#neither of which i've seen & i probably know a bit more about the former still lol but

[unproduciblesmackdown]

forty years later: do you think this one musical about a protagonist sorta yeehaw Musician who has to grab his guitar & run a winding path through the silent hill fog going "i'm pure of heart!" to try to save his wife imprisoned by [context: capitalism] wants what the other musical about that has

[cutiedwaekki]

PuppyM Detective

Chapter 1 : introduction

Since yesterday morning, everyone had been talking about the terrible news that city concelor Jung Wooyoung had died in his room. The police didn't follow up, as they thought it was a natural death. A heart attack, they said, since everyone was aware of Jung Wooyoung's gluttonous appetite.

He was a strong and respectable man against corruption, looking for good in even the worst. He had a good position, lots of money and was even engaged to a rather pretty woman. But everyone knew that he would prefer her brother. Then, overnight, the wedding was called off and neither Choi Yena nor Choi San was heard from again, leaving Mr Jung in a state of deep sadness.

And what better way to confort his sadness than with sugar? It's a good thing Stayville has the three best bakeries in the area!

There was the best-known, Dwaekki & BbookAri Bakery, run by a very nice married couple, although it seemed they were a little too excited about the weight of the smallest. Jisung even told me he'd seen them about to make love because Mr Seo couldn't close his apron, which obviously didn't fit around his waist anymore.

But I don't judge everyone's tastes and every couple needed to keep the flame alive.

Then we had Jinrinet bowl, a mix of a bed 'n breakfast run by former top model Hwang Hyunjin. Everyone in town wondered how overnight he'd decided to give up his life of luxury to live in a quiet town like Stayville, where he wasn't even from. But his brunch were delicious and he contributed to the town's economy with his popularity, bringing in thousands of tourists every year.

Last but not least, LeeBit bite acted as a cat cafe where cat lovers and students came to enjoy a coffee and a sweet while taking in the feline atmosphere.

Ew , I prefer dogs honestly.

The fact was that all three signs were on the same street and right across from each other. In Stayville, everyone believed in the rivalry between these three stores. And yet, in the early days, they all had a cordial relationship, with Mr Lee-Seo going to brunch at Mr Hwang's, Mr Hwang drawing at Mr Lee's café and Mr Lee going to the Lee-Seo bakery. But the idea of competition between the three intensified, and that's probably why their interaction diminished and they were no longer seen talking to each other even outside working hours.

The only time that any semblance of conviviality was restored was when councilman Jung came to the quartker to spend part of his salary on sweets and other food.

No wonder he got so fat so fast. All they could think about was profit and making themselves look good to a city councillor. I bet if he died, it was one of them. After all, the newspaper article about his death read:

Jung Wooyoung, a humble and respected city councillor, was found dead in his home not far from a box of sweets, the name of which is still unknown. The cause of death is still undetermined, but local police suspect cardiac arrest.

In short, it's the perfect investigation for me, Kim Seungmin!

I put on my glasses, grab my coat and head for Miroh Street. I'm sure that if I need to find the answer to Mr Jung's death, it's in one of these three bakeries.

- "Can you tell me more about Kim Seungmin?"

- "Kim Seungmin? I know a lot about him, he's my roommate and I've known him for years! Yeah, he's the kind of guy who thinks he's a detective, even if he's not really qualified, but there's a sad side to all this.

His father was a cop and his mother a detective, so frankly the detective son isn't much of a shocker. But they say he cut ties with his family overnight! Some say it's because the father didn't want him to be a detective, others that it's because he came out, but I like both theories!

As a result, he's a bit of an amateur in the detective profession, but he's had a few investigations of his own! See the story about the divorce between Mrs Yang and Mr Lee? Thanks to Seungmin, we know it's because Mrs Yang was cheating on him with an idol!

He didn't tell me what he was working on, but I think it has something to do with Jung Wooyoung's death. After all, I think it's a pretty strange death".

-Oh really ?

-Yes, of course! Like all of a sudden he has a heart attack? I don't believe it, especially since despite his weight he was always going for check-ups and taking plenty of vitamins! I do know it because i used to work for him"

- "That doesn't explain everything either!

-"I think it's enough already!

- "I see .... here you can finish eating them, they're just for you!"

- "Really? Thanks, that's lovely!"

- "It's normal, as Stayville residents we have to maintain good relations, right? Next time bring Seungmin along, he absolutely must try this new recipe I've concocted".

-"I'll tell him! Well, I'm off to work! Bye Hyung!" Jisung exclaimed before trotting out carrying a large box containing some delicious pastries.

-Do you know anything about Sherlock Holmes and Watson? It's literally Seungmin and Jisung. Seungmin investigates and looks for the smallest mystery to solve, while Jisung is the gossip who unknowingly helps Seungmin, or at least helps him stay alive given all the sleepless nights he has."

- "I've just been told that ik has cut off contact with his parents, is that true?"

- "Hm ... it's more difficult than that. In fact, nobody really knows, until now it's only Captain Kim and his son who really know."

- "You ... you don't want to tell me more, Mr. Mayor?"

-You know I love it when you call me that? But what's it got to do with you, Jinnie? Are you suddenly into detective work now?"

- "No, Chan, you know I only sleep with you. I just wanted to find out a bit more about Seungmin, that's all, after all everyone's talking about him but I've never seen him in person, I've only seen his roommate Jisung."

- "I feel like you're not telling me everything"

- "You feel or you're just jealous?"

- "Me jealous? Don't talk nonsense".

- "Enough talk, get dressed, I'm going to fix you something to eat." Declared the blond before getting out of bed and getting dressed again, leaving the mayor to admire his still-naked body until he was fully clothed again.

-I can't stop eating with you! Look, I've put on weight!" Chan then pulled back the blanket, showing off his naked body, although the small belly he was developing allowed his intimacy to be concealed to a minimum.

Hyunjin only smirked widly, he giggled before leaning sensually against him, stealing a kiss and placing his hand on his belly.

-You're right, we should see each other more often to burn off more calories" he joked.

- "Or make me eat more"

- "It all depends on what you want to do first. We can even do both ~"

- "if anyone finds out about this-"

- "-What? That our good and respected mayor Bahng Christopher Chan is being fucked at home by a bed 'n breakfast manager? It'll be better than this news item from city councilman Jung."

- "Maybe you're right"

- "I'm always right"

- "Finally some silence ! I feel like it's been years since I've heard the quiet.

"-You say that, but you've been asleep half of the day".

- "I had to get my strength back these last few hard days, you know?"

- "Hard at what? To be a gluttonous man like you are?"

- "I was going to say being your husband, but that desceiption suits me too"

The younger one took on a false air of offence before lightly nudging his husband with his elbow.

- "You're mean there, Binnie!"

- "Because letting me get stuck is nice ?"

- "You're the one who told me you wanted to keep your independence, I'm just listening to your wishes"

- "Come on, I told you that a long time ago, now I need you to take care of me, please" he sighed, making his whole body tremble with every gesture he made.

-"I like it when you beg Hyung, it makes me feel important".

-"Important? Are you kidding me, Lixie? You're the most important person I know! The most talented, adorable, smiling, handsome and best cook in town for sure."

- "Oh my love come into my arms~"

The two embraced for a long time, followed by a long, tender, passionate kiss.

-"Reminiscent of our high school years, don't you think?"

-Yes, I remember. We used to hide in room 207 to kiss."

- "Before my soccer practice you'd always bring me your brownies in a little pink toure box, it was adorable"

-Believe me, I'm happy to say that you chose my cooking over sports".

- "You think I don't show enough? At this point I'm your food taster rather than your husband".

- "You can be both, you know ~"

- "Yeah, but every chance you get, you're going to be cooing with the Councillor Wooyoung as soon as he walks through the door!"

- "Binnie it's inappropriate to talk like that about a dead man! Plus you souldn't be jealous of all you exactly know why did i behave like that with him !".

- "Yes, but..."

- "Don't sulk, Binnie ... do you want me to make you a batch of cookies?"

-"...with lots of chocolate chips?"

- "As many as you want"

- "Sorry we're closed-"

- "Hyung you know I always come after closing time"

- "Oh Jeongin you almost scared him ... come and sit down I'll prepare a table for you"

The youngest then smiled politely before settling down at one of the tables. He didn't have to wait long before a few feoins came to sit on his legs or rub up against him.

-A real cat magnet" joked the oldest.

- "It's a family trait after all ~"

The two half-brothers exchanged knowing glances before chuckling.

- "If you're here, it's because you've heard from Dad, isn't it?"

- "Exactly. Well, I'll skip the part where he says you're a disgrace to the family, that the son of a politician like him shouldn't settle in this godforsaken village and open a café... blah blah blah".

-He's always preferred you to me anyway".

- "And I don't care! As I was saying, he called me to tell me about his plans, and they had something to do with stayville and the latest news".

-Are you talking about the murder of Jung Wooyoung?

- "Exactly"

- "Wait a moment.

Minho got up, leaving his younger half-brother alone with a cup of coffee and some chat. He went to the entrance and closed all the curtains so that no one could hear in detail what was being said.

It was lucky for Seungmin that he had captured the moment. Armed with his camera, he now had proof that Lee Minho and Yang Jeongin were definitely hiding something. But what was it? Not to mention Hwang Hyunjin, who also seems very close to the mayor. Or Lee-Seo Felix and Changbin, who were the closest to Councilman Jung before his death.

- "I think I've found the perfect interview for m-" the detective was then interrupted in his monolgue by the ringing of a telephone. It was Jisung

-"What's the matter, hyung?"

- "No, no, I just wanted to know when you'd be back... I picked up some pastries on my way home from work and I thought we could have some together."

- "That's nice hyung, I have to finish something and I'll be right back I promise"

- "Please don't be too late, it's getting dark fast these days"

- "I promise hyung" he said before hanging up.

"Great, because of him I missed everything. I'd better go home," he thought, before stuffing his camera back into his bag and heading for home.

...

-"Is he not looking at us anymore, hyung?"

-"No, it's okay, we can go on."

[crossdressingdeath]

I'll be honest, unless he was paying her so little that no one with any experience would take the job (which doesn't match up with her saying that she thought he respected her and also just wouldn't be a smart call, it might actually have been better to risk going without a bodyguard entirely while he saved up enough to afford a skilled one than risk resentment forming in the person whose job it was to guard him over poor pay) it makes zero sense for him to hire someone who would've been in her mid-teens at the oldest at the time as a bodyguard. He might have just escaped Avernus, but he'd still been in Avernus! For years! As far as he knew Raphael might come after him, and even aside from that he wasn't exactly some innocent fresh-faced naive kid! Her being a Lower City orphaned tiefling would actually be a bad sign, because all of those things suggest little to no actual training and combined with her age mean probably zero experience as a bodyguard. Hiring her would've been an act of desperation, and that's not the sense I get from her description of working for him. They really should've made Karlach older if they wanted this to work. The concept of it being his version of Astarion's ascension or Gale becoming a god isn't bad (@thornfield13713 was talking about that too), but it just... doesn't make sense that he'd hire an actual child as his bodyguard to begin with.

More importantly though, Karlach also says he lied to her about what he was doing and about being a Banite and she'd never have worked with him if she'd known; it's possible she just doesn't know the order of events, but with no evidence to the contrary we kind of have to take her at her word, in which case he was either up to some pretty bad shit before selling her or we're being expected to buy that Karlach would never work for a criminal. The former doesn't fit with the idea of selling her being a turning point for him, and the latter is... stupid in a way Larian's writing isn't.

But really at the end of the day it's just... there's this one bit of screenshotted dialogue I've seen, I think it's origin Karlach talking to Gortash? But he essentially says "You knew what I was, why was what happened such a surprise to you?" I don't even know if it's real! It could easily be a fake screenshot! But that one line that I've never gotten in-game has stuck in my head more solidly than anything else in her backstory. God I wish they'd run with that instead of just going "She was innocent and he lied to her and betrayed her." I feel like either she had to have known full well what he was and what he was doing and it just didn't occur to her that he'd turn on her, or there had to be an actual discussion around how wilfully blind she must have been to miss what a terrible person the guy she was bodyguarding was. But Larian did neither, and that's just a real shame because as it is it just feels... kind of boring. I feel bad for her, sure, but it kind of feels like they didn't actually have much to do with her, so they just threw together a quick tragic backstory and called it a day.

I'm thinking about Karlach and in particular her relationship with Gortash, and the more I think about it the more I really wish that she'd known he was a Banite from the start, or at least for a good chunk of her time working for him. I mean, the canon story of "I didn't know what he was, he lied to me and I didn't realize the truth until he stabbed me in the back" doesn't not work? It just feels like a very... safe option. Now, I love Karlach, I really do, she's a joy to be around. But I don't know, the whole "I didn't know what they were doing" method of letting a wonderful person work for the bad guys has been done. It's been done a lot. And it also makes Karlach feel less morally complex than the other origin companions to me! I mean, it's entirely possible she didn't even know Gortash was a criminal; his public persona would require bodyguards too. So if we assume that she didn't even know he was a criminal then her moral complexity is limited to having some friends who are devils and wanting Gortash dead, which... even just by general fantasy standards and especially when compared to characters like Astarion, Shadowheart and Lae'zel (as the most obvious examples, but personally I also find Wyll's pact with Mizora and Gale getting the orb at least as complex if not more and they didn't work for the villain, so that feels like a bit of a problem) is very straightforward. She's good. Maybe she used to be a bit naive and then learned not to be so blindly trusting through betrayal. Sure. Fine. Personally I do not find that particularly compelling, if I just saw her backstory written out without the super hard work of her writer and VA in the rest of the game my reaction to her would basically just be "Eh". And if we assume she did know he was a criminal then it feels kind of weak that the only time that even vaguely comes up is Gortash potentially making one comment about how Karlach knew what he was and shouldn't really have been surprised.

Also, an additional point, the fact that supposedly Gortash was putting enough work into keeping her ignorant that there was a noticeable drop in his ethics after he sold her is... kind of weird, because the only reason we're given for it is "He liked her"? To be clear the fact that he liked her isn't the problem, we know Gortash is perfectly capable of liking people. But... he went out of his way to deceive this one employee? To the point that people noticed a change when he was gone? Or alternately selling her specifically actively made him significantly worse, which... would also be kind of weird. There isn't even any particular reason for him to see himself in her, other than the Lower City upbringing they had very little in common before Gortash sold her (unless baby Enver was way better of a person than his current self would suggest). I feel like if Larian was going to justify Karlach apparently not realizing she was working for an arms dealer and slave trader as his personal bodyguard (so someone who'd logically be around for a lot of shady shit or frankly what is the point of her being on the payroll) with "he lied to her" more needed to be done with it.

But if she knew he was a Banite and knew what he was doing for a good chunk of the time she spent working with him that adds a tasty "I didn't think the leopards would eat my face!" energy to the whole situation! I love the idea of Karlach liking and trusting Gortash despite knowing what he was because he treated her with respect and that was all that mattered! Obviously this is subjective, I will freely admit I like my characters with a bit more moral greyness than Karlach shows, but to me at least her reassessing and improving her morals from a standpoint of "Him liking me and respecting me wasn't enough to save me because other people's lives do not matter to him" would be much more interesting than her being a perfectly lovely person from the start and not knowing what her boss was doing and getting betrayed and then continuing to be a perfectly lovely person. (I'm not going to claim that a person's morals improving when the thing they did to others is done to them is particularly ground-breaking, but I would argue it's no less ground-breaking than "they didn't know and were good all along and their boss was lying to them" and to me at least it's significantly more engaging.) And it would also neatly remove the question of why Gortash cared enough to lie about what he was doing to this one specific employee from day one (so before he could bond with her at all), which. y'know, would be nice.

[melodyofthevoid]

This is me gazing deeply and soulfully into your eyes, asking you to infodump about your OCs to your heart's content- I would love to hear about them 💚

Aw, thank you anon! I've been working on fleshing out my Sun and Moon babe so I guess I'll go into detail on them!

As I've said before, the main plot is the two main characters assume the other dead and go on a rampage to tear the kingdom down in different ways, and meet up at the end realizing "oh shit she's alive" and they're like "eh I'll keep going whatever" and overthrow the kingdom. There's a bit more under the cut about the characters and story for now

Helena (The Moon): The inciter, albeit accidentally. She is a witness to the poisoning of a noble during a party in which she’s working as a servant. Her girlfriend Nessa is initially blamed, but she tries to take the fall, unwilling to watch Nessa die. Unfortunately this fails, as she’s escorted to another room and told Nessa was killed. She’s sent to find an artifact, an old Diadem that hasn’t been seen for years and is probably just a rumor. It was stolen (allegedly) by another kingdom and hidden away, containing unparalleled power. She’s aware it’s p much a death mission, but with nothing else to live for, she embarks, discovering along the way a natural talent for magic, and, perhaps, grander ambitions than simply revenge. With a network of growing allies (or not) she eventually finds the crown and it does in fact have a great deal of power. 

Will she lead the people together, or only take revenge?

Nessa (The Sun): The rebel, the one left behind. Always more of an instigator, she takes the cruelty that she’s been handed and uses it to spark change within the capital of Merynd. Creates a network from her friends still within the castle who don’t believe that she, or her former partner, could’ve done such an act. She was told Helena was executed for her ‘crime’ and she knows that neither were truly responsible. Discontent is rife in the kingdom, and frankly all that is needed is a push, a spark. Piece by piece she works to undo control over sections of the city and get word out. Word of rebellion, not to her knowledge, is being encouraged by a figure draped in silver who will take the crown by force. 

Will the revolution live or die? And for what end?

The Assassin (The eclipse): A pawn of the Republic of Gval, a bitter rival and the next on the King’s list of countries to subsume. Despite the turmoil of the past few years, word of the fall of the previous regime isn’t confirmed yet. There’s suspicion and stories, but while the previous leaders weren’t liked, it’s not like those in power like the idea of a super powered new queen out of nowhere. In fact, now that Merynd is on the rocks, it’s a perfect time to strike. He’s a professional, good at his job. Get in, get out, kill the target, get paid. Does generally care about collateral in that it can lead back to him, so tries not to go for messy kills. Has no fixed identity and goes by any number of names depending on the situation. The more time he spends in Merynd, after getting the job of a lifetime, the more confused he is by the state of things until he is faced with the truth. Is the gold worth it for a nation? 

For what country will his blade fall? 

The format for the story has varied a bit, but I kinda like the idea of a visual novel sort of deal with diverging paths for the different protagonists and their stories.

Game Plot: The game follows Helena's timeline, Nessa's timeline and the perspective of some rando assassin dude Anyways you can play as either in either order but their goals are similar: kill the queen of this country. Helena and Nessa's are more straightforward but with the guy things are tricky. People actually seem to... like the queen? She's not the huge bitch that Helena dealt with, there's no king mentioned despite the queen being married, so what's up? Also some of the towns have different names and shops with the same name are run by different people 

Once Helena gets the crown artifact, that's where her story stops initially, with her going to confront the queen.

The guy's story stops when he goes to confront the queen too. He's faced with various factions and rival assassins that can impact the way the ending turns out. 

The big twist is that Helena's story was like, 15 years prior to the assassin, and that she is the queen the other country is trying to take down for (insert shitty reason here). She did take down her monarch, and now the assassin and her can choose to fight or resolve peacefully depending on how the player did each route

I'm still working out more of the details obviously and writing a dialogue heavy game would be a LOT of writing but. It's just something revolving in my brain rn

[caffeineforbucky]

As Time Goes By...(Chapter three)

A/N: This one took a while to write. I've just been so busy doing absolutely nothing all while procrastinating, so special thanks to that. No, but I really hope you like this, fellow reader. If you like the series, let me know if you want to be tagged!

(Side note: I've been playing RE8, thirsting over lady D, and dying over and over...it's going great! It's part of the procrastination...)

Also, has anyone seen the Bridgerton musical tiktoks? I swear I've had the 'burn for you' song in my head all last month and if you've been living under a rock...here's the link:

https://youtu.be/EwY9_m5qeow

Word Count: 2,299

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Fem! Reader

Warnings: I don't know....angst? As always, John Walker!?! AKA; Fake Cap. Umm...If I missed any let me know.

(A little PSA: I don't hate John Walker: or the actor. John is a well-written character. This is just strictly for the purpose of where my story is going. I'm more reiterating how Bucky treats him in the show. Thank you!!)

You groan, rolling from your left side to lay flatly on your back, arms spread out beside you. You inhale deeply, becoming aware of the moistened dirt and crushed wildflowers beneath you as they release their aromatics. Birds chirped around you, the busy sounds of traffic fading away while you lie still in the field, oxygen feeling heavy in your lungs.

"Y/N?!"

You barely heard the worrisome calls of Sam over the sound of your heart pounding in your ears. You lift your head, the view of icy mountains in the distance, blurry figures making their way towards you while you somehow managed to sit up. Your head was spinning, a sharp ache on the side of your thigh.

Your eyes flickered down, taking note of the small paring knife lodged in your thigh. You exhaled softly, nodding your head at the sight of it. "Okay," You grumble in agreement. With shaking hands, you wrap your fingers around the handle, bracing yourself by taking intervolved breaths before carefully pulling it from your thigh.

You worked fast, ignoring the crunch of rocks and dirt under the acknowledgeable footsteps of Sam and Bucky. Taking babochka, you cut off the end of your pant leg, wrapping the spandex around your wounded thigh before securing it with one of the holsters, tying the ends into a knot. You remain quiet, carefully pushing yourself up to your feet, transferring all of the weight to the opposite leg, eyes drifting up to meet the guys. "Are you guys okay?" You murmur, dusting off the clumps of dirt and dead leaves from your jacket.

"Are you?!" Sam exclaimed incredulously. "You're bleeding!" He points out, gesturing to the bright red staining the skin of your calf as it dripped down to your boot. The wrap might've held the wound shut, but that didn't mean blood wouldn't have soaked through.

"Oh, this?" You ask, glancing down at your leg, the wound throbbing in agony, but you did your best to avoid it. "I've had worse." That was true, from all those years fighting as an avenger. Getting shot, kicked, stabbed, beaten until you were purple, and undergoing mind control. This tiny stab was the least of your worries. It still hurt like hell, and you couldn't hide the discomfort in your features.

"Do you want a piggyback?" Bucky asks suddenly, slightly annoyed at your nonchalance and still concerned nonetheless. You weren't expecting it, the odd but kind offer, especially from the menace himself. Though you weren't one to pass up being carried. With a hesitant nod, you agree, watching Bucky crouch just a bit, allowing you to climb on his back.

The position was awkward for both of you. With his hands tightening on the back of your knees and your arms wrapped around his neck, neither of you could think straight. Yet, you were still thankful. The road to the airport was a long one, and you weren't sure if you could make it in your state. Bucky held you as if you weighed nothing, his super-soldier strength showing off while he carried you on his back, footsteps matching up with Sam. He didn't mind doing it, especially since he was the one who offered, and the proximity was just a bonus.

"Sorry about Redwing," Bucky muses, breaking the silence while the three of you sauntered down the empty road. There was nothing for miles, only empty plains of grass and dirt. Young trees scattered, lacking the greenery around them, evident of the cold weather in Munich.

"No, you're not," Sam remarks, narrowing his eyes to a pinprick at the winter soldier. "You've always hated Redwing."

"That doesn't mean I'm not sorry about it," Bucky grumbles, tightening his hold on you as he felt you slipping. You gasp at the sudden strength, clinging better to his shoulders as well. "How're you doin' up there?" He asks, jaw clenching from your touch.

"All things considering," You sigh, pushing aside the butterflies in your tummy at how close you were to Bucky. "I've been better. We've gotta find out where that super serum is coming from."

"Yeah," Sam chimed in, glancing at you. "-And how the hell after 80 years are there eight super-soldiers runnin' loose?"

Loud honks of a horn ring in your ears, tires treading on the gravel as an army jeep slows down beside the three of you. "So, that didn't go as planned, huh?" John chuckles, pushing the door open only for you to keep walking, paying no mind to the man in stars and stripes.

"Okay, keep going," John utters, signaling the driver to keep up as he pulls the door shut. "Look, at least we know what we're up against, huh? And I'm pretty sure it's one of the big three...so,"

"Aliens, androids, or wizards," Lemar comments as John nods his head in agreement.

"There's no such thing as wizards!" Bucky grunts, keeping his eyes forward, hands on the back of your knees.

"Fine, aliens or androids," John settles, sharing a look with his best friend beside him. "Look, it's 20 miles to the airport, and you guys need a ride. Gary, stop," He instructs, the wheels slowing down. John opens the door once again. "Get in," He sighs, motioning all of you inside the jeep as Bucky and Sam's footsteps came to a halt.

Bucky gently sets you down, taking note of the small whimpers falling from your lips. No matter how tough you appeared to be, you still carried so much vulnerability. "You okay?" He asks, eyes filled with so much concern it almost scared you. He hadn't looked at you like that in a while. "Do you want any help?"

With a soft nod, you oblige to Bucky's ask, needing more help than you anticipated. You didn't want to add any strain or force to your injury. You didn't even realize it happened, and that part of it was Sam's fault for swooping to grab you while you had a knife in hand, but you weren't going to start pointing fingers. You wrap your arm around Bucky's shoulder, using him as support while he boosts you up on the jeep after Sam climbs up first, helping you settle beside him.

"Woah!" John exclaims, almost rising to his feet at the sight of your thigh, your hands stained with blood. "Are you okay?"

With a curt nod, you adjust yourself to relieve some of the pressure while Bucky takes a seat on your left, leaving you to be right smack dab in the middle as he pulls the door shut. You blow out a breath, knowing damn well if it hadn't been for the mishap, you would've walked the damn 20 miles.

"Lemar, hand me the first aid kit," John instructs, pointing to the steel case beside his friend. You wanted to protest, but even you knew that the strap wasn't going to work. Mouthing a thank you, you take the case from Lemar's hand and clip it open.

"Okay, so we got eight super-soldiers on a bulk supply run," John continues, the jeep beginning to roll down the road. You hand the case to Sam, asking him to hold it while you searched for gauze, medical tape, and butterfly bandages, you were probably going to need stitches, but you'd worry about that later. "Why?" John asks, watching closely as you patched up your wound.

"They say their mission is to get things back to the way it was during the blip," Sam answers, handing you another strip of tape. "Maybe they're just tryna help."

"They had a funny way of showing it," Bucky adds, his eyes trained on you, a hiss slipping through your lips as you roll down the remaining spandex. You sigh in relief, the ache becoming dull as you shut the case, giving it back to Lemar.

"Better?" John asks, earning a single nod as a response. "I don't think we've properly met. John Walker," he smiles, offering a shake of his hand, but you didn't move, only staring at the outstretched palm in front of you. "Does she talk?" John mumbles suddenly, looking to Sam or Bucky for a reply.

Your eyes cast down, gaze hardening at the sight of the shield in his grasp. Flashes of Steve running through your mind, the many times he'd catch you trying to throw it like he would. Steve Rogers meant a lot to you, having joined him in not signing the Sokovian accords, being an outlaw, and helping to clear Bucky's name with Sam. So, seeing a man who wasn't Steve hold the shield awoke something in you. Something unkind and hateful.

"When she wants to," You claim, John squirms in his seat, sensing the tension as your eyes flicker to his. "And frankly has no desire to speak to you."

"You don't even know me," John defends, glancing at Bucky, a sly smirk on his lips, and Sam, who rendered quiet, his eyes looking elsewhere. John sets his attention back on you, lips razor thin.

You scoff, shaking your head softly as you fold your arms over your chest. "Jonathon F. Walker," You begin, leaning back in your seat, your eyes never leaving his. "Former Captain of the U.S Army's 75th Rangers Regiment. Graduated at the top of your class from the United States Military and the first person in American history to receive three medals of honor, ran RS-one missions in counterterrorism and hostage rescue."

John's tongue darts between his lips, a frown spreading throughout his forehead at the information you were giving him. Either you did research on him or, you just read his file, which you had done both. You were not one to go into a mission without potentially knowing who you were up against. It was better to be safe than sorry.

"So you saw the news?" John chuckles, the frown falling from his features while he shrugs. "Big deal, so did the entire world."

"Custer's Grove High school alumni."

John's smile falters.

"There you met, Lemar Hoskins and your current wife," You tilt your head in curiosity. "Olivia, right? Or am I getting it wrong?"

Clearing his throat softly, John broke eye contact with you. So you did know him, and you probably knew more than you led on. "Do they always just stare like that?" He gestures between you and Bucky, who had displayed the same distaste for him.

Sam glances beside him, observing the matched body language you shared with Bucky, its no wonder Bucky had taken a liking to you, even if he'd never admit it. "You get used to it," Sam smirks, turning his head back to Walker.

"Okay..." John drags, eyes flickering to the more sensible one of the trio, and that was Sam. "Look, that serum doesn't have the greatest track record, no offense," He waves his hand, dismissing the insult directed towards the only super-soldier in the car.

"We need to figure out where they're going. How'd you track 'em here?" Sam asks, "The flag smashers."

"Uh," Lemar murmurs, scratching the back of his head. "We didn't track them. We tracked you through Redwing."

"You hacked my tech!?" Sam gripes, straightening out his back as he sat up.

"Sorry," John laughs, "It's not exactly hacking. It's government property...kind of the government. Alright, you know things have gotten kind of..."

"Chaotic," Lemar adds.

"Yeah," John nods in agreement. "The GRC, they're doing their best to get things up and running smoothly post blip. If you guys teamed up with us-"

"No." Bucky interrupts. He couldn't let Walker finish that sentence.

"I've got mad respect for all of you," Lemar praises, looking between the trio before him. "But you were getting your asses kicked 'til we showed up."

"And who are you?" Bucky bemuses, cocking a brow at the man next to John.

"Lemar Hoskins," You mention, "I could've sworn we've been through this." You shake your head at the old man, for being 106, he couldn't hear a thing.

"I see a guy hanging out of a helicopter in tactical gear," Sam shrugs, "I'm gonna need a lot more than Lemar Hoskins."

"I'm Battlestar, John's partner."

"Battlestar?" Bucky repeats, narrowing his eyes at Lemar as he nods, confirming his alias. "Stop the car!" Bucky shouts suddenly, brakes screeching as the wheels come to a stop in the middle of the road. Bucky pulls open the handle, ducking, as to not rail his head on the bar-frame above him before hopping off the jeep.

"Look, I get it, okay?" John sighs, calling after Bucky. "I get the attitude, I do. You didn't think the shield was gonna end up here. I get it, Bucky. And I'm not trying to be Steve!"

"Good," You interject, rendering John to settle his eyes on you. "Because you will never be. And just because you're the one wielding it..." You grab the bar above your head, using it to pull yourself up. "It doesn't make you Captain America." And with that, you carefully jump off the jeep, following after the heated super-soldier.

Sighing in frustration, he rips his eyes away from your retreating figures. "I'm not trying to replace him either. I'm just trying to be the best Captain America I can be." He explains to Sam, hoping the falcon would cut him some slack. "-And it'd be a whole lot easier if I had Cap's wingman on my side."

Sam's eyes widen in surprise, his tongue darting between his lips. "It's always that last line," He scoffs, shaking his head as he jumped off the car, following you and Bucky.

John's lips thin out, face scrunching in a scowl. "Let's go," He instructs. The sound of the jeep leaving making its way to your ears.

[demcnsinmymind]

"Yeah. I remember that" Lance replied, somewhat flatly, look on his face changing into something indecipherable. Because he was perfectly aware that half a lifetime ago, he'd been just like them, probably worse. And he remembered considering doing a whole episode about the place back in the day, which most certainly would've caused even more trouble.

Once again staring up at the charred house wall before him, Lance couldn't help but feel sickened for a moment. Given everything he'd seen. Everything he'd done and been through he now knew how shallow and primitive it really was. To try to make bank with a place whose history was filled to the brim with violence, death and suffering.

And the inflection didn't just end there. More of his own past was still cycling through his mind in relation to this place, everything else Tyler was saying, thinking through.

"Maybe it's not really about the going through the motions. Maybe it being harder is exactly the point" Lance went on and started walking again, so they could round the building a bit more, check it out as they made their way to the front door. Through it all, the hardened look on his face didn't change, only grew sterner. Familiar with the situation.

"From what I've read, the place stood abandoned for a while after that first fire. Rebuilt just before WWI. Family that did that lost the father and three sons to both wars, the widow lived in it all the way up to the 60s with just her daughter. So a lot of suffering. A lot of trauma and grief even without a fire. After that, two more families with plenty of their own drama moved in. Custody battles, nasty divorce, wife with a cancer diagnosis. But no fires or whacky shit, you're right" the former host kept recounting his research until they finally reached the front of the house, at which Lance pointed.

"This is the first time a big family's moved into the place since the first fire though. Four kids. Rich dad, respected within the community. More or less happy and pretty vanilla by the sounds of it. Just like dear old priest daddy-o from 1904."

Lance swallowed thickly and kept his eyes glued to the place, trying to see something behind its windows. But so far, there was just...nothing.

" Who or whatever's behind this...maybe they're in it for the sake of maximum suffering in their house. Some spirits and things are drawn to misery and pain, maybe this one gets activated by a big happy family settling on its turf. Maybe they never had that stuff. Maybe they're jealous or angry with people who do. Given everything we know about the before, I'm guessing neither the priest nor this father actually wanted to set their whole family on fire. Probably never faced such utter fuckedupness in their life before. Probably struggled a lot, tried to fight it, really despaired in their last moments. Exactly what this thing's after. More suffering."

Just...shit. Who the fuck was he even talking about here right now? Shaking his head and pressing his lips to a thin line, Lance finally looked back at Tyler.

"Or maybe it's something else entirely. I don't know. You're the hunting expert."

Now that they were able to see the house for themselves, it was clear to her that this fire had taken hold in an area of the building that had been rebuilt after the original blaze. Heck, she’d be willing to put money on it starting in the exact same spot as before. Funny how that little coincidence had been left out of the local news. It seemed even the cops weren’t so oblivious as to ignore something that so blatantly announced ‘hey, there’s creepy shit at play here’.

She couldn’t help but let out a little laugh at Lance’s dismissal of public opinion on the priest. A pro with research and already cynical about all that ‘pillar of the community’ bullshit. It was as though he’d been doing this for years.

“Urgh, don’t get me started on Amityville. If I’d ever got to meet the Warren’s I’d have kicked them both in the ass. The amount of trouble they caused…” Tyler grumbled, walking with him to get a better look at the damage. “Repeated events usually make me think angry ghost. They have that bad habit of goin’ through the motions of their death, but a pissed off spirit can start a fire pretty easily without gettin’ the living involved. Influencin’ someone to do it for them is way harder.”

That part really didn’t sit right with her. Spirit possession was far from unheard of, but this guy hadn’t shown any of the classic signs before doing this. Not as far as she could tell anyway. No lapses in memory. No hearing voices. No reported changes in behaviour at all. Too bad they couldn’t speak to him. Judging from the autopsy report, he’d been in the exact same state as the priest by the time they got to him, right down to the charred wood still being in his hand.

Ty pulled out her phone to snap a photo of the burn marks, a frown on her face as she looked at up at the pretentious home. Not as drastic as the 1904 fire, though that probably wouldn’t be much comfort for the grieving survivors. Speaking of which… “A bunch of different folks have moved in and out since the first time this happened, and they were all just fine. So question is: why now? Why this family?”

[rein-ette]

If you still fancy a drabble prompt, I've always seen Canada and England having a very warm and comfortable relationship- if it interests you, maybe a prompt could be one going to the other for advice about something?

It does indeed interest me, thank you for the prompt! I've had a bunch of Mattie-Arthur scenarios swimming around in my mind for a long time, so I'm glad to have a chance to put one of them down on paper. As always, this was supposed to be a "drabble" but magically lengthened itself the more I thought about it -- I don't think drabbles are supposed to have historical notes.

"Come in."

Matthew shifted his pile of papers to his other arm and pushed through the door of Arthur's office. Inside, the fading afternoon light illuminated the rich mahogony floor and danced on the spines of the hundreds of books that lined each wall. Remembering the excitement he felt when he was first allowed to peruse these shelves, Matthew couldn't help but smile softly to himself.

Arthur himself sat at his desk, one ankle propped up on his knee as he stared idly out the window. Matthew could just barely see a white trim of bandages that peeked out from underneath his collar. That dimmed his smile. It had been more than two years now since the war had ended in Europe, but Arthur still looked as gaunt as he did during the days when engines still roared over London and — though Matthew had not thought it possible — even more exhausted. The worn smile Arthur offered him said as much, and Matthew pushed away a twinge of guilt.

Arthur jerked his chin at the seat in front of his desk and Matthew sat, stacking his documents in a neat pile in front of him. Instead of immediately going through them, however, he gazed worriedly at his old guardian.

"How are you feeling?"

Arthur sighed and shifted in his seat, dropping his leg and turning to face Matthew. He stared at the ancient, ink-stained wood of his desk for a while, and Matthew could almost see the warring emotions on Arthur's face as his desire to be honest fought with his lingering instinct to conceal and protect Matthew from the worries that plagued him. But because they were past such pretenses, he finally murmured, "Tired."

Matthew hummed sympathetically in response. There wasn't much he could do or say to change that, and he expected the reports he brought would only exhaust Arthur further. So he merely asked, "Are you remembering to apply the salve twice a day?"

Matthew flushed a little when Arthur rolled his eyes at him good-naturedly, realizing he was fussing like Arthur was his child, instead of the other way around. Thankfully, Arthur spared him further embarrasment by only answering a tad dryly that yes, he was actually capable of following simple instructions. Matthew mumbled out a reply before deciding that he might as well get on with what he was actually here for, knowing Arthur had never been one for small talk. Clearing his throat, he slid the top half of his stack of papers across the desk.

"They sent you a copy of Lord Mountbatten's plan, I think with annotations, though I haven't gone through the whole thing. And this part is the proposal for the national flag. Also," he pulled a cream letter from the pile and passed that over as well, "India asked that you be there personally, in August," he finished.

Arthur hummed and rifled through the papers. Matthew couldn't quite read his expression. After a few moments, he stacked them again and placed them to the side, with the letter on top. "Thanks. I'll go through them later."

Matthew nodded. "And here I just summarized the letters and stuff from the others. I've left them back in the box, in case you wanted to read them yourself. There's not too much going on really. That you don't already know."

"Yes. Thank you. This is a great help, Matthew, truly."

"You're welcome," Matthew murmured, and watched Arthur scan the notes before setting them aside as well. His eyes traced the shadows underneath the other nation's eyes, before dropping back down to the cotton bandages around his neck. He wondered if Arthur was sleeping at all.

"Is there anything else I can do? I'm heading back to Ottawa next week, but if you need me to take over some stuff for a bit, I can stay longer —"

"No, no, it's fine," Arthur cut him off. "Like I said, I'm just a little tired, that's all. But all this," he waved a hand at the documents , "isn't anything new."

Matthew frowned. "Isn't it?"

"Hmm?"

"I mean, I know the paperwork isn't new, but, these," he drew a breath, "reforms, and the war, of course. That's — I mean. No one's, you know, had to deal with that, before."

Arthur frowned, and traced a finger along the edge of his desk, before sighing, "No, I guess not." He turned again to look out the window behind him. After several long moments, he said, quietly, "But it's not entirely unexpected, either. I just—" The corner of his lips jerked down, and for a moment it seemed as if he was almost in pain. He drew in a breath, and said, "It's just. Difficult. That's all. To—but." He stopped again, grimaced, as if at his own ineloquence. Finally, he said, slowly, as carefully as if he was embroidering the words onto the air between them, "The world is changing. Let us not stand in the way, lest they make us out to be fools."

Watching him struggle, Matthew found himself at a loss as well. Never had he imagined that Arthur — sharp-tongued, quick-witted Arthur, who could neither be bullied nor silenced, who could quote from more books than Matthew had ever read — would be scrambling for words. But then, as he watched Arthur's shoulders curve in towards himself like Matthew had seen a thousand times before in another stubborn, sandy-haired nation who also seemed to have endless words but never quite the right ones, he knew what he needed to do.

Smiling again, Matthew stood, drawing on Arthur's arm so he would turn to face him and said, "I think you need a hug."

Unnecessarily Long Notes are Unnecessarily Long

I didn't state the specific setting of this scene, but the timing of the historical events mentioned means it has to have been sometime between June and August of 1947. Despite the fact that Mattie says "not much is going on", my lord, a lot was going on in 1947; hence why Artie is doing his best impression of the walking dead. Besides the Indian and Pakistan independence movement, officially achieved in August 1947 which is alluded to (Mountbatten, or 3 June Plan, was the precursor to the Indian Independence Act of 1947), Europe was also going through complete social upheaval. To mention just a couple highlights: Germany was in such ruin it was said to have returned to the Roman ages, Britain was rationing harder than ever despite the war having ended, and of course Mr. Truman and Mr. Stalin were gearing up for the Great Showdown. A quote I like which captures the feeling of the time is from H.G. Wells: "[where] other civilizations rolled and crumbled down, the European civilization was, as it were, blown up." [quoted by Tony Judt, Postwar]. Also directly concerning Arthur was the issue of Palestine, which as we all know was and is contentious, to say the very least.

Arthur's attitude to decolonisation is...complicated. Clearly I went with a softer view here, but certainly not all (or even many) British held the view in 1947 that the Empire should be decolonized at all. Hence Arthur during this time was probably a raging hypocrite and, if he wasn't already, at least 50% psychologically unstable. However, I allowed Arthur a little dignity here, in part because he's 2000 years old and as such should have a tiny more perspective than us humans, and also because the weakness of the Empire was much more evident to those in government and the army. Even if it wasn't popular opinion yet, anyone with half a braincell could see that every day Britian didn't decolonize was costing them more than they could afford. Additionally, Britain did decolonise much, much faster than all the other powers and in a relatively peaceful and orderly manner, though what ensued in the countries they left behind was neither. I should also add that Matthew is not the most objective of narrators either -- Canada, despite being a former colony, was still strongly Anglophilic, especially right after WWII. Still, I hope ya'll won't begrudge Arthur a hug.

[itsadamcole]

graduation day pt.2

fem!reader x finn balor

It’s been two months since reader graduated college. Her and Finn’s new relationship is going strong. She’s applied for a position as teacher’s assistant at the college she graduated from so she has a reason to continue living nearby to be with Finn. The two decide to keep their relationship on the down low since he is her former professor. She finds out that it’s not easy to keep a relationship on the down low, especially when she finds out the teacher she is assisting is the woman that has had a thing for Finn for the longest time .... “you are so fucking hot when you’re jealous”

word count: 3.6k+

warnings: a former teacher/former student relationship, angst, smut

— here’s part 2 of “graduation day” that probably no one wanted. enjoy —

masterlist || part 1 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 ||request an imagine here

~ 18+ content below - read at your own risk ~

You’re getting ready for your first day of work when your phone begins to ring. You see that “finn ♡” has popped up. You answer right away.

“Look who it is,” you say, smiling as you brush out your Y/H/C hair before tying the natural waves up in a high ponytail. “I was just thinking about you.”

Your new boyfriend laughs over the phone and says, “I can only imagine what was goin’ through that pretty little head of yours. Anyway, have ya found out who ya are assigned to assist?”

As Finn talks through the phone, you put on your outfit for the day. When he’s done speaking, you say, “Not yet. I report to the English department head.” I did request to be put in the English department so there’s more of a chance that I’ll be put with you.”

The outfit you’re wearing today consists of a simple short sleeved black dress with converse black and white sneakers.

Finn says, “Well, stop my my office when ya get assigned. Maybe I can tell ya a little about the teacher ya were assigned to so ya know what to expect.”

You add some light makeup to your look as you say, “I will. I have to get to the school so I’ll see you in a bit.”

“Alright,” Finn says. “See ya in a bit.”

The two of you say your goodbyes. You gather your things, including phone, wallet, and little backpack in case you’re assigned to grade something.

It’s 7:30 in the morning. You woke up an hour ago to shower and get dressed. You don’t have to be at school until eight but you want to grab coffee from Dunkin.

You get into your car, throwing your things in the back.

The past two months have been anything but ordinary for you. Since graduation day, you and Finn have been attached at the hip. You're always at his place or he's over at yours. The new relationship between the two of you has needed some getting used to.

He convinced you to stay nearby by getting a job as teacher's assistant. You're getting paid a decent amount too because it's a private college. It was this or go home to New York, which would be over a thousand miles away. You were not interested in leaving Finn this soon. So you applied for the job.

Once you got hired, Finn told you that he wanted to keep the new romance between the two of you a secret. You immediately agreed. Finn's well known among the teachers and students and you had some friends in the grade below you. It wouldn't look good if it came out that you and Finn were in a relationship.

He's your former professor. You're his former student. You only graduated almost three months ago.

There's also an almost seventeen year age difference between you and Finn. You turn 23 in a few months and Finn is 39. Neither you or Finn care about the age gap. It just wouldn't look very good for either of you if the relationship between the two of you was public.

You think about the past two almost three months in the short ride to Dunkin. You go through drive-thru to get your coffee and two donuts.

A medium mocha iced coffee with some cream, sugar, and some extra mocha to make it a little more sweet. You get two glazed donuts to eat on the way to school.

You and Finn both embraced the change of relationship. You went from teacher and student to lovers. Some would find it weird, especially with the age gap, but it never bothered you or him. Finn definitely still moves like he’s in his 20s and not about to hit is 40s.

When you arrive at school, you remember the last time you were here. You pulled up almost three months ago to confess your feelings to your teacher before proceeding to sleep with him in his office. It was the best sex of your life. The few times you've had sex since have been good, but nothing compared to what happened in the office on graduation day.

You pull into a spot in the teacher's parking lot. You park in the back of the lot. Once parked, you reach back and grab your things out of the backseat before getting out of the car. You secure the backpack on your shoulders before walking toward the English building, half drank iced coffee in hand.

The campus has teachers and students roaming around. It's almost eight in the morning. You're sure a few classes have begun by now.

You take the elevator to the fourth floor, walking down the hallway. You pass Finn's office, which is only a few doors down from the head of the English department.

Once you're outside the department head's door, you knock four times then wait.

An older man, probably late 50s or early 60s, answers the door. He's dressed very professional.

"Ah, Miss L/N," he says. "I've been expecting you. Please, come in."

You give him a kind smile before walking into the larger office. You're not surprised it's a big office. He is the department head.

The name plate on his door said "Dr. Dennis Hart PhD. Head of English Department". You sit across from Dr. Hart at his desk.

Dr. Hart says, "It's always wonderful to see former students getting a job here at the school. You did phenomenal in your English classes over the last four years so this department is lucky to have you."

You give a little laugh and say, "I'm just giving back to the school that gave me an amazing college experience. It's good to be back."

The older man smiles and says, "Now. The teacher I've assigned you to is Miss Veronica Rodriguez. She's a wonderful teacher and has been teaching here for five years. She teaches 407 English to seniors and her classroom is right below us, next to Mr. Balor's classroom. I saw you had him last year for English."

You nod and say, "I did. How is Mr. Balor? He was one of my favorite teachers and I never got to say goodbye and thank you to him."

When you and Finn agreed to keep your relationship on the down low, you both also agreed to act like you haven't seen each other since graduation day to throw off any suspicions.

Dr. Hart says, "He's been good. Very excited to be coming back for his tenth year of teaching."

"Ten years, wow," you say, almost shocked. Almost. "That's a long time. I didn't even think he was old enough to be teaching ten years."

The older gentlemen laughs and says, "He's older than you probably thought. Alright, class begins in about fifteen minutes so head on down and introduce yourself to Miss Rodriguez before class begins."

You nod and thank Dr. Hart before leaving the room. You walk down the hallway, checking to make sure no one is behind you before you slip into Finn's now open office. He sits at his desk.

"Hey," Finn says, facial expression brightening when he sees you. "How'd it go? Who ya assisting for the semester?"

You sit across from Finn at his desk and say, "Veronica Rodriguez. You know anything about her?"

Finn blinks at you before he says, "She's been up my butt for years. She's had a thing for me since she started teaching here and it's not a secret either. It's also not a secret that I've been rejecting her over and over again. She's a good teacher. She just needs to leave me alone."

You raise your eyebrows and say, "Wow. Well, don't worry. I'll do everything I can to keep her away from you."

He smiles and you look at the time. Ten minutes before class. You stand up and say, "Well, I've got to go to class. Are we meeting up for lunch here?"

Finn nods and says, "Of course. I'll see ya then."

You smile and lean over the desk, pressing a very light kiss to Finn's lips before leaving the room.

You head downstairs, walking to the classroom.

When you reach your destination, you knock on the door before opening it.

Miss Rodriguez is a younger woman. She's probably early or mid 30s and she's beautiful.

She looks at you and says, "You must be Y/N L/N. Dennis told me I'd be getting a teacher's assistant this semester and he told me you were a former student."

You nod and say, "That's me, and yes I am. I graduated in May." It's now mid-August.

Miss Rodriguez says, "Well, it's nice to meet you. You can call me Veronica or Ver, whichever you like. You don't need to be formal with me since we're co-workers."

You give her a nice smile. She seems like a very nice person. She tells you the schedule of her classes. Two classes on Monday and Thursdays. One class on Tuesdays, three on Wednesdays, none on Friday, and a late night class on Saturday. The only very early classes are on Monday and Thursday at 8:20 in the morning.

As students start trickling in, Veronica says, "I teach seniors who aren't very awake this early. This can be a little tricky sometimes but you'll get the hang of it. When I'm out sick or visiting family, I'd like you to come in and just assign some work then you can dismiss the class."

You nod.

Right as Veronica begins class, you look over at the doorway to see Finn standing there. You try not to have a reaction as Veronica notices. "Mr. Balor," she says. "Nice to see you. How was your summer?"

Finn says, "Eventful." You have to cover your smile. "How was your summer, Ver."

"A little less eventful," she says. "I stayed in most of the time, reading books. Um, why didn't you return my calls?"

You raise your eyebrows a bit and Finn glances at you before he says, "Like I said, my summer was very eventful. I apologize."

Veronica says, "Well maybe we can just skip over the phone calls and you can take me out to dinner."

Jealousy hits you like a truck. You want to say something but you know you can't. All you can do is bite your lip to stay quiet.

Finn gives a breathy laugh and he says, "After class we'll talk. Oh, and Y/N?" You look at him. "Nice to see that ya keep gnawing on that lip of yours. I'd stop doing that before ya cut it open."

He said that to you on graduation day. Your face heats up a little bit and let your lip snap back into place.

The door to the classroom closes and class begins.

***

After class ends, you make your way up to Finn's office. He's still in class so you sit in the spiny chair behind his desk.

Several minutes pass before you hear his voice outside. Not only his voice but Veronica's too. You hide under Finn's desk as the two walk into the room.

"... didn't tell me no in front of my students," Veronica is saying. "I'm thankful for that."

Finn says, "I've told ya no many times. I'm not interested in ya, Ver. You're a nice woman, and I'd even say attractive, but I'm not interested."

Veronica is quiet before she says, "Is it because of a wife? Or a girlfriend? Because I don't care about that, Finny. You know this"

"Get out of my office, Ver," Finn sighs, clearly annoyed. "Now."

You hear someone leave and peek out to see only Finn in the room. He looks over and sees you peeking out from over the desk.

He says, "Ya can come out, Y/N."

Slowly, you make your way out from under the desk and walk up to Finn. "I don't like how she can openly flirt with you," you say, pouting.

Finn's hands intertwine with yours and he says, "I'm all yours, my princess."

You pout some more and say, "It's not fair, Finn."

He says, "Relax, Y/N. I have no interest in her whatsoever. It's only you." He presses light kisses to your cheek and you look at Finn. His light kisses make their way to your neck, making you sigh.

"We are not doing this in your office again," you gasp as Finn grips your thighs right under your butt.

He smiles against your neck and says, “I never said we would, love.”

You giggle and say, “Come by my place when you get off work and we can do that there.”

Finn says, “I’ll definitely be there at four then.” You smile and nod before pecking his lips.

“I should head down to the classroom to make sure everything’s okay,” you say. “I’ll come back at lunch.”

He nods and says, “I’ll see ya in a few hours. Maybe I’ll come check on ya to make sure ya are okay.”

You smile and say, “If you hear yelling coming from my classroom then you should come running because I might be about to kill Veronica.”

Finn laughs and says, “Don’t kill her, Y/N. Please.”

You peck Finn’s lips before leaving the classroom.

Veronica dumps a little work for you to do. Just to make sure that everyone did the in-class assignment and to mark people who didn’t.

Noon hits and you go to the cafeteria to grab your lunch. You are in line when someone comes up behind you. You glance behind you to see Finn.

“Y/N,” he says. “Good to see ya again. How was your summer?”

You nod and say, “Good. Very eventful. How was yours, Mr. Balor?”

Finn says, “Also eventful. How about ya come by my office and have lunch with me so we can catch up?”

As you grab your lunch, you nod and say, “That sounds good.”

Finn laughs softly as the two of you grab your lunch. You pay and Finn pays before the two of you head to the office.

You walk into the office and Finn closes the door behind you. You sigh and sit at Finn’s desk. You begin to eat and Finn says, “I can’t wait for this day to be over.”

“I agree,” you say, swallowing the bite of your veggie burger.

The door opens and Veronica walks in. She says, “We usually have lunch together, Finny.” She sounds like a child and it annoys you.

Finn has a look on his face and he says, “We had lunch together one time, Ver.”

Veronica says, “It’s a little inappropriate to have lunch with a former student.”

“We’re catching up,” Finn says. “And she works in the department now. She’s a co-worker now.”

You look back at Veronica and you say, “You know what’s actually inappropriate? Begging someone to go out with you when said someone isn’t interested.”

Finn’s eyes widen and Veronica says, “Excuse me. That’s no way to speak to me. I can have your job.”

You smirk and say, “Go ahead. Try to take my job, but imagine what would happen if I went to your superior and told them that you harass Mr. Balor here.”

Veronica says, “Dr. Hart spoke so highly of you and you are not what I expected.”

“Yeah, well, I can tell that Mr. Balor is tired of your shit and he’s too nice to say anything about it so I will,” you say, turning in your seat to face Veronica. “I’m telling you now because he won’t. Back off of him.”

She looks taken aback by my comment. Her jaw is almost to the floor and Finn’s hiding a smile behind his hands.

Veronica says, “Keep speaking to me in that matter and I’ll make your life hell for the semester.”

A comeback immediately comes into your head as you say, “It’s already hell because I’m assigned to you.”

Veronica has a pissed off look on her face and she says, “Whatever.” She leaves the office and you look at Finn. He’s looking right at you.

“Ya are so fucking hot when you’re jealous and telling someone off,” he says.

You giggle and say, “Relax Finny Boy. A few more hours then you can do whatever you want to me.”

“Oh, I plan on doing whatever I want to ya,” he says, smirking at me.

***

You get back to your apartment at 3:30. Finn won’t be here for a half hour so you decide to get into something a little sexier than this plain black dress.

You put on a white lacy bodysuit. The whole thing is a little bit see through and the neck dips down low, exposing your cleavage. You keep your hair up and lay across the bed, laying on your side and facing the door.

Finn has a key. You gave him the extra key you had so he can walk into the apartment whenever he wants to. He’s only scared you once and he learned his lesson.

At four on the dot, the front door to your apartment opens and you hear Finn call, “Y/N?”

“Bedroom,” you call back.

The door is open and several seconds later, Finn appears in the doorway. His neatly tied tie now hangs draped over his neck and the first few buttons on his shirt are now unbuttoned.

His eyes darken with lust when he sees what you’re wearing.

“Like something you see, Finn?” you tease.

He nods and he keeps staring at you. You get off the bed and you walk up to Finn.

You hook your fingers in the belt hooks of Finn’s pants and look up at him. You say, “You’re mine, Finn. All mine.”

Finn echos, “All yours, my love.”

You smirk and say, “Good. Now fuck me until I can’t walk.”

That’s all Finn needs to hear before he picks you up by your thighs and walks you over to the bed. His lips are on your neck as he walks over to your bed. You gasp and giggle.

He drops you on your back on the bed and kicks off his shoes while starting to unbutton his pants.

You bite your lip gently as Finn undresses himself in front of you. Your eyes trace every muscle on his body.

Finn’s down to his boxers when he crawls on top of you, hovering over you between your legs. His lips crash to yours and they move harshly. You move your hips so your crotch rubs against Finn’s bulge. He lets out a low groan into the kiss then pins your hips to the bed. “I don’t think so, love,” he says, pulling away from the rough kiss. Ya told me to fuck ya until ya can’t walk so no teasing.”

You pout as Finn gets on his knees between your legs. His fingers hook onto the straps of your lingerie and he pulls the piece down until your naked as the day you were born.

Finn smirks as he admires your body. His hands roam a bit and you smile, watching his hands. They dip below your waist and his fingers run through your folds. You gasp as Finn pushes two fingers into you.

“Oh, Finn,” you sigh. He moves his fingers hard into you, scissoring you open. Your gasps and moans fill the room. You grab onto the silky bedsheets.

Finn move his fingers in and out of you roughly and quickly for a few moments before he pulls them out. You whine and look at Finn.

“Patience, my love,” he says, pulling off his boxers so his erect member is free. You reach out for it and Finn pins your wrists to the bed.

Finn leans down and says in your ear, “Tonight’s about ya, love. I’m gonna make sure ya know that I belong to ya and ya only.”

As soon as he’s done talking, he pushes himself into you. You moan softly and you put your hand on Finn’s biceps. As he begins to thrust into you, you dig your fingers into Finn’s arm.

Finn’s hands are on either side of your head, propping himself up. Your legs are wrapped securely around Finn’s waist as he moves hard and deep into you. His forehead rests on yours.

He moves roughly but almost in a careful way. He’s never moved like this before.

You slide your hands to Finn’s cheeks as he moves. You kiss his lips slowly, moaning as his thrusts get faster.

After a second, you roll and straddle Finn’s waist. You lower yourself onto his member and move your hips. His hands are on your waist, helping you move your hips.

“I’m yours,” Finn moans. “All yours, Y/N.”

You echo, “All mine.” You ride Finn like you never have before. You move like he moved. Roughly but carefully.

Finn sighs, “Come with me, princess.”

You nod and Finn counts down from three. Both of you come together, like the first time the two of you had sex in Finn’s office. You moan and cry out as you release around Finn. He groans as he releases his seed into you.

You roll off Finn and lay beside Finn.

As you both lay on the bed beside each other, you say, “That felt different but a good different.”

He laughs softly and says, “It did. It felt really good. I loved it.”

“And I love you,” you suddenly blurt out. You quickly cover your mouth and look at Finn.

The Irishman smiles and he leans over, kissing your neck softly. He mumbles by your ear, “I love ya too.”

[captainkirkk]

ok so. so so so. this will be a long message, because frick on a stick there is so much i want to tell you and thank you for. so brace yoself: i read history has its eyes on you only yesterday, but i've been desparately rereading it ever since, almost non-stop, because holy macaroni if this fic ain't one of the most perfect stories these tired eyes have ever seen. i love SO MANY THINGS i'm not sure where to even start, gosh. okay. okay. let's start at the beginning. (1/?)

WEEPS. You sent me A DOZEN messages, bless you? And thank you!!!

This ask and my response got long, so I’m putting it under the cut. There’s a bunch of headcanons about the ‘see it all in bloom’ universe in here, so if you’re interested, keep reading. 

your headcanons regarding class 3-a’s rise to fame/the july attacks/deku’s leap in the limelight as future number one, i adore it all. it makes sense, it’s exciting even if we don’t get to see it on the page word-for-word/in real time, and it’s inspiring too! but most of all, it fits them all so well – they deserve to be written as great heroes and i’m beyond happy you gave that to them in your story – to ALL of them, including shinsou. cookies for you. (2/?)

secondly, the rankings you picked for them – deku as no.1 of course, and katsuki ACTUALLY BEING CONTENT WITH SECOND PLACE, EFF YEAH! and shouto at no.4, holding neither all might’s nor his father’s former ranks, i appreciate the heck out of this. just… all the kids becoming awesome heroes and having wonderful, fulfilling careers just like they’ve always wanted, i’m here for this and i’m here to STAY. (3/?)

thirdly, katsuki’s character. i will be the first person in this fandom to admit my intense dislike of him, but you’ve written him in exactly the way i’ve always wanted him to turn out – significantly less jaded, noticeably more humble (and sane…), actively working to correct the mistakes of his past by becoming an advocate for quirkless kids and participating in anti-bullying campaigns (as an ex bully-victim, reading this made me want to kiss you) with deku, that felt sweet on the soul (4/?)

and also being married to kirishima, of course. DUH. speaking of which, the ships! THE SHIPS! ALL. MY. FAVOURITE. SHIPS. they were all there, they all got attention, and i love you all the more for it. tododeku especially. i just love how tenderly yet comfortably they were written. in my mind, they’ve always felt like the couple that will get the happily-ever-after kind of romance, like two souls mated in a fairy tale come to life. and they, above all others, deserve that everlasting joy (5/?)

and the parts with toshinoti, how he’s dealing with his new(-ish?) lifestyle and the world is spinning on without him, but also taking care of him, because he’s more than earned it – how all his former friends and students have become family to him and are so eager to remain an active part of his life, how he helps bakugou with teaching (for dummies ;P) and is so painfully proud of deku, it was all so deeply touching and heartwarming, i loved every single one of his scenes to bits! (6/?)

the writing was wonderful forma purely technical point as well: there were some typos but nothing serious, and it all flowed quickly yet smoothly – you stylde felt simple and dynamic, but also somehow profound, perhaps precisely because of its simplicity. i still can’t put my finger on it. i just know i loved it. your ocs were a great addition too! their personalities felt distinct and they left good impressions without overstaying their welcome in a class 3-a-centred story, top job! (7/?)

the whole domestic feel of the fic was wonderful as well! it felt like a true slice-of-life piece, even though the lives in question are filled with action and danger. you captured the nature of the balance between working your (adventurous and stardom-speckled) dream job and living your private life/spending quality off-time with friends very accurately. the final excerpt (the description of the photo) left a sweetly nostalgic sense buzzing in my chest. just… thank you for this story. (8/?)

and now that i’m done singing your praises, time for the payback! i adore this verse, and therefore i naturally have questions. first and most importantly, the tododeku relationship development. could you tell me when and how they got together in this verse, how that whole tidbit with suing endeavour went, and when and how exactly they got engaged? i assume it’s in the 5 months leading up to the reunion, but details please? future wedding details too? give me ALL THE DETAILS. (9/?)

then, ranking details! we know deku’s no.1, bakugou’s no.2, and shouto’s no.4, but the fic mentions the class currently has 6 members in the top 10. who are the rest, and who’s the number 3 hero? please tell me it’s momo. PLEASE. also, have their ranks changed since the time they graduated, or have they remained the same for the last 7 years (i.e. deku’s always been no.1 ever since he entered the ranklist, shouto’s always been no.4, etc.)? and what’s shinsou’s rank? (10/?)

what about teaching details? where’s nedzu if aizawa’s principle? is shinsou a part-time teacher or a guest lecturer? does bakugou now do teaching full time, or does he only do homeroom for one class and keeps hero-ing in the meantime? will he even remain in the ranklist if he stops fighting villains? will he even care? and on a less-related note, are bakushima the only married couple? and when did they get married? was deku best man? my shameless curiosity demands to know everything (11/?)

finally, in case i haven’t tormented you enough, i wanted to ask, how do you envision our heroes’ futures? we know they’re only 25 in the story, and tododeku are about to soon get married. and bakushima are married already, bakugou’s switching careers, yada yada. but if you had to plot a course for the rest of class 3-a’s lives, what would it look like? all might mentioned grandchildren, but would tododeku want that? and where even was/is kouda in this entire fic? xDDD thank you!!! (12/12)

Again: thanks for the comments! I’m so glad you enjoyed this.

The next ‘in bloom’ instalment will focus on Bakugou becoming involved in anti-bullying campaigns. I’m with you, Bakugou makes me very uncomfortable in canon, but occasionally we get these glimpses of character development (esp in the manga), and I just needed to bring that out and expand on it. 

And there will always be typos in my work, unfortunately. I don’t have a beta, and I’m a dumb-ass who always misses my errors. I do my best, but I am only human.

I won’t give you all the details (partly because I don’t have this universe entirely mapped out yet), but you can have some answers:

TodoDeku have a long engagement. They were engaged before we see them in ‘history…’ actually. They’re in no rush, and are very busy with their work lives, and are enjoying the blissfully engaged lifestyle. They’ve been engaged for about a year, and they have some vague plans, but nothing concrete. At the moment, they’re debating the merits of getting married somewhere private in the city vs. getting married on Toshinori’s estate. I’m not sure which one will win out. 

Their rankings have changed A LOT! When he officially entered the rankings when he was 19, Deku only ended up no. 20, because it had been over a year since the July Attacks, and he hasn’t actually done much since then, being busy with exams/graduating/entering a hero agency. A lot of people were upset by this, but it didn’t bother Deku. He was ecstatic to scrap into the Top 20 as it was.

Sorry, no. 3 belongs to Inasa (from the manga). The top 10 has changed a lot, too. There’s actually seven 1a heroes in the top 10 - Uravity was No. 11 but got a jump in popularity recently. In order: Deku, Detonation, Gale (Inasa), Polarise, unnamed number 5, Creati, Red Riot, Ingenium, an unnamed number 9, and Uravity. 

Shinsou is rankless. He’s an underground hero, and I headcanon that those types of heroes are not typically assigned ranks.

Shinsou has his own role at UA. He does a bunch of stuff: watches the entrance exams, works with some of the Gen. Ed kids, oversees possible transfers between courses, and does guest lectures. Aizawa gives him a lot of independent power.

Bakugou co-teaches Class 1-B. He occasionally guest lecturers other classes (like how Thirteen worked one-off with 1-A during the USJ attack). He has enough time to do hero work too, but he has a less intense work-load now that he’s also teaching.

Kirishima and Bakugou are the only married couple at the moment. They got married when they were 23, before TodoDeku had gotten engaged. They were the first couple to start dating in high school, too. They just … clicked, and never looked back.

Do you mean Kouda or Kouta? Kouda is probably off running a rescue animal shelter while doing minor hero work, too. Kouta is doing amateur film work and arguing with classmates when they don’t believe that he knows pro heroes irl.

I almost wrote Jirou and Momo announcing their engagement at the reunion, but at that point, I had been writing the fic for months, and I needed to upload it before I combusted. So. Yeah. They get engaged around the end of the fic.

I haven’t thought too hard about kids but … I can’t get the image of Kiri/Baku adopting an orphaned girl when they’re in their 30s, and Bakugou ringing up Midoriya to ask him to be the godfather, and Midoriya CRYING FOR HOURS. HOURS. He catches the train over at like 11pm, still in his pjs, still crying, and all over twitter there’s pics of Deku crying into a phone, sparking all kinds of terrible rumours, until he uploads a photo of him cradling his goddaughter in his arms a few hours later. 

I also have more headcanons in my history verse tag, if you’re curious. Thanks again!

[bakugou-ou]

I know how you said you wouldn't do the bakugou angst part 2 but can your pretty please with a smol deku on top with a almight onesie on do a part 2. I've probably read it like 7 times. Pleaaaaassee consider it~💓💓 p.s you are a really good writer

You and literally 56 other anons, cause I’m assuming you’re all different people lol, have requested a part 2 to the Bakugou bet angst, so here it is. Part one can be found here! Also, asdfghjkl thank you, you’re too nice. I’m mediocre at best ;~; 《Part Three》

I originally really didn’t want to do this, but the idea of having Baks with his mom got to me, and I felt bad about being so inactive on here… And then I was like, fuck it, I love Masaru too, I want both of his parents comforting him.

It’s less angsty, and more parenting fluff/comfort, but there’s not really a happy ending in this for my main boy. I hope you enjoy this! I may do a part three if people want to see the former couple interacting, but I can tell you right now that it won’t be a happy ending where everything is fixed and they get back together, it wouldn’t feel right, and I love inflicting pain on my favorite son; 2,667 words of Bakugou and his parents going through his first heartbreak, oh boy.

Mitsuki Bakugou arrived at UA half an hour after getting offthe phone with her distraught son Katsuki. He’d called her twice, begging herto hurry up because he was having a hard time trying to keep his shit together.She loved her son, but everyone went through heartbreak at some point in theirlife, and it was his turn that day. She had called her husband, Masaru, andtold him to come home from work early so that they could be there for theirson, and she had called the school to tell them she was taking her son home forthe day and that he’d be back in time for classes the following day. She neededto take care of her son, he couldn’t be left there like that, not until he’dfigured everything out.

When she pulled up by the school, Katsuki was standinginside the school gates, accompanied by Kirishima, his best friend. She rolleddown the window of the car and leaned out, “Katsuki! Let’s go!”

Katsuki was relieved to see his mother, but it also sentanother wave of agony through him as Kirishima started to walk him to the car.He shoved his hands deep into his pockets and bit down hard on his lip to keephimself from crying, trying not to seem like such fucking baby in front of hismother or his best friend. He was thankful for Kirishima walking him outthough, knowing that what had happened in the kitchen wasn’t his fault, Kirishima had been defending the relationship andhis feelings for his— no, not girlfriend, not anymore; ex-girlfriend. He rippedthe rear driver’s side door open and fell into the backseat, unable to look atKirishima or his mother.

“Thank you for walking him out, Kirishima-kun.” Mitsuki saidsweetly to the redhaired boy.

“No problem, Ma’am.” Kirishima replied, smilinglyapologetically to her before turning his attention to Katsuki, “It’s gonna beokay, Bakugou, you’ll figure this out.”

Kirishima made sure his friend was all the way in the carbefore shutting the door, and he stood watch as the car pulled away from the curband headed to wherever they were going.

Almost as soon as Kirishima had shut the door and he had puthis seatbelt on, Katsuki was doubled over in his seat, crying again. It waspathetic, he was back to a sniveling mess just as soon as he’d come out ofbeing one. He’d only managed to put himself together long enough to hear Kirishimaproperly explain the Baku Squad’s side of things, and to leave the dormitory.It had been easy to leave, he wanted to leave, he needed to get out of there,and she wasn’t around, holed up inher own room, so that made it easier to get away.

“So, you wanna give me a quick rundown of what happened, ordo you wanna wait until we get home?” Mitsuki asked her son, though she figuredit would probably be the latter, “Your dad is on his way home, too.”

“You told the Old Man too?” Katsuki asked, groaning as hisfingers found their way into his ash blond locks, gripping horribly tight ontohimself.

“We’re your parents, we’re worried about you. And you’re amess.” Mitsuki responded, glancing back in the rear view mirror and seeing herson crumpled up with his hands pulling at his hair, “Tell you what, I’ll makeakaton miso ramen and you can have as much of it as you want, I’ll even makethose spicy croquet you like so much. It’s been a while since you’ve been home…”

Katsuki was, apart from the sobbing, silent for the rest of theride back to his family home; it had been months since the last time he’d beenhome for more than an hour or two, and this was not the ideal circumstance tobe back under. His father got home before the two of them did, and was waitingat the front door for them when they walked up. Katsuki knew better than toslam the car door, his mother would yell at him about not breaking shit thatdidn’t belong to him, so he closed it with the most normal amount of force hecould manage before stomping off into the house, past his father who ruffledhis hair. The two adults lingered in the doorway and whispered something toeach other, something he didn’t hear nor cared to hear, and then followed himin. He threw himself down on couch that faced the front door, where his fatherhad already left him a large bottle of water.

Mitsuki finished cooking the meal that Masaru had started,with him staying in the living room with their son to keep an eye on him.Katsuki stopped crying, at least until lunch was ready, but then he went andlooked at his phone, it had gone off with another text from her, even worse than the other one he’dgotten while still in the dormitory, locked in his room; now everyone is mad at me!Fuck you, you didn’t even like me, and now you’re trying to make me look like the bad guy?! You’re theone who’s shit here, Bakugou, you’re the one who asked me out with no intentionof ever liking me back! God, you’re the worst! Some fucking hero you are.

With that, his phone was chucked hard at the ground, thescreen cracking as it hit the wooden floor and skidded a couple of feet to thekitchen entrance. Masaru leaned down and grabbed the phone, looking over thetext message that had just sent his son into another sobbing fit. He didn’tlike this girl, not with the way she was talking to him. Maybe that was justhim being a parent, being biased towards his son, but she sounded nasty, and itwas probably for the best that they’d broken up that early on, but it was awfulto see Katsuki torn up like that. He scrolled up and saw the first message, theone where she dumped him. It was long, angry, full of things that were very,very low blows, that he knew would get far too deep under his son’s skin,especially coming from this girl. A girl he’d been looking forward tointroducing to them, that he’d told them all about. They knew how much he lovedher, even if he’d gone about it in a very strange, somewhat poor way.

Masaru sighed, putting the phone down on the coffee tablebefore sitting down on the couch next to his son and putting his arm over hisshoulders. He brought Katsuki close to him, rubbing his arm and letting Katsukilean into him. Normally Katsuki only ever let his mother comfort him like that,but in that moment, it didn’t matter which parent tried to make him feelbetter, he just needed help. So, his father soothed him as his mother watchedfrom the kitchen doorway, looking at the two of them, such different peoplefrom each other despite the smaller one being half of herself and the otherone. A few minutes later, they moved into the kitchen, and Katsuki ate what hecould in silence, enjoying his mother’s cooking for the first time in twomonths. His head was splitting from all the crying, he was dehydrated, and hewas exhausted.

“So, Kid, let’s talk about this.” Mitsuki said as Katsukiset his empty bowl down on the table and wiped his mouth with his forearm. Shedidn’t bother scolding him about his manners, not with him in as fragile acondition as he was in, “What happened?”

“Kirishima said that everyone was in the kitchen talkingabout us, and how everything had turned out great… I didn’t like her at first,it was a stupid bet, but I ended up reallyliking her… So that’s when I decided to actually ask her out, cause I likedher, and everything’s been great, but she only heard the part about it being abet,” Katsuki began, putting his face in his hands and letting out a groan ofdispleasure, “Of course she wouldn’t fucking listen to me, she was pissed, andthat’s fine, I’d be pissed too if I were in her shoes, but she wouldn’t even talkto me about shit, wouldn’t even let me explain…”

Mitsuki got out of her seat and walked to her son, putting ahand gently on his spiky blond hair, petting him and letting him lean into heras he tried to continue explaining the situation without crying again. Neitherof his parents wanted to tell him how stupid that sort of thing was, but theyboth knew how sincere he was about his feelings, they knew this wasn’t just himbeing upset he’d been caught doing something stupid, he was genuinelyheartbroken. He couldn’t keep himself from crying as he continued.

“She wouldn’t… She wouldn’t talk to me, she said she wished she’d never met me, that I was theworst thing that… Ever happened to her!” He inhaled sharply after saying that,his lip quivering as he tried to stop himself from sobbing outright, “I wentback to my room, a-and I fucking cried, a ton, and then she… She dumped me, ina fucking text! And she… Said allsorts of really awful shit, and… I don’t wanna go back, Mom, don’t make me goback!”

Katsuki broke down, clinging to his mother and crying intoher stomach as she hugged him back; the last time they’d seen him like this waswhen he got back from being kidnapped by the League of Villains, and even then,he kept it to himself, waiting until he was alone in his room, refusing toshare the burden of his feelings with them. He was learning and growing, theyknew it, and they appreciated him opening up, even if it was because everythingwas just too much for him to bear on his own that afternoon.

Masaru left the two of them to retrieve the phone and showMitsuki the text messages that Katsuki had been talking, and once she was donereading, she knelt in front of her son and took his puffy, reddened,tear-stained face in her hands and forced him to look her in the eyes.

“Do you really like that girl?” She asked, to which heresponded with a nod and a choked sob, “Do you want to be with her still?”

The question hit him hard; did he? She’d said some reallyfucked up shit, stuff that was totally uncalled for in his opinion. And he knewshe was mad, that’s why she’d said it, but she kept laying it on, piling theinsults higher and higher, and then there was the most recent message. Hereally liked her, but she was hurting him so damn bad. He knew she felt likeshit, but he wouldn’t have ever talked to her the way she talked to him, evenwith as pissed off as he could be. She had been his girlfriend, he would nevertalk to her like that…

“I-I don’t know…” He mumbled, blinking to clear his eyes ofsome tears that had formed, “She hates me.”

“Maybe she does, but do you wanna be with someone who talksto you like that, and turns your biggest insecurities on you like that?”Mitsuki asked, brushing the spikes framing his face behind his ear, lookinginto those distressed crimson eyes that had come from her. “You’re not perfect,you’ve made a lot of mistakes, but you’re my son, and I don’t want you bendingyourself this far out of shape over someone who clearly has no control overtheir emotions. You already have enough of a problem with that on your own, youdon’t need a psycho girlfriend.”

Masaru disagreed slightly with his wife’s analysis of thesituation, but he wasn’t going to say anything; he did, however, agree with herthat their son shouldn’t hope for this relationship to work out, especially ifshe talked like that. The girl seemed to be the type that purposefully lookedfor flaws and brought them out to hurt people when they were at their worst formaximum damage. Katsuki was already a relatively unstable person as it was, hedidn’t need to deal with someone else’s issues at the same time.

“But I really like her! I was… I was really happy!” Katsuki objected, crying harder.

“You fucked up, Kid, and she showed her true colors. It’snot a good spot for either of you, I think you should both part ways. That’sthis Old Bat’s opinion, as someone who has been where you are quite a fewtimes, and been where she is a few times too.” Mitsuki responded, wiping awayhis tears with her thumbs, “You’re gonna keep making mistakes and learning, andyou’ve got your whole life ahead of you to date other people, she’s not the onlyperson out there. Someday you’re gonna find someone that’s not going to tearyou down when you do something that upsets them, that is gonna believe that youreally do love them. You’ll find someone that’s for you like Dad is for me,Katsuki, it’s not the end of the world, even if it feels like it right now.”

Katsuki listened to everything she said, knowing she wasright, but it didn’t make him feel any better; both his parents knew that itwouldn’t, but they needed to tell him anyway.

“T-Thanks, Baba…” Katsuki mumbled, hugging her as his fatherwalked over and rubbed his back.

“For what it’s worth, I agree with your mom on most of that.The choice is up to you, but it’s probably for the best if you and that girl goseparate ways.” Masaru said quietly.

Katsuki continued to cry into his mother’s shoulder; itreally was shit, he hated it, he didn’t want to go back to school and have todeal with her. Not yet. Fortunately for him, though, he was staying overnightat home. He had the whole night to spend with his parents, or by himself, doingwhatever he wanted, and he’d go back to the school in the morning, after havingsome time to calm down and rest…  But,first, he needed a new phone, since the other one was broken.

Masaru took the phone to the nearest shop and got it swappedfor a newer, nicer model from the same line, one that Katsuki had been savingup for, and made sure that all of his data got switched over to the new phone.Katsuki spent a lot of time going through and deleting things that reminded himof her, like their texts, and pictures he had of her. He changed his phonebackground from her to a picture of the view from the beach park nearest wherehe lived. It was a nice shot, it complimented the color of his new phone.

He spent most of his time alone in his bedroom that night,napping off all the emotions he’d spent, and coming down to have dinner withhis parents, who did a great job of keeping him distracted by talking abouttheir jobs. He liked hearing about their work, even if he had no interest ingoing into it. After dinner, the three of them settled onto the couch in theliving room for a family movie night, they watched several movies, all of whichKatsuki picked, and all three of them fell asleep together on the couch.Katsuki’s head rested on his mother’s chest, his legs draped over his father’slap; it was like he was a little kid again, only much, much larger than he hadbeen the last time they’d all been like that. His parents were glad that hewas, for the time being, okay. The second he needed them again, they’d be rightthere; that’s what parents are for.

[axiang-n-chengling-s-dads]

Sooooo I saw the video, and here are my thoughts on it.

(Disclaimer: I've only been in this fandom for 3 years, and was not much aware of fandom drama before this. Which I suppose was the target audience for Sarah Z: ppl who were interested enough in tjlc to sit through an hour and half video and also unaware of the drama enough to want to watch it)

So, some ppl were saying that the video was gonna be pretty bad; I won't blame them her Twitter activity did not make it look very promising.

But now that I have seen it, I must say, not bad.

Some of the drama like the 2015Con etc I was aware of, but tbh had never even heard about the Powerpuff Girls shit (which I think talks more about the fact that we really have cleansed our fandom of that type of stuff more than me just being straight up ignorant lol), and yeah toplock and stuff like that were some pretty yikes things.

She covered all the darker parts in a manner I think was accurate, if a little tipped against tjlcers.

But mostly, She was more neutral about it than I'd expected, which was great. Though I do think that the ppl in the community at that time (and those still here) did genuinely believe that johnlock would be endgame rather than being here for clout or to lead astray young LGBT kids (tho I really do not know, neither in the fandom at that point myself or a member of the LGBT community)

What I was disappointed with, and rather was almost hopeful to see when she mentioned she was a former johnlocker, was her portrayal of the positive side of tjlc. Because yes, a huge part of the appeal WAS, for the LGBT community tjlcers, the idea of a gay romance being shown on a major television show, but it was also the fact that it would have been so incredibly clever.

The sheer idea that someone could put so much effort into a piece of media, the BELIEVABILITY of it. TJLC Explained wasn't the "gateway drug" to Tjlc bc they wanted it so badly, it was because it was so PROBABLE, the evidence was admittedly so GOOD, so BRILLIANT, that anyone would want it to be true.

Recently, 21 Pilots had this thing where there were clues in a YouTube video and the fans had to figure in passwords and stuff to unlock new levels to get to the album. Why was it so incredibly popular? Why did so many people stay up all night to solve the clues? Because we WANT things to be clever. We LOVE it when things are clever. Why blame the tjlc community for wanting just that, especially when we were promised we would?

But it's not about that really. It's about the fact that TJLC was a community that did revolutionise fandom, the way people could be invested in things, the TIME and EFFORT People could put into things they loved. TJLC taught so many the idea of critical analysis of media, of literary devices, of things that Sarah Z herself does today

. (Also the hardcore tjlcers that I do know of, do not hate on those who do not believe and simply ask them to not interact with tjlc posts. Not too much to ask is it?)

And yes the fandom was full of teenagers, but it was also full of literature majors and people who LOVED media analysis, who built these theories in a manner not too far fetched from what must be going on the field of literature itself. I wish Sarah Z had pointed out more the BEAUTY of these theories, the amount of KNOWLEDGE that was put into making metas.

Lastly, I wish that she'd talked a bit more about the community it is today. Yes it's an obviously smaller community, but it's a much healthier one, with one of the best fanfics and fanarts that I've ever seen, with both old and young people, of all sexual orientations, celebrating something that is actually quite beautiful and simple.

(TL;DR : the video in itself wasn't as bad as some feared, but I wish she'd talked a bit more about the intricacy of the theories, the knowledge that went into it, and what tjlc is like today)

I mean I've only heard about the "horrors of tjlc" second-hand bc I came into the scene very late but now that I am here for like 3(???) years, it's just a bunch of ppl making what might be one of the most beautiful fanwork that I've ever seen??? And just ppl analysing things and enjoying themselves??? And apparently this random girl is making videos on the community for no reason like leave them alone????

like these ppl talk like tjlc fans were like banging on ppls doors trying to recruit them like bitch no that's what YOU are doing bothering them