Chapter 16  

[sadieshavingsex]

something I miss from fundamentalism

is that profound certainty that someone could tell me the exact "good" and "right" thing to do in any situation.

I find myself seeking out this kind of reassurance with therapists now. I want them to give me a diagnosis or personality quiz to help me figure out who I am, what I'm like, and how to live my life. I want them to tell me what I want. Because for so long I was told what to want and what to hate and what is right and what is wrong. And I went for gold in every aspect of that. I believed it so wholeheartedly. I constantly contorted myself into smaller and smaller versions of me, trying to cut out all kinds of "secular" and "sinful" experiences from my life because it was the "right" thing to do. What's the lyric? "I became such a strange shape from trying to fit in"?

Now, having left the church, I sometimes feel like I’ve almost totally lost any of my own capacity to judge for myself what is good or bad or important or not, especially when it comes to relationships and sex.

It's a funny thing. I can't really even ask for advice, because what I want to know isn't something that anybody can tell me. My most recent therapist had to repeat this fact to me quite often. Still, I long for someone to just give it to me straight - to tell me that I'm okay and I don't need to worry, or to warn me that things are wrong so that I can fix them.

I'm quite close with my grandmother, and she recently noticed that my current relationship is more serious than any I've had in quite a while. She was very candid with me and told me if I need help with finding protection, want to talk to someone about sex, etc. she's there. The most recent time I saw her, I was in a bad headspace about the relationship. Thoughts were just going round and round in my head about whether or not the relationship itself and the things myself and my partner are experiencing within this space are "right" or "allowed."

Walking with my grandmother, I wanted to ask her, or tell her something. But I knew before I opened my mouth that the whole thing would die right as I said it, because she wouldn't be able to tell me, "Yes, Sadie, you love this man. Keep having sex with him." or "No, Sadie, this is a bad situation. Stop having sex now."

At least, she wouldn't be able to tell me anything that would convince me of anything, anything I would believe, because she doesn't know every detail, so she can't know the right answer for sure. I wonder if I have my own little form of scrupulosity OCD. I have to find out what is happening and I have to label it good or bad and I have to ensure that everything is as it actually appears. I have to be told that I am doing the right thing, and I have to be certain. But I never will be. I never will be. No amount of anyone telling me something will make me certain, because whoever is giving the advice doesn't know every last detail like god should. But if he can't be the authority anymore, who can be? Nobody!

I wonder what the overlap is between relationship anxiety/ocd and ex/fundies or people in similar situations. All I want sometimes is for some larger, seemingly more valid outside force to evaluate my life and tell me that I’m in the “right” relationship or doing sex the “right” way. It’s difficult not to have that. Being repressed was honestly easier because it felt like it got to the point where I was so utterly sexless that there was no urge powerful enough to ever make me even consider changing my mind or my personal state of affairs.

Now, I’m out here experiencing the world instead of stoically hiding from it, and I have to face the fact that I have no clue what I’m doing and neither does anybody else. Nobody can give me the definitive truth or rules of the world. Nobody can confirm for me that I'm a good person. Nobody can make me believe that something I do or don't do is morally okay. Nobody can know with certainty that I am on the right path - I can only try to convince myself of that idea, or come to terms with the fact that I can never know for certain.

It sometimes makes me just want to retreat back into my shell until someone hands me a definitive handbook on what is good and bad and right and wrong in sex and relationships. One might say a Bible. ha.

[sohmiya]

Ooo, I’m intrigued and have questions. So, if it was necessary for Maxine, what was her process for getting over Evren? And what does Maxine think about Miko? and vice-versa considering Max and Ev had something go on for a bit, in contrast to Miko and Ev having an actual relationship going on <3 ahh, thank youuu

OHHHH time to expose maxine 🤭

aside from writing a bunch of songs about him, she drank a lot. but unlike her process with her ex wherein she’d partied and slept around often, this time she just wallowed in her feelings at home because she didn’t trust herself to go out and not end up hooking up with someone. and she just knew that if she had another hookup the media would blow it up and she wouldn’t want evren to hear about it so she just avoided that situation altogether and stocked up on alcohol at home.

she was that sad girl who baked a lot but instead of baking, she’d make cheese boards. sometimes she’d invite her band over and even though maxine never told them about the fight with evren in detail, they already had a clue so they just went along with whatever she felt like doing—karaoke, board games, etc. as long as she wasn’t putting herself in danger. like they knew it was a “she’d get over it, she just needed to be dramatic first” kind of thing shdhsjsk

and there were nights when she thought she was doing better then she’d start crying again because she was missing him but she couldn’t do much about it because it was She said she wanted. so it was a cycle of writing and drinking and crying until she wasn’t hurting anymore.

i can imagine by the time evren released “somewhere this works” they were both already kind of healing so the first time maxine heard it, she legit shed a tear because a part of her found the whole thing bittersweet but at the same time, another part of her was genuinely proud of him and when she heard the we should be friends line she actually laughed like “evren you motherfucker….” dnfbskdksks

ok so max and miko….. i was actually debating on whether or not i’d make them friends because i can see maxine genuinely liking her because she’s chill and a bit out of the loop and indifferent when it comes to celebrities and their drama and it’s not like miko is the jealous type.

but like you said, max and ev had a whole thing going on and they were more like an “almost” than just a simple fling so i think miko and maxine would simply be acquaintances at least for a while—just to avoid the past being brought up and causing any tension. and before evren and miko make anything official, i think evren would try to sort everything out first and prove to miko that whatever he had with maxine is done.

he’s serious about miko now that he’ll probably say some shit like “if you want i’ll stop talking to her” and miko’s just like “i don’t want you to do that” “are you sure? because i will” and miko rolls her eyes trying to stifle a smile like “shut up” and i feel like even when the conversation becomes lighthearted after that, evren still feels a bit nervous so he’ll say something like “you believe me, right?” and his voice sounds small and kinda shaky and he adds “i’m serious about you, miko” and ughhh miko has already fallen head over heels in love with him and even with the media being annoying as fuck with the rumors, evren himself never gave her a reason to doubt him. like he always went out of his way to show her that he only has eyes for her and at that very moment she finds him so kissable so she kisses him and mutters against his lips “i believe you” <333

anyway i can imagine maxine and miko becoming friends eventually. not like super close but they definitely find each other cool and occasionally hang out with each other. like it helps that miko doesn’t easily get jealous so she really isn’t really bothered anymore because even before she and evren caught feelings, i imagine her already having read some rumors created by the media so she wasn’t entirely clueless about them. but yeah miko was the first to tell maxine that they’re good and that she’d hate it if maxine kept walking on eggshells around her <3