#i should stop being surprised by any plot points in this show by now lol

[lily-blue-blue-lily]

god this show is not afraid to kill off its characters huh

[yukipri]

So, I binged The Acolyte last night.

I had a mental block and couldn't get myself to start while it was coming out, and I also haven't touched any High Republic era media before which made me hesitant. But the spoilers/gifs/fanart etc I saw convinced me I should give it a try.

I'm not a huge fan of binging, I like sitting and thinking with each episode, so I expected to just watch an episode or two, give it a day or so, then continue if I liked it.

But, to my great surprise, once I started, I couldn't really stop (aaand stayed up till 7 AM, oops).

I think it had several things going for it:

-The acting was genuinely phenomenal. I feel like I would have felt completely differently about the show if different actors had been involved, and i mean that more strongly than I usually do. Their delivery in certain moments really sold me.

-It's not your usual Star Wars genre. I'd consider it mystery/suspense with a touch of horror, and it really does come together. Some of the characters are experience a more stereotypical Star Wars action/adventure story, but are jerked out of their genre at certain moments. It's pretty neat, and makes the twists fun and interesting (even if you were completely spoiled beforehand, like me lol)

-The costumes were gorgeous and unique.

-Some truly gorgeous cinematography, shots that have beautiful composition and lighting.

-It was rich in lore and references, some from Legends that I caught, many from the High Republic that I didn't catch but appreciated nonetheless. It felt deeply connected to the SW Universe.

-While cynical, the writing says things that I've thought about but never really thought Star Wars would have the guts to say. The writing is also Tight, meaning that little moments of character interactions bring up things that will be necessary/helpful to the plot later, and I appreciated that. There felt like very little waste.

-There are genuinely no "good" or "bad" guys. Every character makes mistakes or has horrible qualities, yet also positive ones. We see and understand motives, even if we don't agree with them, and see the fallout of those actions. This made almost everyone compelling. The narrative and writing gives the audience space to think.

Things that I wasn't as much a fan of:

-I felt like most of the sets felt kind of generic and Earth-like, especially in comparison to the rich costumes and alien characters.

-There are some fantastic fight scenes and emotional scenes, where the acting and cinematography was fantastic, but I wish the music had been a bit more memorable. I can't really recall any of it, and I feel like there were scenes that could have been truly iconic had the music resounded more with me.

Now, some more specific thoughts, SPOILERS below:

On Sol:

Sol is a character who, I believe in most cases, I would have absolutely despised. But holy shit, Lee Jung-jae. I am not exaggerating when I say that his performance is perhaps one of the best, if not THE best performances I've ever seen in live action Star Wars. He played this character so tenderly, so genuinely.

Despite being misguided, having made terrible decisions, and making mistakes that even he acknowledges, Sol himself always truly thought he was doing what was right, and loved Osha with his whole being even at the end, and it Shows. The way he looks at Osha was so sincere.

This is why I can't get myself to hate Sol as a character. It makes me feel so conflicted, like how can a guy with so much love and genuine desire to help and do good go so wrong? And that, I think, is one of the major points of the show, and Lee Jung-jae absolutely sells it. What a phenomenal actor. You could genuinely watch this show for him alone.

On Osha/Mae:

When the first info/promos for Acolyte came out and Amandla Stenberg was announced as the main character, I admit I was a bit confused. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't that I thought she couldn't act, but it's just that her face is so kind. She looks so warm (and gosh, she's so beautiful), but it made me go hmm, she looks like a Good Guy Protag, a Hero, so I was a bit confused as to how she was going to lead "the Acolyte," which from the title, I assumed she'd be Dark Side. Even with the early promo scenes of Mae fighting Indara, I wasn't really sold on her being "Dark."

And it turns out, that was exactly the point of the casting.

Amandla was perfect, and was brilliant at portraying two characters who not only have different and distinct personalities, but also both shift and change throughout the show. Mae never came off as "Dark" to me, because she isn't. Osha's not necessarily Light OR Dark, but she's independent. They are balanced, yet cycling, reminiscent of that little palm-to-palm circling ritual that the girls do. Amandla's portrayal of them was poetry, and made me so very invested in them.

I think if there's one thing I really wish the show had included more of, it's both Osha and Mae's pasts between their tragic separation and their reunion in the present. What was Osha's Padawan-ship actually like? I feel like the exact reason for the timing of her leaving the Order was ambiguous, and I wanted to know more. And was Mae with "the Master" the entire time?

I truly wish Osha could have heard the full story from Sol, because of his many crimes, ironically, killing her mother really was a genuine accident. There are things I wish he could have apologized to her for, or that she could have understood about him, such as how that night at the coven was largely driven by how Sol felt connected to her. This is one part where, while I get how the writers went this way, I do wish I could have felt more closure to their relationship.

I found it so tragic that Qimir erased Mae's memories and they had to be separated so soon after finally understanding each other. I really hope that if there's a season 2, they can be reunited.

On Qimir:

Preface by saying I was spoiled regarding his identity long before I started, by all those thirsty posts/tweets. And man, I GET IT.

But thirst magnet aside, I found him a genuinely fascinating character. For one thing, he's kind of an ironic character to *be* a Darksider. He seems so chill and laid-back, is honorable (or at least keeps his word), and despite his words about using emotions to harness energy, we don't really see him passionately mad/anything really. In contrast, the Jedi we see around him are furious, scared, sad. It's interesting that he almost seems more calm, but not necessarily because he's trying: he just doesn't care.

Manny Jacinto's portrayal of the character made him so damn Likable. Which, is pretty hard to reconcile with the fact that I genuinely liked Jecki and Yord, but a lot of his lines make me just go, y'know he's got a point. Like the whole, "She was a child," "You brought her here." Like yeah. Honestly, fair. His little quips, the delivery, the I'm-just-a-chill-dude attitude, actually keeps his word, and on the flip side, undeniable ruthless skill and viciousness that took down a whole team of Jedi single-handedly. It's a very BRRRRRR combo.

In general, I don't really get too attached to "Dark Side" characters, and don't really have a favorite Sith. Or at least, I didn't, but I think Qimir (or whatever his actually name is) might claim that spot now. Truly peak character, I truly hope we get to see more with him.

And this is kind of an aside, but can I just say, it felt unreal to have entire fight sequences focussing on just two Asian actors, with the other protagonist we see a black girl, for huge chunks of the show? No white people except comparatively brief side characters? In a Star Wars show?!?? All of them unique and well fleshed out and phenomenally written and acted?? None of it felt like "forced diversity," it's all so natural, that when I step back and thought about it in these terms it just...again, feels unreal. I'm so grateful for these characters, and hope we get more like them.

On Jecki and Yord:

Honestly given what I saw about Yord before hand, I was expecting him to be far more annoying than he was. Sure, he was a little stiff, but he felt like a young Jedi Knight who was trying to prove himself and do his best, and I think he very clearly did care for Osha.

Jecki, gosh I loved her. She felt very similar to Ahsoka, if a bit more by the book. She was very wise for her youth. I loved the budding friendship between her and Osha, how they helped each other and weren't jealous.

The thing about both of these characters, which I think the writers did so well, is that they felt like protagonists. In another story, they would have been the main characters, the heroes. Both of them were so young, so early in their training/careers. They could have become Obi-Wans, Ahsokas. Jecki especially was bursting with so much potential.

But alas, this was not that story. It makes it that much shocking when their lives are cut so abruptly short. We were given time to get to know these characters, to care for them, and then without much fanfare, boom. Gone.

On one hand, I sorta Hate That. On the other, I deeply respect the writers for going there, because I think it did have an Impact on the story and show.

On the Witches/Mother Aniseya:

Admittedly I was a little ehhhhh on some of the world-building regarding the witches, just the use of the words "witch" and "coven" and some of the chanting with gasping cackling women etc felt a bit caricature. I do get that they wanted us to have a vibe for this group and to get one with limited screentime, and sometimes stereotypes are the way to do that. I didn't love it, but also didn't mind it too much.

I actually really loved Mother Aniseya. For one thing, the actress is Gorgeous, her costume stunning, and she really sold the whole otherworldly ethereal immortal goddess vibe well, in a way that still felt Star Wars. For the other, I liked how she was the soft, empathetic one, it kinda contrasted with expectation of her position.

I also loved Mother Koril, and how again, she was designed as a character foil to Mother Aniseya. I love how we didn't see too much of them, but could still see that they were partners who loved and respected each other (I hesitate to say "wives," because I feel like their society may not exactly have the same concept of marriage, but partners was undeniable). I think it was a neat Oh moment when they stated that Mother Koril is the one who carried the twins. Love them.

I know I'll have more thoughts, but yeah, to sum it up, I enjoyed Acolyte a ton more than I thought i would, and am so glad I gave it a chance.

Other things:

-Mentioned earlier that I love "little moments of character interactions bring up things that will be necessary/helpful to the plot later." Some actual examples of this: When we see Sol noticing Osha's tattoo and Osha saying he must hate it, which in the moment, shows the kind of guardian-student relationship they have, and how little seems to have changed for them in the time they've been a part. Later, it's shown to clearly identify Osha after Mae steals her clothes. Another is the rolly polly moth things, which at first seem just like a way to show This Forest Dangerous, but then are a plot point to temporarily escape from Qimir, and later on, to show Vernestra's connection to the Force (and also her light whip). Stuff like that, I really like.

-I so appreciated Qimir's Cortosis helmet. For one thing, it's neat that it's not just cool-looking or a disguise, but actually is Force-blocking. I think an official SW account factoid said that this is also how beskar works, though beskar is stronger. The two effects this has: when the user is wearing it, they're forced to confront what's inside of them. The other, is that it hides the wearer's identity from Force users who would otherwise recognize them. The latter is my personal headcanon for beskar helmets, so it's very gratifying to see it in canon! The former has some interesting implications for Force-users who wear beskar.

-The cynical view of the Jedi Order as an Institution, and all the politics, corruption, and obscuring of dirt that that entails. Admittedly this may be because of my own increasingly cynical perspective on the Order, but it felt honest and I agreed with most of it. The fact that individuals are trying their best to do "good" does not negate the fact that they are pretty much acting as Space Cops. This line by Senator Rayencourt felt especially raw:

"I think the Jedi are a massive system of unchecked power, posing as a religion, a delusional cult that claims to claim the uncontrollable. [] Your emotions."

Framed as a religion having unchecked power—that feels uncomfortably realistic! And also zeroing in on how for all their power, the Jedi are still people, and just as fallible (and therefore, must necessarily be held just as accountable).

Also:

I can see how this portrayal of the Jedi may make some folks uncomfortable, especially if you love the Jedi, but I long hold that the Jedi as an organization are deeply flawed. It's part of why I personally like the "fall of the Republic" era; both the Galactic Republic and Jedi Order have deep, fatal flaws, and this is an era where that all comes to a head—one where they must fall, or fix themselves.

So in conclusion, my favorite parts: the characters, and the moral grayness of almost everyone. Many stories may claim there's no good/evil dichotomy, but few ever truly show it, but this one did.

I'm not sure yet if I want to "fandom" over this or if I'm pretty satisfied with having just watched it, but it was definitely worth the watch and I'm glad I gave it a try!

~~

~~

I also kept a lil document of live reaction notes as I was watching, which I'll copy below:

Episode 1

UEDA?? The planet is just, UEDA?? A pretty common Japanese surname?? That's like. Naming a planet Johnson or somethin...

Loving the costumes 'n set

Oh wait I recognize this scene, it's the one they played as a preview at the AMC Star Wars marathon

Idk how to feel about the Space Generic T-Shirt

Ooh Neimoidians (thank you for no horrendously exaggerated Evil Japanese Accent TM), and interesting Jedi ship shape

Oh interesting interesting they intentionally paralleling TPM eh

Hrmn not a positive first impression of Master Vernestra, her lines are so mechanical

Very cool pilot chair droids and tentacle alien

Osha says practice vehicle safety and wear seatbelts and protect your head!

Oh Osha has Trauma I see. Girl ain't getting good sleep

Oh wow Sol Loves Osha, oh no is this going to lead to Padawan Jealousy Trauma between Osha and Jecki. How much are we heavily paralleling TPM here

Kill the dream eh?

Episode 2

Oh there are multiple Jedi temples, that's nice

Jedi Temple using same security system as Jabba is...uh

Mae tips, good for her

Master Torbin just sittin' there, lookin like some random youtuber. why tabi socks

Man I dig Mae's patchwork cloak with massive princess hood.

It's pronounced KAI-meer??? My Chinese ass thought it was Chee-mir

Barash Vow

Ohhh so Mae doesn't know that Qimir...? (was spoiled)

Episode 3

ooh i like the fairy clione things

Ohhh village all women??

Mother Aniseya is stunning

Oh she and Koril blatantly lesbian, fantastic

Oh gosh the Jedi are NOT looking good here. They don't have the right to train children?? WTF

You must let the children take the test?? And if they pass the Jedi will take them away??? That does NOT sound very consensual!!

Oh gosh, selling "you are special" to a child, after separating her from her community...

Really feel like "how does taking a child away affect their community" should be factored into jedi stuff

Mae that is...sudden and violent wtf

Kinda not trusting Sol here

Episode 4

Wow Kelnacca looks...mentally stable

Ohhh Qimir's ship? Looks suspiciously Kylo Ren-ish

Qimir really suspicious eh

Oh wow not using the Force or anything, just using a sniffy guy

They're really doing a Fellowship of the Ring walk huh

Look I absolutely adore Mae's long gorgeous cloak but that is going to drag half the forest floor with her

Not liking those tree bulbs. looks spider eggy

Osha don't Touch the Thing, that's such a Pippin move

oh no, not spider eggs...rolly polly moth vampire thing

Really enjoying Osha and Jecki's friendship, I'm so glad it's not former Padawan jealousy

Oh, Mae, oh no....knowing spoilers...oh...

The red lightsaber igniting next to Osha's head...dang what fantastic composition

The lil hand twitch and head snap. I Get It.

I remember when "Darth Teeth" was trending

And wow that's a Cliffhanger

Episode 5

Oh no Osha knocked out that doesn't bode well

How many against one is that damn

The double spear through then hidden head lop...wow

holy shit booma-saber

Oooooh the cut treeeeees damn

all that death before even the opening title

Honestly GO JECKI, that's very impressive, her win against Mae AND double saber against Darth Teeth, Anakin level spinning and drama

Holy shit Jecki's death was brutal...

She was a child - You brought her here - FAIR

Why risk discovery - I did wear a mask LMAO

Damn did he just casually break Mae's leg

I don't make the rules - the Jedi do

The Jedi say I can't exist...wow

Holy shit Yord's death

Damn full on brawl

I've accepted my darkness, what have you done with yours

Damn really yeeted Qimir from the fight by sticking a light on his back

Pip tho ;_; killin droids feels like killin pets...

They've turned you against me - really Anakin quotin

Wow Sol, not even going to see Jecki????

And wtf how can Sol not tell that Mae's switched them??? Has fandom been grossly misunderstanding how the Jedi use the Force....how the fuck can any Jedi tell apart any clones eh...

While not exactly subtle, I appreciate how lil details in character interactions have had pay offs. Like the tree bugs and Osha's tattoo being a way to identify her

Episode 6

He really just makin a hot pot

his lair kinda looks like sequels Luke's island

Not sure how I feel about the elephant rock bird things

Honestly glad we get to see Sol upset and affected by everyone's deaths. Might explain part of why he can't tell apart the twins?

Oh he's really wearing hakama hakama

Wow Qimir really just getting in buck naked eh. Is this the scene that Manny froze his balls off for

His line about it being fine in a fight but vengeance a few hours later

Oh he brought a change of clothes

Damn the Jedi are taught "it fades"???

Aww Osha, u aren't tempted by the soup??

Oh wow we revisiting bodies, that feels...u usual for SW. Oh there's a Kel Dor... (why are there no flies buzzing yet. or are there no flies yet)

Mae wakes up so peacefully compared to Osha

Oooh sensory deprivation mask, all dark, nothing but breathing, evocative of Darth Vader even if breathing is not similar

Episode 7

Vergence....iiiiinteresting

Sol, stalking lil kids is creepy af

Oh my god you're just gonna break in???

See - You cannot deny the Jedi have a right to test potential Padawans - Why the fuck not???? You don't have the right to stalk, spy on, break into random people's homes, and talk directly to their children without permission from guardians??

Guh Sol....

Interrogation after isolation from guardians....

Oh, the Jedi Council is right for once??

Do not alter this little girl's destiny because you have formed an emotional attachment to her

Gosh I thought Indara was the most innocent in this buuuuut

Episode 8

I'm surprised they never added Darth Teeth's mask to the front credits

"See you in hell" Oh I know Han mentioned Hell like once but I thought they were avoiding mentioning it in newer media

Holy shit Rayencourt: I think the Jedi are a massive system of unchecked power, posing as a religion, a delusional cult that claims to claim the uncontrollable. - Kinda uncomfortably real!!

-We don't control the Force - no, your emotions - OOF

I didn't realize till this ep how the cool Brendok eclipse got that line, it's the comet ring. super neat

oof Mae climbing out of the scene of Trauma...

Oh that is some Wu Xia shit

"I will destroy you if i must" really??

Nice dagger saber

Okay Sol that is Cool

oh gosh, the plot-relevant inversion of clothes resulting in it reflecting how they swapped light/dark is SO cool

very yin yang fighting

Damn it keeps coming down to the unarmed opponent thing

Damn, Mae going the justice route

Damn, just Damn

Gosh the thing about Sol is that he is SO well acted, so sincere in his love and devotion, it's hard to hate him

I'm glad the helmets block the Force identity like that tho, fits headcanon

Glad Basil continues to shine

Oh no. Vernestra...I thought you were doing the right thing revealing the truth, but instead you're continuing the cycle of covering up crimes

Oh...use Mae to find Vernestra's former Padawan...that's a cycle alright

And ends with Yoda okay

[souliebird]

I'm so sorry that the appreciation for your stories isn't reaching you as it should. I'm just now beginning to understand better ways to support my favorite writers, but now I know reblogs and genuine comments are my best bet at telling y'all how much I love your stories 💗

So (and I'm sorry if this is too long lol), I'll tell you some of my fav things about ATIMY! I'd love for you to continue the story, but as a writer, I understand the need to pause and re-think if its really what you want —specially when one feels like you do rn 🫂

1. I absolutely, and I cannot describe this enough, the background and personality of Reader. She's raw, and I honestly think that's the best word I can describe this story with. It's my favourite thing about it too! Reader is so incredibly emotional to read, her anxiousness is palpable and it's strangely soothing to go through. I see pieces of myself reflected in her, but its written so smoothly and realistically, as one would talk to themselves, that the anxiety portrayed by her ends up soothing mine in a way lmao

2. I cannot stress this enough too, but MINNIE!! That bundle of joy was something I didn't know I needed, but I craved ever since I discovered. The idea of Matt being a father is so surprising, and new, and exciting! I remember reading chapters where both Foggy and Matt pondered over the idea —they were so right to think it'd lead Matt to better. You found a way of making a plot device —the classic tough man protecting himself more finally, because of his girls — so pure and wholesome in Minnie, and I love her character so much I now see her in everuy bubbly toddler on the market 💞

3. And most of all, and because I've never written an ask before so idk how long this can be —the clear thought and love to the plit you've poured into it. I'm tired of people writing Matt or any character purely because he's...idk, hot? I've never found such a complex and beautiful story about him like yours. It nexes romance, but also the giddiness of bonding with your child, AND it's written through various POV's that connect MANY arcs to the story? This is a GEM, and I find myself expecting far more than just Reader's and Matt's interactions. I'm excited reading Minnie's chapter, or where the Sokovian Accords arc is going to lead us to. Orrr, the risks of Minnie and her powers, already different from Matt's 👀

You may've noticed by now English isn't my first language haha. I'm sorry if I didn't get to explain myself clearly. But the point is, I'm sorry for not showing the love more, in name of everyone.

You created the reason I started logging on tumblr every day to check for updates. We love this story, and I just hope we can help you make you fall in love with it again too ❤️‍🩹

Apologies that it took a few days to get to this, I'm not in a good headspace rn.

I don't plan to stop writing, even if my only motivation is to prove to myself I can finish this story.

Thank you for all the kind words. I'm glad people can relate to Reader. I feel like I get mixed reactions sometimes, so I'm glad my over thinking everything isn't a hinder to the story.

I'm glad ppl like Minnie. I know ppl do not like kid fics and don't like original kids much, so I'm glad the feedback for her is so positive.

I have a lot of controversial opinions about how ppl write Matt, so thank you for thinking I write him well. Thank you for sharing you enjoy all my plots and care about the Sokovia stuff.

I've put a lot of research and hours into making sure everything lines up correctly and I hope I do it justice.

Again thank you for sending this. I've reread it multiple times, trying to tell myself you aren't just saying nice things bc I complained. I'm amazed I haven't gone and deleted all my posts talking about my insecurities bc I have severe anxiety and would rather pretend I don't exist and isolate myself than bother anyone.

I 10000% believe I annoy ppl when I mention feeling self doubt or disappoint in feedback bc my fics are generally well received. I do get comments and kudos and likes when others don't, so I feel like a horrible person whose bragging if I mention a dip in feedback, bc I'm getting it in the first place. Like shut up, Soulie, and be grateful ppl are even reading your slop.

Anyways, thank you. The words help.

[stitching-in-time]

Voyager rewatch s6 ep26: Unimatrix Zero pt 1

More Borg stuff, but at least this time it has a very different premise from other Borg eps they've done.

In this one, Seven is contacted by Borg drones who manage to tap into her regeneration cycle via a hidden interlink, Unimatrix Zero, that allows certain drones to retain their individual consciousness during their regeneration cycles. They ask her for help in stopping the Borg queen from destroying their secret interlink, which they can't do themselves, since they retain no memories from it in their waking state.

We get a slightly unhinged but ultimately sweet scene in the beginning of the ep, where Janeway does another one of her 'you're in trouble' fake-outs before she does something nice for someone- Tom finally gets his lieutenent pip back, and it's long overdue. Dragging out a plot point from a lackluster episode almost two seasons back was way too long, with no real reason behind it. Now I can have an easier time pretending that 30 Days doesn't exist, finally! (Poor Harry being like 'hey where's my promotion' in the background though lol. Dude, chill for a minute and be happy for your bestie, he's only getting it because it was a stupid decision to take it away in the first place, no one on that ship is ever getting promoted lmao)

Back in Borg land, the Borg queen is very pissed off about her drones having fun, and she kills any drones she finds have been part of Unimatrix Zero. She then dismantles them to get to their cortical nodes to try to find a way to access Unimatrix Zero. They go full Halloween horror for the Borg scenes, with gross fake severed head props for them to dissect, but I think it's a little over the top tbh. The Borg are supposed to be soulless automatons, not, like, sexy vampires- they don't need to show the queen getting weirdly horny for dissecting disobedient drones. Having her enjoy her own sadism would work for any other villain, but for the Borg, it should be cold and emotionless, because that's why the Borg are scary.

Meanwhile, Seven finds that she was a part of the secret link herself, and meets a former friend of hers there, Axum, who tells her about her time there, which she has no conscious memory of. Seven is surprised and perturbed to learn that she and Axum had been a couple, but she pushes that aside to focus on finding a plan to save Unimatrix Zero. It appears to them as a tropical paradise environment, but soon their peace is broken by attacks from the queen, as she begins to send her own drones in to drag everyone there back to the hive mind.

Seven asks the Captain for help, and she agrees, since it's also a potential way to weaken the Borg if drones can escape the hive mind through Unimatrix Zero. Tuvok once again provides handy-dandy mind meld services so the Captain can see their little virtual reality for herself, where she speaks with the other free drones, and witnesses one of the Borg queen's little raids. We get an absolutely amazing badass Captain Janeway moment when the drones attack- she picks up a bat'leth, and just starts beating the shit of a drone until she sends it back out of the link. (Is it hot in here, or is it just Captain Janeway with a bat'leth? Lord have mercy!!)

But anyway, the queen was monitoring her drones, and she gets super pissed when she sees Janeway there, beating drones up. Honestly, despite not liking the Borg queen as a concept in general, it's kind of hilarious how jealous she is of Janeway. It has the vibe of the high school mean girl hating the weird girl who doesn't care what a big deal she is- I can literally picture the Borg Queen, a la Regina George, getting out her little Borg Burn Book after this incident, and writing about how Captain Janeway is a fugly slut that no one should trust!!! (Maybe they should have tried channeling the Borg Queen's agression into field hockey too- they could have brought down the collective without needing to implement their insane plan later in the episode lol)

So they figure out that the only way to save Unimatrix Zero and help the people there remember their experiences while awake, so they can fight the Borg from within, is to get directly into the heart of a Borg ship and access it's core processor to download a virus into it. Since the Unimatrix Zero denizens can't do it themselves, Voyager has to. Janeway decides to take the Delta Flyer in herself, but Chaktotay convinces her to let Tuvok and B'Elanna come along to help.

In yet another example of the Voyager writers being deranged for not acknowledging J/C as a thing, they proceed to give Janeway and Chakotay a longer, more romantic, and more public farewell scene than they give Tom and B'Elanna, who are actually canonically a couple. Tom and B'Elanna get one brief and very understated private exchange where they only indirectly acknowledge how worried they are and how much they love each other (I feel like they should've at least kissed for goodness sake), but meanwhile, Janeway and Chakotay get this huge public display in the middle of the freaking bridge. They literally sit there on the verge of tears, holding hands, and staring into each other's eyes, for a not small amount of time, in front of the entire crew! Just out in the open! Like, what??? How can you pretend that's not romantic couple stuff?! The entire crew would think they got together when they're acting like this, that is not normal captain and first officer behavior! Like, Picard and Riker never held hands and stared into each other's eyes, on the bridge, no matter how dangerous the mission was! Jfc it's completely bananas how shippy they write them! And yet they insist they're not a couple! Insane.

Also, this is that one ep where they clearly had a different plan for how they'd end the cliffhanger from what they eventually did, because they have the Borg queen talking to Voyager and being like 'we'll see you soon Harry' and Harry's like 'wtf did she mean by that??' and they never actually did anything with it! It's the most weird random line! It's honestly baffling to me that they didn't write the cliffhanger episodes at the same time, that seems completely insane to just put out a whole ass episode before you've settled on how the second half of the story will end. But honestly, that explains a lot about why the quality was so variable and the throughlines didn't always carry from one half to another with Trek cliffhangers.

So anyway, they go to the cube, and Voyager attacks it to distract the Borg while the Flyer sneaks in. The Borg Queen sees the Flyer and blows it up just as the away team beams in, but they get caught before they can reach the core, and they all get assimilated, which is where the cliffhanger leaves off.

It's a very tense, scary ending to the ep, and even though I know how it ends, I was still biting my nails rewatching it, so I think they did a really good job. (Though even on first viewing, when I didn't know how the story ended, I knew they'd find a way to rescue them, somehow. There was no way they were going to write out three main characters in the last season, so wondering how they'd rescue them was the big question we waited all summer to see the answer to.)

I'm a little sad that this is Voyager's last cliffhanger though, since it means I'm nearing the end of my rewatch. Only one more season to go! I'm really going to miss my Voyager space fam! For all the show's ups and downs, I still love these characters, and this ship, and I don't want to say goodbye to them again now, any more than I did then. But at least now I know that Star Trek will continue after Voyager, which we didn't know back then, so that makes it a little less sad this time around. Onward and upward to season seven!

Tl;dr: An unusual but interesting Borg plot that does an excellent job of building tension and high stakes and keeping you on the edge of your seat. One hell of a cliffhanger to close the penultimate season on.

[soul-dwelling-not]

Ignorant ranting about Tales of the TMNT, the latest addition to the Mutant Mayhem iteration of Ninja Turtles, an iteration I never got into, and based on just rushing through parts of the series:

What's the point of stunt casting if all they are going to do is make pigeon noises? The payoff does not help.

If you're going to cast Jackie Chan for the film but not the TV series, or a voice double like James Sei, what is the point of now having him speak vermin? Are you trying to say something meaningful about assimilation, or did you just really not want to cast a Chinese actor and thereby erase Chinese representation in the cast or any

I really hate how much talking this series has: it's animation, focus on animation.

I know this is Titmouse, I know I enjoy recent Beavis and Butthead, but why do the humans have to look so much like Beavis designs? I can appreciate leaning into the Motorcity action and aesthetic--but that show at least knew when to have characters shut up for a minute and let the animation do its job.

We really needed to do stupid "pigeon poop" jokes over and over and over again?

I hate when characters do something foolish for the sake of an unfunny gag: that Leo didn't figure out the gentrified restaurant was indeed not Bishop's lair is a dumb gag.

"You're not paranoid--" I am admittedly entering into that joke out of context, but it didn't work for me: either really lean into April being the one to believe every single conspiracy theory, or just don't have her use that line.

I am so tired of the insult "Nerd!" as a punchline, especially to undermine anything heartfelt Leo says at the end of one arc. Just let a moment of sincerity stand, not every last moment has to be destroyed by, "LOL, you love to hear yourself talk, huh?"

The same nerd insult applies when talking about Don, to keep reducing Don to just "nerd" or just "anime nerd." I should be grateful that this is a step up from Jellystone levels of "LOL, body pillows, shut-ins, friendless losers" representations of animation fans (especially as none of this feels like the animators being self-deprecating: instead of "we are nerds, we can joke about ourselves," it's the same tired level of "nerds are losers, geeks are losers, fans are losers, how pathetic they must be").

Stop making Bishop anti-mutant. Please get back to 2003 Bishop in terms of motivation. I appreciated 2003 Bishop's entire attitude pretty much being, "Mutants? I don't care about mutants! I want aliens!" I would have so preferred that characterization: have her be someone fixated on one task, then have her just get annoyed that, instead of aliens, it's mutants. Think Dandadan levels of trying to one-up which is more engaging, the sci-fi or the mystical.

Also, all of this applies to the Earth Protection Force. Maybe additional stories will surprise me, seeing as it will resonate with an audience that an organization looks at native-born people--and still thinks they are "foreign," "other," someone to get rid of.

Acknowledging that Leo was on a shaggy dog hunt does not change that the story is stretching out the plot for the sake of the streaming era.

Bringing back the proto-Rat King intended for the film as a gangster is kind of boring. Granted, TMNT adaptations keep struggling to make the character work or have some core qualities beyond "sway over rats": Mirage was a force of nature but vague enough that you can read him a number of ways; IDW leans too much into godlike power; 1987 was just a guy; 2003 was just an extension of Bishop; 2012 should work with Combs in the role but still takes too long and keeps abusing the Kraang mutagen as a plot device to get whatever result you want for the sake of the story.

[charlieconwayy]

What are ur issues w Hulu Futurama?

tbh when it was announced i did have excitement in me about my number one show ever returning, but then i remembered all the bullshit that i hated in the cc run and i was just immediately skeptical and for good reason bc i am usually right. i will say that i rly am a fry/leela as characters and as a couple girlie so i am being insanely biased (my man stays dragging me saying i need to put more energy into other aspects of the show lol) but i do like other characters if the show cares about them. but that's the main issue with this revamp. the show put care into literally EVERYONE except fry and leela who are the MAIN characters. (i do think a lot of the weird "there's no main character" kinda stuff was due to bendergate - and yes i am annoyed that dimaggio allegedly has billing over billy who plays the LEAD as well as two other main characters - but it's also strange that w all that fuss, even if it was just for publicity which i doubt at this point, that bender didn't rly do all that much either?) i started noticing like two series rewatches ago that as we get later into the series, we get more planet express crew centric episodes rather than fry/leela/bender episodes, and i'm fine with that for the most part bc i adore amy and hermes, but it feels weird that they kept so much of the vibe of the cc stuff in the show considering how much most people despise those seasons.

to answer simply, almost every episode was either bad, boring, far too fanservicey (looking at you pointless parasites lost "sequel" bc how dare u shit on that episode's legacy so fucking badly), or just forgettable. the episodes i genuinely liked were children of a lesser bog, related to items you've viewed and i know what you did less xmas. i found all of those to be enjoyable and everything else to be complete and utter shit. COALB honestly surprised me bc i have never cared about kif/amy bc the show didn't rly ever care about them (always felt soooo bad for their shippers w the zapp shit and then the bender shit), and i rly rly like that they did a major status quo shift by letting them have children and actually letting those children be a part of the cast. lauren tom is mother and she killed that episode and i am so happy for her that they allowed her to show her acting chops bc i think her line delivery is insanely underrated in general. (off topic but anyone complaining ab them switching leo's voice actor to an asian man needs to grow up, that should've been the case from day one.) i knew i would enjoy RTIYV bc it was a freela status quo shift but i actually also really enjoyed the momazon plot and found it amusing/funny. very very odd that there wasn't any~major freela moments in their ONE focused episode, but w/e. it's a mixed bag bc i also would've literally died for the cc seasons to give us background stuff w them. i do love that they kind of threw back to the fry/leela/bender days with this, it felt nice and nostalgic. the xmas episode was GREAT esp bc i always hate the xmas episodes (the first one has a special place in my heart bc you're lonely and i'm lonely but together we're lonely together <3), it was so fun getting to see everyone as a family (SO happy they're acknowledging dwight and cubert exist again even tho canonically they should be grown men by now lmao) and the bender/zoidberg stuff was surprisingly sweet (honestly when they give zoidberg an ep where he bonds w any of the pe crew it's enjoyable, the hermes episode was good, the professor episode was good, now this episode is good)

now to get to my issues. i don't want to say that they shouldn't have listened to fans and given us what we want to see, but i feel like there was so much weird shit that no one was asking for? parasites regained is the most egregious example bc who tf was like "omg we need to see the worms again but this time in a gross out potty humor episode!" no one. they need to STOP with bringing back every fucking character too, like barbados slim is a good example of this. he's been used so sparingly that he is pretty loved in the fandom, but w them making hermes/labarbara an actual stable relationship (a good thing that they then immediately ruined for jokes no one finds all that funny) it was SO weird and annoying for them to play back into the "haha labarbara is cheating on hermes!" schtick again. why was the whale biologist back? why was the time machine brought back?! like i know i said i liked the xmas episode but certain things are just so iconic to the show that they need to remain untouched. pissed me off. why can't they give us shit we actually want to see? robot devil song and dance number. zoidberg/marianne (just give her another fucking voice actor if they can't get emilia clarke jfc). hedonismbot as long as he's not overused and just given a few one-off lines (did we even see him????) hmmm idk the main thing a HUGE majority of fans have been asking for for twenty fucking years in a SEQUEL TO THE WHY OF FRY????

also did anyone think it was odd how after the cc seasons cramming zapp down our throats every other episode we barely saw him?? even in COALB he was kind of irrelevant. my guess would be they didn't want to over exert billy but the professor had a ton to do so ???

there's so much else that i could probably complain about and go into but i will leave it at this: i do not like the cc seasons BUT i am glad they exist bc of the late philip j fry which is not just a perfect episode of futurama, it's a perfect episode of television. until the hulu seasons give me a TLPJF than they don't have a reason to exist. this sadly just felt like a money grab and yes, i will admit that there were good moments/episodes but as a whole, it did not need to come back. i'm hoping they're saving the masterful writing that i KNOW they can do for the next season (look at season 4! banger after banger. kif gets knocked up a notch, jurassic bark, the why of fry, the sting, the farnsworth parabox. three hundred big boys, the devil's hands are idle playthings) but tbh i feel like that fire/spark is just gone from the production team.

[green-socks]

Who You Are

Pairing: Adrian Chase/Vigilante x gn!reader

Summary: You take Adrian to a work event, but the night causes some insecurities to rise for him. You assure him that he's perfect just as he is.

Words: 1.4k

Warnings: None, really. Some insecurity and some misunderstanding I guess but nothing major.

Notes: My first time writing Adrian, eek! This is super self-indulgent, as might be obvious lol, but what is fic writing if not self-indulgence, so I just let it out. Maybe someone else can relate, and if not, hope you enjoy anyway! Thank you to @a-reader-and-a-writer and @yespolkadotkitty for looking this over and assuring me it's not crap <3 And a general thank you to @mandocrasis for the constant thotting&plotting. The spark to write this came from you.

MASTERLIST

You thought you’d seen everything when your boyfriend showed you his Vigilante costume.

You have seen him at his most dangerous, almost unrecognizable from the adorable dork he usually is. You have seen him at his most natural, stripped naked both from clothes as well as any pretenses. You know Vigilante, but you know the regular Adrian best. Better than anyone else, you dare say.

You know the Adrian with rumpled hair, in a slightly torn t-shirt and those faded sweatpants, playing games on his computer. You know the Adrian who gives you a deep analysis on his morning cereal like it’s fine wine. The Adrian who blushes endearingly when you tell him he’s doing a good job. The Adrian who will literally bend over backwards or jump over hurdles (such as the couch) to help you in any way he can.

That Adrian you know.

“Babe, are you ready to go? I know you don’t like being late so I really think we should leave now,” he says as he appears in the bathroom door frame.

This Adrian? Him you’ve never seen before.

“Oh my god, Adrian,” you gasp at a loss for any more words.

“What?” He stops in his tracks. “Oh man, is the suit wrong? Chris said the color was unusual, I should have listened, he always knows more about these things! I guess I could find another real quick somewhere, or maybe it’ll be dark there and no one will see–”

“Baby, no, you look amazing!” you rush to reassure him, still gaping at the transformation. “I’ve just never seen you in a suit before. You look like fucking Prince Charming or something!”

“Really? You think it’s okay?” The relief is clear in his voice.

“Yes! Now let’s go so we won’t be late, I’d feel bad for not getting to show you off,” you wink at him.

-

To be completely honest, you had been a little bit nervous about taking Adrian to this work event since this wasn’t his usual style or scene at all, afraid he wouldn’t enjoy himself. You’d even told him he doesn’t have to wear a suit, but damn he had cleaned up well. It’s clear you’re not the only one impressed by his looks tonight with the way your boyfriend is turning heads left and right. The old lady brigade of your office is giggling in increasing volume at everything he says, and you decide it's best to go save him from their claws before it’s too late. You’ve seen what they get like when there’s tequila. Even so, you take a weird satisfaction in knowing that you’re the only one who actually gets to call him pretty and watch how his legs tremble just a little bit when you do.

At one point you notice him squinting at a menu a lot, and you realize something.

“Wait, Adrian, why aren’t you wearing your glasses? You know you can’t see as well with your contacts.”

“Well, I thought I’d look more sophisticated and serious without them,” Adrian explains thoughtfully.

“Honey, no work event is worth getting a headache over, at least not like that. Besides, I think your glasses look both sexy and cute. There’s nothing wrong with them!”

“You really think so?” Adrian looks very pleased.

This is now the second time tonight Adrian has been surprised at you finding him good-looking and assuring him he’s perfect, and that makes your stomach twist painfully. Do you really not tell him that enough? Does he really worry about you not liking how he looks or how he is? It makes you feel absolutely awful to think that he has felt like that, that you haven’t been there enough for him. Maybe you should remember to be even more vocal about how much you appreciate him? Adrian does seem to appreciate hearing you praise him.

You make a vow then and there to remember to say out loud how much you adore and appreciate him, but it still puts a damper on your mood for the rest of the night. The last thing you want is to make Adrian feel less than, when he always makes you feel so good about yourself, and the guilt is making it hard to enjoy the festivities.

-

An hour and a half later Adrian quietly suggests you two head out, and you agree instantly. On the ride home you’re both much, much more quiet and subdued than usual, and you wonder if there’s something weighing on Adrian’s mind too. Maybe the party had been too overwhelming for him, and you hadn’t supported him enough.

When you get home, the weird silence lingers, and you don’t really know how to break it. Adrian is usually the one to lighten the air just by being.. well, himself, but again, for the second time tonight you find you’re not really familiar with this version of Adrian. He looks tired, but it’s more than that. It’s like he’s preparing for a blow even while being too tired to do anything but collapse on your couch.

You’re convinced you have done something to hurt him, and it’s eating your insides to see him like this.

“Adrian, baby, is– is everything okay? Did I do something? Was the party horrible? Does your head hurt again?”

He lifts his head and visibly tenses. “No, of course you didn’t do anything wrong, why would you think that?”

“Well you seem really quiet, and sort of.. not like yourself,” you say tentatively. “Not that you always have to be full of energy, but you kind of seem like you’re avoiding something, like maybe.. me.”

“I just didn’t wanna embarrass you,” Adrian mumbles.

“What? How–”

“At the party. I didn’t want to embarrass you by being annoying and loud and behaving badly, like I always do, because it was really important and your work is really important and you’re so smart and professional and I’m so proud of you, and so I tried to stay quiet and not annoy anyone, I really tried babe, but then you seemed a little sad and I thought you must be upset with me because I didn’t know how to act there, and I get really tired focusing on not being annoying even when I don’t always know why I’m annoying, and that’s why I’m just super tired right now, I’m sorry babe.”

Adrian explains the issue with his usual fast pace, and you try to hang on as best you can, feeling like a bucket of cold water has been poured on your head the longer he speaks.

“Adrian, honey, I am so so sorry if I have ever made you feel like I’m embarrassed by you,” you speak through the lump in your throat. “I am not embarrassed by you – in fact I am proud to be with you. I appreciate you coming with me tonight and trying to fit in like that, but you don’t have to do that. I would rather you feel comfortable than care what anyone else thinks.”

“You mean you don’t have a list of things I did wrong that you want to go over with me now?” Adrian asks, still unsure.

“No, I absolutely do not,” you assure him with conviction. “If anything, I could make a list of all the things you did right, because I really enjoy being with you baby. I don’t think you behave badly, I thought you were very polite and charming!”

You’re starting to realize that maybe you really do need to pay attention to affirming and praising him – and not just about his looks – because it hits you that what you are saying right now is the complete opposite of what Adrian has been told all his life. Even his friends tell him he’s too much, and yeah, maybe sometimes you can see that, but you’ve never felt like it or that he would need to rein himself in in some way. And you’ve certainly never been embarrassed to be his.

“I would never want you to change who you are, baby, because I love who you are,” you whisper, reaching out to cup his cheek to make sure he understands you mean it.

For once it seems Adrian is speechless, but what he can’t say in words he conveys in fierce hugs and kisses, and you have no trouble understanding he returns the three words even without him saying them. Very quickly he returns to his usual self, the exhaustion apparently all forgotten now.

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

[always-andromeda]

“La Belle Fluer Sauvage” for Nick Flynn. Nick has a really rough night at the shelter and comes home to discover reader decided to surprise show up at his place. Nick actually wonders if he’s hallucinating. She’s wearing a sexy outfit and does some moves on the stripper poles to try to cheer him up (Nick isn’t really quite in the mood so it takes some time). She does win him over, and he becomes ridiculously horny for her - would love it if you include extended oral sex/fingering, primal/carnal vibes, real hot and heavy dirty talk, maybe they both take turns trying to dominate one another 😉

Lol sorry for so much detail ahhhhhhhh 😅

Author's Note | lmao, you're totally fine, bb!! in fact, I should be apologizing for this being part of literally the last batch of milestone posts? like damn, thank you for your patience on this one lol.

Warnings | smut (MDNI), y'all read the request lol, we have oral sex (female receiving), fingering, thigh riding, and a little bit of Nick being an ass, nothing else I can think of!"

A Disclaimer | As with any characters that I write who are based on real people, I would like to say that the Nick Flynn I am writing about here is not meant to reflect the real life Nick Flynn, merely the character Paul plays in Being Flynn!

The waiting is what makes the knot in your stomach twist tighter. And not the good kind. Regardless, the pressure keeps mounting with every minute that passes as you sit on the couch. Even though it's entirely the point of the skimpy red lace set that you have on, you felt unsettlingly naked sitting by yourself.

The only thing you could think of doing was stealing one of Nick's old flannel shirts. You buttoned a few of the middle buttons and fiddled with the ends of the sleeves. To say Nick had been having a rough time lately was an understatement. Ever since his father had shown up at the shelter, your boyfriend was seeming to do everything in his power to hold it together. Every time you saw him the circles underneath his eyes seemed to be getting deeper and darker. You can't even begin to imagine how much of a strain the emotional turmoil of his job wrecks on his mental state.

But now you're second guessing your assumption that Nick is just like any other guy; only in need of a quick fuck to relieve his tension. Because when Nick walks through that door looking as exhausted as ever, you feel none of that confidence you had earlier. Especially when he plops down beside you, barely sparing a glance at your unusual appearance.

He groans and leans his head back on the couch, burdened by some work altercation that you're sure you'll hear about later when he feels ready to tell you. But, for now, you push down the rising guilt and advance forward in your plot, bringing your legs up on the couch so you can kneel beside him. Laying your hands on your knees, your arms press your tits together slightly. 

You hope and pray that the awkwardness wears off. That somewhere in the middle of your act, it'll start to feel natural and effortless. The discomfort only deepens when you reach forward to place a hand on his thigh and Nick finally looks at you.

His eyes go wide in the worst way, betraying the same kind of unease that you're feeling. "Something bothering you, dear?" he asks hesitantly. 

You put on a bright smile. "No," you blink rapidly, "Just wondering how your day went."

"About as good as they all are now..." he sighs and runs a hand through his greasy hair.

"Oh," you swallow thickly. "Maybe I can make it better?" you wonder aloud, lifting yourself from the spot on the couch and strolling around it. Nick's turns so his gaze can follow your figure as you walk towards one of the poles mounted on the stage behind where he sits. His brow raises when you grab it and swirl around once, reaching your hand out with a flourish.

You plant a foot firmly on the platform and gracefully slow to a stop before looking at Nick again.

"That was...nice," he says carefully.

You pout, "Just nice?"

Realizing the obvious surprise in his tone, he over-corrects. "That was fantastic, really. I just didn't expect this...why don't you come here?" he looks you up and down, only now drinking in the whole look before urging you over with a sly tilt of his head.

You try not to give into your nerves as you step down from the stage and make your way toward him. Nick notices the way his flannel loosely hangs from you, exposing the thin, lacy straps of the scarlet lingerie laying on your skin. 

As soon as he takes it all in, he's grabbing your hand and bringing you around the couch again and encouraging you to straddle him. His hands rest possessively at your sides and slide up underneath the flannel.

"You look really good in this," he comments distantly.

From your spot on his lap, you look down with a bashful smile. "You actually like the set?"

Nick blinks blankly before shaking his head. "I mean this," he rubs the fabric of his shirt between his fingers, "I like this on you."

You nearly roll your eyes at the sentiment. You should've predicted that the poet would turn to jelly once he saw it. You could put in infinite amounts of effort on your appearance but it wouldn't compare to the simple but tender gesture in his eyes. But you're glad that something is working on him, regardless of if it fits in with your plan. He still looks up at you like you hung all the stars in the sky just for him. It's a type of exclusivity that makes pride swell in your chest. 

"What else do you like about me?" you lean in a little closer and roll your hips, practically daring him to do something to you with the sheer proximity between your bare skin and his.

Nick reacts with a deep breath and swipe of his tongue over chapped lips. "What kind of question is that?" he shoots you a trivial look.

"It's a simple question." Your fingers tease the folded collar of his leather jacket. "I think a smart guy like you should be able to answer it pretty easily."

Nick takes you by surprise, turning you so you're flat on your back against the couch. You adjust so you can sit up and get a better look at him as he begins to travel.

"Hmm, I'm a smart guy now...why don't you tell me what I should be paying attention to, honey?" He leaves sloppy kisses down your jaw before pulling the flannel away just enough to he could continue down your chest. Though his descent down your body is quick, each kiss is filled with vigor; you hear it in how he breathes and hums, waiting for you to answer him.

The closer he gets to your panties, the more your voice falters when you respond, "I think you should appreciate...how hard I try...for you..."

That makes him stop dead in his tracks between your legs. He rests his cheek against your inner thigh and when you look down, you see how his brow furrows.

His tone takes on a note of sincerity, "You know you don't have to try for me, right?"

You reply breathlessly, "I know. But I just– you do so much at that shelter and–"

Nick sighs and starts to chuckle humorlessly, "But that's my job. Not yours. You don't have to worry about me. I'll be just fine, okay?"

You catch how he sleepily blinks. Still, he's nearly salivating being this close to the warmth between your legs. His voice is hoarse as he teases, "Besides, why would you have to try when you already have the perfect answer right in front of me?"

"You think I'm perfect?"

Nick laughs again, "Of course. You know, Shakespeare once said, 'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate..." Then he kisses you above your clit.

You groan, mostly from the cheesiness of the line. "I don't think that Shakespeare was talking about pussy, Nick."

"Who knows. It's open for interpretation," he waves your comment off as he hooks his fingers around each side of the waistband. You lift your butt off the couch to allow him to pull the garment down, just for him to crumple it into his pocket. 

Now gazing directly at your folds, Nick drags a long finger up the center of them, gathering the little bit of slick that's formed. It's been a while since he's touched you like this. So you're still sensitive when he dips in, coating his finger in the slick. 

"I take it that I should recite poetry more often when I'm about to make you come, huh?"

"I will slug you if you do, Nicholas,"  you threaten halfheartedly, earning another pompous laugh.

As he pushes the lubricated digit against your entrance and lets it slowly swallow him, he breathes deeply in time with the way your walls clench around him. He continues his recitation, "So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, so long lives this, this gives life to thee."

And with that, he can't help himself any longer. As soon as his finger is buried completely inside of you, his mouth goes to your clit. He circles the bud with his tongue and smiles when he feels it harden slightly.

Hands flying to his hair, you hate the thought of possibly degrading him, but you need more of his face against you. So, using your grip on his dark locks, you begin to faintly thrust against his face, trying to find that sweet spot that you can ride all the way to the end of your rope. That's when his lips wrap around your clit, sending you through the damn roof almost entirely.

Nick lets you have your moment; lets you put an entire show into rolling your hips into the thrusts of his finger and the suction of his mouth on you. He waits for your gasps to get higher and feels your thighs tense up with the consistently building pressure against your clit. Each of your strangled little sounds of pleasure just increases his ego. And that, on it's own, builds him up enough to where he pulls his finger from you and grabs your wrists from where they'd been grasping his hair.

Gathered in one of his large hands, he holds your wrists up and crawls his way towards you again. "I thought that you were trying to impress me?" He chuckles before giving your parted lips a searing kiss. Even though you don't kiss him back, you taste yourself on your own tongue; it's impossible not to, considering you're all over his chin. But based on the way he smirks smugly into the kiss, you know he's enjoying the power play. And a Nick Flynn who is full of himself is one that you don't want to encourage.

Finally recovering from the devastating edge and regaining a semblance of a grip on yourself, you break your wrists free from his hand; a move that he didn't expect you to have the willpower to do based upon the way his brows raise. You push back on his chest until he's properly sitting up and take your place on him once more. But this time, you're planted firmly on his thigh.

Even if you'd been wearing those red lace panties, the material of his dark wash jeans would've overwhelmed your still sensitive cunt. But you commit to the moment and grind down on his thigh, bracing your hands on his shoulders.

"Maybe I changed my mind," you whine, barely able to stand the electric wave that makes you quiver.

Nick can tell that you're not nearly as strong as you're making yourself seem, spacing out each roll of your hips sporadically and reacting severely each time. The sight is almost pitiful.

"Then at least let me help you," he murmurs. With your eyes closed, you feel Nick's hands rest at your sides before they travel down to your hips. Then there's his fingers digging into your flesh and guiding you into a temperate rhythm, turning your pathetic rubs into steady grind against his jeans.

You squeeze your eyes shut as that really makes the coil start to form again in your belly. Like muscle memory, it all comes back quickly. Your body is familiar with this slow burn and is eager to rush through each twist and turn just to get to the ending. Nick is going to absolutely ruin you with this one and you can do nothing to stop it; and what's worse, is that you don't want it to stop.

Long after the end hits you, you're still clinging to him. The climax moves through you so fast that you feel like if you move even a little bit, you might just fall apart. So you stay, waiting for the tension to simply fade away. You bury your head into the crook of his neck, shaking as your arms snake around his torso.

"Fuck, I really needed that," you whisper.

Nick chuckles hollowly, taken aback by the way you attach yourself to him like a lump. He decides on rubbing your back over his flannel. That texture makes the smile reappear on his expression. He hums, "I think I needed that too."

Being at that shelter takes something out of him. Every single day he works his ass off, taking care of people, often to what feels like an unsympathetic audience. He thinks back to his father; always so disappointed that the world hadn't simply folded to his obvious brilliance. Seemingly disappointed with Nick for not bearing the burden of his mistakes. It's thankless work.

But this isn't. And Nick, himself, clings to that. That, here, especially when he's holding you, he has a place where he is treasured.

[hellodolleyes]

I feel like ranting about stuff so I'm gonna do that-

I've been working on my story Ashes and the story follows the perspectives of three main characters being Korvin, Tallow, and Julien.

Korvin and Tallows perspectives mostly explore the larger plot whereas Julien's is more on the slice of life end. His perspective is essentially one I explore with my friends and their own characters so there's a lot of shenanigans going on within his story lol.

Korvin

Korvin is, from an outside perspective, a normal dude that doesn't have much going on for himself. As Cyril (a character related to Julien's perspective) might say "he's the most infuriatingly average person I have ever met".

Cyril would be right as an outsider looking in (also Cyril just plain hates Korvin with no real reason other than the fact that he can't read Korvin like he can with others), it's not like Korvin makes an effort to look interesting to people though.

His perspective mostly follows what he doesn't show to others, and it gets really dark at points with serious topics about mental health and illnesses. Korvin struggles heavily with depression and bi-polar disorder with paranoid tendencies.

Which is why when he first meets Mori he isn't sure whether it's because he's having a weird episode or if the little purple guy is actually real.

Mori is a Bensu, and a supporting character that has his own struggles. A main one in terms of communication is that he doesn't speak any english at first. I mostly use Mori as a bridge character, one of a few to introduce the other perspectives to a hidden world lost on humanity.

Korvin's perspective is one of a struggle to push on even when the world feels like it's weighing him down and keeping him down. And he doesn't feel like he has the right to feel depressed because in his mind there are others who have suffered worse, therefore he struggles in any strides to get better because all he wants to do is ignore his mental state.

Tallow

Tallow is a borrower.. Or well, he's a Bensu that was adopted by a borrower couple and raised as one. He has his mother, father, and two sisters, and he cherishes them all deeply.

However Tallow struggles with feeling like an outcast despite all of the love and support he receives from his family. Being built so different from his borrower folks, he has been left all his life to wonder about himself but gets no answers to his questions because his family, bless them, they don't know what he is and can't give him the knowledge he so desperately wants.

For a time when he was growing up he despised his differences, although now that he's older he's come to begrudgingly accept that he is the way he is. It doesn't stop him from wishing he could just be "normal".

Throughout his perspective it explores his relationship with his family and especially his sister Kimber. And it inevitably leads to a story of self discovery, and especially excitement when he inevitably meets another one of his kind.

I should mention that Tallow, Korvin, and Julien live under the same roof with the exception of Tallow living in the walls with his family. So it would come to no one's surprise that he would inevitably meet Mori, but the situation is actually coincidental in nature.

By that point Mori still doesn't know much english other than the few phrases he's learned from Korb, so Tallow can't immediately bombard the poor anxious lil guy with questions like he might want to.

Julien

Julien's perspective is a little more complicated. as I've stated I mostly use him to play around with friends and the characters they've developed in support of my odd little story. Although Cyril (@cuttlealert 's) and June (@sodaspoppers 's) have a bit more of a complicated history as characters other than being apart of Ashes, I've come to love them and the dynamic they make with Julien in his more slice of life extension to the story.

To summarize Julien's perspective, it's a story about people bonding over their past traumas and moving forward to a healthier path in life. Julien and Cyril learning that they are half brothers that grew up in surprisingly similar situations of abuse. Meanwhile there's June who seemingly appeared put of nowhere, breaking into Julien and Korvin's kitchen to sit on the counter and eat cheerios.. That was an interesting night.

June is a little blue goblin, or a Nocscizu (Nu-ze-zu) who is suffering from memory loss and they are missing brain cells in all the right ways. Julien unofficially adopts them and when Korvin inevitably finds out about June the temporary chaos is glorious.

Cyril is a genius, but he's incredibly antisocial and lacking in empathy due to his upbringing. He's shut himself off from the world and is only now opening up to it with Julien being someone be can finally lean on in life (literally, 6'4" beanpole lookin ass xD).

Julien himself has found that he enjoys being a supportive person, and although he can come off as abrasive at times, he's all in all just a good guy looking to better himself after a bad streak throughout his highschool career. As with Cyril, Julien also found himself in an awful situation growing up, but he leaned more towards anger and violence to cope. He doesn't condone his past actions and actively seeks anger management and therapy.

There are even more characters relating to Julien's perspective, such as Autumn, Olive Owly, Rusty Spurr with his daughter, and Pierce- But the focus is more on the dynamic between Julien, Cyril, and June.

I love this perspective because its far more light hearted than the actual plot of the story and it makes for a good break between the more serious tones I intend to portray. Julien's perspective is just plainly people who are finding acceptance of their past and deserve the life and love they've found in one another. Korvin and Tallow included, even though their perspectives in story don't intertwine with Julien's often.

Conclusion

I just wanted to rant and I hope you've found some interest in my info dumping :)

[sunder-soul]

PROMPT 1: Hellooooooo! First off ur writing goes off, second off listen to this idea that i truly think u can bring to life... reader n tom r in a relationship and someone tried to slip tom to love potion but ofc he doesn't fall for it and his gf is like ??? and then they rub their relationship in her face LOL. anyways no worried just thought this would slap! Admire u n ur work!!

PROMPT 2: hey i love your the last of your rules series and everything else you’ve written. i’m not very creative so idk what exactly i’m looking for plot wise i just trust you since everything you’ve written is good but i was wondering if maybe you could write a tom x ravenclaw reader please. the ravenclaw reader tends to be more emotionally reserved and isn’t big on physical affection and maybe tom finds that interesting in a way? idk this idea might suck but felt like asking anyways...

Decided to combine these two because I could see them working really well together… :D

･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.

Retribution

Summary: After somebody tries to slip Tom a love potion to break up him and Ravenclaw Reader’s relationship, they get a little bit theatrical in response...

Wordcount: 1.8k

Content warning: none.

･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.

“Good morning,” says Tom evenly, lifting a wide-brimmed cup to his lips and taking an even sip as he looks at you.

“Is it?” you say dryly, sitting down opposite him at the Slytherin table and pulling out the new Magical Theory textbook. “Have you looked over this yet?”

“I have,” Tom replies with a very small smile. “Not to your liking?”

“Sophus writes like it’s still the seventeenth century,” you say with a shake of your head, “which isn’t surprising considering I don’t think he included a single reference from the last two hundred years… I mean honestly –” you wave at the title on the front of the book, “– ‘Corpus Magikus?’ Even the title makes it sound ancient.”

“Did you have any criticisms about the actual content per chance?” Tom asks as he lifts his tea again – though it doesn’t quite hide the amused smile on his lips. “Or did you not manage to get past the articulation?”

You give him a look. “The articulation is just as important as the content.”

“I completely disagree,” he replies easily, his cup clinking as he rests it back on its saucer, “regardless of how it is written, his points are extremely sophisticated.”

“I’m not talking about the quality of his points, I’m talking about how well he makes them accessible,” you say at once, picking up a piece of toast and buttering it lightly, “he can have the best criticisms of Magical Theory in the world and no one will care if they can’t understand what he’s saying.”

Tom arches a brow and leans forward on the table, resting on his forearms. “You’re placing the responsibility of understanding an argument on the person presenting it, and not the person receiving it,” he says fluidly, “personally when I find something difficult to understand, I take it as an indicator that I need to return to the topic after better preparing myself.”

“That works fine as an individualistic perspective,” you reply at once, leaning forward to match him, “but a book isn’t written for an individual, is it? It’s written for an audience. A book like this is measured by how wide an audience it can reach, meaning the responsibility is half on him to write accessibly, and half on the audience to go away and fill the holes in our own understanding. That’s when information is dispersed most effectively.”

“Your priority is the dispersion of information as a whole and not the expansion of your personal field of knowledge, and that is the crux of our differing opinion,” Tom says, sitting up straighter and tilting his head calmly.

“I am very aware,” you say dryly, “but you shouldn’t dismiss the importance of charisma when it comes to spreading information. After all, academics aren’t exactly known to be the most charismatic people most of the time, so you end up with intelligent, useful tomes that are utterly incomprehensible to most people –” you nod at the text again, “whilst compelling idiotic drivel is widely consumed.”

The Daily Prophet lands with a thump on your breakfast plate as the delivery owl swoops away with a mournful hoot, and you share a pointed, very wry look with Tom.

Tom breathes a little laugh and laces his fingers around his cup. “So you’re not looking forward to Magical Theory, then.”

“I am,” you amend, frowning, “I just hope the class follows more like Waffling’s work than this.”

“Of course you like Waffling,” Tom smirks, lifting his cup, “he effectively writes in verse –”

Tom suddenly freezes, his brow furrowing lightly. You raise a brow at his sudden reaction. “What?”

He looks down at his tea, still frowning.

“Tom?” you prompt, bemused.

“Someone has attempted to drug me,” he says in complete seriousness, looking up at you.

You stare back, bewildered. “Is… is this more Tom humour?” you ask after a moment, “you seriously need more practice at making jokes, Tom, you really are terrible at it –”

“I’m not joking,” Tom interrupts crisply.

Your scrutiny drops to the cup in his hand. “How can you tell?”

“My tea smells like you.”

Your brows raise. “Excuse me?”

“My tea,” he repeats evenly, his dark eyes coming alight with a flicker of amusement as he leans closer, his cup still in one hand, “rather suddenly smells like you. I can only assume someone has managed to slip Amortentia into my cup sometime during this conversation.”

You blink at him. “Oh,” you say simply.

Tom’s lips curve into a more defined smirk at your expression.

“Well who’s trying to drug you then?” you ask quickly, looking away.

“An excellent question,” he says silkily, eyes still on you. “Their motive is hardly a mystery, so that should narrow it down.”

You roll your eyes and level him with a flat look. “Nothing could narrow it down less, Tom,” you drawl, “half the school is in love with you, and the other half is in denial about being in love with you.”

Tom arches a brow and looks very pleased with himself. “Should I drink it and we can find out?” he asks in amusement, lifting the cup.

You huff a laugh and take a bite of your toast. “Go on then, but don’t expect any sympathy from me when you’re pouring your heart out to some random stranger in front of the whole school a minute from now.”

His hand freezes with the rim of his cup an inch from his mouth, amusement faltering.

“That’s what I thought,” you smirk. “If you want to play it that way you’re going to have to be smarter than that.”

“Oh?” he asks, dark eyes narrowing. “And what would you suggest?”

“If someone drugged you during this conversation then they’re probably watching for your reaction,” you say casually around bites of your toast, “so just look out for someone who’s waiting for you to dramatically break up with me.”

“According to you, that would be the entire school,” Tom mutters, looking significantly more disgruntled than before.

A grin slowly builds on your face. “That was nearly a real joke, Tom,” you say ironically, “Merlin you’ve come so far…”

He shoots you a flat glare and you snicker. “Alright, sorry, I’ll stop – look, if I storm out of here looking upset and you act all conflicted and brooding for the rest of the day, whoever it was will probably try to come talk to you.”

“How theatrical,” Tom deadpans.

You shrug. “Do you want to know who drugged you or not?”

His eyes remain on yours for a moment, and then he lifts the tea to his lips. You watch him pretend to drink, your eyes lingering on the tea glistening on his lips as he lowers the cup.

“Don’t lick your lips,” you say quietly, not quite able to look away.

Tom’s other hand shifts slightly where it’s resting on the table between you, and the tea vanishes both from his lips and the cup. You give him another dry look. “Show off,” you accuse, smiling, “wandless and non-verbal, huh?”

“If you ask nicely, I’ll teach you how to do it,” he smirks.

You huff a laugh and slide Corpus Magikus back into your bag. “I should make my dramatic exit soon,” you say casually, finishing your toast and looking around the hall absently. “Perhaps we should have a fight first.”

“That would make it more convincing, yes,” he says delicately, still looking amused.

“What shall we fight about?"

Tom’s expression immediately cools and he leans in so close that you can see the patterns in his dark irises. “The content doesn’t matter,” he says smoothly, a glimmer in his eyes despite his utterly blank expression, “rather, the articulation.”

You hold his gaze for a second, fighting the urge to smile. You force yourself to stand suddenly, as if he’s said something of great offence. “I’ve never seen you so quickly converted to my opinion, Tom,” you say icily, leaning down to him over the table and hoping it looks like you’re angry.

“You made your argument very convincingly,” Tom says immediately, lifting his chin coolly.

“Actively demonstrating my point, I suppose,” you snap, standing straight. “I’m going to storm out now.”

“I’ll see you in class,” he says dismissively, pouring himself more tea.

You turn on your heel and leave, ignoring the curious eyes following you on your way out and not letting the smile break on your face until you’re well outside the Hall. Now all you have to do is wait.

･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.

“Amelia Staghart,” Tom says in your ear before swiftly sitting down next to you in Potions that afternoon.

You raise a brow at him, watching as he arranges his Potions kit on the desk – Staghart is sitting a few desks behind you at that very moment and can most definitely see the both of you. “Are we no longer having a fight?”

“I grew tired of that pretence rather quickly,” Tom says curtly.

You smirk. “Did she talk to you?”

“Yes.” He looks decidedly irritated.

“A lot, huh.”

He shoots you a glare and you bite back another smile. “Are you going to report her then?” you ask, writing the date out on your parchment.

“No,” Tom says softly. You glance up curiously at his tone and find his dark eyes watching you write, before they flick up to yours. “I can think of a more pertinent retribution for her to endure,” he finishes quietly, not looking away.

“Retribution?” you echo, arching a brow with a slight smile. “And you accuse me of being theatrical.”

But Tom only leans closer and – to general astonishment – places a very gentle kiss on your cheek. His lips linger soft and warm on your skin for a moment as you’re frozen in place, staring at him as he slowly draws away an inch. His eyes roam your face as you blink in surprise, his lips curving into another humorous smile at your expression when there’s a sudden SMASH from behind you.

The entire class turns from where they’ve been staring wide-eyed at Tom’s display of affection to see Staghart’s inkwell knocked asunder on her desk, spreading black ink across the wood and dripping down to the floor, her eyes wide and her expression thunderstruck as she stares at you.

“Clean that up at once, Staghart!” Slughorn says disapprovingly as he strides into the room. “I certainly hope your clumsiness does not extend through today’s lesson – we’re brewing poisons today, class!”

Staghart goes red as the rest of the students titter and chatter, furiously glaring at the pool of ink dripping into her lap. 

You glance at Tom and share a silent look of amusement before the two of you simultaneously turn back to your notes, still smirking.

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 316: We've Had One, Yes, But What About Second Explosion

Previously on BnHA: Deku was all “[powers up like whoa because it’s time to end the fight]”, and he saved Overhaul from getting not-shot, and then smashed up Nagant’s arm with the power of his new rechargeable super knees. Nagant was all “yoooo this kid is crazy strong whaaaat, it’s like he’s some kind of protagonist or something.” Deku was all “I AM A PROTAGONIST, ACTUALLY, DO YOU WANT TO JOIN FORCES AND FIGHT BAD GUYS WITH ME?” Nagant was all “ah shit why the hell no -- ” and then AFO was all “SURPRISE” and everyone was all “?!?!?!” and AFO was all “TIME TO EXPLODE NOW” and made Nagant explode because he’s an absolute fucking dick. And then Hawks showed up, because Horikoshi just wanted to stuff as many plot points as humanly possible into a single chapter I guess.

Today on BnHA: Hawks is all “good job giving motivational shounen redemption speeches Deku but I’ll take it from here” and screams very earnestly right in Nagant’s face until she finally wakes up. Nagant is all “oh hey it’s my successor, you seem surprisingly unfucked-up from your own HPSC tenure, how did you manage that?” Hawks is all “fandom is going to love hearing this one, but basically it’s because I’m very upbeat and also I had the world’s best role model Endeavor to look up to,” and I swear this man stirs the pot on purpose, but damn it I still love him so damn much. Overhaul is all “HELLO AGAIN, JUST A REMINDER THAT, THE BOSS!!” and Deku is all “MAYBE TAKE TWO SECONDS TO REFLECT ON HOW YOU TORTURED A LITTLE GIRL,” which, thank you, lol. Nagant is all “btw AFO’s hiding in a house in the woods”, and so Deku and the gang go to the house in the woods. Video recording!AFO is all “hi I’m AFO welcome to Jackass” and blows up the house. Sometimes I wonder if this manga is just a weird dream.

I am once again reading the Bean version because I think it was actually the best out of all three translations last week. and that is surprisingly including Viz’s. “faux” is not nearly as entertaining as “knockoff”, and also I have literally no idea why Caleb thought Deku was saying the Third’s lines lol

oh hey, Endeavor’s here too! not that you’d ever be able to tell from this first panel lmao

glad you received All Might’s call, mysterious unidentified glowing smudge

oh snap he says he’s weaker in the rain. is that why AFO told Nagant to attack then?? except that as we discussed the other day, I believe that AFO fully intended for Nagant to lose the fight, so him giving her info that would give her an advantage doesn’t really fit in with that. maybe he wanted Deku to be separated from Endeavor and the rest for maximum angst, though

btw Deku’s eyes are unsurprisingly back to the new normal here

alas, the angst continues. I say, pretending like I’m not totally eating it up each and every week and writing essay after essay about it lol

anyway so apparently Hawks can’t actually fly lmao. he was just yeeting himself with style

for some reason this is the funniest fucking thing I’ve ever seen omfg. wave to Hawks, kids! say “bye, Hawks!”

j/k of course Deku is catching them. -- except???

wow so he was just running on fumes there at the end. well, good to know there is actually a limit to his shenanigans, particularly regarding this new “knockoff” 100% OFA. it will definitely not alleviate any of the discourse, but it’s good for my own peace of mind because it’s solid confirmation that he still needs his pals in order to win this thing

anyway, but on to the rest of this conversation, which is basically Deku deducing what we all deduced last week -- AFO implanted some sort of trap into Nagant when he gave her Air Walk. though I’d still like to get the actual details from AFO and/or Horikoshi, because this was particularly wild even by quirk standards lol

omgggggg

she still has a face after all!! so it’s confirmed, Horikoshi has no idea what “blowing up” actually means. we might have guessed, based on what happened to Toga in the MVA arc, and also based on everything Katsuki does ever, but shhh

so now Hawks is all “NAGANT PLEASE WAKE UP, IF I SHOUT MY NAME AT YOU WILL THAT DO THE TRICK”

this is actually kind of touching though because even though we all know (or most of us acknowledge at any rate) that Hawks is a pretty caring person, it’s rare to see him actually panic over someone’s welfare like this

oh shit Horikoshi is really doubling down on it

I wonder how much Hawks knew about what really happened between Nagant and the HPSC. regardless, he probably sees her as a kindred spirit of sorts, and I’m more than happy for Deku to pass the redemption torch onto him now that he’s on the scene. like no offense Deku but they actually know each other and stuff lol

DAMMIT NAGANT CAN’T YOU SEE HOW LOUD HE IS YELLING

apparently being freed from his HPSC shackles has finally given Hawks the space to embrace his own inner shounen protagonist. is there anything more shounen than trying to motivationally scream someone awake when they’re lying in your arms inches from death?? 100% guaranteed to work

!!! IS THIS NAGANT’S POV OMG

SO SHE IS ALIVE. THANK GOD. Horikoshi doesn’t want to meet with my emotional distress lawyer today after all

love how she’s all “just gonna stir up the weekly Hawks Discourse pot here by implying that he probably committed a lot of Atrocities just like I did, so now people can get all hopped up about that, even though there’s no evidence he’s ever killed anyone aside from that one horrible ‘damned-if-you-do...’ situation with Twice.” no one asked for your provocative speculation young lady!! trust me Nagant, our rabbles don’t need the rousing lol

but nice save there with the “so how are your eyes so untainted” well you see it’s because even when he was following the HPSC’s orders he always went to great lengths never to go against his own moral compass. which just to be clear was incredibly difficult, and led to a ton of pain and suffering on his part, because the life of a spy is basically just one impossible situation after another. but in spite of that he never stopped trying to do his best to help people. I don’t really know where this tangent came from or is leading to, lol, but anyway p.s.a. I love Hawks a lot and he’s a good kid dammit

oh shit??!?

how is the League always able to swing all these fancy forest mansions. where do they find them. how many do they have

so Deku’s dropping them -- very roughly, not sure if he was reacting to finally getting AFO’s location, or if his energy really is giving out -- and now Nagant’s saying that AFO hired other villains as well. well of course he did. gotta keep chipping away at OFA’s ninth successor little by little

now Nagant is asking Hawks how he’s able to keep making “that” face. I assume she’s again talking about the fact that he somehow didn’t let the HPSC wear down his spirit

oh my god???

thanks for stuffing this chapter to the brim with good nutritional Hawks Feels, Horikoshi. what a good. he just keeps on trudging forward undeterred no matter what bullshit comes his way. what a steadfast little guy. I WILL PROTECT YOU FROM DISCOURSE MY SWEET SUNSHINE

lmaoooo

“SPOTTED THIS DUDE JUST CHILLING OUT THERE ON THE ROOF WITH NO ARMS, SEEMED PRETTY SUS” good job Endeavor

anyway so you don’t really need me to tell you that Overhaul is immediately starting in with the “BUT THE BOSS WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO TAKE ME TO THE BOSS YOU PROMISED YOU WOULD TAKE ME TO THE BOSS” stuff again. but I will go ahead and tell you anyway. so yeah. he’s doing that

OMG YOU GUYS LOOK AT DEKU’S “of all the fucking assholes to just randomly drop in on my life once again why did it have to be you” FACE THOUGH, OMG

fun fact, if you go back to chapters 124 through 160, there was an entire story arc where Overhaul imprisoned and tortured a little girl. yeah, I know!! suuuuuuuuper evil. anyways just an interesting little anecdote for you all that’s somewhat relevant to the current situation

OMG, YES. FUCK YES, DEKU

THEN WHAT ABOUT SPARING ONE FOR HER!!! YES!!! EXACTLY!!! JESUS FUCKING CHRIST, SOMEONE GETS IT

HERE’S THE PANEL OF DEKU SAYING THE EXACT SAME THING I’M SAYING LOL

(ETA: so apparently there’s some discourse about this because some people are interpreting this as Deku saying “you should apologize to Eri”, which would obviously be a terrible idea even if Overhaul actually wanted to do that, because Eri shouldn’t ever have to see him again. however I just want to point out that there is a HUGE difference between saying “it would be nice if you could direct that feeling of regret/being sorry towards Eri as well”, vs saying “you should also apologize to her.” all Deku is doing is rightfully pointing out that Overhaul has hurt way more people than just his boss, and if he really is remorseful, then he should extend those feelings of remorse to Eri and the rest as well. it’s not a directive to take any specific action, and I’m 1000% sure no one at U.A. would let Overhaul within 100 miles of Eri ever again.

tl;dr “try feeling remorse sometime” =/= “do you want me to fly you over to U.A. right now to surprise the little girl you traumatized”, lol.)

[slings an arm around Deku’s shoulders] you’re a good kid. I like you. I don’t know if I tell you that enough, but it’s true

meanwhile here is Overhaul’s “spare... a thought... for Eri...???????” face sigh

the struggle is real y’all

(ETA: and that’s... the last we ever saw of Overhaul, I guess? well all right then. I assume Deku will make good on his promise, so we know he’ll get that little bit of closure before going back to jail or whatever, and I confess I’m more than fine with leaving the rest of it open-ended, especially given his character’s history. I think this was pretty generous all things considered.)

lmao holy shit

All Might what did you do to those tiki torch guys?? did you thrash them. did you give ‘em those hands. did you deliver their own asses to them complete with a sticker reminding them Amazon Prime Day is on June 21. we missed out goddammit

so Endeavor, who wasn’t the one he was asking, is telling him that they captured (well let’s be real, Deku captured, give the credit where it’s due) Nagant and Overhaul. and so I guess they’re going to take Nagant to the ER now

fire is no one’s weakness

-- oh my GOD I scrolled down and audibly gasped

[is politely but firmly approached and asked to remove my arm from Deku’s shoulder by the physical manifestation of all this Dekuangst] “we’re sorry, he’s not allowed to have visitors right now” oh shit, my bad. [goes to stand behind a police barricade]

lmao what. did you run out of room on the previous page

what an exaggerated fade to black lmao

-- AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

I actually can’t see what he’s reacting to so maybe I’m just seriously jumping the gun here lol, but THE HELL WITH IT. the next panel appears to be a cut to Haibori Forest, so I’m just gonna go ahead and declare that Deku ran off on his own all wounded to go have more Dekuangst, just like I manifested. now go call Katsuki goddammit

[scrolls three more inches down] oh

yeah so like I said, Deku is walking very slowly a few feet in front of Endeavor, who’s telling him to wait up. yep. we’ve all gotta be so careful to not just jump to conclusions. I know we’re excited but still

anyway, so! welcome back to Mt. Lady and Kamui Woods (ARE YOU GUYS DATING) and Edgeshot! have fun walking into this obvious trap lol

dammit Deku why are you so determined to tempt fate

[monkey puppet meme faces]

OH MY GOD THIS IS PURE GRADE-A CHEESY COMIC BOOK VILLAIN 101 SHIT AND I’M HERE FOR IT

that’s such a weird way of clapping who claps like that

unlike certain other people who shan’t be named, AFO doesn’t feel the need to inexplicably take his shirt off when recording sinister villain monologues. I think we’re all pretty grateful for that

high fives to everyone who called it!! yep yep

anyway so this whole scene has major booby-trap vibes, which I’m enjoying immensely even though I don’t think anything is really going to come of it lol. probably just another long-winded AFO Speech. but wouldn’t it be funny if like the ceiling started lowering down to try and squish Deku afterwards lol

(ETA: well the explosion was still pretty funny too ngl.)

ffff

[“Dekuangst is the trap” intensifies]

anyway so yeah. he’s just hitting up all of his usual villain talking points. we get it, you’re so smart and you see right through the thin veneers of society and people who don’t conform are left to fend for themselves and labeled as villains and history is written by the victors, and blah blah blah dude are you just jumping randomly from one soundbyte to another lol. literally what are you talking about. what does this have to do with you blowing up Nagant

-- holy shit??

[”Dekuangst is the trap” intensifies MORE?????]

LOL WHAT

BRO. WHAT IS WITH YOU. DON’T YOU KNOW HOW TO LAY ANY OTHER KIND OF FUCKING TRAP GOOD LORD

“YOU’RE NEXT” THE CALLBACK?? THE PARALLELS?? THOUGH WHEN ALL MIGHT POINTED HE MADE IT LOOK WAY COOLER. AFO’S POINTING JUST LOOKS LIKE SMOKEY THE BEAR

HAS ANYONE CHECKED IN ON KAMUI WOODS I HEAR HE IS WEAK TO FIRE?? THE ONLY ONE WHO IS, APPARENTLY

r.i.p. to this particular forest mansion. don’t worry they have a ton of backups

remember last week when I said maybe AFO thinks explosions are gauche. well never mind. he fucking loves explosions

anyway so that’s the end of BnHA, everyone. hope you enjoyed. it was a good ride while it lasted. see you all, good luck in your travels

[stuff-from-the-void-matron]

Laurel Wreaths & Animal Teeth (7)

(c!Technoblade x fem!Reader)

(I know y’all are getting tired of waiting for Techno to arrive, so am I! But I have no solid control over the story plot lol but I swear it’ll happen soon!! And y’all know the drill! Reblogs and comments keep this story going. So if you want a chapter 8 then please show this chapter some love! <3)

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

(FORGOT TO MENTION ART!

The amazing 'YeetUsFeTUSDelETusss' on DA was so cool and drew two pictures to bless our eyes!!)

READER HERSELF!

READER PROTECTING HER BOYS!

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

Only Tubbo showed up the next day, and he said he sadly couldn’t stay for long because him and Tommy were needed back at L’manburg for a while. Meaning him and Tommy wouldn’t be able to visit for a bit, but they’d try to visit as soon as possible! Hearing they’d not come see you for who knows how long made you pretty sad. You honestly looked forward to when they’d visit. It was honestly the highlight of your day. But you knew whatever nonsense was going on in L’manburg currently would need their attention. Though you wondered what exactly was going on. You recalled a decent amount of the ‘history’ of the Dream SMP but you knew you could be misremembering or even mixing things up. But you did remember the big things that happened. Like the wars and stuff. So needless to say you were concerned.

‘What point in history am I in right now? Whenever it is, L’manburg is apparently still standing,’ you thought pensively before asking Tubbo what was going on that they’d need to stay in L’manburg.

Tubbo sighed and said it was ‘just some drama’ but apparently their, meaning his and Tommy’s, older brother figure Wilbur had been president of L’manburg for the entirety of the time L’manburg had existed. But some new citizens who joined them found out he’d not been properly elected and didn’t think it was fair to everyone that Wilbur had basically just made himself president without any input from everyone else. Which you could see was not right but this information told you that you were in the pre-election time. Which meant Schlatt and Quackity hadn’t won yet… But that hinged on this universe even being the same one that you’d watched on youtube. Things could be different here for all you knew. You’d always believed in the multiverse theory so who was to know WHICH universe this was. Or how you even got here. All you could do really was to just… wait and watch.

A couple hours passed during the short visit and towards the end Tubbo showed you how to message others, ie; him and Tommy mostly. You’d known how to message others and put in commands and stuff in regular minecraft but you’d just sort of never thought to try those things here in this place. Though to be fair you’d been dealing with a lot of stuff so fiddling with your inventory and everything hadn’t been your top priority. And when he’d mentioned messaging him your first thought had been ‘how?’, because this was a ‘real life’ minecraft, where things were very similar but not always exactly like how it was in the real game. The biggest difference being that there was no computer keyboard or ‘screen’ for the type/chat option to be at the bottom of like in the game.

But to your surprise the place to type in a message was actually IN your inventory. More specifically it was at the very bottom of the main section right below where your items were stored in the hot bar. You’d never paid the long ultra thin box at the bottom any mind, assuming it was just part of the weird design. But no, Tubbo showed you with his inventory how if you tap on the thin box (that you’d honestly thought was just a line) it expands into a typing window! Your eyes widened at that and watched as he tapped the typing box again and a little keyboard appeared below the typing box and he started typing something into it. You squinted and he said to message someone you needed to be sure to type ‘/msg’ and then whoever’s name you’d like to send the message to!

He demonstrated this by typing out the first part then right after it typing your ‘name’; aka Reader. Briefly you wondered why it had been made that but you brushed that thought away to focus on what Tubbo was doing. You saw him type ‘hi reader!!’ before hitting Enter. Then a second later you heard a soft ‘ping!’ sound and you just KNEW your inventory was waiting to be pulled up. Like knew in an instinctual sense. Like how you knew to blink or how to walk. Just an instinct you couldn’t explain so you brought it up and there at the bottom the ‘line’ was flashing a pale red. So you did what Tubbo had done and tapped it, revealing the little typing box. Only this time it had a message in it! It said, ‘Tubbo whispers to you: hi reader!!’ and you smile. Excited now you type out a message to him and hit send. He got it and laughed after he read it. 

‘Reader whispered to you: hello my little goat boy!! :)’

After that he blinked when more messages popped onto his text box. These were from Tommy and Wilbur it looked like. With a sigh he checked his clock and dismissed his chat box before saying he was sorry but he had to get going. He’d actually stayed longer than he was supposed to. You were sad to see him go but knew he’d be back, and hey, now you could message him and Tommy to make sure they got back to L’manburg safe instead of just wondering like before. So you told him to be careful on his way back and to message you that he was safe home when he arrived, and also if he needed any help. He laughed and cheekily said he would but gave a shy smile when you pulled him into a hug and gently knocked your antlers with his horns, but he happily returned it. Not so secretly enjoying the affection. But he had to pull back and leave.

That left you to your own devices.

-0-

With nothing better to do you initially spent the next three days building a couple fountains in the village (which was getting pretty big..). One tiny frog shaped one in the little grotto at the west side of the village and a much larger more traditional one in the opposite side of the village. You’d even set up park benches, flower plots, lamp posts, and stone sidewalk around the bigger one. It was very pretty and the villagers seemed to be enjoying it. But after that was done you’d sorta gotten bored. You weren’t really inspired to do anything else to the village so you thought of ways to occupy yourself. Eventually a metaphorical lightbulb flickered to life above your head and you got an idea. 

You could go to the Nether! 

Sure you weren’t the biggest fan of the place but it beat sitting around twiddling your thumbs waiting for a reply from your only two friends like some loser. And hey, you liked giving piglins gold. They made cute little piggy snorts when they were happy. So with that loose plan in mind you got up from where you’d been lounging by the creek and brushed yourself off before heading out to the place outside the bamboo and prickle berry wall you’d placed the first Nether portal. You crafted one real quick before tensing up when you heard the sound of rustling behind you. Assuming it was a creeper or something you glanced back, not that it would hurt you but you still found it unsettling for anything to be sneaking up behind you. You caught a brief glimpse of something small and white disappearing into a cluster of ferns. You paused, wondering what it was but then about a block to the left of the ferns a chicken and her chick walked out from around a tree. ‘Oh, must have just been a baby chicken’, you thought with a mental shrug before turning back to your task of lighting the portal with your flint and steel.

Once activated you stepped into the purple swirling mist and your vision warped before you ended up in the Nether again, stifling heat and all. 

-0-

You’d been exploring the Nether for what felt like hours. The place was goddamn enormous! You’d followed the same sand block trail from the last time you’d been here, seeing the piglins and a few striders along the way. And to your delight a familiar little piglin baby started following you. She (you think she’s a ‘she’, that’s the vibe you’re getting anyways) had to be the one you’d played with the last time you’d been in the Nether. You crouched down and patted her head and pulled a golden carrot from your inventory before gifting it to her. She squealed happily and munched on it. You kept walking along the sand path before reaching the fortress. That’s when you diverted your path to the right and started exploring that way, careful to keep laying down sand as you did. You thought the baby piglin had stayed back but after a while of walking you heard a soft snort and glanced down to the left of you to see her happily trotting along with you, still nibbling on the golden carrot.

You wanted to melt, she was such a cutie pie. You stopped and asked if she should be travelling so far away. Won’t her parents miss her? She blinks and seems to understand you before shaking her head ‘no’. You figure she must have some pretty lenient parents. But you suppose piglins are sturdier than humans so it makes sense they’d keep their kids on a looser leash than humans would. So you ask her where her parents are and if they’d be okay with her wandering off with you, a stranger. She tilts her head and shrugs. You purse your lips and ask if she can take you to her parents so you can ask if they’d be okay with it. This time she shakes his head no. So you ask her why and she seems to be thinking how to answer before she goes over to the closest block of sand and starts drawing in it. You look over her shoulder and see her drawing three hearts. Then your stomach sinks when you see her draw an ‘X’ over each heart, meaning one thing..

“Oh sweetie, did your parents lose all their lives?” you ask in a gentle tone.

The tiny piglin nodded and your heart broke for her. You asked some more questions and discovered she wasn’t really being taken care of by any one piglin. The other piglins knew her parents were gone so they’d sorta chip in to make sure she had food. But that was really it. This made you feel worse so you just sighed and patted her head and said she could join you while you explored the Nether. She snorted happily and you two continued on your way. Eventually after walking for a bit you came across a warped forest. You had to admit the biome was much prettier in person. The stark contrast between the Nether’s usual red color scheme and the teal of the warped forest was really beautiful. Even the weird little green/orange fungus that were growing everywhere were cute. You even picked a handful to keep, placing them in your inventory before continuing your little jaunt with the baby piglin. 

That last thought made you mentally pause and realize that you couldn’t just keep calling this kid ‘baby piglin’. So you stopped walking and looked down before saying you forgot to introduce yourself. She could call you Reader (since that’s what your little name thing said..). Then you asked what her name was. She blinked before snorting a little, like she was clearing her throat, and said, “Azogamay.” 

You smiled and said you liked her name, making her give a cute little tusked smile. Then as you continued exploring you both made small talk. Nothing deep (how deep could conversation get with a little kid) but you asked each other the usual questions. Like favorite foods, favorite colors, favorite animals, etc. Then Azo (you’d taken to shortening her name to make it easier) answered one of your questions with some gibberish that made you pause. You glanced down at her and gave a ‘huh?’ that made her giggle before apparently remembering you weren’t a piglin. She said she forgot and spoke Piglin. That made you raise your eyebrows because you’d never thought about other species in the game having their own language. But now that you were thinking about it, it totally made sense. Of course they would, duh. Now very curious you asked her to teach you a little! Like did she know how your name would be said in Piglin? Her answer surprised you…

“Eaderray!” she said in her quiet baby voice.

Now you two had entered a wide soul sand valley, which made Azo anxious. She hid behind your leg, making you recall that Piglins didn’t really spawn in this biome or like soul fire (which is super common here). You had to admit the place was rather creepy. It didn’t help that the soul sand beneath your feet was emitting a rather creepy whispery wail. So you decided to turn back and try another direction. Azo seemed relieved and trotted along behind you. But once you were walking again you remembered your last thought and had a vague feeling about this ‘piglin speak’ and wanted to hear more. So you asked Azo some other words, just to test this theory of yours. And well…

Skeleton? Eletonskay…

Blaze? Azeblay…

Strider? Iderstray…

Lava? Avalay...

Gold? ...Oldgay (that may have made you snicker).

But you got the idea and honestly you cannot be held accountable for your reaction after you realized Piglins honest to fucking god spoke PIG LATIN.

You lost it. You laughed so hard you doubled over and had to brace your hands on your knees to keep from collapsing onto the ground. Azo didn’t know what was so funny but your laughter was contagious and she ended up laughing too, intermixed with little snorts that made you laugh even harder. It was a whole cycle. And by the end of it you’d laughed so hard you started coughing and had to sit down to catch your breath. The giggles returned a couple times but eventually you got control over yourself enough to be able to breathe normally again. As you sat there, little Azo looking up at you in amusement, you couldn’t believe the absolute batshit nonsense that was happening in your life right now. But out of everything that had happened, you think finding out Piglins spoke pig latin had to be the funniest. Though you wanted to test your theory further so you said to Azo,

“Ellohay Azogamay, isyay isthay ightray?”

Azo’s eyes brightened and she perked up, looking close to bouncing from excitement as she realized you were speaking ‘Piglin’ to her. She started babbling at the speed of light, in a way that all excited toddlers seemed to be able to do. While it was cute enough to pull a chuckle from you the downside was that you could not understand a single word Azo said. You got her to slow down, telling her you didn’t speak Piglin fluently so she would have to go slow with you otherwise you’d be lost. She nodded, just happy that you could understand Piglin. So she slowed down a lot and chatted with you that way. And that’s pretty much how the rest of your time in the Nether went. You traversed through the hellish dimension and brushed up on your pig latin with the little piglin. 

It has definitely been a LONG time since you’d even thought about the made up ‘language’. You’d had a friend in elementary school who had been Obsessed with it. It was all they spoke sometimes and they’d talked it up so much that it caught on with the rest of the class, yourself included, and soon everyone was using it to write notes to each other, like a secret language. You’d even speak to each other only in pig latin during recess and lunch breaks. You’d been fluent in it and didn’t even have to think before speaking. Though after a year it had lost its popularity and everyone slowly stopped using it since the fad was over. But you still remembered a good deal of it. Enough to speak it slowly anyways. But the more you used it the easier it was to speak it. It was like riding a bike you supposed, you never truly forgot it.

-0-

Things were going fine until they weren’t. You’d stopped to have lunch in a crimson forest, more for Azo’s benefit than your own, and were sitting and eating for a while before Azo started playing with a baby hoglin. Which had been fine, you’d seen baby piglins and hoglins do that in the game before, no biggie. But they’d gotten rambunctious the way kids do when they’re playing together. And while chasing each other around Azo had smacked into one of the adult hoglins, which had pissed it off enough for it to snarl angrily and start chasing Azo. And Azo in turn began squealing in fear while running away. You’d dropped the steak you’d been idly munching on and sprinted after the two. Sadly the hoglin was closer to Azo than you and managed to get one good hit in with its tusks, the force behind it practically yeeting Azo up into the air. You yelled in horror as you watched the baby piglin fall down into a lava filled ravine. 

Panic flooded your body, you knew zombie piglins were fireproof but regular piglins were not as far as you knew. Let alone baby piglins who just took a direct hit from a damn hoglin. So without thinking about it you dove into the ravine after Azo, catching her in your arms and fully planning to hold her up above the lava since it wouldn’t hurt you. Once she was in your arms you jerked back instinctively, not sure why, just maybe bracing for the impact with the lava. You waited but… nothing. About that second you realized that you weren’t moving anymore. You’d come to a halt and at first you wondered if maybe you’d landed on a block and not noticed. But… one glance down revealed you were not in fact standing on a block. Actually you weren’t standing on anything. You were hovering about 3 or 4 blocks above the bubbling lava at the bottom of the ravine. You were so stunned that you almost missed the sniffling snorts that started up next to your face but thankfully they broke you out of your shocked state. You looked at Azo and your heart broke when you saw her tearing up and looking close to crying. Forgetting momentarily about whatever the fuck was going on with you floating you focused on soothing her.

“Aw sweetie, are you okay? You took a hit from that hoglin, where does it hurt?” you cooed.

She was babbling mostly, being too upset to try to speak English. And understanding crying pig latin was almost impossible. So you just asked her to point where it hurt. She reached for her back and side and you softly told her you were going to lift her shirt a little bit to see if there was a mark, and she nodded shakily and sniffled while you did. You winced at the blooming bruise and adjusted her so you were basically cradling her and with your free hand you opened your inventory and started looking through the potions. You grabbed a healing potion and uncorked it before offering it to Azo, whose snout wrinkled at the potion. You told her it was alright, it was a healing potion that would make her feel better and get rid of those bruises for her. She looked unsure but still let you raise the mouth of the potion bottle to her lips so she could sip it. She took a few sips before hiccuping, potion swirls wafting off of her after she did. The baby piglin blinked and felt the pain in her back and side start to disappear. 

You smiled and said that must feel better, Azo nodded and was happy she wasn’t hurting anymore. You let her take one more sip for good measure before putting the cork back into the bottle and stashing it in your inventory. But once that was done you were reminded of your current predicament. You were still floating in place above a ravine of lava.. With zero clue on how to move too. Briefly you internally panicked at the thought of just.. never being able to move again!! Being stuck fixed in one spot forever with no way to get down or live freely! Though before you could panic further you took a deep breath and told yourself to relax. This wasn’t permanent, it couldn’t be. There logically has to be a way for you to move. You got yourself stuck here and you’ll get yourself down as well.

And the last thing you wanted was to look scared with Azo here with you. She was just a little kid and needed the only adult around to be strong for her. So you put on a smile and reassured her that things will be okay and you’ll figure out how to get them both safe on land in no time. Azo nodded, looking less worried than before. So you started trying things you think would get you to move. You could move your limbs no problem. Proven by how you could move Azo around with your arms and kick your legs about without issue. But your body as a whole was still locked in place. Though when you leaned your upper body to the left you hit a breakthrough! Tilting your torso to the left managed to move your whole body to the left by about a block and a half! Now onto the right path you started leaning your torso this way and that, figuring out what movements actually got you moving and which ones didn’t. Figuring out how to move side to side and forwards and back was pretty easy. But it was figuring out up and down that was tricky. 

At the moment going down was the last thing you were interested in, what with the lava beneath you. So you tried focusing on going up, and after a lot more wiggling about that you were sure made you look like an idiot to anyone who could be watching (Azo only giggled a little) you finally figured out that to go up you had to tense and stretch your torso a specific way. Like exactly how you would do if you were trying to reach something on the top shelf, only you didn’t have to move your arms or legs the same way, just your torso. Like how people straighten themselves to seem taller, not slouching at all. After getting that down you manage to go up and then over out of the ravine. Which was a relief and a half. Now that the threat of sinking into lava wasn’t a worry you instead fixated on getting down. Thanks to figuring out how to get up you had an easier time getting the hang of getting down.

Once your feet touched the ground the floating thing disappeared and gravity was restored to you, making you able to walk around normally again. You gave a small cheer, Azo snorting happily as you carried her back to your spot on one of the crimson mushroom tree tops. Once seated you let out a breath and felt your shoulders relax. You hadn’t even been aware they’d been so tense, but you guess it made sense what with how you just sorta had a weird physics related mishap. But now that you and little Azo were safe you felt like you could breathe again. 

You took a golden apple out of your inventory and took a bite, the sweet juice soothing your metaphorical ruffled feathers. You noticed you mostly just eat for the taste now. Which was fine you guessed. When you glanced down you held the apple close to Azo’s face, asking in semi-good piglin if she wanted a bite, chuckling when she eagerly sunk her little teeth into the sweet fruity flesh of it. You gave her the rest and just watched the other Nether inhabitants mill about peacefully. Today had been a wild ride for sure. At least compared to your usual peaceful days. You leaned back against the lump of red fungus behind you, Azo cradled in your arms, and sighed calmly. You’d been ready to rest your eyes when you heard a soft ‘ping!’ that had you blinking back into focus. It was your communicator app thing. Thinking it was just Tubbo messaging you to say goodnight or something you casually opened the message. But when you did you raised an eyebrow at the note from your kid.

‘Tubbo whispers to you: the election is tomorrow afternoon, can you come? 

‘Tubbo whispers to you: i’ve got a bad feeling.. i’m not trying to pull you into our mess’

‘Tubbo whispers to you: but idk i’d feel better if you were there.’

You had a bad feeling too… You hoped what you likely knew was going to happen DIDN’T happen but.. it probably was. So you sent back a quick reply to Tubbo.

‘You whisper to Tubbo: of course I will! you can show me around your home! :)

You tried to keep your reply upbeat and happy, not wanting to feed into the teenager’s worry. Even though you were probably more worried now that he was. But regardless.

It looked like you were visiting L’manburg.

[invisibleanonymousmonsters]

2 A.M.

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Fem!Reader

PROMPTS: 48. I called you at 2am because I need you. 50. I’m scared but won’t admit it so you take my hand 

Requested by @wonderlandmind4​

So, I’m not going to include #1, because I already did that prompt in another story. 

The Avengers are at the Tower for plot reasons. And just because I wanted it that way. Deal with it LOL. 

Bucky rubbed his eyes awake as FRIDAY announced that he was receiving an incoming phone call. He glanced at the clock on his nightstand and it read 2AM.

“Accept,” he muttered huskily to the AI.

“Wait, FRIDAY, no, no, no!” The call immediately came in.

“Hello?” Bucky asked with confusion.

He expected it to be Steve, who was on a mission with the entire team. It left Bucky as the sole “superhero” left in the tower. But he didn’t see himself as such. Bucky was crashing at the high-rise because he really had no place else to go. And he knew Steve would be disappointed if Bucky didn’t take him up on the offer.

“Bucky, hi.” A female voice said.

He squinted and then put it together. “Y/N, is that you?”

Y/N was Happy’s niece. Tony and Pepper were basically her aunt and uncle without being related. She lived in the city, and therefore was around the tower a lot. Pepper was constantly inviting her over for dinner. Sometimes she’d do her laundry there. If Tony ever had a party, she was invited. The rest of the team had befriended her. 

But Bucky...Bucky kept his distance – just like he kept his distance from basically everyone.

However, that didn’t mean he didn’t take notice of Y/N.

It was ridiculous how long it took him to realize that his eyes seemed to always be searching for her when she was around. He watched her at parties, always dressed in a fancy dress with her makeup a little heavier than usual. He would steal glances at her when she was in the gym. Apparently she didn’t want to pay for one herself, but there wasn’t a gym nicer than the one at the tower.

But just because Bucky noticed Y/N didn’t mean he talked to her. 

Bucky thought the world hated him. Once all of Hydra and SHIELD’s secrets were leaked, everyone knew exactly what he had done.

The Winter Soldier wasn’t someone people wanted to be friends with.

“Hi, I’m sorry. I didn’t want to call you. No, I told FRIDAY not to call you,” she was talking really quickly – obviously, stressed – and yet quietly, like she was scared someone might hear her.

Bucky sat up straighter, fully awake and now on alert. “Everything OK?”

“Yeah. Well, I mean, not really. I’m sure it’s fine. I’m probably being crazy,” her words were coming out faster and faster.

“Y/N, take a breath,” Bucky demanded.

She must’ve done as she was told because there was 5 seconds of silence.

“What’s going on?” He asked then.

“It might just be the storm…” Bucky looked outside his window at the lightning and heavy downpour. “But I swore I heard someone trying to get into my apartment. There’ve been two robberies in my building the last 2 months.”

Bucky already knew about that. He overheard Y/N telling Pepper, Tony, and Happy about it in the kitchen. She seemed pretty shaken up about it. One of her neighbors had to go to the hospital because the robbers timed it wrong and ended attacking the poor man in a panic.

Tony and Happy weren’t happy about Y/N living in what appeared to be an unsafe building. They both tried to convince her to move into the tower. When she refused, pointing out how ridiculous the idea was, Tony told her he’d just buy her a place that had a doorman and high-level security. Y/N refused that too.

It was the first time Bucky had ever agreed with anything Tony said.

“Can you hear anything now?” Bucky asked, taking Y/N’s concerns and fear very seriously.

“No. It’s hard to hear anything with the rain and thunder outside,” Y/N whispered.

Then she sighed.

“Listen, Bucky, I’m really sorry for waking you up. Pepper and Happy are in Germany for a Stark meeting. I was just trying to reach Tony…”

“Everyone’s out on an assignment right now,” Bucky explained. “I’m the only one here.”

“Oh…” Y/N said lamely.

Bucky could tell she did really feel bad, and was growing more and more embarrassed. “And you don’t have to apologize.”

“I’m just being a total spaz right now and–“ She stopped abruptly.

“Y/N?”

“I definitely just heard something,” she whispered as quietly as possible.

“Y/N, I need you to give me your address,” Bucky instructed calmly.

There was no answer.

“Y/N,” his tone more gentle this time, “you gotta give me your address.”

He was already moving around his room, grabbing necessary clothing. He moved with purpose, not even thinking about what he needed to grab.

Bucky listened as Y/N rattled off her address and apartment number.

He was grateful that her apartment was only a 10 minute drive from the tower.

“I’m on my way. Stay on the phone with me,” Bucky sounded like he did was he was on comms during a mission. Not that he’d done that recently.

“O-Okay,” Y/N stuttered in a whisper.

For a second, Bucky thought maybe he should talk to her, try to keep her calm, or make sure she knew she wasn’t alone. He’d be there soon.

But it was obvious that she was staying quiet so she could listen to any possible intruder.

Just when Bucky was two blocks away from her place, the line went dead.

“Shit,” he cursed under his breath.

He slammed his breaks just outsider her building, not bothering to turn off the car or try to park it.

Bucky would’ve shoved his way through the front door of the building with his metal arm and shoulder, but the lock had already been broken.

Now Bucky was more concerned.

He was quick and stealth as he went up the stairs to Y/N’s floor. He pulled out the gun from the back of his waistband.

With one floor left to go, Bucky suddenly heard footsteps running on the floor above him – Y/N’s floor. The footsteps were running toward the opposite side of the building that Bucky was on. Which meant they probably knew someone was on their way up and they were escaping through the emergency stairs on the other side.

For a moment, Bucky considered running after them. He knew he could catch them. They didn’t stand a chance.

But Y/N was now at the forefront of his mind.

He quickly made it to her apartment.

The door was closed, but he could tell from the scratches on the lock and handle that someone had been trying to break their way in discreetly.

Bucky took in a deep breath and knocked.

“Y/N? It’s Bucky. Can you let me in?”

There was no answer. He waited a few minutes and listened for any movements from inside the apartment.

Nothing. 

“Doll… I’m coming in, alright?”

With a quick twist of his metal hand on the doorknob, he was able to crush it to pieces. It should’ve been harder to do, but the building was clearly as old as Bucky and not kept up to code.

Bucky promptly put his gun back in his waistband, not wanting to alarm Y/N with just the mere sight of a firearm.

“Y/N?” He called out to the empty apartment. “It’s just me.”

But he knew where she would be. It was the most common place for people to hide in case of an emergency.

Bucky made his steps quiet, but noticeable, so Y/N knew exactly where he was in the apartment.

He made his way to her bedroom and stopped in front of her closet.

He knew that she knew he was there. He could hear her soft breathing that was still anxious and terrified.

Ever so carefully, he opened her closet door.

Inside Y/N was tucked in the corner, knees to her chest, with a kitchen knife in one hand and her dead cellphone in the other.

Bucky looked at her with only sympathy. 

He couldn’t remember the last time he felt as scared as Y/N looked. Fear had been beaten out of him long ago.

He kneeled down, his forearms balancing on his knees.

“Mind if I come in?” He asked casually.

She shrugged.

Somehow the giant super soldier managed to fit into the closet, making it feel even smaller than it already did.

“For the record… you aren’t crazy. There was definitely someone trying to get into your apartment.” Then he took in a deep breath, realizing he probably wasn’t making her feel any safer. “But they’re long gone.”

When he glanced down at Y/N, she just nodded in acknowledgment.

Bucky wished he was better with words. He used to be. Words used to be his specialty. But he’d isolated himself from everyone. Before that, he was a brainwashed assassin without a mind of its own. Bucky was out of practice.

Bucky slowed reached over to the hand closest to him, the one holding the knife. Gently, he took it out of her grasp and placed it far enough away from them that it wouldn’t accidentally hurt anyone.

Then he took her hand in his, gripping in tight enough to show her comfort. His thumb brushed back and forth over the back of her hand.

She squeezed in return, silently thanking him.

The closet was quiet, only filled with Y/N’s shaky breathing.

“I’m not gonna let anything happen to you,” Bucky finally breathed.

The words surprised him. He had no idea where they’d come from.

But they seemed to finally calm Y/N down.

“Why don’t you pack a few things, so you can stay at the tower for a few days?”

He half expected her to be stubborn and say she was fine, that he’d have to put up a fight to get her to go back home with him.

But Y/N just nodded numbly.

He nodded back and got up first so he could help her back onto her feet.

When he started to leave her bedroom to give her some privacy, she jumped forward.

“W-Where are you going?”

Bucky quickly turned around. “Don’t worry. I’m just going to be in the living room. I’m calling the police. Between your door and building’s front door, there’s enough evidence to prove that someone was trying to rob the building again.”

Y/N blinked at the him saying “again,” proving that he knew this had happened in her building recently.

She didn’t think Bucky ever paid her any attention. She was never offended by it. But he had just proved that he knew paid closer attention to her than she could’ve ever realized. 

20 minutes later, there was a knock at Y/N’s front door.

Bucky quickly answered to find two cops standing outside.

He answered all their questions, hoping he did a good enough job that they wouldn’t really need to talk to Y/N all that much.

“You live here?” One of them finally asked, realizing that his name wasn’t on the lease.

“No,” Bucky answered.

“It’s your girlfriend’s place?” They followed up.

“Uhhh…no. No, Y/N’s just a friend.” He felt awkward as he answered, but the cops didn’t seemed fazed by it.

Y/N finally came out of her room with a duffle bag.

The cops started asking her questions. Bucky stood guard, making sure they didn’t push her too hard or ask things the wrong way.

After seeing how shook up she was, he felt like he’d instantly turned into her personal body guard.

“Your landlord already called a locksmith to fix your door. He should be here in a few minutes. But you should take any valuables with you just to be safe.”

Y/N nodded.

When the cops turned to talk amongst each other and with the landlord, Y/N turned to Bucky.

“Can we go now?” She asked him meekly.

It was the first time she’d talked directly to him since he got there.

“Yeah, doll, we can go.” He ushered her out and, on instinct alone, put himself between her and the cops as they walked out.

Y/N was quiet on the drive back to the Tower.

Bucky had already texted Happy and Tony about what had happened. He assumed the whole team would know soon enough.

When they were in the lobby of the residential floor, Bucky shifted his weight awkwardly. He didn’t want to leave her yet.

This was the first time they’d ever been alone together and Bucky didn’t think he could go back to keeping his distance again.

“Uhh…Do you want me to show you where the guest suites are?” He asked as he scratched the back of his neck. But he knew that she knew.

She gave him a small, forced smirk. “No, I know where they are.”

He nodded.

“Hey, Bucky?”

“Yeah?”

“Would you want to just stay up and watch a movie or something? I don’t–I don’t think I can go to sleep any time soon?”

“Of course. I mean, yeah.” Bucky responded immediately.

“Let me just change into some sweats I packed. I’ll meet you in the TV room?”

“Y-Yeah. Sounds good.”

A few minutes later, Y/N joined him on the couch.

She asked him what he wanted to watch.

“Umm…I don’t-there aren’t a lot of movies that I’ve seen,” Bucky finally told her when she kept trying to figure out what he’d like. “Haven’t really tried to catch up on the whole pop culture thing like Steve has.”

“Oh…” Y/N muttered, realizing the mistake she made.

“Put on whatever you want. Really. I’m sure I’ll like it.”

Y/N clicked a few buttons and a quirky song started playing along with someone writing in a notebook.

“Almost Famous,” Y/N explained. “It’s one of my favorites. Always puts me in a good mood, no matter how terrible I feel. And this way, you’ll be able to get a crash course on the best bands ever.”

Bucky couldn’t help but smile at that.

The opening credits weren’t even over before Bucky felt Y/N looking over at him.

He turned to her.

“Thank you for…saving me tonight,” she told him slowly.

Her words were sincere, her eyes even more so.

“You don’t have to thank me, Y/N.”

“Figured you’d say that.” Then she seemed to be trying to work up the courage to say something else. “I’m…umm…I’m glad it was you.”

Bucky blinked at her small confession.

“Me too,” he finally agreed.

And then they both turned their attention back to the movie.

Halfway through, Bucky felt a weight fall onto his shoulder.

Y/N had fallen asleep, her body choosing Bucky as its pillow.

A soft and shy grin grew on his lips from the feeling and the sight of it.

Very carefully, he maneuvered her body so he could lift his arm around her and make it less uncomfortable for her.

She didn’t wake from the movement, only sighed and shifted a bit.

It wasn’t long after that Bucky fell asleep too.

——————————————

“Sam, I told you to leave ‘em alone,” Steve called out in a hushed tone.

“Not until I document this…”

Then Bucky felt the flash of a camera. His eyes snapped open to find Sam looking guilty with his phone pointed at Bucky and Y/N, who was still fast asleep.

“You have two seconds to get that phone out of my face,” Bucky warned in a growl.

He would’ve jumped up and snatched it himself, but he didn’t want to risk waking Y/N.

Sam winced and instantly fled.

Bucky glanced over at Steve, who gave him an apologetic look.

“Tony told us what happened. She OK?” He whispered.

Bucky shrugged. “She’s a little shaken, but I think she’ll be fine.”

“Well…at least you finally talked to her. Though I wish it didn’t have to be a break-in for it to happen.”

Bucky played the ignorant card. “What do you mean?”

Steve narrowed his eyes as if to say, ‘Don’t even try.’ “Bucky, give me some credit. I’m your best friend. No matter how discrete you are, I know when you have a crush.”

Bucky blushed and the looked down at Y/N.

What neither of the super soldiers knew was that Y/N heard Steve’s confession too. And she wasn’t about to let Bucky go back to ignoring her.

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

This request was put in ages ago. I’m trying to clean out my inbox. I have so many requests that are collecting dust. 

THIS DOES NOT MEAN MY REQUESTS ARE OPEN. THEY ARE NOT. 

Please don’t request things. And please don’t immediately request a second part to this. There is no second part. 

[unmanageable-day]

Can I Love?

CHAPTER 28

prev | masterlist | next  

Summary. Lee Y/N was the first love of one when he was a middle schooler. He never knew her name and he never saw her again. Several years later, he met her again …unfortunately under a disadvantaged circumstances.

TAGLIST. @boogyuu @samemagicpoint @anjiuniverse @lovingyu-04 @serenadesvt @naphthalene-ball @sensorivm @chaseyui @wonhaotrsh @jonashuji @skylions-den @niikipuff @renvibes @moonlit-willow @mimaisiomai @vxvshoshi @binniebutter @sweetsoonhan [ hit me up if you’re interested to be tagged for the next update ♡ ] - @jonashuji it seems i cant tag you properly

a/n: HI HELLO!!! it’s been ages i know!!!!!!!!!! and i dont even know if this kind of au is still a thing on tumblr. since i graduated, got married, and worked for 3 different projects (idk why im working 3 jobs help), i uninstalled tumblr apps in my phone (and the smau related apps too lmao so lets see what i can do later) so i really have no idea whats going on here. and i honestly already forgot how the plot of my own fic should be so i just wrote what i can remember. if some of you still read this, i sincerely thank you! it would be better if you could leave some feedback, or simply say hi so i know i still have at least one reader lol

“Do you hate being with me that much?” The older male suddenly asked, distracting Jihoon from the 96z group chat that was full of recent photos from Jun during the housewarming party at your house. Seungcheol probably just saw the younger’s tweets.

“No, not really,” Jihoon replied without putting away his phone. As his attention went back to the screen, he continued, “But it would be better if we could work on our neglected songs though. Instead of... you know, talking about her.”

Seungcheol didn’t respond to Jihoon’s words. He was aware of how often he rants about you. At some point he knew he was irritating others with his antics, yet it didn’t stop him from doing what he had been doing -- finding ways to get your attention, and making the others desperate trying to stop him.

“We’re throwing a surprise birthday party for Wonwoo. You coming?” Eventually Jihoon had to pick another topic.

“It’s not a surprise party. You know Wonwoo, he won’t be surprised.”

“Yeah, but it’s still a party.”

Seungcheol paused, his facial expression showed he was thinking about something. “Is Y/N gonna be there?”

Rolling his eyes, Jihoon sighed and answered vaguely. “Maybe.”

“But you guys must invite her, right?” asked Seungcheol again. He was getting a bit excited.

“Well, Wonwoo somewhat has a crush on her. So, yeah, he would appreciate it too if Y/N is invited.”

Okay, that was a piece of information that Seungcheol didn’t want to hear right now. He didn’t need a competition right now. He had enough with Xu Minghao being your guard 24/7. And he had enough with everyone being so protective over you as if he would hurt you in any ways.

“So, Y/N is invited,” Seungcheol concluded.

Wordlessly, Jihoon shrugged. He went silence again as his focus was back on his phone. He was indeed a silent reader. The 96z group chat was flooded by Soonyoung and Jun, and occasionally Wonwoo either exchanging memes, or not-so-important information. Until eventually he caught one specific topic that he was contemplating whether or not he should bring it up while he was with Seungcheol.

“What?” the oldest cynically asked when he caught the smaller guy looking at him since Jihoon could never be really subtle when he looks at people.

“You know, Soonyoung actually asked Y/N if you could come and join us at Wonwoo’s birthday party,” said Jihoon hesitantly. “Apparently Wonwoo also asked if she’s okay about it.”

Instantly, Seungcheol’s face got brighter and his eyes widened with excitement. “What did she say?” asked him enthusiastically, his hopeful doe eyes blinking.

Before answering him, Jihoon pressed his lips into a straight line. He read the group chat again just to make sure he didn’t misread what you told Wonwoo and Soonyoung. “Basically she said since it’s Wonwoo’s party, it’s up to him if he wants to invite anyone.”

“Does that mean I can come and join you guys?” he uttered excitedly. And doesn’t it mean I can see her? he thought happily to himself.

“No, don’t think about it,” told Jihoon firmly, as if he could read what was on his buddy’s mind. “You need to check your calendar first, Bro. Don’t you want to see this producer?”

“But it’s Y/N!” Seungcheol quickly replied. A wide smile was curved on his lips. His eyes was sparkly, at the same time he was trying to convince Jihoon to adjust all the work schedules ...which only would cause another catastrophic events afterwards.

[ryuichirou]

Lord God Savior of All Ryu, I ask for but one noble request. lol i just wanna see all your AUs. Like, I always here about them in replies and stuff but I've almost never seen what they actually look like. So if you could just tag pics of them or doodle (they can be super bad 30 sec doodles too, it don't matter to me) them, I would be the happiest, most joyful little shit ever.

Anon!! Thank you for being so interested in our AUs and wanting to learn more about them. It was a very good excuse for us to go through the list of the AUs, doodle them, revisit some of the older ones, etc. So yeah, your wish is granted lol

Here’s the majority of them, we decided not to include those that we’ve barely talked about and thought out... I’ve put tags for those AUs where we have at least something posted. Most of them are something we haven’t even talked about at all and they don’t have a single sketch, but I liked drawing chibis for them way too much. Sorry, I used your ask lol

We have a general tag for our aus and specific ones for some of them, but sometimes an au from here is not tagged separately, so you might have to use this general tag...I tried to fix it, I don’t think I missed anything, so it should be ok now! ;w;

1. Space AU. It’s a story about a space expedition.. which turned out to be not exactly what everyone planned thanks to Erwin. What a commander! 

2. Tribal AU. It’s a story about Eren becoming a part of the tribe where Erwin and Levi live. 

3. Babysitter AU. Levi is a babysitter to Eren and Zeke, unfortunately for Zeke, who’s 17 and not exactly thrilled about being babied. Sometimes there’s kid Erwin too. We’ve never posted anything related to this AU, I think, and I don’t think we will. There’s another AU related to this one, but 19yo Eren from the paths (he has the memory of the manga events) keeps kid Eren company as an invisible ghost, while others think that kid Eren is cursed or something.

4. SnK AU. A classical one, where Eren has dreams about the plot of SnK, but when the story stops progressing, he decides to kidnap Levi to make the plot go on. Erwin finds out later... and keeps Levi in the basement because he wants to know the ending too lmao plus it’s hot.

5. Mines AU. Erwin gathered a team for his wonderful plan to find a treasure, but it’s not like the rest of the team needs to know where they’re really going. Zeke’s particularly terrified to find that out. Despite its name, they spend the majority of time in the forest. Also, there’s a timeskip of 11 years. 

6. AU with Neetwin who’s a history teacher. We don’t tag this one though, it’s not like it’s our AU. So now it’s a Neetwin tag, although one of the drawings is with adult Levi... eh, who cares. 

7. CC AU (cleaning company). Levi works in a cleaning company and cleans up Neetwin and hobo Eren’s apts. They need a lot of work. Yes, they make their apts even dirtier to make Levi spend more time there. 

8. Prison AU. Damn this one is good... we came up with it before reading the timeskip in the manga, so Eren’s appearance doesn’t really match his age, he’s 17 lol Levi is a mafia member who goes to prison because he need to kill one of the inmates (who later became Zeke) on Erwin’s (Levi’s boss) request. Eren’s his personal guard, although Eren works as a regular guard too.

9. King Kong AU. It’s an AU where the Beast Titan is King Kong lmao Zeke is having fun killing dinosaurs... Levi, not so much. Thank Erwin for his wonderful plan of going to this island.

10. Rus AU, basically just characters living in Russia. Because ofc we will have this type of a setting... Damn, I thought we drew this one more often, huh. 

11. Sea AU. Mainly our modern AU, we use it as a base for other modern stuff for the most part. Levi’s getting two boifrond rings, he lives with Erwin, Eren visits them often, Zeke bitches a lot, fun times with and without Zeke, stuff like that. There’s also a subplot (11.5) where Eren gets “kidnapped” by a witch, so Zevi have to find him and bring him back. Titans exist in this AU, Eren and Zeke are titans, and all of them have military training, but Erwin and Levi retired some time ago. We don’t have a tag for just a modern setting, though. 

12. Cult AU. Eren lives on a farm and has a whole village of his followers. He also has cursed animals... and I think we’ve told about some of the plot points in replies. Erwin’s really into all this cult stuff because it affects reality for real, so he asks Levi to follow rituals, although Levi came to ask Eren to go back to normal life and finish the fucking school. 

13. Serial killer AU. Eren’s a serial killer, duh. Never posted anything with this one, unfortunately, but Eren got disappointed in the police when he was a child, so he decided to fix the situation himself, while Erwin and Levi, as a part of a special department, investigate his “fixing”. It also has a time skip. I really need to redraw at least one sketch...

14. Hospital AU. Levi gets into Marley trying to make Eren go back, but it’s not that simple because Eren doesn’t want to lol Basically canonverse with this small change.

15. Hobo AU. Eren and Levi are hobos, Zeke wants his brother to stop living under a fucking bridge. Later Erwin takes both of them under his roof because he really likes Levi, but he can’t leave Eren alone.

16. Doggies AU. AU where Eren’s a wolf and Erwin’s a doggo. Levi got Erwin because he was a retiring trained dog and sniffed enough drugs in his life, and Eren... his “owner” found him on the streets and lied to Levi about Eren being a dog. Later Eren turned into a magnificent beast and now he doesn’t want to leave. There’s also Zeke, but he belongs to Xavier. 

17. AU where Eren wants to become a mangaka. The first post is self-explanatory, although I’d probably make some changes now if I cared enough. There’s also a time skip where Eren ditched his manga and became hobo!Eren. His editor was pissed lol 

18. Scolopendra Eren AU. You know the drill, and I’ve talked about the plot in some of the replies. 

This post doesn’t show up on the tag for some reason.

19. Ghost Eren AU. I should’ve named it combini AU... Anyway, I’ve talked about this one a lot, although poor Erwin gets neglected a little bit lol it’s hard to compete with a ghost when you’re just a mere stalker... but a very invested one. Eren likes Erwin here, they’re vibing on the same malicious-towards-Levi wave. 

20. Shark Eren AU. It’s just for us for funs, Eren’s a shark, and Levi’s there to help him fight depression. Eren later escapes into the sea.

21. Midsommar AU. Levi and Erwin get an invite to go to the village from Yelena, Eren’s a part of a cult who is kinda attracted to one of the newcomers... Such a good movie, we need to draw them properly. Both Yeagerists and Eldians are a part of the cult, they don’t have any specific rules by which I categorised them... Although not all characters are present, and some of them (Jean, I think) are newcomers who will join the cult later. Sorry, I don’t remember much. 

22. Silent Hill AU. It started with Erwin peeking into Levi’s apartment, but now there’s Eren too... We haven’t thought out this one, I’m bad with Silent Hill AUs for some reason. 

23. House Eren AU. Eren’s a house, and we’ve explained how it works too, so just check out the tag. Levi actually lives there with Erwin, but I don’t remember if we’ve mentioned it or decided to skip this info. 

24. Eren pack AU. It’s an AU where Erens of all ages (6 of them, I believe) are a little bit feral, and they have wolf ears and tails, and they live in a specific place and Levi visits them every day and takes care of them. They love Levi. Here’s the only post that survived, and here’s a link for a twitter post which I never got back on tumblr after it got deleted. 

25. Trailer AU. The story is about Levi who has to live with Zeke for a month as his slave because Erwin lost him in a game of cards lol To be fair, Erwin lost a lot of money and their whole flat, and Zeke gave them a choice between that and Levi (he’s horny ok), and Levi agreed. Zeke even put Levi on a chain, although Levi doesn’t even try to escape...

26. Flower shop AU. Eren’s a plant, and he brings death to the whole planet. He keeps Levi alive though, as a treat for himself. We’ve explained some of the stuff in the replies. 

27. Blair Witch AU. It’s pretty much explained in this post, and if you saw the movie, there’s nothing for me to tell you. Everything that’s different from it is in the post lol 

28. Corpse AU. Eren’s a corpse, Levi’s a pathologist who works on difficult and mysterious cases alongside the police. Eren later comes to life along with a couple of other bodies...

29. Antichrist AU. Zevi adopt baby Eren, but Eren’s a fucking satan. He loves Levi, but Zeke... not so much. Zeke loves Eren to death, though. Eren would love to organise that, but first he needs to grow up a little bit. It doesn’t mean that he won’t torture his parents during his journey. And everyone else who interact with them.

30. This one doesn’t have a title, but it’s an AU where kid Eren went missing, and Levi goes into the forest to find him. Levi owns Erwin who’s a good doggo and helps him find Eren. It turns out Eren killed two adult dudes, and he has paths!Eren telling him what to do and how to do it... Paths!Eren has the memory of the canonverse.

31. Zombie apocalypse AU. There’s only one drawing with it though, but basically Levi builds himself a wonderful place to survive the apocalypse, and he keeps Zombie Erwin in the basement in hopes of Hange finding a cure. Then Eren joins just because he can and because Levi’s very awesome. Eren has a boner for the apocalypse and enjoys every second of it. 

32. No title, but Eren was casted away from the canon universe for the rumbling, and now he’s a mythological giant wolf who lives in a deep very old forest. He was very surprised to find out Levi exists in this universe... So he kidnapped him ❤️

33. Halloween AU. You’ve seen this one, it’s a story where Jean, Connie, Sasha and Eren get into the wrong house and find a ritual instead of a Halloween party... So after saving the child who, as it turns out, is not really a victim, they decide to ditch him at Eruri’s place.

34. Okusan AU. Levi’s a housewife, Erwin is a cuckold who’s really into adultery. He invites both Zeke and Eren from time to time to act as Levi’s husbands, and they (Levi and Erwin) almost get caught because the “husband” suddenly came home... Sorry, we’ve read too many doujinshis lol

35. Island AU. Erwin loves sending Levi to dangerous places to get souvenirs for himself, and now it’s time for Levi to get a crystal from a very isolated island full of strict rules in terms of interacting with outsiders. We have a cool idea for a two part drawing (like with our flower shop au), but it’ll take us ages to complete anything at this rate... I have like two sketches on Patreon for now, but damn this AU has so many cool visuals we wanna draw... It’s another cult AU with people living on Paradis (more like one village in the middle of the island), isolated from the rest of the world. They don’t welcome strangers, and Levi has three months to find and steal that crystal, although it’s not that simple.

36. Erewan. Not exactly a full AU, but Erewan’s a cursed animal plushie who kills people and loves Levi a lot. 

37. Cat AU. Everyone’s a cat (duh). Not really our AU, but it has its own tag, and it’s only asks. 

38. Tiny founder Eren AU?? Again, not really our AU, but now it has its own tag. 

I’ve also found the reply where I talk about how characters’ relationships work in some of the AUs, you can check it out too. I thought it was fitting for a master post. 

[omegawolverine]

I love it when people talk about things they're passionate about, tell me something cool!! Anything you want, just something you find interesting or want to talk about :D

hello anon my beloved, I am in a bad mood so you will be receiving a passionate, yet lowkey of pissy rant about why villainizing bakugou makes me wanna vomit and its NOT just because I'm a dumbass kinnie :)

tws: child abuse (emotional and physical), near death expierences, bullying, kidnapping, suffocation, lots of trauma in general tbh. if you've seen bnha then basically just keep all the general triggering plot stuff in mind incase i missed any warnings

also, note: I havent caught up on bnha in a minute, I'm at like the start of the war arc but I barely remember shit there tbh so like. probs missing new stuff. also bnha spoiler warnings lol

so, for starters, the homie bakugou has like,, a good handful of issues that come from his childhood that explain why he's an ass. he was always praised and never actually reprimanded for being a twat which led to him having a huge ego that ended up fucking him over majorly. this ego was something that his mother acknowledged him having, but literally didnt try to fix it with anything other than violence. see here:

like, instead of trying to help him, she hits and insults him, which is probably what led to his weird inferiority/superiority complex. being constantly told by others that you're outstanding and one day you'll be a top hero because you're rude and aggressive and then going home and being hit by your mother for those exact same behaviors is bound to fucking confuse a child.

so like, now that we've established that its definetly canon that his mother (parents? I think he said parents at some point but masaru doesn't seem like the type so 🤷) hits him though we don't know how much or how often (though if bakugou was as much of a little shit back then ((which as far as we've seen- he was)) then it was probably often), lets talk about how regardless of all that 1) hitting your kids as "discipline" not only doesn't work but is abusive lol like idc if it's spanking/popping them on the mouth for talking shit, slapping them across the face "on occasion", etc. shits not okay 2) hitting your kids!!!! does not work!!!!!!!! it is literally PROVEN not to work!!!!!!!! hitting a child who has done something wrong doesnt teach them to stop doing something it teaches them to be scared of you, which will cause the child to withdraw, removing part of their support system (assuming said abusive parents would even offer that up) and will most likely lead to them thinking they're a bad person, not that their actions were bad, which are two different things. so, ya know, that would clearly have an effect on a kid. like, as someone with a mother who reminds me all too much of mitsuki: I have acted like a complete shitbag and taken my anger out on people to feel better in the past because of the way my mother treated me. though it was nowhere near what bakugou did, I still know first fucking hand what a mother hitting and insulting her child will do, especially if they have no proper outlet for that (friends, a safe place to vent) which bakugou never fucking had.

theres also the fact that just talking to your kid the way mitsuki does (saying it's his fault he was kidnapped because he's weak, all while hitting him) is not??? okay?????? ive seen people arguing that this was just a joke in poor taste but like her son was KIDNAPPED and even if it was a "joke" there's literally NO WAY that would EVER?? BE FUNNY??????? she just sounds like the kind of parent who at the very least says shit without thinking that would traumatize bakugou (because being told right after being kidnapped it's your fucking fault by your mother is absolutely traumatizing) but it comes across as her being emotionally abusive.

mitsukis character as a whole comes across as a shitty mom who doesn't realize she's a shitty mom and thinks bakugou being an ass isn't at least partially her fault even though she's admitted to realizing he has always had an ego problem and doing nothing to fix it except for hitting and yelling which obviously did nothing but make him just as loud and violent as she is.

this is obviously not the entire reason why he's a dick but he was never properly taught that the shit he was doing wasn't okay and people not stopping it and/or praising him endlessly even tho he was a bully is basically the same as encouraging it, thank you very much.

moving on from that, let's talk about bakugous other traumas and how he naturally responds to them. hint: it's with either full blown panic or a fight response (verbal or physical, though usually physical. also sometimes it's the panic followed by the fight response.)

so far in bnha (keep in mind that I am not caught up, I've only read up to the beginning of the war arc and i barely remember those bits so) bakugou has...

nearly died via sludge villain (he was unable to move and was being suffocated to death- keep this in mind)

lost for the first time ever and against deku of all people (this nearly sent him into a full blown panic attack, likely because of that sexy little inferiority/superiority complex combo. think of this as like. gifted kid burnout lite. he has always been the best of the best and now suddenly he is being beaten by somebody who has always been weaker than him, which immediately makes him start thinking he was never actually that good, he's actually a fucking failure, a goddamn fraud)

won the sports festival by default (bakugou counts this as yet another failure because todoroki didnt try his best. had bakugou lost to todoroki full strength, he would've taken 2nd place with a bit of bitching, but he still wouldve taken it rather than refuse the medal as it would be a reminder that he failed. instead of accepting that like UA shouldve, the staff chained and muzzled him on live television and then had all might, his fucking idol, force the medal into his mouth. remember the sludge villain incident and how he couldnt move and was suffocating to death? yeah.)

been kidnapped because of the way he reacted to winning during the sports festival (he was aggressive and tried to refuse the medal because he felt he didnt deserve it and was then retraumatized by being chained up and muzzled. his "villainous attitude" was a fucking trauma response, do not tell me otherwise)

was then chained up once again by the LOV after being kidnapped,,, do we see the "retraumatize bkg" theme yet?

"ended all might" (he literally blames himself for all mights retirement because had he just not have been weak, all might wouldve had more time, right?)

my point with all of these is that bakugou has been severely traumatized and has then had his trauma responses (aggression, fight) used to further demonize him. not all people with trauma react the fucking same and the way the fandom just refuses to acknowledge anger as a valid form of trauma response is gross as hell.

moving away from that topic, bakugou has literally never had any actual friends, they all just used him and didn't care about him which absolutely will fuck up a kid, especially one who already has all that other shit going on. bakugou deadass never had a support system or people to help him grow as a person, let alone properly work through his fucking emotions so it's not surprising that he would take out his bullshit on the one person who tried to help him especially considering he saw dekus actions as him thinking he was weak. bakugou was raised to not seek help, he thought somebody strong shouldnt ever need it, so for somebody like deku (who bakugou percieved as weak and helpless already) to offer up help? deku must obviously think bakugou is even weaker than him, what other explanation could their possibly be!

speaking of which, there's his heaps of insecurities that he basically hid by being a twat and bullying others for most of his life. kid was so insecure he bullied deku for fucking years cause he thought deku looked down on him, thought he was better than him, etc. and that only got worse bc his idol then decided to take deku in, train him and even give him his quirk. there's probably some shit im missing but still he's got issues and always has had issues. that being said, he's actually improving and working them out now which is what makes him a really good, interesting character. it's also nice to see a character who is a dick without some tragic backstory (like his backstory is sad but its not the classic "my family was fucking slaughtered and i turned into a raging bitch who murders people" type shit) bc that rarely happens and it's like most assholes don't actually have a story like that they're just assholes lol

now lets talk improvement! lil bitch has been getting better since he got into UA and im so happy abt it!! he had a rough start what with deku suddenly having a quirk and all but like he is really improving now and it highkey shows that bakugou just mostly needed people who 1) didn't constantly praise him and actually criticized him instead 2) actually fucking punished him doing stupid shit and 3) some motherfucking friends

Since going to UA he's gotten actually feedback from teachers about his weaknesses and how to get stronger, he's lost against others, hes been told he has a shit attitude and is a dick, told he should be nicer and leave deku alone, etc etc. He hasn't gotten in trouble too much with teachers but others give him shit for what he does and aizawa has punished him too, while still acknowledging that bakugou is an amazing and dedicated student, something which no one else had done up til that point. and uh???? homie actually has friends who like,,, don't use him and also call him out when he's a dick. like specifically kirishima has done this shit and him and bakugous relationship is clearly very healthy and beneficial for the both of them. makes me feel all happy n shit, ya know

bottom line is: while it is absolutely valid to dislike or even hate bakugou because he is a massively flawed person who has been very cruel to others, villainizing him for the way he acts which in large part seems to be from a lack of guidance, a shitty mother and heavy amounts of trauma, is fucking awful. his actions cannot be fucking excused, he needs to apologize and continue to grow, but he is also a fucking teenager, who is just now being told that the way he acts is unacceptable by people who dont fucking abuse him (and I swear to god if any people who think mitsuki isnt abusive interact with this fucking post I will fullstop hardblock you, I do not fucking care) and actually treat him like a normal person instead of some prodigy child or someone who needs to be fixed.

people are free to debate my points or whatever bc I know some of this stuff is up to interpretation but like. dni if you're just here to say you hate bakugou for xyz reason or that he's irredeemable. also especially dni if you compare him to fucking endeavor yall bitches make me gag.

anyways thxs for the ask anon <33 sorry this is a kinda messy info dump lol