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allgoodnamesrgoneee · 2 days ago

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Silent Conversations

Masterlist

𝒔𝒖𝒎𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒚 — After living in Madrid for nearly a year, Jude's gotten the hang of spanish. So he never thought he’d have to learn a new language just to flirt with someone—until he meets you.

𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 — Jude Bellingham x Deaf!reader

𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕 — 9.7k

Warnings! FLUFF!! Jude is kind of obsessed with you in the best way, lover boy, you're very adorable in this one, reader speaks but can't hear, reader can read lips,

Preview

********** Being deaf and a chatterbox is a contradiction that most people don’t know how to wrap their heads around.

But it’s who you are.

Since you can remember, you've always loved to talk—loved filling spaces with words, with thoughts, with laughter. Being deaf has never stopped you. If anything, it’s only made you more creative in how you communicate.

People underestimate how much talking you can do with your hands, how much personality you can pour into a single sign, a raised brow, a quick smirk. They think "talking" only means sound, that conversations without voices are somehow lesser, as if the absence of noise makes words any less real. You’ve spent your whole life proving them wrong.

And tonight is no different.

Your little brother practically vibrates with excitement next to you, hands flying as he signs about how insane the game was. He’s been a Real Madrid fan for as long as he’s been able to walk, and your parents had gone all out for his birthday—jerseys, meet&greet tickets, the whole experience.

So far, the night has been going well.

Your family has been cheering and chanting for Real Madrid alongside the thousands of other fans packed into the stadium, their voices blending into the electric hum of excitement that fills the air. The game has been nothing short of exhilarating, each pass, each near goal sending waves of emotion through the crowd.

Your hands ache from the number of times you’ve signed to your brother, asking for updates on what’s happening when the movements on the field become too chaotic to follow. He’s been patient, grinning as he translates key moments for you, his enthusiasm infectious.

When the final whistle blows, confirming Real Madrid’s victory, the stadium erupts into cheers. Your family is ecstatic, jumping to their feet and embracing one another in celebration. You smile, soaking in the energy, but exhaustion is already creeping in. The weight of tomorrow morning sits heavily on your shoulders.

You love nights like this—love the way your father’s face lights up after a good match, love the way your younger cousins beam with pride, shouting the players’ names like they know them personally—but you can’t afford to linger. Not when your boss expects you bright-eyed and fully alert at the crack of dawn.

You sigh, glancing at the time. If you leave now, you’ll get home at a decent hour, and maybe you'll get six hours in tonight. I should go, you sign to your brother.

He frowns. So soon?

"I have work in the morning."

He relays this to the rest of your family, and they groan in unison. Your mother reaches out, squeezing your arm in understanding. "Text us when you get home," you read on her lips.

You nod, exchanging quick hugs before making your way toward the exit.

The corridors are still crowded with lingering fans, some of them stopping to take pictures or rewatch highlights on their phones. You weave through them, emerging into the crisp night air just outside the stadium, and pull out your phone to call for an Uber.

Five minutes.

Not too bad.

You exhale, shoving your free hand into the pocket of your jacket as you make your way toward the designated pick-up area near the parking lot. Your feet ache slightly from standing for so long, and the cool breeze is a welcome relief after being surrounded by so much body heat. You scroll through your phone absentmindedly, debating whether to pass the time by answering a few messages or just watching the people around you.

That’s when you feel it.

A presence.

It’s subtle at first—a shift in the atmosphere, a slight prickling at the back of your neck. Then, footsteps. Slow. Unsteady.

You look up just in time to see him stumbling toward you.

The acrid scent of alcohol hits you first. It’s overpowering, the kind of stench that clings to a person’s skin and clothes, the kind that makes your stomach churn. He’s disheveled, his jacket slipping off one shoulder, his eyes unfocused. But there’s something sharp in the way he grins at you, something that immediately puts you on edge.

"Hey," he slurs.

Your grip tightens around your phone. You don't respond. Instead, you take a step back, angling your body away from him. But before you can put more distance between you, his hand shoots out, gripping your wrist with surprising strength.

"I'm talking to you, you little bitch!"

Panic spikes through you like ice water.

Your breath hitches, your heart hammering as you instinctively jerk back, trying to free yourself from his grasp. Your hands move on their own, the motions quick, desperate. Leave me alone.

The man’s face scrunches in confusion. "What? What are you doin' with your hands?"

You swallow hard, pulse racing. You try again, this time forcing yourself to speak, hoping the sounds come out right. "I can't hear you. I'm deaf."

His expression twists into something cruel. "Deaf?" He laughs, loud and mean. "You serious?" His grip tightens. "C'mon, don’t be like that. Just talk to me.I can show you a good time."

Your throat constricts. You shake your head quickly, signing, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, over and over, even though you know there’s nothing to apologize for. It’s just instinct. A plea for him to stop, to let go.

But he doesn’t. If anything, your silence only makes him angrier.

"Stop doin' that shit!" he snaps. "Just say something!"

Before you can react, before the panic fully settles into terror, a shadow moves behind him. Fast. Deliberate. A hand clamps down on his shoulder, yanking him backward with enough force that he nearly loses his balance.

"That’s enough, mate." The voice is low, firm. Unmistakably authoritative.

The drunk stumbles, blinking in confusion as he turns to face whoever pulled him away. And that’s when you see him.

Jude Bellingham.

He’s taller than you expected, broader too, his frame imposing even in casual clothes. His coils are damp, like he just stepped out of the showers, and there’s an undeniable exhaustion in his features—deep shadows under his eyes, a certain heaviness to the way he holds himself.

But none of that matters right now. Right now, his entire focus is on the man in front of him, his jaw tight with barely contained irritation.

The drunk sneers. "Who the fuck—"

"Walk away," Jude says flatly.

The man wobbles slightly, his mind struggling to catch up as he starts recognizes Jude. His eyes widen. "I was just—"

"I don’t care." Jude’s voice is sharper now, cutting through the drunken haze like a blade. "She’s not interested. Walk away."

There’s a moment of hesitation. A beat where the drunk seems to consider whether or not this is a fight worth picking. He glances between you and Jude, his lip curling in annoyance, before finally, begrudgingly, releasing a scoff.

"Whatever," he mutters, stumbling back. "Wasn’t even worth it."

You don’t breathe until he’s gone.

The moment he disappears into the crowd, your entire body sags, tension draining so quickly that your knees feel weak. You swallow, pressing a hand to your chest in an attempt to steady yourself.

Jude turns to you then, his brows knitting together in concern. "You alright?"

You nod automatically, even though you’re not entirely sure it’s true. Your hands tremble slightly as you sign, Thank you.

Jude watches your hands carefully, and your gaze shifts to his lips expecting him to say something next—to offer words you wouldn't be able to hear. Instead, he hesitates, then lifts his hands.

You… okay? The sign is clumsy, the movements stiff, but the effort makes your heart stop.

He had recognized what you were signing before. He had understood. you think.

You nodded, your throat tight with gratitude. He relaxed a little at your response, but still glanced around, protective. "You waiting on someone?" His lips move slower this time, giving you a chance to read them.

You nod again, holding up your phone. "Uber." The words come out in a bit of a slur but he understands them.

Jude frowns, looking at your screen. "Two minutes?"

He must have seen the time displayed on your phone because there’s no way he could’ve understood the tone of your nod. "Yeah."

The way he scowls in response makes you think that’s not an acceptable answer. His eyes shift, scanning the parking lot, and you can practically see the wheels turning in his mind. "Look, you want to wait inside? The security team can keep an eye on you till your Uber arrives."

His concern is sweet, and you find yourself nodding before you can think. "Okay. Thank you."

You let him lead you back to the main building, where there’s a security team waiting by the entrance. He explains your situation, and they offer you a smile. They won't let you stay inside the stadium since the game has already ended, but they’re willing to stand outside with you until your car arrives.

You nod in gratitude and wave a goodbye as Jude makes to leave. You expect him to keep going, to be on his way, but instead, he hesitates. For a second, he just looks at you, as if deciding something, but he shakes his head, offering a quick smile as he slips away into the night.

The security team stays with you the whole time. They make sure you’re safe and wave down your Uber when it arrives. You thank them and climb into your car, making your way home.

That’s it, you think. That’s where the story ends.

But it’s only the beginning.

**********

-Bianca🌻

#jude bellingham #jude bellingham x reader #jude x reader #jude x you

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remina-mina · 13 hours ago

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First years and how they ended up at Ramshackle (Pomefiore)

Epel

"It's not like you to zone out in potions class." "... Vil just has been working me to bone recently, don't worry" "I wasn't worried but.. a good sleep schedule is important to maintain a good performance in classes"

If someone asked Epel when he started sleeping over at Ramshackle he'd tell'em to mind their business. But if he was feeling generous he'd lie and tell them it started during the VDC but even he knows thats not quite the whole truth.

The pristine walls of Pomefiore are beautiful, undeniably so, nevertheless after his adventure to STYX and Yuu and Grim's return to Ramshackle he can't help the sickness in his stomach as he wanders the halls.

This sickness is different from the resigned annoyance he'd felt at the start of the year. Different from loneliness that would grasp onto his bones and twist itself until he found himself awake the next morning. No, this was more dangerous and thorny than that.

His feet carry him to the Pomefiore gardens where he'd spent the past couple nights reciting his unique magic and practicing until dawn. He needs to be ready for whatever may come. He needs to be stronger or else...

If he practices just a couple more times then surely, surely, the mangled unnatural limbs of phantoms will leave his nightmares, the sound of screams will leave him. If he tires himself out then his nights will no longer be sleepless. Just one more time-

"Epel... You are aware that curfew was 4 hours ago" A stern voice cuts through the garden. "Vil-san... I.. woke up to get water" Epel mumbles. He can't even bring himself to look Vil in the eye. Epel doesn't even know what he's saying. Does he even care anymore? "Water from the garden hose?" He doesn't even need to look at Vil to imagine the way his brows furrow just enough to convey his disappointment while avoiding wrinkles. "Follow me." Vil doesn't give Epel the chance to respond before dragging him along the path out of Pomefiore. Soon they are standing in front of the gate to Ramshackle. "Why did'ja bring me here?" Epel turns to Vil and looks at him for the first time that night. He realizes that he let his accent slip and braces himself for the lecture, but no lecture comes. "I am simply fulfilling a request."

Before he can question him, Yuu steps out from Ramshackle and calls out to him. When he turns to say goodnight to Vil, he finds him already walking back to the dorm and takes that as a sign to head into Ramshackle.

To his shock he finds Ace, Deuce, and Jack already inside, sitting on makeshift beds on the lounge floor. There was already a bed set up for him too.

He half-expects them to force him to answer questions, like why was he awake but no questions come. When he finally gets a good look at everyone he sees a burning, they all want to be stronger, they all want to conquer the fears that grapple them.

Deuce hands him a fresh cup of tea and in the warmth, he finds himself tearing up. If anyone notices the stray tears that fall, they don't comment.

Even though the lounge silent, there is so much said, and in those unspoken words he finds a temporary medicine to the sickness that'd grappled him for weeks. And his sleep is dreamless.

honestly I see Epel as someone whose very stubborn and can get very tunnel visioned just like Deuce and end up beating themself up with their impatience and put themselves in a spiral. that's partially why I decided to have Deuce be the one to give him tea, it's almost like a silent message of we can work to be stronger together just like we promised on the beach. I had a feeling Yuu would notice that Epel hasn't been sleeping while they were staying at Pomefiore, especially since they'd gotten so close through the STYX incident. Maybe as one last thank you to Vil for letting them stay they tip him off about Epel's night practices. Epel craves strength but not as a tool to dominate but rather as a way to protect other people. of course because he is an NRC student is a side of him where he finds his place in the world and orients his relation with those around him based on strength but I feel we see a bit of this fall away as he experiences more deadly situations. anyway I can ramble for hours about Epel.

Ace / Deuce / Jack / Epel

#twst #twisted wonderland #disney twisted wonderland #twst yuu #twst deuce #twst epel #twst first years #twst headcanons #twst writing #twst drabbles #epel felmier #twst ace trappola #ace trappola

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jollyreginaldrancher · 2 days ago

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My take on Lottie relinquishing her power in season 2 is not that she saw the violence that their survival necessitated and couldn't deal with the guilt but that she realized they stepped into a new era where it's not her comfort and guidance they need, it's a hunter...it's food. It's Nat they needed.

She was perfectly capable of devouring Jackie to stay alive. And if it came to it she wanted to be eaten. She wasn't horrified by the hunt. It didn't sit well with her that they decided to hunt when she was willing to die for them.

And the crux of that situation is that she realized that her role was really symbolic. She was a figurehead, not a leader. They wouldn't even obey her final wishes. And Nat had been opposing her for months. She couldn't even do the one thing she wanted to do, which is unify the group and help them cope.

So she delegated her power to the strongest person she knew. The one who has the balls to go against her and the one whose judgement she trusted the most. Because for all her faults, the most redeeming quality of Nat's is her empathy. Her heart. And that's what she trusts in a person. Misty is smart and she's empathetic and she loves deeply and has a great heart, and so does Taissa and some of the other contenders, but they are logical and they are ruthless and to a point they are gutless.

She saw the direction they were going and she realizes that she is losing control of them and she picked Nat because Nat is the leader they need right now. The hunter.

Don't get me wrong, they can all lead, and they can all do what needs to be done, but in different ways. Misty can be calculating and ruthless, but acts out impulsively a lot, and that works to her detriment. Furthermore she's better not as a ruler when the attention is all on her but behind the scenes, augmenting, rather than obeying or rather influencing the outcome of things in her own way rather than setting strict rules and ordering people around.

Look at the hunt-off or Natalie's hunt. She's not a follower. She'll obey and go along with a plan but when a better one comes along she's an opportunist who will jump at the better opportunity. And while that's a good thing to have to survive, as a leader you need to be someone with follow-through like Natalie.

Taissa has the opposite flaw, where she pushes and takes things too far, doubling down on her opinions because she's always sure she's right, and doesn't care about the collateral damage, she will carry through whatever plan she has, and if normal Tai can't do it, other Tai will. She's susceptible to manipulation by Van, and she's not open minded at all, but she'll bend the knee for Van's sake so that makes her a bit of a liability. Also the fact that she has to mentally check out to do certain things that aid in her survival, such as eat Jackie.

Shauna doesn't want to rule, she just wants to be picked. She genuinely just wants the power and none of the responsibility. The way she put all the blame on Jackie for Shauna making the life choices she did? Yeah, she'll not take any responsibility as leader and Lottie knows, and as much as she likes her or wants to support her and sympathizes with her losing her best friend, she knows that she would absolutely mismanage her power and then complain and make it everybody else's fault. Shauna was the antler queen there'd be a revolt in 5 business days.

So that leaves Natalie who's stubborn and rebellious but empathetic -managed to be sympathetic to Travis even when Lottie didn't want to give him the benefit of the doubt, and stuck up for Misty of all people -who is practically considered to be the human embodiment of a scab- when Shauna un-rightfully started beating on her, so Lottie knows she'd be a just leader. She doesn't go too far when she thinks she's right, having called a truce on Lottie, and even when she thinks something is bullshit, like drinking Lottie's blood for good luck and shit, she'll still bend the knee for the greater good and for other people's peace of mind, which Misty would do too, but Shauna and Taissa would be too proud to.

Van and Travis would not be considered leadership material cause they were some of the biggest followers of hers. Both also have a partner which makes them impartial to all but one person in the group at least. Plus it's not likely people would take well to a guy being placed in a leadership position over a whole group of women. Just no.

So Lottie gave the role to the person she thought was strongest, most likely to do the right thing even when it's not popular, and is willing to go where she needs to in order to keep everyone alive. Has empathy for everyone and isn't likely to sideline anyone or use the power to her advantage. Is willing to be flexible and cede to things she doesn't like for the sake of the group but is stubborn enough to not be a complete pushover. Mainly doesn't do things for approval, does things because of her moral compass, which is something that doesn't guide most of them.

#Yellowjackets #thoughts #mine #clearing out my drafts #Lottie Matthews #Shauna Shipman #Misty Quigley #Natalie Scatorccio #Taissa Turner #Van Palmer #and co #analysis

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coyotelip · 2 days ago

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au, where pandora and regulus became best friends only after his death.

(including some jegulus and pandalily. this is like a fic concept, but I don't feel like writing anything, so I just want to share this idea with you. enjoy!)

Pandora comes from a family of modern witches and because of this, almost no one wants to have anything to do with her. She is a strange student who wears maxi skirts made of ten different pieces of clothing, carries a trail of herbs and jingles every amulet she wears.

of course, Regulus, as the mayor's son, did not want to get close to her during his lifetime. when he died, it turned out that Pandora was the only one who could see his disembodied spirit, which remained wandering the earth.

It's a friendship that shouldn't have happened, but with a little bit of effort, all the barriers between them disappear. finally, there's someone to whom Pandora can tell about her crush on Lily Evans.

she spends hours and hours experimenting to determine the limits of Regulus' existence here on earth. can he leave the city? can he touch things, feel heat or cold? can the rest of her family see him?

she digs into his story so much to understand what exactly keeps him here, why his spirit cannot rest?

In the process, he reveals his biggest secret - his crash in James Potter. Pandora is delighted, and she doesn't let him get away from the topic until she convinces him to write him a letter. Pandora writes by herself, because of course Regulus cannot hold a pen the way he did when he was alive. he gives her a dry and emotionless text with reluctance, but she adds color to it and paints it much more emotionally.

Regulus can't stop her when Pandora puts the letter in James' locker. in fact, deep down, he doesn't want to. Regulus boldly uses his power to be there when James finds the letter, but he doesn't read it right away, hiding it and taking it home. the remnants of his morals prevent Regulus from following it and breaking into James' room, no matter how much he wants to be there.

the first letter is followed by the second and third.

the situation takes an interesting turn when Sirius suddenly approaches Pandora. he is clearly unhappy and asks her in private, rather aggressively, what she wants. he has noticed her sneaking letters to James and intends to stop her because he is not interested in her.

Sirius' hot blood gets the better of him and he touches Pandora. not firmly, just puts his hand on her shoulder and tries to corner her. but this is enough to anger Regulus, and without realizing it, he shouts out an angry "don't touch her" and tries to push Sirius away.

Sirius' head jerked up and he... looked straight at Regulus without seeing him. his brow furrowed and he looked confused, but after a moment he looked back at Pandora, "What did you do?". Pandora just stares at him in confusion and gasps for air, not knowing how to explain it. Sirius quickly disappears without waiting for her.

seeing how their little game of writing notes for James has taken such a heated and unpleasant turn, Regulus finally recognizes how pointless it is. so instead, he promises Pandora he'll find a way to get her with Lily.

but to their surprise, Sirius comes back. he follows Pandora, but he doesn't look angry, rather concerned. he comes and asks not to play with him - it's cruel to play tricks on his brain using his dead brother.

and so Pandora is determined to find a way for Sirius and Regulus to talk for the first time in years. she is certain that this is what is keeping him stuck to the earth. honestly, at first she thought it must be his hidden crush and letters to James would help.

but now Pandora is sure that brotherly love is sometimes worth much more than romantic feelings.

#marauders #regulus black #pandora lovegood #sirius black #james potter #jegulus #starchaser #sunseeker #lily evans #pandalily #regulus and pandora #black brothers angst #black brothers

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woooshworldtwo · 2 days ago

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AT A LOSS

TAGS: WIFE!READER [Originally just mentioned once in dialogue but otherwise just spouse is used when describing said relationship between characters], Husband!Caracalla x Reader x Unrequited!Geta, Mentions of sex, Brief mentions of slavery [gladiators in the Colosseum], Brief mentions of animal cruelty [animals participating in the Colosseum], Historical inaccuracies, I'm not sure what else.

FIRST NOTE: I think I wanted to try accentuating the care he wants to give reader and therefore ends up treating those around him as what he sees them as- disposable and like shit. Geta is a TERRIBLE man so I guess I just wanted him to be pining for someone he knows is out of reach. I was gonna make it a series to like Caracalla x partner reader x unrequited Geta. if this is the first chapter, ngl idk where to trail off from there. i kind of write while im smoking just to fuck around so maybe i could write at least five-ish chapters if i think of a good enough plot. WHAT DO YOU PEOPLE THINK?? who knows i could even do the same with Caracalla, it could make sense cause he literally kills his brother in the movie

SECOND NOTE: pov ur me, high off like five tokes and u watch Gladiator 2 the day it comes out on Paramount+. BOOM, obsessed, love it, don't even care about the historical inaccuracies. For some reason, as someone as not all there like Caracalla is, having that deep relationship with his brother, once he notices that lil interest Geta has, or even just the doubts of others finally becoming to a point where my guy has to LOCK IN to keep his partner w him. not cause they don't love them, I think it would be cause he loves THEM too much. I'm talking bristling at the notion whenever he thinks of them together. JUST UNSPOKEN TENSION. do u guys enjoy that?

THIRD NOTE: unfortunately, i have more to talk about but no one to say it to so ur my audience. yelling into the mic i ask, do you guys think I should write porn of Caracalla and reader FUCKING?? idk if it would even include Geta- IT COULD, WHATEVER YOU GUYS WANT. I sort of just wanted to explore writing intimacy as an actual action instead described as thoughts. leave ur thoughts on what u guys think on that too bc im literally so curious.

PLEASE DON'T COPY MY WORK, I BET YOU

Summer in your lungs, and alcohol swimming in your stomach; Caracalla wonders if he's seen beauty such as yours. Never alone in the hours of the night, the lovers he takes soon notice how harder he is to satisfy, to sedate into a warm puddle wrapped in expensive sheets- instead becoming unflinching to the pleasures that usually melt his tortured mind.

Intense with his emotions, he swears this affection was there from first glance. Taken sight of you at in your hazy glory; the clothes accentuating the shade of your skin, the warmth of your eyes, it only takes months before you two wed.

From there, days are blissful. Misery always follows, but he finds with your company at his side, falling into the episodes of madness are rarer and rarer.

Perhaps it's the sweetness of your soul mending what his lacks, or having the closeness of your body distances the pestering thoughts appearing out of thin air. No matter what is it, with his claws dug into your being- he refuses to let go.

Dimmed by what other's consider insanity, it's difficult not to see Caracalla's growing lucidness. Coming face to face with it, Geta realizes any foes and enemies of Rome has never been as close as his brother has to the inner workings of his mind.

Divided by grace, the affection for you has been its limit. As the eldest, Caracalla bears the pitying glances from other's in the palace; to have the responsibilities laid on Geta is blasphemy, but who else can handle its weight when his mind is in two?

Who else to lessen its everlasting ache if not you? For that reason, such as many others, is why he cannot risk this becoming what he has grown familiar with- sharing with his brother.

Holding the same curiosity he did in the faint moments of childhood, his Adam's Apple bobs faintly- and when you look to follow its movements before returning your gaze to him: a faint shiver is felt and repressed in that same breath. "Caracalla?"

Asking in a murmur, he knows what you're referring to. Living with you these past handful of months, he can recall the number of times you've cut each conversation he's thought out into nothing more than small talk. In one worded questions, he cannot help but admire the relaxed sight of you.

So much so, he allows you to each time. Tossing the unspoken plans of connection for small talk, he nods. A hint of a smile is seen, and alone from that, you beam back at him.

Genuine like the sun, to continue seeing it, it makes it easy for him to keep spew out half thought words in hopes something he says would land. "He will arrive shortly, do not worry.", it ends with your name, echoing from his mouth, and although the God's have given him the same glory they themselves hold at their fingertips; nothing has sounded as holy.

Bounded by faith, the prayers he spills are ingrained in the folds of his brain, but once consumed in these times of power, he wonders if he should dare step closer to the soul he swears should beat for him.

"... Geta?", Unknowing for how much time has past, the beaming smile you once held is melted into a small frown. Quietly urging him to the present like he's seen you do with his brother, there's a warmth blooming in the hallow part of his chest.

Cherishing the brief concern, it only seems to remind him what Caracalla has naturally and what he takes the scraps of.

Still leaned back into the expensive marble, the wall itself is a pale enough color to forget about, instead focusing on the features he, too, fantasizes of in passing moments alone.

"Where did you go?", Too familiar with speaking to the other emperor, the question is thoughtless when spoken, yet its weight is felt nonetheless. "Nowhere. Just here.. Are you enjoying yourself?", Taking a pause, he eventually speaks again. It's done when walking to the the throne nearing Caracalla's; the one you sit in.

"Quite the spectacle.", Your eyes peer down at the sight below; bloodshed in the Colosseum's sand doesn't make your stomach twist like it once did, however when watching captured men swing weapons- and seeing another one fall, you look to him again.

Sitting at his own throne, you find his eyes already on you; a quirk upturning on his lips to show the pleased buzz your words give him. Gladiators from conquered lands, their purpose in Rome is to win their survival and amuse any passing visitors. Yet in the past year or so, since your arrival, he's found a deeper sense of pride at their display.

Growing passed the Senator's praise, passed continuing his parents past teachings, he has found serenity in the amazement you hold so clearly.

Seeing your wonder at the captured animals; their stature towering over the sand's flat ground, using its strength to trample over any competitors- he finds himself chasing the occasional bursts of attention he manages to keep with in your magenta sunlight.

Never promising loyalty to anyone; he chases it when you're unable to give it, the mess of concubines and courtesans who he cannot remember the names nor the faces of, only remembering their similarities to you- their purpose has been asked for more as of late, and neglected all the same soon after.

No matter if it was seeing a person with hair similar to yours, a familiar sounding voice, even just dressed in clothing resembling your own; they were sought out after in hopes of finding you in them.

He finds it only lasts briefly.

Of course sex is endless, at the call of his voice and at the stop of a groan; services are there to satisfy whatever craving he has. But after each round of breathlessness, he finds that hunger for what is missing growing into something insatiable.

Hours spent, feeling their bodies, picturing what your own must look like underneath the white moonlight casting into his bedchambers. Each thrust is heavy with yearning he cannot mend, moaning for warmth he cannot have; he damns Caracalla in those times for finding you first before he did.

Perhaps then would you be his spouse. To bed you the same way his brother does would be true nirvana, to hear those same whimpers he knows you're able to make, to feel you shiver and tighten around him the same way those people do; it's what he longs for.

He's certain then he'd be more than just rough, chasing whatever high is made in a blurry of orgasms- it becomes difficult to differentiate who is with him and who is imagined; not when his eyes are shut and your image is all he sees in its darkness. Tenderness is taught, and if his brother was able to learn to extend that same to you; there is no doubt he'd do the same.

"Are you enjoying it?", Turning your focus back onto Geta, his answer is a hum. The sound is husky from passing thoughts, and strain for what should be hidden; he takes a moment to gather his words.

"I always favor your company, the spectacle is merely entertainment.", Repeating what you said only minutes ago, the unexpressed emotions behind it is registered in your mind- and although brushed off originally, that denial you have becomes harder to not believe Geta's feelings becoming more noticeable in the time spent at his brother's side.

"The ambience of cheering Roman's, animals in pain, and dying men; no wonder we have such lively conversations in these times.", Another quality of yours he finds endearing is your dryness. The harshness soaked into your veins from being raised by your family has not changed you the way it has him he notices; viewing the cruelties of Rome in whatever light you could shed, he once again almost smiles, a quirk of his lips turning upwards showing.

"Complaining to the emperor for the privileges he's given you? What an ungrateful wife you are.", Breaking out into a smile, what is said is anything but malicious. Leaving Caracalla unmentioned; unsaid, his mind is soothed from its ache, mending itself when remembering it's just you and him- hidden away.

Alone in a place where he can pretend you two are more than in-laws, there's a warm stirring at the sound of your laughter. Filled with humor you express so freely, it reminds him of conversations with your father throughout the years; his stories of your youth.

Defiant in ways he wishes he'd seen, and mischievous in ways he knows you still are; the only changes is now you're not tangible. Yet, lost in affections like he never got to be as a boy, he doesn't mind who he's face to face with now. Not in the slightest.

"Forgive my insolence, emperor; I plead for it.", Clearly you speak to Caracalla too much because the shiver trailing up his spine goes directly into that heated feeling in his abdomen. Aware you're unknowing to the effect you have, it only worsens at the hint of playfulness heard.

"Oh, you're forgiven. The God's have extended their mercy onto you today, but be wry, they could change their mind.", Unwilling to give into the arousal brewing, the tension he's created in his body, he replies with a smile- one that lingers too long.

Mischief isn't needed to be noticed in the palace, not with the two emperor's having their souls intertwining themselves with your own- no longer being unheard by those around you, that streak remains. It brings an amusement greater than bloodshed to Geta, and even more so to Caracalla. Smoothness of your words he swears is coated with the sweetest of wines; it disarms what would be seen as scrutiny as nothing more than a jest.

With humor being forgotten in such trying times; outside of what the Colosseum offers, and outside of the different celebrations of another conquered land- Geta finds your spirit is lightening to what is constantly dampening in his.

Shouts of Roman's are heard, like you predicted, and another man falls. However, with neither of you truly paying attention to the sight; their deaths were not offered the same graciousness you're given so carelessly, so frivolously: and when one of the last remaining takes their bow to surrender- only then do you look away.

To see your eyes of amusement grow into something unreadable, his own smile dims into a frown.

Standing from the throne, his hands rest on the Bisellium's railing, he grips onto it tightly when seeing below. Blood stains the sand as always; the deceased laid out over it in the afternoon heat, and the two lone man kneel. Meters away from one another, your eyes flicker between them, and soon Geta speaks up again.

Mercy is yelled in the air, and when he asks you, his voice is quieter than intended, "Shall we show mercy?"

Sparking what was lost, you nod, and another smile is seen, "Mercy."

Prayers do not solve what is inevitable, he finds, not when the God's blood soars through his body. The threat of rebellion, and the stings of betrayal, that mask that hides it all becomes wavering whenever he's with you; wishing to you like he did as a child to the God's for power, to worship you in ways he only should deities- it almost feels blasphemous.

Even more so now, when you don't understand the importance behind what he says; the grace he offers, the laughs he lets slip out- it is only the beginning of what he could promise you.

FOURTH NOTE: Now that you've made it this far, I wanna like drift away from what I was writing on my old account. it was just small paragraphs, but writing on a laptop just HITS DIFFERNT- literal hours spent doing this shit. I don't rlly wanna take requests bc i feel like my time is just too hectic for that, BUT I WOULD LOVE to hear your guys thoughts!! Okay, small series on these characters- Quinn Mossbacher, Simon Kalivoda, Ethan Russell, DIMITRI KRAVIOFF, DANIEL MARKOWITZ, JASON HOCHBERG, and finally our beloved; Caracalla. bad part is I haven't most of the movies they're in, so i don't want it to be inaccurate.

FIFTH NOTE: currently i'm writing a Johnny Storm fic series inspired by the new Fantastic Four trailer (writing the third chapter of what could be a five or even eight part series if I get to understand that franchise better), an Eddie Muson fic mainly just to fuck around and post that old one I never got a chance to. also an Adrian Chase fic i found on my laptop, another one for Koby from the one piece live action (I was inspired when the show first came out), and joe goldberg

FINAL NOTE: I've wanted to get into watching Yellowjackets. LOVE THE SHOW. Another thing I wanted to ask bc when I write for women characters, i like to write them as WLW. SO would you guys like it if i also wrote for Iris (Companion), SISTER BARNES (Heretic), Jinx (Arcane), Lucy Maclean (Fallout), Rhiannon Lewis (Sweetpea)?? one day if i sell out and get a membership to Prime or those silly addons; I WILL.

#caracalla x reader #emperor caracalla x reader #geta x reader #emperor geta x reader #emperor geta fanfic #emperor caracalla fic #i hate tagging shit bc i never know what to put i just dont wanna ruin peoples scrolling w like fanfiction HA #PLS LET THIS FIND THE RIGHT PEPOPLE

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shad0wvisi0n · 2 days ago

Text

Caffeinated Monster

Summary: SV3 drinks coffee for the first time in order to stay up late for SV4 gaming night, but things take a twist when the power in the studio goes out and a monster hunts in the dark.

Tags: Flashing Art, Body Horror, fluff, angst with happy ending, hurt and comfort

AU Created by @b-r-i-n-g-x and @shygirl4991

ALL ART IS DONE BY BRINGX DO NOT REPOTS

Shout out to our other Assistants @merp0515 @anartisticalniche Last Chapter Main Fic

Liko tosses and turns, flashes of SV4 injury played in her head every time she closed her eyes. She sits up on the bed letting out a sigh as she runs her fingers through her hair, she turns to see Flor floating asleep next to her. With a small chuckle, she gets up and walks to the kitchen. She groans as she looks around noticing that she used up the last of the coffee last night, the lack of sleep is killing her motivation to continue her experiments. She leans against the counter confused, she never felt this way towards something she created so why was she so haunted. She looks at the front door then to her bedroom door before she makes up her mind, she changes into her usual outfit and checks the time. “It’s not too late, maybe i could pay a small visit and make sure that kid is taking care of his eye,” she knew with SV3 around she wouldn't have to worry about how 4 was doing yet something pulled her to them.

As she gets in her car she rehearses her greeting “Hey ran out of coffee and who needs to buy some when i got you guys!” she lets out a smile before dropping it. Leaning back on the car seat she couldn't understand why these events were bothering her so much, they were just subjects she invented. Just like how she ‘fixed’ Mr Puzzle, the boys were made to please that first project and that's all. She grabs the steering wheel and stares silently at the road ahead of her, letting out a sigh as she starts the car heading to the studio. SV3 hums letting his hair free of their constraints, he walks over to the kitchen where he hears an upset SV4 in his room. 3 giggles hearing his partner as he grabs a plate from the cabinet, looking at the assortment of snacks the man grabs a couple of SV4 favorites and places them nicely on the plate. With a hop in his step, he walks to SV4 room with the plate “Hey 4! Got you some snacks and remember not to get too into your games, last time you forgot your pain medication your powers went pretty crazy.” SV4 takes the plate with a small smile before letting out a groan “Look not my fault the boss fight was such a challenge, you know i dont back down!” SV3 shakes his as he opens the door, he turns, staring at the bandaged eye feeling a pang of guilt hit him before he leaves.

As he closes the door behind him the doorbell rings, confused as to who would be coming over so late he walks over to the front door. He opens the door then shuts it in a panic, the person on the other side of the door was Liko. 3 looked at his face and frowned, it was close to his normal time of sleeping meaning any trace of his iconic make up was gone. He bites his lips as he awkwardly opens the door hoping Liko doesn't ask about his face, after all someone as fashionable as SV3 isn't a fan of walking around certain people with a naked face. Liko gives him an annoying look “Can feel how welcomed I am, can I come in?” SV3 moves aside to let Liko in “I’m so sorry Ms. Liko, you caught me by surprise. You don't normally come at this hour.” He follows the scientist to the kitchen where he watches her search their cabinets. Liko sighs as she peeks at SV4 room “He taking care of that eye?” Hearing the question 3 turns looking at the yellow door, he smiles softly as he nods “Yeah, he has been good at that. Only thing he isn't good at is walking around without hitting himself against everything.” 3 frowns staring at the door, if he didnt get so angry and left the studio the way he did then SV4 wouldn't have gotten hurt. SV3 felt the sting of his tears wanting to escape, Liko turned and noticed 3’s face. She leans over the counter and pats his head. “We didn't know what that place had…only one who did was Mr puzzle, you could always do what SV4 does.” Liko lets out a chuckle, SV3 smiles at the woman's chuckle as he turns to her “SV4 really is angry at him…I just worry about him, I don't care so much about Mr puzzle. 4 just seems different now, I can't help blaming myself for this…”

Liko lets out a sigh as she pulls back, she doesn't need to comfort him there is no need he is just an experiment. As she continued her search in the cabinet she couldn't help herself “Look, it's only part of being alive that these things happen. Science knows that I have done a lot of stupid things out of emotions…but mistakes are what helps you grow.” She grabs a bag of coffee beans and turns to show she got her prize, SV3 eyes go wide seeing the bag of coffee. He felt his stomach flip at the site, as she put the bag on the counter “Now coffee?” SV3 felt himself break into a sweat seeing the bag, he then turned looking at the yellow door. Then turning back to Liko shaking his head in a panic, she tilts her head at his reaction “You’re not a fan of coffee?” SV3 lets out a nervous chuckle as he nods “I dont have the best history of it, I’m sorry Ms. Liko but if you're going to make a cup I should excuse myself.” She watches as he gets up and runs to his room slamming it shut, she stares at the door confused before slowly turning to the yellow door. If she wanted answers it wouldn't hurt to ask, she grabs the bag of coffee and walks to 4’s door knocking on it.

Why did she even want answers when she thinks about it, she shouldn't get herself involved in their life. They’re experiments, something to please the first project and test her knowledge. Yet here she is watching the yellow door open as she looks down at the injured man, SV4 looks annoyed before his expression changes to one of surprise “Liko?” She shows off the bag of coffee catching his attention, he looks around before stepping out of his room “Not like you to be a friendly neighbor, what do you need? More blood for a test?” Liko’s eyes go wide as she watches 4 slowly walking trying not to trip over furniture, he sits down in the kitchen staring at her “Or are we going to throw a pity party over me being a pirate, cause if that's what we are doing save it. I get enough puppy eyes from SV3 when I'm doing things outside of my room.” Liko shakes her head as she walks to the kitchen to start brewing the coffee, she grabs a green cup before facing SV4 “Nothing special today, well i guess i do have one question. I wasnt a fan of going shopping in the middle of the night so I thought I would come here for coffee, SV3 seemed panicked at the bag. Any idea why?”

SV4 sighs as he grabs a cookie from the jar in front of him, he looks at it with some excitement before taking a bite “You know how you said sugar is like a battery charge for me? Well I think I learned a few weeks ago what SV3 battery charge is…and let me tell you I lost someone important that day..” He frowns, staring at a small gravestone near his room, Liko follows his gaze and stares surprised at the spot “How did i not notice that before?” Ignoring her 4 takes another bite from his cookie “Let me tell you a story that changed us in this studio.”

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Few weeks ago SV4 smirks as he waves a ps1 controller “Alright, the only real way to welcome you newbie is the great crash challenge!” SV3 bounces in excitement as he watches 4 walk over to his set up, he takes out crash team racing from its case showing it before popping it in the system. SV3 takes his seat next to 4 as he grabs his controller, SV4 smirks as the character selection screen shows up “Now let's have a fair race, don't get too pouty when you lose to me!” SV3 smiles as he picks Coco as his character “I won't! This is just us hanging out right?” SV4 slowly nods, hiding that he was in fact picking this game to show off, as the race start 4 made sure to use every shortcut he knew to his advantage. SV3 eyes go wide in awe seeing how fast his new partner was “Wow you really know your way around the game huh!” SV4 leans back holding back his smile “Eh i know i trick or two,” it was strange to think not too long ago he felt so alone. He would play these games, study them and attempt the best time in order to do videos on them. He never noticed how he felt lonely while he wouldn't confess to it outloud, he truly needed someone he could just play games with. SV4 didn't care much for SV3, the man would talk so much about how to match yellow with green and other assortment of colors. Stuff 4 didn't care for after all why would he change out of his overalls? After a couple of rounds SV3 felt himself nodding off, he looked around the room and noticed that there wasn't a clock “Hey…SV4 what time is it?” As he selected his character 4 reached over to the bedside table, picking up his phone he causally flashes the time to SV3. Seeing the time 3 gasp “IT’S 2AM?!” it was no wonder the man felt his eyes getting heavy, he got up from the bed making SV4 frowns “Yeah so? It’s still early, plenty of more matches can happen.” SV3 notices the excitement that was on SV4 vanishes and now replaced with an annoyed frown, feeling guilty he looks at the kitchen. Slowly an idea came to him, SV4 energy boost is sweets perhaps his could be caffeine and it will help him keep his partner company.

SV3 attempts to mask his exhaustion as he points to the kitchen “Oh yeah totally…so we should make coffee,Keep spirits up!” SV4 face lights up before making a face of disgust “Coffee? Meh rather have soda but hey we all have our own preferred drinks, i'm sure that box head keeps some coffee in the cabinet.” With a nod the pair head to the kitchen, SV4 takes a seat as he watches 3 look around for a cup. SV3 was feeling strangely nervous as he grabs a yellow cup, he then goes to the top cabinet grabbing a bag of mocha coffee. As he stares at the bag his mind races, he had no idea if he would even enjoy the beverage perhaps the right path was just to go to bed. He turns to see SV4 eating pocky as he reads a game guide for a final fantasy game he is playing, remembering the face the man had was enough to give him the answer he needed. SV3 puts everything together then watches the coffee maker brew, he had to do this to bring that smile back on SV4's face. They are partners there was no way he could let 4 down, he grabs the cup of coffee and stares at it nervously. SV4 notices the silence then turns to 3, he stares at the man’s face for a moment before letting out a sigh “You don't have to drink it, not everyone can live the gamer life like i do.” SV3 lets out a soft giggle “I want to play more, plus nothing has ever gone wrong with someone drinking coffee!” with a bright smile he chugs the cup.

SV4 nods as he gets up from his seat “Let's go then,” SV3 nods following his partner to the room. He was feeling good, more alert he was confident that in a few minutes he would be wide awake, as they pick their characters SV3 giggles as the screen flickers. SV4 looks at the tv annoyed as he struggles to find the shortcuts with the flickering “The fuck is going on with my tv?” SV3 was getting more into the game as his eyes slightly glowed, the static getting worse, SV4 swears under his breath. The moment SV3 made it past the finish line the tv stopped glitching letting SV4 able to see where he was, he pouts seeing he was in fourth place “Stupid television, maybe it's time to stop given my tv is acting up.” SV3 frowns hearing the comment “What? But I drank coffee to play more!” The room lights start to flicker as the tv screen showing the game goes static, SV4 gets up looking around his room confused “SV4…we are going to play more right?” SV4 shakes his head as he stares at his tv “Don't think so, something weird is going on with the power here.” Deciding to get answers he looks annoyed at the tv knowing he will have to talk to Mr. Puzzle, SV4 lets out a long sigh as he walks to the door “Hate that i have to do this but i need to bug box head about this issue, otherwise we won't be able to game.” SV3 eye twitches as 4 leaves the room “But…we were supposed to play games together….why are you leaving me?” SV3 started to feel his body heat up as the lights in the bedroom exploded, leaving the static on the tv being the only source of light.

SV4 stops walking as the living room goes dark, he groans as he starts to walk again only to feel something squishy under his foot. He looks down squinting to see something moving on the floor “The fuck is that?” He bends down trying to get a closer look, only to see the normal studio floor. SV4 stands up pinching the bridge of his nose, he was officially losing it. SV3 leaving 4’s room frowns as he calls out to the man “SV4! I dont get why he is so upset,” he lets out a sigh as he walks following SV4. He noticed that the man in front of him seemed to be on edge, SV3 wasn't sure what was going on with his partner as he looked around. Determined to help his partner out he reaches out hoping his hand on the man’s shoulder would give comfort, he smiles brightly ready to hear what's bothering the man. SV4 hears steps behind him causing him to be alert “This is starting to feel like a cheesy horror film,” he feels a hand touch him causing SV4 to speed up on his walk. He is a TV guardian he knows better than to turn around and face whatever phantom is in the studio, SV3 blinks as he sees SV4 avoiding his touch. He growls as his eyes start to glow, the color in the room to fade, slowly being replaced by a strange black ooze leaking from the walls as SV3 anger grows.

“WHAT THE STARS!? WHY IS MY OFFICE ON FIRE!” hearing Mr Puzzle yelling, SV4 runs to the office to see Mr Puzzle's desk on fire. He sighs, closing the door and grabbing the fire extinguisher, as he extinguishes the fire from the corner of his eye he notices something green. SV4 drops the extinguisher as he approaches the green object “Thank you…wait what are you doing over here, aren't you busy with those video games?” 4 gasp as he grabs a green cloth “This looks like…SV3 sweater?” Mr. Puzzle walks up to 4 staring at the cloth confused before the lights start to flicker, remembering why he came over in the first place 4 gives an annoyed look at his boss. “Hey boxhead the power has been acting up, get shit together i have games to play!” he puts the cloth in his pocket still staring at Mr. Puzzle. The screen flickered showing confusion “The power? Given that Liko set everything up, there is no way things could be on the fritz.” SV4 sighs as he walks towards the door waving his hand to sign at the man to follow. Mr. Puzzle screen changes filled with concern as he sees the door leaking a black liquid “SV4…step away from the door.” SV4 takes a step back and looks at the door, he stares at the liquid before reaching for the door again. Mr puzzle panics reaching out to the guardian, it was too late as he watches SV4 open the door. They gasp seeing SV3 form, Mr. Puzzle shakes his head at the sight “How..did this happen?” SV4 was shocked seeing tentacles wrapping themself around SV3 arms and legs, slowly another one wrapped around his face covering his blue eye. 3's green eye glowing staring at the pair as he gives them a wide smile, the black liquid leaking from his eyes. SV4 couldn't stop staring at the as the man reached for him, the eyes on the tentacles open looking at him, 4 feels something drop on his feet and notice SV3 gloves were stained black.

Mr. Puzzle runs slamming the door on SV3, he then grabs SV4's hand, making him run to the hidden door in the office. “SV4 I need you to move and tell me what happened to SV3, there is no way Liko made a mistake creating him…right?” The door opens showing an angered expression on SV3, seeing this 4 let out an awkward laugh “heh Oh hi SV3, are you…are you in there? Remember how you said you can handle coffee?” mr. Puzzle drags SV4 as they run through the dark halfway. As they run through the hallway Mr puzzle thinks over what 4 said “You're telling me that SV3 drank coffee then turned into that?”

SV4 shrugs “Hell do i know, shit didn't start going weird till he drank coffee! If I go over what Liko told me about sugar, it's supposed to give me a boost like an energy source. We thought coffee would be the same, but I think coffee just put him into overdrive!” the pair stop running looking around. Things were quiet, making Mr. Puzzle nervous “The fact he can use this power without stars…SV3 must have come out unstable. As much as I hate to say this given I will lose a star, we might have to kill SV3 and create a new one.” SV4 eyes go wide looking at him “What?” Mr. Puzzle screen showed a serious expression, 4 pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs “Listen box head, I could care less about him you won't see me risking my life for the man.But, isn't killing jumping the gun, plus we don't know what those tentacles and weird black ooze is.”

Mr. Puzzle stares at SV4 before looking away, it was best that his star stay blind to the power in his body. Things will be less hostile knowing how SV4 can be about making content, he shivers at the thought of what the man would do with those kinds of powers. Then again as he looks at 4 he lets out a small chuckle, the man is too distracted by video games he wouldn't even bother using his power. SV4 turns, giving him a strange look “Why are you chuckling at a time like this?” with a shake of his head Mr. Puzzle stands up straight showing off the height difference between the two of them “My star, i chuckle because i'm surprised you claim not to care about SV3 yet you pick a route to save him? I do have to admit it would be a shame to go out and collect more DNA for one person.”

SV4 crosses his arm “Do you see SV3 as just some replaceable tool?”

Mr. Puzzle screen flickers with a charming smile as he pats SV4 back “Of course not! SV3 is my darling star with so much…talent to bring to the channel, don't you agree? We are all just a growing happy family!” SV4 squints at the Mr.Puzzle taking in his words, only to hear something approaching them. He swears under his breath “Shut it box head..something is coming.”

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SV3 knocks on the door letting out a sigh “I wonder why he is ignoring me, also strange to see him run to Mr. Puzzle wonder if something bad happened?” As he walks to the office he hears panic in the room, worried he slowly knocks on the door. He waits for a moment as he hears footsteps approach the door, he smiles brightly when he sees SV4 open the door. He stares at the pair and notices the fear and shock on their face, he tilts his head confused. Slowly he reaches out to SV4 “Why do you look so scared?” Before he could touch his partner the door suddenly slammed in his face. Annoyed by the rude behavior he opens the door glaring at the pair, SV4 lets an awkward laugh, catching 3’s attention “heh Oh hi SV3, are you…are you in there? Remember how you said you can handle coffee?”

He pauses confused about the comment as Mr. Puzzle drags the man away, he looks around the room then himself. The more he thought about the comment the more his head started to hurt, his vision getting blurry. He felt sick as he walked over to sit down at the desk, the energy he felt at the start was slowly fading away. After a small break he gets up determined to figure out what's going on, remembering how SV4 was still talking to him SV3 knew the only way to get answers was to get SV4 alone. He learns the same path as the others, following the hall he sees the familiar glow of Mr. Puzzle screen.

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SV4 takes out his cell phone and turns on the light, seeing this Mr. Puzzle takes the phone from his hand “What are you doing? The light from your phone will give us away.” 4 glares at the taller man jumping up to grab his phone “Your head is literally a television, if your big ass glowing head hasn't given it away why would my small phone light do it?” Mr. Puzzle’s screen flickers, showing an annoyed expression realizing that the smaller man had a point, he hands over the phone as SV4 smirks at him. With his phone back in his hand he turns only to see a tentacle reaching out to Mr. Puzzle, without thinking he shoves the man away.

SV4 wiggles as the tentacle wraps around him, SV3 tilts his head, the black tears still falling. SV4 notices 3’s mouth moving “Want…you.” SV4 stops wiggling as he stares at 3’s mouth, then he feels a hand grabbing his “SV4 hold on i have you!” he turns seeing Mr. Puzzle grabbing on to him as his other hand was pointing at SV3. Mr. Puzzle knew he didn't have enough power to stop SV3 completely, as his view turned to SV4 wrapped in the tentacles he knew he had to still try. SV3 attempts to pull 4 closer as Mr. Puzzle grip tightens “Ow! Puzzle just let me go, I'm not going to end up in two pieces thank you!” Realizing he is hurting SV4, his view swaps from 4 to 3 unsure about letting go “And if that thing hurts you?”

SV4 looks at the mutated SV3, his grin borderline psychotic and yet SV4 didn't feel he was in danger. 4 looks at Mr. Puzzle with an bored expression “Cause me and him are partners, pretty sure that link we have wont let him.” Mr. Puzzle sighs letting 4’s hand go, seeing the tentacle pull 4 into a hug, SV3 purrs in excitement as he runs off with SV4. Seeing SV3 start to run Mr. Puzzle starts to chase after “Not going to let anything ruin my plan, I won't let my best star get hurt.”

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SV3 gets excited when he gets closer to the pair, the closer he gets to the pair his head starts to pound. The pain in his head causes him to pause as the room begins to spin for him, the moment he sees SV4 in front of him 3 shakes his head and smiles “SV4! I wanted to talk to you, please I want to understand what's going on.” 3 grabs his arm hoping that the man would listen to him, SV4 lets out a sigh and starts to walk towards him. Finally the chase is over, that is until Mr. Puzzle grabs SV4. The tug made SV3 look at the man confused “SV4 hold on i have you!” the television screen showed a worried expression. He frowns as tears escape his eyes “Why…i don't understand…” To his surprise SV4 walked up to him, he gasped feeling the man hug him. With a soft giggle SV3 takes 4’s hand “Thank you for trusting me…come on let's talk.” As they walk away SV3 wipes his tears, he was so confused as to why the pair were acting so strange. Suddenly the room around SV3 twisted, worried he turned to check on SV4 only to gasp seeing SV4 eyes glowing red. His partner readies his fist and attempts to attack SV3, quickly he kicks 4’s legs making him lose balance. Once he hits the Floor SV3 gets up looking around for something to hold down SV4 “Is this why you two are acting weird? Don't worry I will figure this out, I will get Ms. Liko and everything will be okay!”

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SV4 hums as he is carried away in the tentacle wishing he had his psp to play with, suddenly he gets tossed across the room. His back hitting the table in the kitchen “Ow…the hell just happened?” SV3 lets out a chuckle as he slowly approaches him “Naughty…” 4 sits up ignoring the pain in his back. SV4 knew he had to keep alert in case the coffee made 3 do something else, seeing the slow moments made 4 smirk. The coffee is wearing off the exhaustion SV3 felt earlier in the day is starting to show, he was placing a big gamble on his theory. He watches SV3 move away for a moment, he turns his head to see 3 going into this room “What on earth is he thinking?” A few moments later SV4 sighs as SV3 ties him up “You know while I don't mind being tied up, WHY MUST YOU USE MY FAVORITE PLAYSTATION 2 CONTROLLER!”

He felt panic everytime he moved, the thought that if he did the wrong move he could damage his controller had him almost holding his breath. SV3 sits in front of him staring at him, he is able to get a better look at the form that has taken over 3. SV4 notices how the man in front of him was relaxing, a good sign it let SV4 know that his controller was safe. He needed to figure out how to save his baby before 3 snaps and breaks it, he looks at the cord feeling his heart break at the knots they were in. SV3 reaches out and starts to pet him, SV4 relaxes from the contact “Don't take this as me liking the attention, i swear if you remember things after i will deny everything in this moment.” As he relaxes from the other man's touch, SV4 thinks over the situation as he looks at the knots in front of him.

He slowly wiggles which gets SV3 to stop petting him, 4 looks up seeing if he alerted the man only to see the man falling asleep. “There you go, just let sleep take over and things will go back to normal.” Before SV3 could fall asleep Mr. Puzzle’s kick the door open holding his finger up, he glares at SV3 who wakes up growling at him as he stands “LEAVE!” SV4 could just about cry at the timing, “Don't you worry now SV4, I wouldn't let down my star after all we have a video to make tomorrow.” SV4 blinks at him before rolling his eyes “Seriously? US MAKING A VIDEO TOMORROW IS THAT IMPORTANT?!” his eyes then go wide seeing Mr. Puzzle pointing his glowing finger at his constraints “Wait dont do it, do you know how rare this controller is?” Ignoring the guardians complaints, Mr.Puzzle fires a bolt of energy at the cord of the controller. SV4 panics and attempts to throw himself out of the way, sadly the bolt was faster burning the cord off of SV4 body. 4 sits there in shock, he slowly looks down seeing the golden controller without a cord. “You're welcome!” shouted Mr.Puzzle as he kept his eyes on the growling SV3, SV4 slowly picked up the controller, a tear running down his face “I will never have something as beautiful…again” SV3 roars seeing the tear coming out of SV4 eyes, Mr. Puzzle readies himself, his hand sparking “This isn't the time SV4, the eldritch creature is about ready to attack!”

SV4 lets out a shake breath as he gets up and walks to a drawer in the kitchen, pulling out a knife he walks back to the spot where his controller is. Mr.Puzzle keeping his eyes on SV3 quickly peeks at SV4, his screen changes into an expression of shock as he sees SV4 digging into the studio floor with the knife “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” SV4 hearing the man shout just picked up the controller and showed it to him “I’m not a monster, I'm doing a grave site for my baby. SO SHOVE IT!” Mr. Puzzle could only stare at 4, baffled at what was going on. Annoyed at being ignored SV3 summons a tentacle to attack Mr.Puzzle, he smirks as he points at the tentacle blasting it exactly as he did SV4 controller. Since the gamer wasn't planning on helping him, Mr. Puzzle knew what he had to do as he readied his hand at SV3. The moment he was going to blast the creature, SV3 charges at him then collapses. Mr. Puzzle stands there confused about what happened, hearing SV3 hit floor 4 makes a comment as he digs “Caffeine crash..along with too much power must have drained him to sleep.” Mr. Puzzle lifts up the man, the eldritch traits are all gone. No black liquid or tentacles to see, there in his arms was a drained SV3, soundly asleep. “Your theory was right it seems, ahem good work SV4 i shall place him in the room.” As he carries SV3 the dark stains along with any other signs of the eldritch power 3 was throwing around is gone, the studio went back to normal beside a couple of broken furniture. SV4 gives the makeshift grave a sad smile “I will never forget you, ah the memories of fighting for you on ebay…good times.”

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SV3 frowns seeing SV4 struggle against the restraints “Sorry SV4, I hope you don't mind I used the first thing I found. I really want to go get Liko to help you but…it breaks my heart to think about leaving you alone like this.” nervously, SV3 reaches out and pets 4. Seeing SV4 glaring at him with red eyes, SV3 wondered how this happened when they were playing crash. For a moment he thought the game could be cursed, as he stares at SV4, notices a flicker of something in his eyes. SV3 started to feel his eyes go heavy, shaking his head he knew he had to stay awake if he didnt what would happen to his partner. He wasn't even sure if Mr.Puzzles wasn't acting strange also, the door to the room burst open catching 3’s attention. He gets up staring at the door, surprised. “Don't you worry now SV4, I wouldn't let down my star after all we have a video to make tomorrow.” SV3 slowly walks towards him “Mr.Puzzle im not doing anything to him, please believe me i think there is something wrong with SV4!”

Mr.Puzzles lifts up his hand firing at SV4, 3 panics as he turns towards the spot “SV4!” Once the smoke cleared up SV3 relaxed, seeing that his partner was safe. Then he noticed the constraints were now broken. “Oh no, what did you do….” SV3 was ready to face the worst, he watched ready for SV4 to attack, only 4 looked down seeing his controller broken and started to cry. Seeing that made SV3 smile slightly “He is still in there, now Mr. Puzzle, it isn't nice to just blast at people!” SV4 then gets up catching SV3 and Mr.Puzzles attention, they watch as he walks to the kitchen grabbing a knife. SV3 feels nervous seeing him with a weapon, he keeps his eyes on the man then relaxes when he sees SV4 digging a hole into the studio floor “Huh…I feel terrible that I got his controller broken, but at least some of SV4 came out for this.” Mr. Puzzle sighs then lifts his finger at SV3 catching him by surprise “W-what? Mr. Puzzle please listen to me, I didn't harm him!” As his hand starts to glow SV3 knew the only fighting chance he had was to knock him off balance, after all 3 wasn't a monster that wanted to fight his friends. SV3 charges at Mr. Puzzle hoping that he can stop the blast, only his body suddenly feels drained of energy as he slams onto the cold floor, everything going dark.

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SV3 groans as he sits up from his bed, he looks around and sees he is tucked into bed “Did I dream that up?” The door to his room opens catching his attention, he feels himself getting panicked as he sees SV4 walk in the room. SV4 looks up from his psp and looks at SV3 surprised “Hey you're not dead, someone's been sleeping for three days really like that number hm?” SV3 relaxes letting out a giggle before it clicks, he gets up startled at the comment “Asleep for three days?! How? All I remember was…” he closed his eyes thinking over everything that happened. Given SV4 is acting normal things must have gotten fixed at some point, SV4 walks up to him with his cellphone “When you grab me i didn't notice that my phone took a photo, it will be shocking to see.” SV3 tilts his head confused “Grab you?” He looks at his partner's phone and gasps, seeing himself. He felt sick seeing the tentacles around him along with the strange dark liquid that came out of his eyes and hand. “This…can't be, you agreed to walk with me and you started acting weird…right?” SV4 frowns hearing the man's panic “No SV3, you drank coffee and became this mutated creature. You went and hunted down me and box head.” SV3 sits on the bed his hand shaking as tears threaten to escape, SV4 awkwardly looks around the room unsure what to do. SV3 reaches out to hug him only to get a gentle push “I don't do hugs, but I don't blame your reaction it was pretty surprising for us to.”

SV3 moves himself in order to give himself a hug, he had memories of SV4 acting strange. He swore he never saw himself look like that with his reflections “What…did i do? Did I hurt you guys?” SV4 lets out a soft chuckle “Nope, you kidnapped me and tied me up with my controller which broke me. Ahem you also set box head office on fire. That was pretty funny, but you didn't hurt anyone, you just kept chasing us for some reason.” SV3 stays silent hearing SV4 before breaking down crying, unsure what to do SV4 awkwardly pats 3’s head. SV3 couldn't believe he hallucinated everything while he was tormenting his friends, how much of a monster is he?

SV4 sighs looking at the photo “Would it make you feel better if i tell you, this only happens after you drank coffee? I think your body isn't a fan of it and well this happens.” he stares at the photo before turning to SV3. The man kept crying into his hands showing no signs of stopping anytime soon, SV4 sighs as he scoots closer to SV3 giving his head another pat. SV3 looks up to SV4 as he wipes his tears attempting to hold back the rest of his tears, he lets out an awkward chuckle “I must look gross and weird without make up huh?” SV4 giggles and shakes his head “Nah you still look good, hell you slayed the eldritch look too.” They both laugh as they continue talking about the event and planning their rematch. -----------------------------------------------------------------------

Present day Liko stared at SV4 in shock, how could something this huge happen and no one bothered to tell her. She watches as SV4 places a small flower on the grave “I was never the same after that,” ignoring SV4 being sad at his makeshift grave Liko asks the question on her mind “Why did no one tell me about this?” SV4 steps away from the grave and pouts at Liko “Heartless of you to not show empathy over my loss, but to answer you Puzzle said not to talk about it.” Hearing this she nods chugging her coffee, after cleaning her cup she marches to the front door. SV4 slowly follows after her as he watches her reach for the door “Where is the fire?” “I need to go to my lab and see what is causing this,” she turns and smiles softly at SV4 “Thank you for this information, take care of that eye cause those bandages are coming off real soon!” With that she leaves the building, SV4 frowns as he turns, staring at 3’s door. He walks over to open the door, he hums as he enters the room closing the door behind him “SV3 i know your not sleeping, i think we have shared a bed enough times that i would know easy.” SV3 slowly gets up wiping his tears, seeing this SV4 runs over to 3’s side hugging him “Hey hey you're okay, is this because of the coffee?” SV3 wraps his arms around SV4 crying, they hold each other for a few moments before 3 pulls away “I’m scared to be that monster again, just the smell makes me worry…”

SV4 gives a soft smile to 3 “Well if it happens again i have your back, as long as we are together coffee can't turn you into a monster!” SV3 slowly smiles before patting the spot next to him “Can you stay the night?” 4 nods as he gets up from the bed, he looks at the time and lets out a dramatic sigh “Gee i guess i could clear my busy gaming time for you,” SV3 chuckles as he watches 4 head out of the room “Hey 4…how did you know I needed you?” SV4 stops walking as places his hand to his chest “I just had a feeling, after all Liko mentioned you freaked out seeing coffee. What kind of partner would I be if I didn't come over? Now let me grab a ds and we can play some games till we sleep.” SV3 blushes as he watches 4 leave the room, he touches his face “oh gosh why did my face get so warm again…” he flops on the bed then looks at the spot next to him with a soft smile “I hope this cold doesn't stop SV4 from sleeping over…”

#smg4 #shygirl4991 #b r i n g x #smg4 au #mr puzzles #shadow vision #lizaluv #sv ask #projectsv #sv4

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thewadapan · 1 day ago

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School Days review

Yeah, School Days is actually pretty good after all.

When you google "School Days", on the first page of results there's a reddit thread asking "hey, why do people hate this show?" OP gives a succinct summary of the show's themes and praises it for its tight focus and psychological depth.

The comments in that thread are fucking crazy. The top-voted comment includes this absolute gem: "Sekai is an emotionally manipulative bitch". Some users gesture towards a faint understanding that School Days is a deconstruction of harem anime, but almost to a one they claim the character writing is unrealistic. Nobody seems able to look past the show's metatextual meaning to just look at it on a straightup subtextual level—that is to say, it's not just being different to other anime for the sake of contrarianism, it's making a serious point about misogyny and toxic masculinity. Describing Makoto as a "character" at all is almost missing the point; he's practically a force of nature, and the vast majority of the show is concerned with the psychological manoeuvring of the girls in his class trying to manage and shape his behaviour.

I only know about School Days because @weaselandfriends is constantly banging a drum about it being a secret masterpiece. Gee, I wonder who the OP of that thread was! Cannot imagine being on a "School Days slaps" grindset for eight fucking years now.

(CW: discussion of underage sex, full spoilers follow)

I'm going to take a cowardly centrist route and say that School Days does in fact slap on a conceptual level, but that the execution in many places leaves a bit to be desired. It often feels repetitive. I watched the thing on 1.5x speed because, as someone who reads fast, watching subbed anime is like watching paint dry. The dialogue often feels awkward (unintentionally so, as in), which I'm willing to partially chalk up to the translation; maybe some of the clunkier lines feel more natural in the original Japanese. The imagery is often kind of laughably blunt: in some cases it works, like Kotonoha's red yarn like she's pulling her own fucking arteries out of her body, and in other cases it feels derivative and hackneyed, like the whistling kettle in the final episode. Maybe that was more original in 2007, I don't know—I would've seen the same thing in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire two years prior.

School Days does set out to pull the wool over the eyes of its presumably-mostly-young-men audience, by putting them in Makoto's POV. The show is adapted from an eroge, where the player literally would have inhabited Makoto and made his choices for him, and the "objective" of the game would have been to unlock sex scenes with all the schoolgirls. The trick with the anime is that it removes the possibility of choice, creating an impactful dissonance as Makoto's actions become increasingly alien and harmful. Inversely, as Makoto's sexual exploits escalate, we see less and less of them; by the end, the whole thing is routine, not eroticised in the slightest, we see people putting clothes on afterwards, sneaking around darkened rooms.

At the start, though, it's all panty shots and boobs. And like, how do you depict the objectification of women, from an internal perspective, without just... objectifying women? This has basically always been the classic problem with satire. If there is a way of doing it, School Days hasn't figured it out, so it just rolls up its sleeves and gets on with it. Where School Days stumbles, in my opinion, is that the fanservice shots leak out of Makoto's POV and into the scenes where it's just the girls on their own. Nevertheless, I think that even pretty early on School Days is unmistakably saying, "this is a bad thing". There's a discordant note to everything, a threat of another shoe waiting to drop. At the start, it takes the form of these innocuous remarks as the characters try to interact in good faith: Sekai is constantly like, "There's nothing wrong with feeling attracted to a girl! But maybe she doesn't feel comfortable with it! Have you thought about how she might feel?"

That's the great tension of Sekai, and indeed of much of the show's conflict: there is a world where Makoto and Sekai are just friends, and where Makoto is faithful to Kotonoha, and everyone lives happily ever after. Maybe Sekai really is earnestly trying to cross this gulf between genders, and wants to just make Makoto understand, so everyone can be happy. But from the start, there's a question of Sekai's motives; embodied by Sekai's friend Setsuna, who trails after her constantly asking, "But do you like him really?"

Setsuna is an interesting character with her own motives. There's a reading where she has a crush on Sekai, but can't pursue it because of her family's impending emigration; she ends up hanging around Makoto and desperately attempting to protect him from the consequences of his actions to preserve his relationship with Sekai, expressly stating that she wants Makoto to be a proxy for her after she's gone (though leaving any romantic feelings unspoken, that's just my interpretation). This escalates to the point of her having sex with Makoto on the condition that he breaks off another engagement with Otome, which is such a self-defeatingly doomed gambit that it becomes tragically clear Setsuna has lost all control over the situation. I got the impression that Setsuna somewhat envied the other girls' entanglements with Makoto: the bit where she kisses him while he's asleep, in an attempt to create a personal memory before she leaves forever, is haunting. Like Sekai, Setsuna ends up manufacturing a romance between herself and Makoto as a way to be with him "by proxy", without earnestly confronting her own feelings.

Anyway, my point is that early on, everyone is treating Makoto like a person, which is sort of their mistake. They're like, oh, a boy with a crush, how cute! What's the worst that could come of this? He's a bit clumsy, but I'm sure he means well! And progressively, mercilessly, the show is like: no, he does not mean well. This dude has absolutely nothing in his life except sex. Girls only exist to him as people to have sex with. Guys practically don't exist, as he can't have sex with them. And for these teenagers who are discovering their sexuality, the very fact that Makoto soon starts having these rumours circulating around him is what gives him some allure: he's a sexual entity, he can be thought of in that way, there must be some reason all these girls are acting so crazy over him. Even a character like Hikari, who early on was crushing heavily on the anime's one (1) other male character, Taisuke, ends up taking her turn with Makoto; whatever feelings she had for Taisuke are forgotten, the anime doesn't even bother establishing how that romance works, because it doesn't need to, we've already seen Makoto use his exact same wiles on like three girls already.

School Days has aged well not just because the years since have yielded a better cultural understanding of its subject matter, but for its "production design": what would have been a timely present-day setting at the point of its release ends up turning the whole thing into an early-2000s period-piece. The fashion and environments are distinctly noughties. Perhaps the most consistent bit of visual symbolism in the whole thing is the flip-phone: whenever a character is holding their phone, you can think of them holding their heart in their hands. They're like the fucking soul gems from Madoka Magica. Sometimes, people leave their hearts in the other room, or block each others' hearts, or search their hearts for good memories. The "cell phone charm" from the first episode is brought up towards the very end, seeming bitterly quaint in retrospect. Right before she kills him, Sekai sends Makoto a text which just reads "sorry" copied and pasted hundreds of times. And of course, the ED shows a propped-open cellphone with a slideshow of photos of the girls.

I think in terms of its place in history, School Days speaks to this information age where young girls are being bombarded with cultural messaging that the best way to get ahead is to sexualise oneself while simultaneously slamming everyone else for their sexuality. Girls aren't just competing with one another for the attention of boys; now, they're competing with online pornography. Sekai works as a waitress at a maid cafe (?), and sometimes wears the outfit for Makoto when they have sex. During the School Festival, the girls theme their class as a maid cafe (drawing on Sekai's experience, I think?), and are shown using "absolute territory" as a last-ditch resort to steal people from the other classes. As part of the festival, they have a secluded area curtained off with a bed, encouraging couples to go there for sex acts—but later, it turns out some of the girls have set up a camcorder, and they use the footage to reveal how everyone is cheating on everyone else. While the exact events are obviously taken to an extreme, subtextually everything in School Days tracks 100% with my own experience growing up in a Bri'ish high school, and it feels like things have only gotten worse since social media really tightened its grip on our society.

The most common talking point I see regarding this show is that the characters are "stupid". And it's like, no, they're not stupid, what planet are you on, they're fucking children! (They're children, fucking!) Most of them have probably never been in a relationship before! Everyone in the show is pursuing their own interests; it's just that often, they're in denial about the reality of the situation, because to acknowledge the reality would run against those interests. It's funny, Makoto hardly changes his behaviour throughout the whole show—it just becomes more extreme—but the only thing that affects whether or not his behaviour with Sekai is good or not is whether or not Kotonoha is his girlfriend. The use of "girlfriend" as a role is weaponised by both Kotonoha and Sekai against the other constantly; like declaring "you're It!" At once point while cooking for the school festival, Makoto starts groping Sekai's ass, and she goes, "Geez, stop it! Stop it I said! What'll you do if someone sees us?", only for Makoto to reply, "Then it's okay if no-one sees us?"; this motif of a private sin recurs with Setsuna's character, particularly in the masked play that crops up a couple of times. In what context is an act of desire okay, or not okay?

Halfway through the show, I remembered Emily is Away, a short Western indie visual novel. Released in 2015, Emily is Away is very consciously an early-2000s period piece, wearing the whole time period as an affectation. The whole game is a series of text conversations on an IM client with a girl; after key choices, you are told "emily will remember that".

I fucking hated Emily is Away when I played it. It made me so, so cross. Because after I finished my first playthrough, and got a miserable, unsatisfying end, I naturally started the whole thing over and tried again. I picked different favourite bands. I acted completely differently. And yet, no matter what I picked, during the timeskips between sections, my viewpoint character would do the exact same shit and the relationship fell apart in exactly the same way. The second playthrough was a complete waste of time. It seemed like I, the player, was being railroaded, that the writer simply hadn't the imagination to conceive of a truly interactive narrative with a wildly diverging chain of events.

But of course, that's the whole point, obviously. Emily is Away plays a mean trick on the player, where it outright lies that "you" are making meaningful choices, when in fact "you" are merely spectating the actions of the viewpoint character, a specific guy who is, by nature, a certain way. It posits that all this shit on the computer just doesn't fucking matter, it has nothing to do with how we feel about each other, that it's only our actions in the real world that matter. The thesis of Emily is Away is that sometimes, for some immutable reason, shit just doesn't work out between two people, and there's nothing you could have done differently that would have changed that.

In the timeline where you go the party, you regret going to the party. In the timeline where you don't go, you regret not going. So, the game says, what's the point in regretting at all?

I totally understood this, after finishing the game. But, fuck, I was still pissed about it. The game lied to my face. It put me in the position of being a shitty person, and I didn't like that. It left a bad taste in my mouth. I'm still not sure if Emily is Away is actually any good; I think I like it conceptually, but maybe the writing sucks, I played it eight years ago. My point is that I think School Days is trying to pull the same trick as this one game, but in a much more mean-spirited way, to much more devastating effect, and I suppose I can't be too surprised that it pissed off a lot of people. If I hadn't known upfront what to expect- well, I wouldn't be watching ecchi anime in the first place, but you get the point, maybe I would've been pissed too.

If you break out of the "anime" mindset for even a second, and allow yourself to think that what you're watching is a frank portrayal of events, rather than some hyperreal cartoon, then Makoto is obviously just a little sexual predator. He's constantly pushing the girls past their limits, groping tits, going in for kisses, often against their express wishes. He initiates all the sex we see, and while in a certain sense it's all consensual, everyone involved is under the age of consent, and the show is making a very strong case for why underaged sex is a problem. When Sekai gets pregnant, Makoto wants nothing to do with her—"It's not my fault!"—but it's made clear he wasn't using any contraception, so, c'mon.

School Days is very deliberate in omitting adult characters entirely. Teachers mostly exist in the form of textbooks being read offscreen. I think we get a line of dialogue from Sekai's mom, if I remember right? It presents this world where Makoto basically has free reign to do whatever he wants to the girls, and everybody knows about it, but nobody is doing anything about it. When Sekai murders Makoto, there isn't a scene where anyone notices his absence, finds out. Kotonoha carries his severed head across town without anyone noticing, kills Sekai, and makes it onto the boat without getting caught. The show ends on a montage of idyllic school scenes, as if to say, "nobody noticed, everything just carried on". And again, to a certain kind of guy, I think this would stretch plausibility to the point of causing offence. For me, I think it's speaking to something very real.

Makoto's bedroom is barren except for his computer and magazines: porn, and porn. In the back half of the show, the void left by the absence of adults is filled by Makoto, Sekai, and Kotonoha, who are thrust into this horrible domestic drama, as everyone else in their class blocks Makoto. Makoto relays Kotonoha's recommendation for an abortion clinic to Sekai. He and Sekai sit diagonally across a table in a living room, and suddenly Makoto's school uniform looks like a salaryman's suit, a size too big for him, like he's walking around in his dad's clothes. Sekai tries to prepare a big meal for him, in a fucked-up parody of domesticity, but ends up destroying the whole thing after Makoto spits in her face yet again; later, she sees the remnants in the trash, an uneaten chicken leg poking out, and sees a little of herself in there, and that's basically when she decides to take the knife and kill Makoto. She stabs him in the belly, which is what Kotonoha will later do to her; both are imitating the original sin of the pregnancy.

Kotonoha explicitly chooses to kill Sekai this way because she believes Sekai is lying about the pregnancy—which we can pretty safely say isn't true, based on the scenes where Sekai is on her own. There's this horrible, horrible shot where the camera is looking out at Kotonoha from inside the gut wound, and she observes, "Just as I thought. There's no-one in there." And it's like, is she talking about this baby, still so early in the gestation that it's scarcely even an idea? Is she talking about Sekai, or Makoto, these two people who turned out not to care about her at all? Or is she peering straight through the screen at the viewer, complicit in this atrocity? The shot mirrors the bag containing Makoto's head earlier in the same scene; when Sekai unzips it, the inside is just a black void, and we aren't shown the contents. It's honestly more unsettling to infer it—that bag's not big enough for all of Makoto—and have it "made real" by that final shot of Kotonoha pressing the severed head into her chest on the boat. The memes were more right than they knew: "Nice boat."

Overall, I think School Days extends a lot of empathy towards its female characters. Or, if nothing else, it takes care to give them complex and distinctive internality, which is more than I can say for a lot of anime. Kotonoha initially represses her feelings for Makoto, and then when she feels pressured into reciprocating his intimacy, she soon gets turned into a social pariah for it. Early on, there's this eye-roll-inducing scene where Kotonoha is like "the other girls used to make fun of me because of my huge boobs", and from Makoto's perspective it's like "great, you've got huge boobs!", but then from Kotonoha's perspective, she spends the whole show getting slut-shamed, doesn't she? As a coping mechanism, she builds up elaborate delusions around Makoto—Makoto wouldn't let this happen to her, would he!?—which make it impossible for her to see how he's harming Sekai at the same time, culminating in the "I think you've made up your pregnancy for attention" beat. Their own internalised misogyny prevents the girls from identifying their common enemy.

If I'm being totally blunt, I feel like I can pretty safely put most of the comments regarding School Days I've seen online into a big bucket labelled "HAS NEVER HAD MORE THAN ONE GIRL INTERESTED IN HIM AT ONCE". Like, "I can't believe this Makoto guy! Why doesn't he just dump Kotonoha and date Sekai, who he's obviously more compatible with?" Bucket. "Makoto is so spineless and needs to stop letting these girls manipulate him!" Bucket. "There's no way the teachers would let him get away with this!" Bucket. "What do these girls see in Makoto anyway?" Bucket. "Sekai is such a bitch!" A new, bigger bucket labelled "NO BITCHES".

What I'm interested in is takes from School Days haters who aren't brainpoisoned anime fans, who might even nod along to all my analysis of the show's themes here, but who nevertheless think it's a bad show that deserves to be reviled. What part didn't you like? Is it the part in the OP where you see every female character naked one after the other? Yeah that part's pretty bad. Is it that windowpane-shattering digital transition that gets used once or twice? Is it the utter self-seriousness with which it tackles its ludicrous melodrama? I can see how, if you don't let yourself start to think "oh, those poor girls!", if you don't have that emotional buy-in, the whole thing might just feel comically edgy, sophomoric. I don't think there's any level on which School Days is fun to watch, and I'm not saying it's a secret masterpiece either, but I guess it more-or-less landed for me.

#school days #anime #anime review

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prettealolilol · 2 days ago

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So Tim starts stalking Batman and Robin and photographing them when he's like nine. Imagine little Timmy, looking at those pictures, amazed by his two favourite superhero, thinking that if anyone took pictures like this of his family, he''d love to have them because there's like one family picture and it's scary. So he decides to send them to the Wayne Manor, since the bats deserve to know how good they look and how awesome they are, and because it's always nice to have printed memories over the years. And maybe he also does it because he craves being aknowledge, and even if they don't know it's him, he'd like for the bats to appreciate his talent.

So little very smart Timmy, makes copy of the pictures and put them in an enveloppe, carefully not leaving any finger prints or proves (because if they find out it's him they'll tell his parents and he can't have anyone take this away), waits for the factor to pass by Drake Manor, silently drops the enveloppe in the man's bag while he's distracted, and watches the man go away toward Wayne Manor where the eneveloppe will be sent. There's nothing on the enveloppe except for Wayne Manor and nothing inside except for the pictures.

Naturally this break havoc in the batfamily because there's someone following them close enough to get those shots and knows their adress so their identity ?!? They wait for the other shoe to drop, for blackmail, ransom, but nothing come excepts for amazing clear shots every sunday that clearly shows admiration and worship. They look for this stalker during patrol, but since they can't catch him and nothing happens, Bruce put it at the back of his mind.

As the years go on, the pictures keep coming, always updated to the latest addition of the vigilantes family, although less often, maybe every two weeks/once per month. There're less pictures in the enveloppes after Tim joins, nothing too noticable, since Tim is not around as much (between patrol, college/WE, Teen Titan, not living at the manor...). He probably stops taking pictures around the time Damian arrives and the time stream happens, and since the enveloppe have been coming less and less, no one really notices.

A few years later, Duke moves in and decides to discover the manor. He ends up finding a box with the pictures and asks the others. Damian is as confused as him.

Two options from here, either Tim is exhausted (had been awake for 4 days, running on caffeine) when Duke asks; so he lets it slip it's him and chaos ensues, someone does the maths and Omg how old were you when you started ?? Then Stephanie asks him to take more, and Damian is like how preposterous there is non of the current Robin, when he just want to be included in the photos. Tim takes the cue and starts photographing them again, and realises how much he missed this.

Second option, Tim decides to mess with them and uses the opportunity as a stealth training, by following them and sending the pictures again. It's more difficult since he is busy. He has the hardest tim with Duke, because he patrols during the day and his powers don't help. It takes months for the batfam to realise it was him all this time.

#and jason realises tim worshiped him when he was robin #he almost cry because the photos as magic #cass already knew although she wasn't sure what he was doing exactly #bruce decided to intensify everyone's awareness training #including his #batfam #tim drake #batman #batfamily #batkids #batboys

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enodia-polymorphous · 23 hours ago

Text

DIRT PATHS, CREEKS, AND CROSSROADS A crossroads reflection following a visit to a local reserve's creek.

Beyond the backyard of my partner's house, it's possible to move from one world to another.

Where one is white and grey townhouses built in an estate, fit for modern domestic architecture, the other is just down a set of wooden staircases, mismatched in shape and height, approaching a natural world that sings with the water-flow of a nearby creek.

A nature reserve — somehow more accessible now due to the residences built in this area, that came with infrastructure such as staircases and pathways — and it's so much more vast than what you'd imagine just by looking out the window.

I take the stairs down, and I walk the white, measured concrete paths. I take a turn towards a barbeque and seating area, and then I'm met with a crossroads. I could continue along the concrete, or I can choose the path drawn in dirt.

I take the dirt path.

Crossroads exist pretty much everywhere. Spiritually, mentally, and physically. Though, I think my very favourite to look for are dirt crossroads. Ones spotted in the absence of the green grass that surrounds them, or those recognised as desire paths. They are created from use, from preference, for purpose.

There is safety in walking a dirt path many-times-walked. They tell us: "Someone has walked here before, now you do. In the future, yet another will walk the path, and perhaps one day it will be you again."

Whether from my love of crossroads or by the influence of my goddess, I always feel this sparkle of happiness when I approach a nature-based crossroads. I praise Hekate in this sacred domain.

What I love about this path to the side of the concrete is how it leads to a beautiful creek. It takes about forty minutes to an hour to make the entire journey around the reserve, and you can see the river that the creek runs into most of the trip.

Creeks and rivers are considered liminal places. They are also crossroads, even if they don't appear as the usual T or Y shaped road.

When you approach a creek, you have a choice. You can go over the creek at that moment, you can walk along the stream and find another way, or you could turn around. It is a place of transition, and more.

This creek in particular has a bridge from one side to the other formed by large boulders. They're easier or harder to climb across depending on how high the water is. When I visited this time, the water was lower than usual, easing my anxieties of crossing.

Balance and being confident on my feet, especially in situations where I can "fall off", is something I'm working on. I get to just before halfway across the rocks before stopping. It's better than other times.

As I stood there, overlooking both sides of this river, I noticed how still the water was in the distance. It hardly looked like it was moving. But when I looked down, to the water rushing between the rocks, it was a completely different scene, which came with an understanding.

Being in this space and honouring Hekate, I thought about the Six of Swords. There are many ways to interpret tarot cards, though some of the ways I see the Six of Swords includes:

Moving into calmer water, or into turbulent water. It can go either way.

A transition.

A rite of passage.

A requirement to take what's most important while leaving the rest, and moving on.

And...

How the water may seem still at times. How we look out into the distance and grumble about things not happening, things not changing. We want things to happen, good things! And we get frustrated. We lose patience.

Until the next moment when the seemingly slow water breaks into tens of rushing streams, making their way through river grass and over rocks, reaching the other side of the bridge and then we see it.

Our progress, how everything has come together, how being still and contemplative at these crossroads have allowed for life and our path to move with us and around us.

We don't realise just how far we've come until the rushing water has become still again in the distance.

Hear me, Hekate! Goddess of liminality, of transitions, and of the crossroads. I praise you for the beautiful natural dirt crossroads that I come across and acknowledge in your name. I honour you with libations poured where three paths meet. Please sit with us when the water is still, and remain with us when we finally realise how fast things are moving. Khaire, Hekate.

divider credit -> @enchanthings-a

#✶ — › crossroad reflections #hekate #hellenic polytheism #hellenic pagan #hellenic deities #hellenic worship #paganism

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nightscythe · 15 hours ago

Text

dark sides of the primarchs' relationships

some of these are very dark (esp lorgar, angron, ferrus I guess) but I wanted to represent some of the less enjoyable themes in their relationships. some are kind of obvious, but I wanted to expand a little. again, it's how I write them, so you may not necessarily agree!!

18+ below the cut pls, it's sfw but some themes of death, obsession, etc, mostly pre-heresy

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the lion: struggles to interpret his feelings and often mistakes them as needs - namely, sexual need, but really any physical need. the heavy feeling in his heart because he hasn't seen you for weeks? must be because he had become used to your presence and his body must adapt to being without you. the burning in his chest when someone else dares to speak to you with a more suggestive tone? well, its not jealousy, it is his body telling him he needs you. overtime this would start to go, he would learn to interpret feelings in a more emotional way, but realistically he would need to care enough to want to try in the first place. he would always struggle though, turning every single one of his feelings about love into his duty. you're his responsibility, everyone else is a threat.

fulgrim: whilst it is obvious that his desire for perfection may have an impact on you, it has an equal burden on him. he always doubts himself, always taking a pessimistic view of both himself as a lover and to relationships as a whole. and your reassurance may never be enough, even if you do mean it and he seeks it out. he will always make each gift, each speech, each act of love bigger to meet his own desire to be better. and really? it can become more exhausting than anything. especially if he is always trying to prove himself and it sometimes starts to feel artificial. there would be a breaking point though where he finally realises to you, he is perfect, and there is nothing else he needs to do. but there is always that little, teeny doubt.

perty: trust issues will get to him more than anything. he'd need someone who has so much patience that it wears you down, but ultimately it would be worth it. the worst part is that he wouldn't often share how he feels, he keeps it to himself and sits brewing thoughts in his own head that you may just be like everyone else and not truly care. he'd keep it from you, never uttering a word, silently letting it all fester until it gets too much. and breaking down that wall he builds from his own thoughts would take a lot of time, a lot of effort, and a lot of letting him work things out on his own. that's probably the biggest issue - he has a lot of time, something you may not as easily afford.

the khan: his idea of love is different. in a good way, maybe, but different to others. love for him is choice, and he will not restrict you to it. if you want to leave him, then go. if you want to spend a day without him, then do so. he'd really need someone who can deal with his laid back approach (or more so, his promotion of freedom above all other things) to love. that can be tough. his free spirit may just be too free to some people, and that's just what life is like. don't expect reassurance or speeches of his feelings, they are not happening. he's quick to make his decisions, his conclusions, and he's quick to temper. in the right conditions, this can make a storm. if anything ever goes bad.. good luck.

leman: it flips with him, very sudden, very easily. one day he's so enamoured, so utterly floored by everything you do that he's got massive heart eyes and following you around like a puppy. other times he's in his own world, following his own free spirit, that it can make you feel neglected. all of this just ends up causing more and more anxiety, unknowingly to him, and obviously to you. its all unintentional of course, he loves you so deeply. and his love itself? it's raw. he's so set on being stoic and strong but he is fragile too. he fears the worst, his emotions are never waste. everything he feels he shows directly to you. that can be overwhelming; all of this is overwhelming. especially when you could wake up one day and he's gone to do something without any warning, not evening thinking that you notice.

dorn: he's cold. he's so cold that it burns. or... is that the raging fire inside just reaching through the cracks? words mean nothing to him, and it can be difficult to truly know where you stand. he would never say he loves you, he would make you feel like he didn't ever need you, but should you ever leave? he'd tear the imperium down brick by brick until he had you back with him. it's unknowing to him. a duty. an unspoken loyalty. he doesn't believe in anything being temporary, so you're with him for life now. even if he never says it. and its the fact it's just actions, ones which may not mean anything to you, that makes it so hard. the door he gifted you with a heavy duty lock may be strange to you, but you did tell him you were worried about someone breaking in...

curze: does not feel he can be loved. he thinks he deserves it, but he never thinks anyone would dare. he thinks any affection shown to his is out of selfish fear and the second an opportunity presents itself, that love and affection would be gone. so he worries. he worries you are just like everyone else. makes assumptions, accusations, tells you that he thinks you're lying. probably because in the past he felt he should be loved and forced it out of people. he never once stops to think that maybe you lay beside him, you hold his hand, you take care of him, because you want to. it doesn't make sense to him, not without proof, or time, or anything to support your case. he'd get it eventually, he'd stop spending nights awake convinced you'll leave him when you sleep peacefully beside him with no intention of going.

sanguinius: his foresight is a burden, knowing what will happen to him means his guards are up. he would always be devoted, and he would carry the burden of fate to know he had shown you love in a way that mattered. but the sleepless nights would come, knowing the heartbreak would follow. especially at first, he'd try so hard, he'd want to protect others, you, from the fallout of fate. he'd never wanted you to see him in a way as more than a guardian, protector even, but it was inevitable. especially being who he is. and he would keep it to himself, and it would eat him up inside. he'd want to give you an easier way out, a ending where his death was the lesser of two evils, but he could never bring himself to leave. not before fate forced his hand.

ferrus: he has to make you better. you though fulgrim was obsessed with perfection? imagine that, but reversed, and intensified by a thousand. ferrus can make you better. he can make you stronger, he can make you everything you ever wanted. and over time, as he improves you, makes you need to know that he's impressed with you, it changes you. he's unrelenting. and it's not that he doesn't love you. oh, he loves you so so much. but there's a part of him that thinks his encouragement, his desire for your perfection, it helps you. together you can be the perfect couple, but not because of beauty or looks. then it feels like you're a project to him, little more than a toy for him to work on each and every day. and he'd let you go. he'd give you the choice, be free of him, but you'd hesitate. could you ever really be without him again?

angron: he only knows war. pain. death. love is so... small to him. he doesn't understand how to be gentle, how to replicate the love some of his brothers will. but he doesn't want to hurt you, either. and it shows. he will not hurt you, he will not make you feel pain, but he would die for you. and would you die for him? well. if you wouldn't, he would make you. love for him is a reflection of the strongest emotions he feels. the words he associates with it are different. violence. he'd kill anyone who stood between you. desperation. it's a feeling he can't describe as anything other than need. consuming. it grinds on him, wears him down, until he treats it the exact same way as everything else he feels. you're his, and you will become a part of him, whether you want to or not.

rob: it should be easy to him, but its not, and that makes him feel worse. he's not stupid, he can process love and emotion. yet... why does it feel so hard? he always feels like he is doing something wrong, always expression too little in case he reveals too much, whilst always trying to make up for something he fumbled already. its a vicious cycle. the reality of the situation is he's torn in every direction, he's needed by so many people, that he doesn't have time for love. yet he would fight to the very end of time to show it to you. and it exhausts him to no end. he'd just need a little patience, he'd very much enjoy if instead of something require brain or body power, he could just rest with you in his arms, enjoy the peace, but when that's every single evening, it could become a little hard

morty: he carries around a lot of anger and it's not always easy to hide. like a bitter old woman who sneers at kids for stepping on her lawn, but deep down she has a heart bigger than anyone - she just doesn't like it when he things are messed up. probably a bad analogy. the smallest things annoy him and he's got a quick temper. he constantly has to remind himself to check his own feelings, assess if he's reacting appropriately, then actually respond. so sometimes, it can feel artificial, like it's a brave face he puts on, and eventually you'll just want to know the real him. and you can, but it may not be as easily heard or understood. with time he would get better, he'd balance his emotions with your help, but until then it may never feel 100% real.

magnus: the poor guy, he just doesn't think (how obvious, I know). his actions are well intended but the way he comes across is a mixed bag. you're proud of something you've done or learned and in the spirit of sharing your achievement he does it in one try... or he tells you a more advance version of a spell with the intention of helping you but... it just comes across as him belittling you. like you were never good enough for him, that he is so so much better than you and his standard is so far above you. in reality, he's just happy, he's sharing those things because he thinks it will help you. he's worried that he's not good enough for you. he feels like he has to prove himself, to show you just everything he's capable of, elevate the two of you, together. aww :(

horus: he knows about his charisma. like a beacon that sits on his head and forces everyone to like him. and that makes him question the reality of everyone around him. are you nice to him because he's Horus, or because you want to be nice to him? are you kissing him because he's Horus, or because you want to kiss him? it's a guessing game that he is losing. he truly believes that those closest to him do not care, and overtime he has developed trust issues beyond saving. he'd never show it though, but inside everything can feel like a lie. he'd have a way to work it out though - he's not stupid - but his way is long and extended, tests and games which may not be appreciated, and it may feel like you need to prove to him why you care about him. was your love not enough? it was. but he just needed to know it wasn't manufactured by that damn beacon.

lorgar: love... its something different for him. it's not love. it's reverence. you become everything to him, his faith, his truth, his gospel. you become divine to him in every way, perfection incarnate, holy as the gods around him. and for that reason, it is all written in fate for him. you are meant to be with him, you are meant to stand by his side. he would build temples in your name, he would burn planets to the ground if it meant you were happy. he would destroy worlds to bring you what you wanted. but, if you are unhappy with that? if you do not accept his love and devotion? that's heresy. that's denying the truth. and escaping him, it can only come through death. his one is quite dark, i'm very sorry about that. unless you like it, then happy to help.

vulkan: he wouldn't have many faults, aside from obvious primarch things, but I think he's full of worry. not insecurity, but concern, always worried about you, always thinking he may hurt you, worried that the feats he puts himself through may have an unnecessary effect on you. he knows that he puts himself in danger but he can't stop himself, he know your concern that maybe just one time, he won't come back - but he will still test the limits anyway. he'd never show you every part of him, afraid it may just be too much for you, and though he's never hiding anything sinister, he'd always be hiding something. and you know it. and he'd smile, assuring you its nothing. it's literally just something like he's never tried kissing you in a certain way in case he hurts you. or he was wounded fatally again but he's okay. probably better if he just tells you... but secrets in the name of happiness, I guess.

corax: sometimes he goes, for days. for weeks, months even. some may even question whether you've just made it up in your own head. it's not that he doesn't care, or he doesn't love you, but... he got lost in his own head. what he needed to do. and it doesn't help that when you are together, he's cold, he's reserved, and its like you've never even met before sometimes. he can handle all of this, he's secure in his feelings and is loyal to you beyond anyone else, but can you? it's not that he would abandon you, or betray you, but when you've waited for him to come him for months and there's still no sign of him, your thoughts may start to go somewhere less pleasant. you can ask him to stop, but it's never permanent, even when he's fully opened to you emotionally - he'd unintentionally fill you with doubt.

alpharius: oh its a bit of a mindfuck. one loves you, one doesn't. one whispers sweetly in your ear, one just whispers. one touches your shoulder and catches the tips of his fingers on the curve of your neck, the other one just touches your shoulder. it's little things. barely noticeable at first. something the everyday person would have just shrugged off. but after time, you do notice. that's not Alpharius. and it makes you mad. to think he sent someone else in his place? he had to, and you'd never understand, but he hates it as much as you. do you know how badly he wants it to be him that is with you each day? how insulting it is to know that he was sharing you? it drives him to the brink of insanity. it's truly the worst feeling in the world. but there's nothing you can do about it, and you'll have to live with knowing that maybe the man next to you isn't the alpharius you love.

˗ˏˋ 𓅰 ˎˊ˗

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yanderes-galore · 16 hours ago

Note

3/13

Micah bell with the prompts V-2, O-2 by writeformesinpie

-🧨

Bro's mad that watching you sleep isn't considered 'romantic' 💀. I'm so sorry the plot near the end got rushed. Been an anxious week so I have been struggling to write. Still trying though.

Prompts Here

Yandere! Micah Bell Prompts V-2 + O-2

"I like you best when you’re sleeping."

"So it's a little crush when you fawn over him but it's an obsession when I pay attention to you?"

Pairing: Romantic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Manipulation, Stalking, Harassment/Assault, Jealousy, Micah mentions he watches you while you sleep, Micah's a creep obviously, Violence, Threats, Attempted forced 'relationship' implied.

You didn't trust Micah. While Dutch always told you that Micah is valuable to the gang, you never believed it. Micah's a creep, always has been far as you're concerned.

Micah always made it a goal to pester any member who would listen. Hell, even if they didn't listen. You just happened to be his favorite.

Micah seemed to be fond of you, all while you hated his guts. Some folks around camp even commented on him being 'sweet on you'. The thought is vile to you.

You're not interested in Micah. No matter how many times he makes comments or crude remarks, it just makes you disgusted. No, you already had your sights on another.

Micah knew this.

Oh, Micah hates that you adore someone else. Here he was infatuated with you, to the point you were all that was on his mind at times. Yet of course you don't reciprocate.

You think he's disgusting, he's unbothered about that...

But he is pissed that another man has your heart.

Sure, many say he doesn't deserve you. You should have your own choice on who you get to be with. You don't belong to anyone...

Yet when was Micah ever that respectful?

"Darlin'... I think we need to have a little chat."

Your body tenses when you hear that familiar drawl behind you. You drop what you're doing reluctantly as Micah shuffles up behind you. You hated him... but you knew he didn't plan on leaving you alone.

"What is it, Micah? Why have you come to grace me with your presence?" Your tone is dripping with sarcasm, which makes Micah chuckle just a little bit.

"Y'know you're pining for the wrong man, right?" Micah hums, making you immediately realize where this is going.

"Who I fancy shouldn't concern you." You state bitterly, causing Micah to scoff.

"The cowpoke doesn't even pay attention to you, darlin'." Micah sneers, leaning on the table beside you. "Seriously, you're looking at a man who doesn't look at you, sweetheart."

"Don't call me that..." You warn, Micah seeming to pay you no mind as he shifts closer.

"Do you even see yourself, sweetheart?" You swear he's doing it on purpose now, close to leaning on you while he speaks. "You follow him around like a lost puppy. You listen to his every word like it's gospel..."

Micah grumbles, pressing his chest against your back as he holds your hips. You immediately feel revolted when he leans down to your ear.

"You really need a man who can look at you the same way... one who wants you. One who watches over you even when you're unaware..."

You feel him kiss the shell of your ear.

"I like you best when you’re sleeping... You fight me a lot less then."

You whip around to slap Micah. The man makes a disgruntled noise and backs up enough for you to make some distance. You glare at him, seeing a look of irritation in his eyes.

"You pervert!" You growl, not taking your eyes off Micah for a second. The man just feels his cheek... before laughing in disbelief.

"Oh, sweetheart... getting all feisty over a bit of affection, eh?" Micah laughs before his mood begins to sour. "I bet you'd let him do that to you though, huh?"

"My preference means nothing in this scenario! You watch me while I sleep and do God knows what!" You accuse Micah sneering. "You have an obsession and won't leave me alone!"

"So it's a little passing fancy when you fawn over him but it's an obsession when I pay attention to you?" Micah growls, clearly frustrated you keep turning him down. "Darlin'... You drive me damn crazy."

"You are crazy!" You spit, making Micah chuckle.

"Crazy? Of course I am, sweetheart. Crazy enough to get rid of that fool, too." Micah grins, stalking closer. "I should just kill him, know that? Then you'd have you eyes on me...."

"I'd never love you...." You try to stay brave, but every move he makes puts you on edge.

"Oh, darlin'... I just love it when you play hard to get!" Micah purrs.

You attempt to pull your pistol on him, but Micah's quick to tackle you. You struggle with the man on top of you, Micah merely laughing in response.

"Sweetheart I'd enjoy this a lot more if we were in a more... intimate setting...." Micah teases, but it only makes you fight harder.

Eventually other camp members see the commotion and step in. Even the man you fancied tore Micah off you to pull you closer. You're shaking, tense, while your crush comforts you gently.

"Oh, look at you!" Micah spits, held back by one of the other men in the group. "You'll run into his arms because you love him, do ya!? Well, darlin'! He's NOTHING compared to me, honey!"

It isn't long before Micah is essentially silenced and dragged back away from you. You blankly watch as the man who has been watching your every move is put under watch by Dutch. Even with him out of the way for now...

You can't forget what he said, right?

Micah's admitted to watching you sleep... He even tried to force you into being with him... What if he continues...?

You cling to the man comforting you, trying your best to ignore the obvious problem...

Ignoring it won't make Micah go away... You tighten your hold quietly...

How will you sleep at night knowing he's just a few paces away?

#yandere red dead redemption #yandere rdr2 #yandere micah bell #yandere micah bell x reader

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nessieart · 24 hours ago

Text

The Way Back. X

wc: 8.2k

Summary: These powers were meant to help people. Help The Avengers, your family. It felt like every time you used them, something bad always happened. Maybe someone has the answers, somewhere.

Bucky x reader || Steve x reader (eventually??)

AN: It's a long one! i didn't want to break this one up. and im sorry in advance.

Masterlist

Previously:

Bucky hesitates for another minute until he slowly climbs into the bed. You give him a reassuring look when he pulls the covers back up.

"I'll be awake for a while, so you can get some sleep, OK?" The only light on in the room is your dim side table lamp. Bucky's face is illuminated in a soft glow as he looks at you. "What?" You chuckle nervously.

His eyes bounce between yours before he scoots closer, leaning in to place a soft, lingering kiss on your cheek. He smiles at you and lies down, one arm over your legs as he brings his pillow to your lap. You run your fingers through his short, damp hair, and before you could tell him goodnight, he was limp with sleep, and light snores could be heard from his lips.

The next morning, you're awake before Bucky, which is surprising. You usually love sleeping in or longer than Peggy would like you to.

As if he can sense your eyes on him, Bucky peaks an eye open. He hums, wrapping his arms tighter around you. His voice is rough with sleep. He nuzzles into your hair, inhaling deeply.

"James, I have to be in soon," you speak against his skin, but you make no move to leave his arms or the bed.

"Just a few more minutes," he sighs.

You're dressed in record time, just as Peggy knocks on your door.

"Darling," she calls through the door, "are you both decent?"

"Yeah, Peg! Be out in just a minute!" You squeal as Bucky wraps his arms around you and drags you back onto the bed on his lap. "Bucky!" You laugh.

He hums again, "Thank you. For last night. I don't think I've ever slept so good." You twist in his arms, pecking him on the lips and drape your arms over his shoulders.

"Anytime, Sarge. You're safe with me. Remember that." Your fingers drag along the hair at the nape of his neck. Bucky lets out a satisfied sigh. He kisses you then, hands gripping a little tighter to keep you on his lap. He tilts his head to deepen the kiss, and your fingers scrap against the back of his neck. He moans softly, and you swallow it, licking into his mouth.

There's another knock at the door, impatient and fast, "Charlotte!"

You pull away from Bucky. He whines when he can't follow your lips. You're both panting, and you smile at him. As you extract yourself from his arms, you peck him on the cheek, "See you later, Sarge."

You and Peggy arrive early - despite your…slow start to the morning. You brought a thermos of coffee for you and Howard. You could almost hear his joyous thanks in your head. Peggy walks beside you as you try to find Steve.

When you round a corner, you see Spinner at a desk, glasses low on his nose as he takes notes from an open book.

"Rupert," you greet. He looks up, wide-eyed at you and Peggy. He pushes his glasses up his nose and swallows hard.

"M-morning, Ms. Charlotte, Agent Carter."

"We're looking for Captain Rogers, Agent Spinner. Have you seen him?" Peggy asks. He nods frantically, finger pointing through the makeshift library.

"He's so skittish, isn't he?" Peggy whispers as the two of you continue on. You laugh. Oh, if she only knew.

After the next set of bookshelves, you see Steve. But he's not alone. And Peggy goes rigid beside you. You could feel her silent anger but also her pain. You're not sure why it bothers you so much, seeing Steve kiss some random girl. It's not like you're with him or anything.

Maybe because you've known him for so long, he never seemed interested in anyone. Not the girls from SHIELD or the barista down the street. Or the ones Natasha tried to set him up with. There's a twinge of jealousy that runs through your veins seeing him like this. Future him being in love with you doesn't make much sense now, with his tongue down some random SSR woman's throat makes you want to throw up.

It hurts.

"I think we found him," you say flatly, just loud enough for the couple to hear you.

Steve all but shoves the woman away. She's a little dazed, but she notices you and Peggy, "I'm sure there's something else for you to be doing, Agent?" Maybe it comes out more harshly than you meant, but no one says anything.

The blonde ducks her head, and she scurries away.

You're starring daggers at Steve. He gulps, face bright red as she looks at Peggy.

"Captain. We're ready for you…if you're not otherwise occupied." Peggy turns abruptly and stalks away. her high heels click loudly as she leaves.

"Agent Carter, wait!" Steve goes to move after her, but you step in his way. "Charlie," he warns deep and low.

"Steven Grant Rogers, you ass," you grit out, you stop his advance with a hand to his chest. He tries to move you. He should be able to throw you across the room easily, but you don't budge. Your face burns the longer he looks down at you.

He places his hand over yours on his chest. Something only Bucky has ever done, his thumb strokes over your knuckles.

"Charlie, please," he pleads softly. You look away from him and pull your hand away. Steve catches up with Peggy quickly, and you follow behind, dragging your feet.

You can hear them as you follow, hand shoved into a pocket, your other squeezing the thermos a little too tight. Seeing Steve kiss someone else shouldn't make you feel the way you do. There's a tightness in your chest, a twinge of anger under the surface. There's a scowl on your face as you all near the end of the hall, big metal doors stand between you and the lab.

"You wanted to be a soldier. Now you are one. Just like all the rest."

Steve's face becomes flustered. He takes Peggy's hand, but she yanks it away. "Well, what about you and Stark? How do I know that you two haven't been…fondueing the whole time? You're staying in his penthouse, ain't ya?" You can tell he regrets it as soon as the words leave his mouth, but he kept going.

"Steven!"

"You still don't understand a bloody thing about women," Peggy turns on her hell and storms back down the corridor.

Steve's shoulders slump, the door opens, and you push past Steve. Howard wraps his arm around your shoulders, "Fondue's just cheese and bread, my friend," Howard steers you further into the lab. "And it sounds like she thinks you've got more going for you than that." Howard releases your shoulders as you pass a motorcycle. You kneel down and pull your toolbox closer.

You work on auto pilot as you listen to Howard and Steve. Howard explains some of the things he's been busy working on.

Gear, weapons, clothes. You peak over the motorcycle to see what they're talking about. The table is filled with shield prototypes. Steve's old shield sits battered and riddled with bullet holes. He runs his hand over it.

Howard continues on, or he tries to explain the intricacies of the shields he's been working on.

"What about this one?" Steve bends to grab something, ignoring Howard completely.

"Uh, well. that's just a pro-"

"What's it made out of?"

"Vibranium," you speak up. "It's stronger than steel and a third of the weight." Steve whirls the shield around. Your chest feels tight again. You haven't seen him hold that in a very long time.

Your tools clang back in the toolbox, the noise echoing in the room. Some people stop and stare at you.

"I'll be back," you mutter as you pass Howard.

"Charlie?"

"It's fine, Howie," you dodge him and head out of the bunker. You just need some air. Everything was closing in, too hot, too fast. Before you could reach the stairs, you stop when someone calls out to you.

"Stark!" Phillips says. You can hear his smirk. "My office." He leads little room for opposition, and you heave a heavy sigh. Hand gripping the railing a little too tight. You groan and follow him.

He closes the door behind you, Spinner is already seated when you enter. He gives you a small wave. Phillips sits at his desk. The two of them wait for you to sit, but you hover by the door.

Frustration and anxiety thrum in your veins, not being able to take the walk you needed to clear your head. Your chest heats up as you feel your powers surge. Your hands alight in a blue flame, and you let out an aggravated scream, throwing your arm back and punching the concrete wall next to you.

Your chest heaves, powers subsiding. The room is heavy with baited breath, silent and thick with tension. The concrete cracks outward from the impact of your fist. Small chunks crumble to the floor as you retract your hand back. There's a fist sized indent in the wall.

You inhale a deep, calming breath, shoulders relaxing. You crack the knuckles on your hand, roll your wrist around, and take a seat next to Spinner. The two men don't move, their eyes wide and unsure.

You cross your leg over the other, "You wanted to see me, sir?" You ask casually, as if nothing happened.

Phillips clears his throat, straightening a little more in his chair. He doesn't make eye contact with you as he shuffles through papers on his desk. Maybe just to keep his hands busy.

You glance at Spinner. He sits ridged in his chair, a sheen of sweat on his brow. Did neither men know you could do that? It brings a smug smile to your face at the thought. Maybe you had more say in this whole mess than you thought.

"I burned them," Rupert mutters out quietly. When you raise an eyebrow at him, he continues, "The negatives as well." He can't meet your eye either. You give him a nod of understanding when he quickly glances up in your direction.

Phillips grunts, opening a file and sliding it towards you. You grab it and bring it closer.

There's instructions on the things you'll need for your mission, weapons, and gear - just in case. The information they hope to extract from the bases they are sending you to.

"Earliest convenience," Phillips grunts out. You smirk at him. He heaves a heavy sigh and rolls his eyes. "alright, dismissed," he waves his hand in the air as you rise from your chair. "And no more punching walls, Agent. Especially not in my office," you laugh as you go to leave.

"No promises, Colonel," you call over your shoulder.

Over the course of the next few months, the war continues. Captain America and his Howling Commandos have taken out Hydra base after base.

In the background, you've been going ahead of them and infiltrating the bases for secret files. Any secret that Schmidt thinks he can hide, you've been uncovering and bringing back to the SSR.

Sometimes, after finishing your mission, you'd wait in the shadows just to make sure Steve and Bucky would be alright. And every time you thought to interfere, they would pull through. Bucky was an incredible sniper. You had no doubts they would all be ok.

But still, you always hung back and watched. Just in case.

Christmas and New Years came and went. Celebrating with your found family and friends. You bought Howard a new camera. He couldn't seem to put it down - much to everyone's discomfort.

You and Bucky had become closer, much to Howard's discomfort. He always seemed to grumble about how the two of you were always attached at the hop. Which, to be fair, you were.

A few of the Howlies were loading up a truck, getting ready to move out to the next base location. You had gathered more intel about hidden bunkers and testing facilities on your last mission.

You stand off to the side, eyeing the motorcycle you've spent the last month fine-tuning. "Don't go blowing up my hard work, got it, Cap?" You cross your arms as he peers up at you. An amused smile on his lips. "I mean it!" You all but whine.

Steve laughs and stands tall, hands going to his belt. His default Captain America pose, you tell yourself. His shield is strapped to his back, scorch and bullet marks chip the paint away, but the Vibranium underneath is unharmed.

"Alright, alright," he raises his hands, still chuckling when you give him a look. There's a flash and click of a camera to your right, and you whirl around to Howard.

"Howie! What'd I say about pictures!" You try and scramble after him, but an arm catches you around the waist. The familiar gruff of Bucky's laugh reaches your ears. "James, you let me go before I throttle you!" That just makes him laugh more.

Steve leans back on his bike, arms crossing over his chest. There's a fond smile on his face as you and Bucky bicker back and forth, Howard laughs and still takes pictures.

Peggy sidles up next to Steve, the same fond smile on her face. "They're very good together, don't you think?" She asks softly.

Steve hums, "I'm just glad Charlie brought Bucky back to himself. After what happened…" he trails off, eyes skating down to Peggy, who nods, and then back up to you in Bucky's arms. There's bright smiles tugged on both your faces. Eyes crinkling at the corners. He can see how much Bucky cares for you in that look.

There's a pang that runs through him, but he's so used to it now that he just buries it further down. Deep within himself so no one else can see it.

Peggy stands just close enough to him that her elbow almost touches him. He can feel the heat of her body, smell her sweet perfume. The lingering scent of hotel soap on her skin. If he really concentrates, he can hear her heartbeat. The inhale and exhale of her breathing.

But then he can also hear Bucky, his soft murmuring into your skin, the breathy giggle you let out when he kisses right below your ear.

Steve clears his throat, shifting his stance as he looks away from both of you.

There's another click of the camera, a moment caught in time; forever.

Bucky and you smiling at each other, your hand on his chest, his hand over yours. It looks like you're trying to push him away, but his other arm is wrapped around your waist. Steve and Peggy behind you. She's looking at Steve with a soft expression, and Steve's looking at you.

The year goes by fast, and the constant moving of Captain America and the Howling Commandos around Europe leaves you stuck in London with Howard, Peggy, and the rest of the SSR. You get restless while you wait for word from the front, waiting on bated breath for letters from Bucky.

It wouldn't be a problem if they knew about your powers. You could just portal to them, and the anxiety would be over.

The only times you got glimpses of Steve or Bucky is when you wait, hidden in the shadows after one of your reckon missions.

"Will you relax, kid?" Howard says next to you. You grumble under your breath. "They'll be fine. We made all their gear and equipment, right?" He nudges your shoulder with his, pulling a smile from you.

"I know. It's been almost four months since they've been back. I miss them," you whine a little. Howard shifts, resting his hip on the table. He leans on one hand to brace himself up.

"Y'know, I hired that film crew for more than historical documentation," his eyebrows raise when you give him a look. Your lips twitch up, and Howard's smile matches yours. "I know you love him, Y/N," he says quietly. "You should tell him when he comes back."

Howard takes your hand in his and squeezing, "It's complicated, Howie. It's not -"

"-Not that simple," he continues, "yeah, I've heard that before."

You laugh, "Well, at least it's a slow day," you sigh.

"Stark!" Phillips yells from down the hall.

Howard and you groan, "You just had to say it, didn't'cha?"

2018, Somewhere in Space

Tony finishes his recording for Pepper. Just in case one day, the ship makes it back to Earth. Someone in the vast, now half empty universe is bound to pick up the distress call. Somehow. He sighs heavily. It hurts to breathe too deep, think too loud. Think about the people he's lost on Titan. Tony's trying desperately not to think about the people he cares about on Earth, hoping they're all ok.

"Come on, old man, you need to rest," Nebula grunts. She tries to haul Tony up, but he just waves her off with a lift of his fingers. That's all he can muster now.

Tony's too tired - hunger left him a few days ago - too thirsty to function. Maybe he can just rest his eyes for a minute. It takes too much energy to keep them open.

Just for a minute.

He's really fine. Don't worry about it.

Totally… a-ok.

It's fine.

There's a bright, warm light that reaches Tony's closed lids. It's familiar. Almost like the sun. His eyes blink open, squinting at the brightness. It's blinding and beautiful.

Through the spaces between his fingers, he sees it, a gasp leaves his dried and cracked lips.

"…Y/N?…"

Tony is surprised to see Steve, something like relief flooding through his veins, he sags as Steve holds him up. His breathing is shallow but heavy. Being back on Earth and actually breathing oxygen and not sparingly through filters makes his head dizzy.

Steve held out hope to see you come down the gangway of the spaceship behind Tony and Rocket's blue friend. He keeps looking over his shoulder as he helps keep Tony upright.

But, if you were in there, you would have portalled everyone back to Earth. Unless you were seriously injured. Or…

No, he won't think like that. Not until he hears otherwise.

"Hang on," Tony heaves out, "Wait. I-I lost the kid. I-"

"Tony, we lost," Steve's brows furrow. Lost everything, the fight, their friends. Bucky.

Tony can't hold back the tears now. His breathing is hoarse as he tries to keep in a sob. "She's gone -" he chokes out, "She- Y/N sacrificed herself - and for what? I couldn't - She -" Pepper runs up then. The tears break and stream down his face, and he and Pepper embrace. "She's gone," Tony keeps repeating.

Steve thinks he's not breathing. Maybe he hasn't been since Thanos 3 weeks ago. Maybe he died, and this is his nightmare, his Hell. Cursed to be in a world without you in it.

1944, 13 days before Christmas Eve.

It seems you'll never get that damn motorcycle back from Steve, so you've been tinkering with a new one. Using the last of the Tesseract infused bullets Howard had locked away. No one was here this late anyway.

You can feel the pulse of the tiny core in your pocket, the thin glass jar does little to protect it from you.

The bike is suspended above you. You're on a floor roller, the engine open, and parts scattered around you. You're sure it'll work just fine. Fore you, anyway. The tiny blue bead drops into your hand, and it pulses along with the beat of your heart. Carefully, you place it in the chamber in the engine you made. It whirs silently, then hums low. you pull your away slowly, waiting on bated breath for something to happen.

When all seems ok, you put the engine back together. All the parts going back where they started. The fuel tank is empty , you point a finger inside, powers surging through your hand and out your finger and into the tank.

You squint through the tinted goggles on your face, careful not to put too much force behind your powers. Just enough to jump-start the motorbike. You stop after a moment, exhaling a deep breath as your powers subside. You place the cap back on the fuel tank. The bike hums softly.

When you place your hand on the throttle, you ease it slowly. Twisting ever-so-slightly. It turns, the engine humming to life. It doesn't sound like a normal motorcycle, but that's what you were aiming for. Probably.

You let out a triumphant laugh. You did it. Everything seems stable. Small puffs of blue mist come from the exhaust. Residual energy from your powers, you assume.

Howard finds you like that in the morning, elbow deep in another project. You're humming a song you forgot the name of long ago, your foot taps absentmindedly out the beat.

"Nope," you pop the P. "Can't. They'll be back soon."

"Have you even gone to bed?" Howard leans his back next to you. Hands stuffed into his pant pockets.

"Y/N," he chides quietly. "You should get some sleep."

"You're one to talk," you grumble. "Ow!" You nick your finger on something sharp you can't see.

"Here," Howard takes your hand and examines it, his calloused fingers rubbing over your palm, straightening out your fingers. "Eh, doesn't look too bad, kid." He squeezes your hand between his. "Please get some rest. For me," he pleads. He gives you his best puppy eyes. Eyebrows puckered in the middle, there's a pout to his lips.

Your eyes drift to the cough in the far corner. There's a warm wool blanket draped over the back. You feel your shoulders sag just looking at it.

You're roused from sleep slowly, a dip in the sofa by your hip, a soft brush of fingers over your hair. A rumble of a voice calling to you.

"I'll wake you in a few house. Tops," Howard says. You him in annoyance and drag your feet over to the couch and plop down. "That's my girl," he calls from across the room. You just lift your hand in the air in response.

"Charlotte," it rumbles again, the hand runs down your back, rubbing soothing circles. You stir slightly, a grumble leaving your lips.

"5 minutes," you sigh.

"Charlie, get your ass off my couch!" Howard yells. You grunt in response. There's a familiar laugh next to you. Your heart skips a beat, leaping up into your throat.

You twist on the couch, the blanket wrapped around your legs as you try to sit up. You grin wide as your eyes land on Bucky.

"You're back!" You throw yourself at him, arms going around his neck as his wrap around you. "I missed you so mcuh, James," you mumble into his neck. It feels like you can breathe again for the first time in a while.

Bucky squeezes you tighter, "Hi, sweetheart," he says softly, his lips ghosting over your cheek.

"I thought you weren't getting in until tomorrow?" You don't want to let him go, you want to latch on to him and never let go. Your eyes shoot open, and you pull away from Bucky, eyes critical as they sweep over his features.

"How long was I asleep? Is it tomorrow?" Your head whips to look at Howard. He's smirking. "Howie!"

"You needed the sleep," he shrugs. You scrub a hand down your ace.

"I need coffee," you go to get off the couch, but Bucky pulls you into another hug. You laugh and pull away just enough to put your hands on his face. He smiles down at you, and you peck quick kisses on the spots you can reach. Bucky laughs in return, eyes squeezing shut when your lips pass over his lids.

"Are we goin' out tonight?" You ask, just loud enough for Howard to hear too.

"Anything you want, sweetheart," Bucky grins.

Howard groans, "As long as you're outta my lab. You two make me wanna stuff cotton in my ears. We'll go out, sure, but I need help with a few things first." You agree, telling Bucky you'll see him later, he leaves with a kiss to your forehead, and Howard rolls his eyes.

"I'm going back to the hotel to clean up. You should do the same," you call out as you leave the lab.

You stepped out of the shower feeling rejuvenated. Sleeping on a stuff couch for a few hours and working nonstop for almost a full day wore you out more than you cared to admit. You push the door open to the common room, expecting to see Bucky waiting, but that's not Bucky.

"Yeah, yeah," Howard's muffled voice responds.

"St-Steve?" Your face heats up the longer you two stare at each other. You see him visibly gulp, you pull your bathrobe tighter around your body.

"Ch-Charlie…" Red creeps up his chest and neck, taking over his face and ears.

You're standing in the middle of the room in nothing but a small bathrobe, water dripping off your hair, and your skin is still flushed from the hot shower. You might be getting lightheaded.

"where….?"

"The front desk," Steve says louder than he means to, he turns on his heel to face away from you. Back rigid and hands clenched tight at his sides. You nod, thought he can't see you.

"It's good to see you, Charlie," he says quieter. He turns his head slightly, eyes barely peaking back at you over his shoulder.

Your heart rate kicks up a beat, and you clutch the bathrobe tighter, making sure it's tied around your waist. The room is quiet. You know he can hear your heart from across the room. You shift on your feet, face heating up again. Steve's head tilts more so he can see you better out the corner of his eye.

"I-" the suite door rattles, and you squeak, shuffling back into your room. The door closes just as the main suite door opens. You can hear Bucky greet Steve and vise versa.

You heave a sigh, willing your heart to calm. You quickly dress, towel drying most of your hair, you'll deal with it later, and just braid it to the side. You emerge from your room 10 minutes later, Bucky and Steve sit on the couch together. Each on opposite ends, leaving the space between them open.

Steve has a full glass of dark liquor in his hand, Bucky's is nearly empty.

"Boys," you greet them. This time you wear a pinstripe suit. Black turtleneck and high heels. The pants are waste high, and the legs are wide. The belt around your waist is blue to match the gem in your bracelet and the one in your chest. You toss the pinstripe jacket over your shoulder, cocking your hip out as their eyes drift to you.

Bucky whistles low, "Damn, sweetheart," he gulps down the rest of his drink and pats the seat in the middle of the couch. "You always know how to out dress everyone." He crosses his leg over the other, ankle resting casually on his knee. He drapes an arm over the back of the couch as he eyes you.

Steve sits with his legs spread wide, an arm draped over the back of the couch, too. His fingers almost graze against Bucky's. His stare is heated, a smirk pulls at one side of his face, and he brings his glass to his lips. "Good to see you, Charlie," he greets you again.

You swallow and make your way over to the couch, "Hi, Steve," you toss your jacket onto the love seat before you go to sit.

Bucky jumps up before you can sit, claiming he has to get you a drink. You shake your head at him as he crosses the room to the car cart. You can feel the heat of Steve's body at your back as he silently stands behind you. He leans in close, a hand on your waist and his other holding his drink in front of you.

"Charlie can have mine, Buck," he rumbles. His voice vibrates through you with how close his chest is to your back. "Here," he says in your ear. Your fingers shake as you go to take the glass from him, his fingers skim down your arm as you grip the cool glass in your hand.

"Aren't ya thirsty, sweetheart?" Bucky asks. He's suddenly in front of you. The heat of the two of them around you is overwhelming. Steve's fingers on your hip grip you tighter as Bucky tips your glass to your lips.

You keep eye contact with him as you gulp a mouthful of whiskey down. Somehow, the burn of the liquor isn't nearly as bad as the two of them surrounding you make you feel.

"Better?" he asks. You nod slowly. The air is thick between you, your head a little fuzzy with Bucky and Steve so close. Bucky tips the glass to your lips again, and you take a slow pull this time.

When you swallow, you feel Steve's lips close to your ear. "Words, doll," he says. Bucky's eyes flick to his then back to you, "Finish her drink, Buck." Bucky does without hesitation, gulping down the last few mouthfuls of whiskey as if it were water.

"Yes," you whisper out. Steve's hand wipes the whiskey drops from Bucky's lip, then dip in his mouth. Bucky's tongue laps at Steve's thumb. And you think out might pass out. You whimper without meaning for the sound to leave your throat. Both men chuckle.

"Think she forgot we're such good friends, Stevie?"

"Steve?" "Stevie?"

Steve shakes his head, eyes refocusing in the room. "What?" You were standing near the far end of the couch with Bucky. You both give him a concerned look.

Steve clears his throat. He feels his face heat up, "Sorry, must have zoned out. What were you sayin'?"

"Said we're ready to go, punk. C'mon," Bucky throws an arm around your shoulders and starts to steer you towards the exit.

Steve lets out a big shuddering breath, still trying to get the image of you between him and Bucky out of his mind before he stands and catches up with you both.

"Ms. Charlotte?" You hear Rupert call from the lab entrance. "Are you in here?"

"Be right there, Rupert," you call. You finish your thoughts in your journal and stash it away in Howard's desk drawer. You grab your gear before you leave, "Ok, Rue, lead the way."

To say you were a little excited to finally be going on a mission with your friends was an understatement. You were over the moon.

You see Howard standing near where people are packing up one of the convoy trucks. He's waving his arms about, yelling about what crate goes where.

"Howie," you chide, he stops his arm waving to wrap one around your shoulder.s "Leave them be. They know what they're doing." Howard grunts but relents and steers you towards Steve, Bucky, and the Howlies.

"I don't know how I feel about you actually going through with this. Skulking around in the shadows is one thing. But this…" Howard mumbles to you.

"Everything's gonna be fine, Howie. They're finally gonna see what I can do." You smile at him, and he tries to return it. He knows how much this means to you. But it doesn't mean he has to like it.

"I like the suit you made for me," you tack on, Howard gives you a smirk and chuckles.

"Ok, kid, you're welcome."

"Here, wait," you tug him to a stop and take his camera from him. You hold the camera high in the air, wrap your arm around Howard's waist.

"What are you doin'?" he huffs. He tries to take it back from you, and as he's distracted, you kiss his cheek, snapping the photo as he protests. You laugh and hand it back to him.

Before you leave, you make sure to give Howard a hug, the smile never leaving your face. "Love you, Howie. I'll be back before you know it!"

Howard hums, his arms squeeze you a little tighter, "Yeah, yeah. You better go before they leave without you. And then I'd never hear the end of it," he smirks.

As he watches you board the back of the convoy truck, he raises his hand as you wave before the canvas closes and blocks you from view.

"Love you too, kid."

You were 5 miles from the next Hydra base, or so the map and intel had given you.

"We'll split in 2 groups," Steve started, running his fingers over the map. "Group A heads north of the complex, set the charges and fall back. Radio in when you're far enough away. Meet at the rendezvous here," he passes his fingers over another spot on the map and taps it.

"Group B, you're with me. We set charges on the south side, get in, and grab the things we need. Take out any hostile force we see.

"We'll have sniper cover as long as Buck can see us." Steve nods to Bucky, who nods in return.

"We've done this plenty of times before. A quick in, out, destroy. Let's show these Nazi bastard's what we're made of."

There's thunderous cheers as the Howlies break the huddle. They disperse and gather their equipment.

"Charlie, you sta -" Steve starts.

"Cap, if you tell me to stay here, I'll shoot you in the foot. I'm going with you."

Steve purses his lips, hands on his hips. He shakes his head, trying to disagree with you.

"You're not gonna win that one, pal," Bucky speaks up. You flash him a grin, and Steve sighs.

"You'd think you'd know me by now, Tough Guy," you playfully punch his arm.

You're about to split into your groups, just as dusk falls. Bucky gets up on a rock, taking the vantage point he needs to see the complex from. His rifle is already set up.

"Starkling, we're headed out," Dugan calls to you.

"Comin'!" You turn to Bucky. He looks up at you from his seated position. You step into Bucky's space, standing between his legs.

"Somethin' I can help you with, sweetheart?" Bucky smirks up at you, a hand skating up your leg to rest on your hip.

You run your fingers over his cheek, "I love you, James." It flows easily from your lips. You're not sure why you waited so long to say it. But now that you have, you don't want to stop. "I love you," you smile at him. You can feel the heat rise to his face under your hand.

Bucky's lips part, eyebrows pucker in the middle, and his eyes gloss over with tears. He's up in a flash, lifting you up as he rises to his feet. A laugh bubbles up from your chest. He kisses you then, sweetly. He's grinning wide against your lips.

"Charlotte Stark, I love you." He says against your lips. The smile on your face falters slightly. You're happy he said it, but a small part of you wishes he said your real name instead.

You take your bracelet off and place it in his hand, "Here, keep it." You peck him on the lips as you go to pull away. He stops you, pulling your hand back onto his chest.

"You mean the world to me, sweetheart. I hope you know that."

You smile up at him, "I know, James." When he lets your hand go, you step away and go to catch up with your group down the hillside.

"Charges set, Cap," you tell him. He nods and leads your group to the side entrance of the complex. There are far fewer Hydra soldiers guarding this facility than the others you've all encountered.

Steve tilts his head, eyebrows low under his helmet. He holds a hand up to tell your group to stop. Something doesn't feel right.

"Head back to the rendezvous point," Steve says low enough for everyone to hear. They nod and slink away. "You too, Charlie."

"Not gonna happen, Cap. Can't leave my partner alone on this one," You tap his shield, and he huffs but nods at you.

After silently making your way through the compound, you and Steve come upon a room filled with heavy weapons; machine guns, body armor, and grenade launchers. Some form of hand help canons.

"We found it," Steve breaths, a smile tugging his lips. He looks at you.

"Something doesn't feel right," you glance around. It's too quiet. "Where are all the guards?"

"We get what we came for and blow it all to hell. Let's go," Steve draws out his shield, securing it tightly on his arm as he leads you through a long corridor with a few closed doors.

"Check the rooms on the left, meet back here in 5," Steve waves a hand, and you both split up.

You find what you're looking for in the second room. Filing cabinets filled with the heavy weapons schematics Phillips and Spinner wanted. Right where Spinner said they would be.

Your fingers graze the files, and stop. You get that feeling again, a tug in your chest. The hair on the back of your neck stands on end.

As you enter the hallway, Steve is also standing there. He looks back at you with his typical Captain America look. Mouth in a grim line as he makes eye contact with you.

The lights go out.

"Cap…" you hedge closer, the urge to use your powers flare up your spine. You swallow it down.

"Let's go," he commands. All thought of getting any more intel from this facility goes out the window as you two jog towards the exit.

As you enter the main room with the weapons, a single light turns on overhead.

"Not so fast, Captain," the man says. He holds up one of the weapons from a crate. It's large. It looks like a rail gun attached to a backpack that glows an eerie blue.

This weapon is different from the others. Powered by the Tesseract, yes, but also something else. You can hear the weapon power up. The quiet hum and whirring echoed around the room.

The man steps forward, his face illuminated by the overhead light.

"Rupert?" Your stunned surprise makes him laugh. It crawls down your spin and sits in your stomach like a rock. You feel sick.

Steve angles his body in front of yours, shield raised high and defensive.

"What do you want?" Steve sticks his arm out in front of you to coral you backward, the both of you step backward together, inching toward the exit.

Rupert follows, his laugh echoes around the room as the rail gun in his arms starts charging.

"Oh, dear Captain…" his glasses flash in the light, and the grin on his face is anything but friendly. "It was never about you." His eyes catch yours, and your heart sinks. "Does your precious Captain know what you can do, love? Does that boyfriend of yours?" He spits. He cackles again, the rail gun in his hands whirs. He lifts it and fires a spray of bright blue bullets across the room.

Steve covers you with his body, shield up, protecting the both of you from harm. "Once it stops firing, make a run for the door," Steve says in your ear. You nod. After a few beats, the bullets finally stop, and the rail gun whirs and slowly stops.

Heavy laughter pierces the air, and you and Steve peak over the shield to see Spinner reloading.

"Run, Charlie," Steve pushes you toward the exit. He follows close behind you, shield coming in front of you to charge through the door.

Bullets rain again as you burst through the doors. They cut easily through the metal and concrete. Piercing through it like paper. You've never been more thankful for Steve's vibranium shield.

"This isn't where we're supposed to meet," you huff. "He forced us away from the others. Bucky," your eyes are wide and fearful.

"It's ok, we'll be fine. C'mon," Steve grabs your hand, and you both try to outrun the spray of bullets.

"If we make it to the rendezvous, we can blow the building. We're almost there, Charlie." The next rain of bullets stop, you tug your hand from Steve's and slump against the wall, heavy huffs of breath in the cold night air.

Steve kneels down next to you, catching his breath for a moment. When he catches your eye, you both nod and start to run again.

"There!" You point as you round the corner. You can see the Howlies at the treeline. On the other side of the iron rot fence.

You hear it before it lands, and earth shattering blast, then a bright blue light lands on the ground separating you and Steve. A giant crater from one of the canons, you assume. You're both knocked far apart, skidding and tumbling on the ground.

"Run all you want," Spinner calls from the roof, there's other men up there with him. Holding the majority of the heavy weapons. "But these bullets were made for you," he taunts again.

There's heavy bullet fire, this time aimed at Steve. He dodges and blocks the hail and runs for cover. The Hydra men keep suppressing fire on Steve and the Howlies. Keeping them away from you.

Spinner climbs down the ladder on the side of the building. He adjusts the rail gun at his side. It clinks with every step he takes.

"Why are you doing this?" You scramble backward as he advances. "Why work for Hydra?"

He laughs, the rail gun whirs to life, heating up as the Tesseract charged ammo glows menacingly. "For the future of humanity, love. And you won't be part of it. To see Hydra's rise to glory."

You glare up at him, your powers flare in your chest, "I'm from the future, you fucking asshole. News flash! You - Hydra, the Nazis - you all lose!" Your hands burst into blue flame and you jump to your feet and lunge towards Spinner.

The rail gun lets out a whine. It fires as he tries to back track away from you. A few bullets wiz past you, the heat of them leaving marks on your exposed skin.

Your fist lands and hits Spinner in his chest. He goes flying back until he hits the wall, hard, crumbling to the ground in a heap. The rail gun whines louder now as you approach. The suppressing fire from the roof slows. You can hear Steve shout for you, but you ignore him.

You're standing over Rupert now, your chest heaves with anger and frustration, your arms fully engulfed in blue flames. "You were my friend," you grit out. Tears of frustration threaten to fill your eyes and spill over. He laughs, blood pouring from a wound on his head, down his forehead. He coughs up blood as he looks up at you, glasses cracked and hanging off his face.

He holds a shaky hand up, your eyes zero in on his finger, and a pull pin dangles from it. Your wide eyes catch his for a second, blood seeping down into his eyes.

"Hail…Hydra," he rasps, his palm opens and out rolls another Tesseract fueled weapon in the form of a grenade.

Your heart plummets to your stomach, and your head whips to Steve, who's running to you with his shield raised to block the remaining gunfire. He catches your eyes.

Time seems to slow as you hold your hand up to stop him. The immediate panic on his features breaks your heart. You open a portal to stop the blast wave of the grenade. Being this close to the complex, if Spinner's grenade explodes, so will the charges your team set. And they are too close to the blase radius. They'll be caught in it, too.

The portal opens and swallows both you and Spinner. There's no end destination in your mind, just far enough away from your friends that they won't be affected.

"Charlie!" Steve shouts. One second, you're in front of him, and the next, a dark cloud engulfs you, and you're gone. Spinner is gone.

The next second, an explosion high in the sky goes off. Blinding blue and illuminating the night sky. It's terrifyingly beautiful.

There's a thud next to him. He jumps in surprise. You're lying there at his feet, scorch marks on your suit, Steve's nose scrunches at the smell. There's puffs of blue smoke coming off your body like steam.

Steve bends down to touch you but retracts his hand. Your skin is like fire. It burns his fingers to touch you.

"Charlie?" his hands hover above you, unsure of how to help.

You gasp for breath, hoarse and rough going in. You can't feel your fingers or toes. It feels fuzzy and static, and you feel weightless and heavy at the same time. It's hard to focus on Steve's face, blood, and tears cloud your vision. You try to smile at him, but you grimace in pain.

"J-just hold on, we'll get you help," Steve looks behind him, at people you can't see. Your fingers brush over his leg, and he jolts. "Charlie…"

"It's…ok…"

Steve tries to scramble towards you, your body slowly dissolving into a foggy dark mist. He's calling for you, but you're already gone. He shouts for Bucky again, his best friend so close, but not close enough. Not in time to call out to you or say he loves you again.

Your eyes flutter closed as the mist takes more of you away. When Bucky skids to a stop next to Steve, falling to his knees, he lets out a broken sound.

"Sweetheart?" Bucky's out of breath. "Charlotte?" His hand comes down to touch you, but it goes through you, your body erupting into a blue mist, and then you're gone.

It feels like you're floating. Slowly drifting backward. Maybe landing on the soft grass beneath your feet. Softly, smoothly falling.

There's a streak of blue across the sky. A shooting star illuminated the night sky and plummeting to earth. Hard and fast and unrelenting.

Howard bends over, gasping for breath as he clutches his at his chest. It hurts. God, it hurts so much. Is he having a heart attack? He can't breathe. His eyes brim with tears, and they spill over hot down his cheeks. Why is he crying? He gasps again, and the air in his lungs feels like it's burning him from the inside.

"Howard! What's wrong?" Peggy holds him by the arm, trying to get him to sit down. He shakes his head as he stares wide eyed at her.

"I- I don't know," he breathed in deep. The pain is gone, but he has a sinking feeling in his gut that it's only just beginning.

"Have you even made new friends in the city?" Green eyes glance sideways towards Steve, a perfect eyebrow raised in question.

Steve huffs, "Who needs friends when I got you, Nat?"

"Smart ass," she chuckles. They sit in companionable silence for a while. It's not often Steve comes out to visit Natasha at the compound. It stirs up bad memories of life before the snap.

"Oh, look," Nat points to the sky, a bright blue light streaks across the sky. It's traveling fast, too fast, he thinks, for a shooting star. A meteor burning up in the Earth's atmosphere. But it seems almost familiar.

"Think it's Carol?" he asks absentmindedly. Natasha hums.

"I talked to her a few days ago. She never mentioned coming back Earth side so soon…" Nat stands, bare feet padding through the grass. Her eyes squint, trying to focus more.

The streak looks like it's picking up speed, it turns midair, changing directions towards the compound.

Steve stands on alert, "It's coming this way," he warns. He grabs Nat by her bicep, pulling her along and far away from the falling star, plummeting towards them.

It's silent in its decent. The only noise to be heard is when it smashes into the ground. The impact of creating a giant 30-foot crater in the ground.

The bright blue light shines in the darkness. Like a small sun, Steve and Nat have to squint and block their eyes as they come closer, peering into the crater.

It hums, pulsing like a heartbeat as they approach cautiously. The light dims as they near.

"What the hell," Nat breaths out. In the center of the crater lies a person. Huddles in a tight ball, arms wrapped around legs. The figure is floating, suspended in the air a few meters above the ground. Hair billowing out in wisps.

It uncurls its body slowly, Steve steps in front of Natasha, arm blocking her advance. Slowly unfolding limbs stretch out, toes flex before they touch the dirt beneath them. The ground pulses at the contact. The light fades and sucks back inward to the figure as it inhales a deep, gasping breath. Chest heaving then relaxing. Another pulse through the ground and then the air around them returns to normal. One foot steps forward, then knees give out, and the figure crumbles to the ground in a heap.

The glow is gone now. The only light left is in the center of its chest. She, from what Nat and Steve could tell. A woman. She rolls over, a soft groan leaving her lips.

Natasha gasps, hand flying to her mouth, "Oh my God," she rushes forward, falling to her knees by the unconscious body. "Steve, your flannel," Nat snaps him out of his thoughts. He shrugs his shirt off and hands it to Natasha.

The woman is naked, hair matted and dirty. It looks like she's been rolling in mud. It's caked on her skin in layers.

"How?" Steve croaks. He swallows around a lump in his throat. He falls to his knees next to Nat. She has tears in her eyes when she looks up at Steve. There's a look on her face that he hasn't seen in years.

"I don't know. But we have to get her inside. Call Bruce and Tony," she smooths hair back from a dirt covered face. "Hang on, Y/N. Help is coming."

tags: @valckenaux

#the way back #mcu fanfiction #bucky barnes x reader #steve rogers #bucky barnes #Howard Stark #Peggy Carter

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