#she's since turned to the good side so now shes a traitor and being used by leverage

[boimlerkisser]

Not to keep talking about music, but despite having little to no interest in the new Deadpool movie (boycott reasons as well yanno) LORD did they make some fucking awesome covers of Like a Prayer!!! 😩😩😩

(Me listening to this shit)

[nomie-11]

Lover Girl

masterlist!

synopsis: vi was a loser, a lover girl, and head over heels for you

pairings: vi x reader (no use of y/n)

Vi was a loser. 

She was always reminded of her pitiful stance as a random masc lesbian on campus when she passed by you on her way to her afternoon lab. She would watch you walk by, curls bouncing, heeled boots clicking against the pavement as you laughed along to whatever the gorgeous Kiramman girl on your side was saying. 

Vi didn’t stand a chance, not against the Kiramman and not against every other gay within a 50 kilometer radius of you that so desperately wanted to get between your beautifully toned thighs. 

But Vi had a plan. It wasn’t a good plan, but it was a plan nonetheless. Step one: casually run into you at the campus coffee shop. Step two: say something cool. Step three: make you fall madly in love with her, or at the very least, get you to remember her face. 

Simple, right?

Wrong. 

Because the moment Vi stepped into the coffee shop and spotted you at the counter—hair tossed over your shoulder, Caitlyn leaning in to say something that made you grin—her brain short-circuited. her heart pounded like she’d just run sprints, and suddenly, she forgot how to be a normal, functioning human being. 

Ellie, ever the devil on her shoulder, nudged her forward. “Go on, lover girl. Say something smooth.” 

Vi swallowed hard, adjusted her jacket, and sauntered up beside you, trying her best to look effortlessly cool. Instead, she tripped over absolutely nothing and lurched forward, her group on her coffee slipping. Time slowed as the cup tilted, then tumbled, and in an instant—

SPLASH. 

A flood of piping hot coffee cascaded down the front of your pristine white shirt. 

You gasped, eyes wide as the liquid soaked into the fabric, turning it completely see-through. Vi’s own traitorous eyes followed the path of destruction, trailing powder, until—

Oh. Oh no. 

Your bra, lacy and delicate, clung to your skin in a way that should be illegal. 

Vi’s brain short-circuited. Every neuron in her dumb, gay little head misfired at once. She was looking—she shouldn’t be looking—but she was looking, and oh god, she had to stop before you noticed—

“Vi!” Ellie hissed under her breath, jabbing an elbow into her ribs. 

Vi snapped out of it so fast she nearly gave herself whiplash. 

“Shit! Shit, I—oh, fuck—I am so sorry!” Her hands hovered uselessly in the air, unsure whether to help, to flee, or to simply melt into the crack in between the ratty coffee shop tiles and hoped you forgot about her. 

Your lips parted, eyes flicking down to assess the damage. “Well,” you said, voice amused despite the mess, “that’s one way to see my tits.” 

Vi wanted to die. Just perish right there in the middle of the coffee shop floor. 

Instead, she sprang into action. “Here—uh—take my jacket!” She shrugged off the worn leather in record time and practically threw it around your shoulders before anyone else could get an eyeful. “Just—yeah, cover up—uh, not that you have to! I mean, you look great—not like I was looking! Or, like, not in a creepy way—oh my god, I need to shut up—”

You laughed, warm and bright, as you pulled the jacket tighter around yourself. “Relax, Vi. It’s just coffee.” 

Vi, who had gone stiff as a board at hearing you say her name, blinked. “You know my name?” 

“You sit behind me in human physiology,” you said, smiling. “And you’re kind of hard to miss.” 

Vi’s brain fully melted. She really, really thought she would just die. 

Ellie snorted, clapping a hand on her shoulder. “Congrats, lover girl. You’re unforgettable now.”

Vi was malfunctioning. 

It had been a full five minutes since she’d doused you in coffee and humiliated herself in front of the entire campus, and yet—somehow—you were still talking to her. 

She didn’t know how or why. Maybe the universe had finally decided to cut her some slack. Maybe she’d actually died of embarrassment, and what is was the afterlife. Whatever the case, she wasn’t about to question it. 

“So,” you said, adjusting Vi’s jacket around your shoulders. It was comically broad on you, the sleeves dangling past your hands, the scent of worn leather and something undeniably her wrapping around you like a hug. “I think this means you owe me a coffee.” 

Vi blinked. “I—yeah! Yeah, totally. Whatever you want.” 

You smiled. “Cool. I’ll take a caramel macchiato. Medium.” 

Vi scrambled to order, fumbling with her wallet as Ellie watched in barely concealed amusement. When the barista called your name, you plucked the cup from the counter and took a slow, deliberate sip, eyes locked on Vi the entire time. 

“Thanks, Vi,” you said, licking a bit of coffee foam from your lip. 

Vi’s soul left her body. 

“Y-yeah, no problem,” she stammered, gripping the edge of the counter to keep herself from toppling over. “Sorry again about, y’know, ruining your shirt and, uh, your day—”

“You didn’t ruin my day,” you cut in smoothly, taking another sip of your drink. “Just my shirt. And honestly? If this is your way of flirting, keep it up. I like it.”

Vi forgot how to breathe. Ellie choked on her own drink. 

“You should do it again sometime,” you added, winking before turning toward the door. 

Vi watched you leave, slipping your arm into Caitlyn’s as you giggled, the coffee shop suddenly feeling a lot warmer. 

Ellie whistled. “Holy shit, lover girl. You might actually have a shot.”

Vi, still reeling, stared at her with wide eyes. “I need to lie down.”

————————

Vi didn’t expect to see you again so soon, but campus had a funny way of throwing her into awkward situations. 

The next morning, she was rushing across the quad, still half-asleep, when she heard someone calling her name. 

“Vi!”

She skidded to a stop, heart already hammering. She turned to find you walking toward her, wearing her jacket. 

Her poor, gay heart couldn’t handle it. 

“Oh, hey,” she said, trying to sound casual. “Uh, how’s your shirt situation?”

You laughed. “Better. But I figured I’d keep this for a bit longer. Hope you don’t mind?”

“Mind?” Vi said, as if the thought of you wearing her clothes wasn’t currently rewriting her entire brain chemistry. “Nope. Not at all. Keep it forever, if you want.”

You raised a brow. “Forever, huh? You sure about that?”

Vi’s mouth opened. Then closed. Then opened again, before she managed, “I mean—you look good in it, so—yeah?”

Your lips curled into a slow, knowing smile. 

“Good,” you said, stepping a little closer. “Because I was thinking… if you wanted your jacket back, you might have to take me out to dinner first.”

Vi stared. You smiled. Ellie, watching from Vi and her dorm window, fist-pumped the air. 

“I—uh—” Vi cleared her throat. “Dinner. Yeah. I can do that. Totally. Absolutely. When—uh—when were you thinking?”

You pretended to think, tilting your head. “Tonight?”

“Tonight,” Vi repeated, still buffering. “Yep. Cool. Great. I’ll—uh—I’ll text you?”

“Looking forward to it, lover girl,” you teased, before turning on your heel and strolling away, Vi’s jacket still draped over your shoulders. 

Vi stood there for a solid minute, staring at where you’d been. 

Then she pulled out her phone and texted Ellie:

Vi: I think I just agreed to a date???

Ellie: YOU WHAT!!!!

——————————

Vi was sweating. 

Which was ridiculous, because it was cold outside, and she was currently standing in front of your dorm, hands stuffed in her pockets, trying not to hyperventilate. 

She’d spent way too long getting ready—changing shirts three times, debating whether her other leather jacket was too much (Ellie convinced her it was ‘peak masc lesbian energy,’ and Dina agreed so she must have been right), and trying not to puke from nerves. 

And now, she was here. About to take you on a date. 

You swung the door open before she could knock. “Vi!”

Oh. Oh. 

You were in a black dress, snug in all the right places, and Vi swore she momentarily lost all motor function. 

“You good?” You asked, smirking. 

“Yeah,” Vi said, voice cracking like a teenage boy. She cleared her throat. “Yeah. Totally. You look—uh—wow.”  

You laughed, locking your dorm behind you. “You’re cute when you’re nervous.”

Vi absolutely wasn’t blushing. Definitely not. “I’m not nervous.”

“Mhm,” you said, linking your arm through hers as you started down the hallway. “So, where are you taking me, lover girl?”

————————

Vi had racked her brain for the perfect place and eventually settled on a nice, cozy little restaurant near campus. It wasn’t fancy, but it was real—warm lighting, a killer burger menu, and a jukebox playing old rock songs in the corner. 

You slid into the booth across from her, propping your chin on your hand as you watched her. 

“So, Vi,” You said, eyes twinkling. “You gonna tell me why it took spilling coffee on me to finally make a move?”

Vi groaned, dragging a hand down her face. “Can we not talk about my tragic lack of game?”

You grinned. “I think it’s cute.”

“You think everything is cute.”

“Not everything,” you teased, leaning forward. “Just you.”

Vi choked on her water. 

The rest of the date was… perfect. 

You talked, you laughed, you stole a few of her fries like it was the most natural thing in the world. Hi was completely gone for you, and by the time you both stepped outside into the crisp night air, she was wondering how the hell she’d gotten so lucky. 

You walked side by side, the streetlights casting a soft glow around you. 

“This was fun,” you said, tugging Vi’s jacket around you a little tighter. 

“Yeah,” Vi agreed, shoving her hands in her pockets. “I mean, aside from me embarrassing myself every five seconds.”

You stopped walking, turning to face her. “You didn’t embarrass yourself.”

Vi huffed. “I literally poured coffee on you, made an idiot out of myself, and nearly passed out when I saw you in that dress.”

You tilted your head. “Oh, so you liked the dress?”

Vi blinked. “Uh—yes? Obviously? Have you seen yourself?”

You stepped closer. “I have,” you said, voice soft. “But I like seeing myself through your eyes.”

Vi forgot how to breathe. 

Then, before she could process what was happening, you reached to her, gently tugging her up by the collar of her jacket—

And kissed her. 

It was soft at first, hesitant, like you were waiting for her to freak out—but Vi wasn’t that much of a loser. 

She kissed you back. Harder. 

Her hands found your waist, pulling you in, and you sighed into her mouth like you’d been waiting for this just as much as she had. 

When you finally pulled away, Vi was dazed. 

You smiled, brushing a thumb over her cheek. “Took you long enough, lover girl.” 

Vi let out a breathless laugh. “With the wait?”

You grinned. “Definitely.”

And then you kissed her again, just because you could. 

If you enjoyed this one shot, please check out my other series!

[sapphicandgraphic]

Ride It Out — Chapter 6

Synopsis: A hurricane rolls through Philly, and Melissa invites you over to ride it out. 

Chapter: 6/?

Series Warnings: Mentions of minor violence, protective Melissa, domestic fluff, hurt/comfort, WLW smut

Chapter Warnings: Edging, subspace, good girl, praise kink, aftercare, dildo

You closed your eyes, bracing yourself against the kitchen counter.

When you finally spoke, your voice was ragged with lust, excitement, desperation, and a dozen other emotions.

“Let me show you—,” you paused, fighting for composure. 

When you finally looked at Melissa, you saw an exact mirror of your own desire. You drank in the sight, relishing the way Melissa’s eyes seem to dilate as she studied your repentant expression.

“Let me show you how good I can be?” Your voice was soft, seductive.

Melissa almost dropped the plates she was holding. She took an uneven breath.

“Go upstairs, then,” she instructed. “And wait for me in the bed.”

You had just turned to go when Melissa gripped your wrist. You looked back, already hanging on her unspoken words.

“One more thing,” she murmured. “Be quiet. Can’t have our guests rushing upstairs to check on you.”

“I’ll try,” you managed.

“Try?” She repeated faintly.

Then a mischievous look passed over her face as sudden inspiration struck. “Better gag yourself, princess. Just to be safe.”

You felt your heartbeat thudding in your ears. Could someone pass out from being so turned on?

“With what?” You whispered, feeling incapable of making even the smallest decisions. Your brain was mush, your body on auto-pilot, attuned like a magnet to Melissa’s every want.

The redhead raked her eyes up and down your figure, lingering on your shifting thighs.

“Those underwear should be just about ruined by now,” she said.

And Jesus, you felt your traitorous body reacting automatically, proving her point as another pulse of sticky arousal flooded your cotton hip huggers. You bit back a whine.

“Use them.” Her tone was careless, but her eyes were shining with playful warmth, daring you to defy her.

You walked upstairs on shaky legs. The appreciative chatter of the firemen faded, a distant, meaningless hum. You entered the bedroom and closed the door behind you, Melissa’s words ringing in your ears.

On the far wall there was a dresser. You opened the top drawer with clumsy fingers. And holy shit. Melissa’s underwear were neatly folded on one side. Lacy red g-strings, black matching lingerie sets, sexy cotton bikini cut thongs. Your mouth was watering by the time your eyes landed on the black silk pouch.

Ever since Melissa had uttered the word ‘toy’, your imagination had been running wild. What did Melissa Schemmenti fuck herself with? You reached inside. Immediately your fingers brushed against something hard and long. The object had the familiar texture of latex. You pulled out a dildo and exhaled slowly.

Turn it on and put it where my fingers were last night.

You sank onto the bed, gripping the toy cock. The sheets smelled like sex and sweat and something sweet, maybe Melissa’s shampoo. You unbuttoned your jeans, shimmying out until you were just wearing your shirt and underwear. You dragged a finger across the soaked fabric between your legs. Just that small sensation made your hips jolt forward.

It occurred to you that you should feel humiliated by what you were about to do. Your coworker was downstairs serving breakfast to a half dozen firefighters, and you were laying in her bed, about to fuck yourself senseless with her cock.

But you didn’t feel embarrassed. Your brain was pleasantly staticky, completely caught up in the game Melissa had started. The rules were so simple, so perfect. Punishing bad behavior, rewarding good behavior. And either way, you won.

You sank down into that foggy headspace even further. Here, Melissa called the shots. You were just her perfect obedient plaything.

You closed your eyes, picturing the possessive look on her face when she had caught you flirting; the sound of her voice when she said I thought you were my good girl.

How would she react when she finally came upstairs and found you? Your pussy actually throbbed at the thought. Was the other woman just as wet, just as aching for you? Was she pressing her legs together right now, trying to relieve the pressure? Was she driven to distraction, overcooking the eggs, burning the toast?

Even though Melissa wasn’t here yet, you decided to put on a show for her.

You dipped your fingers under the band of your underwear and pulled them off. Then, you balled the wet fabric up and placed it roughly in your mouth, inhaling the tangy flavor of your own slick. God, you were so desperate for her, so needy.

You swiped a finger through your exposed pussy, swollen and sensitive.

You groaned, animalistic, but the noise was muffled by your gag.

You let your legs fall open as you picked the toy up and turned it on the lowest setting. Anything more and you’d fall apart before Melissa could get upstairs.

Then you placed the head at your entrance, working it back and forth, gathering wetness and teasing yourself. Your eyes rolled back in your head at the pressure, and you pictured Melissa above you, pushing inside, filling you up.

With how wet you were, there was almost no resistance. The length of the toy slid inside you, deeper and deeper, until it could go no further, until it was buried to the hilt. You glanced down to see that it had disappeared inside you. And God, you wanted to pull it out immediately, just so you could thrust it back in—hard and fast and brutal, how you always touched yourself. But you were sure Melissa wouldn’t like that.

So you released the base of the toy and grabbed two fistfuls of bedsheets instead, hips jerking forward as a wave of pleasure built within you. Your ass cheeks clenched and your walls clenched down on the vibrating length, trying to hold your orgasm at bay. You cried out in agony at the unbearable pleasure, a pathetic noise that you barely recognized as your own voice. Somehow that turned you on even more.

Melissa had done this, reduced you to a whimpering needy mess. And only Melissa could undo this, could provide the permission you needed to let go. Until then, you’d have to endure the punishment. And you would. No questions asked. For her, you would endure anything.

————

Half an hour later, Melissa was patting Captain Robinson on the shoulder, sending him and his boys on their way.

“Thanks for breakfast,” he said.

Melissa smiled. “Thanks for the house call.”

“Anytime.” He tipped his helmet at her, then glanced at the stairs. “Where’d your friend disappear to?”

“Must be napping,” Melissa shrugged, cool as a cucumber. “I’ll let her know ya said goodbye.”

She gave the fire chief a final wave, then closed the front door, locked the deadbolt, and stilled.

She hadn’t heard a peep from upstairs this entire time.

For a second she considered cleaning the kitchen, just to extend the scene. But judging by the mess between her own legs, she didn’t think she’d last that long. The anticipation was killing her. She had to see you.

Climbing the stairs, she paused outside the bedroom door, listening carefully. There, beneath the whisper of rain on the roof, she heard it. A low whine. Your voice, faint, but unmistakeable. She took a deep breath and pushed the door open.

As soon as Melissa’s wide eyes landed on you—squirming, desperate, wrecked—you felt a fresh flood of arousal leak out around the toy cock. You moaned, twisting in the sheets. You had placed both hands behind your back to avoid the temptation of touching yourself.

“Fuck,” she breathed. “Look at you.”

The other woman walked slowly across the room, as if in a trance, and joined you on the bed. The low hum of the toy was barely audible, nestled between your legs. Your cheeks were flushed, there was a light sheen of sweat on your forehead.

You tried to speak, but your words were muffled by the gag.

“So fucking perfect,” she said.

You whimpered, and your hips stuttered into the air. She reached down and pulled your underwear out of your mouth. The fabric was soaked with your spit and your slick. Melissa brought it to her face and breathed in deeply.

“M’lissa,” you begged, feeling almost insane with need. “Please.”

The other woman shuddered.

She had intended to tease you, prolong this sweet torture. But the state you were in went beyond her expectations. Your eyes were glassy, glazed over; your face was so blissed out that tears had gathered and fallen in tracks down your temples, into your hair. She couldn’t deny you anymore.

“What do you want, baby?” She asked.

“Wanna come for you.” The words were broken. “Please let me.”

Melissa smiled, tracing your face with one of her fingers. She could tell your mind was deliciously blank—no thoughts except her, what she was doing to you, what she could give you. Your entire world had narrowed to this room, this moment, this punishment, this reward.

“For me?” She repeated.

Something about the sing-song lilt in her voice made you shiver. You nodded, reaching over and placing your hand on her hip, gripping the soft flesh there.

“What about your little friend downstairs?” She purred. “He can’t give ya what ya need?”

You squeezed your eyes shut. The effort of not coming was collosal, but you were desperate to earn your reward.

Melissa fisted her hand in your hair, tugging to get your attention, just hard enough that you cried out.

“Well?” She asked.

“No,” you hissed. “Only you.”

Melissa had never heard anything so sweet, so satisfying. She draped herself across your body, snaking her hand under your shirt and lifting it to reveal your tits. Each nipple was sensitive, overstimulated.

“I think you learned your lesson,” she said, ghosting her lips against yours. “But just in case it wasn’t clear…”

Then Melissa leaned down, taking one pert bud into her mouth and sucking. You arched off the bed, the mix of pleasure and pain pushing you over the edge.

“Mine,” she growled, barely audible over your high keening as you cried her name. Stars exploded behind your eyes as you finally came.

Your bare legs twitched, kicking and writhing. She placed a firm hand on your waist, holding you in place. And fuck, she could feel the dildo vibrating inside you. Melissa trailed her mouth down your stomach, biting and sucking, repeating that same word.

“Mine, mine, mine.”

Your walls clenched around the toy and a flood of wetness gushed out, soaking the sheets beneath you.

“Yours, yours, yours,” you sobbed in abject agreement.

Finally you collapsed back against the bed.

Melissa reached down and switched the toy off. You shifted, letting her pull it out of you, whimpering at the sudden emptiness. The entire length was coated in your arousal. She set it on the bedside table, then scooted closer, gathering you up in her arms, placing a kiss on the side of your head.

“You’re so perfect,” she said, voice rough with emotion. “Never seen anything so fucking beautiful in my entire life, watching you come apart like that for me.”

And you felt something warm settle in your chest at these words. You were right where you belonged, safe and sated. Your entire body felt like it was floating, untethered and boundless.

Melissa continued murmuring her praise, and it felt almost as good as the orgasm. “You’re so pretty when ya let me take care of things, let me spoil ya.”

You ducked your head, resting it on Melissa’s chest. You could hear the sound of her heartbeat, the rumble of her voice.

“I like letting go,” you said softly.  “I’ve never…for anybody else…”

“Yeah?” Melissa inhaled shakily, like your words did something powerful to her. She ran her fingers through your hair. You felt your eyelids getting heavy.

“Yours,” you whispered, fighting the pull of sleep long enough to reiterate that one word. “Yours.”

[hestzhyen]

Chapter 80 Nerves Posting

Hello, dear void. The anxiety increases as we inch towards the climax of the arc.

Editor's Comments: First Page: でっけ-書庫 [dekke- shoko!!] "A huuuuuge library!!" Last Page: 己が戦場へ駆け出せ！！ [ono ga senjyou he kakedase!!] "Dash towards your own battlefield!!"

More Kamunabi Lore Dump

Kudou, you're a great person, but I felt seen and heard by Hakuri this chapter.

How I was feeling looking at all the yap in the first half of this chapter.

Ro, head of the Sorcery Nerd clan, having such a high opinion of Hakuri is adorable. Hakuri himself is adorable too. It's now canon that he gets nauseous when overloaded with information or asked to study though (please let this just be a silly gag and not tied to anxiety over trying to please his family). Hakuri, you're the best. I love you.

Following my favourite little guy has given us some insight into the Kamunabi side of things like I hoped. And more insight into the world building! Barrier and movement sorcery being "more academic" -plus some emphasis on how important it is to learn to be useful- makes me wonder if we'll get a Hakuri training arc focused on him making use of what's in the Kamunabi's library. Or maybe having someone like Azami teach him. Who better than the incredibly strong gorilla that's a head above the best sorcerers in the whole organisation?

I'm really sad that one of Hakuri's rare smiles was turned into this though:

Absolutely insane that the "x days since someone slit their throat in front of Hakuri" timer was reset to 0.

This poor kid can't escape people killing themselves in front of him. Then Kudou (most likely) died to save him too. He stays focused but honestly?! I feel like there's a good reason to think he'll burst one day. He's got a similar near-meltdown expression Chihiro had in chapter 11 before someone snaps him out of it. Neither of them are addressing the pain they've been shoving down to get things done. If that's not brought up in some way later on then I'll be disappointed honestly.

But anyway. The guy who killed himself: Ishihira, written as 石枚. 石 [ishi] for "stone" and 枚 [hira] for counter (of things like thin, flat objects, portions of gyoza or soba, ranks, fields or rice paddies, and more). Hokazono having a laugh at naming this guy Mr. Beancounter lmao. I feel awful for him though since the Hishaku are definitely doing dastardly deeds by taking his daughter as a hostage.

The second name we got was much more interesting: Prince Nez, the short Kamunabi guy that trained Shiba and Azami, is Ichiki (壱鬼). 壱 [ichi] for "first/one" and 鬼 [ki] for "ghost/devil". PLACE THOSE TRAITOR BETS! I think we'll have the reveal soon. Azami's busy entertaining Samuraishaku, Kudou just got murked, Eyepatch hasn't been on screen since the trial in chapter 46 basically, and we've seen quite a bit of Ichiki lately while not knowing where he is at present. Hmm.

Lastly, the elite squads.

Hajime...

Hagiwara is alive and not so well. But he's active and fighting at least. Man, he looks so bitter compared to the first time we saw him with the Anti-Kuregumo squad in chapter 11. I hope we catch up with him sooner or later.

I think we should also remember the woman in the panel underneath him. I won't be surprised if she comes back with a name to call her by.

HAKURI

I can't express how much I love him.

His mask is cracked so it seems like his Storehouse sorcery really is on thin ice. But man. He's always so good at thinking under pressure. And he even apologises for hurting the people who are beating him. Hakuri, you're so kind. Probably because he knows pain far too well.

Oh man.

This is extremely interesting framing to me. Hakuri's hand is outside the panel, partially covering up the huge LOVE (愛) in the narration box in Soya's panel. At least that's how it is in JP; I assume the English version will do the same. They got it close enough I guess.

But yeah. What's up with that?

Hakuri overcame Soya's "true love" and killed him to show that he finally broke free from the family bond that kept him trapped and helpless for so long. However, he acknowledged Soya's affection for him as such and doesn't talk about what he actually endured and how it affected him. He's still quite happy to say he's fine and get on with whatever needs doing. I really get the sense that Hakuri doesn't want to think about those experiences at all. He's fine now (he's not). He's okay (he's not). He can still be useful (and thinks he needs to be to be loved). He broke free from his family but not the mindset that was literally beaten into him.

So basically I'm interpreting this as more of Hakuri not wanting to acknowledge who and what gave him the strength to endure this attack and fight back. I wrote 8k words about all this in a different post but man, Hakuri... I hope we do address all the things that have been used against him lingering in his Storehouse.

The other thing I'm thinking of is that Hakuri might be cluing in that Soya's "love" for him (and Kyora's, the same ai/愛) isn't really love after all. But I think that's something further down the road for his character if we do address that aspect of what what instilled into him. Right now we're showcasing the Sazanami influence in terms of him thinking he needs to help and give everything he has for the cause. What love means and should feel like will come when Hakuri's finally ready to address that from a healthier frame of mind, most likely. If it's addressed at all (which I really hope it is).

It's also a bit odd for a reveal that Hakuri was abused for ten years instead of the five that he was "useless" for. Maybe Soya only really went off the rails when Kyora gave up on Hakuri? Or maybe he was abusive in the name of making Hakuri strong once training started? Soya a shit either way, may he burn in hell. Hakuri has better sources of strength now!

When in a pinch, think of the person who inspires you.

Once again he uses Chihiro as motivation to shore himself up and do everything he can. Just don't push yourself too far again... please...

Hishaku Machinations

It's all going to shit, just as planned.

Using Hakuri as bait, huh. Who is considered to be in the "main forces"? What's the ultimate goal of putting Hakuri in peril? Is he really the heroine of Kagurabachi? (Yes to the last one, apparently.)

The most obvious answer to the questions would probably be that Hakuri's intended to bait Chihiro away, probably to free up Samura. But that would be unsatisfying on a narrative level after we had so much setup for Chihiro and Samura to clash over ideals at last. It's possible despite the distance between Kyoto and Tokyo -Hakuri can summon him at will and all-, but it'd be a questionable and risky move is what I'm saying.

I think it might be bait for some people in the Kamunabi higher-ups, like how Kudou was taken out in the elevator. The higher-ups in the Kamunabi have some good eggs that would probably put their lives on the line to protect Hakuri if he gets in over his head. Kudo was the best of them but Azami certainly wouldn't let Hakuri be hurt- yet he's tied up with the Samurai Hishaku guy.

So who's left?

We have no information on where the other members of the council are right now. Ichiki, Beard, and Hairclips would be prime targets because they are key to sealing the Shinuchi and Beard in particular seems to be the leader. Ichiki might be with Azami (and is a great traitor candidate) though, and the little we saw of Hairclips made her seem very dispassionate. Beard isn't above bending morals but he's also got the greater good in mind so maybe him? He invited the Hishaku in to prevent innocent civilians from being caught up in the battle, so I can see him responding to Hakuri being put in danger.

Giraffe and Mutton Chops were the most dismissive of Chihiro and seem to care about the Kamunabi as an institution more than the people they're supposed to protect. I don't think they're traitors but they're not the type to respond to Hakuri being used as bait either in my mind.

Earlobes and Eyepatch don't feel like major players this arc. Earlobes has been shown talking and being a rather flippant guy, Eyepatch has been offscreen. I don't think they're going to show up.

As for other choices, it might be bait to leave the other Bearers we haven't met yet undefended- or to catch Shiba. Hiyuki wouldn't leave her post to save Hakuri but Shiba absolutely would; he would definitely teleport in to save the day (assuming the defensive barriers didn't get in his way). The only question would be how he was informed of what was happening.

Basically, I'm on the edge of my seat hoping nothing too horrible happens to Hakuri and whoever he's meant to draw to his side while bracing for heartache.

As for the bastards orchestrating all of this...

From breaking into the strongholds with trees to having hostages released, Hatshaku can fulfill all your second-man-hand needs.

I've gotta say this: I sincerely appreciate the writing of the villains in Kagurabachi. Hokazono-sensei shows a lot of restraint by having them not be cartoonishly evil like you might expect in a shounen manga. They took hostages to make people kill themselves and turn allies against each other: clearly evil. But they also let those hostages go once the pawns fulfill their tasks.

I was ready to roll my eyes and be all "yeah, they're super bad dudes, got it" if the Hishaku were shown to be killing the hostages after all. But they let them go! They have ethics, damnit. And it's really refreshing to see Hokazono keep them consistent as villains who are doing bad things but not without some internal logic. For the most part. Kuguri and Hiruhiko are definitely not going to get into heaven with how casually they kill innocent people, yeah. But the organisation as a whole is following a plan that doesn't encourage them all to be wanton killers, so the hostages go free.

It really helps the Hishaku feel serious about what they're doing. They've got these unhinged weirdos all gathered up for a goal that they care deeply about, so much so that they'll do the right thing even when they're doing wrong overall. Finally there's a criminal organisation in a shounen that I can actually be invested in!

So much to wait for... see you next week, kind void.

[moronkombat]

Yandere Bi Han with his very pregnant wife runs away from him seeing how he turned to and stay with her brothers in laws as she wants to protect the baby

How would each brothers perspective when reader did that?

this is some good food. tw: yandere, pregnancy, afab pronouns

General headcanons

Bi-Han met her just once but it was enough for him to be consumed by her memory

He doesn't understand why he thinks of her so much and that bothers him. He hates that she is all he thinks about. He can't stand it

She must be his. It is the only way for him to stop thinking of her all the time. Yes, if she were right here in front of him, he wouldn't long so desperately for her

Bi-Han gradually builds up a relationship her and it seems to go fairly well between them and he finally begins to feel at ease knowing she is by his side

The love between them is sweet but Bi-Han a slow acting poison and his corruption grows and grows until there is nothing left of him any longer

He craves to have a son with her, to continue his legacy and so he tries to conceive with her frequently but he is never cruel during it

It soon becomes an obsession of his to have his wife deliver him a son worthy of the Lin Kuei name and finally it seems his efforts pay off but his mind continues to warp and break

He becomes suffocating, all consuming when it comes to his wife and unborn child. Bi-Han never lets her leave or go anywhere

Bi-Han tells her she doesn't need to be anywhere else expect home and in bed as their child grows inside her

Things only worsen when he is brought away by Liu Kang and given that taste of freedom. It destroys him and the world begins to crash down

He tells her how the Lin Kuei will be better and stronger. That they should rule and lead the world instead of serving it. She is horrified, terrified. Where is the soft and gentle man she married?

All but gone that man is...replaced by someone savagely obsessed with power and greatness. She is helpless to change it, to change him back to the man she loved

Bi-Han tells her that his brothers are traitors, better off dead but not to worry because he will never let her leave. She will be with him forever and ever

She cries at night, thinking about all the horror Bi-Han has started to act upon. These suits of armor, weapons of horrible destruction...this isn't right

This isn't the peaceful life he promised her and their child. This is a hellish war and Bi-Han tell her how their son will be his legacy. How he will use his son as a tool for domination

She can't stand it. She begs for Bi-Han to stop this and to come back to her as the man she fell in love with. This impossible and Bi-Han lashes out

He strikes her, hard and firm. As she crashes to the floor with blood dripping down her lip, he scolds her for being so weak and for trying to betray him

Bi-Han tells her that she will learn to accept this life because if she doesn't then she will never see her child once they are born and that is when she can no longer stay with him

She flees, running far away from her crazed husband and how horribly she cries as she does this. Her hands cradle her now heavy stomach, Bi-Han's son is due soon but she must never let him know his father

What is she to do? She is alone and heavily pregnant with the heir to the Lin Kuei. Her heart hangs heavy and she can only think of two people

The two people she had come to know as family but was told were traitors. They were her hope. Not just for her but for her son. If they refused her, she could live with that but they must take in her son once he is born. Bi-Han must never find him

To say he is shocked would be a grave understatement. Kuai Liang thought he would never see her again. Not since what happened between him and Bi-Han

He knew of your pregnancy and was happy for you and Bi-Han. The last he knew, the two of you were happy together

Because of this Kuai Liang is suspicious and even a bit threatening when he sees her at the Shirai Ryu villa

He would draw is weapon and warn you that he will not give you mercy if you are here on Bi-Han's behalf

Kuai Liang watches as through labored breaths you cry and sob, falling to your knees unable to get out what you want to say

His resolve begins to weaken as he watches her fall apart and he is reminded of the fond memories between the two of them

She was his friend before she become a sister-in-law and Kuai Liang still cherishes that friendship but is unsure of how to act

Tomas convinces him to lower his weapons and hear you out and when he does, he is at a loss of words and full of despair

To hear what his brother has become, how he has treated her is enough to break his heart all over again and he knows he cannot refuse sheltering her

Kuai Liang treats her with kindness from that point on. He tells her that she may stay as long as needs and that her baby will be safe here

Though he knows Bi-Han will not sit idly and allow this. He knows this will bring great danger to his home and family but she is his family too and so he will house and protect her

Tomas had always been fond of his brother's wife and cared for her deeply

Truth be told, he was always a bit envious that Bi-Han was her husband but she seemed so happy that he kept quiet

Imagine his shock when he finds her kneeling on the ground and sobbing like he's never heard before

His eyes are instantly drawn to her stomach that she holds so tenderly and he rushes to her side

Tomas would kneel down next to her, unsure of what to do with his hands. He settles for lightly holding onto her shoulders before looking up to Kuai Liang

He tells him to put down that weapon and listen to her. Tomas asks him if he doesn't see how scared and frightened she is and finally Kuai Liang hears her out

When he hears all that has happened, Tomas is enraged. He has never felt such a wrath before and when she finishes her story, he takes her into a tight hug and tell her everything will be alright

For him it was never a question whether she could stay or not. The Shirai Ryu would be her new home and Tomas would protect both her and her unborn son

He doesn't care that it is Bi-Han's child she carries. The child is innocent and is clearly loved so dearly by its mother

Tomas is no fool. He knows Bi-Han will come looking for her and will raise every hell possible in order to obtain his wife but it doesn't matter to him. He will take care of her and her unborn child

It hurts to hear her try and be hopeful that Bi-Han will stop this madness and return back to how he used to be. Tomas knows that will never happen but he doesn't have the heart to tell her that. So he is left to letting her dream of such an unrealistic wish

There is no greater rage in all the realms than what Bi-Han burns with. How dare she leave. How dare she run away with his son

She belongs to him and so does their child. How could she leave him? How could she abandon him just like everybody else?

It can't be true. It just can't. His wife, his dearest love and mother to his child couldn't leave him. Something must have poisoned her mind

Surely that is it. There some twisted thoughts planted in her head that leads her away from him

Bi-Han thinks to himself that when he finds her will have to put her in a pretty little cage just like a songbird

Yes, if he kept her hidden away, only exposed to him then she would never think of leaving again. He must bring her back home and lock her away in a place known only to him

There is a seething wrath knowing his son has been taken from him. That was his prodigy, his grand design to lead the Lin Kuei. How dare his son be withheld from him

Great deal of punishment will be delt to the mother of son in order to teach her the importance of having a father and son know each other

There will be even more suffering brought upon those who keep his family away from him. How dare they keep that what is his from him

Bi-Han knows where his wife has fled to. How could he not? He is in the clutches of his wretched brothers

He vows to kill them, to snuff out the life from their souls while she watches and hears them scream

He will tear them apart as a bear does to a doe. He will leave nothing left of them expect mangled gore and echoing screams

Only then will he bring his lovely wife and son home. He will never let them leave again. If he must break her pretty legs so that she may not run then so be it

Bi-Han will teach her that a wife's place is that next to her husband. That is something that will never change. That is where she belongs and he will keep her there until she accepts her role as his wife and mother to his children

War will be waged in order to bring his wife back. Nothing and no one will stop him

[eff4freddie]

Touch | Part Four

Your skills are tested more than ever, and Joel finds a way to thank you for everything you do for Jackson.

Words: 6.2k

Part Three | Series Masterlist | Part Five

Warnings: depictions of childbirth, here there be smut (this chapter is a lot), fingering, praise, Joel is grumpy but horny, Joel has unique ways of showing his appreciation, we continue to stan an apocalyptic grump

Minors DNI

Later, you would be grateful that your makeshift massage table had the good grace to collapse when it was just you on it. You’d been leaning over it, all your weight on one corner trying to set the towels right, when you heard the telltale creak of wood. You yelped as it gave way, landing heavily on your knee and for a moment the pain took your breath away, as you suddenly found yourself crouched amongst the detritus of your usefulness in Jackson. For a long moment you were stunned, your brain trying to catch up, before you felt the tears pricking at the back of your eyes, your jaw aching where your mouth turned down. Your first real thought was that Joel had been right. Your second was that you had no idea how to tally this loss.

You felt helpless, made small and childlike by the shock and the pain, and you wondered if it would mean you’d have to leave Jackson. The town council had been dubious at best but you’d made it in based on Maria’s championing of the cause, and you couldn’t bring yourself now to consider how you would need to survive on your own in the cold, in the dark, realising that the last three months of warmth and safety had made you soft, had dulled your senses. You should never have leant on the table the way you had been, you should never have been so careless. You looked down at your shaking hands.

You saw in them your mother. Your memories of her skin, papery thin across her palms, across her knuckles. How easily she would bruise as her treatment went on, how you went from being able to push down into the sinew to dusting light across the surface, how towards the end all she could tolerate was your fingertips, dragging gentle so as not to tear.

You wiped the tears off your face with your mother’s hands, your own only capable of destruction.

—

The expedition to recover the raider’s stash started the following morning, and you along with most of Jackson went to the gate to see them off. Marla was smiling, riding high on her chestnut horse, her eyes bright and wild looking over the crowd. Your eyes, too, scanned over the faces, your tummy somersaulting with the prospect of seeing Joel. You had no idea if you wanted him to be there, if you were worried that he would speak to you or more worried that he wouldn’t, if he would look through you, keep his eyes empty of any recognition, or if he would stare you down, that same look of naked wanting written clear on his face. You felt your cheeks turn traitorously red at the thought of it, a bolt of something sharp and hot between your thighs. In the time since Maria’s kitchen you had wondered if you had misinterpreted, your mind playing the moment back but this time Joel is disgusted, this time Joel is confused, this time it’s Joel who legs it down the hallway and out into the freezing cold. You found yourself trying to cling to the real memory, trying to hold it safe and fragile in your palm, scared of it and scared of cracking it, brittle little thing that it was.

There were no speeches when Marla and the six departed Jackson. Even Jacob, who you expected to grandstand, was quiet. You spotted Ray on the other side of the street, his eyes never leaving Marla’s back until the gate closes behind her. He looked like he wanted to cry, and you took a step towards him before you saw Simon appear, gripping him by the shoulder and steering him towards the mess hall. You decided not to try and catch up to them, your knee aching from standing so long in the cold.

As you swung around to head home a pair of eyes caught yours, and it took you a moment to recognise that Joel’s daughter was watching you, likely had been quietly regarding you, from her position leant up against a fence post. For a moment you just stared at her, her gaze unwavering and her face unreadable. She looked so small, but so wired, her arms held tight against her body. You recognised it, the perennial fight or flight, and you felt a pang of something sad and hopeful, a flip of the gut. You smiled warmly at her, nodding your head. She hesitated, but nodded back, and disappeared into the dissipating crowd. She may not be Joel’s actual daughter, you thought, but they are so very much the same.

You were halfway home before you heard your name being called, a frantic edge to it that made the hair on your arms stand up. You turned, searching for Tommy and finding him barrelling towards you, stopping only when he can hold onto your arms to steady himself, nearly toppling the both of you in the process.

‘God, what is it?’ you asked, unable to get the fear out of your voice and thinking immediately that something was wrong with Joel, the sinking feeling in your gut dislodging bile snd sending it rushing into your throat.

‘Maria,’ Tommy said, and it’s no better, ‘she’s started…it’s happening and,’ he sucked in another gulp of clean mountain air, coughed for a second like he was choking on it, ‘she’s asked for you,’ he finished.

‘For me?’ You repeated, and now you really heard the panic. Tommy swallowed hard and nodded at you, his eyes big and brown and terrified, and you found yourself moving, heading straight to their house without even considering if this was the sane thing to do. You stopped, suddenly, and Tommy nearly slammed into your back. ‘Wait, did you call on the doctor as well?’ you ask, and Tommy sighed.

‘She doesn’t trust ‘em,’ he said, as if this was in any way a reasonable explanation. ‘She made me promise not to call on him unless it was really needed.’

‘Tommy, she’s having a baby. It’s needed,’ you said, and you watched his face fall. You knew in that moment he would do anything for her, that this was testing him more than anything ever had, and you remembered that this was what family was: throwing yourself under the bus just to properly entertain their nonsense.

‘I’m coming, of course,’ you said, and you saw his shoulders relax. ‘When I say so, you go get the doc. I can be the bad guy,’ you finished. Tommy nodded his head so hard he nearly shook his cowboy hat off, and you were off then, determined to be the sensible one, an Apocalyptic Doula with nothing but a twenty-year-old knowledge of human anatomy and a shattered massage table.

You had only just stepped onto the front porch when you heard the low moan, and you felt your stomach twist. Turning back to look at Tommy you saw the way his mouth was set firm and grim in a line, the way he searched your eyes for some kind of reassurance. You had attended a birth once, in the QZ, and it had happened in the bathtub out of fear that FEDRA would cart the woman off and cut her open rather than waste ether on her, waste the time of properly welcoming a new life into a dead world. That baby had arrived squawking and angry, an entirely appropriate response, and you had stood behind the midwife holding the towels and trying not to look at the remnants of what had brought him here. This was the limit of your qualifications, and looking back at Tommy’s pinched face you realised it would have to be enough.

You forged on, reaching down into your gut and pulling some strength from somewhere around your tailbone. In the entry way your eyes adjusted to the dark.

‘She wanted the curtains drawn, wanted the dark’ Tommy explained behind you, and you thought immediately of an injured cat seeking out the damp privacy under a house to tend to its wounds, to face the horror of its own mortality away from prying eyes.

‘That’s good, it’s calming,’ you said, and you saw how soundly this reassured him, two breaths from full blown panic as he was. ‘Do you have towels?’ you asked, and he scurried off to get them, grateful to have something to do.

In the living room Maria was on her knees, leaning over the arm of the sofa and resting her head in the bend of her arms. For a second you thought she was praying, but you heard her deep breaths in and out through her nose and you realised she had retreated somewhere inside herself, the pain sending her reeling back from her own skin. You got in behind her, hissing as you leant on your bad knee, and pushed your hands into the small of her back, over her hips, supporting her pelvis as it worked to expand enough to let the baby through. She sighed, relaxing into you, so that you held some of her weight in your arms.

‘Thank you,’ she breathed. ‘I knew you could help.’ You felt a twang of pride inside your ribcage, and you hummed your acknowledgment to her.

‘How long?’ you asked, and she sighed.

‘Feels like months,’ she said, turning slightly towards you. You took the opportunity to reposition her, sliding your arm under her belly to round her spine out, and she groaned in relief. ‘Had been feeling something for the last day or so, nothing regular, I thought false labour maybe?’ She stopped speaking for a second and you watched as her belly seized, felt the ripple of muscle under your palm. You went back to rubbing hard circles into her hips as she breathed through it, finding that you matched her, that you sucked the air in as she did, shared it between you, caught yourself in the moment of relief when she slumped back against you. ‘Lost my plug around dinner last night, though, waters this morning.’

You did some rough calculations in your head, considering this and by the way she was still able to speak, you estimated she wasn’t even halfway there. You steeled yourself for hours and hours of this, felt a sliver of panic slice at your windpipe.

‘Why haven’t you called the doctor?’ you asked, and she huffed out a tired, joyless laugh.

‘You’ve seen him,’ she said, and you had - when you had quarantined on arrival, and as soon as you’d seen him you’d wanted to make a Dougie Houser joke, but you had realised he would be even too young to know the reference. You wouldn’t have been surprised if he tried to check your pulse in your elbow.

‘I’ve done this once before,’ she said, and you fought hard against the instinct to ask for more, to mask your surprise. She was quiet for a moment, gently circling her hips in the air. ‘I know I’m asking a lot,’ she said, and you heard the doubt in her voice.

‘Not too much,’ you reassured her, ‘but I reserve the right to call an actual professional if required.’

Maria snorted through her nose. ‘Let me know if you find one,’ she said.

—

Maria laboured into the afternoon, sometimes kneeling, sometimes pacing, sometimes lying on the sofa with a pillow between her knees. You kept her cool, collecting her sweat in a damp towel and handing it off to Tommy to rinse, the stressed soon-to-be-father hovering always in your peripheral view. Occasionally he would ask you how things were progressing, as if you had a magic wand or an invisible ultrasound machine, but Maria eventually got tired of him asking and snapped at him to shut it, that no one had any idea. It wasn’t the reassurance he was looking for.

As the sun set Maria started to get more agitated, finding it hard to get comfortable in any position. Unable to carry her full weight, you had Tommy come over and hold her up while she groaned and swore into his neck. You could see that she was tiring, made worse by the fact that there was no clarity on how much longer it would be, how much longer it should be, that the three of you were holding your breath trying to figure out if danger was lurking around the corner, like it so often was.

She had taken to letting out her breath in long moans, the sound almost mournful, as you and Tommy took turns to sway with her, as you held her hand, as you patted her hair back away from her face. Occasionally you would look into her eyes and see that she was barely there, that the pain had now stolen her away completely, that she had left her body to do its work without her tagging along for the ride. Only occasionally would she speak to refuse medical attention, and then not again for minutes at a time.

It was around this point, when the moaning became constant, when it appeared that there was no Maria in the room, that Tommy swore under his breath, gathered his coat and stomped out the front door. Maria didn’t look up from her position slumped over the back of the couch and you didn’t mention it to her, hoping that Dougie was ready to earn his keep.

Ten minutes later you heard the door open again and two sets of footsteps, calling over your shoulder that you hoped he’d brought the good drugs. You heard a laugh, a huff of a thing that froze you on the spot.

‘If I had those ya reckon I’d be here?’ Joel asked, and you wondered if this would be the thing that finally sent you careening over the edge: opening a pregnant woman’s hips with your hands while the man you had a raging crush on sassed you from the doorway.

‘Tommy?’ you asked him as he appeared behind his big brother, eyes anxiously roaming over Maria.

‘Joel has seen this before,’ he said, not looking at you so not seeing the look of surprise on your face that you quickly wiped from your features, your eyes flitting to Joel to see if he he’d caught you and knowing, in your guts just knowing, that he had. ‘I figured he could tell us if it’s going ok.’

You couldn’t help a little ripple of unearned indignation at this, and you informed them that you had it under control. It was difficult for them to hear, though, as this was also the moment Maria chose to bend further at the hips, brace her knees, and bellow from deep within her soul.

Joel regarded this silently for a moment. Tension hung in the air while you all waited for his assessment. ‘Totally normal,’ he said, as if Maria hadn’t just unleashed a screaming banshee from the fifth circle of hell. ‘I’ll leave you to it.’

‘No, stay,’ Tommy said, too quickly, stepping towards Maria and rubbing sweet but ineffectual circles on her shoulder. ‘I mean, you can…if things get…’

‘You can stand at the business end with a catcher’s mitt,’ Maria said, from somewhere under her own elbow, shrugging off Tommy. You grinned, falling just a little bit more in love with her by the minute.

‘Tried a bath?’ Joel asked, and you were about to offer to start drawing it when Maria shook her head.

‘Too narrow,’ she said, sounding breathless but resolute. ‘Need her with me and we wont both fit.’ You beamed at this, unable to stop yourself turning to Joel feeling just a little smug. You’d been at this for hours and he thought he could come in and fix it in five minutes? He cocked a knee and put a hand on his hip, and you could see that in any other situation he would have rolled his eyes. As you looked away you just caught his little grin in your peripheral vision.

He turned to Tommy. ‘I really don’t know what I can do here,’ he said, but Tommy stopped him.

‘Just stay,’ he said, and you realised that he was appealing to his older brother to stick by him, that he was telling Joel that he felt safer with him there. You realised that Joel, as gruff and stoic as he was, was comfort for Tommy. You realised that you agreed.

—

You tried to get Maria to eat some dry bread around dinnertime but she refused it, tired and sweaty and back deep inside herself. Tommy brought out ice chips from the freezer for her to chew on and you avoided looking at them for too long, the memory of the cold across your teeth as you held Joel by the wrist too strong, and too ill-fitting for what lay ahead of you. You studiously avoided Joel’s eyes, only glancing up long enough to see that he, too, was avoiding what Tommy held in his hand.

Around 10 pm Maria started wanting to retreat up to the bedroom, and you followed her up the stairs slowly to make sure her legs wouldn’t give out. It took three contractions to get up there, her face screwed up tight against the bannister, bracing herself against the wall, and when she reached the landing she wailed that she couldn’t do it anymore, that she wasn’t strong enough. At the bottom of the stairs you heard Joel inform Tommy that she was close, that it was time for the doctor. He slipped away into the night to bring him, while Tommy helped hoist Maria onto the mattress. Within moments she was up again, on all fours and howling, as you encouraged her to swing low into her hips, to drop down and let her pelvis open. She told you, rightfully, to fuck off.

‘Do you need to push?’ you asked her, thinking back to the delivery you saw in the bath in the QZ, racking your brains trying to remember how the midwife handled it.

‘I don’t know, I don’t know,’ Maria cried, and you reached out to wrap your hand around your wrist.

‘I think that means no,’ you said, trying to scrounge together some confidence to push into your voice. ‘I reckon you’ll know when you feel it.’ Maria nodded at you, her head bent back to look at you through her armpit, and you gave her what you hoped was a reassuring smile.

‘You can do this,’ you said, and you knew, looking at her on all fours on her mattress, hair wild and matted and eyes now shut tight against the pain, primal and urgent and so incredibly strong, that it was true.

You felt a hand on your arm gently pulling you away, and you stood to see Dougie Howser at the end of the bed. You repositioned yourself so that Maria could see you, sat at the headboard and let her rest her head on your shoulder. You looked over to see Tommy getting down on his knees to lean beside her, Joel in the doorway watching on. His eyes met yours and for a moment the world was silent. An understanding seemed to pass between you, that what you were witnessing was sacred and precious, but that it belonged to the people in front of you, that it was not for either of you to share.

‘Ok,’ Dougie said, and you were surprised his voice didn’t break as he spoke. ‘We’re close but we’re not quite there yet.’ It bothered you that he said ‘we’ as if he was also writhing on the bed howling in agony, but the one functioning synapse you had left advised you now was not the time to point this out.

Maria groaned when she heard this, turning her head to Tommy and panting, as he rested his forehead on hers. You were close enough that you could hear her urgent whisper to him that she couldn’t do it, that it was going to split her open, and the way that he soothed her, how he held the back of her head and whispered words of love and courage, how he knew she was hurting but that she could do it, how he loved her, more than anything, but how much in awe of her he was that she was going to make him a dad. You felt heat in the back of your eyes, swallowing sour across your throat, the intimacy of the moment so breathtaking that you wanted to turn away from it, even as it played out almost entirely in your lap. You looked over Tommy’s back to Joel, saw that he had heard it too, that he had witnessed this moment, saw the way he stood steadfast in the face of such naked love. Saw that he was holding your gaze, letting you borrow some of his strength to carry you through it, to be able to resist the instinct to shy away.

‘Oh!’ Maria suddenly exclaimed, her eyes wide as she snapped her head up to look at you. ‘I have to push!’ You watched as Dougie ducked down behind her again, busied himself underneath her, before returning to the surface and nodding to Tommy that it was time. Your remaining synapse again advised you not to point out that he had just said she wasn’t there yet, then promptly joined all your other brain cells in death.

‘Ok baby,’ Tommy said, and Maria reared up then, swinging her legs down so that her knees were back on the floor, her elbows digging into the mattress. You reached out and held her hand.

‘Can she do it like this?’ Tommy asked and you answered for Dougie, knowing the answer almost innately, not wanting him to try and put her on her back.

‘Let gravity help,’ you said. ‘Let her do it how her instincts tell her to.’

In the end, Joel didn’t need a catcher’s mitt. Maria and Tommy’s baby boy slid into his father’s hands and onto his chest, the younger Miller gasping with awe and love while the very youngest Miller gave his dad a piece of his mind. The shrill cries were somehow the sweetest thing you had heard, somehow a symphony of life and resistance, and you found yourself surging with hope at the sight of him, wiggly and squirming and covered in goo. Joel appeared with the towels and Tommy wrapped him up, while you helped Maria back onto the bed and into a comfortable position. You backed away then, over to the doorframe where Joel had stood vigil for so long, letting the new parents luxuriate in their first moments with their creation. After a few moments Joel came and stood by your side and you almost let yourself reach out, take his hand in yours, so awed were you by the events of the last twelve hours.

—

Joel offered to walk you home and you let him, the adrenaline retreating to leave just plain exhaustion in its wake. You had been wired right up until you pulled your coat on, the warmth of it reminding your tired bones of the need for rest.

‘Oh my god,’ you said, as Joel pulled Maria’s door shut behind you and ushered you down the front steps. He smiled at your tired excitement.

‘Somethin’, right?’ he asked, and you just nodded, didn’t have the words, couldn’t find them even as you jumbled through your brain.

‘She was amazing,’ you replied, your breath fanning out in front of you in the midnight chill.

‘She had a good team,’ he replied, and you grinned back at him.

The walk back to your house was only a few minutes, but with each step the exhaustion and the cold got in under your clothes and held you hard and bony by the knee. You’d managed to ignore the pain of it when Maria needed you, but now the ache had settled in. You started to limp.

‘What’s that about?’ Joel asked you, nodding towards your feet.

‘Oh I hurt my knee, you were right, the massage table did come down.’ You were focussed on your feet in front of you, trying hard to slide on the ice, so you yelped a little in surprise when Joel grabbed your arm snd stopped you.

‘You hurt?’ he asked, and in his eyes you saw genuine worry. He faltered, collecting himself. ‘Was anyone hurt?’ he tried again.

‘No it was just me,’ you said, and you turned away from him to keep walking, hearing his footsteps quicken to catch up with you. Your eyes were stinging from the cold and the weight of the day. ‘I was, am, so grateful to Tommy for finding it for me but the table was huge, I had to climb onto it to get the towels right each time, and it was hard to get into a good position sometimes so I had to kind of lean over to get at someone’s shoulders…’ you pantomimed this in thin air, raising one leg up to demonstrate how you would need to contort yourself, and nearly slipped. Joel grabbed you by the armpit to steady you, grunting as you leant on him. ‘Sorry,’ you said, wondering if the fatigue had made you delirious. ‘Slippery,’ you helpfully clarified, as Joel nodded once at you but didn’t let you go.

You expected him to drop you at your front door, but he followed you onto the porch and down your corridor. It felt strange, having just witnessed the miracle of life, to throw him out straight after, so you didn’t, listening to him shuck off his jacket and hang it by the door. He stopped at the doorway of your treatment room, regarding the mess of splintered wood on the floor.

‘Yeah, I know. I’ll clean it up, it’s just really heavy,’ you said and you weren’t sure if you meant the weight of the wood, exactly. You sighed, heading into the kitchen and then stopping when you remembered what tends to happen when you and Joel sit down at a table, and doubled back to flop down on your sofa. You lifted your knee and started rubbing at it over your jeans. You heard the floorboards creaking under Joel’s feet as he continued to inspect the damage in your treatment room.

‘You want some tea?’ you called our to him after a while. He appeared over your shoulder, grinning when he saw you slumped into the cushions.

‘Reckon if I did I’d have to make it myself,’ he said, and you closed your eyes snd hummed your agreement. Instead, he came and sat down next to you, his weight nearly causing the rusted springs to collapse you into him. You watched his eyes roam your meagre belongings.

‘Wood was rotting through at the top of the legs,’ he said after a while. You rubbed absently at your knee and nodded. ‘Tommy wouldn’t have checked, he ain’t careful. Back on the old job sites I spent half my time checking his work, correctin’ his mistakes before the boss got onto em.’

‘He’s lucky to have you,’ you said, honestly. He looked over at you, and you thought you saw the faintest hint of pink under his patchy beard. You wanted to pull him to you and nip on the skin. You swallowed.

‘That botherin’ ya?’ he asked, and you panicked for a second that he knew what you’d just been imagining, before you realised he meant your knee. You nodded, and he grunted in acknowledgement.

‘Show me what to do,’ he said, and your breath caught in your throat.

‘What?’ you asked, frozen in place next to him. He was avoiding your gaze, but he slipped an arm behind you and pulled you over to the coffee table, so that you sat facing him, squarely between his knees. He put his hands on your shin, and you just managed to hold in a gasp.

‘Show me,’ he said, nodding down to his hands.

Your mouth was bone dry, your throat threatening to collapse in on itself. His hands were so warm, scorching through your jeans. ‘Umm…’ you started, taking a second to catch your breath. He waited patiently for you to continue, his thumb gently rubbing back and forth on the inside of your knee. ‘Well, I landed right on it so you don’t want to really massage the knee cap,’ you started, casting your eyes down to your leg where it felt almost safe. ‘It’s better to try and move some of the fluid, support the tendons around it because they got a bit of a sudden stretch as well.’

He made a sound in his throat to indicate he was listening, moving his hands to brace either side of your knee.

‘It’s really about gripping around the back of the leg while you kind of make little circles with your thumbs,’ you said, demonstrating with your own hands in front of your face. ‘Sometimes I imagine it’s like I’m smearing toast on butter,’ you went on, and he huffed out a quiet laugh.

‘You butter your toast with your thumbs?’ he asked, gently ribbing you again.

‘And what if I do?’ you shot back, pretending to be offended. He smiled, returning to his work.

‘This good?’ he asked, and you hummed. ‘What about here?’ he asked, moving his hands above your knee and holding firm. He let out a shaky breath and you watched his face as he kept his eyes trained on his hands. The heat from them was scorching, and you felt sweat break out on the back of your neck. ‘Can I do anything here?’

You wanted to laugh, a giggle forming in your chest and threatening to pop out into the air between you. You wanted to tell him he could do anything anywhere, but you gripped hard on the edge of the coffee table and steeled yourself.

‘Same thing but just rather than circles try and kind of push down towards the knee.’ His grip was firm, his hands so strong. You held your jaw shut tight, not sure whether you wanted to laugh or scream, the wings brushing so hard against the inside of your ribcage now you wouldn’t have been surprised if the feather started to strip away, if you opened your mouth and coughed them up onto the rug.

‘I gotta tell ya, I thought you were lyin’ about going to school for this,’ he confessed, and your attention snapped back to the man in front of you. ‘You must have been young on outbreak day,’ he said, and you nodded. ‘But I saw how you were with Maria tonight I…I knew it then. I was wrong, and I’m sorry.’

‘It’s ok,’ you said, your voice quiet. ‘I was young, but my mum…when I was 15 she got…and she needed so much medical help, one of the things that they said would help with the chemo was…so I went to school for it on the weekends and…I helped her.’ You were aware you had yet to finish a full sentence, but your poor brain was scrambling to understand what was happening, had been scrambling all day. You saw again your mother and father standing at the kitchen sink peeling potatoes, your mother’s favourite knitted beanie covering her head. Honey I’m going to Jackson. See if I care.

You came back into the room, your mind drifting back to the man in front of you, who was watching you openly now, his hands still on your knee.

‘So beautiful,’ he said, almost to himself. You felt heat bloom across your chest. ‘Doin’ so much for so many people. Will you let me do something for you?’

Your vision blurred, your eyes watery, and you nodded, suddenly shy. He stood and tugged you up into standing, coming forward to support your weight, his lower hand on your back and your nose buried in his shoulder. You felt him grip the button of your jeans, popping it open with one hand.

‘Take these off baby, so I can take care of you,’ he said and your fingers moved of their own accord, pushing the denim off your legs and down to your feet, where he helped you step out of them. He sat you back down on the coffee table, getting onto the floor in front of you, inspecting your now naked knee as he held it in his hands. His bare skin on your bare skin, his pulse against yours.

He clicked his tongue at the sight of the purple and yellow bruise blooming across it. ‘Poor little thing,’ he cooed, bending down to place a feather light kiss on it, his hand gripping the back of it, his fingers digging into the flesh of your inner thigh. You broke out in shivers, temporarily unable to speak, letting out a breathy whimper when he moved his hand up to pull you towards him, the edge of the table digging into your bottom. ‘I know, baby,’ he hummed, his voice gravelly and dipped in sin. Your cunt throbbed in time to your thundering pulse, the heat between your legs unbearable, making you want to squirm, but he held you fast.

‘Can I do anything here?’ he asked, moving his hand up, his other mirroring his actions on your other thigh, his fingers close enough to brush against your panties but he stayed achingly far from your centre. He pulled your thighs apart, making room for himself as he shuffled forward. You shook your head, willing him closer, higher and further, inside. ‘No?’ he asked, pretending not to understand, and you nearly cried out. The ache was unlike anything you had ever experienced, the heat and the pulse of it stopping you from forming any kind of cogent thought.

He moved his hands to bracket your hips, his thumbs rubbing circles on the crest of the bone, and you keened, staring imploringly into his sparkling brown eyes. If he was going to continue to torture you, you were not going to stand for it, the moment you regained your ability to move.

‘I’m sorry, baby,’ he said, but the bastard didn’t mean it. ‘You’re so good to us, so good to this town. I won’t tease ya.’

And he didn’t, then, slipping his hands under your underwear and running his fingers up against your dripping seam. You gasped, rocking your hips into his hand, as he circled your clit with one hand and pushed two strong, thick fingers into your cunt. He watched your face as you screwed your eyes shut, the pleasure almost painful in its entirety, sending sparks into your fingertips and down to the tip of your tongue. You heard the hoarseness of your voice as you cried out into the quiet of your living room, your hands flying to grip Joel’s flannel shirt.

‘Joel!’ you gasped, genuinely surprised by the way he had set your entire nervous system ablaze.

‘Sssh,’ he said, ‘I know baby, I know.’ He manoeuvred his hands inside your underwear, stretching the stitching almost to breaking point, and you didn’t fucking care if he destroyed every piece of clothing you owned, would ever own.

‘Take them off, take them,’ you muttered, pulling at them to get free, suddenly feeling the cotton too tight across your hips. He gripped them, stripped you of them in one swoop, barely missing a beat as he pumped in and out of you.

‘So good to me, so good to us,’ he muttered, his eyes watching the contortions of your face as he systematically took you apart. ‘Slipping that ice into that mouth,’ he added, and you would have been shy about it except that you were currently spread open on yet another table, every breath pushing you closer to toppling over the edge.

You felt your cunt gripping, your weight now bearing down on his hand, as you reached forward and grabbed him by the wrist, pushing him further into you, to graze against the spongey spot you could never reach yourself.

‘Oh, fuck, baby,’ he said, as you moaned high and tight, ‘show me how you like it, show me how to help you.’

‘There, there,’ you whimpered, the weight in your pelvis heavy now, the heat expanding out into your limbs, the speed of it breathtaking, as if all your life you had been waiting for this one man to touch you. ‘Please,’ you added, a gasping benediction to nothing in particular.

When you came, hips circling Joel’s pumping hand, your own grasped in his shirt, head thrown back to the ceiling and eyes shut tight, you forgot for a moment. Forgot to tally your losses, to keep the running sheet in your head of grief and of fury. Forgot the world had ended, taking with it first your family, then your home, and then your self. Forgot for a moment the dying light over the mountains surrounding Jackson, the cold and the bite of winter nipping fast into your bones. For a moment you floated, anchored as you were to the world by Joel’s touch, his breath hot on your neck as he repeated and repeated and repeated your name.

Taglist: let me know if you want me to add you!

@orcasoul

@archofimagine

@hiroikegawa

@littlemisspascal

@ilovejoel-andjavi

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[danganronpasurvivoraskblog]

THE HUNDRED LINE: LAST DEFENSE ACADEMY - Journal #8: Route 0 (Ending) Days 91-100. [MASSIVE SPOILERS]

//Man...what a ride this was.

//But all good things must come to an...end? Well, at least it's ONE end. We still have what is probably 100 more to go at this rate.

//Before I start, I have to be completely honest about something.

//After I got to day 100 of the first route (Route 0) I kind of started binge playing through my second playthrough. Truth me told, I wasn't feeling very well last weekend, and was stuck in bed for most of the day, so I spent pretty much the whole time playing Hundred Line.

//The way I've decided to do things is I'm going to change up the format of the journal's a little bit. From here on out, after this one, I will be covering the routes in full, and my highlights from each.

//I know that feels like a bit of a dramatic change, but the truth is after all this time, I don't want to write about my experiences with this game regularly. I just kinda want to play it.

//The reason I bring this up is because there's one or two things I learn in my second playthrough that reflect back on here. Meaning I might use terminology that people who are following along with me haven't experienced yet. It won't be much, just one or two names.

//But once again...

DO NOT READ THE REST OF THIS POST IF YOU HAVE NOT PLAYED/SEEN THE HUNDRED LINE: LAST DEFENSE ACADEMY. I WILL BE TALKING ABOUT VERY SPECIFIC PLOT POINTS AND MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE GAME.

//So let's get started:

DAY 91:

//So this day starts off really shit. Which is super on point for just how bad these last couple days get.

//These days are also very long and there's a lot to cover in each of them, just so you all know. I remember being super scared of what might happen during them, and as it turns out, I had a right to.

//Eito shows up first thing in the morning acting shifty. He has been for the last few days ever since the Supreme Commander showed up with the negotiation offer to surrender. He's clearly been mulling it over for a few days now, and gets everyone to gether in the War Room to deliver his take on the matter.

//Eito suggests that there's truth in what both sides told us, and that the thing inside the Defense Room is indeed, as the Supreme Commander said, a weapon that will wipe out all the Invaders on Earth. While also taking us with it.

//And everyone just...believes that.

//Okay?

//So ultimately, Eito says that the best course of action would be to surrender after all, and submit to our enemy. This sneaky bitch really started getting on my nerves at this point, but the worse part is that everyone believes him.

//But what really gave me the chills about this whole scene is that when Nozomi gives an impassioned speech about it, it gets turned around on her SO quick.

//Because, somehow, everyone found out that Nozomi was connected to Kamukura General Hospital. They now all know the full story, in that Nozomi was part of whatever project it was that caused us to be sent here.

//Even though the only person who knew about any of that stuff was Takumi. When she told him privately in her room.

//But of course, Takumi never told anyone. We would have seen it if he did. And he never let anything slip either that someone could have caught attention to.

//Now, obviously, the would-be traitor of the school; the one who's been causing all of this shit to happen in the first place, has to be behind this. But of all the sneaky, shitty things they've done, even comparing it to killing Hiruko and the prisoner, burning all our food, and everything else, this takes the absolute cake.

//If there was ever an obvious sign that Eito was the bastard behind this, it's now. It's been a long time since Nozomi told us that info, which means he's been HOLDING ONTO THAT for a WHILE. Why else would the truth come out right when it's most convinient for him? Ammunition against the would-be voice of reason in this situation.

//I have grown to absolutely adore Nozomi over this playthrough and a half. She is one of my favourite characters in this game because she's pretty much the perfect person. Every time something bad happens to her like this, it just crushes my soul.

//What makes it especially bad is she blames Takumi for blabbing about it; not that I blame her. Again, Takumi is innocent, but he's also the only possible person who could have done it.

//And what I hate about this part of the story is the more he tries to get to the bottom of it, the more everyone insists that he's the one who tattled.

//Like...okay, genuine thing here. As much as I do love this game, and as much as I do love this cast, there is one thing that I REALLY don't like about them, at least in this route.

//Collectively, they are all SO...FUCKING...STUPID!!!

//I get that Eito has presented himself as a swell guy so far, but the reason why we're all on edge is because the Supreme Commander told us that by the end of these 100 days, we'd all be dead anyway. That's genuinely all she said, and yet, immediately, we jump to the conclusion that humanity are going to wipe us out along with the rest of the Invaders once we're done.

//We have...NO! PROOF! that this is actually the case. It was literally a SUGGESTION, and threat from one of our WORST ENEMIES!

//And yeah, I get that there's not an awful lot of reason to trust the people on the Satellite, because we haven't heard from them, but...that then automatically means that the Invaders are RIGHT!?

//What really pissed me off is how this same mindset almost immediately turned everyone against Nozomi. Nozomi, who has been a voice of reason, a team player, the LITERAL HEALER, and NOTHING but NICE to EVERYONE since the very start!

//Meanwhile, the Invaders have mutilated, absorbed, and done unspeakable things to some of our friends, to the point where Moko is dead, and Ima is stuck in Sirei's body, and yet, when things hit the fan, we believe THEM!?

//The fact that Nozomi is connected to Kamukura Hospital simply SUGGESTS she's a traitor. The Invaders are EVIL!

//It doesn't make ANY sense that EVERYBODY turns on Nozomi like this. Especially Kurara, who is not only against her now, but is basically the RINGLEADER of the opposition! And when Nozomi starts struggling with her rejection symptoms, Kurara tells everyone to just sit back and let her suffer!

//Like, I love Kurara, but this was LOW! Even for HER.

//Maybe there's some explanation to how it works, but I find no logic in it. It makes me SO ANGRY.

//Especially because this is just a rumor, and not only IS it a rumor, but Takumi can't even find out where it started from. Everyone seems to have heard the truth from a completely different person, until it loops back around.

//Takumi even points it out to everyone, and yet NOBODY finds it even remotely suspicious. NO! It HAS to be Takumi! HE has to be the one who did it.

//So this is an absolutely shitty situation to start this final arc off with. Everyone is going to surrender to the Invaders, Nozomi has been seperated from the group, and her relationship with Takumi has been compromised, in one swift motion.

//Everything went to shit just like that.

DAY 92:

//Day 92 is the last day of Route 0 where you get Free Time.

//I don't know if this was intentional, but the only person I can hang out with in the morning is Darumi. I.e. the one person who doesn't really give much of a damn what's going on about all this. Everyone else is just very against Nozomi, and Takumi too to an extent.

//The day ends with another dream of Karua; our first one in a while. But strangely enough, we've already seen this dream.

//In fact, unless I'm misremembering, this is the first flashback to Karua we ever got in the game. It's the same flashback where we first see Karua's scar, and Takumi originally making the promise to protect her no matter what happens.

//Yeah, I think I know what this is leading up to...

DAY 93:

//Today starts off very interestingly, as the Tsukumo Twins show up to Takumi's door, and give him some very important information.

//To recall, during the earlier incident when Ima was captured by the Invaders and forcibly merged with one of them, his DNA was altered, allowing him to comprehend the Invaders’ language and, more significantly, their internal culture.

//Ima ended up using this ability to feed information to us from the other side, but he has kept a crucial secret that he's only now shared with Takumi.

//It turns out the Invader Commanders adhere to a deeply rooted religious code. This belief system governs their actions with unwavering rigidity.

//Among their most sacred doctrines is a strict prohibition: absorbing the Cryptoglobin of another life form is considered an unforgivable transgression, a taboo of the highest magnitude.

//This revelation casts recent events in a new and disturbing light.

//If the Invaders truly abide by their religious code, as Ima’s understanding suggests they do, then the deaths of the captured prisoner and Hiruko, whose bodies were found drained and mummified from Cryptoglobin extraction, could not have been caused by the Invaders.

//With this, Kako pieces together a chilling deduction: the perpetrator must be someone on the inside. Someone with access, knowledge, and the willingness to betray their own kind.

//In other words, there’s a traitor among us.

//COOL, IT ONLY TOOK IS 93 FUCKING DAYS!

//Again, the sheer stupidity of this cast to not think for a moment that there might be a troublemaker in the group really gets under my skin for no reason.

//At the very least, the twins don't think it's Takumi, which is why they confide in him.

//Shortly afterwards, Eito shows up at Takumi's door, and let me tell you, I was NOT happy to see him.

//But he shows up in the afternoon telling Takumi that they'll all be celebrating their "last night" since all of them have given up on fighting, and hope to end the war tomorrow.

//Kyoshika is somehow drunk off of soft drinks...

//And DARUMI IS DOING DRUGS!

//Amidst the, ahem..."celebrations," Nozomi enters the cafeteria to very grim reactions. She tries one more time to get everyone to snap out of it and remember what we're supposed to be fighting for. But nope. Everyone's already given up. They're just completely checked out.

//Eventually, Nozomi realizes there's no getting through to them, and accepts it. Not because she agrees, but because she knows she can't force people to care.

//Still, she makes it clear she's not backing down. She's going to keep fighting the Invaders, even if it means doing it alone. Despite being sick with her rejection symptoms all by herself, she's fine dying so long as she's dying for what she believes in.

//At the same time, she says she won’t mess with whatever deal the rest of us want to make with the Invaders. If we’re going for peace or trying to find a way home, she’s not going to get in the way.

//Nozomi is such an angel, honestly. This last part of the story, as well as what I've seen from her in my first route so far, has solidified her as the absolute best girl. I think she might even beat out Hiruko and Kurara for me now.

//I said it already, but in general, she is just incredibly admirable, and I don’t think I’ve ever been this frustrated with the main cast. They’ve been treating her like garbage lately, and she doesn’t deserve any of it.

//I love Nozomi. I know that the rest of the cast is scared and never really wanted this in the first place, but it somehow feels like she’s the only one actually acting like a reasonable human being.

//The day ends with Takumi going to bed, and the UFB shows up again. Unfortunately, it seems that time when he rescued us was a one and done, because I can't hear him anymore.

DAY 94:

//...Today is the day. Where ALL of it goes to shit.

//Before all that though, it took me a little while, but I finally noticed something about this. In the last few days, Sirei has been introducing himself with this screen of puppets of all of us. And even though I've seen it a few times at this point, for some reason, I only just now noticed that Nozomi isn't included in it.

//I mean, makes sense, but still, I'm ashamed of my own narrow-mindedness. You'd think I was a member of this game's cast.

//So the school alarm goes off, and we all meet up in the War Room, everyone except Nozomi. Eito claims he tried to talk her into joining us, but honestly, I’m not convinced. It feels like he didn’t even make the effort and just said he did to save face.

//Then we all suit up in our Class Armor just in case, and head outside to meet the Supreme Commander of the Invaders. Who begins her speech by removing her mask.

I didn’t catch it on my first run, but on my second playthrough after finishing the main game, I found out her name is V’ehxness (pronounced vesh-ness). By the way, that is not an easy name to spell, and it kills me every time.

//Also, the rest of the Invaders have similar names that are either difficult to spell, or they are pronounced a way that they reasonably shouldn't be. For example, the blimp commander that was dropping eggs is called Quenzelle, but his name is pronounced "quen-zel-uh."

//The only one who has a normal name is the character who the group took prisoner, who's real name is apparently Eva.

//This exchange made me laugh more than it should have. Even at her worst, Kurara contnues to be so entertaining and unhinged.

//And yeah, I do agree with Gaku. She would be hot if she wasn't so hopelessly evil, as we'll soon see.

//Ima mentions that taking off their masks is a huge deal for the Invaders. Much like the whole thing about not absorbing Hemoanima, it's a sacred taboo, and they only do it when they are surrendering. We saw Eva do the same thing earlier in the story.

//V’ehxness starts speaking, and Ima translates most of what she says. Then she pulls out what looks like an escape pod for us, basically offering a way off the planet and back to the Artificial Satellite.

//I feel like Takumi’s not falling for it. He’s finally using that one brain cell. That, or he's still just too worried about Nozomi.

//And hey? Guess what? IT WAS A FUCKING TRAP! BECAUSE OF COURSE IT WAS!

//The "escape pod" is actually a dome-shaped cage that neutralizes our Hemoanima powers, just like the ones they used in the school courtyard. It traps everyone inside, except Takumi. And just to make things worse, V’ehxness grabs Ima and takes him hostage.

//What makes all this even more shocking is that it completely goes against the Invaders’ taboos, so it's strange that V’ehxness would do this and break the sacred rules of her people...EXCEPT there's ONE thing that we never considered.

//V’ehxness sees herself ABOVE GOD. Or rather, her ultimate goal is to become the "new God of this world."

//Which, honestly? That’s such a bold character move, and a really clever way to go about this scene, as obvious as the trap was. Just setting up all these expectations for how the Invaders behave, then having their supreme leader break them out of a lust for power.

//And then, in true no turning back fashion, she kills Ima right after she’s done talking.

//I haven't seen enough of V’ehxness to call her a top-tier antagonist yet, obviously. Honestly, I'm not too crazy about her, but...that could very well change in the future.

//As much as I hate to admit it, I was pretty gutted that Ima ended up getting squashed. I finally started to like him a lot.

//But Ima's death, as sad as it made me, does not COMPARE to the next segment and the next character to fall.

//Even though she’s in no shape to fight, Nozomi shows up to save the rest of us from the trap. Everyone’s caught inside the pod, and here she is, charging in like a total badass, despite barely being able to stand.

//Deadass, Nozomi is the only person here who deserves to make it out of this alive…and of course, she’s probably not going to.

//Then comes the cutscene, and after that, the first round of the final battle kicks off, with just Takumi and Nozomi on the field. I figured out pretty quickly that I had to destroy the cage to free the others. That part was fine. But then I…kind of accidentally got Nozomi killed.

//Yeah...

//See, in every battle before this, when Nozomi "dies," she just retreats. Obviously, she can't be brought back with the Revive-O'-Matic, and it's always been more of a story thing than a gameplay thing. So I had her self-destruct, to heal both herself and Takumi, thinking she’d be fine.

//But...she died. And I lost the battle in the one round where you're not supposed to lose it.

//Whoops!

//Weirdly, it worked out in a way, though. On the redo, I got the 300% Voltage bonus, which let Takumi go nuclear with his ultimate moves and end the round super fast. So…silver lining?

//And then it happens. Exactly what I KNEW would happen, but I hate it all the same.

//Once the pod is finally destroyed, we get a brutal cutscene. V’ehxness appears behind Nozomi in a blink, full-on "nothing personal, kid" mode, and stabs her right through the back with that monstrous sword.

//I KNEW SHE WAS GOING TO DIE AND I’M STILL SO ANGRY.

//Side note, I want to give an MASSIVE shoutout to Jay Rincon; Takumi's English Voice Actor here. He's been consistently great throughout this game, but he went to TOWN with this scene, and he nails the emotion here. Raw, frantic, and completely believable.

//Seriously, give this guy more roles. He, Christopher Ragland (Shouma), and obviously Elsie Lovelock (Kurara), are my absolute highlights of this game.

//While holding her, desperate to save her, Takumi lifts Nozomi’s shirt to stop the bleeding///only to freeze...

//Because there it is. A surgical scar across her midsection. One that looks EXACTLY like Karua’s.

//I KNEW it! I CALLED it! I FUCKING KNEW that the scar was gonna be what gave it away!

//So...yeah! Looks like Nozomi was Karua after all!

//But it’s not a triumphant reveal. It’s devastating. Because on the one hand, we still don’t know why she forgot him, or how Karua became Nozomi in the first place. And we don’t get answers, because Nozomi dies in Takumi's arms before she can explain anything.

//Other playthroughs I guess.

//But the real issue is that the one person Takumi has been fighting for since day one, the reason he endured all of this...just dies in his arms.

//And now she’s gone.

//The aftermath is just…rage. Pure, burning grief and RAGE. And it's EPIC!

//Takumi pulls himself together just enough to rally the others. And for the first time in 94 days, the Special Defense Unit is finally FULLY united. Not by hope, not by duty, but by shared loss and fury.

//Ima and Nozomi died right in front of us, and we couldn’t do a damn thing to stop it. At this point, our fears, doubts, and personal agendas don’t matter anymore.

//All that’s left is REVENGE. The only thing we care about now is KILLING the FUCK out of these Invaders! Every last one of them!

//...But it ends up being weirdly more complicated than it should be.

//Out of nowhere, the smaller enemies that we have been battling throughout the game, suddenly begin to speak in fluent English. In real human words, not in twisted alien growls or screeches.

//Furthermore, they are not yelling threats. They're in tears. begging and pleading to be spared for combat. Some cry out for help like frightened kids. They should things like, "Where is my daughter?" and “Mommy!”

//This threw me off. I wasn't expecting it; I'm not sure how anyone could.

//Like Ima hinted earlier, the Commanders, like V’ehxness, are a separate species entirely from the grunts we’ve been mowing down. They're lab-grown and synthetic. But if that’s true…does this mean the foot soldiers aren’t aliens at all? Are they people? Humans, or something close, transformed into monsters and thrown into war as disposable weapons?

//Wouldn't put it past this game honestly.

//I actually don't like this. Like, in a meta way, I get what the game’s doing, but gameplay-wise, hearing them scream and cry like that while I’m trying to fight is more than a little distracting.

//Is there a setting to turn off the human voice lines? Because…yeesh. I mean I DOUBT it, but I'm telling you, that part sucked the enjoyment out of the final fight for me like a straw.

//The fight itself isn’t full of gimmicks or puzzles, it’s just brutal. I can’t even put my finger on what made it so hard. The enemies hit way harder than usual, and the pressure never lets up.

//It didn’t help that, mid-cutscene, the game decides to kill off my healer! Thanks for that!

//But that final cutscene? Worth it! Takumi loses it completely, and rushes the final boss, screaming like a FUCKING ANIMAL! He just snaps. The pain, the rage, everything comes pouring out as he drives his blade straight through V’ehxness!

//But then, something weird happens. By absorbing V’ehxness’s Cryptoglobin, which...he somehow was able to do through his sword instead of his Infuser, Takumi somehow gains the ability to understand the Invaders’ language.

//So for him, V’ehxness's dying words are in his own language.

//With this new power, he tries to get answers. But even on death’s doorstep, V’ehxness won’t give him much. She kind of just laughs at him and taunts him. Tells the group that killing her means nothing. That their fate is sealed, and what’s coming is worse than death.

//You know, that cliche villain bullshit.

//Also that we were pawns too, forced to fight in a war none of us wanted, and turned into weapons just to die meaninglessly, just like the monsters we've been fighting all along.

//And then… Kako absolutely snaps.

//She just watched her brother, someone she barely got back, get murdered right in front of her. There’s no mercy left in her. Once V’ehxness finishes talking, Kako goes full-on berserker and tears into her. She stabs her again, and again, and again, until there’s barely anything left.

//Yeah, you go girl!

//Again, of all the characters in this game that I felt bad for, because their life just SUCKED because of this war, it's Nozomi and Kako. And even to the end, those two were done the dirtiest by this game, no question.

//This final fight is also the first fight in the game where I didn't get an S-Rank finish.

//Not surprising, though. I was barely keeping my shit together, trying to plan everything out and figuring out who needed to go where. And again, when Nozomi is straight up taken out of the fight by being killed in the cutscene, the fights in this game just get that much harder.

DAY 95:

//It's a lie!

//That WASN'T the final boss! It's time for the ACTUAL final boss! God help me!

//The next day, after holding a quiet funeral for Nozomi and Ima, we all come to a conclusion, largely led by Eito, but we all ultimately agree to it. If we’re going to die here, we’re not doing it without answers.

//We’ve spent this whole time defending something in the Defense Room, this supposed weapon of mass destruction, without even knowing what it really is. So we decide it’s time to find out what’s behind the Defense Room door once and for all. Eito steps up to lead the charge, and we head to the Defense Room door, ready to smash it down with our Class Weapons.

//I took a moment to talk to everyone before I started the final assault. The mood’s heavy, as you very well might expect. Funny that losing Nozomi basically makes everything feel pointless and lonely. That's the true power of a heroine right there.

//Everyone also kind of admits that the trap WAS obvious; just that they didn’t want to see it. We were scared and clinging to any chance of peace, even if it meant ignoring Nozomi.

//In hindsight, it’s clear that if her secret hadn’t been leaked, we probably would’ve listened. But someone made sure that didn’t happen. It's a clever mood that makes my teeth itch.

//Just as we’re about to break into the Defense Room, the Undying Flames Boy appears, not just speaking to Takumi anymore, but in front of the whole group.

//And now Takumi can actually hear him clearly for the first time.

//Honestly, why was it that only Takumi was the one who saw the boy? I know that he appeared in front of Tsubasa that one time, but why was every other time him seeking out Takumi? Because Takumi was the only one up at night? I doubt that.

//But we learn that apparently, the boy’s been inside the Defense Room the whole time. And now, thanks to the Cryptoglobin Takumi absorbed from V’ehxness, he’s able to "tune in" to the boy’s voice. No one else can hear him though, so Takumi has to translate.

//We start getting real answers.

//First off, the way the flame boy looks is not his actual appearance. It’s an avatar made from Cryptoglobin, same as his voice. His true body is what’s locked away behind the Defense Room door.

//On top of that, according to what he says, like the rest of the Special Defense Unit, he was brought to the school under the pretense of protecting humanity. But he was different. Due to some sort of genetic anomaly, he ended up with an incredibly rare and powerful form of Cryptoglobin. So powerful, in fact, that he can generate and control the Undying Flames. All of them, including the massive wall of fire surrounding the school.

//He’s been in the Defense Room this entire time, gathering and charging that power, stockpiling it for 100 days. According to him, when fully charged, the Undying Flames have enough destructive force to wipe out all life on Earth. Specifically the Invaders.

//Neither Sirei, nor anyone else, ever told him the real reason he was doing this. Like us, he was just following orders.

//Eito steps forward. Calm but serious, he asks the boy to open the door and let us see what’s inside. And the boy agrees.

//Looking back, it's really clever how this bit of dialogue managed to slip by me. Eito claims that he can't hear the boy, yet he still somehow knew that the boy's apparition wasn't his real body. Takumi even hesitates upon hearing it. But I didn't catch it. Takumi himself didn't really mention that part, at least, he didn't vocalise it.

//Inside, the air is dense with heat and silence. At the center of the chamber stands the so-called "superweapon." It’s a series of missiles lined up in a circular array, each one charged with the Undying Flames.

//The plan is to launch them across the globe to completely purge the planet of Invader life. It's a scorched-earth solution, the kind you don’t come back from.

//The boy, his avatar gone and speaking to Takumi purely through the cryptoglobin, explains everything. He’s been here for nearly 100 days, trapped inside a capsule at the heart of the room. Unable to move. Unable to speak. His body’s been hooked up to the system, and all it’s done is drain him. Every drop of his Cryptoglobin is siphoned away to power the missiles.

//It’s a fully automated process. Whatever he really is, he was manufactured to be a living fuel source. A weapon. Not even given a name.

//He tells us that the avatar he projected was the only way he could ever reach out, to try to be part of the Special Defense Unit. But until now, even that was limited. He couldn’t speak to anyone, not until Takumi absorbed V’ehxness’s Cryptoglobin and could finally resonate with his voice.

//He laments that he couldn't have talked to us all earlier. And it’s true. Looking back, he was trying to warn us. I mean, we knew that the whole time, but it's still kind of gutting to hear it.

//The real surprise here comes from when Takumi walks closer to the capsule, and peers in to see the boy's real body...

//Viva Reverie Voice: It was a BABY??

//Yeah, so, this is the real body of the Flame Boy. Barely more than a newborn, yet burdened with enough power to destroy the world, lmao.

//Shocking revelation, but before Takumi can even react, or even process the horror, everything explodes into chaos. A scythe whips through the air and slams into the side of the capsule.

//Takumi barely dodges it, then gets shoved down the steps by this unknown assailant. Who is it?

//Bro, who the fuck else?

//Congratulations Hundred Line. You have officially gained the Kodaka Krown for worst kept secret in any of these types of games.

//Eito walks up to the capsule like it’s nothing, slices it open, and straight-up kills the baby. Then he absorbs all of the Cryptoglobin for himself, making him superpowered.

//Now...I...Well...*sigh*...

//Okay...I'm just gonna level with you guys on something.

//When this game came out, I was trying to dodge spoilers like the matrix. But I admit that I knew this whole time that Eito would eventually betray everyone because I got spoiled on that very early on.

//Again, worst kept secret. Even among the fandom.

//So every time something happened in this game that actively went against what we were trying to do, I knew that Eito had to be somehow responsible for it. This was something I was made aware of accidentally very early on.

//HOWEVER!

//I think of all secrets in this game that I could have gotten spoiled on in advance, I'm glad it was this one. Because this game has so many secrets and plotpoints, that I can't be hit with ALL of them. The reason I'm glad that I figured this one out is because one: even though I knew Eito was evil, I didn't know how it was going to be revealed. I never saw the cutscene, I just got given that information.

//As long as the reveal was performed well, I think I would have been okay with it. And thankfully, the scene itself, and the way this final fight happens, is pretty damn masterful.

Two: Once again, Eito being a villain was as obvious to me BEFORE the game even came out. When you take the basic premise of Nagito Komaeda, and recreate his mannerisms into another character, Eito in this case, you can't expect me to NOT be sus of him. So even though I got spoiled, it was more of a confirmation of something that I had already figured out a long long time ago.

//The moment that shit started to happen internally, I knew that someone was up to shit, and he was the easiest person to point the finger at.

//And three: even though I knew that Eito was doing so much awful stuff, I never found out WHY. And now, I know. It's far from what I expected, but you know what? I fuck with it.

//He looks full-on evil now, holy hell.

//What I really love about this ensuing scene is that Eito is clearly tired of having to put up this friendly front for 95 days straight. So now that the full scope of his deviousness is revealed, he's just out confessing to EVERYTHING he did, in complete, total detail, even if it's unnecessary. For example, he explains that he was able to kill Sirei by taking him out in one hit, so even if Sirei blew him, he could be revived with the Revive-O'-Matic, while Sirei himself wouldn't be able to come back.

//Then he finally lays out his motive, and...yeah, it’s not what you’d expect. He’s not working for the Invaders, and he’s not trying to win the war for either side.

//He doesn't care if the Invader's win so long as humanity LOSES. For he wants humans to go extinct!

//Eito’s whole philosophy is based on this really dark, nihilistic worldview. He believes human beings are inherently cruel, selfish, and broken. That all of our conflicts, wars, and destruction, especially what we did to the Earth, prove we’re not worth existing. In his mind, the only moral thing left to do is wipe us out before we ruin anything else.

//It turns out Eito was born with some sort of rare cognitive disorder. The game doesn’t name it, but the way he describes it is messed up. He literally sees other people as monstrous, twisted things. He can’t stand the way humans look, nor can he bear the sound of human voices, and he’s hypersensitive to their scent. He’s been physically and mentally disgusted by everyone since birth.

//As a kid, he isolated himself and spent most of his time in the library, which he actually does mention earlier in the game. While hiding away, he read up on humanity’s history. But instead of finding hope or inspiration, all he saw was an endless cycle of violence, war, and suffering.

//It made him believe that his view of humans was the correct one, and that it was the world that was broken, not him.

//So by the time he arrived at Last Defense Academy, he saw it as the perfect chance. If he could stop the Special Defense Unit from winning, he could finally make sure humanity disappeared for good.

//He admits to everything. Most of it during the ensuing boss fight actually. Some people might not like it, but I am actually all for Eito going on a yap spree in his fight, because again, he’s just done pretending. He starts monologuing, going into full detail about everything he’s done, whether we need to hear it or not. It honestly feels like he’s relieved to finally be himself, as am I.

//He killed Sirei and Hiruko to cut us off from our guiding hands, sabotaged our food supply so we almost starved, knocked out Takumi and left him to die, freed Eva so she could kidnap Ima, then killed Eva once she’d done it, and most importantly of all, he started the rumor about Nozomi being an outsider to turn everyone against her.

//Turns out he was literally hiding under Takumi’s bed during the private convo with Nozomi and overheard the whole thing. That’s how he knew about her being from outside the group.

//I actually got the heebie jeebies by the way, from seeing this scene. This is the creepiest thing he does and it makes my skin crawl.

//And while Kurara and the others are understandably furious, Eito throws it back at them. He says all he did was spread the info. THEY were the ones who decided to stop trusting her and belittled her like they did. In his eyes, that just proves his point even more.

//And I do actually agree with him on this one. Eito just took advantage of what he believed humans were like, and these dumb motherfuckers proved him right.

//Also, all those scenes earlier in the game where Eito looked sick or had chest pain was just him having a full-blown visceral reaction to watching the others succeed. He was literally getting physically ill from seeing everyone work together and make progress.

//Now that he’s got the Undying Flame boy's Cryptoglobin inside of him, he’s done pretending. He’s sick of holding back. He wants to finish the job and kill every single one of us, just because he genuinely believes the world will be better off without people in it.

//And honestly, for how unhinged it is, the game does a pretty solid job making his logic feel internally consistent. He’s not a mustache-twirling villain. He’s just a guy who looked at humanity, didn’t like what he saw, and decided to end it.

//Much like Ultron, to be completely honest. At least Ultron from the MCU.

//So the boss fight...First of all, we can't talk about this final FINAL boss without talking about...the music...

WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!?

//What the hell kinda drugs was Takada on when he decided to pick this as the boss theme!?

//Eito’s boss theme is this insane track called “RUMBLE” by Paledusk, a pretty huge Japanese band. Apparently, they’re big enough now that they actually overtook Babymetal on the Apple Music metal charts, which is kind of wild considering how long Babymetal held that top spot.

//So yeah, pretty bold move by Kodaka and Takeda to use a song that current and chaotic for the final fight. But it weirdly fits.

//The song itself is all over the place, like genre whiplash in the best (and most confusing) way. It really hammers in the feeling that everything has gone off the rails.

//And honestly, that matches the fight itself perfectly, because the Eito boss battle is FUCKING BRUTAL! Like, GENUINELY hard.

//My ENTIRE party got wiped out except for Kurara, Yugamu, and Gaku. And Gaku basically kamikaze'd himself just to land the final hit. I’ve played a lot of tough fights in this game, but this one actually made me sweat bullets.

//Eito has total movement freedom on the battlefield; he just flies wherever he wants, no terrain restrictions at all. He hits a massive area, counterattacks every time you land a hit, and occasionally summons reinforcements to keep the pressure on. Plus, he can set parts of the map on fire, so stepping on those tiles deals constant damage.

//And since he absorbed the baby’s Cryptoglobin, his Specialist Skill has been powered up. A bunch of his attacks randomly inflict debuffs, which makes it harder to avoid damage or move out of dangerous areas. Basically, if you’re not planning carefully, he’ll grind your team down fast.

//The fight strategy is kind of the same as always. Take out the adds, whittle down the boss, keep your healer alive. But actually pulling that off is way harder here. He just has way more health and does a ton more damage. You’re basically in survival mode the whole time.

//Eventually, I did manage to take Eito down, but it doesn’t feel like a win.

//The moment he killed the baby powering the superweapon, the whole thing shut down permanently.

//What that basically means is that everything we've done, and everything we fought for, as well as Nozomi and the others' deaths have been completely, wholly meaningless. Right at the last hurdle, Eito screwed us all over, which means this pointless war has become just that. So much bloodshed, no longer for a reason.

//And to top it all off, Eito’s last words set up for something else, would you believe it. Apparently, once he absorbed the Prisoner’s Cryptoglobin earlier, like Takumi, he also gained the ability to understand the Invaders’ language. And he found something major out. But instead of telling us what he learned, he just dies with that knowledge, leaving us in the dark.

//So Takumi has no choice. He kills the guy who used to be his friend, absorbs Eito’s souped-up Cryptoglobin, and now carries the burden of everything that’s happened—along with whatever horrible truths still haven’t been revealed.

//Rest in piss, Yaoi Fangirls.

DAY 96:

//So yeah, these last 5 days are basically the wind down after all the shit. After Eito kills the baby powering the whole system, pretty much everything in the school shuts down. The Defense Room loses power, all of the O'-Matics shut off, and even the Undying Flames that were keeping the school sealed off just vanish.

//The entire facility basically goes dark, like all the tech and security stuff we relied on for 95 days is just offline now. So even if the Invaders don't kill us, our limited resources will.

DAY 97:

//Takumi is completely wrecked at this point. Nozomi, who he finally realized was actually Karua, the person he’s been trying to protect and reconnect with this whole time, is dead. Eito, one of the only people he thought he could rely on, also turned out to be manipulating everything and is now dead too.

//Basically, the two people who mattered most to Takumi are gone, and with them, so is any clear purpose or direction.

//His whole reason for fighting, surviving, and pushing forward was all tied to Nozomi/Karua. Now that she’s gone, and with Eito’s betrayal still fresh, Takumi is left standing in the ruins of everything, completely empty.

//It's like everything that gave his life meaning just got pulled out from under him, and all that’s left is this huge, aching void.

//This is really difficult to watch for someone who has grown to just love Takumi. I think he's a brilliant protagonist, despite what people say. Fundamentally flawed in all the places it matters, but someone strong enough to bear them.

//More on that in a bit though. Point is this sucks for him and I feel miserable.

DAY 98:

/FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK-!

//Okay, yeah, not gonna lie, this was a literal jumpscare for me. Just came out of nowhere and sent my nerves into hyperspace.

//When the scene happened, Takumi described his body getting really hot, and then all of a sudden, the undying flames appeared in his room, and I deadass thought that what was happening is Takumi was becoming the Undying Flames boy.

//In one of two ways. Either because he absorbed Eito who absorbed the baby, the power of the Undying Flames is now within him, which...is not TOO far off from what happened. But the other alternative was something I'd thought of for a while.

// @rpganon had a theory a while back that the UFB was an alternate version of Takumi. Takumi possesses a special ability that allows him to send his memories back to his past self, which explains the in-game retries and redos. He suspected that the UFB might be an iteration of Takumi who has experienced multiple time loops, returning to the past to warn the current Takumi about his future.

//I did think this was legit, but it seems like they're entirely seperate characters at this point. However, I really did think that maybe, this was where Takumi would transform into the UFB, and the timeline reset with HIM in the pod, and a NEW Takumi Sumino taking the place of the character.

//Ultimately, that's not what happens. But I will give them credit for coming up with something that interesting.

//Speaking of the UFB, he actually shows up again!

//Turns out, because Eito absorbed the baby’s Cryptoglobin and then Takumi absorbed EITO, that power is now inside TAKUMI. So now Takumi basically has all, or at least most, of the power the UFB had.

//This gives UFB just enough presence left to speak to Takumi one final time. And even though his real body was that of a baby, he says he’s actually the same age as the rest of the SDU. He just never physically aged because his body wasn’t strong enough to handle the insane amount of power he was born with. It’s like his body stopped growing to keep from being torn apart by his Cryptoglobin. A huge tradeoff for being born with that kind of power.

//Even with all his strength, he admits that he doesn’t really understand what Cryptoglobin or Hemoanima truly are. He just knows that he’s been stuck in the Defense Room his whole life, treated as more of a weapon than a person. He was mostly raised by Sirei, but even that was more like being managed than parented.

//Because of how unstable his power is, he couldn’t let anyone get close to him. He never had the chance to make friends or live like a normal kid. But then, he heard that a group of students, Takumi and the rest of the SDU, were brought to the school, and for the first time, he felt genuinely happy. He wanted to meet them. That’s why he created the flame avatar. He just wanted to be part of the group.

//So wait...You mean to tell me...

//That this guy was THE 16TH STUDENT HIDDEN SOMEWHERE IN THIS SCHOOL WATCH OUT FOR HIM!!!???

//Sorry. Couldn't help myself.

//Of course, Takumi didn’t know any of this and thought the flame avatar was some kind of enemy, so he was always wary. Takumi apologizes for that now.

//The UFB explains that, even though he couldn’t interact directly, he kept showing up to try and warn everyone of the danger. He wanted to help protect them. And even though the group had its share of drama and conflict, the way they still fought together to protect each other and push forward was something he envied. He thought it was beautiful.

//UFB is baby. Metaphorically as well as literally. I will burn my hand patting his head.

//At this point, Takumi completely breaks down, apologizing for everything—for the misunderstanding, for failing to protect the people who died, for all the loss they’ve endured. Classic Kodaka moment of the main character shouldering all the guilt at the end.

//But then UFB drops something heavy: he asks Takumi, if he had the chance to go back and redo all 100 days from the beginning, knowing what he knows now, would he take that opportunity?

//And that’s not just a hypothetical. Because now, with all the power he’s absorbed, Takumi CAN actually go back. The option to reset everything and try again is REAL.

//I have to give a MASSIVE kudos to Kodaka, because the way that he sets this up is REALLY CLEVER!

//Eito’s Specialist Skill is called Special Fortunetelling. Basically, every time he takes an action in combat, he gets a random effect. Most of the time, it's something like an attack boost, a shield, or, sometimes. he just gets fatigued instead. It’s a gamble-type ability, which is another Nagito connection I spotted early on.

//But once he absorbed the baby’s Cryptoglobin, that ability got a serious upgrade. Instead of giving him random buffs, it instead gave the party random debuffs during his boss fight.

//Now that Takumi has absorbed Eito, and by extension, the baby too, that power has carried over and changed his own Specialist Skill as well.

//Takumi’s original Specialist Skill is called Special Redo. It’s got two main functions in the game: "Retry," which lets you start a whole battle over from the beginning, and "Wave Reset," which lets you restart the current enemy wave if things are going badly. It’s basically a second-chance mechanic built into the story.

//But now that Takumi’s Cryptoglobin has been supercharged with all that insane power, the UFB suggests that he might actually be able to push that ability way further. Like, not just restarting a fight, but rewinding everything. All 100 days. A full reset.

//In other words, Takumi could potentially start the whole story over from Day 1, only this time with all the knowledge and power he has now. That means he might be able to prevent everything that went wrong, stop Eito before he betrays everyone, save Nozomi, Ima, and all the others, and maybe even avoid the war turning into such a pointless bloodbath.

//So yeah, Takumi’s "redo" ability has gone from a gameplay mechanic to a major story decision, giving him one last shot to fix everything.

//Absolute genius move when gameplay meets story like that. Although I will say, it's a bit awkward that the Specialist Skills haven't been mentioned to be canon to the story so far for this exact purpose. Or...maybe I missed it.

//But those are the final words of the UFB, as he disappears for good. Just when we were getting to know him too...

DAY 99:

//Takumi starts checking in with everyone who survived to see how they feel about the idea of resetting everything and starting the 100 days over.

//Takemaru, Kurara, Kyoshika, and Kako are all for it. They say if there’s even a chance of reaching a happier outcome, they’d be willing to go through it all again. They want to try and fix what was broken.

//On the other hand, Darumi, Tsubasa, Gaku, and Yugamu are just over it. They’ve been through so much trauma and loss that the idea of reliving any of it sounds exhausting. To them, it’s not worth it.

//Shouma’s kind of stuck in the middle, not really sure if it’s the right move or not. So in the end, it’s an even split.

//That alone makes the decision hard, but honestly, there are still so many unanswered questions. We never really found out what happened with Karua, or how exactly she became Nozomi. And we still don’t know what truth Eito discovered after understanding the Invaders’ language, since he died without ever telling us. That mystery alone feels like a good enough reason to try again.

//Personally, I’d want to redo everything, not just to save people, but to finally get some answers.

DAY 100:

//It's time...

//So, weirdly enough, even though the school's power was supposed to be down after the Undying Flame Boy died, the War Room randomly boots back up, and it looks like the “Omni-Directional Attack” is being activated.

//Which makes zero sense, because the weapon shouldn't even work anymore after Eito killed the baby. Graduation music starts playing over the speakers again, which I think is a great thematic touch.

//But OH MY GOD, did I get so pissed here!

//There’s been a freaking escape pod this whole time!

//An actual, functional escape pod!

//One more time...

//There...

//WAS

//A!

//FUCKING!!

//ESCAPE POD!!!

//NOZOMI got absolutely DRAGGED for wanting to escape, and turns out she was completely right! We all called her a traitor and she literally died over it! WE DIDN'T EVEN FUCKING BOTHER LOOKING FOR ANOTHER WAY OUT!

//At the very least, everyone looks SO guilt ridden over it, and they FUCKING SHOULD BE!

//Naturally, Takumi blames himself, but honestly, that’s not fair. He was the only one who believed in Nozomi from the beginning. The rest failed her—not the other way around.

//It’s actually kind of hard to accept how much everyone fought and suffered, only to realize they were their own worst enemy the whole time.

//But Takumi thinks back to what the UFB told him about jumping back to fix everything. To start anew and give everyone a happy ending they deserve.

//Then suddenly, I get to make a CHOICE!

//Except NO I DON'T LOOOOOOLL!

//Clearly it's setting up to my decision making in the future of this game, but this hasn’t happened since Day 0 at the very start of the game.

//Unfortunately, saying "no" does nothing. You can technically choose it, but the story doesn’t move forward unless you agree. You don't even get a funny bonus scene like the one with Sirei at the beginning of the game.

//So much for agency, but hey, at least I tried.

//It’s still really unclear what happens to everyone if we do go back in time. The current timeline could vanish, or it could split off and continue existing separately. The game doesn't really give a definitive answer, so I guess it's up to everyone who's playing.

Takumi ends up deciding not to go back to the satellite with the others. His reason for fighting is gone, and without her, he just can’t find a reason to keep going forward in this timeline.

//It’s honestly pretty heartbreaking. I had my moments of frustration with Takumi throughout the game, but seeing him come to terms with everything and still want to fix it...

//That hit hard.

//He watches the escape pod launch toward Earth with a little smile, knowing at least his friends are going to be okay.

//Then, he walks back to the courtyard and uses his Specialist Skill to jump back in time, ready to relive the 100 days and try again.

//But right after he disappears, the escape pod that left… comes back. There's just a walkie talkie inside. Takemaru and Tsubasa are calling in, saying there’s something wrong with the satellite. Something they didn’t expect.

//But Takumi’s already gone.

//That last moment is so ominous. Gave me chills, and is a GREAT setup for the future of this game.

CONCLUSION:

//And then the credits roll. I caught a few names I recognized, and apparently, the voice of the Undying Flame boy in Japanese is Daiki Yamashita. That’s Deku’s voice actor from My Hero Academia!

//I obviously don't play this game in Japanese, but I do like Daiki-kun. He's a very entertaining and enjoyable person.

//Also, a lot of the credits are blacked out, probably to keep major spoilers hidden.

//But...Yeah! That's the first of many endings of the Hundred Line!

//Such a wild ending. So many loose threads. I’m gonna be thinking about this one for a while.

//Like I said already, the way that these journal's are going to be structured will be different from here on out. Up until now, I've been breaking down my gamplay throughout the days. But since we have so much to get through, I've decided that my posts about Hundred Line going forward will be about the routes themselves.

//I.e. instea of documenting things day by day, I'm going to keep a record of the highlights of each route and ending I get, and then talk about them in each post.

//I get that that's a pretty big switch up, and it means the endings will be posted more spaced out, but the thing is I really like this game. And I want to play it as much as possible. And the more I write about it, the less I play it.

//I'll make it work somehow, promise. But in the meantime, Route #0.

//I have a feeling that even with the 100 different endings, THIS ONE has the potential to be up there, because this first route was TOP NOTCH!

//The character development for everyone in this route alone was brilliant, the characterization was on point, the story was full of awesome twists and turns, and the ending was masterfully crafted and so bittersweet.

//I didn't feel this way about Rain Code when it first came out. I do like Rain Code, but I don't like it as much as I like Danganronpa. This game on the other hand has the potential to shoot beyond those stars from this one route alone, especially because it gets me excited for all the other outcomes on this game.

//But that is the end of our first playthrough. My takeaways:

I love this game.

-Mod

[weasleycream]

May I request Harry Potter x aunt reader

Y/N is James' sister and Severus' best friend. This sparks a fight between the siblings and they lose touch. Y/N marries Severus and becomes an auror with a reputation as a fierce hunter of Death Eaters. After a successful career that has brought her many scars and fame, she returns to Hogwarts as a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Harry doesn't know he has an aunt, and Ron is curious why the teacher, who is nicknamed "Snape in a Skirt," is so nice to Harry. Voldemort then reveals to Harry that Y/N is his aunt and that he wants to kill her because she only causes him trouble

 ˃̵ᴗ˂̵     !! ( uyeueujg my first order 😭💗 ) Of course! I like the idea of ​​James having a sister who marries Severus in the future, it sounds pretty interesting🤔. I will do my best to develop your idea to the letter, thank you very much for your request! I hope you like it <3.

ㅤㅤ୭.ᰍㅤ𝅄  ֹ    " 𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐮𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐤𝐢𝐫𝐭 "  🪽    Ⳋ

ઈઉ ݁  ㅤִㅤ𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬 ; 𝐒everus 𝐒nape x 𝐅em!𝐀unt!𝐑eader

ઈઉ ݁  ㅤִㅤ𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 ; Use of bad words, mentions of death/blood/scars, family fights (between siblings), Bad grammar in English.

ઈઉ ݁  ㅤִㅤIn this OS Gilderoy Lockhart resigns as soon as the petrifications begin to occur

ઈઉ ݁  ㅤִㅤ𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 ; The Philosopher's Stone, The Chamber of Secrets

ઈઉ ݁  ㅤִㅤ 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 ; 3.2k+ (I still see it as too short, help💔)

ઈઉ ݁  ㅤִㅤ𝗨𝗻𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱.

Maybe for her brother being with someone like Severus Snape was something to consider himself a "traitor" and even more so since she was his little protégé and little twin sister. It was frustrating for him to see how the other half of him was best friends with his biggest enemy, to see how those two were inseparable.

It would not be a surprise to many, even James and his band of friends, to know that Severus no longer had eyes for Lily Evans (which James is partly grateful for) and now those looks of excitement and excitement are directed towards his sister Y/N Potter. Which sparked a loud dispute with The Marauders and Snape in the background, allowing them to hear all the twins' commotion.

"Merlin, James! Stop bothering me! Just because you're my brother and you ask me to end my friendship with him, I'm not going to do it, you understand!? I'm already tired of you interfering in my relationships just because you don't like them for nothing!" The feminine screams at her brother, who was in front of her red with rage and fury that had accumulated for a long time. “Accept it, James, Sev and I are never going to separate no matter how much you want us to, much less without one good reason."

"Do you want a reason? Fine! It's simple, I don't want you to be the same as that first-class idiot, who only knows how to follow Lily like her dog, it's not good for you to be with people like him"He snapped with anger in his voice as he looked into his sister's insistent eyes, clenching his fists at his sides causing his knuckles to quickly lose color and turn white.

Y/N, full of annoyance and disbelief, spoke: "That's the stupidest thing you've ever said in your life, James. I'm not going to separate from Sev because of that stupidity, he suits me, and much more than you if you ask me! He is "Much better than you in several ways! I like him! And I'm not going to allow you to keep giving me stupid numbers just because you don't like him!"

Severus, who was witnessing the arduous scene, froze in place upon hearing his friend's words. Apparently every attempt to eliminate every feeling he had for her, thinking that it was not reciprocated, was in vain. He, who was in a state of shock, could not allow himself to continue listening until she screamed again in fury.

"Fine! This ends here, James, if you don't like the idea of ​​seeing me happy with the person I love and long for, then this is all over, ignore the fact that I am your sister and don't talk to me again, because I already see that "The only thing you're doing when you talk to me is hurt me!"

She snapped red with anger with tears threatening to come out of her ocean blue eyes. He turned around and began to walk with heavy steps, pushing Sirius with his shoulder as he went, taking Snape by the hand, beginning to leave that place without preventing the crystalline tears from starting to come out of his eyes as he was far enough away from him over there.

"Uhmm… Y/N… I'm so sorry for what just happened because of me with your brother… I really didn't mean to."He apologized sincerely making them both sit on the roots of a tree near the Black Lake. He wrapped the girl in her arms as soon as they sat down, beginning to caress her wavy, silky hair.

The girl began to shake due to the sobs of her sadness, soaking her friend's robe with salty tears, alerting the black-haired man who squeezed her tighter against him. "Don't apologize Sev… It's not your fault, it's his for not accepting that he is a selfish fucking idiot who should let me be happy with the person I love"

"Oh… Yes… About that… Do you really feel that way about me? I mean… It's exciting to know that I'm loved by the most beautiful girl there has ever been in all of Hogwarts.." He murmured softly. against his hair, lightly inhaling the girl's soft fruity aroma, and then feeling how she tensed a little and separated from him a little to look into his eyes.

The girl, who had already stopped shedding tears little by little, slowly blushed at her opponent's words. "Sev… I've been in love with you for a year… But I never wanted to tell you for fear that you would continue to love Lily…" she murmured, looking away from him, avoiding the embarrassment of the moment.

"Fuck Y/N… You don't know how much I wanted to tell you this for a long time… You know? Yes, I still love Lily." The brunette squirmed in her place, pursing her lips, avoiding saying anything while she narrowed her little eyes that longed to throw away. tears again at what was said. "But like… A friend?… Since I met you, some time later I discovered that Lily was just a crush since she was the first girl I met in my life… But then you came along and changed that… "And it wasn't just a crush… It's something true, and knowing that you feel the same is… Encouraging."

"Sev…" He whispered, looking up again, moving from his eyes to her lips slowly, getting a little closer, remaining a few centimeters from her face. The boy swallowed hard nervously while he did the same action as the girl in his arms, shortening the short distance, touching his lips in a very small but lasting kiss full of feelings.

"Y/N… Will you allow me to be the happiest man and be your boyfriend?…" He asked shyly cupping the brunette's small blushing cheek, cupping her face affectionately.

"Of course, Severus…" She responded by giving him another small kiss and then hugging him tightly again, sealing their love under that tree on the lake, without imagining what things his future would bring.

After long years without contact with her brother after that tedious fight, she married Severus some time ago after becoming a kind of Death Eater hunter, taking many of them behind the bars of Azkaban prisons. She knew that her husband did not like this work at all despite having been a Death Eater after graduating, he did not like at all that his smooth and soft skin had now become scratchy and calloused with scars due to the risk of his job.

Despite all this, he had to accept that there was good news in his life, such as the time he notified him that James and Lily had gotten married and had a child, he felt so happy for them that he had forgotten for a moment that he had already He had no contact with his brother, holding back every desire to want to go visit them and see his beloved nephew Harry.He knew very well in advance that after the birth of his nephew, his brother along with Lily had died at the hands of Voldemort and that Harry, being barely a baby, was able to survive the feared Adava Kedavra, making him a celebrity in the magical world, of course. This news devastated Y/N, who sought great comfort after her grief with her husband, trying to overcome the pain of her loss at all costs.

After the years, she wanted to leave her job as Aurora and started teaching at Hogwarts, she knew that her nephew was already there, she knew that Voldemort had returned for him and perhaps for her too, but still, she wanted to spend time with him, although for on the other hand, Severus, who quite renounced this decision, had no choice but to accept, understanding his beloved's desire to meet the only family he had left.

Upon arriving at Hogwarts as a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, surprising many when they saw how close she was to Severus Snape, making more than a smile and sigh from the 'most feared professor at Hogwarts', some even noticed the ring that both wore it on their ring finger, it being impossible not to notice the similarity of these, it was there that they nicknamed her 'Snape in a skirt', something that inevitably reached the ears of the great Harry Potter, who had noticed a great resemblance between him and her physically.

Harry even thought he was going to have another teacher with an attitude as scary as Snape's after Gilderoy ran away and 'Snape in a Skirt' arrived when he heard fourth year boys, like the Weasley twins, saying that the new teacher was very heavy and quite scary when you notice her scars on her arms, neck and face, but her surprise was great when it was time for Defenses Against the Dark Arts and the woman treated Harry as if he were her son, unlike the rest, They were treated as if they were in Potions class.

A week after Y/N's arrival, petrifications continued to occur at the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, which worried everyone greatly, even rumors reached the new teacher that Harry was 'The heir of Slytherin' being a Idiocy on the part of the students. She had already interacted with her nephew on several occasions without him even knowing that they were related to her, although talks about her with her group of friends were inevitable after he and Y/N finished talking.

"I still have a question… Do any of you know why they call him 'Snape in a Skirt'?" Harry questioned his friends, receiving a silent denial from Hermione, but a quick and boisterous nod from Ron.

"Of course! You're too lost not to have listened yet," she said as she looked at him with bored but emotion-filled eyes, receiving a 'I'm sorry' from Harry. "It's okay. Well, almost everyone says it's because of her attitude, everyone complains that she's like Snape but a woman, hence her nickname, although there are some who say it's because she's very close to the Potions professor and because ' "They share rings very similar to those of a marriage. But still, that doesn't take my mind off the fact that she's only nice to you, Harry." He explained making quotes with his fingers and emphasizing the 'share' and then looked forward again and prevented his bad luck from playing against him again and causing him to collide with someone again. or hit something.

Hermione snorted and spoke "Well, they're right in both situations, she has a very strong character and her scars speak for themselves… And about the ring, well… I never looked closely but you don't have to be very smart to see which are very similar in terms of design." This made Harry think extremely, remaining silent as he walked next to his friends who were once again fighting over some pointless thing. She had her suspicions about Snape for a year, and now he is involved with Slytherin because of his Parcel, and now with the arrival of that new teacher and her great physical resemblance and her strange change of mood with him, it was starting to be a headache for him.

That same night, Harry along with Ron and his former Defenses Against the Dark Arts teacher were able to discover the chamber of secrets by entering it, so that Harry continued advancing after one of the teacher's idiocies, he finally found himself with ' Tom Riddle' who after a short conversation mentioned something that left him disconcerted.

"Haven't I told you? Murdering impure people doesn't matter to me at all, for several months the ones I've been looking for are you and your aunt." This left Harry cold, it couldn't be possible that they were looking for his Aunt Petunia, she doesn't even have a drop of magical blood. "How is it possible that a baby with no extraordinary magical talent defeated the greatest wizard of all time? How could you escape with only a scar while all of her powers were nullified?"

"Why are you interested in how I escaped? Voldemort didn't live in your time… And why would you want to kill my Aunt Petunia, if she's a Muggle?" Harry asked quickly in response without backing down, regretting it for a moment when he noticed the abrupt change in 'Tom's expression and the tension was becoming more and more noticeable in that place.

Angry and angry 'Tom' responded: "Voldemort… It is my past, present and future…" He turned around and with his wand began what apparently seemed like writing in the air leaving the letters in his wake. of his full name, and after a movement he rearranged them, thus leaving the phrase 'I am Lord Voldemort' and spoke again. "And your aunt… I'm not talking about your pathetic, bony Dursley… I'm talking about Y/N… The sister of the famous James Potter, and the aunt of the great Harry Potter…Don't think I'm going to let her go, it's just a thorn in the side if she's alive… She has to die so she doesn't interfere with my plans anymore."

Faced with this revelation, Harry remained static and in shock in his place, despite all the dust and dirt on his face, you could see how his skin was turning pale little by little, and then he began to engage in a fight with the Basilisk afterwards. that Dumbledore's Phoenix arrived with a hat with a sword that appeared shortly after inside it, concluding with the bloody death of the enormous snake.

Harry, trying to put aside the fact that the Basilisk bit him with its poisoned bite, approached Ginny taking her hand listening to Voldemort's ramble, then took the diary and opened it and then took the tooth that he pulled out of the Basilisk and stabbed the blank page of the book, causing some kind of bloody textured ink to come out, receiving angry and desperate screams from Voldemort, he continued stabbing the book until 'Tom Riddle's' body was no longer there with them.

Hours after Harry and the others were able to leave thanks to the Phoenix and Harry and Ron spoke with Headmaster Dumbledore and had a small fight with Lucius Malfoy, before dinner in the great hall, he searched the entire castle for his teacher and aunt. , Y/N, finding her in one of the hallways that led to the dungeon halls.

"Professor Y/N! Can I talk to you for a moment, please?" She asked politely with a shy look and frown. "Is something important"

The one with ocean eyes turned around when she heard her nephew's voice, giving him a small smile. "Of course Harry! What do you need, little one?" She responded kindly as she looked into his eyes fondly.

"Well… As the director may have already told you… I was with Vold-…You-Know-Who" He interrupted himself, knowing that not many like the mention of that disgusting wizard's name. "Yesterday in the chamber… He told me something that was quite disconcerting… Why didn't he tell me? Why didn't he tell me that you are my aunt?"

The woman just sighed and placed her hand on the boy's shoulder as she opened her eyes to speak. "You know, Harry? You're just as direct as your father was…" she murmured with a sad, nostalgic smile and a lost look before sighing lightly again. "I never told you because I never had the chance… I couldn't be there for you when you were little… And now that I got to see you here, I just didn't have the courage to tell you and have you face the fact that I'm a Terrible aunt for that…"

"Still, it's quite strong to know that I don't just have my Aunt Petunia as a family… I wish you had arrived earlier, you know? I had a horrible time at the Dursleys' house and with no place to go." go… And now I find out about this.."

"I know, little one… And believe me, I'm so sorry… I'm so sorry, Harry… I just… When I found out that James and Lily got married and had you, I just… I wanted to see them." …But I couldn't… I was still afraid of seeing your father after our fight and thinking that he could still hate me for that…" He paused when he noticed that his voice broke as he felt the knot in his throat, and then continued "I always wanted to meet you… And take care of you after what happened… But I never knew your whereabouts… I never knew… But you don't know how happy I am to know that you are here… Live, despite everything you've been through…"

The youngest just nodded with teary eyes and managed to rush towards her to hug her tightly, releasing all the pain and happiness he felt after he found out that that fearsome teacher was his aunt and that she always loved him.

They both arrived at the large dining room and the one with brown hair saw her beloved nephew in the distance with his friends talking, he turned around and saw her and then greeted her with his hand and a small smile and eyes of joy, he returned the greeting and smile. and then continued on her way with her husband to the teachers' table, where they sat together and he spoke.

"Apparently you already talked to Potter about that, dear," he whispered so that only she could hear as he took her hand under the table without anyone noticing, stroking the back of her hand with his thumb, gently tracing the scar that adorned it with the finger.

The woman smiled warmly, leaning down to rest her head on her lover's shoulder, feeling how he tense up at the demonstration of affection in a public place, where it is not supposed to be known about their relationship.

"Well Mr. Snape, I had to do it at any moment, after all he is my nephew… I knew that despite what happened, he was going to accept me, after all, who wouldn't accept a beauty like me?" The woman joked as she looked into his eyes, separating herself a little with her smile remaining a few centimeters from her face.

The man who only looked at her tightened his grip on their clasped hands and murmured: "Well… You're right… It would be unforgivable just not to accept someone as beautiful and incredible as you, darling.." He said so that Then the woman approached again, leaving a soft short kiss on his lips and then kissing his cheek and the tip of his nose when they separated, surprising everyone who had decided to fix their eyes on the two at that moment, between those, Harry, who seemed like after that scene, just wanted the world to swallow him up and spit him out in Azkaban to erase all memory of that sight.

੭୧    ݂   Soooooo… What did you think? I'm not very good at this kind of things yet but I still hope you liked it ㅜㅅㅜ, especially to the person who requested it, regarding that, thank you very much for the request! I quite enjoyed doing this!🥹❤️‍🩹

—　˚ 🪦  ⌢　𝙏𝙚𝙭𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡 𝙖𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙨 𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙬𝙝𝙤𝙢 𝙞𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙮 𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙡𝙮! <3

[lordofmelancholy]

Arcane Silent Frontiers: Mylo and. . . Maddie?!

Oh yes hello ladies and gents I am back with another weird headcanon! Sorry it's taken me so long to write one out, I hurt my back a week ago and needless to say sitting in a chair has sucked!

But I am back! And Yes the title is legit. Yes this post is about Mylo and Maddie. Definitely one of the weirdest pairings I've ever come up with when it comes to a fandom, but probably not the last weird one I'm ever going to probably do.

Now you may be asking yourself Lord, why this one. Am I on drugs? Did I fall from a tree and hurt my brain? Possibly. I don't really know anymore. But more so to the point is the fact that I have my reasons for this. You see, this idea came to me shortly I think after the one I posted a few weeks ago about Ekko punching Mylo in the face

that post can be found: Here

And since that post, my brain has been scrambling to think about ideas I can use for this character. It's taken me a bit but thankfully with the help of my friend, I think I have finally figured out what to do with this dude as well as Maddie.

Now before I get into the pairing, which thankfully is not a "Ship-Ship", I will first discuss the individual idea's I have for the both of them before I start talking about their "Pairing". Fair warning however, in case this post gets too long I may split it into two. We shall see.

SO WITHOUT FURTHER ADO LET'S GET STARTED!

First! let's discuss MADDIE NOLAN

Oh Maddie, the Arcane Fandoms favorite (and I use that term loosely) Ginger-headed spy, traitor and Caitlyn's favorite rebound. To say that coming up with ideas of what I can use her when it comes to Silent Frontiers was fun would be truth telling, but at the same time would also have been a lie. This is because, despite what the HALF fandom might think of her, she IS actually a very-well thought out villain. Maddie’s interesting for many reasons, but mainly it is because when you actually look at her in scenes and don’t just treat her as a BG character that gets between Vi and Caitlyn's relationship, you begin to realize that she’s actually a sneaky lil shit. And possibly is one of the few good examples I can think of for the subvert expectations trope; a character who could have originally have been so easily read as her being a nosy lover, one far more interested in Caitlyn than Caitlyn is into her, turning into a cold-blooded, loyal to my cause spy/informant.

And it's then when you go back and actually WATCH her scene's, you begin to realize that the clues of what she truly was were staring you in the face the entire time.

This is shown in scene's such as when Vi and Caitlyn are talking and Caitlyn tells Maddie to leave them alone only for you to then realize, she never actually left, she stayed by the door and listened in the entire time. Or the scene in which she accidentally Noxus saluted Ambessa while leaving during that scene where Ambessa and Caitlyn talked in Caitlyn's room. In short, Maddie is a fantastic quiet villain and one I certainly know I will never do justice to however i decide to use her. With that in mind however, I have had some ideas for her based around her position from in the show, but with some minor differences to help her tie in to Silent Frontiers.

For Starters Her relationship with: CAITLYN KIRAMMAN

Now her relationship with Caitlyn is a little different than it was in the show. Rather than simply being a random hookup implemented by Ambessa to keep Caitlyn in check (at least to an extent), Caitlyn and Maddie have actually been together for a while. However, the relationship is actually greatly one-sided; Maddie likes her more then Caitlyn likes her but is forced together because Maddie much like her is a high ranking officer. In fact both Caitlyn and her are the YOUNGEST high ranking officers between Piltover and Noxus, and as such are relatively big talk in Social Settings. This is because before the official “coupling” between Piltover and Noxus years prior to the events of Silent Frontiers, Caitlyn and Maddie's relationship became big news especially as a sorta “peace thing” between NOXUS and Piltover. This is because much like the show, Caitlyn is a big name in Piltover with “House Kiramman” being once again one of the oldest and most respected families in Piltover, renowned for their "supposed" integrity, philanthropy, and substantial wealth mostly garnered by the fact the family has had their fingers in all sorts of pies, so to speak. Trade, shipping, real estate, research and development, philanthropic efforts - you name it, they're in there somewhere. The diversity of their portfolio/holdings, made them people of interest to NOXUS. In the world of propaganda, such a relationship with Maddie was used to make NOXUS especially look good on both sides especially since no one trusted Noxus due to their apparent war-hungry nature. However, despite the relationship being greatly one-sided, it also was apparently not as one-sided as most people gave credit for it being. This is because while Maddie genuinely does like Caitlyn in some regards at least, she also sees her position with her as a perk of the job. The bonuses of their coupling along with all the good publicity NOXUS is getting is only the cherry on top, with Maddie in SF still showing her deep loyalty to NOXUS similar to the show. Deep down as a result whatever “love” Maddie has for Caitlyn, is greatly overshadowed by her want to be the best. In addition, her relationship also allows NOXUS to stick their fingers in some pie so to speak. Basically in short, throughout most of the beginning of SF, Maddie is a partner to Caitlyn here in place of Vi. Yet unlike Vi, Maddie wants Caitlyn to fail miserably. And does everything in her power to ensure that she does just that. If people found out ultimately what NOXUS had been doing and coercing Piltover's highest to do, then everything would fall apart for them

What Do I mean by this?

The industrial anchor of Appalachia, Piltover is highly recognized for the city’s cultural, educational, healthcare, and technological resources, and is one of the largest cities in Appalachia. A beacon of hope for all and a cultural center that’s known for its trade, craftsmanship, and forward-thinking, Piltover is thought by many to be the ideal city where a person can BE someone. Essentially a Scientific Los Angeles/Hollywood. 

However, things are not as they seem. One disaster never comes without another. 

Where Volcanoes erupt, snow and cold often follow and with it come disease and famine. And where progress grow’s, so too grows wider the road to hell once paved with good intentions. And nowhere is that more shown then in the underbelly and inner workings of Piltover’s most higher up society. Once a city dedicated to the betterment of mankind, Piltover’s idea of what the term “betterment” means has become very obscure as of late. No thanks given due to their “partnership” with a very-ruthless cut-throat in the form of NOXUS.

On it’s own Piltover thrives, with influence in the productions and sales of cosmetics, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, industrial machine production, consumer products, health foods, the transportation industry and tourism ect ect.

However, Piltover’s large array of subsidiaries once often thought typical for large-scale corporations, is in actuality purposely built to cover up illegal activities-such as the development of biological weaponry for militaries across the world as well as Human Testing of many of their BOW products, no thanks in part due to NOXUS getting their fingers into everything. Noxus had been calling the shots for years in Piltover. Essentially becoming Piltover’s Umbrella Company, they used much of Piltover's influence, technology and scientific discoveries to ensure they are well prepared for any war they might start or finish.

Piltover however has long since turned a blind eye to many of NOXUS’ plans solely because let’s face it, money talks bullshit walks and everyone knows there’s at least a few fat-cats who wouldn’t give a shit about anything as long as their revenue is intact. However, NOXUS still remains not as subtle as they hoped. Things have been slowly falling apart. Their control is waning and beginning to loosen. A couple of their top scientists are either dead (either by their own hands or by the governments) or have now gone AWOL and it’s only a matter of time before the screws give way and the metal bends… Here’s where the NOXUS plot gets a little complicated though.

There are 2-3 overarching plots to SF involving NOXUS all combining into ONE plot called Noxian Silencer

Noxian Silencer involves the general overall plot. Basically Noxus is losing control. Similar to the plot of DYING LIGHT, an operative must be sent to infiltrate the quarantine zone in order to find Scientist gone rogue, Corin Reveck, who has information containing vital data that Noxus doesn’t want going public.

In addition to NOXUS wanting to find Reveck, Caitlyn is basically doing in SF what she does in Arcane on the side. Her sense of justice-seeking is still forever strong in SF but in this case it’s less about looking for Silco and more looking for someone else. (I'm thinking of Grayson. Fits I think. Family friend, yada ya). Upon learning of Grayson's random disappearance, she begins to stick her nose in places it doesn’t belong and becomes obsessed with it much like she did with finding Silco. She doesn’t like it when she finds out how some high ranking members are going randomly missing and no one’s doing anything about it. And what is that town that’s all shut-up? Well, as we know with Arcane, once Caitlyn get’s her nose on a scent she’s like a bloodhound. Sadly in this case, she’s learning by herself what Maddie already knows and Maddie doesn’t like Caitlyn snooping. However NOXUS/Ambessa decided to use this as an advantage. Knowing they have to go to the Zone already to find Revick, they ultimately decide to play into Caitlyn's heroism and allow her the chance to go to Zaun. Thus the journey of Caitlyn and Maddie into the exclusion Zone starts.From here on however, things start to get bad-worse for Maddie. Maddie ends up working with Caitlyn as her assigned partner while secretly being against her (which my friend thought sounded fucking radical). However once in the Zone, it starts to become clear that even as an experienced soldier, that it takes a toll on her. She begins to become paranoid, obviously affected harshly after having disastrous circumstances along with the rest of the crew.

In addition however, she also quickly turns sour when they encounter Vi, who Caitlyn quickly took a liking to. As a result, Maddie becomes paranoid, hostile and almost unreasonable, ultimately forcing Caitlyn despite trying so hard to help her, to break things off with her. Despite promising her that she’d do anything in her power to allow Maddie to keep her position and maybe even more so for helping her track down Grayson, Maddie begins to quietly yet violently resent Caitlyn and Vi, remaining greatly antagonistic towards Vi despite Vi's best efforts to remain neutral/friendly toward her.

Being a proud soldier at heart, Maddie also finds her paranoia being highly affected by the fact that she is effectively operating on her own; cut off from her chain of command when she ultimately loses contact with Ambessa. Determined to make it back home, Maddie decides the ultimate betrayal and effectively turns on the LANE ZONE and thus Caitlyn as well. After all, lots of people die in the Zone, she can take the reprimand when she goes home from Ambessa if she doesn’t bring back Caitlyn. She could make herself out to be the hero. (it’s not like Ambessa is returning her calls anyways)

But the plan she wants to enact requires a partner. . . Which she ends up finding in Mylo

Now here's where it gets interesting. . .

Mylo in SF, much like Maddie, doesn’t really differ that much from his Arcane counterpart. But what stands out the most in him in SF compared to his Arcane counterpart, are his insecurities which ultimately get used against him in the worst ways. The adopted brother of Jinx and Vi along with Claggor, and a friend of Ekko’s, Mylo has spent a majority of his life chasing after something he hasn’t really been able to obtain. 

Remaining nearly identical personality wise to the main Arcane universe, Mylo in SF is portrayed as someone who is very confident and cracks jokes often, being somewhat of a trickster. Despite this however, he tends to overstep his confidence and boundaries tremendously, which leads many to over-exceed their patience with him.

Bold, crass, and a bit of an ass, Mylo’s underlying insecurities and a fear of being overlooked or as being insignificant has changed his view on a lot of things since the start of SF.

While he does exceedingly love his family, Mylo often harbors an often quite closely-kept jealousy toward his siblings, especially Jinx, which often manifests in his not-so-quite antagonistic behavior toward her, often tearing down the youngest sibling to make himself look better. This in turn has led to some strife between him and Ekko and also oftentimes Vi, which has not made his life any easier.

Passively seething with resentment and his own brand of strife, Mylo wants to make something of himself but doesn’t have the talent or the skills necessary like so many of his other siblings. Disgruntled and ripe for exploitation, it is because of this that Mylo is quick to become the eye-candy to Maddie's need for a partner.

Upon first glance, Maddie sees in this guy someone who wants so much to be something, much like her. To be on par with everyone else or greater. 

He’s perfect in her eye's, he’s moldable like clay, pliable After all, Mylo would definitely fall for Maddie's charms. If Caitlyn could? His ass stands no chance. Afterall he's also just dumb enough not to realize things before it’s too late. . It doesn't take much to reel Mylo in.

Maddie after all is pretty.

All she has to do is bat her eyes and take interest in him and Mylo is quick to start crawling on his knees. He after all seems like the type, the type who never has any luck with women to the point that if one gets his attention in the way that Maddie is farcing, no shit he would fall for it quickly. But in the end it's all a farce. She cares nothing for him, and is instead leading him on while still baring a "killing grudge", whilst biding her time for the right opportunity. Throughout their short relationship however, Mylo quickly begins to notice that Maddie seems unwell. Once practicing a plastic smile and how to make disingenuous, lighthearted banter in order to cover up her more angry side, she quickly ends up becoming increasingly agitated and paranoid as the day's go on, leaving Mylo to question the whole thing. But when Maddie's finale finally comes, by the time Mylo realizes what’s going on, it’s already too late.

This all leads up to Maddie's finale Act Ultimately in the end, trying to kill Cait. 

Killing isn't so far off the bat an ending Maddie would attempt; we saw her try it even in the show. But here she has more axes to grind with both her AND Vi instead of just following orders and by extension everyone else associated with them. Because of this, she attempts to assassinate what is known as the Lane Committee by default as a result.

The Committee is essentially the leading body of the Lane-Zone. It was the group formed to govern the Northernmost Section of the Zone known as The Lane's which is essentially the "Main Hub" where Ekko Jinx Vi and so and soo all live. 

Shortly after Zaun was shut down, many people, mostly those who would have been classified as the "Barons"/ Crime Boss' each took their own section of Zaun for themself mostly by force from the military and each other, successfully dividing it into main sections each run by a separate Baron and as well as subsections belonging to each.

By all cases, despite that, the Lane's are the most better off compared to the other sections of the Zone. This is in part because of Ekko and Jinx.

The smartest and most well thought-

Nevermind their both holding on by threads

-people of the Zone, they were essentially forced into power similarly to how they were in the show. Except here it was mostly because despite how they felt about a lot of shit, they actually gave a shit and wanted to give the people a fighting chance.

As a result, they basically became the King and Queen of the Lanes.

Thanks to Mylo (unknowingly. Maddie never kept him informed on her plans and simply used him as a informant for information in exchange for sex) passing information off to Maddie, while also lamenting that he wasn’t part of the Committee in the first place, Maddie learns that the Committee often held private sessions to discuss policies within the Zone as well as town hall meetings where they would discuss their plans with the entire population. Ripe and willing Maddie decides ultimately that she would attack the Zone during a private meeting. 

The Plan? 

A mass assassination on the committee by planting a bomb in the house where they held their meetings. In the end, Maddie was set to blow the committee sky high 

And by the time Mylo realizes what’s going on it’s already too late. . .

The council blows and the blow is just big enough for Mylo to assume that their all dead. That whatever Maddie had horrifically done. . .what he unknowingly helped her to do had worked

it worked

it. . .worked

It worked. . .it actually worked

But now what was he suppose to do?

Maddie says he can come with her. . .that she can help him be great like he always wanted and only now does he realize he really has no choice anymore. .he can’t go back. . .and if he could, what does he have to go back too. . .all his family is probably dead. . .if not. . .they hate him now. . .he’ll go with her. . .he’ll go with her and maybe the pit in his gut would be worth it. . .it has to be cause what else is here. . .

In the end though. . .Maddie had no intentions of ever actually taking Mylo with her. Just needed him for his expertise of getting as far from the Zone as possible enough for her to find a base she can contact command with. Maddie is a calculating and cunning character in canon, stringing along Vi and Caitlyn both so easily, misleading as easy as she breathes. Only makes sense that when push comes to shove and it's time to drop Caitlyn, that she does it in the most thorough way possible. And it only makes sense that when his usefulness runs out, that she’d get rid of Mylo. 

Which she attempts. . .and seems successful in doing. . .but in the end Maddie never does succeed in her goal no matter what

In the end, Kiramman lives. Caitlyn and Vi both live. . relatively unscathed and end up going after her while the others do what is basically damage control. Caitlyn lives, and Maddie, in her lost, broken state decides that enough is enough. Her leader, glorious and powerful as she is, can forgive her later. Kiramman has. To. Die. If she wants to see the light, Maddie has to kill her.

And hopefully the long night will finally be over soon

The first encounter with Maddie leads them to a suspension bridge washed out by earlier flooding. From here, whilst deranged and delirious, Maddie attempts to shoot at Caitlyn with her gun, but proceeds to miss. She runs out of bullets very quickly and instead ends up alerting a group of pack-hunting mutants, which end up swarming Vi and Caitlyn. Assuming they are finally dead, Maddie then runs off but gets lost in the night after a rainstorm has her veering off the road and it is here she finally encounters a different final mutant known as a Night Stalker.  Despite her attempts to flee, Maddie is soon overwhelmed, blinded, then finally eviscerated by the creature. Her body is found a day later, partially eaten and rotting away by a river. Those who find her remark that her actions were a waste not only of those killed and injured during the explosion, but of herself as well. That no matter what she was, or who she was, she died no different then anyone else in the ZONE.

Caitlyn never wanted Maddie to die. She never wanted Maddie to die the way that she did. But in the end, Maddie dug her own grave

Ultimately however. . .there is very little sympathy for her death.

And Mylo?

well you'll just have to figure that one out later. . .

[nena-la-fresa]

The Dragon and The Wolf |Part 1|

18+ Account | Minors DNI | Do NOT Follow, Like, or Comment | Pls have your age in your bio, if you do not I will automatically block you because I’ll assume you are a minor.

Part 2

Pairing: Aemond Targaryen x f! Stark Reader

Warning: Arranged Marriage | Steamy Themes | Angst |

Word Count: 1807

A/N: Hasn't been proof read so bear with me I'll fix it later. Aemond is also aged up to the actors age cuz that’s the age he looks.

You could overhear the whispers, the pity in their voices. The young wolf being sent off to marry a dragon. 

All due to the stupidity of your house. How infuriating that they accepted an audience with Rhaenyra's son. It was most definitely seen as an act of treason to the Crown. No matter how much you pleaded with your father not to accept the meeting. You had the sight, you had seen what would happen if they had sided with her. You never disliked Rhaenyra, she was absolutely beautiful, you had always admired her since you were a child. But knowing that the safety of your family was now jeopardized you could not stay silent. But your family was permitted to stay on good terms with the Crown under the condition that you marry Prince Aemond. 

The whispers of how you were kissed by visions from the gods had reached Otto. He was the reason your family was given a second chance. What better way to win wars and make sure his blood stayed on the throne than to marry his grandson to a Greenseer. The wedding would take place in a month's time. Plans had been formed to begin as soon as you had left for Kings Landing. 

The road was long and no amount of sleep could calm your nerves. 

“Mother please not now.” 

Aemond pushes the door to his chambers, unable to close it as Alicent was close behind. 

“I understand you are upset. But you know it is your duty. Your brother is sick, he’s practically on his deathbed. So your grandfather thought it was best to find you a wife in preparation.” 

“The Stark girl who comes from a traitor family? How is that any good?�� His voice hinted with malice. 

“Because she is a great asset to our family. You know how your father always spoke of Targayens and their prophecies. How they escaped Old Valyria. This could be good for us, Aemond. We wouldn’t have to lose anyone else.” She moved forward and touched his arm as he stared into the fire. “Aemond please.”

“It’s not as if I have a choice mother.” He sighed and placed his hand on hers. No matter how frustrating a situation he could never be upset with her. “When will the wedding take place?”

“Two days after she arrives.”

Much to your dismay you had arrived at King's Landing. Your wedding was in two days time, nothing could prepare you for it. You hadn’t even seen your betrothed since the moment you got there. You had met the Queen and she had asked for your forgiveness at her sons, ‘Shyness’. You expected as much. You heard rumors, the whispers of how cold Aemond was. In fact you preferred that he didn’t see you. But contrary to what people believe you were not always within the favor of the gods. 

“I know what people say of my son. And I am sorry you have to hear that. But I can assure you he is at the very least a gentleman. If my son ever does you harm please do let me know and I will do my best to correct his behavior. “ 

“Thank you. I very much- '' You were cut off by the sounds of the doors opening loudly combined with heavy footsteps. 

“Mother, Aegon has been begging for you. Please shut hi-'' He paused as he saw you sitting there. Before you turned to him could only describe you as cold looking and distant, with a hint of poise. He thought your look was very fitting for a Northerner. And had he known his mother requested an audience with you he wouldn’t have come barging in. 

“Good you're here.” Alicent got up from her seat and headed towards him. “I’ll deal with your brother. But the two of you need to converse.” 

Alicent closes the door behind her, “Make sure he doesn’t leave just yet.” She tells the guard on post. 

You turned away from him and focused your attention on the fire as you began to fidget with your hands. Aemond takes notice of it, and he sees the same movement his mother does when she gets nervous. Then he hears you wince, and the sight of blood can be seen on your thumb. 

“Stop that.” He took three steps before he was in front of you and grabbed your hands. You had looked up at him in surprise, looking at him now you couldn’t believe the rumors you heard of him looking hideous. Your eyes softened a bit at his touch and by the look of concern he gave you. He had an ethereal beauty to him, even with the eyepatch and scar. 

As he looked down at you he took notice of your eyes, doe like. And that coldness he saw was gone for the moment. He then remembered the blood on your hand, not having anything to wipe away the blood he brought your hand up to his lips and sucked the blood. 

You should be weirded out. But the sensation of his tongue and lips against your finger sent a shiver down your spine that made its way to your nether regions. 

“Aemond.” You whispered his name. Yet it seemed as if he didn’t hear you. You cleared your throat and spoke clearly, “I think the blood has stopped now.” 

He let go of your hand “Forgive me.” In a panic he turns and heads straight for the door. As he opens the door the guards stop him. 

“Forgive me Prince Aemond but your mother said not to let you leave just yet.” Aemond gave the guard a look. 

“You must be joking.” 

“Sorry my Prince.” The guard shut the door leaving Aemond trapped. 

“Unbelievable.” Aemond made his way over to sit by the fireplace. You both sat in silence for what felt like hours. You watched him as the fire casted a shadow on one side of his face and illuminated the other. 

“Are you always so quick to run away?” You playfully joked. 

 He turned his head quickly to you and was quick to respond, “Maybe if you had not picked at your skin I would not have run away.” 

You were taken aback by his response, almost getting whiplash by his change in tone. Just a minute ago he was gentle with you. “Me? Then maybe you should not have kissed my finger.” 

“You dare argue with me?” He scoffed. 

“Yes and what of it.” You stood up and made your way over to him. “Are you going to have me killed?” 

He laughed and stood up, he towered over you. “No.” He smirked and leaned down at eye level, “I could just do it myself.”  

“And risk another war?” 

“Oh please, your father begged my grandsire for forgiveness. You really think they’d go to war for a daughter?” 

“You must know very well considering they call you kinslayer.” 

“Hold your tongue.” He hissed and grabbed your face firmly. 

“You must know what love for one’s child could make anyone do. What your sister did for her son, and what your mother did for hers.” 

“Do you always speak when you’re told not to?” His voice no longer hinted with any concern he had for you earlier. You felt his breathing become heavy, and his grip tightened. 

“Do I upset you?” You smirked slightly, “Were you expecting someone quiet? Someone who won’t put up a fight?” 

“Like how you put up a fight when I cleaned your blood?” His face moves closer to your ear as he whispers. “You don’t think I could feel you shaking? Or hear your breathing hitch?” 

“What are you doing?” You try to pull away as you feel his hot breath on your neck. 

“Not much of a fight you’re putting up is it.” He kissed your neck, and sucked for just a second. Just enough to make you let out a small whimper. 

“Aemond stop.” You pleaded as he kept teasing you. You felt the heat rising in your body and I’m sure that he felt it too.  

His lips were moving down your neck to your collarbone. He sucked a bit harder, enough to leave a mark, you winced and pushed him away. Without even thinking you slapped him. 

His face turned only slightly, it was almost as if it hadn’t even hurt him. You kept looking at him and noticed the light tint of red on his cheek. Not only that but the corner of his lip began to bleed, the sight of it had distracted you from the stinging pain coming from your palm. 

You hurt him, but he kept pushing. But maybe it was your fault for teasing him. But he practically defiled you before you were even married. He went too far. Yes you were to be married but, what of this mark. What will others think? Will they think you were a whore? Will they question your virtue and think another man has touched you? Will this get your family and you killed? You hadn’t seen this, in fact you hadn’t seen anything regarding Aemond in your dreams or visions. Your thoughts ran wild and you couldn’t stand to be here anymore. It was all overwhelming. What were you doing here? How could your father be so stupid. How could he do this to you? You weren’t some common whore. 

“Forgive me, my Lady. I went to fa-” Before he could even finish what he wanted you were gone. His head turned to hear the doors fling open and your scurrying footsteps. He began to run after you but ran into his mother in the corridor. Alicent had looked back at you and then at her son. She could see his tinted check and the blood. 

“Aemond what did you do?” She wiped the blood off his lip. 

The next two days were spent with you avoiding Aemond at all cost. You had practically locked yourself in your chambers. Thankfully Alicent had permitted it, but that didn’t help much as tomorrow was the day. The day you would be binded to him forever. The whole day was nothing but making sure that your dress still fit and that you were prepped for consummating the marriage. It has plagued your mind. Not even sleep could help with this. 

The sounds of the bells had brought you out of your trance. You don’t even remember how you got up here. But here you were next to Aemond hand in hand about to be trapped. 

As both your hands were tied together the man spoke, “Let it be known that Y/n of House Stark and Aemond of House Targaryen are one heart, one flesh, one soul. Cursed be he who would seek to tear them asunder.”

[ist4rgirlo]

─── 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 - 𝐜.𝐟 : 𝐈𝐕

Summary: Being Belly & Steven’s older sibling has it’s pros and cons. protecting them and taking care of them is a must, but do you really have to put their feelings first instead of your own?

Prev ; Next || Conrad Fisher x fem!reader || My blog

Warnings: fighting, angst, yelling, accusations, swearing, crying, panic attack. JUST MOSTLY ANGST (lmk if i missed anything!)

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It was the morning after the movie night. I woke up and realized that I wasn’t in my own bedroom, I was in Conrads. He might’ve carried me up here instead of my room. I tried to wake myself up so that I can get out of this room immediately.

I got out of the covers looking at the clock — it was already 11 in the morning so I went on and immediately walked to the door but as I open it I saw Belly — she was outside of Conrad’s room waiting — probably didn’t know that he was gone. She was surprised — shocked, betrayed seeing me there.

She looked at me, her brows furrowed. She chuckled sarcastically and scoffed, “Wow Y/N. Goodmorning to you, too.” she said, turning her back on me — running towards the stairs.

I panicked, she must’ve thought wrong “It’s not what it looks like Bells!” I yelled at her, trying to catch up to her. I messed up. I shouldn’t have let myself sleep on Conrad.

“Yeah?! that’s what they always say! You came out of Conrad’s room, Y/N!” Belly turned to me, she was at the end of the stairs — I saw Steven come in the view “Why were you in Conrad’s room? and where the fuck is Conrad?” Steven asked, looking at me — confused too.

I understand that she’s hurt, she probably felt betrayed. “I was in Conrad’s room but nothing happened! It’s not like that, will you just let me explain?!” I told Belly — walking down the stairs — we were in the living room now. She probably thought that I was a traitor. “You guys, why are you yelling? what is happening?” Mom asked, Susannah right behind her — her face filled with worry.

“I saw Y/N come out of Conrad’s room” Belly said looking down at her feet, crossing her arms. Jeremiah came into the view — walking towards me, standing by my side. “What do you mean you came out of his room? why were you there Y/N?” Mom looked at me, her brows furrowed.

“I woke up then I was just there, he might’ve carried me last night or something. I swear nothing else happened, Mom.” I told them, my face was still filled with worry. “Bullshit!” Belly yelled at me — she walked towards me and looked at me in the eyes.

“Belly, don’t scream at your sister like that!” Mom said, walking towards Belly — pulling her away from me before anything bad happens. I felt Susannah come up behind me — she held my hand guiding me away from Belly. “You know you could’ve just told me that you like Conrad. I can’t believe you Y/N, after me and Conrad kissed this is what you’re going to do? You know how much I like him!” Belly yelled again — still caught up on her emotions.

Steven was surprised, even Jeremiah “You and Conrad kissed? Since when?” Steven asked Belly, Belly looked at him — probably shocked about what she said, she didn’t mean to just blurt it all out. Her emotions took over her.

“On our date, we went to the beach after and that’s when we kissed” Belly looked at all of us, “So are you guys together?” Mom asked, smiling. It’s crazy how the mood just changed like that — like she wasn’t about to kill me earlier.

Belly smiled — trying to contain her giggle. “I guess so? Yeah?” Mom hugged her and said that it was great, Steven also smiled at her. “That’s good news, Bells. Just to clear everything, I don’t like Conrad. He’s all yours.” I told Belly, smiling at her gently. Not wanting to ruin this precious moment that they are having — I turned my back to them and walked towards the kitchen.

I acted like nothing happened — I sat down to eat my breakfast, I heard Susannah ask me “Hey, are you okay?” She said, she went beside me and rubbed my back. “Yeah, I’m happy for Belly. I’m glad that her and Conrad are together. I’m okay, Susannah.” I looked at her with a smile. She looked at me, her eyes filled with worry. “Are you happy because you’re happy or are you happy because your siblings are happy?”

I ask myself the same thing — am I truly happy because I am happy or am I just putting up a front for my siblings, for my mom. I really don’t know.

I looked at Susannah, I started to tear up. “I don’t know, Susannah. I don’t know If I am happy at all, whatever i’m doing is hurting me.” Susannah looked me, she put her hand on my cheek — caressing it. “Oh my special girl. Come here” she pulled me closer and hugged me.

“Thank you for always being here for me Susannah”

“Ofcourse, you’re my special girl” She smiled, her eyes gleamed.

“Promise me you won’t ever leave me” I looked up to her, smiling.

There was silence, it wasn’t an easy question to answer but still she said, “I’ll be by your side, forever. I promise” Susannah hugged me tighter.

I know that the future might do otherwise, thats what the fate is. Right now, I just want to enjoy and cherish my moments with Susannah. Cherish the moment of me being her special girl.

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I was in the living room with Steven, we were playing a game that he pushed me to play because Conrad and Jeremiah wasn’t here so he made me play it with him.

“NOT THERE! there there there, NOOOO GO RIGHT, okay now go left” Steven yelled at me, determined to win. “OH MY FUCKING GOD, SHUT UP STEVEN! you’re stressing me out” I yelled back at him.

After awhile, we had a few rounds and there and then we tied. While Steven was in the kitchen getting some snacks for the both of us — I saw Laurel walking towards me, sitting beside me.

“So, what was that earlier?” Laurel asked — not looking at me, just looking at the screen. “What was what?” I asked, confused.

Laurel looked at me then turned to me. “That thing with Conrad, why were you in his room?”, I looked at her with my brow furrowed, “Mom I was just sleeping there. Remember last night? we were watching a movie? He probably went and carried me up to his room. That’s all, nothing else.” I explained to her.

“You know that him and Belly got something on right? they’re together now.”

“I know that, Mom”

“Then why did you sleep in his room? did something happen to you guys? you know you can tell me everythi-.”

“Mom! I just told you, nothing happened. I thought this conversation was over!” I groaned — she didn’t believe me, it’s like she wasn’t even listening to what I just said. Why was she acussing me of something I didn’t do? she knows that I can’t do this to Belly, I would never.

Mom turned herself away from me, leaning on the couch, “I don’t know why you’re acting so selfish right now. You know how much Belly likes Conrad. So please, don’t take this away from her” she said, crossing her arms.

My brows furrowed, shocked from what she just said, “Selfish? what do you mean selfish? how am I selfish when all I did was sleep in Conrad’s room? that wasn’t even my choice Mom! and I am not taking anything from her! She can have Conrad as much as she wants, I don’t fucking care!”

I yelled at her, frustrated. I didn’t even notice that I was already crying — I would never take anything away from my siblings, I care for them too much to do that.

“Don’t yell at me like that, Y/N. I am still your mother! I’m only saying this because I am worried about you and your sister. I don’t want you guys to fight about this! ” My mom yelled — hurt about how I answered her.

I scoffed, sure she was worried “Well I am sorry mom but… y-you’re hurting me right now. I can’t believe that you just called me selfish, after everything I’ve done? I-I’m sorry, this is too much for me.” I told her, I stood up from the couch then walked towards the door, as I was walking I saw Steven standing there in the kitchen looking at me, I looked back.

As he was about to walk towards me, I shook my head no then continued to walk out of the door. “God mom, you didn’t have to be so harsh to her. She’s going throught a lot of things too you know. She didn’t do anything wrong, you know yourself that she can’t do that to Belly.” Steven said.

“Steven stay out of this.”

“Well I’m sorry but they’re my sisters too, I care about them so I wont stay out of this.” Steven told my mom — mom just looked at him then stood up from the couch and then went back upstairs.

As I reached the beach, I felt my heart tighten. I felt my heart beat so fast — I couldn’t breathe, I just couldn’t. It was so hard for me, I was so hurt. I just saw myself sobbing, crying my emotions out.

How am I the selfish one when all I ever did was let Conrad have the choice, I decided to let him go for Belly. So why am I the selfish one? I was the one who got hurt — I was the one to let go of my feelings and prioritize other’s feelings first.

I tried to walk but it was hard, my knees were buckling. It was so hard to breathe, I need a second. I need to breathe.

“Y/N?” someone yelled. “P-please, just… just go.” I said, still struggling to breathe, tripping a little. I felt the person walk towards me

They grabbed my shoulder gently then they turned me — we were face to face now. I could see their eyes, it was a bit blurry but I immediately knew who it was.“You’re okay, you’re safe with me. Follow me yeah?” he instructed. He guided me to sit with him, we were kneeling in front of each other — face to face.

“Breathe in, breathe out. That’s good, there you go” he said as I followed his breathing. We did that for a minute until I calmed down. My heart was beating at a normal pace, I’m okay now.

He rubbed my back and pulled me closer. He sat down so that I can lean on him. I was now sitting between his legs — my back against his chest. “There you go, you’re okay. I’m here, you’re fine. No one’s gonna hurt you” he said, rubbing my shoulders. I felt myself fall asleep from exhaustion.

I felt safe, I felt secure. Today was exhausting, never expected that my day would end like this. I am just thankful that he’s there for me, because I wouldn’t know what to do if it wasn’t for him.

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hi! i hope that you are enjoying this fic so far! sorry if it was just angst for this one, i just had to :> thank you for everyone that’s reading and loving my work !! i appreciate all of you :))

sorry if there wasnt any conrad or jeremiah here (or is there?? 👀) LOL

lmk if you guys want me to tag you on th next part !! also feel free to request anything :))

[mscherub]

Hiii~ I absolutely love how you write especially the Octotrio. So can I request something? Obviously, no hate if nothing comes to you. Brainrot coming now.

What about a classic rivalry troupe? But like one of those café/business rivalries where you sell similar products and are located within the same street. There's this silly but intense rivalry where everyone spies on each other, trying to one up with new products (maybe even stealing menu items), jabs about their shop in front of customers and everyone actively trying to find a way to prove their business is better.

I was thinking maybe the reader got a job at the rival business through her friend who works there. Reader thought this rivalry was just some inside joke, something harmless. But no, it's not harmless. Everyone is in on this, from the boss to the part timers.

We have the Leech twins actively antagonising everyone and commenting negatively on everything in the store. Anything they say was bland or boring, they copy it and one up it the next week. Some sabotage added here and there, maybe some pranks or acts of vandalism. Azul actively tries to poach employees, suppliers and customers. He comes up with elaborate events and is so smug when the rival store has less than half of the customers they're having that day. Oh, and he often makes people post review that mention how they're the better business.

The worst thing for the reader? (I'm assuming she, no offense) She is a big fan and regular at both places. She regrets taking the job. Now when she wants to get a taste of that delicious mushroom dish from Monstro Lounge (default name), she has a 15 step disguise or bribes friends to get takeaway. She wants to quit but the job market sucks. The only other place hiring is Monstro Lounge, and well.... Everyone knows what happens to traitors (it's that dramatic).

Of course, the Octotrio knows it's her in that stupid disguise or when the same dude orders the same order she used to order. It's obvious to them, and the Leech twins smell a weakness. This might be their chance to get some intel or have someone on the inside. Since their rival has a strict hiring process, that they've been trying to sneak into. But how can they get you on their side, willing or unwilling?

In comes a seduction plan. They can either string the reader along like a lovesick puppy or maybe trick the reader to sign a contract with Azul. Maybe get some blackmail? Well, we all know how these romance troupe end, right? (it's not just me, right? Right??)

Honestly, this isn't full fleshed out but I'd love to see something similar come to life, or just some input.

From your very shy anon.

A/N: HELLOOOOOOOOO ANONNNNNN!!!

This was such a good idea that I was giggling while writing, and out of that fit of me being so enthralled by the idea, I wrote out a short fic. I will warn u, I got like out of train of thought halfway through and it all went downhill…I tried tho, my lovely :(

(Yes I snuck my own OC into this fic, why? Cause reader needed a friend…he’s a good one trust)

Also, apologies for taking like a million years, a lot has happened recently…which also in turn gave me some inspiration SO IM NOT RLLY COMPLAINING

Characters: Octotrio, Taylor (Based off of Tod from The Fox and the Hound(OC), Melissa the manager bro idek

Tags: A LOT OF DIALOGUE, rivals to lovers (if u squint)

(For me to do like rivals to lovers I’d have to write a whole book for this prompt and I ain’t got time for dat 😔)

Warnings!:

Leech twins

Leech twins

Melissa the manager (SHE’S VIOLENT Y’ALL)

Violence

Swearing

Some suggestive moments?

Not fully proof read 👎

(I think those are pretty straightforward warnings…)

Rivalries to Romance

Getting nerves on your first day is a common and mutual feeling amongst newly hires, but you already felt awkwardly at home here. You’re best friend works here, somehow, he’s not the type to put in much effort, especially at an establishment that had fairly strict requirements and a low hire rate, but that’s besides the point. He forced you to come along when you had downtime and “hang around with him” while he was on the clock, so it’s safe to say you’ve spent a pretty penny on most in store foods, drinks, items, and the merchandise as well.

Going back to the whole getting the job thing, you somehow managed to do that, of course through his expert string pulling, to get an interview and land it. It was a feat of its own, a lot of stuttering and sweating during the long chat about what assets you can bring to the table to help run the business and what three words would you describe yourself with, the blanking of those words— let’s not go back there. And, an extra added bonus is that you’re right down the street from the Mostro Lounge! In turn, you have a good job, and access to both cafes that you love. You can totally swing by after work and then catch up with the 3 people you’ve gotten to know there! Simple, easy, efficient.

Only downside is that you have to be here before 5 am, which is just crazy early, and also oddly enough the same time the Mostro lounge opens its doors for the early birds of the morning. Your hand wraps around the cool metal bar of the door and you pull it open. Time to start this new chapter of your life!

“Sorry, we’re closed until 5:00 am, so—“

“Yoooo, Y/N!” Taylor’s eyes shoot up and stick right on to your figure as you slip through the door, the bell above jingling as it smacks off the glass above. Taylor, being the sly fox he is (literally, fox beastman :3), managed to sway the manager into hiring you at this glorious establishment, or that’s at least what Taylor exalted it to be…don’t trust him to much…he was an odd ball, but he kept his friends close and always did what he could to help them out.

“Welcome to your new job!” He beams, throwing his arms up and doing a little twirl. He hops over the counter and shuffles up to you. “Ok…I’ll cut it out with the theatrics, anyways, so, boss entrusted me with showing your lame ass around—“ he clasps his hands together.

“Watch it.” You glare at him.

“Of course. Anywayssss, follow me.” He motions with his head to a door in the back labeled with the basics of any business:

Employees only

“You’re already accustomed to the place enough, so I’ll just show you the special spaces…” He opens the door for you and lets you slip by first before he follows in right after. “Y’know…I haven’t heard it yet…”

“Heard what?” You huff as you set your bag down on the table in the corner, leaning against it and looking back at him.

“Oh, I dunno, something you should say to a good friend who managed to get you such a great job because you were broke and unemployed?” He wiggles his eyebrows at you with a smirk on his face. He’s being super annoying already apparently…

“Oh? Hmmm, oh yea! Fuck you!” You copy his demeanor.

He sighs and rolls his eyes, crossing his arms. “Ouch…be thankful. Replace ‘fuck’ with ‘thank’ then I won’t be a dick to you for the rest of the day, mkay?”

“I was just joking around…thank you, Taylor. You’re a big help.” You shrug off your coat.

“There it is! Feeding my ego again. Mannnn, feels good.” He chuckles melodically and walks over to another door and points right at it.

“Locker room, kinda, just put all your shit in there, the manger will be here soon.”

“Ok…I guess give me a run down of what’s gonna go on? I kinda have a…vague understanding of whatever goes on here since you’ve made me purge my wallet on the cutesy little buns you guys make…” You open up a vacant locker and shove all of your stuff inside. Taylor continues to yap on.

“Hey, you bought into the tactics of cuteness, don’t blame me. Anyways…what goes down? Oh…ok, biggest thing we need to touch base on,” he leans against the wall and rests his head back against it, “business rivalry.”

You pause in whatever you were messing with in the locker and turn to him. “Business rivalry?”

“Yep. Like the one down the road? Mostro Lounge? I mean, cmon, fancy ass place?”

“Oh? Mostro lounge…yea I like it there, but what’s—“

“HEY! Now that you’re working here, you can’t like it there anymore. This rivalry is hugeeeee, like don’t even mention the places name when the manger around, she’ll totally flip, I mean, she’s hot when she does that, but still don’t…” he purses his lips and stands straight again.

“Ha, Ha funny, Tay…that’s something you’d read in a damn fiction novel, dumbass…” you shake your head at his antics. I mean it was stupid. No way rivalries went on.

“Uh, hello? It’s not dumb? They have literally spray painted dicks on our windows, Y/N, DICKS! And then don’t even get me started on the bot accounts they make as well as their actual consumers leaving bad reviews on this sexy cafe right here! They even leave reviews on yelp…it’s so infuriating!” Taylor grumbles.

“That’s…clearly a lie. I don’t know what you’re trying to do here…”

“Oh, I’m not doing anything. Just being straightforward. One of our employees went missing because he tried to get back and leave a bad review on them…that’s why you were able to get this job.”

“Is that not concerning to you at all—“

“And then like, the owner of that business tried to buy out our cafe and make it some stupid little souvenir shop for sevens knows why—“

“Ok we’re going to brush past a guy that went missing totally normal here, bud—“

“I think his name is Azul, well fuck him! And fuck his little goons or whatever. Literally they are a pain in all of our asses that work here. They torment and don’t double down at all, they double up, triple, quadruple—“

“Ok…chill the hell out. I’ll…believe it when I see it. This is a lot of info to take in at 4:30 IN THE FUCKING MORNING TAYLOR.” You put up your hand to shush him.

He goes quiet and rolls his eyes again, his signature move. “You’ll have to take it in, or else you’ll go missing like Jerry.” He wipes away a fake tear.

“Did you even know his name—“

“No. But he’s Jerry in my mind now.”

“Dude…”

“Heyyy, welcome to your new job, just don’t betray us by going to eat their shitty food and then you’ll have a fun time here!”

“That sounded like a threat.”

“It was.” He wraps his arm around your shoulder and hands you an apron before dragging you out to the counter.

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

The cafe is popular and widely known for its hospitality and great foods and snacks, as well as the great ambience it provided for anyone who was looking for a place to escape and study at.

“Yep, Carmel macchiato? For you. Thank you.” You fix up your apron and tie it around your waist tightly again. It’s only been three hours and in that time you swear you’ve served at least more than 100 people. You needed the job, yes, definitely, but sevens was it already killing you, as well as that nagging thought of the “rivalries”. You haven’t managed to see anything yet, and you didn’t really want to see what extents they could mange to go to— IF they were real. Taylor looks around with you all the time, he’s probably just trying to pull your leg here and get you all antsy on your first day. Just don’t overthink it and you’ll be fine.

“How’s it going? Holdin up?” Taylor places down another order next to your hand on the counter. You weren’t trusted to make drinks yet, of course, but you were learning.

“I’m all good.” You nod.

“Then you’ll be just fine in a week or so, boss will probably let you make drinks with me.” He gently nudges your shoulder with his. “You’re reliable…so far.”

Another customer walks in and Taylor’s smile fades. It’s like something out of a damn movie while you watch the main character come to a realization. You turn your head and look right at two familiar people you’ve seen before at…can you even think of the lounges name or will Taylor and the manger find out? The you-know-what-lounge…good enough.

“Heya!” Floyd strolls in up to the counter first. His eyes flash with a moment of recognition before he tugs on Jades sleeve. “Looky! Our regular is working here now! Mannn, what a shame! If you needed a job you could have come work with us. It’s a shit hole here, no?” He leans over the counter and gets his face right up to yours. Like any normal person, you lean back away from him and look at him like he’s crazy.

“A regular? No way…” Taylor purses his lips. He pushes you back a bit and leans over the counter just like Floyd, matching his bravado. “Well, they work for us now, so…” he swishes his hand in the air and points to the door. “Kindly take your leave? We don’t serve…slimy eels here.

“Is that not like discrimination—“ you’re interrupted again.

“I thought you welcomed everyone here? And now you’re pushing us out? Oh…what a bad review I can leave.” Jade puts a hand over his heart and sighs dramatically. “And it’s sad to see such a familiar face working for the enemy. What do you say? I get you a consultation with Azul back at the Mostro Lounge? We’d certainly love to have you on our team…”

“Actually!!! You know, they can’t do that, they work here, bozo, so boot scoot and boogey outa here. Go back to your cafe and leave ours alone…” Taylor steps in again. Why did he have to use such stupid phrases? Like cmon…

“Ne, ne…we wanted to take a look at what you’ve got going on!” Floyd pouts. His eyes stay locked onto you, accompanied by insistence in his gaze.

“We’ll leave…” Jade finally declares, but not without flashing a sharp tooth grin your way which was both cunning and threatening.

Jade bows and Floyd points his middle fingers towards the entirety of the room before they exit through the front door. The cafe goes silent but then picks back up with hushed murmurs of nonsense phrases regarding the situation that played out in front of them all.

“So…you weren’t lying.” Your shoulders slump. Customers up the notch and begin to snicker! What happened to this place having “hospitality?”

“Why would I? But you lied, though. You were— are a regular there?! What if you go after work and buy things there?! You can’t support their side in this war anymore. AHH, can’t believe you, Y/N,” He takes a breath in and tousles his hair, “it’s fine, though, you’re on our side, right?” His voice is a tad softer.

This whole thing shouldn’t be that big of a deal, but no, it is, for some unsevenly reason, and you’re getting a small taste for what’s to come.

You cross your arms and avoid eye contact with every fiber of your being, the clock on the will ticking away seemingly more interesting in the moment. “Yea, of course. 100%” you nod.

“I’ve known you for how many years? I can tell you’re lying. I’m being serious. Look, it’s a bad choice to support them…always. They’ve been at our necks for like multiple years at this point? Something like that anyways…You’d be going against our business and that’s not right. Since you’re hired here, you’re family, so you’d loose us, too.” His ears flatten against his head. “Don’t let the boss fire you the first day.”

“Taylor. This is crazy…you can’t be serious about this— about the whole little quips of angered words thrown at each other…” This is unbelievable.

“I’m serious…” A puff of air leaves his lips and I leans against the counter, looking out the display window.

Floyd was…spray painting, again. Taylor launches himself over the counter and lands with a loud thump. The door swings open and the yelling fit begins.

You weren’t going to survive. And it was only the first day. Great.

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

About a week passed.

You were fine.

Totally.

Ok…

Well, you really weren’t!

One, you were being restricted on your free will of choosing where you eat just to follow the rule of not betraying your workplace. You’ve managed to send in friends at times to get things…not a few times, a lot of times. Their dishes are to die for! And that’s what sucks!

You have these two equally good cafes and now you’re forced to choose from one. One! You can’t! The cafe that you worked at, Cafe Fox, had equally good things to offer as the Mostro lounge, though they did tend to up the notch and take Cafe Fox’s products and twist them into matching their aesthetics, another one of their ways of rivalry.

The trio doubled their stunts and efforts of making the cafe seem like some wild animals ran the place, and they were doing it well. Leaving bad reviews, damaging property, buying out items and then pitching them, leaving none left for anyone else, Jade and Floyd parading around and scaring away the customers with death threats and lies of bugs or hair in the food. It’s not fun watching customers gag and then rush for a trashcan. Yuck.

So, you think you’re gonna put in a two weeks notice? Yeahh..

It’s just another day to clean up after the singular battle in this war. You have to wipe off tables and quite literally mop the walls since the tweels decided to have a condiment fight with the customers. They won. Anyways—

Taylor and the manger, Melissa, who you found out hired you only because Taylor was convincing in ways that you’d rather not imagine, you’re alone in the front, busting your ass off after hours and not having an amazing time like they proclaimed this place should provide for workers and consumers alike. Why are they lying???

With dramatic flair, the door swings open and smacks against the wall, the usual culprits strolling back in.

“Shrimpy!!!” Floyd waltz’s up behind you and snakes an arm around your waist, resting his chin on your shoulder and dropping his voice to a murmur.

“Haven’t seen you in our shop for a bit…sad, y’know? Still know your favorite dish! You should come by later…like you come by. Not whatever friend you had coming in. I wanna see my Shrimpy, not them…” his head bumps against yours and he giggles softly, but it’s far from anything cute, more frightening than anything. “Boss wants to talk to you. You gave us good revenue and he’s sad you’re gone, too…remember how I’d talk to you about whatever I felt like and you’d listen? Cmonnnn, come back to us? Yea?”

“Floyd…” you mumble. The condiment mess is still everywhere, but he pulls you back with a simple squeeze around your waist.

“Let’s go?”

He doesn’t give you any further room for protests or getting away from the situation, instead his hand travels up to your arm and he grips it tight, yanking you back towards the door and quite literally dragging you off. Taylor and the manager just aren’t around all of a sudden? What the fuck! Hello!?

It’s a quick walk, especially at the speed Floyd’s taking you away at towards the lounge. Ok, so two words, you’re fucked. Your job is going to be lost for tramping around on the Mostro grounds, you might be mugged and or swindled— hell, probably both by their combined strength and wit of the trio. You don’t want to think about it, you don’t need to.

“I’ve got Shrimpy!” Floyd announces pushing through the door. He adjusts his grip and you yet again and holds both of your shoulders, pushing you towards where two other men stood.

“See? Back where you belong now, huh?” Floyd wraps his arms around you and gives you a nice squeeze.

“Quite refreshing to see your face in the lounge now instead of whoever you had coming in.” Jade chimes in, nodding.

“Don’t tell me that the other business is more suitable.” Azul taps his cane against the ground before he pushes up his glasses with gloved fingers. “Losing a regular is certainly disheartening. Which is why I’ve come up with a compromise.” The last word is drawn out, laced with the hint of a darker promise. It was Azul, after all.

“Here, follow along, come to my office.”

Ok…totally not awkward, but you really have no other choice. The twins smile at you, their sharp teeth beared and their eyes narrowed with mock pity and amusement, like a hunter watching its prey fall right into the trap…why must you think like this?

You follow back obediently, not really wanting to make a run for it or try to counter attack for obvious reasons…

The room is decorated in the same type of aesthetic as the rest of the lounge, that under the sea type of look with the glowing shells and glittery paint that dances across the walls with the reflection of the lights.

You’re forced down onto the leather couch that’s stiff and reeks of the cleaner that’s often used, Floyd taking the initiative to pluck off your name tag from your shirt and inspecting it with a glimmer of disgust in his eyes. Jade stands idly behind you, lurking, and Floyd settles down beside you on your side closest to the door. Alright then…

“I don’t understand the purpose of this—“

“I’d like to offer you a position.”

Ok. Straight to the point.

“Ok—“

“You can earn a position here at the lounge, pay will be raised higher than what you have at your current job, and you get to be on our side. Well, under a guise of course. Same rules apply for,” a grimace passes over his lips and he gestures vaguely to your name tag in Floyd’s hand, “that place you’re working at. No betraying us if you take up my offer. I believe it a fair deal. All you’d have to do is be an abiding assistant under me, and I suppose I can throw in half off on meals…”

“Woaoohhhh, Shrimpy’s gettin’ the full package, eh?” Floyd giggles, leaning against you. “I think it’s a good deal. Snag it, you know? Good for you…moneys important, right? Plus…we need someone we can trust well to dig up some dirt on that place.”

“Wait, what?” You scoot away from Floyd, but he only takes that as a challenge and invades your space even more. He’s like a damn dog…

“We can clearly see your disdain for the rules that you have to follow to avoid becoming a traitor, and…well that’s just not fair to have free will, right? So I’m proposing this deal to you…so you can indulge in both cafes, with the food choices I mean. I can supply you with whatever meal choice you’d like when you’re in the mood for it, of course under cover, and all you have to do in return is provide us with some intel that we’d like to obtain. Isn’t freedom something so precious?” Azul smiles and leans back against the couch, crossing his legs and resting his hands in his lap. “I have time for something as important as this.”

The offer was…appealing— IN JUST A FEW WAYS, THOUGH! Another pay on top of the one you’re already getting? That’s hot.

"What do you say?" He hums. He looks down at his hands, not making eye contact with you, a great business tactic to let you have time to weigh the option more.

"Ok….just, first off, why me?"

"I'm glad you asked. It's an easy answer, truthfully.

You've been coming here quite some time, and therefore we know we can trust you."

"That's...whatever you say I guess. I'll..."

Everyone in the room goes quiet. Azul's eyes narrow as they keep a critical gaze on you, Floyd smirk's even wider, and Jade inches just the tiniest bit closer from behind the couch. This is just creepy...

"I can do it, I guess."

Those words make a triumphant smile spread across Azul's face and he slides you the pen without second thought. "Just sign and then we all can benefit from

You grab the fancy pen and you look at the document for a little longer. You were going to sign it. Yes. It didn't seem all that bad...and plus, these guys weren't like... horrible, and you could finally get the damn dishes you've been wanting for like ever...and eat them warm!

Your friends take too long to get them back to you...

The pen glides across the glimmering contract, your signature flowing out with each flick of your wrist. "Is that…it?"

"Of course, my dear pearl. It's going to be a pleasure doing business with you." Azul smiles and takes the pen and contact back, holding it up to the light and watching as it shimmers, especially your name. "I believe that is all I would like to discuss today. Contact me here, it's my personal number, and then I'll do a sort of mission debriefing if you will. I'll explain everything that you are to do under this agreement between us. But for your time today, I can see about giving you a complimentary item off the menu. Jade can get the situated." Azul waves his hand and walks over to his desk, settling down and instantly going back to his papers.

Ok then?

You're dragged out yet again, and brought over to the front counter. No words are exchanged between you or Jade, but he already seems to know what he's doing.

He heads back into the kitchen and then a few moments later, brings out your usual.

"I remember our favorite customers order, so do not fret." He smiles and hands you the to-go box with the upmost elegance he can sway you with. "Good day."

You've got your favorite food now...you also scored a new job ontop of the one you have, not to mention the benefits with it. Did that really all just happen in the span of— what, 30 minutes? It's crazy. You look down at the box and then up at Cafe Fox. Maybe this arrangement could work out. No. It would. Best of both worlds, and more money. You'll be living the life...

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

"Mhmmm! And then..." you put a hand over your mouth as you chew, "I mean, I love Taylor...but he can be so mean, but he said that you guys are just people who don't have anything else better to do besides cause trouble... and then some other unruly words which I'd rather not mention. Honestly, he acts so tough, but I know that when I'm left alone up front, bros in the back getting dominated by the damn manager."

Laughs and giggles are stifled with a fist from Azul and Jade, but Floyd giggles openly and drapes himself across you even more. "Aw man...why you friends with that guy?" He mumbles, nuzzling his face right into your shoulder. He certainly wasn't embarrassed to act like this..

"He did say that about us? Well...I can see why he'd think such things. The people who had owned these cafes long before were the ones to start the rivalries... we've simply just taken them up a notch in our time is all..." The tea cup clinks against the saucer softly, Jade smirking and shaking his head out of amusement.

This all felt awkwardly domestic, granted you've only been officially helping them out so far for a week.

Floyd's clearly not opposed to showing his comfort, but this just became the norm all of a sudden, right out of the blue, but also a filthy and sly lie you have to keep from the place that appears they know that you'd never betray them. Betrayal. Technically you're not...you're still giving your hours, right? You're just helping someone else out simultaneouslv...nothing can go wrong.

"Any other things to note...plans they have to get back against our business?” Azul interrupts.

“Um. Some ploys…nothing too concerning. I know Taylor wanted to egg the place since we have expired eggs…but that’s about all they have planned…” You grab the glass of water.

“Any new tactics they have, making money wise?”

“They’re implementing a cherry blossoms special…since they’re blooming and the festival is pretty soon.” You nod. “All this themed stuff, ranging from pastries to their merch they have.”

“Are they now? Then…we shall come up with something of equal value.” Azul nods and then stands up, fishing something out of his pocket before he walks off elsewhere.

“You’ve been a big help already, Shrimpy. Giving out all this info and stuff…” Floyd drawls on, sitting up and kicking his legs up on the table. “Wouldn’t want the others to find out, right?”

You pause while sipping your drink, albeit choking a little on the liquid before you wipe your moth and set it down. “No…I wouldn’t really like that…”

“Oh. Hmmm…it’d be funny if they found out, right, Jade?”

“Quite the fiasco indeed.” He agrees. This is oddly fishy between them, and no pun intended with that. What are they planning…

“Uh, ok then…”

“Ne ne, just tugging on your fin, Shrimpy.” He winks and then gets up himself, his form towering over you as you sit. He gives you a small wave and then leaves the same way Azul had just done.

“Shall I see you out?” Jade grabs your attention again. His smile is all teeth and far from the normal one he usually shows off. His teeth glint and his eyes are slightly narrowed.

“Uh huh…I’m done. Thank you.” You scramble up and dust off your clothes of any crumbs and then you walk in step, his hand drifting to the lower part of your back.

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

“Taylor, set out the cherry blossom macarons, Y/N, get the milk pudding and make sure it’s put in the refrigerated display case. I’ll have the others work on the deco around here, but we have to be ready for the people perusing…which there will be a lot. This is my eighth year partaking in the festival, it’s good for getting a nice income, though. Oh, expect a lot of tips! And better yet, the seven-forsaken lounge will see that all of their customers will be stationed here.” Melissa winks at you and then goes off to mess with the other employees. You can’t help but feel a slight sinking feeling in your gut at her words.

“Chop, chop, Y/N, let’s get it going.” Taylor rubs his hands together before making his way back into the kitchen.

In preparations for the festival, the start for sales didn’t officially begin until the festival did, which was in approximately an hour, right at 9:00 am. The streets would be sectioned off and the sidewalks and roads would be bustling with people of all types since this is a renowned festival that apparently everyone wants to attend. Lines will be long for any business and 5 minutes of customer service will end up feeling like 5 hours instead. All in good fun and income…maybe.

The pudding cups have little edible cherry blossom flowers, and the macrons are decorated the same way. You set out the cups in the display case, no doubt the little desserts will be sold out as soon as the damn doors open to the world. They’re cutesy and delectable, so who can really blame the people buying them? You may or may not have debriefed this with the trio, briefly, though! Barely talked about it…just mentioned it. They were too enamored with what they were gawking at you for to like truly be listening…yea. You make a few final touches to make sure they’re displayed perfectly, no imperfections anywhere.

“All done already? Good…then you can go work on the item displays outside. The fox plushies should be in that box over there. All they have is cherry blossom designed shit. Cost an arm and a leg from the manufacturer, but whatever, we’ll make good money if they self.” The random vomit of words from her makes you jump. Didn’t she literally just walk away? Where did she come from?

“Yea…”

“Alrighty. Always stay busy. I gotta go beat Taylor…I swear if he’s slacking off I’m gonna…” She pushes through the double doors to the kitchen, her words being muffled as they swing shut.

Right, then. Time to do your job.

The canopy overhead blocks out the rays of sun shining down onto the pavement. You set up the plushies, pins, whatever else was in that box and make it look perfect. As always!

Just a little down the road you can see that oh so familiar pair of twins with their Caribbean Sea colored hair…oh no.

Before you can act, with their long purposeful steps, they’re already there in front of you.

“Heya, Shrimpy!”

“Uh, hey…” you chuckle a little awkwardly and try to stand in front of the items you literally just set out. You can’t have them ruin it…

“We brought you something! For free!” Floyd shoves a small bag into your hand that’s squishy. That feeling you used to get on Christmas when you’d get a soft present and just know it was something you wouldn’t like is really coming back to you now…

“Much to Azul’s protests…Floyd and I payed for it from our own pockets. I do hope you like it.” Jade puts a hand over his heart and smiles.

“Open ittt, before we get told off!”

You do as Floyd whines and you slip the little thing out of the bag. Oh. It’s actually…cute? A little octopus with their signature hats that are always adorned to their head. You’re wondering if they’re glued…

The octopus is purple and has cherry blossoms scattered across its head and a little fake branch with the flowers on it in one of the tentacles.

“Since you told us what was going down, we bit back, like usual.” As quick as you got the plushie, it was already snatched from your hand and being shoved back into your face by Floyd.

“You guys are back? The fuck— go away!” It’s none other than Taylor. Of course he had to come out…

Floyd stops and smirks at him. You’re pushed out of the way of the display stand and Floyd scoops up most of the fox plushies and makes a mad dash back to their home base. What the fuck just happened…

“I’m…gonna quit—“

“No you’re not, Taylor. Best plan of action is to rob them now.” Melissa walks up beside him and pinches his cheek, earning a yelp out of him. “Since they want to act like this, we’ll do it right back.”

The octopus plushie lays on the ground by your feet. You pick it up and dust him off.

“So they’re copying us, too? What the fuck. This ends today.” She declares.

And just like that she’s marching off, reasonably at the worst time as well! Loud crowds of overjoyed soon to be patrons are starting to erupt from the surrounding area. With quick glance to the clock, the festival was now officially in full bloom.

Isn’t it like…punishable for being in the middle and not choosing a side? That’s at least what you understood from Dante’s Inferno…but let’s— just do something!

Taylor is gone. Great. You rush inside of the cafe and warn any other workers of the incoming swarm of people and, as politely as you can muster up in this current moment, excuse yourself from helping out at the moment, and then bolt it towards the Mostro lounge.

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

“And I wanna see your manager!” Melissa yells

“I am the manger! And stop destroying our property!!”Azul screams right back.

“Over my dead body you bastard!”

You push in through the doors, seemingly at the right moment, and all eyes snap to you, locking on. You take a quick look around. The plushies the Mostro lounge had procured are…mutilated, one being in the grasp of a very angry Melissa who, not so inconspicuously, slit the throat of it, the white fluff spilling out.

“Y/N, help us!” Both parties yelp out. Then they all fall silent. They turn to look at each other, a smug look on the trios face and an utterly confused look on the other two who then simultaneously look back at you with bubbling anger.

“Shit…”

“Why would they help you? You…bottom dwellers!” Taylor blurts out.

“Heard that one before, buddy…” Floyd yawns.

“They work for us, not for you…” Melissa motions over to you. And there’s that sinking feeling in your gut again.

“Well, maybe ask them the truth to that—“

Melissa’s phone buzzes and she answers it. All previous conversation is forgotten and all that’s heard is screaming and the boisterous sounds of people gasping flooding out of the phone’s speakers.

“Melissa! Get back over here— there’s Mostro lounge workers here destroying products! They’re standing on the counter and dancing…I shit you not—“ she hangs up.

She looks furious, and Azul still looks smug. She rushes out the door and you glance back at the group before following suit. Taylor, of course, tags along and flips them off.

This festival was a disaster.

Cakes, cookies, scones, croissants, strewn everywhere. Liquid from drinks dumped on the floor glisten and shimmer. People scramble to get out of the cafe as you three try to fight your way in. The attackers run away at the first sight of the enraged Melissa and leave.

“What…the actual fuck.” She grumbles. “This is…they haven’t gone this far…”

“Correction: they have done worse—“

“Shut the fuck up Taylor or I’m going to slice your dick off don’t even mess with me right now…”

“Yes ma’am…” he quickly schools his attitude and looks down, his ears flattening against his head.

And then Melissa runs out again, not before grabbing a knife. Fuck! Uhhh! Both you and Taylor have to run after her.

All this running around and the stress of the situation is really starting to get to you. You can feel the adrenaline pumping.

Azul stands outside causally welcoming customers in with a small bow. Since they messed up Cafe Fox, this will be a good business opportunity for them now. A safe haven from what was happening over at the less worthy business, of course.

“Jade. Remind me to give Y/N my appreciation after this whole ordeal. If they end up fired then it’ll work out for us. I’ll rope them back in—“

“You bitch!”

People in line waiting to get in all turn to the source of rage, whispers and murmurs erupting as to whats about to go down; yet again…Azul stiffens up, shock and fear instantly encompassing his face, twisting it.

With a swift tug from you on her shoulder, she drops the weapon and Taylor picks it up.

“NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO BE COMMITTING A HOMICIDE YOU BRAINLESS WOMAN!!” Taylor yells.

“So you’re telling me you wanna die next?” She says coolly…ok, maybe after everything, if you make it out alive, you should research if she was in jail for anything involving violence before becoming the owner did the cafe…

“Ok! Enough! Everyone shut up!” You spit out, but no one listens.

“Y/N, go beat him up for me? Please?” She pouts.

“You will do no such thing! Y/N, why don’t you join our side officially and I can promise you much more.” Azul huffs out. He planned this, huh? You’re great downfall of being a traitor…

Taylor and Melissa gain those confused gazes again and they stop.

“What do you mean officially? Is there something I’m not getting here—“

“Oh! Shrimpy’s been on our side for a bit. Giving us some intel on how to kick your guy’s business to the curb! Aren’t they such a great help, Jade?” Floyd smirks.

“Indeed. I would agree so.”

Fuck. Fuck. Shit. You’re dead.

“So…you’re a traitor. Then kiss your job goodbye.” Melissa crosses her arms. Taylor looks even more hurt at this revelation and he purses his lips.

“I helped you, dude…this ain’t cool. You’re gonna be blocked.”

“It’s not that big of a deal—“

“What do you mean? This is so fucked up of you, Y/N…I don’t wanna hear it.” He sighs.

“Ne ne…they were just doing what they felt was right, hmmm? Can’t blame em…” Floyd steps closer to Taylor and he freezes up.

Apparently, everyone forgot that people were watching, so…whatever at this point.

“We’re just better.” He steps on Taylor’s foot and grinds his foot into his. Taylor instinctively pushes Floyd back and that’s where everything goes wrong…

More fighting. Taylor’s not going to win, obviously. Floyd already has him pushed to the ground in a matter of seconds.

This just isn’t right. You…all the people in front of you, as fucked up as some may be, you like and appreciate them all. They helped you out even if you don’t want to admit that fact. And now they’re all being stupid. Completely and utterly stupid…

“That’s enough out of all of you!” This time they all stop and look at you. “You’re all being dumb! I get what I did was wrong…but to be honest, why are these rivalries a thing? Can’t you guys both have the same themed products without it being a huge deal? It’s not a competition 24/7. Last time I checked, most customers frequent both cafes. People will end up liking what they want, and it’s just…you guys are a lost cause.”

“Big words for a traitor—“

“Y/N, leave the other place, come work with us. We can ensure many more promising endorsements.” Jade nods, interrupting Taylor.

“Guys! I’ll quit both jobs, then! I’m done having to pick one or the other. Staying neutral won’t get me very far either. I’ll put in my two weeks notice and then I can be stress free again.” You throw your hands up and roll your eyes.

Melissa looks like she’s seen a ghost, Taylor looks guilty, Azul apparently lost his soul since he’s starting at you blankly. The tweels gain an angry look and now this whole situation— you could care less about.

“Ok, wait…let’s…screw our heads back on. What has happened today is definitely beyond what is comprehensible…” She turns to look at Azul, a forced friendly smile. “I’ll take the first step and apologize…”

“It’s accepted, but I don’t believe I can give one back…”

“Azul.” You cross your arms.

“I apologize, too, Melissa…”

Huh.

“These rivalries…I believe it’d be best to end them…” she forces out through gritted teeth.

Azul simply nods and the whole situation is awkward once again.

“Do we write up a treaty or something…” Taylor mumbles.

“I don’t know…”

“Just make up…I don’t want Shrimpy leaving…I like em too much for them to go. You’ll stay for me, yea?” Floyd pouts. He walks over to you and squeezes you tight enough to earn a pop out of your back.

“Floyd, now…I believe Y/N would appreciate to stay for my sake. After all, I provide them with their favorites and cheer them up, no?” Jade shakes his head, glaring at his brother.

“You two have got it all wrong. I’m the one who’s been supplying everything and keeping them close knit to us. You both are sorely mistaken. I believe Y/N will stay for my sake.” Azul pushes up his glasses. The twins share a quick glance, their gaze softening just slightly, betraying their hint of understanding.

“Mmm…me and Jade know how to share, ‘zul…Shrimpy likes us.” Floyd smirks at him, his teeth glinting with nothing but malice…

Taylor and Melissa go quiet and they understand the situation a little more now…

Maybe…these rivalries aren’t over just yet…not between businesses now, though.

Don’t ask me what happened while writing. I lost track of the damn thing and I just went with how my brain wanted it to end. There was barely any romance smh 😞 BUT IT DEVELOPED

I feel if I focused more on this then I would have wrote it out better, but I just like writing them to be funny :P

Mkay, I’m tired now…off to work on another thing HUZZAHHHH

Master List

Please don’t steal or copy any of my work! You may, however, reblog if you’d want to!

Pictures belong to Disney Twisted Wonderland but are edited by me :)

Also just to add this:

Discord Server: TWST HYPERFIXATION

(If I forget to update this link— I will— go to my pinned post, should be updated there…)

[flower4rest]

"Heartbeat."

Arnold Hein x Rishe Weitzner

Rishe didn’t understand how she kept ending up in situations like this.

Well… she actually did understand. But still, why did Arnold always have to do this?

Did he not notice how red her face got? Or that her half-hearted resistance was actually just an obvious sign she enjoyed it—a little?

Okay, more than a little. But did it always have to happen so publicly?

She glanced back, mentally replaying what had happened not even fifteen minutes ago.

She had been training with her knight, Kamil, in the inner garden. It had taken weeks of persistence to finally convince him to spar with her. Him being nervous about hurting her, nervous about Arnold finding out—but she’d worn him down with her usual relentless charm.

Ever since their last session—where Arnold had tested her reflexes—she’d been eager to try some new techniques.

Blindfolded, this time.

Thanks to the training she’d received in her fifth life, her senses had sharpened beyond what most would consider normal. Kamil had been shocked by how effortlessly she blocked his strikes, reacting to every shift in the air, every subtle vibration in the ground.

Today was no different. Her focus was sharp, her movements fluid.

Until she felt another presence approaching—one heavier, familiar, and radiating confidence.

She smoothly raised her wooden sword and blocked an incoming strike from the side.

“Your Highness,” she said with a smile, still blindfolded. “You can’t surprise me. If I couldn’t sense you, I’d never be able to pull off my usual shenanigans.”

She lowered her blade and tugged off the cloth around her eyes, coming face-to-face with Arnold. His expression was unreadable to most, but she knew him far too well. That barely-there twitch at the corner of his mouth? That was a grin.

“I wasn’t trying to surprise you,” he said, stepping back slightly. “Though it’s interesting how easily you could tell it was me.”

“I’ve had plenty of practice recognizing your footsteps,” she teased, twirling her sword once before letting it drop casually to her side. “Besides, no one else walks around with that much authority in their spine.”

Arnold tilted his head slightly. “And here I thought you were blindfolded.”

“I was. Doesn’t mean I’m deaf. Or dumb.”

He gave a soft, low chuckle—the kind that made her pulse skip.

Then, out of nowhere, he asked, “Did you rest today?”

She blinked. “What?”

“Rest,” he repeated, glancing over her shoulder toward Kamil. “Did she rest?”

Kamil looked like a deer caught in torchlight.

“Hey! Leave my knight out of this!” Rishe immediately shot back.

“Your knight?” Arnold said with feigned confusion. “Last I checked, he’s still part of my personal guard.”

“That changed the moment you appointed him as my personal bodyguard.”

Arnold’s smirk widened. “So that means… he no longer follows my orders because he’s yours now?”

Kamil was clearly doing his best to pretend he was deaf, eyes locked on a bush as if it were the most interesting thing in the kingdom. Still, he couldn't hide the tiny smile tugging at his lips—he was clearly pleased to be so valued.

“Of course he still listens to you! You’re the Crown Prince,” Rishe snapped. “Not listening could literally cost him his head!”

“Good.” Arnold turned calmly. “Kamil, you’re dismissed. Head back to the villa alone.”

And just like that, before she could process what was happening, Arnold bent down and swept her up into his arms—wedding style.

“W-wait! Put me down! You can’t just—!” she stammered, flustered.

“I can. And I am,” he replied smoothly, walking off without hesitation.

She glared up at him, then turned her eyes toward the empty space where Kamil used to be standing. Traitor.

Not that he could’ve stopped this even if he tried.

“You need rest, so I’m taking you to your room,” Arnold stated matter-of-factly.

“I can walk!” she insisted, squirming slightly—but not enough to make him drop her.

“I’m aware. I just prefer this method.”

Which brought her to now: nestled against his chest, being carried through the palace like some damsel in distress.

Except she wasn’t in distress.

Not really.

Truth be told… it was kind of nice. Annoying, sure. Embarrassing, definitely. But nice.

The silence stretched between them, broken only by their footsteps and the soft chirp of birds outside the palace windows.

His chest rose and fell steadily beneath her, and she could hear the soft, rhythmic thump of his heart. It was oddly soothing. She let her head lean gently against him, half in protest, half in surrender.

Calm. Even. Steady.

Focused, like always.

She tilted her head slightly, peeking up at his face. His eyes were trained ahead, unfazed.

Then, on a whim, she lifted one hand and let her bare fingers graze the side of his neck.

Thump thump thump-thump.

His heartbeat quickened. Just a bit.

Her eyes lit up.

Rishe’s lips curled into a mischievous smile. She did it again. Thump-thump-thump-thump. Faster.

Arnold’s face didn’t move. His posture didn’t change. But his heart was giving him away.

She began to giggle softly.

“What?” he asked, eyes still forward.

“Your heartbeat…” she said between giggles. “It’s betraying you.”

He didn’t say anything, but she felt the muscles in his jaw tighten ever so slightly.

“Stop listening,” he muttered, a rare hint of fluster in his voice.

She laughed harder now. For the first time—the very first time—she had managed to throw him off balance. Not with words. Not with clever plans.

Just her presence.

“I didn’t know you could get flustered,” she whispered.

Arnold said nothing, but the way he adjusted his grip on her ever so slightly was all the answer she needed.

Her smile softened, and she let her head fall gently back to his chest.

Maybe she’d end up in this position a dozen more times. Maybe she’d always complain.

But if it meant hearing that heartbeat quicken for her…

She wouldn’t mind it one bit.

[sunshine-theseus]

Fantastic Mr Fox | Aggie Beever-Jones x reader

Word Count: 2.1k Summary: she's a cute girl and has impeccable movie taste Warnings: injuries, nothing else really. guys i love fantastic mr fox and wes anderson films, i have since i was like 4, so i love this fic. Request for - @realsociadadferminofan

Finally joining a team after being in their academy was something so unnecessarily terrifying. Joining a team after being in their rival’s academy, was possibly 10x worse.

Joining Chelsea from the Arsenal W.F.C. Academy was somewhat of an ultimate act of treason. I got DMs from Arsenal fans insulting me and calling me a traitor, ‘you’re not good enough anyway’. DMs from Chelsea fans were predominantly kinder, but I did receive a few ‘you don’t deserve to be here’ messages.

I had been sent on loan to Chelsea last season, straight out of the academy, which had been more accepted because it was seen as something I didn’t have a choice in. Now that I had officially signed with the Blues? Life was harder than it should be. I’m not particularly close with anyone yet, not thinking I was going to be staying around long enough for them to matter, and I’m having to compete to even play because of the diverse skills and experience of our players.

I met Aggie on the first day of training. I wasn’t expecting the number of new players that had joined me in signing over the summer or after the World Cup, and it was severely intimidating.

The person I could claim to be the closest to, was Niamh, which in turn meant I was some-what friends with Jessie, but the roommates had yet to arrive by the time I walked into the locker room, searching for my locker and number which had now been changed due to the apparent must for Mia Fishel to be 2 if she signed. I think I cried about it the day I found out. I had been number 2 since I was 4, clumsily kicking a ball around on horrid grass under gloomy skies, and I was forced to just give it away.

“You’re not number 2?” an unknown voice perks up beside me as I plonk down at my new cubby, the number ‘32’ looming over my head.

I turn to my left, and see a rather well put together blond, lacing up her boots. A new face, but seemingly kind. I tilt my head to the side as she looks up, having not answered the question.

“Sorry, I’ve followed you for a while. You’re always 2, aren’t you? You were last season.”

“Oh… I had to um, give it up. Mia made it a requirement to be number 2 if she signed. Didn’t even give me an option.”

“That’s pretty unfair, it’s special to you. I’m Agnes by the way. Everyone calls me Aggie.” She reaches out her hand for me to shake, which I gently do.

“Like from Fantastic Mr Fox! I’m Y/N.” I smile softly at her as I lace up my own boots.

“You know Fantastic Mr Fox?”

“It’s the best movie ever!”

“Right?!” she then pauses.

“Hey, so I don’t really know anyone here… could I stick with you?” Aggie rocks back and forth on the balls of her feet as she asks the question.

“For sure! I’m not super close with anyone yet, well I’m sort of close with Niamh and Jessie, but I’d love to stick together.” I hop up from my seat and begin to walk along side Aggie as we approach the field, the meeting room seemingly deserted to instead focus on introduction games that tie to our warmup.

~~~~~

It takes a month for me to realise I have a crush on Aggie. Neither of us having anything to do during the October/November international break except train while ¾ of the squad were out, meant a lot of time pretty much one on one. I tell Niamh straight away, the girl having become somewhat of a big sister to me, and she laughs and tells me most of the team already figured.

“Emma loves pairing you up to watch you stumble and blush.”

“What the fuck?!” the call doesn’t last much longer, as Aggie comes to collect me for our gym session, in which I am a very poor spotter for the girl as I gawk and blush as she rolls up her sleeves and lifts the weights.

~~~~~

Now a month after that, I’m sitting out altogether due to spraining my calcaneal tendon in the Champions League game against Madrid.

“This fucking suucks. Fuck Athenea. We were going to play our first ever game at Stamford Bridge together” Aggie pouts, leaning of the fence as I hobble into the seats behind the subs bench, plopping down next to Millie and Guro.

“I know. You have to score for me pretty please. And do a knee slide and give a heart when you get it.” I gingerly smile at her, and she dramatically rolls her eyes.

“Your wish is my command princess.” She jokingly gives a bow.

My mouth gaps open and closed and I feel my face burn as it’s overcome by a deep shade of red. Aggie chuckles and says goodbye before she heads back to the locker room, getting ready to start the game.

“You are down so fucking bad.” Millie teases and Guro hums in agreement.

“Am not!”

“She called you princess and you malfunctioned. It’s like your brain shuts down. You should ask her out.”

“What?! No way! She does not like me back.” The captain and the Norwegian stare at me, blinking once as their mouths drop open, scarily in sync.

“Man, if you can’t see how much she likes you, there is no hope.” Guro chuckles and turns back to the game that’s about to start.

Aggie scores in the 23rd minute. A pass from LJ sets her up and she easily puts the ball in the net. And as promised, she smoothly slides on her knees, making a heart with her hands as she glides along. She moves to take her place as they set up to start again but stops briefly and points to me with a toothy grin. It’s a small gesture to show who the goal was for, and I make a little heart in return.

“Okay! I’m fucked! Millie what do I do?” I frantically turn to the girls next to me as the whistle blows, the game continuing.

“You have to sweet talk her and like offer her your jacket or something. Honestly, she already likes you so don’t change your personality. That’s important. You got that? No changing yourself.” Millie pokes my chest.

“Aye aye captain.” I solute her before Guro adds on.

“And when you ask her out on a date, make sure it’s something you’ll both actually enjoy. Like you both love that weird fox movie, so watch that together or something.”

“Fantastic Mr Fox is much more than ‘that weird fox movie’. It’s the pinnacle of film. Wes Anderson is a fucking genius.” Guro raises her hand in fake surrender.

“Sorry.”

“But you’re right, that is a great idea. W- when do I ask her?”

“After the game.” The two older women simultaneously stress that it’s imperative I do it soon.

We win 5-1, and I rush as quickly as one can with crutches, onto the pitch to congratulate the team. I hug Niamh and LJ, talk to Emma, meet pretty much everyone, before I get to Aggie. She stands off to the side, talking to Sam and Guro, the latter spotting me and pulling Sam away to talk to god knows where.

Aggie is conveniently missing a jacket, so as I approach her, I shed my own and hold it out to her.

“You’re going to freeze.” She refuses, but I push it toward her again.

“Aggie, you’re shivering, take the coat.” Her fingers graze gently against mine and my stomach swells, my breath hitches.

“Thanks.”

“Hey… would you, maybe, you can say no, like to, I don’t know-”

“Spit it out.” She nudges me and giggles.

“Do you want to go on a date?” I rush out, avoiding looking her in the eyes, fearful of her rejection.

It’s silent. Well Aggie is silent.

“Forget i-”

“Yes. I really would like to go on a date with you.”

“Yeah?”

“Absolutely. What did you have in mind?”

~~~~~

“Now I've already had too much to drink, and I'm feeling sentimental, but I'm going to say something anyway, which nobody wants to admit, but I think is probably true: we beat 'em.” I glance at Aggie out of the corner of my eye, and I catch her wiping away a tear.

“Are you crying?”

“Nuh uh.”

“I cry 90% of the time during this speech it’s ok.” My hand inches toward Aggie’s that rests between us.

“It’s not even inherently sad Y/n. I’m just a baby.” She pouts at me as a single tear rolls down her cheek.

I take her hand, slotting my fingers between her’s. I wait for her to retract but she squeezes my hand, running her thumb against the back of it. I then turn my head, my eyes meeting her’s. The hazy blue irises bore into my own, drawing me closer. My other hand lifts to hold her cheek.

“Can I kiss you?” Aggie nods once and I lean in, our lips locking in a gentle kiss.

“Will you be my girlfriend?” her warm breath hits my lips, our foreheads pressed together. I respond by kissing her again.

~~~~~

We walk into training together. Not an unusual sight. The only difference is the short kiss we share before I turn on my crutches to head to the physio to have a check-up on my ankle. I’m stopped as I reach the locker-room doorway.

“No fucking way! You did it!” Millie comes barrelling toward me, wrapping an arm loosely around my neck in a headlock and ruffling my hair with the other.

I hear Aggie laugh and I jokingly glare back at her.

“Yes I did. Thanks to you. And Guro giving me the date idea by dissing Fantastic Mr Fox.”

“Guro what?!” Aggie exclaims. I smile and bid her goodbye.

~~~~~

“YOU’RE BACK!” I stumble as I catch Aggie on my back, the girls around us smiling and giggling as Emma sends a playful glare.

“Miss me? I was only gone a week.” Emma quickly separates us into pairs for a training exercise.

“More like forever. Why does your extended family live in Glasgow?” She takes a hold of my hand as we wait to be given a ball.

“My abuelita loves you if that makes you feel any better. And she’s never met you. It took her months to warm up to my sister’s husband.”

“Mmm, that does make me feel better, but a kiss would definitely help.” She perks her lips and I lean on my tippy toes to press my lips to her’s.

“Get a room!” Niamh calls out from across the field and I blush, hiding my face in Aggie’s neck as she wraps an arm around me. Everyone laughs before Emma sternly tells us to focus.

~~~~~

The time is slowly running out, we’re tied 1-1 and I get subbed on for Sam, joining Aggie on the front line. The 20 or so seconds tick down on the big screen as I run down the pitch, chasing Aggie, calling for the ball. She takes a shot on the goal but I notice the ball veering off course and rush forward. I jump, head making contact with the ball and body making contact with the goalkeeper before I fall to the ground.

I hear the crowd cheer but don’t move. My head aches but pain radiates across my shoulder and down my back. The whistle doesn’t blow even as I cry out, only once the final seconds pass. I feel hands pat my head, assuming I’m just exhausted. I eventually hear Aggie’s distinct voice break through the rest of the noise.

“WHY DIDN’T YOU STOP THE GAME? SHE DIDN’T GET UP SO YOU STOP THE GAME!” there are waves of outraged voices that echo around me, but I can’t do anything but cry and whisper Aggie’s name.

I begin to assess myself as I wait for someone, anyone, to come help. I can feel everything, but it hurts, I can move my fingers and my toes. My breathing is a little rough and my vision is blurred by my tears. I feel someone kneel beside me.

“Hey, hey I’m here are you ok?” I expect to hear my girlfriend’s voice but it’s Ann-Katrin.

“It all hurts. W- where’s Aggie.” I groan out as she strokes my hair out of my face.

“She’s coming. She was having a word with the ref. Asshole tried to card her. The medics and Emma are coming too.”

It takes forever to be assessed, and then I’m carried out on a backboard, Aggie holding my hand as we walk through the halls.

“Are you ok? Are you sure? Do you need anything?” She spits out question after question and I smile up at her.

“I’m okay, I’ve got you.”

“You really are a quote-unquote fantastic fox.” She grins at me and leans down to kiss my forehead.

“I want to quote Fantastic Mr Fox with you all the time.”

“You will. Once you fucking stop getting hurt.”

[fairyboygenius]

everywhere, everything

simon “ghost” riley x original female character

prev | next

a/n: have a morsel- more introspective of a character study than you might have expected but i felt it fit lmao and the sexual tension is still there for sure

@dwarvenagenda come get ur food

cw: in depth religion thoughts for both simon and allie, allusions to child abuse (on simon’s side)

Allie had feared that the first mission she went on with the group would be something bombastic, like Chicago and everything that represents.

It was bombastic, technically- capturing an assassin for the CIA- but it wasn’t emotional, wasn’t battlefield dramatics like so many of her missions with the Shadows. It was a helicopter ride to Marbella, squished between Soap and Gaz like they were children going on a road trip. Lola sat on the floor, obediently at Allie’s feet, ear protection fixed on her floppy ears.

Allie slipped on her own ear protection and busied herself with Lola’s bulletproof vest, letting the sound of the helicopter drown out any errant thoughts. She could feel her body slipping into mission mode: withholding everything, from the sense of justice she carried inside her to the empathy that crushed her when she did things like rescue a spider from her room. A pistol hung heavy on her hip- to be used for self defense, or to shoot back if an injured soldier was shot at. In the breakdown afterward, that very gun would be locked up with the rest of her equipment as a precautionary measure.

Helping those that are injured is unquestionably good, she repeated to herself the way she did before every mission. No matter what those people have done, no one can fault you for helping someone who needs help. Thinking too much about being an accessory to any immoral acts the 141 may commit would make her fearful and nauseous. But that’s not what they needed.

So she packed the most traitorous parts of her bleeding heart away for now and pulled on the armband that should- ostensibly- protect her. The kind of people the Shadows (and now, the 141) were hired to take down didn’t exactly care about things like the Geneva Convention, but the gesture calmed her. The armband reaffirmed that she was just there to help her soldiers.

Allie could hear Soap, reciting a rosary under his breath. A silver cross dangling from the same chain as his dog tags glinted in the dim light. She wondered if he was still practicing or if he was more like her- trying to find his own version of God among the rubble of deconstruction. Standing in a rotting church, still able to recall specific passages of the KJV by heart. Picking through shards of stained glass for simple paintings of Jesus as he lived, feeding the poor and washing sinners’ feet.

Her dad had texted that morning. (Hope you’re doing okay, baby girl.) They talked more now that he had quit being a preacher and was putting himself through nursing school. He had left the megachurch job when she’d come out to him, and had been bouncing around to several smaller churches in her teens and 20s. The last few years- when he had seen her with Philip, someone who so loudly claimed to be Christian, and saw the way he treated her even in public- had shaken his belief, plain and simple.

“You and I, we’re kindred spirits,” he had told her ever since she realized her interest in healthcare. “We’re helpers. Servants of the Lord.” He gestured to the supplies on the table- he was packing backpacks of food for hungry children in their town. The governor of Texas had just voted against free school lunch again. “I help from the pulpit, and I help in the community. And my girl will help people feel better.” He kissed her forehead before turning back to the lunches. “You’re making God proud, baby girl.”

He’d said that same thing when they realized she’d have to go into the military instead of college and nursing school. You’re making God proud. “What about you?” she had asked. “Are you proud?” He hesitated, facing her.

“I will never stop being amazed at how smart and kindhearted you are, baby girl. Especially growing up with the mom you had.” He smoothed his hand over Allie’s hair then. “I am worried for you, being out there in warzones, but I have faith. And I’m disappointed that I can’t pay for your college, where you’ll be safer. But I’ll pray for you every day. God is calling you to this, I think, and while we don’t think it’s fair, it’s what God has planned.” That was his refrain when horrible things happened to people in his congregation and even when Allie’s mom had killed herself the year before: everything was God’s plan. Looking back, she understood why her dad would repeat this. It gave him a sense of peace to know that these things weren’t random. It was the same reason he wrote her a prayer, Psalm 91, on a piece of loose-leaf paper and tucked it into her belongings the day before she left for Fort Sam Houston.

Allie was used to the idea of being a soldier, having been raised to be a member of “the Lord’s army”. She had never believed in anything that strongly before or since- the idea that she would lay down her life for her God if He asked. Her dad sent her into that battle, gave her that martyr complex buried deep in her bones. He tucked it into her tactical vest of flesh and blood, next to her weapons of faith. Would she die for the US military? Maybe incidentally, never on purpose. Allie wasn’t even sure if she’d die for that version of God anymore. All she believed in was kindness and compassion, the two things she had control over. Treat her patients with kindness, and receive small kindnesses in return. No real friendships for her. Just giving and receiving.

She sent him a text back from the base that morning: All good here. Miss you. Hope you’re doing well.

The text that popped up next caused her to choke back a rush of hot tears.

Godspeed, soldier.

It had become somewhat of a joke between them once he had quit preaching. Her dad always joked that God would appreciate this particular use of his name in vain. Sometimes it was lighthearted, but mostly it was a plea- Come back alive for me. She sent back a simple heart emoji before turning her phone off and climbing into the heli.

Simon was looking at her and Soap, she realized, and she wondered if he could see what they had in common. She wondered if Soap knew what bound them- though Catholics and Southern Baptists didn’t seem to have much in common besides a love for imagined persecution.

She couldn’t quite decode the flash in Simon’s eyes- that took energy she didn’t have. Bloodlust, maybe? Jealousy at the way Soap’s knee knocked with hers? That second one felt more like wishful thinking than anything. Same with those glances at the pub the week before. Giving her his jacket felt more platonic by the second. He had stopped wearing the crutches after getting the all clear, but Allie could see the outline of the nose splint under the balaclava. The boot still sat heavy on his foot. She wondered if his ankle was bothering him. Wondered if he’d ever admit it if it was.

Philip used to rile up the Shadows on the way to missions. They’d play school bus games and sing drinking songs, like they weren’t about to go murder civilians. (Let’s be real, they did more of that than anything else.) The 141 were quiet- at least this time. She knew with the way they bantered on base they could keep things lighthearted. Maybe it was the early hour, or maybe they were just in a quiet mood today.

Philip also led a group prayer before some of the more dangerous ops. It wasn’t technically mandatory, but “highly encouraged”, and he would look down on Shadows who chose not to participate. He knew her feelings about religion- was there when the congregation of her father’s church was extensively slut shaming her- and yet he would still glare if she wasn’t in the circle, head bowed.

It wasn’t like that here, and she was glad for it. She pulled up Psalm 91 and started reciting it in her head.

O Lord God Almighty, Please deliver me from hidden traps and diseases. Father God, cover me with Your camouflage; Hide me under Your wings; Let Your truth be my shield and buckler Against the fiery darts--the lies--of the enemy.

Compartmentalize. Help your men stay alive.

Stay alive.

If he hadn’t been sure it was gone a long time ago, Simon would be losing his mind right now.

Competence had always been a big turn on for him. It had spurred his attraction to dancers and bartenders, people good enough at their craft to get his heart racing and his pants tight. But seeing Allie, in the field, in gear… fuck.

He shook his head a couple of times, hoping to lock back into mission mode and get away from the dirty corners of his mind. He watched her load the pistol and nearly passed out as she wrapped her hands around the barrel. Fuckin’ hell, this is pathetic.

Allie soon went off to go wait, setting up camp somewhere in the vicinity. She gave them a friendly wave, jogging off with a two-finger salute. His ankle throbbed as he shifted his weight, and he considered following her for a moment. Hate to see her go, love to watch her leave. Her ass really did look great in the fatigues.

Simon shook his head once. You’ve got a job to do, he told himself. You’ll see her at the end if all goes well. He set his shoulders firmly, loaded his own rifle, and sauntered off to his station.

He sat in the helo afterwards, watching Allie bandage a cut on Johnny’s arm.

“‘M comin’ up, God,” Johnny dramatically declared. His face screwed up in pain.

“That’d be really embarrassing for you. Haven’t you been shot multiple times? Why would this be what takes you out?” Allie’s voice was steady, with the slightest twinge of mirth. Simon thought the assassin would be laughing too, if he could, but he’s gagged and bound in the back.

“Shit, lassie, dinnae make me laugh,” Johnny wheezed, clutching his chest.

Allie just nodded. “Remind me to check on your ribs when we get back to base.”

Simon found himself impressed, once again, with the deft way she handled Johnny’s… everything. She seemed to withhold parts of herself from all of them with a practiced ease. He did the same thing, he knew, but it felt different watching her. Like he was being denied access something he had to earn, when he was used to holding it all back from others.

Ever since the pub, he had lain awake trying to figure out where the fuck to go from here. Would she have shared all of the things about Philip if she hadn’t been drinking? Did she want to talk more when she was sober, or was that just a one-time thing? Was he ever going to get his fucking jacket back? (He didn’t particularly care either way- in fact, he almost hoped she’d keep it. It was so sexy on her, the way it grazed the tops of her thighs.)

He didn’t believe in a god the way Johnny did. “God” didn’t exist in houses like his. Wherever and whatever He was, Simon thought his house was the opposite. A vacuum for all things holy and good.

Simon’s mother was Jewish. He felt more of a connection to that than his father’s loosely held Christianity- mostly used as a weapon, like everything his father ever said or did. People liked to describe Simon as a living weapon, and he knew they were right. He mirrored his father in that aspect because his father had molded him that way. Roba had only sharpened his blade.

He had never been to Hebrew school, never had a bar mitzvah. He had never even stepped foot inside a synagogue until a few years ago, when they visited one on a mission to rescue some refugee children. Despite the circumstances, something tugged at his heartstrings that day. A feeling of belonging. His mother would light a single, secret candle around Hanukkah, whispering stories into his and Tommy’s ears before blowing it out quickly. His father found them once. Simon still had the scar from the candle being pressed to his temple.

Could he even claim a religion based in peace after spending his whole life at war?

He looked at Allie again, eyeing her straightforward and flat expression with curiosity. She felt his eyes on her, gave a small smile without making eye contact. Once again, a blush crept up his cheeks. If anyone saw, he could blame it on the heat of the helo.

The moment swept away like a breeze, and she went back to petting Lola. He just blinked and stared intently at the wall.

[loycos]

How do you think Ekko feels about Caitlyn and Vi, separately and as a couple? Reed Shannon (Ekko's VA) stated in a post on how Caitlyn found her humanity and grace through her struggles; plus he resposted(?) a meme of Caitlyn alongside Ekko, Jinx, Vi and Isha from that gangster family meme; I don't know if you know the meme, it was the best way I could describe it.

again diving into personal headcanon territory, with a little bit of support from League lore (idk if its still relevant). i feel like i need to explain what my post canon vision for caitvi is to articulate what i think ekko would think of them. ramble incoming:

i think caitlyn and vi are gonna be enforcers again, caitlyn as the sheriff and vi her second-in-command (deputy). caitlyn will try to reform the enforcers with a stricter hand, and a watchful eye. theres a reason she didnt take her seat in the council- caitlyn is all about doing the hard job on location, seeing reality through her own eyes- she doesnt want to help by sitting in a tower and discussing things in theory, shes practical and realistic and she wants to experience the real thing. her job as sheriff will allow her to make that change while still giving her the access to do things on the field.

vi joining tbe enforcers will mainly be done to stay close to caitlyn and protect her if needed. vi never had a big direction in life other than the people she loves- she would jump on the opportunity to spend more time with cait and have the chance to punch people with her big gauntlets. her position as deputy is absolutely unearned in terms of experience or even commitment to the cause- but caitlyn is the sheriff and she put her there, so vi and her can stay close. which other enforcers, and pilties, and zaunites, are extremely aware of. it is corruption, even if relatively unharmful one. having a zaunite as the deputy made a lot of pilties upset, especially when shes so underqualified, and made them question caitlyn's ethics, for good reason. mega especially when vi is known to overall act out of line, cause unnecessary property damage, show overall disrespect to the reformed enforcer protocol and not bind herself to schedules, and yet get absolutely no punishment, let alone acknowledgement of her misdeeds by her boss, who turns a blind eye (wink wink) to her shenanigans.

so yeah, other enforcers are fuming, the pilties arent happy, and zaunites? well, despite caitlyn trying her best to solve the issues that ran years before she was born, there's only so much changing the protocol can do for her. she is harsher on enforcer violence and the prison under her watch has changed to be more humane, but its not like she can control every single enforcer personally. so its not perfect but its slightly better than what it used to be. caitlyn herself has the exact same attitude towards both pilties and zaunites- kind of cold, calculated, no bullshit taken, unapologetic, yet with a layer of empathy underneath the surface. kind of similar to what grayson was. this attitude doesnt win her people's favor on either side, but it does earn her respect- and especially in zaun, where her family status means nothing, that means a lot. she's definitely not a "champion of the people"- i think most people in the city actively dislike her, and the (true) rumors of corruption arent helping.

as for vi, zaunites see her as a traitor. she is known to be kind of a bulldozer that can be quite trigger happy, especially when it involves caitlyn (who we already discussed people dont really like) being in danger or disrespected. she has a dismissive "and what about that" attitude that is very zaun in nature, but since shes now wearing a badge, zaunites get annoyed with. pilties, of course, absolutely hate that attitude. so she isnt seen very favorably either, on either side of the river, just like her girlfriend.

the relationship between them is kind of an open secret. every enforcer in the force knows vi is only in her position cause she "gives caitlyn favors under the table", and those rumors reached topside and bottom as well. and again, they arent untrue, theyre just a relatively mean and shallow reading of the actual relationship between the women. neither caitlyn nor vi ever acknowledges these rumors. they stay at a 6 feet distance from each other while working, but the fact they are so interlinked really leaves no other answer. they know everybody knows, everybody knows that they know, and it's never addressed directly by either of them. their relationship is kind of an anigma to people on both sides- pilties think caitlyn settled for a street rat, zaunites think vi sold her soul to be with a rich pig. no one really knows the history or intimate details about their relationship, for obvious reasons, and thats what it looks like to them on the surface.

righttttt, this ask was about ekko. i got carried away. so ekko. how does he play into all of this? while he's not entirely on the average zaunite camp, he is reluctant to work with caitlyn, but does so anyway because ultimately they share similar goals. while he understands vi better than most people, and knows she always puts her loved ones before any political cause, he can't help but feel a little betrayed by her choice. i think he doesnt really see what vi sees in caitlyn, and since he doesnt "get" that, vi's choice to stay with her at all costs looks odd. especially since caitlyn on the surface just looks like a cold, authoritarian bitch. with good intentions! but still a bitch.

in the end, it all comes down to masks. i imagine post canon caitvi are both sporting masks for protection, and have their walls really high up in public. and can you blame them? they actively wear their weakest spot, their achilles heel- each other- on their sleeve. theyre in public positions, have a lot of eyes on them, and their "professional" relationship is extremely looked down upon. so caitlyn acts colder and harsher, and vi puts on a bravado of "i dont give a shit" and uses violence as a threat to deter people from seeing her as weak. the walls are there to ensure their safety. but like we saw in the series, when its just the two of them, all those walls crumble, and they allow themselves to just be vulnerable.