#it would've cured all his issues

[borgialucrezia]

"The fact that Juan is aware of [Cesare and Lucrezia's affair] and concerned by it is quite an interesting one. I don’t think he’s jealous of them being together. I think he’s jealous of not being a part of it as well. " — David Oakes

[auroralwriting]

wait for your love

spencer reid x fem!liaison!reader

after joining the bau eight months ago, you and spencer quickly became close. too close, to be just friends, that is.

word count: 2k

warnings: comfort and fluff, no use of y/n, mutual pining, (un)reciprocated feelings, spencer's love-blind, he only likes your touch, vague hints at spencer's autism, playful flirting

Spencer Reid was all you'd ever wanted. He was a sweet, smart, charming, a gentleman. He understood your thoughts and feelings. He made time for you, and actually, the two of you spent a great deal of time together on a daily basis. It was rare you'd go more than two days without seeing the resident genius.

You were even the rare exception to his physical touch boundaries-- he couldn't keep his hands off of you. Holding your hand or interlocking your pinkies was a common form of touch you shared. Hugs, cuddling, and sharing beds wasn't uncommon, either. Usually on cases, you roomed together, even if you had separate rooms. You were Spencer Reid's solace, even more so-- simply his person.

The only issue? He was just your best friend.

For as close as the two of you were, no, you weren't dating. No, you had no clue how he felt about you. Sometimes it felt like he reciprocated your feelings, but then he'd go and call you something like his best friend. So, maybe he didn't reciprocate the feelings. But that was fine, you were still in his life and he was in yours. That was all that mattered, right?

You barreled into Spencer's hotel room the moment he opened the door from your rapid knocks.

Spencer watched as you flopped face-first on his bed with a chuckle, "Hello to you, too." He walked over to where you laid, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Can you guys please profile this douche any quicker?" You groaned into his pillow, the whine of your voice making Spencer smile. "I'm seriously done with the press on this one. I cannot take another call from stupid Heather Young."

"Who's Heather Young?" Spencer asked as you flipped yourself over quickly, sitting up to face him.

Begrudgingly, you pointed to the small TV that sat in front of his bed. "She's some nosey, obsessive, and pestering news reporter who wants the full coverage story on this case." You sighed. Heather Young truly was testing every limit you had. Her phone calls boarded on stalker, at least one an hour, if not more. You'd tried to block her number, but she found another phone to use. "She won't leave me alone. I swear, Spence, every hour this woman calls!"

Spencer knew all too well the struggles of being a liaison, and this was one of them. Dealing with obnoxious reporters and pestering questions would frustrate him to no end. That's why he admired you so much, for your tolerance and patience.

Your phone rang, and you groaned, turning back over and letting yourself fall face-first back into Spencer’s pillow. He chuckled, grabbing your phone and shutting it off so you wouldn’t receive any more calls for the night. “See? Problem solved,”

“Until six a.m when she calls me trying to get an inside scoop,” your muffled voice whined.

“You’re so grumpy,” Spencer chuckled, leaning on his arm beside you. “Come on, don’t let some stupid news reporter get you like this.”

Maybe if you'd looked closer, harder, you would've noticed the adoration in the genius's eyes. However, you just rolled your eyes and scoffed at his words. "M not grumpy,"

Spencer chuckled, poking your side teasingly. "You definitely are," He chuckled at the way you squeaked, shooting upward at the ticklish sensation.

"Spence!"

"If I were to look up the definition for grumpy, your name would be its definition." Spencer continued to softly poke at your ribs and sides, causing giggles to spew from your lips like an endless waterfall. It was music to Spencer's ears.

"Spencer!" You tried to whine, but it came out as laughter instead.

After a minute or so of his relentless attack, Spencer eased. "See? Not so grumpy anymore. I just know the grumpy cure."

"Tickling me is not a cure," You argued, crossing your arms as you sat criss-crossed in front of him. When Spencer went to reach forward, you sucked in a breath, "Okay, okay! Consider me cured!"

Spencer just chuckled at your words. "Admit it, you were grumpy. I could tell based on the way you threw yourself onto my bed." Spencer joked. He wasn't wrong. His hand, instead of poking, found its way to your side, but it gently caressed you in a sweet motion.

With another roll of your eyes, you smiled, letting Spencer know wordlessly he was right. His touch was soft and comforting. Spencer's touch, no matter how it's given, was the cure.

The moment was broken when your phone buzzed, a text from JJ lighting up your screen. For a moment, ignoring it was a highly considerable option, until you realized you were still on a case, and it could be important.

"Who's that?" Spencer asked, looking over your shoulder as you grabbed your phone from his bedside table.

"JJ," You simply stated.

Where are you? The text read.

With Spence, need anything?

Why can't you ever stay in your own rooms, SMH!! Wanted to see if you're ready to give the profile tomorrow?

You chuckled at her text, As ready as I'll ever be

KK, I won't bother you two lovebirds anymore! Enjoy Spencer time!!!

Spencer grinned at the texts. "You don't think she's going to read into that, do you?"

"She already does," You shrugged, setting your phone back down. "The whole team always asks, 'When are you and Spencer getting together?,' 'When are you finally gonna date?,' blah, blah, blah."

With an eyebrow now raised, Spencer felt himself become surprised at your response. While he speculated there was some sort of, well, suspicion about the two of you, he was never on the receiving end of any of it. Apparently, that's because you were. "How many people have asked about us? Just the team?"

"Just them," You paused, considering his question. "Wait, you don't know about this?"

Spencer became more confused at your tone, "No, I don't."

"They think we're madly in love or something," you chuckled, trying to hide your true feelings, "talking about our future little genius-liaison babies."

The genius's mind became scattered, flooded with images of the two of you that his mind created in a moments notice. Children, marriage, love. It felt so surreal picturing you, yet so right. "Did you ever deny it?"

"For the first few months," You confirmed with a solid nod. "I just don't really entertain it anymore. I don't see them stopping anytime soon."

Spencer nodded, clearing his throat. "You haven't let them think it's true though, right?"

"Why?" You asked, his words confusing you. "Is there some sort of problem being with me?"

You felt defensive at his words. Maybe this was his way of telling you the feelings aren't reciprocated. Maybe, all along, you were playing the fool. This stupid, silly little mistake of a crush was mere moments from destroying your closest friendship. You wished you could swallow this whole conversation down like bad medicine and pretend it never happened.

Spencer paused for a moment, your question making his heart drop. "Why would you ask me that?" He softly asked.

"Just--" You sighed, turning over to lay on your side that faced away from him. As much as this sucked, you couldn't see yourself leaving him, either. "forget about it, Spence."

You were upset now, that much was apparent. Spencer couldn't tell if it was about the team, or his response. He wasn't good at talking to girls, let alone about romance. Spencer softly laid on his side, wrapping his arm around your middle and trying to gently pull you into him.

"Spence, it's really fine, just--" You knew this play. You knew he was going to give you the softest affection to try and get you to open up.

"It's not fine, you're upset." Spencer observed, a gentle firmness behind his voice. He hated it when you closed in on yourself.

Adamant about not moving, Spencer realized his efforts were useless; you weren't going to budge. So, he scooted closer until front was pressed against your back, practically spooning you. When your body went rigid against his, Spencer felt disappointment seep into his heart. You always melted into him. Ever so softly, Spencer let his free hand come up and begin to massage your scalp, slowly playing with your hair ever so often.

Like memory, your body began to relax into his, just the way he wanted it to. Of course, it was against your better judgement, but soft moments with Spencer Reid was what you lived for.

Spencer smiled against your shoulder, his efforts weren't so fruitless after all. "You're so stubborn," Spencer mumbled into your shoulder.

"M not stubborn," you muttered in reply, heat rising to your cheeks at his words.

"Yes, you are." Spencer said, giving you a small squeeze. It made you giggle in reply, making Spencer's heart thump loudly in his chest. Could you hear it, too? "You never answered me before,"

You hummed, "Hmm?"

Spencer said your name slowly, a growl of a warning. He needed to fix whatever happened. There was no way he was going to let you stay upset at him.

"I asked you that because.." you hesitated. "I don't know. would there be a problem being with me?"

At your soft words, Spencer realized what had happened. He'd been a fool and insulted you. How could he ever do such a thing? "Of course there wouldn't be a problem being with you," he breathed softly into your ear.

"Then.." you paused, "then why aren't we, I don't know, together?" You rolled over to face him. "I mean, we do this," Your hands waved in the air, motioning to your current position with the genius. "We're always together. We even sleep over! Even the team asks me why we aren't together and--"

Spencer felt shock flood his system at your confession. Did this mean what he thought it meant? Was he reading this right?

"Just, why? Is it me?"

Taking a deep breath, Spencer choked down his fears. "I've been.. scared."

"Scared?" Your desperation morphed into one of curiosity and confusion at his words.

"Scared," Spencer confirmed softly. "I didn't know how you felt. I didn't know if you even wanted this.. us,"

Humor slowly filled the situation. Maybe you'd both been fools, but not in the way you'd originally thought. "Do you really think I cuddle with all my best friends?"

Spencer raised a brow at your words. Yeah, he felt unbelievably stupid. How could he not have seen it before? "No, I suppose not." He meekly replied, a small smile growing on his lips. "Does that mean you-you really want to be my girlfriend?"

A chuckle escaped your lips, "Spencer Reid, you ought to know better than to assume. Don't you know what that makes you?"

He smiled in return, rephrasing his question. "You want to be my girlfriend."

"I do," you smiled.

"I want to be your boyfriend," Spencer replied with a now wide grin on his face.

You felt your heart skip a beat, "I want that, too."

"Do you want to be my girlfriend?" Spencer asked, the question feeling like one of a middle-school boy. Nothing else felt right to say, though. Nothing felt as sweet and innocent as this moment did.

A finger patted your chin as you faked deep thought. "I don't know, it's a lot to consider."

Spencer let out a small laugh, propping himself up. He moved over top of you, his weight now on his forearms as you stared up at him. "Oh, really now?"

"Yeah, being tied down is a lot, you know?"

He leaned down closer to you, so close you could feel the tip of his nose grazing your own. "Tied down," he chuckled with amusement.

"That begs your question; should I be your girlfriend?"

"I say yes," Spencer said, his lips mere centimeters from your own.

Staring down at his lips, you whisper, "I say yes, too."

Like a moment of explosion, your lips meshed perfectly with Spencer's. It felt like everything you'd dreamt of thus far. Poor Spencer, he was in absolute bliss. He felt like he'd been waiting this day his whole life and another. It was magic, heaven, and unbridled passion.

"Stay here tonight?" Spencer whispered as he pulled back, lips tingling with the feeling of you.

"Always," you smiled, pulling him in for another kiss.

[dumbslvtforethan]

∿ DEVOTED TO YOU ethan landry

— summary: ethan helps you relieve some tension

warnings smut, fingering, pet names, dom!ethan, sub!reader, innocent reader, implications of murder, lmk if i missed anything 1,215 words

navigation

𐙚 mdni!! ↓↓ 𐙚༘⋆ೀೀ

YOU’VE BEEN GRUMPY ALL DAY unsure of the reason but pondering the rush that filled your blood whenever you kissed your boyfriend, ethan, puzzled by this new different sort of heat that you've been feeling lately, your panties have been a little wetter than normal when you'd come home, you thought it was some kind of illness.

ethan on the other hand was far from innocent, he knew exactly what you were feeling. he liked having you as his little pet, after all, he looked huge beside you, making his desire of being inside you way more intense. you had very serious attachment issues, having to be close to him at all times to be fully fulfilled and happy. although he tried to use that as an advantage, you were not very fond to touch him sexually, whenever he'd take a step further in you would just push his hand away or make up an excuse, maybe it had to do with what you've been through, which, you never told ethan. it also didn't help that he looked giant beside you, he could easily crush you whole with his hand if he really wanted to.

although you were both happy with the relationship, ethan wanted to take a step further, he wanted to feel you, your body, but he never did, afraid it would crush your fragile melancholy. what you didn't know at the time was that his big hands would help cure your little "illness".

"alright, lets go home" he said taking you by the waist after you've given a bit of an attitude to mindy that was not very usual of you. "why" you whined in his arms not pulling him away just questioning his movements "baby come on" you gave in, following him to the door of mindy's apartment. the walk home was rather unusual. when a girl gave you a disgusted glance at you snapped "you look like a whore in that outfit" you yelled, the girl looked even more disgusted and a bit confused "yeah and your boobs look awfu- " your phrase got cut short when your boyfriend picked you up and put you over his shoulders, a thing that happened more often than you would think. "what is up with your attitude recently?" he questioned his sweet and fragile girlfriend that had recently developed a strange habit of taking back.

you were now sitting on ethan's lap reflecting about what just happened. he would never admit it but your usual straddle of his lap would always leave him rock hard, at first he would just try to hide it but after seeing that you were rather naive he never really hid it anymore. "are you going to tell me what's wrong?" he questioned after a long minute of silence "its just embarrassing" "why would it be embarrassing baby you can tell me everything" you sighed "its just, i've been feeling hot lately, specially when i see you or when you kiss me and when i get home and go to the bathroom im all wet down there" you started to sob in ethan's shoulder convinced that you were sick. ethan on the other hand had a huge smirk on his face, who would've thought that his ego would go up so fast in less than 5 minutes?

"where does it hurt baby?" "here?" he asked putting a hand on your stomach "lower" he lowered his hand playing with the waistband of your shorts "can i take this off?" you nod. that action reveals the sight of your glistening pussy, something he had never seen before but certainly fantasized about it. you unexpectedly take his hand and place it right on top of your clit, you throw your head back and moan at the slight touch. it was at that moment that ethan realized you had never been touched that that was probably the reason why you've always rejected him, rejected his touch. "lets go to my room" he said taking your hand and leading you to your room. he closed the door "do you wanna learn how to relieve this feeling baby? i can teach you" your legs trembled as you eagerly nodded you both sat in front of your mirror you infront of him. "open your legs baby" he whispered in your ear sending you shivers "theres a lot of ways to feel good, you can do it like this" he rubbed your clit fastly. you throwed your head back once again, "you can do this too" he put two fingers in, pumping them up and down "ugh" you moaned already cumming on his fingers releasing a week worth of a horny feeling. "do you want to learn more?" you nod eagerly.

and there you were watching him layed down on the bed with his glistening cock sprung out. "it wont fit ethan" you said concernedly examining his length "come on you havent even tried, you'll feel much better baby" he gestured you to come, you crawled on top of him and aligned his dick with your wet entrance. "just sit on it" and so you did. "e-etha-nn" you moaned the most pornographic sound you've ever heard "its too big, i cant do it" you only had his tip in, but you already felt so full "thats just the tip baby you're not even halfway" you sighed sinking down completely “there you go” he smiled “my pretty girl took all my cock huh?” you nodded. it was a burning pain at first, after all, practically half of your body was full of his dick. you layed down on his chest hugging him of exhaustion “you gotta move baby” he whispered in your ear.

you started to bounce up and down his dick, loud moans escaping from your mouth each time you made a movement, even the slightest one. you came on his dick in less than 5 minutes and ethan was loving it. he was loving the sight of you cockdrunk milking his dick, gushing out your pussy juices uncontrollably. he quickly switched positions, him being on top of you, he started to move his hips fastly “ethan!” you moaned loudly cumming for the second time of the night, only this time you didn’t stop, still gushing out cum. “im gonna cum baby” he said pulling out and releasing himself on your tits. he layed down beside you breathing heavily and hugged you “so how was it?” he was out of breath “amazing, can we do it again soon?” “of course” he got up and dressed “i love you okay but i gotta go, ill see you tomorrow” he gave you a kiss on the cheek and left

and now you were alone and missing your boyfriend, so you called him “babe?” you said “whats up baby?” he was breathing heavily “i miss you” your eyes started tearing up “remember that teddy bear i gave you? hold on to it, i just gotta do some important stuff here but once im finished i’ll come see you, i love you, see you soon” and with that he finished the call, sure you heard some screaming in the back and he was breathing heavily but ethan couldn’t even hurt a fly, he could never be a killer, right?

- @dumbslvtforethan on tumblr

a/n: heres the request for this one

[akutasoda]

hello, blade, dan heng, jing yuan and aventurine comforting a teen!reader who had a nightmare?

teenage night terrors

synopsis - how are they with a teen having nightmares?

includes- dan heng, blade, jing yuan, aventurine

warnings - gn!teen!reader, fluff, wc - 711

dan heng ★↷

↪the expert when it comes to having nightmares. he frequently has them, about memories that aren't his, about that stellaron hunter, it doesn't matter. they keep him up, tossing and turning trying to find a small bit of solace.

↪more often than not he wakes up in a cold sweat and dreads going back to sleep. so if you were struggling with nightmares, he'd let you sneak into the data bank as he'd likely be up - or dan heng would tell you to wake him.

↪if you wanted, dan heng would go through old entries of the data bank with you, sort of like bedtime stories to ease your mind, and his, from the nightmares. or really he'd do whatever you wanted to. it didn't matter that much to him, dan heng had been suffering with nightmares for ages, nothing has worked for his.

↪so he'd rather do whatever helped yours, hopefully helping to get rid of them completely - he didn't have hope to do so for his. honestly, he'd be the best of the express to go to for nightmares, he's certainly the most experienced with them.

blade ★↷

↪blade was also not a stranger to nightmares. everything after he became forced to be mara stricken was considered a living nightmare to him, and that translated into his subconscious. they tormented him but he tried to ignore them. not let them bother him, and over the years he'd become rather good at that.

↪so when you first came to him for help with yours, he first questioned your decision. blade wasn't exactly the best with advice, let alone helping someone - he would've expected you to go to kafka if anyone, perhaps she could even get rid of them with her spirit whispers.

↪his advice was blunt, unsurprisingly. he didn't exactly make his advice helpful either, blade kind of just settled to helping you with whatever you wanted to do. he was fine with being woken up by you.

↪although he may be one of the worst to go to for such issues, he tried his best. probably wouldn't help you much but the sentiment was there.

jing yuan ★↷

↪probably the only one here that doesn't have nightmares frequently, sure he's not invincible to the occasional one but the dozing general wouldn't doze off so often if he did.

↪although, jing yuan probably has had experience with helping people with nightmares. yanqing has perhaps had a couple and sought out jing yuan for comfort so he probably knows how to comfort you if you ever came to him in the dead of night after having a nightmare.

↪it probably would take you a lot of effort to stir him from his sleep, but once he was and knew you were having nightmares, he was awake and ready to comfort you. soothing you would be his main goal at first, help you take your mind of whatever the nightmare was.

↪he'd listen to you, do whatever you wanted and tried to help in whatever way he could - mimi was also a very good cure for nightmares if jing yuan couldn't help.

aventurine ★↷

↪a third person who was no stranger with nightmares. aventurine used to have them about his homeland, but more frequently now they were about that and the events of penacony - more so about his time in that dark void, or kakavasha.

↪although, he wasn't good at dealing with them. they made him wake up in a cold sweat and dwelled on the faint recollection of the nightmare, struggling to fall asleep again. so when you approached him, he was at a loss for words.

↪firstly, he was baffled that you'd turn to him for help. him. out all people. secondly, he was rather stunned and genuinely didn't know what to do to even help you a little bit. aventurine himself didn't know how to help his own nightmares, let alone someone else's.

↪but he didn't want to leave you disappointed, especially when you came to him specifically. he would try and give you advice, but it was mainly him listening to you and helping you with what you suggested.

taglist - @little-miss-chaoss, @frankiesteinn

[lianhuajing]

this college au isn't getting out of my head so here y'all go, some headcanons

despite being the first in the world at age 15 LXY still ended up with crippling self-worth issues and imposter syndrome.. makes me think he'd be a burnt out fgli (first-generation low-income) student at a rich school.. university au (this has nothing to do at all with my experiences as a fgli student at an ivy league school lmaoo)

of course FDB is a shoo in legacy student and at first LLH is is incredibly annoyed bc FDB is clearly a rich kid who got in with his parents money

the name i picked for FDB is 择信 ("zéxìn" or "to choose faith"). his dad's name is 则仕 ("zéshì" literally "officer" the author is laugh at us so that zé didn't work, i picked another one to better fit my intention. same sound though.)

he's still called duobing as a nickname bc he was a sickly child, but fang zexin is what appears on official documents and his student id. of course his mom and his aunt still call him "xiaobao" and later on so does LLH

FDB abuses his "xiaohua" priviledges and when he extra wants something he'll pull out "xiaohua'er"

just them warming up to each other to deal with school stress. think of all the shenanigans!! i feel like 3am on a school campus is when you feel like you can do anything super well, even make empanadas when you've never made empanadas before (did i do this freshman year? yes.)

bonus: LXY has a phd in bio-med and is a famous researcher, but he's getting a herbology? nursing? (still deciding tbh) degree as LLH and passing it off as his first undergrad. he made a small fortune from his first go around so he can afford it, but i feel like he donated most of it and/or gave it to QMS + QP + SGD

yes i made LXY a genius progidy med student who got into college at 15 and wrangled a phd + patent at age 18. he's literally every asian parent's golden child wet dream. no wonder he disappeared and changed his name and only resurfaced 10 years later.

FDB is of course an engineering and business student (dual degree, our xiaobao is a champ) and he buys all the school swag cuz he has the spirit

bonus bonus: fdb is a professional college fencer lmaoo. do they have professional college martial arts?

bonus bonus li'er is a part of the family staff but the fang/he family pays handsomely so she's kinda uppity. she doesn't understand why her young master is hanging out with someone 1) obviously older and 2) obviously poorer

FDB of course falls in love at first sight bc LLH happens to be the most drop dead gorgeous person he's ever seen and reminds him vaguely of the researcher that helped with the cure to his childhood illness. surely there's no connection right..

FDB is 20 when he starts college bc he took a two year break to do an internship at his mother's company. it looks great on his resume and conveniently works well so i can line up canon ages

FDB finds out LLH is living in a van and immediately tries to move him into his dorm (freshman year). of course that doesn't work out, but i think around sophmore year, once they've started dating, he would've whittled down LLH enough for him to agree to live together in a house off-campus. LLH tries several times to convince the 20yo that he can do better than some old man who's just starting his undergrad at age 28 (my man breathes lies). FDB is literally signing their lease as he speaks.

bonus bonus bonus (and my fave): LLH makes those terrible tiktok recipes that never work but he keeps trying and the first couple of times FDB actually tries pretending that LLH's cooking is fantastic

bonus x4: DFS went to trade school and owns a handyman service (he makes bank doing it) and the jinyuan alliance is his crew of fixers. FDB is convinced DFS is a mob boss because LLH is always calling him Di 老大 (lǎo dà) when he comes around to fix LLH's rundown van. DFS gives LLH the i'm in love with u family discount but he'll never admit to it. the two of them have known each other since grade school.

bonus x5: DFS and LXY both did the same martial arts extracircular and were known rivals (affectionate) in those circles. they were constantly swapping between placing 1st and 2nd in tournaments.

bonus x5 extra bonus just for me: at one point LXY did call DFS "gege" before he grew out of it / they drifted a part. obvs they reconcillated bc LLH needed a van guy and DFS under all those scowls does care for LXY a lot.

bonus x6: LLH and JLQ absolutely know they are cousins (just bc it's hilarious for me if they do). they don't talk about it but JLQ hates him for "stealing" DFS's attention since their naptime days. he's her cousin timmy. LLH doesn't even know that he's seduced the love of her life, he's just vibing. DFS tries to explain to her that he's gay and has never been interested in women, but she doesn't believe in homosexuals exactly like in canon lmaoo

bonus x7: SGD and LXY were both in an orphanage before they got adopted by qi mushan and qin po. SGD protected LXY like an older brother, but got more bitter and jealous as LXY clearly displayed genius level academic excellence and as a by product got more attention (more care into selecting schools, more time dedicated to LXY's extracirculars, more time spent driving LXY to conferences and stuff as his research gained more traction)

can you imagine the pressure little xiangyi would've been put under to excel, and to excel bc he got this chance when all the other kids at the orphanage didn't? qi mushan and qin po weren't exacty rich, i imagine he must've felt so stressed being bombarded with scholarships and whatnot while his brother steadily closed himself off from xiangyi

nothing just imposter syndrome going off the charts when rumors started going around that a mistake in LXY's research cost someone their life. that no one should've trusted a teenager to be that smart. that some orphan kid just wanted attention and should've never been given a chance. it breaks him.

unintential pressure from qi mushan, qin po and SGD. why was he protected / saved / chosen if not to make their lives easier and to make them proud with his achivements. he's carrying his made-up expectations of their expectations and SGD's expectations

something something my dad was drunk one night and came on campus and told me i was the hope of our entire family bc i was the first to get into a good school and i could make something of myself. i was 18 at the time, same age as when LXY during his famous battle, and i just. feel some type of way. like. the man was carrying the expectations of the entire jianghu on his back. how was he not gonna be overwhelmed and break down?

bc this is a modern au i can make LXY go to therapy :) it takes a few years for him to be convinced to go (he is asian after all LOL), but he does go eventually and it helps him get the will to start again. FDB knows and actively encourages and praises LLH for taking care of himself.

LLH still carries the same self-hatred he has for his younger self bc he thinks his arrogance caused a mistake in his research and ended up causing ppl to die. he's working on it, okay, it's gonna take time

i'll end this with some crack: FDB accidentally hears DFS call LLH "xiangyi" and proceeds to give him an entire speech abt deadnames and such. it's bc he's seen LLH react to being called "xiangyi" before (come on, this guy was a prodigy and he's back at uni, some of the professors are bound to recognize him) and it's never pretty. he ends by saying "it's not like lianhua is running away from the law, he's not doing anything wrong" yes he thinks LLH is trans lmaoo. the entire time, DFS is giving him an incredious look. LXY was in fact running away from the law (or at least the press lmaoo). LLH is just standing there with an amused look on his face like "my xiaobao is a little confused, but he's got the spirit"

[traffic-light-eyes]

They say love is the best medicine. Kai has never once believed that; how could love, a mere concept, help? He couldn't understand.

When he scraped his knee as a kid, did his absent mother kiss it better? No. When he burnt his hand forging a sword, did his father clean him up? No. Love is nothing but a nuisance, a petty attempt at making something out of nothing.

He knows this. He knows this, but why does he make those attempts for his little sister, Nya? Why does he have to kiss he wounds, to clean her up, to love her? Why can't he help it?

Kai all but drops everything for her. She can not turn out like him: jaded, ruinous, unloving. He won't let it happen. He'll teach her love, a concept he could never quite grasp. He'll learn it, fake it. All for her. His baby sister.

Love doesn't heal. It doesn't have magical powers that instantly cure an illness. Love doesn't heal.

When he sits alone in the bounty, stressed and upset, he has no medicine to fix it. His arms ache from the endless training he forces himself to endure; he has to get stronger for Nya. He has to. But it hurts. He finds his body isn't what all that aches.

A deep devastating ache resides in his chest. Heartache. He has no medicine for this. He can't fix this. He can't he can't he can't. He's so useless-can't save his sister; can't protect that stupid brat, Lloyd; and he certainly can't solve his own damn issues. Useless.

He feels the warmth next to him before he feels the hand on his back. He won't look. Another hand joins the first. His head is cradled against a chest, one hand holding the nape of his neck gently, the other his lower back.

He cries for the first time in a while.

It isn't fair. It isn't fair. It isn't fair.

"I know," Cole whispered, a gravelly rumble grounding him in the moment. Kai hadn't even realized he had been speaking. "I know, Kai. Just let it out. FSM knows you deserve it."

He cries. Sobs. His body jerks with each moment, breath hitching, limbs clutching onto the nearest surface.

It takes a while, but he calms down. His face stays in the crook of Cole's neck, soft puffs of air giving him goosebumps. In a normal situation, Kai would yell at Cole for touching his hair, but in this moment, Kai practical purrs at the soft, gentle carding of his recently washed hair.

When he finally gets his voice back, it crackles like a vintage radio, but he speaks. "How did you know I was here?"

"I didn't."

"Oh," Kai said dumbly, "Then why are you here?"

"Well, I wouldn't just walk away after seeing you like an abandoned puppy-dog."

Kai scoffs, removing himself from Cole's warmth. "I didn't ask for your help."

"I know."

"I didn't need it. I would've been fine."

"I'm sure you would've."

"Then why the heck did you stay?" Was he pressing too much? He shouldn't ruin a good thing. Why did he say that? Oh, fsm, he should really learn when to shut his big mouth.

"I think I told you already," Cole joked, "but I could be wrong."

Kai scoffed again. He pinched Cole's elbow with a glare.

"Yowch!" Cole jerked away, slightly laughing while rubbing his injured elbow. "Okay, okay, I yield."

Kai pushed himself further away. He doesn't know if he wants to hear this. He knows what's coming: 'Oh Kai, you just looked so sad and pathetic, and I'm such a great perfect person, so I just had to come and help you out! But since you're so weak, I'll have to talk to Sensei Wu about kicking you out. Sorry, not sorry!'

"Kai, we haven't known each other for long. Barely a month or two, really. But I've come to care for you. And that includes caring for you when you're upset like today."

Huh.

"You're part of the team now. We take care of one another. We love each other. Yes, even when Jay eats the last pancake."

Huh.

"Kai? Are you good? You haven't blinked in the past two minutes."

His body jerks, face flushing. "I'm fine, thanks."

"Alright," Cole laughs. "I'll see you soon, then. I'm gonna go grab whatever delicious food Zane is cooking up right now."

"Yeah," Kai said, "see you soon."

He leaves. Huh.

Love is stupid and useless. He doesn't remember the last time he felt it. But with the warmth of Cole's embrace lingering and his face still flushed, he can't seem to remember why that mattered.

He feels better. He used no ointment or pill, but he feels better. Love. Love was his medicine.

[zoe-oneesama]

So what are your thoughts (and salt) on your research re-watch on Queen Wasp?

This episode is annoying because it tries to play both sides - it is very much NOT a redemption arc episode but at the same time tries to make you feel sorry for Chloe after she fucks shit up, which has tricked some into believing this actually WAS part of Chloe's redemption arc.

As @hypexion laid out in a full essay, there never was a Chloe redemption arc because Chloe never thought she did anything wrong and never thought she had to change. In "Queen Wasp", she refuses to return the Miraculous on the grounds "finders keepers, losers weepers", deliberately causes a crisis in order to try and FAIL to save the day just to show off, and when confronted with her deeds only has this to say:

See, I didn't pull Scarlet Lady's complete disregard for human life out of my ass, it was canon all along! 😈

"Who cares"?! "Who CARES"?! Putting aside that "WE" did not save them, Ladybug and Chat Noir saved them from YOU, I'm pretty sure the people's who's LIVES you endangered "cares"!

Thing is, if you just watch this episode and put the entire idea of "redemption" or "hero Chloe" out of your mind, this is 3/4ths of a good episode. Pretty fun, actually, with Chloe just...being Chloe. And getting to hit Chloe in the face with a trash can ❤️.

So what's with all the audience emotional manipulation at the end?

Why is Chat Noir making soft face and using soft voice at Chloe at the end, commiserating that she STOLE a Miraculous (because once she decided not to return it when asked, yes, that's theft at that point), crashed a train, and ran away from the consequences just to ImPrEsS hEr MoThEr? Guess that makes it alright then, right Adrien? 🙃

(If it was just meant to be an Adrien Character Moment, they would've had Ladybug counter him by point out that her motivation doesn't make what she did okay, but instead they have Ladybug ALSO commiserate with Chloe)

As a character beat, I get that Adrien is channeling his daddy issues through Chloe's mommy issues, but I mean for the audience: why are they having Ladybug admit to "making mistakes" and Chat Noir comfort Chloe when SHE MESSED UP THIS BADLY except to manipulate the viewer into feeling sorry for her?! Her mother didn't ASK her to do any of those things, she did them all on her own, so why are the heroes giving her a pass, ie. why are the writers wanting the audience to give Chloe a pass???

No pass! She sucked! And she deserved her classmates ripping on her in "Malediktator", but then the story had the balls to try and make the audience feel bad for Chloe for that too!

Speaking of that, it's really weird that they ended "Queen Wasp" with Ladybug being so soft on Chloe at the end, only for Marinette to turn around at the beginning of "Malediktator" and go back to being really annoyed with her. Especially after she went out of her way to reconcile things between Chloe and Audrey.

Even the way they did it - equating Ladybug accidentally dropping the Miraculous in the middle of the battle and then relying on the Miraculous Cure to return the Miraculous to Fu, (something she'd have no reason to believe shouldn't happen), to Chloe deliberately causing a disaster in order to fail to impress her mom and refusing to return the Miraculous that she Was Not Given? Those are not the same! An honest error that Ladybug fully intended to rectify vs. Chloe disregarding other's safety and the right and wrong of keeping something that never belonged to her are not on equal footing.

Oh and then there's this gem:

Giving back an item that never belonged to you to the rightful owner isn't "exceptional", it's basic human decency. Good Lord Chloe is not "exceptional" for finally adhering to the code of conduct the rest of us learned in Kindergarden.

All this pushing the viewer to feel some type of way and it's all for nothing. Feeling sorry for Chloe just leads Ladybug to giving her another chance in "Malediktator", giving Chloe entitlement to the Bee Miraculous, facing the issues of the enemy knowing her identity in "Miraculer", having to flat out retract Chloe's access to the Bee Miraculous which Chloe responds to with a full on tantrum in "Miracle Queen", leading to Fu giving Guardianship over to Ladybug.

Woooow, real glad we were told over and over again by the narrative to go easy on Chloe, sHe JuSt NeEdS a GoOd InFluEnCe and a SeCoNd ChAnce. That sure ended well for everyone.

Also this is just me being a nitpicky asshole, but if Chloe didn't out herself right in front of everyone (ie. GABRIEL), the Hawkmoth era of the series would've been over. After Style Queen failed, Gabriel had completely given up since his "Masterpiece" failed. If Chloe hadn't revealed herself, Gabriel wouldn't have been inspired to akumatize a Miraculous Holder and might've gone into retirement long enough to return the Miraculous in secret or reveal Emilie to the public in search of other methods before he could've been "inspired" by something else.

The villain defeated by lack of motivation, lmao.

(Also also obviously this could've been doubly avoided by Ladybug not losing the Bee Miraculous or taking the Bee Miraculous out in the first place, but we could've had Anti-Hero Bee Chloe with an actual secret identity paired with a new antagonist to go into a new era of Miraculous, so I would've considered that a win)

MY main gripe with the three Chloe centric episodes "Style Queen", "Queen Wasp", and "Malediktator" is all the pointless, blatant audience manipulation. They went so far out their way to make the audience side with Chloe against Ladybug and feel bad for her only to turn around and call us stupid for doing so. I want my time back and I never even believed in the Redemption Arc. I can't imagine how much worse it was for someone who actually believed what they were selling.

And obviously it was terrible for the thing that brought Chloe and Audrey together is how they're horrible people who torment the working class, but maybe we should've taken that as a sign as to where this was going. Way to immediately resolve Chloe's mommy issues as soon as they were brought up.

Wait...is that why they made the problem in "Malediktator" Chloe's usefulness?

[sachirobabe]

Chapter 4

Gojo Satoru x reader

Wc: 3980

Curseless au

Summary: Amidst the zombie apocalypse, your courage shines as you not only saves lives but capture the heart of Gojo Satoru. Together with his first-year students, you all embark on a perilous journey, not only for survival but in a quest for a cure that adds a poignant layer to the unfolding romance.

<— Previous | Masterlist | Next —>

"Is it—um fuck, is it bad?" Itadori stands behind the bathroom door.

"What?! You idiot!" Nobara yells from inside, scrambling noises could be heard, "Of course it's bad." She lets out a string of curses towards Itadori.

"Are you gonna pass out?" He looks around frantically, "What do you want me to do?!"

"Go find me a damn tampon, stupid!"

Itadori looks frightened when he accidentally bumps into you, you were just going to see what the ruckus was about.

"Oh— Itadori, is everything okay?" You ask, grounding him as you put a hand on his arm.

"No! Nobara's gonna kill me." He says and runs a hand through his hair.

"What?" You say confusingly, your heart drops at the thought of Gojo's students possibly turning into a zombie. "Did she get bit?"

"What?— no, she's on her period and if I don't find her a tampon quick she's gonna kill me for sure." He clears up and awkwardly stands in the middle of the room.

"I might have one," you say and grab your backpack from the room, you push aside some clothes and don't have any luck. "There's no way I don't have a tampon or pad." You think to yourself. "Itadori, look through that bag." You point to one on the floor.

He picks it up and starts to go through each pocket, "Is this it?" He holds up a tampon.

"Yes," you laugh, "I think that's my last one though." He quickly hurried to Nobara. You guys were quickly running out of food, water wasn't too big of an issue because it had been raining almost every night.

"What's that about?" Gojo says as he walks into the room after bumping into Itadori.

"Nobara needed a tampon." You quickly explain, "Speaking of, we need a couple of things."

He sighs, "I know. Today would probably be a good day to do it." Gojo went back to the first-years to tell them that you'd all be going to get supplies today.

You hadn't been to this part of the city, you were way across and didn't have time to really get out and explore. You were putting in a jacket and zipping it up to keep you warm, adding your bow over your shoulder and some arrows across your back.

"Where'd you learn to shoot?" Megumi walks in to put his boots on.

"I went to a fair and learned to shoot a few arrows for fun," you start, smiling at the memory of having a summer fair, "but I didn't pick it back up until this happened."

He nods, "You're good at it. I would've thought that you'd been doing this for a while."

You thank him, "It was either this or nothing, guns were the first things to go."

"Yeah, we had some at first, but then we got raided by Geto and his gang." He says, tying his shoelace.

"I'm not familiar with that name." You sheepishly smile, "did he work at the school?"

He shook his head, "No, he was student here with Gojo, but things happened and he got expelled. Now he just terrorizes us when he can."

"He sounds like an asshole." You scrunch your face, "I appreciate you telling me, Megumi." He gives you a small smile and leaves the room, you follow behind him to meet the others.

Gojo carried a baseball bat with nails sticking out of it, as you all walked outside you wondered what weapons the first-years carried. You made them drop them at your place, but you didn't pay much attention to them.

The gravel crunched underneath your shoes, you cautiously looked around you. It was still cold as ever, and the nights spent in the dorms were cold as well. You're surprised none of you had gotten a sore throat or sick.

"Turn left." Gojo tells the first-years.

When you saved Gojo and his group, he was the only one not engaging in the fight, you remember him saying he wasn't armed that day which confused you.

"What's going on in that head of yours, huh?" Gojo nudges your shoulder.

"That day when I saved you," you begin and he nods for you to keep going, "you said you weren't armed..why is that?"

He chuckles, "Well—since I'm the strongest and already know how to protect myself, I was giving a lesson on combat for them," he eyes his students, "And so I told them they needed to protect me."

"You trusted them?"

"Well yeah, I'm alive, right?" He brings his attention back to you.

"I was the one who kept you alive." You raise an eyebrow and he laughs, eyeing around you all, making sure everything was clear.

You two were lagging behind the group a little, Gojo placed his hand near your lower back, "Let's keep up, yeah?" You think you've been deprived of touch because his little gesture should not be giving you full body chills.

You quickly ignore your thoughts and the two of you get closer to the group. "There's a cvs pharmacy there," you point and Gojo looks. "Is it alright if I go? I'll catch up with you guys."

He chews the inside of his lip, he's not sure about splitting up. "Take Nobara with you. We'll be there." He points to a store two buildings away.

"Thank god. I can't even handle those two idiots when I'm not on my period. That was insufferable." She says and joins you.

You laugh, "I'm usually the same way." You two walk into the pharmacy and shards of class were crunching underneath you.

You motion for Nobara to stop and listen. It was dead silent, but you still had an arrow ready just in case. After a minute you two roamed inside walking down the aisles and looking for anything.

"Thank you for giving me your last tampon earlier." Nobara whispers. "I forgot that I'd be starting soon and it's kinda awkward to tell Gojo cause he makes a big deal out of everything."

"You're welcome." You laugh.

"Like last time I got my period he acted like I was dying and forced me to stay in bed, which only made me angrier." She furrows her brows.

"I know the feeling. Boys are a little dumb when it comes to anything to do with girls." You sigh, picking up some bandages and wraps on the shelf, putting them in your bag.

"Did you have a boyfriend before all of this?" She asks, zipping up your bag for you.

You eye her, "Why do you ask?"

She shrugs, "You're pretty, smart, and your personality has been the only one not to bother me. I figured some man would've swept you off your feet."

You chuckle, "I didn't have much time to be in a serious relationship," it was partially true, you also had high standards. "What about you, Itadori seems like a nice boy."

She gives you a disgusted look, "Have you seen how he eats? It's like he doesn't even breathe, just inhales the whole thing."

"I'll take that as a no," you laugh, "and megumi?"

"The first time I met him he only gave me his name, made it seem like he was too cool for anyone." She rolls her eyes. "Oh— do you think there's any left?" The feminine care aisle came into view.

"There better." You hold your breath and let it out immediately in disappointment. You bent down to look underneath the aisle and found one box of tampons. "We're gonna need a lot more than this."

"You're a doctor, don't you know any alternatives?" She sighs.

"I can only think of diapers." You say, "at least we got one."

"Let's check the back." She says and you follow, the door was surprisingly still intact, you listen carefully and it's still silent. She rummaged through some boxes and almost chokes on her saliva, "No way."

"What is it?" You drop an empty box and face her, "is that..ramen?"

"Yes." She almost tears up, "I've been craving this so badly." You put a hand on her shoulder and she sniffles, "damn hormones." She mutters.

You continue looking and find a few more scattered tampons, but other than that there was nothing else worth of value.

"I'm so glad we don't have to eat shitty soup from a can for a little." She says as you exit the store and the sky hurts your eyes from being in a dark room.

"So am I—" you stop and look to your left, a zombie was eating some dead animal. It hadn't noticed you, but you shush Nobara and force her to walk to the store the boys are in.

You walk back to back with her, she faces the front and you face the zombie, you had an arrow ready to shoot.

"We're here." She whispers in your ear and you both enter the store.

"Any luck?" Gojo's deep voice echoes and you cringe at the volume, "What?"

"There's one near the cvs we were in, it didn't notice us though." You say quieter and he nods.

"Ramen!" He whispers and his eyes light up.

"We got some tampons and bandages, but that was it." Nobara says and walks to the boys.

"We found a box of tampons too, and some medicine, but we don't really know what it's for." He motions for you to follow. He hands you a bottle and you choke, breaking into a coughing fit.

"That's for erectile dysfunction." You say.

He takes the bottle back, "I don't need those." And puts it where he found it. "Let me know if any of these are useful." He leaves you as he goes into the back to search for more stuff.

You take a few of the antibiotics in case of illnesses, but most of them were hair loss or cosmetic enhancements.

"Let's go a little further." Gojo says, "there's more stores we haven't hit."

This was the furthest you have ventured out ever, the buildings became less and less so you figured you were on the outside of the city. You eyed this building, you're wondering if this is the one Gojo was talking about that looked like military. You tug on his shirt and point.

"This is the farthest we've traveled," He says, "it also looks like military."

"We should check it out." Itadori suggests.

"At least the fence, see if it's on." Nobara joins.

"It wouldn't hurt." Gojo says as he walks up to the fence, he listens for a humming sound, but there was nothing. "Megumi, see if there's any lights on down there."

You step up to the fence with a stick in hand and lightly throw it on the fence. Nothing happens, "I don't think it's on." You turn to face Gojo.

"I don't see any lights." Megumi runs back, "The gate is over there." He points to the direction he came.

You all follow and come up to the gate, you're distracted as Gojo continues to inspect the fence, your eye catches a group of zombies coming towards you.

Nobara turns and sees what you're looking at, but she too spots another group of zombies coming from the other side. They're coming from all directions, you guys must've attracted their attention talking loudly about the fence.

"Find a way to get it opened." You say and draw your bow, hitting a zombie on the left in the head, Nobara pulls out a few throwing knives and begins to slow them down.

Gojo turns his head and sees the zombies, he knows you and Nobara are the only ones with long range weapons, so he continues to work on the fence with Itadori and Megumi.

"Are you running out of knives?" You say to Nobara.

"Yes." She clenches her teeth, "but I can use this, don't shoot me." She says and draws an axe.

"Hurry up, Gojo!" You say, slowing down the zombies from the left, Nobara seems to be doing well on her own on the right, but she begins to become circled by them. You worry about hitting her, she's too close to the zombies.

"You two keep working!" Itadori yells and he goes to help Nobara, he's wearing brass knuckles and fistfights  the zombies off of Nobara, he's very effective and can take them down in basically one hit. He also draws a small knife and cuts them.

"Ready? Go!" Gojo says as he and Megumi use all their strength to move the gate open.

"It's too heavy!" Megumi yells, beginning to freak out.

"Stay calm," Gojo grounds him, "None of us will die, get ready to push again." It doesn't budge, not even after the third time. Gojo thinks quickly, "Let's jump it."

"You're crazy, there's barbed wire up there." He says.

"Just don't touch it with your hands, we have enough layers on to keep us safe." Gojo says, "I'll get you and the others up and I'll follow, okay?"

Megumi nods, stepping on Gojo's hands to lift himself up on the fence, he carefully avoids the barbed wire and makes it to the other side of the fence.

"We're jumping it, hurry!" Gojo yells at the rest of you.

"Go, I'll hold them off." You say to Nobara and Itadori, they reluctantly go and get a boost from Gojo then finishing by climbing. You're almost out of arrows, the zombies seem to be multiplying by the second.

"Y/n!" Gojo yells, you shoot one last arrow and run towards him, he boosts you up and follows right behind you, you're careful to avoid touching the barbed wire, but as you go to kick your leg over, you slip and your other leg catches the wire.

You bite your lip to keep yourself from making any noise, you let out a shuddered breath, you finally make it to the other side and the zombies are banging and doing whatever they can to try and get in.

You hold your left leg while you're on the ground, Gojo notices that you're in pain and helps you up, you use him to steady yourself as you all get closer to the building.

The first-years ran ahead to find the opening to the building, "It's okay." He says to you, "We're almost there." You groan in pain, it's hard to see the damage done when your eyes are filled with tears, threatening to spill, you try your best to blink them away, but the stinging hurts so badly.

"Fuck where'd they go." Gojo says peeling his attention from you to his students, who disappeared. You manage to wipe away your tears and see Itadori's pink hair.

"There." You point, Gojo turns his head quickly to see Itadori waving for him. "We can go a little faster." You say, "I can handle it." He reluctantly picks up the pace, the pain worsens, but your adrenaline is so high that you're able to ignore it.

Megumi shuts the heavy door after you enter, locking it and catching his breath. His palms rest on his thighs as he's doubled over.

Gojo lessens his grip on you and you sit on the floor, tearing open your jeans where the wound is. "Itadori, the med supplies is in your bag." You say.

He fumbles as he sees the amount of blood on your clothes, Gojo takes the bag from him and takes a seat next to you. You open the bag and grab a bottle of rubbing alcohol, Gojo's holding a small towel, ready to help.

"I'll tell you when to apply pressure after I pour this." You say as he nods, sweat falling from his forehead. You take a deep breath and take the cap off with your teeth, using your other hand to hold onto your thigh.

The second the liquid falls and touches your skin, you let out a strangled cry. Gojo flinches, watching your face. The multiple wounds begin to foam up, after a couple more seconds you tell Gojo to pat it down.

You bite on your hand as he increases the pressure with every pat, "That's good." You say and he removes the towel, you pour the rubbing alcohol again, it foams up less this time but the pain is the same. Gojo helps you clean the blood off of you and waits for your next instruction.

"Do you need stitches?" He asks.

You examine the wounds, only three of the cuts would need a couple of stitches, "Pass me the bag." You say and Gojo hands it to you, you grab the tools necessary and begin to stitch the first wound.

"I can't watch." Nobara says and turns away. Itadori has his hands on his head, pacing back and forth.

You try your best to not think about the pain, breathing steadily helped a little. You tied off the last stitch and rubbed some ointment on the other cuts that weren't as deep.

Gojo hands you some bandage and wraps, you carefully wrap yourself up and make sure it's secure. The pain is still there, but at least it won't get any worse.

Gojo grabs some ibuprofen and hands it to you, along with some water, you take two and swallow. Your breathing finally calms. "Thank you." You weakly smile at the white-haired man.

"You're welcome." He says, "Let's get you up." You finally look around you and see that you're all in a storage unit.

"There's a ton of food here." Megumi reports, his features soften once he sees you're all bandaged up.

"Where the hell did you go?" Nobara grabs Megumi's attention, "You just left."

"I went to make sure no zombies or other people were in here." Megumi furrows his eyebrows. "I found another door, though."

Gojo insists on helping you walk, he doesn't want the stitches to reopen, you know he's right, but it feels wrong to be a burden to him.

"We could potentially stay here. There's hella food and nobody else." Itadori says.

"Let's grab some of this just in case." Nobara says and starts to stuff her bag with food.

"I told you I heard something." An unfamiliar voice says, you all freeze in your tracks. "The gate wasn't broken so I don't think there's any zombies, Inumaki."

The four of them all turn their heads quickly, you're sure you heard a few pops as they looked. You're face to face with a panda and another boy.

"What're you— Gojo?" The panda says, the group of them all reunite and hug.

"Who's she?" The other boy signs, you knew a little bit of sign language so you understood.

"This is Y/n, she's a doctor and helped us a couple days ago." Gojo smiles as he signs and talks out loud at the same time.

The two nod and introduce themselves as Panda and Inumaki. You're unsure how he's an actual Panda, but nobody thought an apocalypse would happen.

"Is it just you two?" Megumi says.

"No, we have Nanami, Maki, and Shoko." Panda says and motions for you all to follow. "Is she hurt?" He refers to you.

Gojo stands by your side and is assisting you, "We got trampled by zombies outside the fence, so we had to climb over and she got caught on the barbed wire." He explains.

"Wait, you climbed?" Panda says surprised.

"Yeah.. the fence wasn't on." Itadori chuckles.

"It's supposed to be on." Inumaki signs and glares at Panda, the two argue as you all walk further into the place.

Gojo checks up on you every couple of minutes, you assure him the painkillers are kicking in and it doesn't hurt as much, but he's still worried.

"No way." A tall blonde man says. "I can't even get away from you in an apocalypse." He scoffs, but then brings Gojo in for a short hug. "How'd you get in?"

Gojo explained everything and introduced you to the rest of the group, Maki seemed a little suspicious since you're already injured, but Gojo assured that you'd be an asset.

"You run into Geto and his gang yet?" Nanami says and takes a seat back on one of the long tables.

"He's raided us twice back at the school, luckily both times we were gone." Megumi explains, "What had you all been up to?"

"We've been traveling to different radio towers, I'm sorry we hadn't came to look for you guys. We should've gone to the school." Nanami says, his deep voice echoes in the room.

"Don't sweat it," Gojo waves his hand, "How far do you travel?"

"Sometimes for weeks, walking is no joke now." Nanami sighs, "There's army vehicles here, but I've been hesitant to use them because of the attention it brings."

"I say fuck it and we just use them. We can protect ourselves." Maki says, "there's hella guns and ammunition."

"You guys have guns?" You say, "Why haven't you used them?"

"We do when we go to radio towers, but it's risky, gangs are getting tough so we try to stay here for safety." Nanami shortly explains.

You nod, the rest of the group catches up and some plans are made for the next couple of days. You excuse yourself to clean your wounds and change your bandages.

Panda kindly shows you where the restroom is, it reminds you of a dormitory, the showers are all in the same place, separated by walls and shower curtains but you can still see everything.

The restrooms are separate, thankfully. You limp and set down your necessities. You sit on the toilet seat and begin to unravel the wrap and bandages, you're a little startled when Gojo appears in front of you.

You raise an eyebrow at him, "I'm here to help." He smiles, "how're you feeling?"

"It's alright, still hurts, but it's not infected." You hand him a new towel and he prepares for you to spill the liquid over your wounds.

You grip the counter as the stinging intensifies, Gojo blows some air on the wound, it helped, but not much. "Now." You say and he lightly applies pressure, you go for another round on the rubbing alcohol, you lightly sniff, tearing up a little from the sting.

Gojo places the towel on your thigh again, you never realized how large his hands were, you already know they're freezing.

"Can.. you teach me how to wrap?" He asks, "in case I have to for the students or something."

"Sure." You grab the bandages first and show him where to place it. You explain the cleaning processes and everything.

"Is it okay if I touch you?" He stops before grabbing hold of your thigh, you nod and he continues, you flinch a little and he retracts his hand quickly, "I'm sorry—"

"No no, it doesn't hurt." You assure, "Your hands are just freezing." He chuckles, his fluffy hair falling over his forehead, it's quite long, you wonder how it looked before the apocalypse.

He carefully wraps your thigh, he asks about 50 times if it's too tight, but it's just right. "I could so be a doctor." He cockily says.

"Yeah?" You challenge and slowly stand, you're taken back from his height and size.

He eyes you, "Yeah," giving you a wide smile, "I'm good, right? I patched you up."

"Actually, you could've worn some gloves. And maybe wash your hands—oh and—”

He brings his palm to your mouth, covering it easily. His eyes were now aligned with yours, before he could respond, there was a knock at the door.

"Um, dinners ready." Itadori says. You both awkwardly smile and he assists you in walking back. Your heart was beating quick, you're not used to proximity anymore. That's why you're feeling like this, you just have to get used to his presence.

[i-smoke-chapstick]

‘HOLD UP,

-GOTHAM!VICTOR ZSASZ X READER-

⋆ 𝐒𝐘𝐍𝐎𝐏𝐒𝐈𝐒 ; You want to get him back, after breaking his heart.

⋆ tags/warnings. GOTHAM!victor x female reader. small blurb. Reader is a bad person, and isn't very self aware. Angst with a happy-ish ending. Victor being rightfully mad at reader, but also whipped. Subby victor undertones but not really. He’s just at her beck and call, and readers toxic with it. Reader has commitment issues. Inspired by a dream.

♫ “What a wicked way to treat the boy that loves you / don't like being walked all over lately.” Hold Up by Beyonce

It was your fault. You just wanted a break. Ever since you were younger, you remembered how it would feel. Get into a relationship; then leave. Simple enough. You didn't put too much value on the fleeting romances in your life. No, you had better things to do. Better things to aspire too in Gotham.

Then you met him. He was everything you could've wanted, dangerous, hilarious. Maybe he wasn't model level pretty or whatever, but he was for the most part, perfect. You'd thought you would've finally found the cure to your avoidant attachments.

Turns out, he was a ladies man. It enticed you more. And you seemed to entice him just the same. Your playfully banter, the way he'd chase you. You weren't opposed to it; until the invasions of privacy, the incessant calling. The man couldn't leave you alone.

Maybe that's an exaggeration, actually. You just weren't very talkative in a relationship. You had other things to attend to- and you loved spending time with yourself above all else. You'd thought being a hitman and all, he'd feel the same. Keep it casual.

But no. The man was...obsessive. You thought he would be able to deal with being left on read for a few hours, but you were wrong. He'd crash your apartment like he owned the place. He'd ask sarcastic and rhetorical questions. They all boiled down to why haven't you been paying attention to me?

You didn't expect him to be so...clingy.

And in a turn of events, you didn't like it. It reminded you of every other man before him, desperate for your attention.

So...you ended it.

In a text message.

Okay, not very bright of you. He's not a normal man. He could break back into your apartment anytime. But, thankfully he never did. And everything in your life settled back to normal, just as it had been before him.

Until you realized what you lost.

It started off normal enough. You were happy to have time to yourself, not walk into your apartment with him rummaging through your fridge. You were alone again, as you always had been, single and ready to flirt with any other man. Spice up your life again.

That was...until you began to think.

Think about how he smelled like gunpowder and cologne. Think about how he was the most dangerous assassin in Gotham. The most threatening man in the game. He was rich, kinky, and would've killed for you. And he was whipped for you. Any other woman would be screaming at you for letting him go so casually.

You understandably felt idiotic. But you were smart, and you were beautiful. And you knew about the cuts on his wrists and forearms. The man was a masochist, not just a sadist. And, not to toot your own horn, but everyone you asked to come back to you in the past always had. And something about Victor screamed that he disliked desperate women; no, he enjoyed the chase. He enjoyed the feeling of being hurt.

You unblocked his number, he hadn't blocked yours. You sent him a cheap text to come over and talk. It'd been a few days since the quick break up.

The familiar feeling of adrenaline bubbled inside you when he left you on read. You continued.

"I have something to talk about." You typed, fingers shaking. You'd played this game a million times over. Playing it with a hitman would be no different. He was strangely one of the more human humans in Gotham.

You set your phone down, and heard it chime. You didn't open it. You kicked you're feet back. You'll wait.

You heard the latch on your window open. You were reading a book, head engrossed. You'd almost forgotten about the text you'd sent. You looked up.

"Hey." You replied. He stared at you, expression unreadable. He cocked his head.

"About the other day-"

"Stop." He said, slowly. You looked at him, biting your lip. He was reasonably angry. You'd dealt with this reaction all before.

"Victor." You chimed, standing up. "I'm sorry."

Before he had a chance to respond, you launched into an apology. You apologized for ending it like a bitch. You apologized for not paying enough attention to him. You promised to be better. You through in a few fake excuses. Same routine you'd done every time.

And just as you suspected, it worked.

He stayed quiet after your apologetic outburst, looking at you. His mouth was only slightly agape. He let out a shakey breathe, and it was strange to see him so vulnerable.

"Promise me," He finally drawled, "You won't try this shit again." His voice broke, an indicator of the war in his head.

You held back a knowing smile. No, you pressed your lips into a desperate thin line.

"I promise, Victor. Please. One more chance." If you looked close enough, you could swear you saw him blink away tears. He was standing incredibly still. His nostrils flared, and his hands swung by his side- nowhere near his guns. It was a good sign.

"...Okay." He nodded.

"Okay?"

"Uh-huh."

At this, you let yourself hug him. You felt his hands dance around your waist- slack and loose- before tightening almost too tight. You could feel the wetness of his tears bury into your shoulder.

You thanked god. You two would be alright. You'll have a good life together, you reassured yourself. This wouldn't happen again.

Well, not for awhile, at least.

[emlan]

Finished DLC!

Here's some Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree ramblings, spoilers under cut.

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. DLC catered to me a lot since I'm a Zanzibart cutscene enjoyer who loves map exploration and Vista money shots but I'm kinda HUH-cat.clip when it comes to some new lore bits and in general the world feels divorced from main game even though main game characters and topics are around?

I don't remember how much souls DLC tied into the other story, but I'm using The Old Hunters from BB as base and it really added extra value to its world and characters and there's just nothing new of real interest in SotE from what I can see…

In a vacuum I can only appreciate even more (literal) brother on brother action but Miquella seemingly being deeply obsessed with Radahan is so out of left field??? Granted I'm not an lorester but what I remember as Miq's key things from flavor text when it comes to ties to other people is him being sad about being unable to cure Malenia of her rot and also sad about not being able to grant Godwyn his true death. The only ties to Radahan is by proxy of his sister fighting him? (Was she even fighting him just to bring bro his crush to him? This makes Caelid getting nuked by her even more of a waste.)

It's so out of nowhere that the Epic Prime Version of him comes off as a cheap soyjak pointing bit pandering to Radahan fanboys (pretty sure he's like no1 fav guy for players right), but fanboys will obviously not be happy about him just being a hollow shell again (?) that might not have wanted anything to do with Miquella (?) so I just can't see this as satisfying for ANY kind of player even on a full Gamer Dude to Deranged Fujoshi spectrum? I imagine deep lore enthusiasts also feels a bit… Ambushed.

I'm not against Miquella doing dark unpleasant or just stupid desperate acts since it was already a popular theory that he was a brainwasher type, but the issue for me is that I'm not sure if this Miq/Rad union is "intended" to be read in such a twisted way even when it's the only way I can read it.

Though I guess the fact general consensus going from "wow Mohg is so messed up claiming Miq no matter Miq's consent" to "wow Miq is so messed up claiming Radahan no matter Radahan's* consent" is poetic….?

*I'm writing Radahan here but really it's also a synonym for 'Mohg' considering he's the one getting desecrated the most.

I'm sure I'll end up watching some vid or writeup making pieces fall into place later but I can't believe Miyazaki is handing me visual age gap brother incest and all I can do is force a strained smile in response!!!

Anyway general whining time:

As much as I love filling out up the map I feel there was too much big "empty" areas. Climbing the dragon mountain was the worst presentation of anything I've seen in a FS title, extremely cheap unfinished filler feeling with the spirit jumps instead of at least adding some kinda atmosphere like the open flower/gravestone fields. The Abyss gimmick overstayed it's welcome since it's too miserable checking if you missed a shiny somewhere without your horse, but at least the stealth parts was such a non-issue it might as well not be there.

While I like that you can see several inaccessible areas from where you stand, and I do think it leads to some fun moments when you're taking a random path halfway across the map and ends up on the other side as an a-ha moment, it was a bit frustrating not being able to tell more clearly how to reach sections. Plus I would've died 10000 times from drops if it wasn't the fact Rainbow Stones protected me from making bad choices.

What mindbroke me most was trying to get into the flower field area north east, having an "oh boy, beating this guy will let me reach it for sure!" moment for both Gaius and Sunflower was such [record scratch SFX]. I did figure posing in front of the statue was most likely the entry afterwards but somehow I had missed the gesture needed (most embarrassing DLC moment considering I tend to fine comb pretty well and the gesture pickup is just sitting there out in the open………. why am I even admitting this shameful thing). Watching trees get knocked over from something moving under the water in the church district was really cool and unnerving and then you realize it's just branch dragon number 800……………..

The wicker men has a great design but fighting them was either a boring slog or a frustrating jankfest trying to toss the bombs right. Peeved that you HAVE to use a furnace pot for the sleeping one blocking the ruin puzzle, hefty should've been fine too.

Bosses are too hectic/aggressive for my taste but that's just business as usual for ER so whatever, last boss really is way too punishing compared to other Hard bosses tho, in fact I just watched ending on YT since I'm stuck still on them :V Camera also makes a glorious return as the toughest challenge of them all.

Think my biggest highlights was seeing the bizarre finger/tongue path under the church and the finger mom boss visual itself and the black humor of the miserable living jars stumbling around with the pot on their head. Ansbach is a hot new waifu and it's very precious how such an upstanding man stays all-in loyal to a Deranged Satan (said lovingly) soooo cute you actually get a "Um, so about how Mohg died…👉👈" prompt with him. There was more NPC voice lines than I expected which was fun. St Trina's design was very neat and shoujo manga. Having to sip syrup 4-5 times instead of the classic Third Time's The Charm is a crime however and I missed making the Trina fanboy jealous until it was too late :/

The open world for all of Elden Ring is such an incredible experience that I'm happy I got to play and I had such a good time and I can't imagine any other studios will be able to reach these map heights but I also hope they never make an OW game again because it's too much when you "need" to replay it.

[rise-my-angel]

Heres the rub: Mirri Maz Duuri is not responsible for what happened to Drogo or Rhaego. She was very clear that Drogo was going to die from his wounds. She gave specific instructions which Drogo didn't listen to, and the result is naturally his wound getting infected passed the point of curing. Drogo was already going to die, so nothing that happens to him is Mirris fault.

Rhaego though, I contest the idea that Mirri did anything to him to intentionally and maliciously kill a child. Clearly Mirri understood that Rhaego would be the price for Drogo, but first, that is Danys fault for asking absolutely no more questions on the matter once Mirri clarified it would not be Danys life as the price. As soon as she learned she was not to die, she clearly considered any other life not worthy of question. Mirri distinctly warns her multiple times of the danger and price of the blood magic she is demanding Mirri perform, but does not ask her to clarify what any of those warnings mean beyond her own life.

But here's the thing, when Mirri tells Dany what Rhaego looked like when he was born, this is not the first time a Targaryean woman has given birth to a highly deformed stillborn. Rhaenyra was said to have given birth to an equally as deformed child, and while some of this can be chalked up as exaggerations, history also tells us that real life babies born from massive degrees of inbreeding were born with highly unusual deformities.

Rhaego might have been alive inside Dany but that does not mean that he would've gone on to be a viable live birth, or even really go on to survive infancy.

So if the dying Drogos life is traded for the barley alive Rhaego, it explains why neither life really made it. The situations would have ended up the same if Dany never ordered Mirri to perform the spell. Drogo would die from injuries and Dany would've go on to birth a highly deformed, barley alive Rhaego who likely wouldn't have survived due to the extreme nature of his birth defects.

Targaryean women have a very concerning track record of fertility issues. Danys own mother suffered 8 miscarriages and stillbirths before having a living child and then died giving birth to her next. Fertility and stillbirth is a rampant issue amongst these women due to the abhorrent effects of generational inbreeding.

Drogo was always going to die from his injuries, and Rhaego was never going to survive being born from a mother with such damaged genetics.

But because Dany ordered her to do this, she can claim it was Mirri who caused this.

"When your womb quickens again and you bear a living child. Then he will return, and not before."

Isn't some prophetic vision or warning or confession. Its Mirri telling Dany that Drogo will never be as he once was, because it is as possible as Dany giving birth to a living child. It's her saying that Mirri cannot promise he will come back because she cannot promise the impossible.

Even if Mirri did all of this on purpose, which we do not know because Dany burns her alive before finding out with any true certainty, it doesn't matter.

Drogo and Rhaego were never going to survive anyways. But Mirri gets blamed, because we are fooled into thinking Danys pov is her being a reliable narrator, and she tells us Mirri is to blame and then burns her alive before the audience has a chance to question that position.

Mirri isn't a child murderer. The effects of rampant incestual inbreedings on hereditary genetics is Rhaegos killer.

[solarballs-confessions]

I hate how shit the other characters treat sun.

This might sound kinda biased/based since I'm a HUGE Sun Kin and relate to him in so many ways..

All of the characters were hating on Sun after the trials. Even though THEY had came to HIM with an issue that needed solving. I mean, what did they expect?? nothing to happen?? when you go to the police with a charge of attempted murder on a person, injuring two other people and indangering the lives of billions (the earthlings who weren't even involved in this drama), do you think they'll just be like. "eh, whatever."

NO.

They throwing the ones responsible into jail for YEARS if not FOREVER.

He wasn't 'favouriting' the planets by kicking the two moons out. He kicked Jupiter out for killing the proto-planets even though he didn't want to because he was his first planet, so it's not like he was acting on who/which group he favours more.

They were both in the wrong, but one group tried murder. That isn't okay, hate speech doesn't excuse attempted murder.

Why the other celestial objects (and also fandom) doesn't understand that is *beyond* me..

And also, with how """good""" Mercury is at being a therapist (Earth had like 3 sessions and was magically cured of his depression and suicidal tendencies - way to go on mental health rep btw Solarballs :/...), I would've thought he'd of noticed that sun exhibits symptoms of a SEVERE mental illness. BPD.. possibly even PTSD and OCD too.

Sorry, I had to rant for a minute there.

But yep..

.

[auphelia]

Memento Mori - Chapter 1

*Super nice banner once I make it*

One tragedy never arrives alone Two crows never a bore Three meetings never a coincidence Doubt takes root when one decision comes at a price no one could hope to pay. And when praying and pleading with the divine does nothing to dull the ache, it's only natural that curious eyes will look to other means. When an opportunity at redemption presents itself in the shape of a Harbinger, you're all too willing to cast aside reservations and take him up on his word. Dottore laughs in the face of adversity, yet all he can manage with his newest research assistant is a burning rage gnawing away as everything is derailed. Info/tags: Il Dottore x fem reader, research assistant!reader, nuisances to lovers, eventual angst, eventual smut, eventual ending, fem reader with backstory and personality, possibly not very likeable MC, mostly canon compliant, former amurta student reader, slow burn, tags subject to change as I write MDNI - I mean it

The evenings in Sumeru had always been breathtaking, the serenity as the sun settled provided a constant in the busy city. Golden light streamed through the canopy, bathing everything in a warmth that lingered throughout the serene nights. The bustling sounds from the bazaar barely reached your ears as you leaned against the side of one of the little pavilions scattered outside The Akademiya. Your fingers were deftly working to pick apart the flower in your hand, ripping petals out and letting them fall to the ground.

Suspended.

"As if that old fool even has the authority to issue such an order," your voice came out louder than intended, the few students still scattered around the gardens no doubt glancing in your direction. You slumped forward for a moment, focusing on breathing through it as you hoped no one would approach.

It wasn't like you'd hurt anyone or broken any rules. The Akademiya technically had nothing stating someone couldn't use themselves as a subject. Getting the clearance to conduct human studies was a long and tedious process, especially with how busy the sages seemed lately. All of that valuable time could be much better spent on research into cures and remedies for other ailments.

It had certainly been a bit of a careless decision to inject yourself with something you knew was harmful. Your fingers squashed the center of the flower, it's petals strewn about the ground. But honestly, you'd had it under control. You couldn't help but grin to yourself as you toss the naked stem aside.

The antidote you'd made had worked flawlessly, ridding your body of the toxin within mere minutes. It didn't contain any pricey ingredients, and creating it wasn't as labor intensive as you'd feared, overall it was the most satisfying result you'd managed to produce after obtaining your degree. White light danced across the inside of your eyelids as your palms pressed firmly against your closed eyes.

Progress would always sit at the outskirts of acceptability, the moral consensus always shifting to accommodate what turned out to be useful. At least this held true to some degree, some boundaries were not to be crossed, not even in the name of advancement. The six cardinal sins flashed through your mind, the words beaten into your consciousness in every class you'd followed.

You shifted slightly, leaning back to lay on the soft grass. The stained glass mosaics in the top of the pavilion created a swirling display of colors, the sight almost too much as your eyes closed. Was the act of making medicine not conflicting with one of the sins if taken in it's purest form? Bringing life to that which would've otherwise perished, surely it could be argued that anything could be conflicting with the Sages' views if they willed it enough.

The thought made bile rise in your throat, maybe if things had been different, the rules a little more loose… A sigh escaped your lips, it was most likely a system established by Greater Lord Rukkhadevata when she was still around. And questioning the God of Wisdom seemed like a foolish endeavor. Especially when your mind felt all but clear.

There wasn't any real reason for you to stay, lingering behind was only bringing about thoughts of new experiments to plan, mind already working tirelessly to figure out the next medical problem to throw yourself at. The groan you let out as you got on your feet was downright pitiful, hands massaging your lower back. Doubt bubbled right beneath the surface, your next move from here completely up in the air.

It wasn't exactly a matter of lacking options, it had been almost a full year since you'd taken more than two days off. Shops passed by in a blur, chatter and all the tantalizing scent blending together to provide a dull background to the thoughts amassing in your head. They were pressing uncomfortably behind your eyes, throbbing with every step you took, only becoming more evident as you reached the outskirts of the city.

The door creaked on it's hinges as you pushed it open, crossing the threshold into the modest apartment. The corridor was always dark these days, the door to the adjoining room on your right remaining closed out of sheer reluctance to touch it. Your fingertips grazed the wall as you pushed straight ahead to the living room, convincing yourself as so many times before that nothing good would come from lingering.

The couch was soft, phantom warmth still lingering in the pillows and blankets that had been carelessly thrown around. Eyelids already heavy from exhaustion, you chanced a look at the opposite wall, goosebumps already spreading before the image was fully formed. Same as always, two picture frames. Two diplomas.

You removed your glasses, willing the lines to blur before you turned away, as if that would somehow erase the knowledge. A heavy sigh left your lips, tears stinging the corner of your eyes before you could bury your head into the plush fabric below. Keeping them on the wall was stupid, but your mother had insisted. Teeth sunk into the pillow as the memory of hanging them flooded your mind.

There was a soft thud as a pillow collided with the wall, your body shaking in time with the wooden frames. The scream you'd let out was still ringing in your ears, foreign and ugly.

"I can't look mum and dad in the eyes like this," every word felt like glass, throat constricting a little further with each syllable that passed.

"But there's no reason to stay as long as they won't let me into the lab," the words stung more than expected when they passed your own lips. The reality beginning to settle.

Your profe- employer, had forced you to take at least a week away, insisting that it would be beneficial for everyone. You could only scoff at the thought, as if he wasn't partially responsible for this in the first place, always urging his students towards perfection. He was a fool if he thought a mindset like that would just vanish once the degree was obtained.

Not bothering to eat or move from the couch, thoughts about possible solutions began to form. There were too many variables with this, even without taking social obligations into consideration. Turning to lay face down helped a bit, blissful darkness enveloping your senses. Feeling unable to justify to friends and colleagues that a week as a shut-in would be good meant you'd have to leave. Being unable to tell family about this meant you had nowhere proper to go. It'd have to be either somewhere secluded or foreign, and risking a trip to somewhere new seemed silly with only one week available.

As sleep began to settle, thoughts of locating old hiking gear, packing food, and something to make camp took your mind back to the time you'd spent as a student. Field trips were always the highlight of the year, a small hope blossoming that this might still be the case. Memories of vast caverns filled with glowing fungi merged brought to mind a hulking colossus made from moss and vines, it's leather boots adorned with yellow crystals as it trudged on. Everything soon turned to nothingness as sleep claimed you, the Archon's gift granting peaceful darkness as the fantasy was forgotten alongside the rest of your dreams.

[inbarfink]

Before the final episodes of “Fionna and Cake,” there was a theory that Simon would move to Fionna’s world, since that world is normal, and non-magical and Fionna and Cake would live in Simon’s world, that is, in OOO, since that world is magical and full of adventures. Do you think this ending would have been better? Like, Fionna's world is legal, she and Simon can call each other, but they swapped worlds

Hmmmmm... okay, so there's two Things that I think about Re:Endings

Endings can't just get swapped in and out of a story, because Endings are built up to during the course of the entire narrative. To hypothetically change the ending of F&C, you don't just need to change the last few scenes of the show, or even just the last two episodes - you're gonna have to rewrite a lot of the series from the ground-up because it's been building up for that specific ending that we've got.

Fionna and Cake is a series whose core conflicts are not exactly... directly applicable to the real world. All of it's lessons and themes have to be understood via the lens of Metaphor. As such, with Endings in general, but with endings of something like F&C especially - it matters less What Happens on paper and more what does it Mean. The question of which alternative universe Simon or Fionna needed to end up on is dependent on the thematic implications of that plot point.

So, like, the show has already spent a lot of time subtly establishing it's themes of acceptance and self-growth - and the way they relate to Fionna and Simon's issues within Fionnaworld and Mainworld. An ending where they just swap places would probably feel unsatisfying because it wouldn't gel with the thematic and emotional concepts we've set up so far.

Fionna thought the problem with her World was that it lacked fantasy and magic, but her real problem was that she felt stuck, helpless and unable to affect meaningful change in her life and world. So when she learned to think things through and accept that her actions have consequences

She realized that she didn't need the Magical Adventures to make her life meaningful. She can make changes in her world in all kind of wonderful normal ways.

And honestly, if she ended up in Ooo without learning this lesson... she wouldn't have actually being much better off than she was in her old World before the series started.

If anything, she would've been worse off because she was cutting herself away from her entire support network and, as a result of her not thinking about her actions and initially viewing Ooo as just a manifestation of her escapist fantasies and not as a real world with real people... as far as Ooo is concerned she and Cake are violent criminals.

So, like, the only way she could've ended up even remotely happy in Ooo is by learning the lesson that meant that she didn't need to go to Ooo to be happy.

Simon would've been in a very similar position. There's also the problem of him living all of his loved ones behind with just Fionna as a point of contact. And... his depression and trauma would not be cured by just a change of scenery. And sure, maybe he would feel less isolated in a world where he's not the only 'normal guy'...

....or his problems will just end up inverting themselves. Because the experiences of living in Ooo have changed Simon, most notably in the character beat in Episode 3 where he's surprised by the presence of a non-talking cat.

Cause, yeah, Simon is 'just a normal guy' - but he's a normal guy whose been living in a world of Wacky Magic for years now and he survived an apocalypse and he used to be Cursed Wizard and his adopted daughter is a Vampire half-demon and he's technically over a 1000 years old... In an actual Normal World, he might start feeling like a Weirdo.

Which is what he was before the Mushroom War.

Simon never truly 'fit-in' into any 'world' he lived in. So he's better off not searching for the One Perfect Place where he belongs - whatever it's a Normal World, or like a Normal World (with a little bit of magic sprinkled in) like what Fionnaworld ended up being - it's to accept the fact that he doesn't need to perfectly fit-in to be happy and feel like he belong and relate to people.

And the ability to accept change and to stop romanticizing the past is a huge part of the Betty part of Simon's arc. So it just fits in better if Simon also has to accept that the world he exists in and the life he leads have changed, rather than being able to go back to a recreation of the Pre-War World he remembers.

... but I am saying all of this because this is what F&C chose to build up to and what F&C chose as it's themes and metaphors. A version of F&C where Simon ends up in Fionnaworld and Fionna ends up in the Mainworld can absolutely exist and work... it's just that you need to rewrite at least like half of the series to build up to it in a way that feels like a satisfying and appropriate conclusion. But also, like, I'm happy enough with the ending we've got that I don't feel the need to do all of this lol

[laufire]

jason peter todd

How I feel about this character: have you seen my blog lately. It's practically a shrine to him lol. I'm trapped in a feedback loop: the more I think about him, the more dc-related stories I seek, and the more dc-related stories I seek, the more I tie things back to my love for him. I also think about him when watching other shows xD

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Mia, because I love a good meet-ugly and a birds-of-a-feather ship. Eddie, because their childhood penpals still fond of each other backstory is sweet, and has the potential to turn (even more) tragic in the future. Roy, but in their new earth versions at a very specific moment where they give me all the brainworms. Kara, because their interactions were something I actually found enjoyable in the nu52, so why not try to build something in my favourite timeline instead. Kate Spencer/Manhunter, because sometimes you want a MILF ship that'll cure Jason of some issues while giving him new ones. Barbara, because I thought their plots in WFA were actually pretty interesting and again, why not take things to my favourite playground. Lately Tim, because it's an interesting dynamic AND its impact and ripple effects would be something else. And I'm open to a few others I've seen around or have crossed my mind Because (Donna+Kyle, Connor Hawke, Grant Emerson...).

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Bruuuuuuuce. In an terrible tragic way. And Dick! In a not-as-terrible but still heartrending way lol. AND TALIA. They should be best friends :(. Also Sasha!!

My unpopular opinion about this character: so fucking many I could be here all day asdfasñldkfjasf. Anyway, I think he doesn't smoke post resurrection and that he would've pursued a career in the stem/health area (I plan to write some of those!).

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: no reboot. Actual development. Becoming close, life-long friends with Talia. Getting to enjoy a world post-Joker's death. Barring that, something interesting actually happening with his post-gotham war brainwashing plot... but alas.

[waterdeep-weavemoss]

@dreamingofthewild you wanted me to do the 'give me a character' thing with Astarion. Thank you 💜 I'm putting how I feel at the end. mentions of abuse/trauma. so.

All the people I ship romantically with this character - Let's see... Wyll and Shadowheart. Wyll because canonically they have a huge crush on each other and it would also be so incredibly funny for sweet upstanding pride of the gate Wyll to be with him when Astarion lives for causing chaos. Shadowheart because I think they could really help each other. Astarion would help her with her memory issues and confronting her past actions and how it's not her fault, and she'd help him understand that he's worth more than his body. I think also that both of them could learn gentle loving touch when both of them have been forced to torture and kill.

My non-romantic OTP for this character - Karlach. I almost put her in the romantic option but she desperately wants intimacy including sex and Astarion would rather not have so much, and I really think if they were in a relationship he'd just want to please her and would struggle to say no. Not because she would pressure him in any way just because he would want to fulfill her needs as well. And also Gale. I've said before, they're so similar. I couldn't ship them romantically because I feel like they'd just make each other worse. Both of them are so ambitious and want to be safe but they are looking in the wrong places for it and I think they'd drag each other down the dark path.

My unpopular opinion about this character - He doesn't woobify himself so we shouldn't either. He says he would've killed you, if you'd met at a different time. And he's right. It takes months for him to grow into a person who looks out for others. I suppose it's also unpopular to say I loathe ascended Astarion, and that includes batstarion and all of that. It's not cute. What he represents is disgusting and it is so clear to me as an abuse survivor who was abused BY another survivor that the Ascendant is a hollow caricature of the man Astarion is. It's not 'keeping him low' to have him remain a spawn. It's allowing him to keep his humanity and sweetness and build on it to become a better person for himself and others. The Ascendant is a wreck. He's more broken after the ritual than he ever was before it.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon - I think we all wish he could be cured but I wish he could also just settle somewhere? Like have a home base that he and Tav (or Durge) adventure from. Maybe outside of Baldur's Gate. Maybe in Waterdeep.

How I feel about this character - I have many, many complex feelings about Astarion. I staked him in my first playthrough because his mean streak really got my back up and annoyed me. On my next playthrough I gave him a chance this time and it felt so incredibly rewarding to get 'ah, my favourite travelling companion' in act 2. It felt like making friends with a mean cat. And then we got to Cazador. Cazador, who was so close to my own pathetic, power hungry, posturing abuser that it took my breath away a little bit. Cazador who like my own abuser would lock Astarion away because he couldn't have freedom. Who said they were family even as he hurt him. Even as he moulded him into someone else from who he had been. Someone Astarion- and I- could never go back to. Someone to mourn, when it was all over. His death is still my favourite thing in this game. I always itch for the Cazador fight as soon as I get to act 3. Seeing Astarion stab him repeatedly? Yeah. I wish I could too. But when he fell to his knees and scream sobbed... yeah. I've been there. My god I cried with him. And I was so proud of him, too. Realising he could be better than what he made him. Yeah. Then I romanced him, and was floored by how this mean, dismissive, manipulative man softens into someone not only gentle but sweet. Someone who wants desperately to love but doesn't know how, but will try, for this one person. The way he understands exactly what's happening if you enter into the pact with Haarlep, and tells Tav he's sorry, he's been there, it's not their fault and they shouldn't have to just put up with it and not to suffer alone. The way he is the ONLY person to truly understand Durge and urges them to be better if they're resisting. He was not the person I thought would be telling me, the player, what I needed to hear, and every time I just felt cracked open. That we aren't shackled to our pasts. That sometimes you never get the apology you deserve and you need to be okay with that for your own sake. That the person you are now is what counts, but you must confront the person you were and lay them to rest. He is so ride or die for the player character if you put in the time and effort for him that it just blows my mind. The minute Tav or Durge is threatened he's in his feral little crouch ready to fight for them, because they fought for him, too. That got a little out of hand. But I love Astarion so much. His story gave me the courage to start setting my own hard boundaries and as a result I broke off a five year friendship that was making my hair fall out from stress, and a few months later quit my PhD because it was ruining not only my wellbeing but also my love of writing and reading. And now I'm doing so much better. And the catalyst was Astarion's story. So yeah. I don't care if people hate him. He quite honestly changed my life. 'You're not alone in this. None of us are.'