#idk if my sink description made sense tbh

[johnathan-pastry]

Okay so the shepards have one of those sinks where its L shaped table in the corner of the kitchen then the sinks kinda in the middle of the long part of the L yea.

And when curls and angela were younger tim would put some pillows and blankets up there and have them lay on the counter so he could wash their hair in the sink.

This was most their childhood, until one(1) faithful washday when curly went to lay down on the counter and his feet touched the wall

Tim had a fucking aneurysm. But its just his brother right?

No 😔 the next month he was setting up with the hair products box™ and angela to lay down, he feet touched the fucking wall

Bro is reeling, he is trying so hard not to cry, how dare they grow??

From that day on they had to do their washes in the bathroom sink cause its lower to the ground and easier to lean over and everytime tim looks like he was shot in the foot cause angie and curly aint lil kids no more

[yn-dreamlife]

Don't Think Anymore

A/N: School can get stressful and I know that, so have a short little comfort blurb I made, hopefully it'll help even just a little. Tbh this was going to be a bunch of filth but... idk.

Pairing: Aizawa Shouta x reader

Description: your boyfriend can see how stressed you are so he wants to comfort you

Warnings: fluff, hints at a bdsm relationship, reader bites there fingers, more fluff

Your eyes stared ahead blankly, the thoughts no longer truly processing as you stared at your thesis. Your dissertation paper, one of the most important things you’ll write your whole college career. And you were dreading every moment of it.

Today was one of your longer days, starting at 5 a.m and only ending at 7 p.m. Not that you had class all day. But you had been working all day. Doing class work, trying to finish up homework, and then going back to this stupid paper.

And once you had gotten back to the apartment you shared with your boyfriend you hadn’t gotten up from your desk. You had planned on spending only 15 minutes to write down a few thoughts, but when Shota walked in three hours later you hadn’t moved. Not. One. Inch.

“Babe? I’m home!” He had called placing his shoes on the rack by the door and hanging up his coat, he had dropped his briefcase prepared to have you jump into his arms and greet him like you always did but he was left disappointed.

“Y/n/n?” He called. He checked the kitchen and the bedroom, it looked like you weren’t even home.

“Y/n?!” He called again, worry growing in the seasoned pro until he stopped, he noticed the light peeking out from the door to his office. He walked over silently and slowly inched the door open.

He knew you studied in his office sometimes, often leaving sticky-notes with little notes to him in your wake that he would take with him to put on his computer at work and in drawers, threatening to expel students who mentioned it. When he looked into his office he saw you sitting there one knee draw to your chest as the other was placed normally. Your chin rested on your knee as you stared ahead.

You didn’t even acknowledge him when he stood beside you even going as far as spinning your chair to face him as he crouched down but you just continued to stare blankly.

“Y/n?” He whispered his hand cupping your cheek as he pulled your hand away from your mouth grimacing at the raw skin around your fingers making a mental note to place band-aids and lotion on your hands.

Your eyes flickered just barely but he knew you were coming back “hey there kitty,” he whispered as he felt you lean into his palm heavily.

“Sho…” you whispered now registering that your boyfriend was in front on you. “You home e’rly” you spoke words slurring slightly.

He frowned slightly, shaking his head “I’m home when I always get home, how long have you been sitting here pretty girl?”

You turn your head to the clock slowly, your body feeling like lead. “Um…” a heat flared to

your cheeks as your eyes widened. “Uh well… th-three hours….”

He raised one eyebrow with an unimpressed look. “I-I’m sorry sho I didn’t mean to! I was… I was just gonna write down… a few… a few thoughts and then… I don’t know what happened… this paper is just… so… so hard.”

By the end you could barely speak as you broke into hiccuped sobs. His look immediately softened, he was just upset you had overworked yourself again nothing more.

“Shhhh shhhh” he soothed softly “it’s okay kitty m’not mad. Jus’ worried ‘s all.” He murmured softly into your hair as he pulled you into his arms switching spots so he was now sitting in the chair and held you in his lap. He rubbed one hand up and down your back as he allowed you to hold the other and play with his fingers like you always did when you got nervous.

He found it endearing, even feeling a little prideful that it was him you latched onto whenever you got overwhelmed or stressed. He remembers the first time you had done so and how his heart raced, you two hadn't gotten together yet and frankly he himself wasn’t feeling all too great about Midnight's gala. You had been standing beside him seeing as you were his plus-one, you were young… younger than he thought he should be with, but thankfully Mic smacked… or screamed some sense into him saying how it was perfectly fine for there to be an age gap.

So he had asked you to be his plus one to the hero gala, it was the summer of your third year at the college Mic teaches at, he hadn't even known you were a student until he walked into Mics second classroom, because for some crazy reason this man was a pro hero and decided to teach at two separate colleges for multiple classes and still have a radio show. He first saw you while you were sitting and speaking with Mic assumingly about grades. And that was yet another thing Mic had to convince him was okay, after all Aizawa wouldn't be teaching you, you two weren’t even on the same campus, so it was perfectly fine for you to be a student and him a teacher.

When he showed up to pick you up for the hero gala- which would be your fifth date- his jaw had dropped. You were wearing a black dress that fit you perfectly both in body and personality. Mic teased him endlessly when you two first arrived because after all… black is Shotas color, something you had thought of when picking out the dress.

As you stood next to him he could tell something was wrong and just as he was about to ask he felt a warmth in his hand only to look down and see it was your hand, or rather your fingers. You were asking, silently if it was alright. Not that you hadn’t held hands before but he could tell you were just anxious, so he moved his hand closer to yours and you quickly latched onto him. Interlocking your fingers and hugging his arm to your chest. And a few moments later you found yourself absentmindedly playing with his fingers. From then on it was something you found yourself doing more and more as your relationship progressed, he just made you feel so safe.

You whined softly cuddling into him, “shhh it's alright pretty girl I'm gonna take care of you okay?” You nodded into his neck enjoying the soothing feeling that washed over you as he spoke. He walked you into the bedroom gently placing you on the bed removing your socks and shoes before swiftly heading to the bathroom to start a bath, putting in your favorite soaps providing a little bit of bubbles hoping they would make you happy.

When he returned he found you sitting up looking for him, “where’d y’go” you said softly standing and wrapping your arms around him, he pet your head softly.

“Jus’ went to start up a bath for you beautiful” He murmured as he placed a kiss to the crown of your head, “how about we get you in there, yeah?” you nodded, allowing him to pick you up and carry you to the bathroom as you mumbled something about closing your eyes for one second and suddenly he was gone, he simply just chuckled as he gently placed you on the sink and began removing your clothes.

After he removed your shirt he gently peppered your neck and shoulders with kisses, not lingering in any one spot just simply showing his appreciation for you. He removed your pants allowing his hands to map the expanse of your things but not going any further knowing you were tiered.

Once you were finally freed of all clothing he placed you in the bath before quickly and unceremoniously stripping himself to get in behind you. You leaned into his embrace quickly and melted into him. His firm chest being a place that had become your safe haven, as long as he was near you knew everything was okay.

Slowly as Shotas hands ran through your hair cleaning it gently you found yourself relaxing, thoughts of the stressful classes, and ridiculously hard paper drifting away. His hands worked wonders on the knots that had formed throughout your muscles essentially leaving you in a puddle between his legs.

Every gasp and moan of content was carefully evaluated to see how he should adjust his massage- if he should lessen up or go farther into one spot and you never even had to tell him because he was always right. By the end of it you were both pleasantly sedated and calm, you more so than him.

“You ready to get out?” He murmured as he gently ran his nose along the column of your neck.

You were quiet for a moment before you spoke, “I guess so…. But can we still cuddle?” Your words were slow and hazy sounding even to your own ears.

“Course we can, can’t leave my best girl all alone.” He says as he gently stands and urges you to do the same.

“I better be your only girl,” You mumble as he begins to drain the bathtub and dry you off.

He chuckles “you know you are.” he says with an eye roll but no part of him was truly annoyed as he saw the small smile adorning your features. He leaned down softly kissing each of the corners of your mouth.

As he moved to pull away you stopped him by wrapping an arm around his neck and properly pushing your lips against his own, it was short but the passion was there. “Ya’missed.” you mumbled against his lip and he chuckled once again.

You found yourself falling into giggles as he carried you to the bedroom. That was something you could always count on, whether it be after a scene or even just you overworking yourself Shota wouldn't allow you to lift a finger, doting on you the way he always says you deserve.

Gently placing you on the bed he moved into the closet to find you both some clothes and soon after he emerged from the closet with a pair of sweatpants slung on his hips and a t-shirt in his hands. Once he had slipped on a pair of comfortable panties and the t-shirt onto your body you allowed him to carefully place band-aids and lotion onto your fingers making sure to be gentle around the raw skin. After he was finished he carefully slipped both of you under the covers.

The silence was comfortable only filled with your breathing and the gentle pitter-patter of rain that had begun sometime during your bath. And although the bath had helped you found some of your previous anxiety seeping back into your body.

As if reading your thoughts, Shota spoke up, “Y’know, I’m really proud of you and all the work you’re doing. I know sometimes schooling isn’t the easiest thing, and I know keeping motivation when it gets hard can be even harder. But with that said I don’t want you to keep pushing yourself so hard. Don't let school take away what makes you you, that spark. And… I can try my best to help you, I know you like being independent and don't like asking for help but… we all need to ask for it sometimes.”

You turned your head up looking at him with tears shimmering in your eyes, “thank you Shota.”

He smiled at you fondly, “Of course, you're my precious girl after all.” He paused cupping your cheek and gently brushing a tear away, “I love you kitty.”

“I love you too Sho…. so much.”

[dreamingofaizawa]

Powerful Ch. 4

Yakuza! Shouta Aizawa x Fem! Reader

*Mafia AU*

Warnings: A little fluff, misogyny (not from Shouta), descriptions of body part removal, blood, a teeny bit of gore (sort of), violence, a dagger, reader is a little bit crazy, so is Shouta tbh, there's a tiny bit of spice (it's like two sentences idk), swearing

Word Count: 4.2k if you read the violent part, 3.3k if you don't.

Author's Note: Okay, so I decided to make this a full part with the option of skipping the kinda graphic part. Yes, reader is a little insane here, yes, this reflects my level of crazy. HOWEVER, the only reason it's like that is because the man being de-tongued is a piece of shit and deserves everything that came to him.

ANYWAY, enjoy~

Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3

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As the months pass you’re getting more comfortable with Shouta, more comfortable with the physical touching and the closeness that comes with the relationship. He’s always on you, a hand always on your lower back, around your waist, he’d even begun holding your hand. You appreciate this side of him that only you are allowed to see, the soft beneath his rough, calloused exterior.

So far you’d attended at least six more meetings, only one ending in another incident. It was you that made the final threat, this time without unsheathing the dagger. The tactic seemed to be working, there were less men outwardly demeaning you and your assigned title has been the only one you’d heard when being addressed.

The power trip is honestly a little intoxicating, knowing that more began to respect you and the ones that don’t have fear in its place. Knowing that you have the freedom to tell off overly rude men, can wave your dagger at whoever dares touch you and have Shouta backing you always.

And you know Shouta will back you up. You may be on a bit of a power trip but you still have your wits about you. Both of you know you’ll never step out of line, never needlessly flaunt your power or antagonize for no reason. Shouta understands that whatever you do, it’s for a reason. Because that’s just how you operate.

Logic resides over most anything else in your brain, which is why you’re so good at concealing your emotions. Before the engagement, your family’s success depended heavily on wits and intelligence rather than sheer force. Having been taught all your life to use your brain and logic to help you in and out of situations, logical thinking has become a habit, as subconscious and natural as breathing.

Of course, that doesn’t mean everything you do is logical. You’ve had your fair share of rash decisions and emotional slip-ups. And you’ve learned to sharpen your words, make them sink deep and tear at your target’s weakest points, or even their strongest points, making their argument and resolve come tumbling down like a rockslide. Needless to say it’s immensely satisfying to see someone get so thoroughly humiliated by your words alone.

You have to admit to yourself sometimes, you can be a cruel motherfucker.

* * *

You’re woken up by movement. Your eyes open just as Shouta is leaning over you, carefully pulling his arm from beneath your shoulders as you’re placed on your back. When his eyes meet yours he sighs through his nose, he was clearly trying not to wake you. Calloused fingers brush a few stray hairs from your forehead before he leans down and presses a kiss there.

“Go back to bed, little one. I’ll wake you up in a few hours.” Your eyebrows knit together and you let out a small groan.

“What time is it?” His soft hum nearly lulls you back into dreamland, but you manage to keep your heavy eyelids open.

“5 am. Sleep.” He kisses your forehead again before slipping out of bed and disappearing out the bedroom door. You do try to go back to sleep, let your eyes close and snuggle up in Shouta’s leftover warmth. But then you smell coffee. You take a deep breath, soak in the scent, and suddenly you’re not tired anymore. With a new motivation you get up and make your way to the kitchen to find a shirtless Shouta pulling a mug from a cupboard and taking out creamer and sugar. You sneak up behind him and wrap your arms around his trim waist, pressing your cheek into his back.

“I thought I told you to go back to sleep, little one.” You hum, squeeze him tighter.

“I smelled coffee.” The muscles under your palms jump with his deep chuckle, and he takes out another mug for you. The two of you work in comfortable silence, savoring each other’s company. You sit at the dining table first, watching the man as he returns everything to its place. You can’t help but admire his form, how every muscle ripples under his inked skin, how calm and graceful his movements are despite his rough-cut reputation. You can’t help when your gaze drifts south, gray sweatpants sitting low on his cut hips, and your face burns as you realize exactly what you’re looking at before ripping your eyes from him.

He joins you at the table soon after with his mug held in one large hand. There’s still only silence, and you keep your eyes locked on your own mug, occasionally bringing it up to your mouth and taking sips of the hot liquid. Shouta’s eyes are on you, watching every small movement and sigh that escapes you after a sip of coffee, how your mouth turns up after your tongue peeks out to lick your lips, the flutter of your lashes as you savor the taste of the bitter drink.

You don’t notice until your eyes flick up and meet his, and you freeze in place for a moment, confused as to why he might be looking at you. He thinks you look so cute, your doe eyes big and round and your head tilting to the right. Do you even know you’re tilting your head like that? His heart nearly bursts in his chest when you blink a few times and nibble at your lower lip.

“Shouta?” He hums and averts his eyes, resting his elbow on the table and his head in his hand.

“I apologize for staring, little one.”

“It’s fine. I’m just not used to the attention, that’s all.” An eyebrow raises, a tiny smirk tugging at his lips.

“Really? A pretty little thing like you, not used to attention?” You blink. Is he….flirting? You can’t stop a smile from working its way onto your face, your eyes dropping to focus on your coffee that was suddenly the most interesting thing in the world. A man had never done this before, you never had any romantic attention because you were never allowed to date. Something warm settled in your stomach, making you feel a bit fuzzy and happy. Is this what butterflies are supposed to feel like? Shouta speaks in your flustered silence.

“Well it isn’t my fault I’m the only one with an amazing taste in women. At least now I know I won’t have any competition.” You had to stifle a giggle at his antics, shooting him a sceptical look.

“Shouta Aizawa, are you flirting with your fiance?”

“If I were, would you say it’s working?”

“That answer will depend on the end goal.” He hummed, glancing up at the ceiling as if it held the answer.

“I’d say the end goal is to get my fiance to like me back.” You cross your arms over your chest, faking a pout and turning your head away in false disgust.

“Well then it’s failing. Miserably, at that.” He places a hand on his chest, furrowing his brows in mock offense.

“Now why would you say that?” You stand, taking your mug to the sink with a playful swing of your hips and a dramatic lilt in your voice.

“She is unhappy, your fiance. You’ve neglected her!” With the mug in the sink you lean back, throwing your head back and placing your hand on your forehead, closing your eyes for dramatic effect even though your back is to him.

“She is hungry, Shouta! There is no food in her stomach!” Without a sound he’s suddenly behind you, pressing his chest into your back and leaning over to place his mug next to yours. You’re a bit shocked at the sudden proximity, jump just a bit when an arm wraps around your waist and he grabs the hand that was on your forehead. His breath is hot on your neck, voice soft and sultry in your ear.

“Well she’s not the only one that’s hungry.” Teeth nip at your ear, sending a shiver down your spine and heat to your belly.

“But we can fix that pretty easily, don’t you think?” He leaves a searing kiss beneath your ear before he’s releasing you, cool air washing over you where his body had been pressed only moments ago. You’re left flustered, breath stuttering and skin hot. It’s almost laughable, the reaction he’d pulled from you. He asks what you want to eat, says he’ll have it brought up so the two of you can relax until the meeting at lunch.

But you aren’t really listening, still trying to calm yourself from what he’d just done.

____

When you don’t answer him, he peers over at you still standing at the sink. At first he’s confused, not sure why you’re so still and unfocused. But then he watches as your chest rises and falls just a tad faster than normal, lower lip tucked just barely between your teeth and your body very stiff in the same position he’d just left you in. You’re either extremely flustered or very uncomfortable with what he just did. Before he can apologize you suddenly turn on the sink and splash your face with cold water.

“Are you okay?” It’s cute, how you jump at the sound of his voice. It’s almost like you forget he’s there, too focused on whatever had been swirling around in that beautiful mind of yours.

“Yeah, I uh...I’m fine.” The nervous little chuckle you let out said nothing of your emotional state. He’d have to ask himself.

“I apologize if that was too forward, little one. I’d hate to make you uncomfortable.” You waved your hands in front of your face, eyes going a bit wide. It’s odd, seeing you outwardly, and frantically, expressing emotion like this when you’re usually so calm and rational.

“No, not at all!” You stopped, dropping your gaze and clasping your hands in front of you, your voice getting softer as you speak.

“I mean, I wasn’t, really. I… didn’t hate it so… yeah.” Ah, so you’re flustered. It makes sense, seeing as you said you aren’t used to receiving attention. The real question is why you hadn’t gotten attention from potential suitors. You’re a beautiful woman, a goddess in your own right, and on top of that you’re intelligent and flexible, easy to get along with. Were you just surrounded by extremely stupid boys your whole life that couldn’t tell the difference between a rock and a diamond if it were sitting in front of them?

Well it doesn’t matter much anymore, because you’re his now, and he’s not going to let you go.

____

Ultimately, the two of you decide on a simple breakfast, eating and relaxing afterward just as Shouta wanted. Soon you’re both standing outside a large hotel, the restaurant at the top serving as today’s meeting venue.

You’re greeted at the door by an escort, a woman in a beautifully tailored suit, who then guides you through the hotel and to a secluded elevator and up to the restaurant. The entire floor remained empty and silent, save for the one chef and waiter and the ten other Yakuza men seated at a large round table.

At this point you’ve gotten used to the sudden silence as you approach and sit at the table with Shouta. For the past few meetings that’s the only real acknowledgement to your presence aside from the occasional headbow and a quick address to both yours and Shouta’s titles. It’s a small step forward, recognition, and it’s better than you had expected by now.

However, it becomes obvious that the recent halt in outwardly opposing voices were only the calm before the storm. Nothing you’d seen or heard yet matched what happens next.

“Shouta, old friend, why have you brought a woman to this meeting? Or any meeting for that matter?” Well shit. Someone really wants to die today. Shouta doesn’t seem to move at all, though his eyes flicker over to the man who had spoken. He seems around Shouta’s age, light brown hair short with an undercut and deep brown eyes. A scar cut through his face, from his right temple through his eye and across his nose to his left cheek.

The fact that he’d addressed him so casually meant he must have a rank close to Shouta’s, there’s no possible way he was a real friend. Shouta makes his viewpoints clear, the only person you’d see him refer to as ‘friend’ is Hizashi Yamada, who’s just as much of a feminist as he is, though the loud blonde is radically louder and more flamboyant than Shouta.

“You are not my friend, nor I yours. We may have known each other for a long time but that does not change how much I despise you. You’re lucky I don’t carve your tongue out for what you just said, so I suggest you be extremely cautious choosing your next words.” The man doesn’t seem affected by the threat, but you know Shouta’s tone of voice. He’s dead serious. The brunette only succeeds in digging himself into a deeper hole.

“Oh don’t be like that. You know as well as I do you can’t do anything to harm me for no real reason. Besides, it’s obvious she doesn’t belong here. She probably has close to no experience with such power, let alone being able to keep up in a meeting of this caliber. You’ve chosen poorly, my friend. My sister would have been a much better match for your wife.”

Now you’re seething. He’s openly insulting you, which is plenty grounds for Shouta to react negatively. Shouta’s word is law after all. Of course, he waits a beat for you to react first, and you do, speaking with a venom reserved specifically for assholes like him.

“‘She’ has a title, and you’d be wise to use it.” Shouta leans back and crosses his arms over his chest as he watches the events unfold. The brunette only scoffs.

“Like I’d use such a ridiculous title for you. Being Shouta’s fiance doesn’t change your rank at all, you’re inferior. Even disregarding rank, you’re a woman, you don’t belong here anyway.” You’re still deadpanned, only a single eyebrow raised.

“As far as you’re concerned I do belong here. And the title is anything but ridiculous. By refusing to address me at all you’re disobeying Shouta’s direct order. I wonder, what kind of punishment does that entail?” You look over to Shouta, who opens his mouth to speak, but is cut off by the other man. All the while the other nine men sit back in silent horror as he digs his own grave.

“No punishment at all. A bitch like you is hardly worth a title, let alone be addressed by name. You’re lucky I’ve even allowed you in this meeting.” At that you stop, letting out a low ‘ah’. Shouta is smirking, an evil thing that you had never seen up until now, but you know what it means all the same. It means you get to have fun. You take your dagger and slide it across the table to the man, who looks at it with confusion.

“Cut out your tongue.” Your words catch him off guard, his eyes wide before he starts laughing.

“You really think you can do that? Shouta, put her in her place will you?” Shouta only gives a dark chuckle.

“You heard her. Pick up the dagger and cut out your tongue.” He scoffs, clenching his jaw.

“That’s nonsense. You can’t do that.” Shouta stands, beginning to remove his tie.

“I can do whatever the fuck I want, Masa. Now, you either pick up that dagger and slice your own tongue off or she can do it for you. You’ve disregarded my explicit order to refer to her with her assigned title, and then you insulted her directly. A woman above your rank commands more respect. On top of that, you’ve failed to address me with my title after I’ve told you to do so several times in the past, which is grounds enough for you to lose several teeth.”

Shouta stands behind him now, and you’re making your way over as well.

“Now, what’s it going to be, Masa?” You fully expected him to drop to his knees and apologize, beg for mercy, because it would be a damn pain to clean up the blood after taking out someone’s tongue. He only sat there and scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest in a show of defiance. Looks like he’s losing his tongue.

“Alright, then,” Shouta speaks louder now, addressing the entire room, “Let this be a lesson well learned. Masa here has refused to obey my order, and then continued to insult my wife. For his transgression, he’ll lose his ability to speak for the rest of his life.” Shouta grabs his collar and rips him out of his chair, manhandling him and tying his hands behind his back with his necktie. You make a mental note that he called you his wife just then.

Meanwhile you go over to the chef and ask him and the waiter to lend you their largest apron and a pair of gloves. Once you have them you ask them to have someone bring up a small tarp or something to cover the floor, and not to return to the floor for the rest of the day. It’s only a few minutes later you’ve got an apron over your dress and latex gloves on, a small blue tarp on the floor and a stack of towels on the table.

**The chaos starts here, so if you’re not all that crazy or averse to blood you can just scroll down and skip it**

You grab the dagger and waltz over to where Shouta has Masa on his knees, Shouta’s hand yanking his head back by his hair and the other hand squeezing his cheeks, forcing his jaw open. Shouta raises an eyebrow at you.

“What’s with the doctor’s getup?” You playfully roll your eyes at him.

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. Blood is hard to get out of clothing and the smell of death is rancid. I really don’t wanna deal with the cleanup this is gonna involve. I’ll try not to get it on your suit, too.” He shrugs.

“I can pay for another suit. Don’t worry about it.” You pout.

“But I like that suit. It looks nice on you.” He groans, a very faint blush on his cheeks and at the tips of his ears. It’s rare to see, but it makes you giggle every time.

“Just hurry it up. We still have a meeting.” You nod. Poor Masa is now starting to thrash, and the other men are either shaking their heads in disappointment or looking down at him with little more than disgust. He must have been quite a douchebag to earn the ire of this many high-ranking Yakuza.

You peer down at him and brandish your dagger, reaching down to pull his tongue out. He starts trembling, shaking his head and garbling out something that sounds like ‘please’ and ‘no’ and ‘don’t do this’. You almost pity him, and being as merciful as you are you release his tongue.

“Why are you so afraid, Masa dear? I was under the impression you wanted this to happen, considering your attitude earlier.” His words were slurred with Shouta’s grip on his jaw, but they were coherent enough.

“No, no, no I didn’t I swear! I’m sorry, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean any disrespect!” You coo down at him, crouching and cupping his face in your free hand.

“Oh sweetie, I think you did mean to be disrespectful. You see, we had warned you, and you didn’t take that warning to heart. Looking down at your hands now, I can see you’re missing the pinky and ring finger from your left hand and the pinky from your right as well. You must be in serious debt to several oyabun right now, so I have no idea why you’d be so careless. You clearly haven’t learned your lesson, so now it’s my job to teach you isn’t it?” He thrashes some more, shaking his head as much as he can in Shouta’s grip.

“No! No please! I promise I’ve learned!” You coo again.

“Aw, sweetheart. You want to keep your tongue? Is that it?” He nods furiously, tears beginning to prick his eyes. You look up to Shouta, who looks incredibly amused at the scene unfolding.

“Oh Shouta, don’t laugh at the poor thing. He wants to keep his tongue, you know. He looks desperate.” Shouta rolls his eyes at you.

“Yeah right. Stop toying with him. You’re just being cruel at this point.” His voice is playful, and you can’t help but playfully scoff at him.

“Rude! I’m not that cruel. It’s fun when they get desperate. Besides, I’m not completely heartless. Adrenaline helps with the initial pain, so it’ll hurt a bit less. What better to get the heart pumping than some false hope and then ripping it away?” The brunette, whose face still sits in your palm, nearly growls.

“You’re fucking insane, woman.” You look down at him, slightly shocked that he’d just said that and subsequently dug himself into a deeper hole. Then you giggle, almost maniacally.

“Why thank you, dear Masa. You know what they say, all the best people are crazy~”

With that you reach into his mouth and grab his tongue, quickly slicing it off. There was little resistance thanks to your dagger being as sharp as it is, and there was a moment where everything was still. The sound of his severed tongue hitting the tarp rang loud through the room, then the bloodcurdling scream sent everything back into motion.

Shouta released him and he doubled over, blood spilling from his mouth like a waterfall as he hacked and tried not to choke on it. You grabbed Masa’s bloodied face and tilted his head to look up at you, then grabbed a towel and stuffed it in his mouth before cleaning up his chin.

“It’s over, Masa dear. I’m sorry I had to do that, but you just refused to listen. Hopefully you’ve learned your lesson now. Try not to upset anyone else, okay?” Shouta untied his hands and you stepped away to let him take care of his wound.

You remove the bloodied gloves and apron and wipe the dagger clean with a towel, discarding them onto the tarp before grabbing Masa’s phone and holding it out to him, having him dial his own medical team and explaining the situation to them. They arrived shortly after, taking the bloodied tarp and everything else with them as they tended to Masa’s wound.

**The morbid ends here**

When all is said and done the meeting carries on as normal. Afterward you and Shouta went home, got comfortable on the couch in pajamas and turned on a shitty romcom. It really was pretty shitty. You turn to Shouta, who had started munching on popcorn.

“You think he'll be okay?” He raises an eyebrow at you.

“Who? Masa? That prick will be perfectly fine. He might have to learn sign language being unable to speak and all, but he dug himself into that mess.” You hum and nod.

“Why are you worried about him?” You hum again and think about the answer to that question.

“Well I’m not really worried, just more curious I guess. I have no clue how a wound like that is supposed to heal so I guess I just wanna make sure I didn’t kill the guy by accident.” Shouta’s chuckle is low, his chest and stomach bouncing as he laughed.

“At least now I know you can take some blood. Remind me to let you do the dirty work from now on.” You groan.

“Oh come on, Shouta. That shit takes forever to prep and clean! I don’t wanna have to do that a lot, it takes so much energy and time.” He scoffed at you.

“It took less than five minutes to have the tarp down and you completely decked out. That’s not ‘forever’. You’re just lazy.” You roll your eyes.

“Yeah? And so what if I’m a little lazy? A girl can’t take a break?” He chuckles.

“Don’t be like that. We both know you enjoyed removing his tongue.” You sigh, then lay down and put your head on his lap.

“Fine, you caught me. I did like it a little.” He chuckles a little, but doesn’t say anything else on the subject.

“What do you say we get to bed, little one?” You peer up at him as he brushes hair from your face. He’s so gentle with you it’s hard to believe he’s the same man from earlier. Though you’re sure he could say the same about you. A completely different side of you emerged today, the side that craves violence and relishes in bloodshed. You always knew it existed, but you wondered if it was just in your mind or if you really did want to be able to do that sort of thing. Turns out it was the latter.

You smile up at Shouta, and he gives a small smile back.

“Sure. Let’s go to bed.”

[lightsandlostbells]

Druck episode 7 reaction

I fell behind with Druck because the release of the clips from this episode threw me off, lol, but I’m catching up now! 

Some of these comments are outdated as I wrote them before seeing the clips that came out after this episode. 

Episode 7

Clip 1 - Leonardo DiCaprio sweetie...

Sam’s hair!!! Love it.

Unfortunately I do not love that Sam is somewhat encouraging Kiki in her Alexander-related delusions. 

Tbh, I wonder how Sam copes being a friend of Kiki since Kiki is racist, but then again racist people can be selective. They’ll have bigoted beliefs about one marginalized group, but they’re OK with another group.

Kiki referencing Titanic and being like the film is based on a true story!!! And Amira being like, uh, just the iceberg and sinking part. Well, Titanic is applicable to real life, in that Kiki and Alexander are the sinking ship. But also, Jack died at the end of Titanic, so maybe Kiki should pick something with a happier ending, anyway.

Mia has incorporated the famous red lipstick into her style.

Amira asking about the party and Sam saying Mia twerked, good for her.

I adore Amira messing with the girls and saying costume parties are haram. Even Mia, the self-designated progressive feminist of the group, falls for it. But I love that Amira can joke with them and tease their expectations and it’s casual and friendly. Pay attention, Kiki.

Awww, even the Hanna/Jonas guilt making out is too cute! I’m going to savor it while it lasts.

Clip 2 - Hanna confesses to Matteo

Matteo settled on a different hairstyle, I see.

So I guess Hanna did end up joining the refugee tutoring program, and Matteo did too. Despite the less-than-enlightened attitudes we saw from the group representatives in the first episode, I’m glad to see Hanna is involved in another activity, at least. Since she’s very insecure, volunteering and participating in activities can give you some sense of purpose and direction. And Matteo - I don’t think we ever saw Isak really involved in anything at school? Just kosegruppa, which he was blackmailed into. Which is fine, I just like seeing Matteo doing something productive. Also, I enjoy seeing something that Hanna and Matteo do together, whether that was intentional or not on their parts.

After seeing a few versions of this scene, I prefer it when the Isak character needles the Eva a bit into confessing what’s up rather than Eva just spilling her secret unprompted. It makes sense in that Hanna/Eva might need a push and also gives a subtle hint about Matteo��s/Isak’s investment in their relationship status.

I laughed out loud at Hanna being like “I made out with Sam” and Matteo being like “Well yeah, girl Sam is hot.” I mean, she is a babe, but Sam is the one girl Chris character who does not flirt with the Isak character (from what I remember), and it turns out to be the one time that the Isak says that the girl Chris is hot. Even though I don’t think it’ll matter much, lmao.

Also Matteo being like whyyyy are you telling me this right now … in front of a bunch of students within earshot. True!

LMAO AND FATIMA AGREES WITH MATTEO, HOLY SHIT? I hope that this poor girl isn’t going to be like … a red herring as to who spilled the beans.

Clip 3 - Kiki gets a much-needed pep talk

Kiki just cuts straight through the bullshit and figures Hanna has a thing for Samuel.

Well, now we get the “I’m not a lesbian” comments from Kiki. I wish they would go there with her. Honestly, after Skam Austin, this is the version of Skam I would most expect an f/f storyline (other than Skam France which has girl Alex as bi but it’s not much more than Word of God and a couple offhand comments.)

Kiki asks Mia if she’s a lesbian and Mia says she doesn’t think in categories like that … which does not rule out the possibility of her being into girls … I am just saying …

“Just because I’m pretty does it mean I need to have a penis inside me?” Well damn Mia, when you put it like that.

Alexander repeats the same bullshit lines on different girls. I bet he compliments them on their stomachs because so many girls are self-conscious about having rolls or belly fat.

Kiki is near tears, and she gets Vilde’s line about everyone saying it’s not her fault, but it is her fault … because that’s how she feels. I’m glad they kept in that line, and it does make you think about how “of course it’s me” would feel in light of S2. I mean apparently Vilde didn’t care that it was Noora who ended up with William, but if you think about it, William apparently was willing to settle on a girl. It just had to be Noora. And IDK, to me that would kind of sting regardless of my ultimate feelings for this dude - because apparently I wasn’t enough to make him stop acting like an asshole, but for another girl he could act like something resembling a decent person (in certain opinions).

The girls making a Hanna and Mia sandwich with Kiki inside is so sweet.

Clip 4 - Mia tells off Alexander

“You’re a proud, confident pussy!” Aw, that’s a lovely line in context.

Mia is, out of all the Nooras, the one who most feels like a feminist or at least someone who is heavily guided by feminist principles and has done the required reading.

I was going to say it was a bummer that Sam went against Kiki’s idea to stand up to Alexander, but the way the actress played it, plus the line “That’s how I always do it” made it feel like there was more going on with her than just not wanting the party invitations to stop. Like the pressure to be chill and not take anything too seriously, especially relationships, was something that weighs down on her. If she’s like girl Chris, perhaps she feels the need to be the fun party one, too. (Heh, I actually thought of the infamous Gone Girl “cool girl” speech, believe it or not. A lot of these insensitive teenage boys don’t want a girl who’s going to have feelings and inconvenient stuff like that, they just want a girl who’s cool to do whatever. And I think there is some pressure on girls to not be like “those other girls” who cause drama by speaking up for themselves and not taking crap from boys.)

And I like Amira’s point of view, which was the same as Sana’s, but which was explicitly compassionate and trying to help Kiki keep her dignity.

Also Hanna is just like “No idea” which is in-character for the whole not-having-her-own-opinions, going-along-with-what-everyone-else-does theme.

Alexander wasn’t as bad of an actor as I expected, though he needs to work on his dead eyes. Maybe he meant it but it’s going to be hard to deal with that in the long run.

His version of this put-down is one of the cruelest in a way, though. It doesn’t even feel like he winds her up as much, he’s just callous. And he had the temerity to tell her to stop crying. Because crying is inconvenient for him.

He mimics Mia’s smirk back at her when she steps up which was a nice touch.

I’m glad that Kiki stuck around in this version so she got to hear someone stick up for her. It is sad that her moment becomes Mia’s moment but it’s nice to see the girls immediately defending her, Amira stroking her arm.

I’m not sure Mia had quite the fire to pull off that scene; however I am liking her more and more in general because as I mentioned above, I think she’s convincing as a baby feminist character and she’s good with supporting the other girls.

I loooooooove Sam giving him the finger as she walks off. itswhathedeserves.gif 

Clip 5 - Hanna and Jonas in bed

They’re easily the best Eva/Jonas outside of the original. They just have great chemistry.

“By the way, I found out there are studies that prove the danger of cell phone radiation.” Wow, I didn’t know Jonas was channeling my 72-year-old auntie.

So cute with him talking about getting down and asking for her hand!

“Society made me do it, a boy from the streets like me, what can I do?” Jonas is definitely the most endearing drug dealer in the Skam extended universe. Ahem.

That description makes him seem like Aladdin.

Oh god they’re so cute. I don’t have much to say except they’re fabulous together. 

don’t break them up

Clip 6 - Fight!

NO NOT THE SCARF. Wrapping her scarf around his neck! I know what happens next for them, you assholes!!!

The girls are ridiculously cute when they pose for a photo. Mia giving Hanna a kiss!

Also they love Mia so much for her smackdown. And Amira stroking Kiki’s arm <3

Brawl time!

Lol, this is the least convincing Iben.

DON’T TOUCH SAM’S BEAUTIFUL BLUE HAIR YOU JERK

I love that all of them got involved in the fight. Amira seemed like she was trying to stop the fight at first but then it looked like she was trying to put that girl in a headlock. Kiki went all in, too, jumping on that girl’s back and holding on with her thighs.

Lol, a teacher actually yelling at them to knock it off and them breaking it off on their own? How novel.

Clip 7 - Hanna and a reptile

Hanna actually has a bruise from the fight so that’s a good detail.

That line from Matteo about Carlo being friends with Jonas and not with Hanna ... buddy … you’re going to want to consider that line more closely, considering I can think of someone who’s friends with both Jonas AND Hanna who’s also screwed her over.

Jonas asking her to stop calling when her phone background is all pics of her and Jonas being affectionate :( :( :(  You know, just to rub it in.

Matteo were you fucking SMIRKING after you gave Hanna a hug? Is that an actual smirk or is that just his face? Duuuuude, I do not approve.

Clip 8 - Leonie dropping hints

Lmao, it’s not really funny but those are some A+ celebrity sunglasses that Hanna is wearing to presumably cover up her bruise and hide from the world.

Love how shook and upset Hanna gets from just spotting Jonas through the window.

Kiki is probably the biggest asshole of any of the Vildes but not gonna lie, I still kinda like her? She is a jerk but she feels like a very specific, realistic type of jerk, like she feels very believable as a character.

Also, something I’ve never thought much about is how Vilde/Kiki fixates on Eva/Hanna being considered a “slut” to the whole school, and obviously some of that for Vilde has to do with the impact it’ll have on their bus group. But this is also happening right after Vilde lost her virginity to the most popular guy in school, wore his hoodie that marked her as a trophy, and was treated like trash by him afterwards. So for Vilde/Kiki/the equivalent characters, is it possible that there’s some projection going on here? I don’t know if I’d say for certain because she seems so eager to have sex, but the aftermath also messes with her self-worth, and that’s mostly indicated by her eating disorder but I think it’s possible she may have internalized some ideas about slut-shaming that could apply to herself.

Mia loves Hanna so much. I don’t get the mega-flirty vibes between them I got from Eva/Noora or Eva/Eleonora, but Mia just cares for her a whole lot. I’ve had some doubts about Mia’s performance but the writing for her has made me love her quite a bit.

Oh, I love that Hanna kinda snapped at Leonie and that Mia took a bit more of the caring, leave-her-alone approach at first but then got all forceful and told her to go away.

Mia either thinks Kiki needs to shut the fuck up or she’s noticing that something’s up with her attitude.

Clip 9 - Hanna and her dad

Is that plant symbolic of something? “There’s a lot going on and I just forgot to water it”? Or you know, sometimes a plant is just a plant.

The dad! I love him being all concerned by his daughter’s banged-up face.

And he’s being so sweet and supportive when he sees Hanna is having a hard time! Gosh, Druck is really like the sweet and soft remake. The baby lamb version of Skam.

Hanna also freely confesses to him that Jonas broke up with her instead of it slipping out in a fit of frustration like with Eva. The dad is sympathetic and wants to help and tries to reassure her that it can happen to anyone, but Hanna is just too upset and stressed for it to have any effect.

General Comments:

I have no idea what’s up with the production on this one. I’ll be so bummed if it doesn’t get another season. Honestly, this is still my favorite of the remakes - it’s the one where I have the most fondness for the characters. I enjoy almost everyone by this point.

This is also easily the version where I would want a S3 and S4 the most (other than a Shay-focused season of Skam Austin), as I think Matteo and Amira could potentially pull them off; they both have conveyed plenty of youthful vulnerability. Mia/Alexander is the least convincing Noorhelm yet but Mia has grown on me a lot. And I think girl Sam and Jonas are fantastic and would love to see more from them.

Just to say it again: girl Sam is wonderful and I would looooove just a full season of her.

I guess the Druck team posted a little message on IG about Kiki’s eating disorder and a link to a hotline? That’s really great, I’m glad they did that.

Not to compare remakes but when Meg and Marlon from Skam Austin make out: 😒 😒 😒 When Hanna and Jonas make out: 😄 😄 😄

I don’t speak German so if I miss some context, feel free to correct me.

If you got this far, thank you for reading!

[trickstercaptain-archive]

       okay so let’s write a novel talk about actual trainwreck of a character Jack Sparrow in this movie. so there are spoilers under this so don’t read if YOU DON’T WANNA BE SPOILED because I’ve been waiting months to write this and now I finally can:

      the scene that annoyed me the MOST was when Barbossa and Jack release the Pearl back into her true form, and this was a theme throughout the movie. long story short, they get it out of the bottle and they throw the model-size Black Pearl into the ocean and she sinks briefly before rising up into her full majesty and JACK DIDN’T EVEN LOOK REMOTELY BOTHERED WHEN SHE SANK. and this was my problem -- particularly in the second half of the film -- that when it was required of Jack to show emotion, he didn’t. he was actually fine during the first half and showed some decent emotional range, but something really weird happened around the half-way point and honestly, when the Pearl briefly sunk, Hector looked more bereft than Jack did, which makes absolutely no sense. both of them should have been saddened, but Jack has literally fucking died for that ship twice, so he should have been heartbroken -- particularly when it was established early in the movie that Jack was keeping the Pearl on his person, under his coat, above his heart. idk whether it was the editing or the take they eventually used in post-production, but it was seriously odd. and likewise, Jack gives two reactions to Hector’s death, but imo there’s not nearly enough emotion in them for the audience to believe that these two individuals have known each other for half of their lives. it seemed very half-assed, which is basically this entire movie in summary, but something honestly really bothered me about Jack’s characterisation in the second half in particular and I still can’t quite put my finger on it, but he seemed very disinterested in what was going on. the first half was lazy writing, but I kind of want to say that the second half was lazy writing and lazy acting.

        also, let’s talk about the fact that Jack was so stupid he didn’t even realise that you’d need to put the Pearl back into the water for her to grow in size. Hector seriously showed most of the smarts out of the two of them in this movie. the fact that Jack at one point admits he’s a bed wetter, says ‘spaghetti wolves’ when he’s woken up from a drunken stupor, and asks for 200-odd barrels of rum from Barbossa along with the chance to eat Jack the Monkey tells you the kind of infantile stupid Jack was being in this movie.

      now this is the thing with Jack in DMTNT -- I could ultimately see what they were trying to do, and it kind of worked in the first half, but it was so poorly executed because ultimately they created a contradiction for themselves. the directors and Johnny have stated on multiple occasions that Jack is now apparently a character without arc or development, and yet they put him into a narrative where he is supposed to change in some way between the start and end point. I said this before when I remarked last week that it was ironic he had an ‘arc’ in this movie considering those comments: he’s meant to get somewhere, regain his rep, return to a ( mostly ) sober state -- but they kept stagnating him in the narrative because he is this weird arc-less character at this point. it just didn’t make any fucking sense. if you’re going to put a static character into a narrative ( as Jack apparently is nowadays ), then you don’t put him in it at a relative low point, changed from the last time we saw him as an audience and apt to change/develop along the course of the narrative as he ‘redeems’ himself. you’re just writing yourself into a brick wall. he should have been FINE the moment the Black Pearl was restored, but they kept returning him to this earlier drunken, idiotic state without reason even after that point and it just made the whole thing really sloppy. you want to paint Jack at his lowest point? well by doing so, you’re giving the audience a stake in seeing Jack redeem himself and return to the character we know and love -- and yet there was no obvious sign that had happened, no natural development that saw him slowly but steadily getting his groove back and taking control of his own narrative until the very end, when suddenly he was absolutely fine even though he’d been fighting plot convenient alcoholism for the entire movie. 

      but, let’s be honest~

      he was essentially inconsequential to this plot, save from the beginning when he acts as the catalyst for Salazar’s escape. he wasn’t very active whatsoever, nor was he really ever in control, save for when he takes Henry and Carina hostage, and even then the scene where Jack threatens Carina, Jack doesn’t appear very threatening -- mostly incompetent, and this is a theme. normally, Jack is always in control of his own actions, and he hates it when he’s not -- it’s a hallmark quality of his character because he values his personal freedom above all else. here he kinda gets passed around from character to character -- more as a burden, than anything, and boy was he a burden on this narrative. in the second half in particular, he was just sort of there, making the odd joke every now and again, with Carina as the biggest drive in this narrative. she continually pushed the plot forward, more so than Henry, but another problem this movie suffered from was pacing. at no point did the editing seem to take a breather or focus on the characters -- either the characters were making jokes, or they were making clunky expositional statements that was more of a ‘say what you see’ and ‘repeatedly say what we have to do to resolve the plot’ kind of thing rather than the ‘show not tell’ rule. 

      Henry and Carina could have been developed more, as could have Carina and Barbossa -- I think some of Jack’s strongest scenes were actually with Carina, surprisingly enough, because at least they seemed to have a bit of banter back and forth, and the Jack and Henry stuff was kinda decent. but the characters didn’t feel like characters -- not the ones I know and love anyway. I think Hector was the best character out of the originals ( Geoffrey did great with what he had to work with ), and Salazar was pretty good on the whole, but Javier could have been given more to work with -- and with Jack acting like a five year old whenever the two got close to each other, it didn’t really work.

      stuff that did work though in regards to Jack imo: his entrance was pretty good and true to form across the franchise, and the bank robbery scene was fun and felt like potc ( I especially liked the look Gibbs stole at Jack when they were approaching the bridge. AND THERE WAS ANOTHER MOMENT WHEN GIBBS SAVED JACK’S LIFE THAT I LIKED A LOT ). Jack asking his crew for tribute when he’d lost the money was utterly stupid ( that’s not how pirate ships work and honestly several times across this movie I think Jack deserved to be left behind/abandoned because he was acting like a complete fucking needy idiot ), but I think the most emotion he showed in the movie was in that scene when his crew left him -- it fucking KILLED me tbh because HE LOOKS AT GIBBS LAST AND GIBBS JUST GIVES HIM THIS MOST SYMPATHETIC LOOK AND MY HEART STILL HURTS. most of the stuff on Saint Martin for Jack was pretty decent because he felt like Jack -- the problems came once he got out to sea and every so often he’d just regress into a whiny infant for no reason at all. the sleazy stuff kinda annoyed me -- I could have done without the Carina scene on the boat or his continued insistence on ‘horologist,’ and his description of Elizabeth was Unnecessary. but mainly he was just annoying.

      the problem is, he showed absolutely no smarts in this movie, save for the flashback. he had to constantly be saved by others, lucked his way out of most situations -- and the shark scene was Okay because he showed that he could and was willing to save Henry multiple times, but he just wasn’t very proactive at all in this narrative. he was just there, waiting for stuff to happen to him. he saved Carina once which was good, and there were moments when it looked like he was playing the mentor figure to both Henry and Carina, particularly when he was the one to keep bringing up their crushes on each other, but it didn’t really go anywhere. the script had robbed him of all of his wit and charm, which is what made him likeable in the first three movies.

      as for the flashback scene -- I didn’t hate it, even though I wanted to. I could have done without the whole part where the crew gave Jack famous pieces of his costume because a) that’s dumb and TPOF handles his costume better and b) it contradicts everything Johnny has said about picking up pieces of his costume on his adventures over the years. the CGI was pretty good, and I loved them showing Jack as this intelligent and dangerous pirate who traps Salazar without remorse because he needed to put an end to his reign of terror over the seas. I also could have done without it being the Wicked Wench but eh I’m just over it at this point. the point at which it came in the story was pretty random though -- like I understand it was Salazar’s monologue but it just seemed inserted for the sake of ‘ah yes time to show off our CGI technology.’ they could have used it to better showcase how far Jack had fallen since then tbh.

       oh and one last shoutout - ‘Captain Jack Sparrow is dead. buried in an unmarked grave on Saint Martin’ I LOVE. and the scene when Jack walks into the pub and his wanted poster has been changed so his bounty is only £1 as opposed to £100. the visual gag of that worked really well. as did the whole guillotine sequence. that was one of the strongest scenes in the movie tbh. 'you’re to be executed’ ‘executed?!?!! well I’m never coming back here again’ he was drunk af but the pettiness worked in that scene lmfaoo

       OH AND NOT PUTTING JACK IN A SCENE WITH WILL AND ELIZABETH IS STUPID AF

[johnnyseod-remade]

The Syndicate; Prologue

Part: Prologue Pairing: None Genre: Action, Adventure (tbh idk) Description: Five boys have gathered. Solemn silence spreads around them and they look upon one another, hoping that an answer may descend upon them. However, no one speaks and the silence ensues. It is almost endless; the vastness of it spreads like poison throughout each of the boys. And as if connected by something other than their bond to each other, the answer dawns on them. An agreement, an alliance, an anchor. Word Count: 1432 Words Warnings: None. Requested: I mean, not really? @taeyong-dot-com​ and I kinda just ?? got super emo?? Song Recommendation: Cathedrals of Steel - Assassin’s Creed Syndicate Soundtrack (Austin Wintory) A/N: So, due to a dream and @taeyong-dot-com​ making me cry about this idea- I came to the conclusion that I should write this Assassin’s Creed x NCT AU. Really, I think this might be my favourite idea that I’ve ever had and hopefully, I can write this with minimal (or no) blocks. So, the most important thing is that, this is going to be a series! Basically this prologue will be followed by each individual member’s backstory and how it led to this point in the story! The backstories will involve “Y/N” but they are not the same person! In each chapter, “Y/N” represents someone different. I made it that way so that the reader, you, can read the ones about your bias and just afiowaenfoiawioef. Obviously, I suggest reading all the backstories, as it will show to the qualities of the characters and what types of assassins they are. But yeah, that’s completely up to you! Anyway, I really hope you guys enjoy this series!

The small room was quiet. Five boys were scattered around the room; some were sitting, some were standing, all holding goblets with wine. And all were silent. Absolute silence spread over them, like the darkness that covered their faces and their hearts. It was like a poison seeping through their veins, paralyzing even their thoughts. Nothing was being said in light of the recent events. But, who could blame them? What could anyone even say about the events that had transpired? It was not simple, but then again, life rarely was.

Every so often, one of the boys would glance at his comrades, a small sigh escaping him and then look away. This cycle of stealing glances continued on, until the boy with black hair and once star strung eyes looked up. Something along the lines of determination was etched into his features and he glanced carefully around at the boys. He tried to find the words that would mean something, anything.

“I think, it’s time.” His voice carried confidence, although he didn’t feel it.

Every head snapped up, eyes that held no sign of determination glanced at him. He could feel the lack of energy, and he couldn’t blame them; these days held no reason for trying. But at a moment like now, they could not let it influence their actions. Not with the position they held.

“I know how you must be feeling, what you must be thinking. Of course, I feel it too,” He paused, glancing around at them, making sure they knew he was more than sympathetic, “I recognize the fragility of your hearts and minds. And I understand; I myself am there. But there is another fragility to consider. That being the fragility of this situation. I know that I do not have to explain to each of you why we are here. We have all been through our fair share of pain and anguish but… This moment, this is the moment we were all trained for. We’re here because we have a job to do, and we should do well to remember that more than what has been taken from us could be at stake.”

One of the boys stood up from his place on the floor, raising his goblet to the ceiling. His eyes shone clear and hard as he nodded in the speaker’s direction.

“Well said Taeyong.” “Thank you Jaehyun.”

One boy, who was leaning against the wall, smiled at this. He nodded, repeating Jaehyun’s action and raising his cup to the ceiling.

“I expect nothing less than our leader to be sensible at a time like this. Good on you for not losing your head completely.” “Any of you would’ve done the same, even you Hansol.” “But none of us are as well spoken as you.” Another boy commented from the floor. “Johnny-” “There’s no use arguing or denying it Taeyong. You’re just going to have to accept that, out of the five of us, you’re the most adept at handling stress.” “Yuta…” “Trust us.” Jaehyun nodded, smiling.

Taeyong’s eyes regained some light and a small smile graced his lips. There was something warm about the boys. Something that carried the feeling of family and hope and kindness. Although the circumstances under which they met had not been ideal for forming friendships, they’d easily and quickly adjusted, becoming close and trusting. And for a job like the one they held, trust was necessary.

“Thank you, for believing in me… As a leader.” “Always.” Their voices echoed each other. “I suppose there isn’t much more left to say then?” Taeyong’s eyes flashed around the room. “Probably not.” Johnny’s smile reappeared after what felt like too long. “Shall we then?” Yuta murmured. “We’ve no choice.” Hansol pushed off the wall, fixing his cape. “Well, any final words?” Jaehyun’s grin brightened to the room.

No one seemed to know what to say, and their eyes naturally glided to the leader. He stood there numbly wondering what sort of words might comfort the other boys. And as if a prayer had been whispered into his ear, the words came to him. They felt right in his mind. He opened his mouth, the syllables ready to dive off his tongue.

“For those we have lost… And found.”

A ripple of emotion passed through the five boys and they nodded, a quiet sadness filling them. They raised their goblets in unison once more. A sort of understanding was made. Although they would never forget their past lives, they were just that, past lives.

“And,” Taeyong spoke up once more, “for The Syndicate.”

Silence filled the room but not for long, as they collectively murmured, “The Syndicate.”

Taeyong nodded at the door and they understood. Four of the boys slowly filed out of the room, giving the room no final glances. The last one, hesitated, glancing back over his shoulder. Would this be the last place he ever felt safe? Would this too, become a distant memory? Somewhere that seemed like a lifetime away? A frown flickered over his features, darkening his expression.

“Johnny- What are you doing?” “Ah, sorry Taeyong. Just… Thinking.” “About?” “If this is it… If things will never go back to how they were before. I was just wondering if this is the moment we lost our lives.” “I think we lost our lives a long time ago… Back when we first joined…” “No,” He said, a dark expression clouded him, making him look rather different from his natural self, “Even back then Taeyong… We still had a sense of self- a sense of life. We only lost it after…”

He couldn’t bring himself to say it. Whatever it was, Johnny couldn’t find the words to describe it. Taeyong gripped his shoulder and squeezed gently.

“I know…” “Especially you. You lost the most-” “We all lost something dear to us. Not just me.” “Do you believe in fate?” “No, do you?” “If I did, I don’t know if I’d be able to live with myself. I would question constantly why fate had allowed us to suffer… Why it had…” The boy trailed off, getting lost in thought. “Johnny, we have a long way to travel tonight. We should get going- And I think the boys must be waiting.” “Right…” He nodded, glancing back at the room once again. “It’ll be okay. This is what our lives are. We’re meant to protect people.” “I know… I just wish I’d been able to protect the most important ones.”

Taeyong sighed and squeezed Johnny’s shoulder again. There was nothing to say this time; no words could heal these wounds. But the mere action was appreciated and meant more to Johnny than he could express. He gave the boy a weak smile, trying to tell him he was okay, but the words would not leave his throat. They were stuck. But Taeyong could tell, just from his broken expression. He understood.

Letting go of Johnny’s shoulder, Taeyong turned and walked back towards the door. Johnny followed, this time, not glancing back at the room. Together, they walked out the door and into a vast open stretch of land, staring out at the horizon. Everything was painted with the rays of a golden sun, sinking lower and lower against the horizon line. The sky was, fittingly, a blood orange. The few clouds that lingered in the sky were thrown into a golden glow. And the smell of spring nights hung in the air, making anyone vulnerable to the heavy sleepiness it brought.

Train tracks were bolted to the ground a few meters from where they stood, and as they looked around they noticed the other boys, huddled together, conversing quietly. They noticed that Johnny and Taeyong had finally emerged from the makeshift hideout.

“Remember Johnny: this is all for the greater good. All of this, we do it for-” “The Syndicate.”

The sound of an approaching train caught their ears. There was a flash of eyes followed by nodding, and suddenly all five boys were running at the train. Trained and skillful hands grabbed at ledges and ladders, hoisting themselves up onto the moving locomotive.

They stood together on the roof of the train cars, staring at the hideaway as it grew smaller and more distant. The sun continued to sink lower on the horizon, as the rushing of air blew through their hair. This was a life they had chosen and their current path had become an inevitable one. But so long as they had each other and the strength of The Syndicate, their aims and resolve would remain everlasting.