#the truth serum works by forcing you say exactly what you think so hes saying what he thinks except he thinks in his native twang

[jamethinks]

Twilight gets hit with a truth serum, but he starts talking with his native dialect, and no one can understand his far west hillbilly ass accent

[misctf]

My Dad has been really on my case lately. He’s always wanted me to be more manly like him, and he’s never been good at hiding how disappointed he is that I’m so feminine. He says he’s sending me to a special camp to ‘Man Up’. I’m really nervous. What should I do?

Your dad stood at the entrance to Mu Alpha Nu Camp, a stern look on his face. Trying to do his best to contain his excitement. It had been a few days since he dropped you off here. Initially, when your dad told you he was sending you to one of these “Man Up” camps, you thought he was joking. But your old man had tricked you- promising to take you to a concert to celebrate the end of your first year in college. Foolishly, you believed him- thinking he was trying to start anew. But he had no feelings of guilt.  

Truth be told, you two never really got along. His interests and yours were polar opposite, even antagonistic. He couldn’t understand where your feminine hobbies came from and instead of trying to understand, he resisted them. Time at college- sissy liberal university as your father would say- only cemented these interests. No matter what he did, he was never able to mold you into the rugged, masculine specimen that he wanted in a son. And while his disappointment initially hurt, you came to realize he was the epitome of toxic masculinity- a true narcissist.

“Hey bro,” A jock greeted him, “Your son is done.” He chuckled dumbly.

Your father nodded, a smirk forming on his face. He would never really know what you went through over the past few days. He would only see the end result. But when he dropped you off, he did give the facility specifications. He checked off boxes, indicating what qualities he wanted in his son. He would never know how they would initially start easy. Daily gym sessions and lectures about masculinity. How you ignored them at first and resisted their brainwashing. But then it became more intense. They threw you in a chamber. Metallic hands gripping your weak arms. Others massaging your lean chest.

“Wait! Let me go!” You had cried out.

But they continued to manhandle you. Continued to massage your muscles with their ‘special lotion’. You had cried out as your muscles expanded rapidly, at first with firm muscle, and then followed closely by fat. Your new abs and pecs quickly covered by a layer of soft fat. You tried to use your new strength to break free, but even with your massive bis and tris, you were powerless. Only able to watch your metamorphosis in a mirror on the wall adjacent to you.

“No! What is that?” You groaned as you were injected with a serum.

Tears filled your eyes as your skin lost its youthful glow. Wrinkles formed and your skin weathered with age. The firm fat sagging ever so slightly. You looked to be in your late 40s, just like your dad. And before you could fully process this horrific realization, you were sprayed from head to toe with a foul smelling liquid. The burning, prickling sensation that followed caused you to squirm. And as you watched closely in the mirror, you could see your hair follicles come alive. Tufts of manly hair erupted from your chest and abdomen, coating you in manly fur. Even your clean-shaven face became blanketed in a manly beard. And your hair darkens considerably, interlaced with a few grays.

“Please... please stop...” You groan.

But you’d find no mercy. You were being molded exactly to your dad’s specifications. Before you could resist any further, the screen in front of you comes alive. Spirals interlaced by manly images fill your vision. Images of beer, trucks, guns, and working-out are forced into your brain. And as they enter, your prior interests start to fade. You envision a life working construction, just like your dad. Drinking beers at the bar. Picking up chicks. And this continues. For hours, days even. Your cock rock hard.

Your dad’s eyes widen when you approach him. Naturally, you were shirtless. Showing off your manly chest. A smirk plastered on your face. And your dad can’t help but feel as if he’s looking in a mirror. The stupid jock smiles.

“We’ve followed your specifications to a tee.” He says with a dopey grin.

And then it dawns on your dad. He wanted you to be more manly, just like him. Just like him. In his self-absorbed narcissism, he didn’t realize that his specifications led them to create a twin. Gone was his son. Instead, he had a twin brother. One that matched him in all ways- stench, masculinity, and size.

“What’s up, bro?” Your baritone voice matches your father’s brother’s, “You wanna grab some beers?”

Your twin brother nods, slowly accepting his new reality. And the two of you head out. Perhaps not what your father initially intended. But as you throw back beers down at the local bar and cheer for your favorite football team, he can’t help but appreciate the newfound camaraderie.

[mischief-lies-and-stories]

I wanna talk about this today.

Mostly I want to talk about objective truth versus subjective truth. But let me start with what's happening in this scene. (Spoilers for Original Sin and Loki: Agent of Asgard)

So in this moment from Original Sin: Thor and Loki in the Tenth Realm, Loki is talking to the queen of the Angels about what happened in the previous issue of Agent of Asgard. Loki has been working for the All-Mothers in an attempt to erase his past crimes and start anew, but discovered that they were taking cues from Old Loki in order to ensure the future he said would come about, a future in which there was (mostly) peace in Asgard, Thor was king and All-Father, but Loki was still the villain. It was a price they were willing to pay for peace. So Loki's grappling with this in this issue, along with having to deal with Thor's reckless attempts at recovering their long-lost sister (not Hela).

So then the queen says, "[The Asgardians will] never understand you, god of what works. Go ahead, use your truth-sword. Tell me you don't know I'm right."

The sword she is referring to is Gram, the sword that Loki stole from Asgard's most famous hero, Sigurd, which was forged at Old Loki's bidding when he went further back in time to ensure it would exist for the current Loki to claim (the timeline gets confusing in AoA). The sword forces those it wounds to face the truth of themselves and their actions.

But truth comes in different forms, objective truth and subjective truth. Objective truth is indisputable fact, and if you say something otherwise it would simply not be true. "Earth orbits the sun" is an objective truth. We can and have proven it. Subjective truth is something that may be true for you but is not necessarily objectively true. This is why the testimony of innocent bystanders is sometimes not permitted in court. For whatever reason, you may be completely convinced that the person you saw stealing a tv from Best Buy at 2:16PM three weeks ago was wearing a blue shirt, so convinced you'd be willing to say so under oath. They could attach you to a lie detector, and the results would say you were telling the truth. However, when they get the CCTV footage, the person was wearing a red shirt. You weren't lying; your memory had you convinced it was a blue shirt. You believed it was the truth, so you believed you were telling the truth. This is how lie detectors work (theoretically; there's also the part that it only detects physical changes that only sometimes mean someone's lying anyway), and how truth serums (in various media or CIA conspiracy theories your subjective truth may or may not have you believe) are supposed to function.

Now, it could be argued that Gram functions as a detector of objective truth. Previously in AoA, it forced Thor to come to terms with the influence an infection of evil had on him (I don't remember exactly what happened, but essentially Old Loki more or less invaded Thor like a virus and forced him to act rather nastily). He didn't seem to realize what was happening until Loki stabbed him with Gram. This is a valid argument, and honestly I don't understand this scene enough (I think a lot of background for it came from other comics if I remember correctly) to make an authentic counterargument.

However Gram acts with Thor, though, I do believe in the above panel, Gram functions like a lie detector or truth serum. The "truth" Loki speaks is subjective truth. He believes it's true, so Gram is essentially like, "Sure, yep, sounds about right."

But because Gram doesn't do whatever it does when someone lies (or maybe because it functions like Wonder Woman's lasso, and you simply can't lie when you're wounded by it), it just further convinces Loki that his beliefs about his inability to be loved are true. Or he's aware that this may merely be a subjective truth, but because he knows how the sword works and he's banking on the queen not understanding the difference between types of truth, he's using it to gain her trust. He still can't lie while holding Gram, so either what he says is 100% indisputably true in an absolute sense, or he wholeheartedly believes it to be true with such certainty that it doesn't matter that it isn't objective. He may be saying it to gain her trust, but he also still believes it.

And I'm in pain.

[swan-of-sunrise]

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (Part I)

Summary: Six months after Steve had the super-soldier serum removed and he retired from superhero work to live a quiet life with (Y/N) and their infant daughter, Sam decides to give up the shield and (Y/N) finds herself caught between her best friend and her husband’s less-than-pleased best friend.

Pairing: Steve Rogers X Reader

Word Count: 4.2k

Warnings/Disclaimers: None

A/N: Hi there and welcome to the 5-part series centering around TFATWS! This is one of my favorite MCU shows and when I first watched it, I knew that I wanted to write about what (Y/N) and Steve were up to during that time and I wanted to delve further into Sam and (Y/N)’s friendship. Thank you for reading, and I hope you all enjoy!

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (Part I) April 2024 Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Washington D.C. (Previous One-Shot)

“You okay, (Y/L/N)? You look like you’re gonna be sick.”

“Well, you know that feeling you get when you visit your old high school after you’ve graduated and you realize that everything’s changed? That’s sort of how I feel right now, and it’s a shockingly strange and unpleasant feeling.”

Beside (Y/N), Rhodey chuckled but allowed her to wrap her hand around his crooked arm as they strode through the Air and Space Museum’s hangar towards the large platform at its end. “I see what you mean. A lot of change happened for you right here in D.C., and I know that not all those memories are much fun to re-live…truth be told, I’m a little surprised that you accepted the Smithsonian’s invitation at all.”

“I wanted to be here for Sam,” She shrugged and looked up at the banner emblazoned with the image of her husband’s face. “Because God knows that today won’t be easy for him.”

Rhodes nodded and after giving their surroundings a quick assessment, he looked back at her and lowered his voice. “Did you know he was gonna give up the shield?”

Pursing her lips, (Y/N) twisted her wedding ring around her finger and carefully considered her words before replying, “He called us last week and while he didn’t explicitly say what he’d be doing, we both suspected that he was giving up the shield. Steve understood, of course, I’m just not sure that he really understood, if you know what I mean; he’s always been very progressive and forward-thinking for his age and it’s one of the many, many things I love about him, but sometimes he can be a little naïve to how the modern world really operates.” Her eyes flicked over to the covered display case beside the empty podium and her brow furrowed at the sight. “Something about all this doesn’t feel right, Rhodey.”

“Good, you feel it too,” The colonel straightened one of the many ribbons fastened onto the left breast of his dress uniform and snorted. “I’d be surprised if that shield makes it a full week before someone decides to pull it out for a new Captain America. That being said, I can’t exactly fault the guy for making this call; I’m one of the highest-decorated men in the Air Force, but that still doesn’t stop me from experiencing that pain-in-the-ass imposter syndrome from time to time.” By then, the hangar began to fill with more attendees, journalists and photographers, so Rhodes thoughtfully angled them both so that she was partially hidden from their prying eyes. “So, is that husband of yours having lots of fun on the moon?”

(Y/N) laughed. “He liked that conspiracy theory when he first heard it but now that it’s caught on with more mainstream media outlets, he really can’t get enough of it. Once a space nerd, always a space nerd, I suppose.”

“Steve’s doing good, though, right? He’s not having any difficulty adjusting to civilian life?”

“I initially thought he might, but no.” Reaching into her clutch, she withdrew her cell phone and began scrolling through her photos while she talked. “He hasn’t had a single second thought about giving up the serum and retiring from superhero life; he’s gotten back into his art – mostly charcoal and pencil drawings, but he’s been dabbling a little in watercolor painting – and he’s really enjoying all the time he has with Carina now.”

Rhodes smiled as she showed him a photograph of her de-serumed husband, her daughter and their senior German Shepard playing in the backyard of their quaint New England home; seven-month old Carina was seated on Steve’s narrow shoulders and her tiny hands gripped onto his blonde locks while he held her chubby legs, his laughing face scrunched up as Indy licked his cheek. “Well, tell him I’m happy for him. If anyone deserves a quiet life, it’s him.”

A cacophony of shutter clicks drew their attention to the side entrance and they watched as Senator Smith entered the hangar alongside several government officials, military personnel and Sam, carefully holding the vibranium shield in his arms and averting his gaze away from the wall of photographers elbowing one another to capture his image. While Sam ascended the platform’s steps, the older senator moved to join them and shook Rhodes’ hand. “It’s good to see you again, Colonel.” He reached for (Y/N)’s hand and gave it a noticeably-gentler shake along with a sympathetic smile. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am for your loss, Mrs. (Y/L/N). If there’s anything I can do for you, please don’t hesitate to call my office and ask.”

(Y/N) forced herself to return his smile and to not wipe her hand on the skirt of her dress as she replied, “Thank you, Senator, but I’m just happy to be here supporting Sam and the Smithsonian’s refurbished exhibit.”

Much to her discomfort, the senator led them both towards the front of the crowd and her jaw clenched as the journalists and photographers started to take notice of her presence; the flashes of their cameras and their hushed speculating brought back memories of the time she spent trapped under a restricting studio contract and the dark days following the tragedy in Lagos, but she fought back the unpleasant feelings by focusing on her best friend as he leaned the shield against the podium’s base and adjusted the microphone before beginning his speech.

“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for being here with us today to celebrate the grand re-opening of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s permanent Captain America exhibit. Steve represented the best in all of us. Courageous, righteous, hopeful…and he mastered posing stoically.” (Y/N) rolled her eyes as everyone who’d never once met Steve Rogers chuckled good-humoredly and Rhodes smirked at her reaction. “The world has been forever changed. A few months ago, billions of people reappeared after five years away, sending the world into turmoil. We need new heroes, ones suited for the times we’re in. Symbols are nothing without the women and men that give them meaning, and this thing…” The hangar echoed with shutter clicks as Sam picked up the red, white and blue shield and stared down at it. “I don’t know if there’s ever been a greater symbol. But it’s more about the man who propped it up, and he’s gone.” The photographers began turning their cameras towards (Y/N) and Rhodes to capture their reactions, but they merely continued to diligently stare ahead and refused to look away from Sam. “So today, we honor Steve’s legacy but also, we look to the future. Thank you, Captain America, but this belongs to you.”

Applause filled the hangar as Sam handed the shield over to a Smithsonian worker wearing white cotton gloves, and (Y/N) swallowed the unexpected lump in her throat as the shield her husband carried into countless battles and the shield she believed her best friend was meant to carry was carefully sealed in a display case. She ignored the ominous feeling in the pit of her stomach and wrapped her arms around Sam in a tight hug when he eventually made his way through the throng of journalists and photographers. “Hey there, Birdbrain.”

“Hey, Booksmart.” Sam’s arms held her close and he gave her a half-smile when he pulled away. “I’m glad you decided to come.” He bumped his fist against Rhodes’. “You too, man.”

Before the colonel could reply, Senator Smith joined their group and reached for Sam’s hand. “Thanks again for coming forward with the shield, Sam. It was the right decision.”

(Y/N) watched the senator walk away with narrowed eyes and Rhodes sighed as he nudged a solemn-looking Sam. “Take a walk?”

The three of them were admitted into the refurbished Captain America exhibit and while they walked amongst the artifacts and displays chronicling Steve’s time as the Star-Spangled-Man-With-A-Plan, they talked about their families and what it was like readjusting to normal life after the Battle of Earth and their defeat of Thanos.

“Yeah, I’ve been at home with my sister and my nephews; man, when I left, they were babies and when I come back, they’re little men.” (Y/N) smiled as Sam talked about AJ and Cass; she’d gotten close to Sarah and the Wilson boys during the Snap and paid them several visits throughout the five-year ordeal, knowing that Sam wouldn’t hesitate to do the same for her if their roles were reversed. “It’s crazy, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. Well, you should bring ‘em out to D.C. sometime, I’ll teach ‘em how to fly…you know, I mean, the right way.”

Sam scoffed and Rhodes chuckled as (Y/N) led them into the next room, squaring her shoulders as she prepared to broach the topic that they’d all been conscientiously avoiding. “Crazy to think that nobody’s going to be carrying the shield…”

“Hey, we went for seventy years without anybody carrying it when Steve was on ice, so I think we’ll be all right.”

Rhodes gave him a pointed look. “That was a different time, Sam.” They walked past Steve’s old motorcycle and artifacts belonging to the Howling Commandos in heavy silence, and it wasn’t until they entered the next room that the colonel spoke up. “So, you’re gonna make me ask?” They stopped by a display entitled ‘A Final Mission’ and he gestured towards Steve’s photograph. “Why didn’t you take up the mantle?”

Sighing, Sam tucked his hands into his pockets and looked down at his dress shoes. “When Steve first told me about the shield, the first words I said were ‘it feels like it belongs to someone else.’ That someone else is Steve.”

(Y/N) exchanged a knowing look with Rhodes and they followed Sam into a space filled with screens projecting World War II propaganda posters of Captain America intermixed with old photographs from his time in the field. She knew better than to try and argue with Sam about his decision – it was his decision, after all – but there was a spark of hope igniting within her that perhaps Rhodes could talk some sense into him. “The world’s a crazy place right now. People are…well, nobody’s stable. Allies are now enemies, alliances are all torn apart…the world’s broken. Everybody’s just looking for somebody to fix it.” Sam hummed thoughtfully as they walked into the last room, which displayed a mannequin dressed in Steve’s World War II tactical uniform and the glass case containing the shield; just as it had that fateful day she’d run into Steve visiting his own exhibit, seeing his possessions on display for the world to see felt wrong to her and she had to force herself not to reach out and touch the uniform that protected her husband from harm throughout one of the most devastating wars in their country’s history. “It’s a new day, brother.” He patted Sam’s arm and smiled. “I’ll be in touch.”

“Stay safe out there, Rhodey.” (Y/N) gave the colonel a hug and watched him walk through of the exhibit’s exit. “You know, he’s really started growing on me. He’s still annoying as hell, of course, but he’s slowly but surely becoming tolerable.”

Her best friend smiled humorlessly and nodded towards the shield. “So, now it’s your turn to try and guilt-trip me about giving up the shield?”

“If I wanted to do that, then I would’ve done it last week when you called to tell us what you were planning on doing.” With one last look at the shield, (Y/N) turned her back to it and took hold of one of Sam’s hands. “You are your own person, Sam Wilson. No one can tell you what to feel or how to think, and they sure as hell can’t tell you what to do. If there’s anything you need, anything at all, then Steve and I will be there for you no matter what. You read me, Birdbrain?”

Sam’s features relaxed as he squeezed her hand and gave her a firm nod. “Loud and clear, Booksmart.” They continued to hold hands as they walked out of the exhibit and through the lobby of the Air and Space Museum. “You heading back up to Maine today?”

“Yep. I’ve got a few hours to kill before my flight out of La Guardia, so I’m going to stop by our house in Brooklyn to make sure everything’s okay.”

“Well, if you happen to run into that Bionic Man with the staring problem while you’re there, tell him he needs to step into the twenty-first century and learn how to answer calls and texts.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As much as (Y/N) loved the peaceful life they’d been living in Maine, she couldn’t deny that she’d missed the unique atmosphere of Brooklyn. She checked on their house and after locking up, she drove her rental car the short distance from Windsor Terrace to Red Hook and walked through the neighborhood with a smile on her face; she stopped by a small coffee shop and carried her drink tray into the nearby apartment building, keeping her head down as she made her way up to the third floor on the off-chance she’d be recognized and tapping the toe of her Converse sneaker against the furthest door down the hall.

“Who is it?”

(Y/N) smiled to herself as she replied, “The doll who just carried hot chocolate and muffins up three flights of stairs for your geriatric ass.”

The door opened a moment later to reveal Bucky, a curious and almost hesitant expression on his face as his blue eyes scanned the hallway before settling on her. “A little far from home, aren’t you?”

“Well, I was in the neighborhood and I thought I’d drop by to visit a good friend.” She lifted the drink tray and paper bag and continued in a comically-enticing voice, “I even brought some hot chocolate and chocolate-chip muffins for him…”

Bucky’s lips curved into a reluctant smile as he stepped aside and let her enter his apartment. “Did Romanoff teach you how to identify people’s weaknesses like that, or is it just a God-given talent?”

“Mostly God-given, but I may have picked up a few pointers from her; she also taught me how to throw knives.” (Y/N) set the food and drinks down on the kitchen counter and hummed along to the record spinning on his turntable. “Duke Ellington. He’s right up there with Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller for me, and he’s definitely the best jazz pianist to come out of the 40’s.”

The super-soldier made an impressed noise. “I’m glad that someone else around here has the same appreciation for good music; although, your appreciation might have a little something to do with the fact that you married a geriatric ass.” He grinned as she laughed at his teasing and started pulling their muffins out of the bag. “So, what brings you back to Brooklyn?”

“I attended the Captain America exhibit re-opening in D.C. this morning and since my flight back to Maine isn’t for a couple more hours, I decided to check on our house in Windsor Terrace and stop by to see how you’re doing.” Bucky took a sip of his hot chocolate and scowled while he peeled the wrapper off the muffin, his displeasure practically rolling off of him; he was more than annoyed when she’d called the week before to tell him what Sam decided to do with the shield, and it seemed as though his attitude hadn’t improved much since. “It’s a shame you decided not to go; I would’ve gotten a real kick out of watching the museum guides try and stop you from breaking into display cases and taking your old stuff back.”

The super-soldier didn’t acknowledge her attempt to lighten the mood as he picked his muffin apart with his vibranium hand. “So, what does Steve think of all this? About Sam just throwing away the shield?”

(Y/N) sat down on the chair beside the kitchen counter and nibbled on her own muffin before answering, “He was a little surprised but he trusts Sam to make his own decisions, the same as I do.” Bucky let out a snort of derision and she pursed her lips to keep her annoyance in check. “Why the sudden care in what Steve thinks, anyhow? You’ve barely spoken to him in the past six months and when you have, it’s never been for any longer than a few minutes. He doesn’t say anything out loud because he’s too proud, but he feels like you’re purposefully pushing him away.”

“I…my therapist said that I need to figure things out on my own right now…”

“Bullshit. I’m in therapy too, Bucky, and I’ve learned that nurturing friendships is an important component to healing from trauma; friendships provide support, and there’s no such thing as too much support.” Her heart clenched as he stubbornly stared down at the kitchen counter; moving as slowly as she could, she lifted one of her hands and gently rested it atop his flesh one, taking it as a good sign that he didn’t flinch away from her touch. “Your life hasn’t been easy and it sure as hell won’t get easier any time soon, but you’re not alone anymore. The fact that you let me into your apartment is insurmountable proof that you’re at least trying, and all I’m asking is that you keep on trying.” After a long moment, Bucky nodded and (Y/N) gave his hand a gentle squeeze before pulling away. “Carina loves that stuffed wolf you sent her.”

A smile slowly tugged at the corner of the super-soldier’s lips as he glanced up at her. “She does?”

“Mm-hmm, she never puts it down.” (Y/N) pulled out her cell phone and scrolled through her photos until she found the photograph she’d been searching for; Carina was fast asleep in her crib and her little fist was wrapped around the fluffy tail of a stuffed white wolf. “You should’ve seen the meltdown she had when we took it away to be washed; I’d never cussed out a washing machine or a dryer for taking too long quite like that before.”

Bucky took another sip of his drink and shrugged. “Well, stubbornness does run on both sides of the family.”

(Y/N) glared in mock-outrage while the super-soldier snickered and devoured the rest of his muffin; she took the opportunity to glance around the rest of his apartment, noting the lack of furniture and the makeshift bed on the floor in front of the television. “So, what do you get up to outside of your court-mandated therapy?”

“I’ve, um…I’ve got a friend. His name’s Yori and we get sushi for lunch on Wednesdays. I also…well, I sorta had a date last night; it didn’t go very well, but considering it’s been about eighty years since the last one…?” He sighed and rubbed a weary hand over his eyes before continuing. “I really am trying, doll, it’s just…the only calm I’ve known in the past century was in Wakanda, and it’s hard not to think that it might’ve been some sort of cosmic fluke. Now that I’m free to do whatever I want with my own life, I don’t even know where to begin.”

Although she could sense that there was something else he was holding back from her, (Y/N) nodded and gave him an encouraging smile. “It seems to me like you’re getting off to a good start. You know, if you’re not comfortable talking to Steve or Yori or anyone else about all this, then maybe you should consider talking to Sam?” Predictably, Bucky grumbled under his breath at the mention of Sam’s name and she rolled her eyes in exasperation. “I really don’t get why you two don’t get along. Sam’s a great friend and while he might not say it out loud, I know that he’s worried about you. At least promise that you’ll think about it?”

“…I suppose, but only ‘cause you asked so nicely.” The super-soldier shook his head and arched a brow at her. “Seriously, how the hell does that punk win any arguments with you when he’s got those (Y/E/C) eyes staring back at him?”

(Y/N) shrugged and gave him an innocent smile. “Must be my own special superpower.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I’m starting to feel like this was all just an elaborate excuse to see me dolled up…”

Across the room, Steve’s azure eyes remained trained on his canvas but crinkled as he attempted to hide his smile. “Hey, I can’t help the ideas that pop into my head whenever you’re around, sunshine. I’m an artist, remember?”

“Mm-hmm, but you might want to work on your professionalism, because I’m pretty sure that artists aren’t supposed to ogle their models while they work,” (Y/N) playfully teased, making sure to keep as still as possible and not change the pose Steve had placed her in nearly three hours before; what she wore wasn’t exactly risqué – a black turtleneck sweater, an auburn high-waisted skirt, opaque black tights and heeled ebony ankle boots – but the outfit paired with her styled hair, expertly-applied makeup and the slightly provocative way she was seated on her office’s desk seemed to be enough to rile her husband up. His attraction to her was rivaled only by his commitment to his art, but it was only a matter of time before one gave way to the other. “If we don’t have anything scheduled for this weekend, I was thinking that we could take a drive down to Essex and hit up the antique shops, maybe grab some lobster rolls for lunch?”

“Sounds good to me…” With a final flourish of his paintbrush, Steve leaned away from the canvas to examine his work and gave it an approving nod. “Okay, I’ve gotten about as much done as I can with this lighting, so I’ll have to work on the details some more tomorrow morning.” He set his brush and palette down before crossing the room and helping her sit straight as her muscles ached in protest. “Thank you again for posing for me, baby. Is there anything I could do to repay the favor?”

(Y/N) pretended to think his offer over before giving him a mischievous grin. “There might be one or two things you could do, but I would be remiss to ask them of such a professional artist as you, sweetheart.”

“Screw professionalism.”

She laughed as Steve’s hands cupped her face and his lips captured hers in a heated kiss that she was quick to return; her arms moved to loop around his neck and as she pulled him closer, one of his hands traveled down to rest on the curve of her waist. He moaned when her lips trailed kisses along his jaw and down his neck but just as his fingers began to fiddle with her skirt’s zipper, a loud wail emanated from the baby monitor on the desk. “Poor baby, that new tooth must really be bothering her…” (Y/N) sighed in sympathy and gave Steve a chaste kiss on the lips before hopping down from the desk. “I’ll go grab the teething ring from the freezer.”

“Okay, I’ll go get her.” Steve snatched up the baby monitor and followed her out of her office, stopping at Carina’s nursery and crooning as he entered, “It’s okay, angel, I’m here now…”

After retrieving the teething ring from the freezer, (Y/N) kissed Carina’s tears away and gave her the plastic device to gum, heading into the living room to put an episode of Kitchen Nightmares on; for some strange reason, Gordon Ramsay and his infamous yelling was the only thing that seemed to help calm the seven-month old down. She switched the television on but just as she prepared to change the channel, she realized that Senator Smith was in the middle of giving a press conference on WHiH and a cold chill went down her spine as she listened to his speech.

“Unrest in the wake of recent events has left us vulnerable. Every day, Americans feel it. While we love heroes who put their lives on the line to defend Earth, we also need a hero to defend this country. We need a real person who embodies America’s greatest values. We need someone to inspire us again, someone who can be a symbol for all of us.”

“That son of a bitch,” (Y/N) breathed, eyes wide in disbelief as she watched the scene unfolding on the television screen before her. “Rhodey was right…”

“(Y/N)? Sunshine, what’s wro-?”

“So, on behalf of the Department of Defense and our Commander-in-Chief, it is with great honor that we announce here today that the United States of America has a new hero. Join me in welcoming your new Captain America!”

Covering her open mouth with her hand, a horrified (Y/N) watched as Senator Smith stepped away from the podium and a Caucasian man dressed in a red, white and blue uniform walked out onto the building’s steps. He waved at the crowd of journalists and photographers eager to document the breaking news, and strapped to his left arm was the vibranium shield that Sam had given up. (Y/N) looked over to see Steve standing in the doorway with Carina and her stuffed white wolf in his arms, a mixture of shock, anger and betrayal in his azure eyes as he watched the new Captain America smile and wave for the cameras.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: I had so much fun working (Y/N) and Steve into this series, and I can’t wait for you guys to read what’s coming next! Updates might be a bit more sporadic than usual but I’m hoping for a chapter every two weeks (still haven’t decided which works best with my schedule and mental health), so make sure to stay tuned for more!

Thank you all so much for reading and commenting! I’ve created a Spotify playlist inspired by this series, and I’ll be updating it every time I upload a new chapter. Enjoy! 

Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3ziGMhEsAw833GQ9eV44nR?si=6dfead09c76848d5

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (Part II)

Stumblin’ In Book VII: “Superhero Snapshots” Masterlist

Stumblin’ In Book I: “The Winter Soldier” Masterlist

Tagging:  @mrs-obrien​​​​​ @lahoete​​​​​ @awkward117 @cminr @natdrunk​​​​ @momc95​​​​​ @savedbystyle​​​​​ @miraculouscloud @awkwardnesshabitat​​​​​ @marinettepotterandplagg​​​​​ @mangosandmimosas @supersouthy @benakenalove​​​​​ @brooke0297​​​​​ @hufflepeople​​​​​ @becausewelie​​​​​ @outoftheregular​​​​​​ @junipermurdock​​​​​ @ladydmalfoy @mads-weasley​​​​​ @username23345 @crist1216​​​​​ @capswife​​​​​ @lilmschild​​​​​ @avngrsinitiative @crowleysqueenofhell​​​​​ @y-napotat​​​​​ @mary1raven​​​​​ @groovy-lady​​​​​ @ljej95​​​​​ @innersublimefury​​​ @prettysbliss​​​​​​  

[riahlynn101]

Ai-less Whumptober 2024 - Day Eleven: "Why Would You Even Say That?" + Truth Serum

Fandom: Black Butler

Word count: 1,487

Trigger warnings: implied kidnapping, implied/referenced child abuse, referenced canonical character death, a child in distress, and drugging. 

Story notes: R!Ciel is just referred to as ‘his brother’, while O!Ciel is referred to as Ciel and Fennian. (It'll make more sense in context. Hopefully).

--

The liquid is cold. Ciel can feel it spread in his veins, forced into him by the IV drip Undertaker so “lovingly” hooked up to him. He glares at the source of his current headache. Not that it seems to bother the man. 

His brother strolls across the room, rounding the work desk. He sits down gracefully, crossing his legs. One of his hands comes to rest on Ciel’s knee, and if not for the straps around his wrists, he wouldn’t hesitate to push his brother’s hand off. 

“Little brother,” his brother says, expression unreadable. It used to be that Ciel was the more expressive of the two of them. Pain and joy plain as day on his mirror image’s face. “You’ve done so well.” Even said with a startling amount of condescension, Ciel can practically feel how proud his brother is of him. 

“And now you have no blood,” He snarks, eyeing the door behind his brother. 

His brother smiles, tilting his head to the side. “Do I?” 

Before he can stop, Ciel finds himself blabbing out their whole plan. Even the parts that haven’t, exactly, come to fruition yet. He’s heard the expression ‘word vomit’ but never knew what it meant until this exact moment. 

Infuriatingly, his brother just nods along. An understanding sort of look on his face. His hand is cold, Ciel notes, words still falling from his tongue, feeling it squeeze his knee as if trying to reassure him. 

It doesn’t. Not even a little bit, but he can’t move away or swat his brother’s hand. 

When he finishes, sucking in a deep breath, his brother looks at Undertaker. Neither of them say anything, though Ciel guesses there will be a conversation about ruining the rest of his plans when he’s out of earshot. 

He wriggles, trying the straps on his wrists. “Let me go,” he says. “You got what you wanted.”

His brother hums, and Undertaker laughs, and Ciel can’t decide which sound he hates worse. 

“Brother, dear, you didn’t think that was all?”

Ciel wrinkles his nose. He’s always hated being talked down to, but the fact it’s coming from someone that is, at most, five minutes older than him, is a new low. Especially because, if he’s being technical, he’s now the oldest out of them. 

His brother clicks his tongue, hand moving from Ciel’s knee to his chin. “Fennian,” he murmurs. His voice is soft, like it was all those times when his brother took care of him when he was a sickly child. Gentle like a lullaby, careful not to startle him awake. 

The use of his birth name shocks him enough to cease his wriggling. His brother’s hand rises to his cheek, thumb stroking the skin there. 

Ciel shakes his head. “No!” He exclaims. “I’m not-”

“Fennian,” his brother says again, voice a little sterner. “We have much to discuss.”

“I am Ciel Phantomhive.”

If he had to put a name to the flash of emotion in his brother’s eyes, it would be “pity”. He grits his teeth, frustration and anger replacing his shock. 

“Don’t look at me like that,” he snaps, tossing his head to the side. His brother drops his hand, returning to his original seat. 

“You’re confused,” his brother says. 

The implication that he, out of the two of them, might be more out of sorts than his undead brother, makes Ciel angrier. He glares at the mockery of his long dead twin, willing himself to see past the familiar face.

“I’m not.”

“But you are,” his brother insists, hand coming to rest once again on his knee. “And that’s okay. Big brother will help you see clearer.” He gestures to the IV beside Ciel. “Undertaker made a special medicine. Just for you.”

Ciel shudders. “Why?” 

“I assume you mean, what is it for?” His brother sits back in his seat, never taking his eyes off Ciel. “The why is obvious.”

Ciel has to bite back a snarky reply. If it were actually so obvious, then he wouldn't be asking, now would he? Instead, he forces himself to ask, “what is it for?”

His brother sits up. “Oh, I’m so happy you asked, brother dear.” He reaches across the small space between them, apparently unable or unwilling to let him breathe for more than five seconds at a time. He traces the IV line from the rubber tube all the way down to the thin skin on his inner elbow. “The details are irrelevant, but what matters is the outcome. I know how hard it is for you to talk to me. Your head has been filled with such nonsense, so the medicine being fed into the IV will help you open up better.”

Ciel blanched. “Earlier,” he starts, dread coursing through his veins, “when I told you both about our plans-”

His brother interjects. He laughs, pinching one of Ciel’s cheeks. “Ah, clever little thing you are. Yes, that was the medicine. Think of it as a truth serum.”

Oh, no. He eyes the door again, hoping that Sebastian might be standing there. A moment later than he would have hoped, but still in time to fix everything. 

Sebastian isn’t there, though, and Ciel can’t quell his panic. “Sebastian!” He calls, uncaring if it upsets his brother’s corpse. “Sebastian, come get me! This is an order!”

His brother smacks his cheek. It isn’t hard, considering everything else he’s been through, but somehow it hurts enough for Ciel to tear up. 

“Stop,” his brother commands. “None of that.”

He hears Undertaker step forward, perhaps to ensure that his brother doesn’t go too far. And wouldn’t that be ironic? Having the person that caused this, save him?

“No matter. That demon can’t reach us here.”

“Wh-what?”

“Don’t worry your little head about it, little Phantomhive,” Undertaker says, ruffling his hair.

Ciel throws his head back, snapping his teeth at him. Unfortunately, his teeth only grasp air. 

“Are you that unhappy that I’ve returned?”

The question knocks all the air from Ciel’s chest. He turns his attention back to his brother who has dragged his chair closer. Their knees touch, but it must not be enough for his brother, because one of his hands touches Ciel’s knee, while the other sits atop his bound hand. 

“Why would you say that?” His head spins. 

“I just mean, you seem so unhappy. Fennian-”

“That isn’t my name,” he gets out between gritted teeth. “Stop calling me that.”

“It’s your name. Like mine is Ciel. The sooner you accept that, the easier it will be to go back to normal.”

Ciel squints his eyes. “Don’t you get it? There is no ‘normal’. Mother and father are gone. You’re gone. This is normal now.”

His brother nods. He regards Undertaker. “It’s worse than we thought. Can we turn the IV up slightly? My little brother might require more medicine to cooperate.”

“Certainly, my lord.”

Ciel shakes his head frantically. He pulls at his restraints. “Let me go! You bastard!”

“Naughty,” his brother scolds him. 

Against his will, Ciel finds his body relaxing. Struggling becomes harder. “Nuh-nuh, no,” he mutters. His vision swims, and his head spins. 

“Shh, it’s okay.” His brother strokes his hair. 

“I-I don’t want….” Ciel trails off. His thoughts feel like mush. 

“Shhh….I have a couple of questions, and then you can rest.” 

Between his fractured thoughts and heavy eyelids, Ciel only has his brother’s voice to grab onto. 

“Are you upset I’ve returned?” 

All the emotions he’s been hiding since his brother’s death rise to the surface. They overwhelm him to the point that he can’t even muster up a reply. He hangs his head.

“Fennian,” his brother murmurs. 

Tears threaten to spill from his eyes. He sniffles. “Don’t,” he tries. 

“Fennian, my little twin.”

“That isn’t….” he takes a deep breath to ease the tension in his chest. 

“But it’s such a lovely name.”

Something in him breaks. He chokes on a sob. Tears fall onto his lap. His brother coos, lifting his chin. “Aw. You poor thing.”

“Ci-el,” he cries. “‘M suh-sorry.”

His brother wraps his arms around him. It pulls on the IV in his arm, but Fennian doesn’t care. He just wants his family back. He never wanted this. 

“Oh, my baby brother. You’ve been hurt.”

Fennian sobs, allowing himself to be held. 

“I didn’t want to hu-hurt anyone.”

“I know,” his brother says, pulling away only to wipe Fennian’s eyes. “I know. You can rest now, okay? We can continue this conversation tomorrow.”

The thought of being separate from his brother suddenly terrifies Fennian. He throws himself forward. “Don’t leave,” he begs. He feels every bit the weak child he pretends he isn’t. “Please.”

“I’m not going anywhere, Fen. I’ll be here when you wake.”

His vision swims and the room slowly darkens. “Promise?”

“Promise. Now, sleep.”

He lets the medicine pull him down into a dreamless sleep.

[cullen-cannons]

What New Chicago Factions the Cullens Would Be In

A/N: this got long, so it's under the cut.

ALICE: is in Candour. Her whole family has been in Candour for as long as anyone can remember. Her father was not an honest man. He cheated on Alice's mother with a much younger woman and then he and his new girlfriend conspired to force Alice's mother to leave Candour and become factionless, by threatening Alice. They intended to kill Alice's mother after she became factionless.

Because Candour's faction members are so good at detecting lies Alice realised what was going on and reported it to the authorities. Or at least that's what she told them, the truth is she had a vision about it, but was scared of not being believed, or being called crazy. Both Alice's father and his new girlfriend were put into jail after confessing to truth serum.

Because of this Alice doesn't trust easily and values the truth above all else. She stayed in Candour and passed the initiation with flying colours. She can very easily tell if someone is lying. She hates lying and people who lie. Because of this she always says exactly what she's thinking and often comes off as blunt or rude to members of other factions when she has to interact with them.

—

A/N: I chose Candour for Alice because of her pure nature, she kind of always says what she's thinking. EX: "Wow, you do smell good!" (Alice to Bella in the first book/movie.) She does hide things from Edward and the others (but only for their safety) she is generally a truthful person (in my opinion at least)

— — —

BELLA: was born into Abnegation. Rene was a Dauntless who thought she was in love with Charlie, an Abnegation. Rene transferred to start a family with Charlie but regretted it soon after they had Bella. Rene loves Bella but not Charlie. She regrets transferring and marrying him a lot. Seeing him makes her mad at herself for tying her down like that, and slightly resents him. She even sometimes privately wishes she didn't have Bella. 

Bella is more observant than Renee realises though, and she knows and tries her best not to be a burden. It's one of the many reasons she dreams of leaving Abnegation, and also the reason she doubts she'll be able to. Renee, even unconsciously takes advantage of Bella's behaviour thinking it's just Bella's nature, and treats her more like a female best friend than a daughter. Renee is unaware that Bella is just acting that way because she knows how Renee feels.

They all still live together because of the stigma around divorce in Abnegation but Rene and Charlie don't talk and Bella finds the awkwardness stifling. Sometimes she tries to fix things but it never works. Rene has actually considered becoming factionless and Bella always talks her out of it because she needs to know her mother is being taken care of before she can leave.

In order to escape her home situation she throws herself into school, studying during any free time, so she has an excuse to be in her room. She joined all the maths, debate, and science clubs just so she doesn't have to go home. Soon she realised she loved the world of maths and science and wanted to be a Biologist. She often finds she is the only Abnegation in a room full of Erudites but it hardly matters because she loves seeking learning (and Edward Cullen, an Erudite who is also in several of the same clubs).

—

A/N: I don't think I need to explain this choice, but it's basically because of Bella's martyr complex and need to feel useful.

— — —

CARLISLE: is in Erudite. His father was a priest in Abnegation who fell in love with Carlisle's mother at a young age and transferred to her faction, Amity. Carlisle was raised in Amity until he was 16 and transferred to Erudite because of his desire to study medicine.

His father's view that you should put others before yourself and his mother's view that you should be kind to everyone but also make sure that you are happy, worked well together to give Carlisle a good moral character and made him into the thoughtful generous man he is today. 

His mother taught him his desire to help and heal, but he knew he wanted to do more than be a nurse like many in Amity, he wanted to stop suffering at its source.

He loved his parents but he longed to pursue higher knowledge and work in the medical field. He wanted to be a researcher so at the choosing ceremony he chose to transfer to Erudite. Unlike some Erudite members, he still holds high regard for his former faction of Amity and his father's faction of Abnegation, even if he may not wish to live that life anymore.

—

A/N: I picked Carlise to be an Erudite with both an Amity and Abnegation background because I think those three factions best represent his character. His choice to be non-violent and refusal to drink human blood as well as his desire to help others in any way he can and his desire to gain new knowledge.

— — —

EDWARD: is in Erudite. He is Carlisle's adopted son. His mother was one of Carlisle's patients and Carlisle took over his care after her passing.

—

A/N: Again, not much explanation is needed, I think. He has an interest in literature, poetry, music, art, and architecture, all very intellectual things.

— — —

EMMETT: was born into Dauntless, but transferred to Candour after meeting Rosalie at 15. He was in love at first sight and knew she was the one. 

Because Roslaie's family was powerful within the faction, they sheltered her, and Emmett didn't see her for the first few years, despite all his searching they always seemed to miss each other. He was greatly saddened when she announced her relationship with the faction leader's son, Royce King.

While Rosalie was dating Royce, Emmett became friends with Rosalie's adopted brother, Jasper. Neither of them ever liked Royce, even in junior high. Both disapproved of the match but wanted her to be happy. 

It took her a bit to warm up to the idea of marriage after what Royce did to her, but she became friends with Emmett. He was her protector while she recovered and during Royce's trial. A while later, when she turned 18, and Emmet turned 19, they started dating.

— — —

ESME: was born into Dauntless, but transferred to Amity to escape Charles Evonson, the man who wanted to marry her, despite their large age gap. She works as a nurse at the hospital where Carlise works, and the two have something of a secret romance. She's the other reason Carlise volunteers at the Amity farms so often besides visiting his parents. They have to be careful though, given Erudite's policy of Faction before blood, or love. Esme wishes she could transfer, but knows it's far too late at twenty-six, and settles for what she can get.

JACOB: is in Dauntless. He's the 15-year-old son of Rene's old friend from before her transfer, Sarah Wilde, who later married Billy Black before her untimely death from one of the stunts the Dauntless are known for.

Jacob is in love with Bella and follows her around at school. His constant presence was one of the reasons why she wasn't bullied so much before she started hanging out with the Erudite.

Jacob is caught in the middle of complicated Faction dynamics. 

He resents Dauntless for being the "reason" his mother died but loves his friends there. He also loves Bella and wants to join her Abnegation. He doesn't know she plans to transfer to Erudite. He hates the Erudites because many of them are stuck up and treat him like he was dumb in school.

When he finds out Bella's plans for a transfer he doesn't understand and is angry.

JASPER: was born into Amity. He used to have a girlfriend in Dauntless and almost transferred for her, but the day before choosing day, he found out she was only using him. He was secretly glad because as a person sensitive to emotions, the Dauntless had always kind of overwhelmed him, and he sensed something off about the leader's cruelness. To this day he suspects that something not quite right is going on there, but he never engages the subject.

Angry, betrayed, and desperate for control of his own life he took the advice of a friend Peter who was a year older transferred to Candour, and followed him.

He was happy with the farmer's life and understood the value of physical labour, but couldn't stand the faux happiness and wanted something more ambitious. He wanted to study why people and why they do what they do. His parents were bought completely into Amity's bliss and he found it honestly a bit creepy, so he was okay with leaving them.

He chose Candour because he knew he could rely on people, to be honest with him there and because when not blinded by first love, he was always naturally good at telling what people were feeling or when they were lying. 

ROSALIE: is in Candour. She's a year younger than Jasper, and her family allowed Jasper to stay with them after his initiation. 

Jasper warned her to be cautious with Royce, sensing that Royce had some ulterior motive, but Rosalie was too in love with love to see it. 

Jasper, like Emmett, wishes he'd done more, but Rosalie feels like since she should have listened to the boy she considers her brother, it was enough that he was always there for her and spoke against Royce at the trial.

After everything, Rosalie was even more motivated to stay in Candor and learn not to be deceived again. She wants to be a prosecutor.

[dirthara-dalen]

After tracking Ligastar down he asked Vette to deliver a message to his brother on his behalf. Ligastar was currently at house Organa a place Vette could easily access but he could not.

below is a bit of a wip of this reunion for my fic that i'm working on

It was nerve wracking waiting to see if his brother would actually show up at the estate or not. After all...Ligastar believed he was dead. He waited for his brother on the large terrace overlooking the cascading falls at the back of the estate. 

“Together…forever.” Despite how young they were at the time, he still remembered the promise he had made his little brother.

The familiar click of the ornate balcony doors startled him somewhat as he softly sighed and he braced himself. The sound of somewhat heavy footfalls behind him suddenly filled him with such a horrific sense of anxiety, far worse than he had originally anticipated. At long last his little brother had arrived.

“So….” There was a quiver in Ligastar’s voice as he spoke. “Is it truly you?”

It was as if time had stopped. Hearing his brother's voice after so long felt odd, yet right to him. Cain hesitated to acknowledge Ligastar for a moment. How would he react to him?   

Ligastar sighed. “When I asked Vette who exactly sent her to retrieve let alone how they knew where my…” He stopped for a moment. “My estate was. All she said was I already knew the answer." He moved closer. “Cain…please just turn around.”

Cain slowly turned to face his brother. The look of sorrow upon Ligastar’s face finally gave Cain the answer he had been dreading. Ever since Tatooine he had been unsure as to how his brother would react to his scars and sith eyes. Now he knew.

“I honestly don’t know what to say. ” He struggled to look his brother in the eyes. “I kept thinking of ways this would go b-”

He was suddenly cut off as Ligastar pulled him into an embrace. Cain couldn't help it as he began crying as he returned his brother's embrace. It was as if over a decade's worth of sorrow hit him all at once. 

“I was so worried that what I was sensing was false.” Ligastar leaned back as he looked into his brother's eyes. “Years ago I sensed something during a meditation session. I now realize it was you.”

Cain said nothing as Ligastar led him over to one of the benches, getting him to sit down. It was strange to see Cain clearly very shaken. He had always been the braver of the two of them. Gently he squeezed Cain’s hand. He felt that if he were to let go, even for just a moment, Cain would fade away again. Cain met his brother's gaze. It was strange, for the first time in a very long time he felt an intense sensation of safety. For as long as Cain could remember he'd only ever felt such a sensation in Ligastar’s presence. He’d miss this feeling.

“Cain…you probably already know but…”

“I know, I sensed it.”

Ligastar took a deep breath. “Can you tell how you survived?”   

“I think it's best to start at the beginning.”

It had all begun with the plague that ravaged the slave compound. The whole purpose of the plague was purely to weed out powerful force sensitives among the slaves. Rumors had begun circulating at the time among the older children that the plague was actually caused by some rather mysterious sith that seemed very interested in them. Ligastar admitted that he remembered seeing these Sith about the compound on more than one occasion. Cain was clearly hesitant to speak about what had actually happened once he had contacted the plague.   

“Take your time.”

Taking a deep breath Cain readied himself. “Those of us who ‘died’ from the plague were, in truth, placed into a coma. The only way to awaken someone who had entered this coma was with the use of a counter serum. Although…not everyone who'd ‘died’ went into a coma. Those who did not reach the requirement for force sensitivity did die."

“What happened once you were awakened?”

“The best way for me to explain it is like this. The last thing I remember seeing and hearing before it all went dark was you. You were sobbing and crying out my name over and over again. The next thing I knew I felt a sharp pain in my arm. I started hearing voices all around me but none of them were yours.”

“Who were you hearing?”

“Our former master and his twisted scientist.”

He explained that once an individual was awakened they were handed off to a Sith Lord to become their apprentice to a Sith Lord in need. If an individual was not sent off to become an apprentice then they were sent off to another unknown group who had been working with their former master.

“I hesitate to ask but, who were you given to?”

Cain went quiet for a moment. “I was given to Vilee.”

The sense of horror that washed over Ligastar as he stared into his brother's eyes. The torment they endured from that man was unbearable. Whenever possible, their father had taken the brunt of it in order to protect them. Sadly, that still didn’t fully protect them from the siths reign of terror.

“I won't regale you with what happened to me. I think my eyes and scars are enough of an answer.”

“I would like to know.” Ligastar spoke almost in a whisper. “But you don't have to speak of it.”

“Well, after Vilee discovered I had the ability to manipulate the force bonds he decided that he would force me to use it for his own gain. I can’t even call it a training session but during one of them he was trying to force me to actually use the dark side and my ability to manipulate a person.”

“What happened?”

Cain looked out over the waterfalls. Just thinking about what had happened threatened to bring back the waterworks. “I sensed mom’s death…I lost it. I don’t remember exactly what happened that day, only that the result was my eye colour changing as well as the scars around my neck. I had apparently tried to kill Vilee.”

Ligastar couldn't help but question Vilee’s fate. Cain was all too happy to regal his brother with what had happened. Another Sith lord by the name of Lord, now Darth, Icarus had learnt of his abilities. Believing that Vilee was misusing his abilities Icarus challenged Vilee to a duel to the death. Vilee was defeated and killed on the spot much to Cain’s surprise at the time. Icarus then took him as an apprentice. It was through Icarus that he was reunited with their father.

“He's alive?!” Ligastar’s voice cracked so badly as he held back his tears. 

“Yes! Solaris is too. Solaris told me everything about what happened when you fled to the republic.” Cain sniffled as he wiped some newly formed tears from his eyes. “I've been planning or trying to plan how to reach out to you ever since then.”

“I must know Cain. Why seek me out now?”

“I wanted my brother back. Something in me just knew it was time to reach out.”

“I’m glad you did. To know you and the rest of our family yet live gives me a sense of hope.”

The two brothers knew they had a lot of catching up to do but it would have to wait until Ligastar dealt with the death laser. Cain swore he’d do anything to help his brother achieve his task which Ligastar was most grateful for.

[ashboy-3]

The Truth Will Set You Free

Prompt: Hawks gets his with a truth serum Fandom: BNAH/MHA Words: 3,404 Summary: Hawks was forced to do a team-up with Kamui Woods and he really didn't want to so he finished it as quickly as he possibly could. To be for him that he was hit by a truth quirk while he's also supposed to be going undercover to spy on the league. He does the only thing he can think to do in this situation and cancel his meeting with a certain fire villain. Dabi didn't agree.

Ao3 Link:

“Hawks be careful! The villain still has an unknown quirk,” Kamui Woods said through the comms.”

“Oh calm down ya tree branch. I’m fast enough to catch them and then we can leave. I work better alone anyway,” Hawks said as he flew through the air to search further.

“Hawks, this is serious. Are you always this nonchalant?” Kamui asked.

“Yeah. It just comes naturally to me. Plus I have to be somewhere later so we kinda gotta speed this up,” Hawks mentioned passively and it made Kamui roll his eyes.

“Well you’re in luck I see him now. Now I know stealth isn’t your thing exactly, but please just try to handle this carefully,” Kamui said as he started to walk towards the villain.

“Got him,” Hawks says as Kamui sees a large red feather carrying the villain through the sky, and the said Villain screams in terror as he flies through the air.

The villain was handled with care but it wasn’t until the villain was in cuffs and Hawks landed next to the police before the villain ran after him and touched Hawks on the shoulder before being pulled up.

“Have fun,” The villain said but Hawks didn’t acknowledge him. Just shouted for the police to get him out of here.

“Well Kamui it was fun but I gotta fly!” Hawks said as he waved.

“Man I hate that guy,” Kamui said as he walked away. It was once Hawks got home to rest before he met up with the fire villain known as Dabi that he received a call from Mirko.

“What’s my pretty bird up to,” she said excitedly through the phone.

“Getting ready for my date,” Hawks said automatically. It was after he said it and processed it did he realize what he said. “Wait! Forget I said that,” Hawks said, trying to not out the villain he’s meeting up with that only the hero commission knows about.

“No, you said a date! You’re going on a date and you didn’t tell me! Bitch this is tea and I want it spilled!” Mirko shouted on the other side of the phone.

This time when Hawks opened his mouth he carefully chose his words, ”look I’m meeting up with someone in secret and I can’t tell you everything but I’ll tell you when I can. I have to go now.” With that said, Hawks hung the phone up and sent a quick text to Dabi, not trusting his own mouth.

Can’t make it tonightHave to rescheduled “Shit! This means I can’t go to work tomorrow if this keeps up. Can I not lie! The commission is gonna fucking kill me,” Hawks said as he looked at himself in the mirror trying to figure out what was wrong. A quick flashback happened where Hawks remembers the villain from earlier running from the cops to just give him a brief touch.

“I thought he was crazy, but maybe. . .”

With that Hawks quickly picked up his phone and dialed for the station that handled the villain.

It was after all the formalities that Hawks asked, “What is the villain’s quirk?”

“He seemed to have a truth quirk of some kind. We believe it’s activated by touch but we’re still not fully sure.”

“Alright thank you,” Hawks answered and promptly hung up the phone.

“I’m gonna be in some deep shit soon,” Hawks said, but with no mental energy to do anything else he just changed out of his hero costume into a baggy shirt and boxers and laid in his bed, wrapping himself in not only his wings, but a cocoon of blankets as well, trying to forget about the awful day he is predicting to have tomorrow. XXXXDABIXXXX Can’t make it tonightHave to rescheduled

“He wastes my time by waiting till the last minute to text me. That just won’t do. I’ll go and figure out what he’s up to myself if he won’t tell me,” Dabi grumbled to himself on the roof of the meeting place.

“Hey, Kuroguri can ya warp me. Yeah, I’ll send you the coordinates thanks,” Dabi said calmly on the phone as he quickly hung up and texted the misty villain where he needed to go. The warp villain had no need to know that those coordinates happen to be inside the number two hero’s apartment.

“Ya know for the number two it’s really empty,” Dabi said to himself as he walked around the apartment and turned around just as the hero in question emerged from the bathroom, a pair of sweatpants on and a towel wrapped around his neck as he was lost in thought, but that changed as he exited the doorway and saw Dabi standing in his apartment like a deer in headlights.

“Dabi what the fuck are you doing here,” Hawks whispered as if they weren’t in private and coming to him as if to hide him in his wings.

“Okay first off bird brain personal space,” Dabi said as he pushed the bird hero away from him. “Second you canceled and I wasn’t having that. Not when my time was wasted and here you are just lounging in your apartment,” Dabi seethed.

“I’m not lounging I’m showering, or at least I was,” Hawks said instantly, his mouth moving without consulting his mind because of course it would while the quirk was still in effect.

“Does it look like I care exactly what you were doing? Do you think my time isn’t precious or that you can’t give me a day’s notice before saying you’re not showing up to a meeting?” Dabi asked.

“You look like you really care and your time is precious I’d prefer it if it was wasted cause that means I get to spend time with you and I really need to shut up right now,” Hawks said as he quickly put his gloved his over his mouth and oh my gosh he’s so happy that he has his gloves on right now along with a pair of thick fuzzy socks.

“Uhh, Birdie are you okay?” Dabi asked confused cause he himself have thought about making a move towards the Bird but knew he couldn’t as he was a spy.

“Nope, not at all I mean why would I be alright. I’ve been forced to work for 48 hours without a break or I would be punished and my current diet is killing me as I’ve only been allowed to eat salad and nothing else,” Hawks said as he quickly once again covered his mouth. He was revealing too much to the villain.

“Birdie what’s wrong?” Dabi asked as he carefully walked closer towards the bird to remove his hands from his mouth but the Bird wouldn’t budge. “Please tell me. Last question I ask I swear. I have more but I won’t ask anything else after you tell me what’s wrong,” and the comfort words must have worked because the hero lowered his hands and looked at Dabi with tears in his eyes.

“I was hit with a truth quirk while on a team-up mission between Woods and I.” Hawks said as he laid his head against Dabi in relief that he didn’t have to hold it in anymore. It was surprising to the villain how much it actually hurt the hero to not tell the truth right now.

It only took a minute but soon Hawks was lifted in the air bridle style with Hawks screaming at him wondering what he was doing.

“Dabi! Put me down!” Hawks shouted as he grabbed onto the villain’s neck.

“Not happening Birdie!,” The villain said happily and keeping his word he didn’t ask Hawks a question, even though he really needed to find where the Bird’s room was at, instead he opened two doors before finding the room on the third door and walking into the room and carefully placing the bird on the bed.

“Dabi what are you doing?” the hero asked, truly confused.

“You need to sleep. You just admitted to working forty-eight hours straight. Hawks that’s two days with no sleep so get some sleep and I won’t ask you anything till the morning,” Dabi told him, but when Hawks didn’t fall asleep for five minutes Dabi gave in and slipped into the bed, letting the bird cuddle him, even if he was sitting up playing on his phone. Just having someone next to him where Hawks can feel a steady heartbeat made him fall into sleep dreamland.

When Hawks awoke the next day Dabi was no longer next to him, but the pillows on that side were a mess to indicate that yes the villain did sleep in his bed last night and just that thought bought a smile to the hero’s face. It was when Hawks walked out of his room and a wonderful smell wafted towards his nose.

It was quite a sight to see the villain shirtless, scars covering his body, but he wasn’t bothered as he just added more eggs and milk towards the bowl and soaked bread in it on both sides. It was such a sight that Hawks had to rub his eyes and wack himself on his head to make sure he wasn’t dreaming.

“Oh hey your awake,” Dabi noticed as he gestured for Hawks to sit at the bar as the villain placed a plate that was made beautifully in front of him.

“I made french toast topped with whip cream and strawberries dusted with a small pinch of powder sugar and topped with syrup,” the villain said happily in his element.

“I didn’t know you knew how to cook?” Hawks said as he took a bite of the food and almost moaned in delight at how good it tasted. Hawks had never had a homemade meal like this and it was wonderfully melting in your mouth.

“Well I used to cook a lot for my family when I was younger,” Dabi said calmly as he handed Hawks a cup of coffee, and when Hawks drank the thing black Dabi was sure the hero had an evil side to him.

“Did the quirk wear off or am I still not allowed to ask questions?” Dabi asked as he continued to make himself some breakfast with things Hawks was amazed were in his kitchen and fresh nonetheless.

“Nope!” Hawks said happily and then burst into a smile “I lied I just lied the quirk has worn off!” the bird said and it made Dabi smile seeing his wings flap happily. What Dabi wasn’t expecting was for a small chirp to come out of the bird’s mouth only to quickly cover it up.

“Sorry, you weren’t meant to hear that,” Hawks said with his hands over his mouth.

“Hey Birdie look at me,” Dabi said as he put his hands over Hawks and gently got the blonde male to lower them, “Don’t ever be embarrassed by your bird noises at least not in front of me okay. Their is nothing for you to be ashamed about. You’re mutant you have bird qualities and none of them are for you to be ashamed about. All of them are just perfect okay,” Dabi told him knowing all about the mutant discrimination after all Spinner goes off about it at least once a week.

“I-okay,” Hawks said as he let out a happy chirp and it felt nice to not be reprimanded for a natural instinct.

“Who told you that those sounds were bad? And on that topic why were you working 48 hours in a row? I thought that heroes got to pick their own schedule?” Dabi asked.

And at this moment Hawks weighed out his options and fully decided to fuck it and follow his heart. “My handler. I was raised to not show any bird qualities because they aren’t normal and while normally yes hero’s get to pick their schedules I don’t make mine. Never have. My handler is in charge of that just like she’s in charge of my diet. If I truly want a sudden day off I’ll contact my assistant and she’ll do some magic but unless I let my handler know in advance and why I don’t get the day off,” Hawks explained and he was not expecting the absolute anger to come off in steam of Dabi.

“What the actual fuck Keigo!” Dabi steamed but that opened a whole new conversation for Hawks. 

“How the fuck do you know my name!?” Hawks asked shocked as he grabbed one of his bigger feathers and quickly turned it into a sword as he pointed it towards the villain’s throat, after all, only four people use that name and one of them was dead.

“Hold on Birdie one thing at a time,” Dabi said quickly trying to push the weapon away from his neck.

“Kei wait! I’ll explain just please put the feather away,” Dabi said but the feather was only pushed closer towards him, one more push and it would draw blood.

“I’M TOUYA!” Dabi finally shouts as Hawks loosens his grip just a little before tightening it and pushing it close enough towards the villain to draw blood.

“How do you know who that is! Touya is dead you can’t be him!” Keigo said tears streaming down his eyes.

“C’mon ask me something only Touya would know! Better yet  how did I know your name Kei! I didn’t mean to drag you on! You were never meant to find out! Your blood type is B, you were born on December 28th, we were going to run away together! If I knew the commission still had you under their thumb I wouldn’t have left you there. Look at my roots they are white! When we were sixteen we snuck out used my dad’s credit card and bought some cheap alcohol and got wasted! It was as we took our first sip of beer that we had our first kiss! We were seventeen in Endevarour’s car that we both said I love you to each other,” Dabi ranted just going through his memory of everything he could remember before he was tossed away.

When Hawks put his feather down Dabi felt relief flood through him and thought he was safe, he wasn’t expecting Hawks to backhand him so hard his staples almost fell off. At first, he was angry but when he got off the ground to speak he saw tears flowing down the bird’s eyes.

The next thing he wasn’t expecting was for Hawks to grab him and pull him towards himself fully locking their lips together.

“I don’t forgive you,” Hawks said harshly unlocking their lips and forcing Dabi to sit down after he was sure he turned off the stove.

“Sit your ass down and explain to me exactly what the hell you thought you were doing,” Hawks said as he glared at the villain.

“Okay a few months after my 17th birthday Enji was training Shoto a lot harder than the kid should’ve been, so I stepped in, but dear old dad was really angry at this point. I think All Might had just been rewarded or something like that so I stepped in and he got angry with me. I don’t fully remember what happened but I remember the pain of being burned alive. I woke up a few months later in a dumpster. Endeavor had killed me and thrown me away. I was helped out by a few other people on the streets and learned that Endevaror had blamed my death on a suicide. I looked at another news feed and saw you were introduced as a hero, but I didn’t see the commission anywhere near you. My mind wasn’t in the right place. Anytime I saw endeavor I saw red. I was doing anything I needed for money so yeah I was doing stuff I wasn’t proud of. Then I was hooked on things that I’m not proud of. Soon I was introduced to Shigaraki and he was a man child who threw a tantrum anytime he didn’t get what he wanted.

You looked happy as if you had moved on so I was just planning to kill my father and then myself so you would’ve never known. Then you appeared saying you wanted to be a double agent and I didn’t buy it for a second. Sure the commission sucked but you had always wanted to be a hero. Then I started to fall for you I was trying to get you far away from them but you just kept getting back in my heart.

I’m so sorry Keigo I never wanted you to find out,” Dabi said sadly with his head down in his hands.

“Touya I want to kill you so badly right now! Did you really think my life was better off without you! Hell, we talked about running away together! We talked about marriage about kids about every damn thing! We found ways to fit your siblings and your mom into our plans! How did you think I felt when Endevaror showed up on my doorstep to tell me that you had killed yourself! How do you think I feel knowing I was crying in his arms and then I was only allowed to stay at your funeral for one hour, after that the commission wouldn’t even let me visit your grave. I buried myself into becoming perfect for them I permanently killed Keigo! Natsuo and Fuyumi found me drowning in Alcohol! I was a functioning alcoholic all while being the perfect pet for the commission! I almost killed myself to be with you!” Hawks screamed at him and Touya was shocked at this revelation.

“Kei I’m so sorry!” Dabi said getting to his knees right next to his bird. “I didn’t know you were going through that! Please forgive me Kei!” Dabi begged not wanting to lose his bird again.

“Of course I’m going to forgive you! I love you! Now that I know your alive screw what the commission wants I’m not spying anymore,” Keigo said with a smile as Dabi gave him a shocked look.

“Your not?” he was confused.

“Of course not. You have a strong heart. If your with the league then they’re not evil. They might be a little misguided but not evil,” Hawks said with such confidence that made Dabi laugh at how unbelievable it was.

“I’ve changed Kei. I’m not Touya anymore I’m Dabi now. Hell half the time I can’t stand to look at myself in the mirror. I’m an asshole,” Dabi tried to explain.

“Toga. She’s in the league she’s seventeen. If someone were to break her arm and have her come back to your base crying what would you do?” Hawks asked as Dabi started to steam once again,

“Whoever hurts her I’m gonna kill em,” Dabi seethed.

“You still have a big brother complex,” Hawks said with a laugh as Dabi glared at him.

“I do not!” he said shocked.

“Do too! You’re protective. Have been since I’ve known you,” Hawks laughed as he cuddled into the villain, sending a quick text to his manager to cancel everything he has to do today.

The two spent all the way till late afternoon just catching up happy to be in one another’s presence, not letting either one know about the shit they’ve been truly been thru without the other just happy to be in the other’s presence. 

“So when do I get to meet the league?” Hawks asked and that was a conversation Dabi was not expecting to have.

“You still want to meet them?” Dabi asked his friend? Boyfriend? Partner? They’ll figure it out later.

“Of course. When we had our late-night meetups you always talked about them. I want to meet your new family. I want to get to know Dabi. I still love you but I know that you are not Touya anymore. Oh, pieces of him might be in there but your Dabi now. No more late-night meet-ups that could turn into one-night stands. No more alleyway make-out session. We go at a slow pace and get to know each other, after all, I’m not exactly Keigo anymore. We take things slow so introduce me to this new family that you’ve set yourself up with,” Keigo said with a smile as Dabi shrugged, “Sure why the hell not.”

Part 1 of Hawks and His flock

[uzumakichcined]

✮ (Tayuya)

send me ✮ for my muse to tell you exactly what they think of yours, complete honesty.

Karin sighed, knowing that this would probably have come up at some point or another. Truth forced out of her, no doubt part of some kind of twisted testing of truth serum or gas, or something else that left her unable to lie. Something to discuss with Lord Orochimaru later, as she would prefer to at least be told ahead of time if he wanted to experiment on her with something of the sort.

" She's fine. You're a fine experiment that much I can say. I wasn't involved in your experimentation so I don't know much about your file and history with Lord Orochimaru but I commend your exceptionalism if you were promoted to the sound four. Even I know of the title that was given to the most promising of the cursed seal experiments. "

Shifting her footing, it was clear she was more uncomfortable having to be honest about this of all things. " You're personality could use work. You're brash, hot-headed, loud, and angry, but you have a strong will that I can't help but admire. Not to mention you were able to stand on your own against every other experiment and sound four member to earn your place. You're physically strong, mentally . . . questionable but your defenses are not so easily broken, and emotionally while it could use work you can be reasoned with. "

Looking away by rolling her eyes to the side. " And you're not terrible to talk to even if you annoy the hell out of me and looking at you makes me uncomfortable. I haven't. . had friends before, but I'd consider you the closest I've been able to have. Even if you're just a patient more than a companion. "

[elsinorelive]

This is a response to an essay about why Stranger Things season 3 disappointed my best friend in a big way.

(I would also like to point out that there is some speculation about Season 3 being something WRONG in the whole meta of Stranger Things, like it doesn’t belong with the rest of the seasons (to the point that the banner on Stranger Things Day showed the s3 VHS tape upside down in the pile of rightside up seasons) so I’m not 100% sure that there isn’t some other time travel, alternate dimension bullshit going on in s3 to begin with)

(Also take anything I say with a grain of salt because Scoops Ahoy Stevie is literally the love of my life and I would die for his stupid truth-serumed ass)

Teenagers suck

Absolutely. Teenagers do suck. The boys being nerdy and endearing did make the first two seasons endearing. But they had to grow up a little. The structure of the story forced the party to grow up, literally and figuratively. It’s almost a year later in the show and 2 years later in real time. Yes, it overlooks a lot of the trauma of s1 and s2, like all of it, which is completely inexcusable, but MAYBE the dating and the relationship bullshit is how they’re trying to cope. They think the threat is over. El closed the gate, they didn’t have to worry anymore, and being stupid teenagers is the only priority. I also remember what it was like to be this age and start being interested in dating and shit. This is where the groups start to splinter. Couples splitting of, girls only wanting to be friends with girls, boys with boys. Dustin is preoccupied with a girlfriend that the others don’t believe exist (he only goes to Steve because the others left him alone and he knows that Steve is just as lonely as he is and is the only (pseudo)adult that knows about the UD). Max and Lucas are on again off again over and over and over. Mike and El are obsessed. Max and El are starting to have a girl friendship outside of the party and the boys. And poor Will is in love with his idiot best friend. The dynamics are changing and a lot of the story is about the how they’re trying to navigate the changing dynamics of their friendships and relationships. They still love each other, but it’s different now.

The plot was overly pandering to the audience

Yes. It was less true to what the show was about and more interested in doing what people wanted.

Redemption arcs take work and Billy’s was cheap and lazy

I could fully go on about this for fucking hours. Billy did not deserve a redemption arc. He didn’t try to do better. He didn’t work to be a better person, to make it up to his sister, to apologize to Steve for cracking his fucking skull. You don’t get redeemed by being a martyr. The Duffers tried to do this TWICE in the same show. Once to Billy who didn’t deserve the redemption and once to Eddie who DIDN’T NEED TO BE REDEEMED (I will die on this hill). Billy didn’t suffer, he was possessed and got exactly what he wanted, power and control over other people even while he was being controlled. He never showed that he loved his sister. And she didn’t get to know if he really cared about her. Fuck Billy Hargrove and the Duffer he rode in on.

Killing People

Stop killing people. Why can’t anyone just live with the consequences of their actions.

Laziness

I got nothing, season 3 was lazy. It took the best these kids had ever acted, some of the best relationships (Steve/Dustin, Steve/Robin, Murray/Alexi, Dustin/Erica, Max/El) and let them fester. Russians? C’mon man, really? What’s next, the Satanic Panic? Russians are lazy, a real world Red Scare that would spook the pants off of Ted Wheeler, something that could have been real, but that is taken down by two kids in sailor suits and a lazy chief of police in a stolen uniform. It’s boring.

(Apparently, I'll only stick up for the characterization of the kids. You're right about everything else.)

This is an essay about why Stranger Things Season 3 Disappointed me in a big way.

1) Teenagers suck

Obviously, this is an overgeneralization and a matter or preference but a lot of what made seasons 1 and 2 so entertaining and endearing was that the kids were entertaining and endearing. They were nerdy kids who loved science and each other and they got in way over their heads with some shit they should never have been involved with in the first place. This season turned them into snotty teenagers who abandon their friends and only care about dating - basically forgetting about the trauma they went through over the last two years. Dustin wasn’t even with them for the whole show! It’s unrealistic and boring.

Which brings me to:

2) The plot was overly pandering to the audience

This season was very “We’re going to take what everyone talked about in season 2 and just do it mORE”

Dustin didn’t spend any time with his friends over the course of the show because they put him with Steve Harrington at the end of last season and the audience loved it. So they did it MORE.

People loved Joyce and Hopper so they have us that but MORE.

Lucas’s little sister became an overnight icon on tumblr for the two (2) lines she had last season so they gave us her but MORE.

I adore her, I’m just trying to make a point.

And the point is that just because the audience likes these things, doesn’t mean they do anything to serve the plot of your show. It does your characters a disservice when you let the story be influenced by the people who watch rather than by the characters themselves.

People loved Billy even though he was a massive fucking shit lord so they gave us him but MORE and with some bullshit ‘redemption’

3) Redemption arc take work and Billy’s was cheap and lazy

Completely glossing over the messaging that a bad person can only be redeemed through death, and how DAMAGING that might be for people who think they’re bad, let’s look at fucking story structure. 

A redemption arc only works if a) a character is punished by the narrative, b) a character feels remorse and makes an active choice to grow c) a character is actually given the chance to grow and be redeemed.

Killing them does fuck all. Having them kill themselves does fuck all.

“But Jessie!” I hear you saying.”Maybe the remorse makes them actively chose to sacrifice themselves. And isn’t dying them being punished by the narrative?”

I am here to say NO! I martry does not a redeemed character make. Dying is fucking easy. That’s not suffering. That’s not working to be better. To do better.

As with any case of redemption arcs, it’s time to bring up motherfucking Prince Zuko.

Prince Zuko, first of all, never did anything truly heinous. He was the antagonist and sought to capture the Avatar out of some misguided attempt to do right by his people and his father. He learned. He grew. He literally felt so much remorse there is an entire episode dedicated to him feeling SICK WITH IT.

And then he spent a whole fucking season trying to make it better.

What we got with Billy was this guy threatening and harming CHILDREN, being a racist fuck, terrorizing his sister, and generally being the worst. 

Was he a victim? Sure! We got his tragic backstory and that EXPLAINED his monstrous behavior but it didn’t make him less of a monster.

I’m not saying Billy couldn’t be redeemed. He could have. But he wasn’t. And he can’t be redeemed now because he’s fucking dead.

And we’re supposed to feel bad about it.

4) Killing people

I’ve said it before I’ll say it again: killing off characters is a cheap manipulation tactic of lazy writers.

Are there death scenes that mattered? Duh! Boromir’s death is one of the most powerful in literary history. It set the tone, and launched the ships, and really made everyone sad for a long time.

Not every death is that death.

Making us like the Russian lad to kill him for no reason was cheap and gross.

Billy’s death as a kind of redemption and to make Max cry - even though she is shown to BARELY CARE ABOUT IT MERE MONTHS LATER - was bad.

HOPPER.

We know he’s not really dead which probably makes this worse.

But his character was butchered this season. Instead of doing actual police work or be shown to be doing anything smart, he was brash and stupid and wore a Hawaiian shirt. Because it was cute and funny and the audience loves Hopper. I wish they had given him some growth this season, especially because he had a kid.

And Hopper and Eleven and Hopper and Joyce: these relationships that were set up and developed last season. They completely stagnated. It’s like the writers just didn’t know what to do with these relationships. The Joyce and Hopper relationship was no longer the carefully constructed thing of the past two seasons. They got lazy and impatient and absolutely fucked it up. The thing with Eleven was more generic ‘dad deals with a teenage daughter’ thing which is tired and boring. 

That didn’t mean it didn’t fucking break your heart when you saw them react to his death. But, again, it wasn’t a real death. And it was unearned manipulation.

5) Laziness

I’ve used that word a lot so far but that’s really what this boils down to. Laziness.

The first two seasons (some would argue just the first season) were so good because they felt fresh and innovative. It was a new take on old stories: myths and urban legends like secret facilities where they nurture psychic powers and government cover-ups and monsters and alternate dimensions. It had different groups coming together to solve one mystery and they each had a little information but they didn’t have the right information for the part of the mystery they were trying to solve.

This season used fucking Russians.

Using Russians is lazy! Rehashing the same shit with the door opening to the upside down is lazy! Having the Mind Flayer cook up some half-baked revenge plot is motherfucking lazy.

I was bored watching it. I played a game on my phone through most of the last half. 

They could have brought back the other special children like 8 from last season. They could have run into another kid that had similar powers but was never part of the experiment so they just started lashing out or something. They could have made Nancy an aspiring novelist who takes inspiration from the shit with the Upside Down and when she runs out of material of real events she starts making up her own and her belief and the belief of others in this makes it manifest in the actual upside down like some kind of Tulpa.

I don’t know! Something! Anything other than what we got.

Well, not anything. At least no more women died.

But still

[captainsophiestark]

The Unholy Alliance

Daniel Sousa x Reader

Masterlist - Join My Taglist!

Written for Fictober 2022!

Fandom: Marvel

Prompt: “How would that even work?”

Summary: Daniel and Y/N have been staring at each other longingly for months, and Jack and Peggy are tired of it. So, in a moment of history in the making, the two *team up* to find a way to get their coworkers to finally realize their feelings for each other.

Word Count: 1,940

Category: Fluff, Humor

Putting work into an AI program without permission is illegal. You do not have my permission. Do not do it.

Peggy's POV

I sighed heavily and took a long, long sip of my coffee. Tea was usually my drink of choice, but some mornings, the caffeine that came with tea just didn't cut it. This was one of those mornings.

I tried to force my brain to engage, but for some reason, it refused to. I stared out at the office without really seeing it. The massive stack of case files on my desk floated into my field of vision, even though I was actively trying not to look at it, until a hissing whisper to my left made me jump and snapped me out of my haze.

"Carter!"

I turned to see Jack Thompson, Chief of the New York SSR, leaning out of his office door and whisper-shouting towards me like children did when they wanted to share a secret. I silently raised an eyebrow at him, expecting an explanation, but instead he just motioned for me to join him in his office before disappearing back inside himself.

I sighed. If I wasn't awake enough for case files, I certainly wasn't awake enough for Jack Thompson's antics. But, on the other hand, whatever seemed to be going on with him would likely prove more interesting than my stack of case files.

I stood, since I couldn't exactly ignore Jack anyway. I walked into his office and shut the door behind me, then faced Jack, who sat behind his desk and watched my every move as I crossed the room to take a seat.

"What's got a bee in your bonnet?" I asked, kicking my feet up on his desk. He scowled, but didn't say anything, which is how I knew this must be serious.

"You saw Y/L/N and Sousa too, right?"

I took a deep breath and blinked, trying to figure out what he was referencing. Our two mutual friends had been dancing around each other for a month now, both painfully oblivious that their feelings were requited, and it had been hell for the entire office to watch. After another moment of thought, I realized they'd been hovering by the coffee maker together just before my stack of files had pulled my attention away, chatting, leaning into each other, and taking every opportunity to make even the smallest of physical contact.

"Yes, actually, I did. It really is remarkable that neither of them has realized how painfully hard the other is trying to flirt, isn't it?" I mused. Jack huffed.

"Remarkable's one word for it." I looked over at him, and he met my eyes with the same intensity as any of our most serious missions. "We need to do something, Carter."

"What? Jack, you must be kidding."

"Absolutely not. I'm going crazy watching those two every day. It was funny at first, but now it's just annoying, and it's distracting the other agents. I can't imagine it'll take much to push those two towards each other, so... c'mon, let's brainstorm something."

I leaned back in my chair, processing Jack's proposal. It was ridiculous. And Y/N and Daniel would both be furious with us if they knew what we were planning. And yet...

"You know what, Jack? I'm in." I took my feet off his desk and leaned forward instead. "Let's do this."

Jack and I bounced idea after idea off each other, each scheme getting crazier than the last. I couldn't help thinking we would've been better off doing this when we were both much less tired, but it was too late for either of us to back out now.

"Alright, what if we forced them to confess to each other-"

"Carter, how would that even work?"

"It's easy! We'd get some truth serum from Howard-"

"He has that?"

"Probably! And if he doesn't already I'm sure he'd be willing to make it-"

"Carter. What if we just locked them both in the interrogation room and didn't let them out until they got somewhere?"

I stared at Jack for a few beats, then huffed as I leaned back in my chair.

"Well, I suppose if you want to do it the boring way."

****************

Y/N's POV

"Peggy, what's going on? Are you sure you're doing okay, you seem exhausted."

"I'm fine," she insisted, pulling me along as we speed-walked towards the interrogation room. "It's just an urgent case that I need you on, right now."

"Alright.... You wanna tell me anything about this guy I'm supposed to be interrogating?"

"You should know plenty already, don't worry."

I frowned and started to ask another question, but stopped short when I saw Jack standing outside the interrogation room with his arms crossed.

"You guys, you're starting to freak me out a little. What is-"

Before I could finish my sentence, Jack yanked open the door and Peggy heaved me through before I could catch myself. I stumbled into the interrogation room and came face to face with a fuming Daniel Sousa, handcuffed to the desk, as the door slammed shut behind me.

Daniel and I stared at each other for a few beats as my brain tried to process the last few moments. Finally, I straightened up and gave Daniel a bewildered look.

"What just happened?"

Daniel huffed through his nose, and even in the dim lighting of the interrogation room, I could see a furious blush rising on his neck.

"I guess Jack and Peggy got bored and decided to mess with us to cure their boredom."

I blinked at him, then turned to the now-closed door. I took a few steps forward and rattled the doorknob, but it didn't budge. Jack and Peggy had seriously locked us in here.

"Did you get arrested?" I asked, turning back to Daniel. "Is this like that whole thing when you guys arrested Peggy last year?"

"No," sighed Daniel. "I think they just... I don't know. I don't know what those two were thinking."

He stared at the floor and shook his head, momentarily lost in his own thoughts. I couldn't help staring at him, my heart picking up speed just a little bit. There were certainly worse fates than being locked in here with Daniel, as far as I was concerned.

After a second, Daniel took a deep breath and looked up at me, the blush now creeping onto his cheeks as well.

"Y/N, would you mind grabbing the key to undo these handcuffs?"

I started, mentally kicking myself for not thinking of it earlier.

"Oh, yeah, of course! Did you... happen to see where the key is?"

"Jack tossed it in the corner," he said, nodding towards the corner of the room farthest from him. "I'm gonna kill him when we get outta here."

"I'll help," I said, giving Daniel a small smile as I moved to retrieve the key. I walked back to stand in front of Daniel, and he held his hands out as far as he could for me to unlock. I tried to take deep breaths and calm my racing heart as we stood almost chest to chest, but I wasn't having much success.

I'd had a crush on Daniel pretty much since the day I'd met him. He was handsome, and funny, and a total sweetheart. Who could ask for anything more?

I carefully took Daniel's right wrist in my hand, then started trying to unlock the cuffs. My hands were shaking just a little bit, and the handcuffs were beat to hell and absolutely needed to be replaced, so it was taking much longer than I wanted it to.

"So..." I said, trying to ease the tension a little as I worked at the lock. "Any idea why Jack and Peggy did this to us? They're kind of the last people I would've expected a team-up from."

"Yeah..." Daniel sighed, and I glanced up at him to find him staring at me, an emotion I couldn't quite place on his face. "I... I don't know what they were thinking."

The lock finally clicked on the handcuff, and I met Daniel's eyes with a triumphant smile. He had a similar smile on his own face, and as we stared at each other and the moment stretched on, I became painfully aware of just how close together we were. He was officially free from the desk, and yet neither of us had moved to step away from each other. That, combined with the furious blush on his face and the way he was looking at me... the pieces finally clicked into place.

"Y/N... listen, I know this might not be a great time, since we're both locked in here for who knows how much longer, but I feel like I should tell you-"

"Daniel. I know." His eyebrows went up, and he blushed a little deeper as the realization continued to wash over me. I'd been so stressed and blinded by my own feelings that I hadn't even noticed Daniel's until now. "It took me an embarrassingly long time to see it, but... I know. And I feel the same."

"Yeah?" asked Daniel, a breathy hope in his voice.

"Yeah."

Daniel smiled, and so did I. Cautiously, he wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me closer, and I wasted no time wrapping my arms around his neck. After entirely too long dancing around each other–enough time that Jack and Peggy had actually teamed up to do something about it–we were finally doing something about our feelings. And it felt great.

My lips had just barely brushed Daniel's when the door to the interrogation room went flying open. Daniel and I whirled to find Jack standing there, holding the door wide open.

"FINALLY! Glad this plan worked and the two of you finally stopped being idiots," he said. "But the whole point of this was so none of us had to see you two being all lovey-dovey in the office anymore, so get out."

"Jack-!"

"Nope, c'mon. I'm giving you the rest of the night off to finally go on a date together, so let's go."

"Jack, that's actually... kind of sweet," I said, taking a half-step towards him. He just huffed and rolled his eyes, then held the door open a little wider.

"Yeah, whatever. I finally got Carter to go home and get some sleep, so you two just get the hell out of here so I can have a few peaceful hours of work for once, alright?"

Daniel and I exchanged knowing smiles, then headed out the door past Thompson together. We didn't waste a minute before heading out onto the streets of New York, breathing in the refreshing night air and letting the energy of the city light us up.

"So... where do you want to go?" asked Daniel, a mile-wide grin on his face. I beamed back at him as I took his hand in mine.

"I'm happy to go wherever, as long as it's with you," I said. I paused, then after a moment, continued. "But I could actually really go for some Chinese food right now."

Daniel laughed. "Alright, then Chinese food it is. And, lucky for you, my sister just turned me on to the best place a few blocks from here."

He tugged me into his side, wrapping his arm around me as we headed down the street together, deliriously happy and truly the picture of a comfortable, happy couple. It had been a long time coming, and despite the fact that I'd almost had a heart attack in the interrogation room earlier, being with Daniel now felt like the most natural thing in the world.

I'd found my soulmate, and now that we were together, I was never letting go.

[mysteriouseggsbenedict]

101 and 56 for Milligan and Mr. Benedict? :)

101: truth serum :))

sorry I didn't see the 56 so idk what it's supposed to also include but hopefully this is still good 😩

“Mr. Benedict? Are you alright?”

“No.”

Okay. Well— that was already quite the cause for concern. Milligan gave him a quizzical, worried look, searching for injuries or emotional distress. As far as he could tell, he looked…normal? Well, normal for Mr. Benedict. Tired eyes, dark circles beneath them, tousled hair and rumbled clothes from his most recent involuntary nap. A bit of artichoke dip smudged on the corner of his mouth. He’d been eating a snack. 

“I’m really tired, and my head hurts, and I thought eating something would help, but it still just— erm, I mean—”

He seemed to be struggling with what to say. 

“Oh…Rhonda— she gave me something, Milligan. I wanted to help test. And I think— I think it worked.”

Milligan raised an eyebrow.

“And…what exactly did you drink?”

Nicholas looked sheepish. “Truth serum.��� 

Ah. Well, that would explain the honesty. Milligan almost wanted to laugh. Of course Nicholas would volunteer to test Rhonda’s chemistry experiments. He sometimes displayed a worrying lack of instinct for self preservation, and coupled with extraordinary curiosity, he was prone to getting himself into situations for the sake of science. This seemed to be one of them. 

“Oh, my head is throbbing. It really— oh, I didn’t mean to say that. Hmm. Definitely working. I should go inform Rhonda.”

“Woah, hold on,” Milligan said. “You’re in a lot of pain?”

Nicholas nodded.

“Oh, I didn’t— I shouldn’t. Hmm. My head really hurts, but I want to keep working.”

Milligan was not amused.

“You should lay down. And take some medicine,” he said. “That’s usually what people do when they have headaches, you know.”

“Hmm, that’s what most people do, but I have a deflated sense of self worth that I make up for by working myself harder than would typically be considered necessary, and— oh, no, I’d like you to forget I said that, I—”

His babbling was cut off by Milligan pulling him into a hug. Milligan was rapidly realizing the implications of this little truth serum experiment. He’d known these things on some level, of course. Nicholas worked hard. He didn’t rest as much as he should. Number Two was always pushing snacks on him and Milligan would encourage naps as much as he could. Now, though, with Nicholas forced to lay his innermost thoughts bare, Milligan was getting a much clearer picture of what went on behind those warm, brown eyes.

Getting Nicholas to take care of himself could be difficult. He was stubborn. Now, though, Milligan had a new tool at his disposal.

“Would it feel good to lay down?”

“Mmm— I don’t need to. I’ll be— I’ll survive if I don’t.”

Damn him. Smart as a whip, too. 

“Yes or no, Nicholas. Would you feel better than you do right now if you laid down for a bit?”

“Yes.”

“How long did you sleep last night?”

“Four hours.”

Milligan hummed concerningly. He began to stroke Nicholas’s back, then moved up to his scalp, scratching and dragging his fingers lightly through his curls. He rubbed at Nicholas’s temples where he knew he was feeling pain. Nicholas melted into the touch like he was starved of it.

“That feel good?”

“Mhmmm….”

“Okay, honey, let’s go get some rest. And then maybe this will wear off. Do you know how long it’s supposed to last?”

Nicholas gave a skeptical look.

“It’s hard to think straight because my head hurts,” he murmured. Milligan gave him another loving squeeze and sighed.

“Okay…well, we can figure that out later. For now— bed. Or the couch. Whichever you’d prefer.”

“Couch please.”

Milligan smiled, linked their arms together, and guided him there, planning to lecture Rhonda for her part in this particular debacle. They seemed to be more powerful when plotting shenanigans together.

[the-purity-pen]

One Temptation

Pairing: Benny Miller x Will Miller x Santiago Garcia x Frankie Morales x Fem!Reader

gif is not my own. credit to the creator [ if you know who made this, please tell me so i can credit them, thanks! ]

Rating: EXPLICIT (18+ ONLY!) Warnings: Sex Pollen, Group sex, Double Penetration, Unprotected PIV (please be safe irl), cum eating, fingering, oral (f & m receiving), Anal, Shower sex, let me know if i missed anything! Word Count: 5,818 Notes: This has been in the works for MONTHS at this point and I finally feel okay releasing it to the hellsite. It’s filthy, it’s probably not perfectly canon but I love these boys and this was such an adventure to write. Please let me know what you think!

You were nervous as hell to walk into the conference room. The first day on any job is nerve wracking but even after a few weeks, you found yourself feeling like the outsider still. It wasn’t anyone’s direct fault, per say. Just a feeling you had from being the new one on the team.

The team you had been assigned to was a tight knit one. The four of them having been through all kinds of combat and missions together. Their previous team leader had gone off the rails and was forced to retire early. 

Your debriefing hadn't gone into a lot of details but the remaining men on the team seemed friendly enough. Benny and Will Miller, the brothers were such polar opposites that their interactions were always entertaining. And Frankie Morales seemed like a pretty sensible one, a lovable man with a mean streak when needed. 

And then there was Santiago Garcia. The man was generally more observant but when he spoke, he attracted the attention of an entire room. His personality was electric in a way. The way his scruff would sound as his hand ran over his jaw, deep in thought at whatever mission was being described as one that the team would be taking.

A new drug lord was suspected in Miami, carting drugs from Colombia and Bolivia. The trail had led to many dead ends but there was one loose end that your new team would be able to solve. A nightclub had been staked out and found to be smuggling drugs through some warehouse-like door in the basement. There wasn’t enough to get full intel and they needed a team to infiltrate and go undercover to gain more information.

Part of the plan was to have you, of course, dress up and play flirty with some of the bouncers and bodyguards of the club. You were extremely nervous and it apparently showed through because as much you knew these guys were good, you couldn’t help but feel like trusting them with an assignment like this was a big ask.

When the assigning officer heard your concerns, he offered up a serotonin-inducing serum. It was new on the market but was studied to have helped with team building. At least that’s what he told you. After having a short conversation with the team, you agree to all take the serum.

After taking the sticky sweet green drink, you were informed that it could take a full 24 hours for the full effect to take place. "Why don't we throw a party?" Benny chimed in with the boyish grin plastered on his face.

You stifled a laugh and shook your head. "I'm not exactly the party type," you admitted as your eyes scanned from Benny to Santi who spoke up next.

"What about just a night of beers and cheesy movies?" he offered to which all heads started nodding. "My place. Tomorrow night. Eight o clock," he added after the consensus was made.

***********

Walking up to Santiago's door had your heart thundering so loud in your ears, you were sure you wouldn't be able to hear him when he greeted you. Your hands twisted around the case of beers, hoping you had picked the right kind. You knew how these military types were picky about their booze.

"Hey! You made it!" Santi exclaimed as he opened the door and let you walk in. Your eyes took in the small apartment and noticed that you were the first to arrive.

"Am I early?" You turned around to face him as he closed the door. He shook his head with a chuckle as he moved closer to take the case of beer from you and move it to the fridge.

"Nah, they're just always late. Good choice by the way," he mentioned as he held up the case and nodded to it just before placing it in the fridge. Your arms weakly rubbed at each other, crossed over your chest.

When Santi turned back towards you, he chuckled. "You can take your jacket off, you know. I mean if you plan on staying," he cracked which made you smile. After your jacket slipped off and was placed on the back of a nearby chair, Santi held an open beer out to you.

"Thanks," you told him softly before there were more knocks on the door. The other three piled in, Will followed by Benny with Frankie bringing up the rear. Benny was already slurring and jolly, Will was just shaking his head at his brother as he greeted you. Frankie came up, adjusting the ball cap that he always seemed to wear and said hello.

***********

"Truth or Dare!" Benny cried out when a suggestion pool had started of what they should play.

Handfuls of beers had been consumed by this point and you were starting to feel more comfortable. It was also becoming apparent as you watched each of them how attractive they really were in this laid back setting.

The entire group groaned but Benny pushed forward on the couch so his elbows were on his knees. Santi had actually been oddly quiet, chewing on his lower lip as he was watching you interact.

"Alright Pope. You first," Benny held up a hand loosely gesturing at the man sitting across from him. Santi rolled his eyes and shook his head but grinned at the same time.

Will tapped Benny on the shoulder and whispered some idea into his brother's head that apparently made Benny very excited. "Ooh! Ooh! Okay okay," Benny adjusted his shoulders, shooting you a quick glance before looking back to Santi.

"Have you ever thought about-" 

"I didn't even choose which one asshole!" Santi replied with a loud laugh. Seeing his smile that wide was uncommon and you felt a small knot form in your chest at it but you stifled a snort in response.

Frankie and Will also broke out into laughter as Benny conceded. "Alright alright fine. Choose, motherfucker," he narrowed his eyes at Santi before cracking a grin himself.

"Truth cuz I'm too old and lazy to do any stupid stunts you could come up," Santi chided at his brother in arms before taking a long swig of his beer, one of the bottles of the kind that you had brought.

Benny rubbed his hands together like he was concocting some evil plan. "Alright then back to what I was asking before you so -rudely- interrupted. Have you," he paused to glance over at you, his gaze unashamedly running over your body, making you curl into yourself a bit more on the big armchair you were seated in. "Ever thought about fucking her?" He nodded his head in your direction when his gaze came back to Santi.

Your heart was back to racing in your chest as you turned your attention to Santi. Without missing a beat, Santi answered. "Abso-fucking-lutely."

You were ninety percent sure that you stopped breathing. Your eyes blinked only out of automation as your mouth became a small o shape. Your entire body felt like it was heating up in the few moments that passed.

Santi then looked at you and your entire body felt ablaze again. "Uh, what? What did I just say?" Santi seemed to have come-to from a small spell he was under. Your gaze was so focused on his face you didn't see the way the other three shifted in their seats or the way that Frankie palmed himself lightly to adjust his growing erection at the thought.

"Y-you…" Words were hard to come by and your face felt like fire and your heartbeat whooshed into your ears. Your chest heaved lightly at the sudden panting you seemed to be doing.

"Well fuck me!" Benny cried out as he laughed nervously. Will punched his brother in the arm and that's when your eyes shifted to the rest of the guys, noticing that their gazes were locked on you. It was as if you held some sort of magical answer to a question you didn't have any clue of.

Your mouth opened and closed a few times before you cleared your throat and took a nervous sip of your beer. There was only a drop. You huffed nervously. "Oh, look, I need another beer," you quickly and quietly said before pushing up out of the chair and practically running over to the kitchen.

You could hear their low murmurs, chattering amongst themselves as you rinsed the empty bottle in the sink. Your hands were a shaking mess as thoughts swirled in your mind. You squeezed your eyes shut for a second before bending to grab another beer from the fridge.

A presence against your backside made you gasp. Hands came to your hips as you slowly stood up, swallowing the large lump that had formed in your throat. You tried to clear it as you closed the fridge but the presence behind you kept their grip on your hips.

Your nose finally picked up the scent of the cologne. Santi. He leaned forward, pressing his chest to your back as one finger came up to trace a line down your neck. Instinctively your head rolled to the other side to open for his soft touch.

Your breathing was ragged and you immediately mewled when his lips took over for his hand against your neck. "I want you hermosa," his voice grumbled against your skin and you immediately felt weak. Your hands tried to focus on the beer bottle but you were slipping into euphoria.

"Santi," you heard Benny's voice come from across the kitchen. Both you and Santi turned to see all three of them moving closer. "We all want her," Benny admitted and you saw the way his tongue peeked out between his lips to wet then as his eyes seared into you.

"Guys." Your voice was weak and shaky. "I- I can't do this. It's-" your words were cut off by Santi's lips attaching to your neck again and the bottle you held was slammed down onto the counter as you gripped the edge to steady yourself.

One of his hands worked around to the front of your blouse and tugged at the buttons. You could feel the weight of him pressing against your ass and your entire body buzzed with lust. That familiar heat was starting to grow in the pit of your stomach and you knew the booze was partially to blame.

But only partially.

When your eyes fluttered open as Santi slowed his assault on your neck, you saw Benny standing so much closer. "Seriously," he said, his hand coming up to let a finger trace along your collarbone. "We want you," he told you in an uncharacteristically quiet voice before leaning in to capture your lips.

You moaned quietly against his lips, having not been kissed in far too long. You finally pushed against him and he pulled away from the kiss. "Seriously," you sloppily repeated back his words as you scooted to the side out of Santi's grasp.

A piece of paper was on the island counter that caught your attention. The red lettering at the bottom looked familiar. Your curiosity piqued and you moved closer to pick up the paper to read it.

Known side effects include but are not limited to: sudden panting, decreased morality judgement, increased appetite, increased sexual desire and libido…

You blinked as Santi rounded the corner of the counter to you. "Fuck," you muttered quietly to yourself as you noticed his movements and came around the other side to only be greeted by Frankie, who's tanned skin on his cheeks was flushing slightly.

"Did anyone read this?!" You asked, panicked and looked at all of them one by one.

"What is it?" Benny asked, not fully caring what it was.

You moved closer to Frankie to hold it up. His eyes tried hard to focus on the words as he took the paper from you. "It's the fucking side effects to the serum, man," Frankie spoke aloud as he too paused at the one about sexual desire. "Shit," he muttered as a hand came down to his crotch to adjust himself.

"Well what are they?" Benny asked impatiently as he eyed you walking across the floor to the living room. Santi moved over to Frankie to take the paper and read it over. Will was watching you along with his brother as your hips swayed as you paced the living room floor.

"Fuckin' increased sexual desire? What the shit is that? Why would they give this to us?!" Santi yelled but realized that all eyes were on you as you breathed heavily. Your arms were crossed over your chest and one hand was at your lips, tugging at them, trying everything in your power to keep yourself distracted from looking over at your team.

“Hey,” Santi called your name with furrowed brows. “You alright?” he questioned as he moved closer. Your mind was reeling but your body was convulsing with need, with want. It felt like a fire had been lit from deep within your belly and no amount of pacing or trying to think straight was going to smother it.

Santi’s hand on your shoulder made you jump, too wrapped up in your own body and thoughts to notice how close he had gotten. He was standing directly in front of you and your eyes were darting around his features. Your nose flaring with each pant of a breath you tried to take. His own eyes were trying to take in every movement of your face to see what was going on but he was far too distracted by the parting of your lips.

“Santi.” His name came out as a breathless whimper as you looked at him. Within a moment his hand was on the back of your head and his lips were pressing hungrily into yours.

You heard movement in the kitchen and into the living room but Santi’s lips had moved to your neck and all thoughts were gone. The burn in your body was glowing brighter, threatening to combust when he bit down on the conjunction of your neck and shoulder.

Suddenly another pair of hands were groping at the globes of your ass through your jeans. A groan in your ear that wasn’t Santi had your eyes fluttering. One of your hands was holding the back of Santi’s head, scratching his scalp lightly. Your other hand dipped behind your back and down, groping at what you found to be a very hard cock in someone’s jeans.

Benny’s groan came clear into your ears. “God, you’re so hot,” he muttered which made you release a small shuddering breath. Benny pressed against your back, his hands roaming over your body wherever Santi’s wasn’t.

Your body was already feeling on fire, like every touch was electric. The way Benny’s lips moved over the shell of your ear as Santi worked your clothes off. You were turned into Benny’s arms. He chuckled as he looked down at your wrecked face. “You look absolutely amazing,” he cooed softly, something you didn’t know he was capable of.

Your head turned as Benny kissed along your neck and you saw Will standing with his pants pulled down to his knees and cock in hand. You swallowed thickly as Santi kissed up your thighs and over your mound, his fingers tracing lines up your legs.

“Fuck I need to taste you,” Santi mumured as he pushed your hips a bit wider. You groaned and leaned back against Benny who held you up and slid his hands up under your shirt to grope at your breasts. You turned to see Will still stroking himself quietly at the sight before him. Watching you become totally undone was intoxicating.

Another pair of hands were on your body, taking over groping your breasts as Benny pulled your shirt up over your head. You could barely register that you were completely nude in front of your team as Santi’s tongue ran over your folds, groaning at the taste. When his lips wrapped around your bundle of nerves, the third pair of hands were gently caressing and rolling your nipples.

A blinding hot streak ran through your body, straight down to your toes. The way Santi licked into you causing your thighs to tremble. You managed to look down just in time to see Frankie’s head kissing at the swell of your breast.

The more their hands were on you, the faster their movements became, the needier they seemed. The burning ache in your body only seemed to grow as Benny gently guided you backward until you fell onto his lap. At some point he had released his erection. Santi crawled to try to reattach his lips to your core but Benny was quicker and slipped himself into your soaking folds with barely any hesitation.

You cried out as Benny filled you and started to thrust up into you, his hips snapping against your ass. Santi groaned. “Benny you fuckin’ cabron,” Santi muttered and Benny just chuckled in your ear as he nibbled on it. 

“Babygirl, what feels better, Santi’s mouth or my cock? Hm?” Benny asked as his eyes bore into Santi who glared at him but palmed his own length anyways. Frankie moved closer and tried to kiss the other side of your face.

Your mouth was flopping like a fish and you couldn’t create enough saliva to speak. Instead you whined as Santi kissed at the inside of your knee, his hand more furious on his cock now. Will was standing close by, just watching everything but focusing on how wrecked your face was as his brother pounded into you.

Frankie was gentle but groaning against your skin as he tried to capture your mouth into a heated kiss. You kissed him wantonly, your moans filling his mouth and he greedily swallowed every sound. “Hermosa, please take my cock,” Frankie moaned into your mouth and without opening your eyes you nodded.

Benny continued to thrust up into you in haste as Frankie climbed over the arm of the couch and stood so that he could line his cock up. He ran it along your bottom lip, soaking him in your saliva and waiting for you to open before thrusting into you tentatively. You swallowed around him and he groaned at the sensation of your warmth around him.

Benny kept at you, thrusting harder and faster until you were crying out around Frankie’s cock. Frankie and Benny released their loads into you at the same time and you were close to your own but Benny softened and you lost the peak that was building.

You whined and Santi slapped Benny’s thigh. “Let me at her,” he said while standing up. Benny gently lifted you off of him and you whined at the loss of contact. You let go of Frankie’s cock with your mouth after you had cleaned him of all of his cum. He leaned down and gave you a soft kiss, licking into your mouth slowly and groaning at the taste of himself before he was helping you lie down on the couch. Frankie moved himself off the couch as Santi moved to hover over you and plunged his cock right into you.

Your back arched off the couch as you reached up and grabbed at Santi’s shoulders. “Fuck!” you cried out as Santi fucked into you with reckless abandon. You were soaked between your arousal and Benny’s cum and it made Santi twitch hard as he fucked you mercilessly into the couch. The girth of him stretched you differently than Benny had and you mewled and moaned at the sensations, letting Santi’s name fall from your lips like a chant.

“Please! I need to cum!” you screamed as a burning heat grew in the pit of your stomach and threatened to overtake your entire body. Your begging encouraged Santi as the other three looked on. Benny was already hard and leaking again and when your eyes met his, his hand stroked so hard he came all over the floor with a loud moan. Santi leaned over and bit at your collarbone, causing you to cry out as you clenched down around him, hard.

Your entire body was writhing and pulsating as you came harder than you had in a long time around Santi. That put him over the edge and with a few more solid, hard thrusts into you, he stilled and pushed further into you to spill into you. Within moments you felt the dripping between your thighs and you moaned quietly.

Santi leaned down to capture your moan and his lips slid against yours as he thrusted carefully into you, the burn in his body already growing again. “Pope c’mon man,” Frankie said quietly as he moved to pull Santi off of you. “Gotta give someone else a turn,” Frankie patted Santi’s shoulder firmly as you tried to catch your breath. Santi leaned down for another soft kiss before pulling slowly out of you.

Your body jolted at the sudden loss and both men stopped to stare. “Fuck,” Frankie muttered, causing both Benny and Will to move around to see their view. The cum was dripping steadily from your still fluttering cunt and every pair of eyes was mesmerized by the sight.

“Baby you are making a mess,” Santi said, wanting to lean in and clean you up but you put your hand out as a gesture for all of them to give you a minute. Your breath finally calmed down enough for you to be able to respond.

“I…. did…. nothing,” you panted and chuckled but the laugh made the cum dribble out of you even more and you moaned quietly at the sensation of two of your teammates cum dripping from you. Will’s nose twitched as his hand continued to slowly work his cock. The burn inside him was growing but he was a patient man. Always had been.

You lifted your head to look at them and gave a weak smile. They all looked at you with lust-blown eyes but Santi and Frankie were the ones to give you a smile back. “You okay?” Santi asked, his hand gently grazing your ankle in a caressing motion.

You nodded and looked at him. “Yeah. I think. For now,” you chuckled but soon felt your body heat up again. It was a dull ache but you tried to sit up to quelch it. Santi and Frankie both reached out for your arms to help you sit up. “I think maybe I should go shower,” you mentioned and they both nodded before standing up. Their cocks were at eye level for a moment and you felt your mouth water and wanting them both in your mouth at the same time.

They helped you up and your legs definitely felt like jello. You nearly crumbled and Santi and Frankie looked at each other with worry then looked at you as they tried to hold you up. “I got her,” a stoic low voice came from beside you as Will moved closer. He leaned over and wrapped his arms around your waist and lifted you up with ease.

You giggled quietly but having his warm body pressed against your was making the fire within you grow again. You tucked your head into his neck and breathed in his scent. You couldn’t help the way your lips pouted and you kissed gently along the skin of his neck. He groaned low in his throat.

“Sweetheart, please,” his voice pleaded before he was in the hall and pressing your back up against the wall slowly. His hands grabbed at you to hold you better as his hips pressed into you.

“Will, please,” you whimpered when his teeth found the side of your neck and sank in. You felt the way he growled against your skin and the fire was spreading wildly through your veins again.

Will grunted as he pulled himself back just enough to stroke as his cock and line himself up. With a slow and steady push, he impaled you and filled you. The girth of him stretched you but the slight sting of pain gave way to even more pleasure as he started to thrust.

Each thrust earned him a soft moan from your lips and he couldn’t help but kiss you. His hands were pawing at your chest, twisting your nipples and he watched as your face contorted in pleasure and you cried out against him. “Fuck! Please! Harder!” you begged and didn’t care who heard you. Besides, it was high time it was Will’s turn. The man was the quiet type, strong and sturdy but with his lack of talking in many of the group settings, you weren’t sure of his opinion of you.

But as he pistoned in and out of him, faster and harder with each snap of his hips up into you, you were pretty sure you knew where he stood in his opinion on you. “Fuck, so tight,” he muttered against your lips as he kissed you bruisingly. A clash of teeth and tongues and lips. It was messy and needy but you wanted more.

Will grabbed at your back, his large hands splayed over your now hot skin as he pulled you away from the wall. He stood in the middle of the hall, his shoulders pulled back as his hands snuck down to try holding you under your legs. You held him around the neck until he had a good hold of you again and it was then that he rocked your world even harder.

He fucked up into you with a relentless pace, hitting that spot within you with ease, his cock moving along the shared juices of yours, his brother’s and Santi’s. But all he could focus on was how wrecked your face looked. Your jaw was slack, seemingly permanently so, your eyes rolling back as your head lolled back in pleasure.

Wanton cries were ripped from your chest as he grunted and held you up. Suddenly you felt a second pair of hands come to your ass and massage the flesh. A scratchy beard appeared at your back as sloppy kisses were given to the skin there. “Que linda,” Santi’s voice came in a growl as he watched you get fucked by Will.

“Santi,” you said breathlessly and Will fucked you harder to get your focus back on him. He captured your lips in a heavy kiss, one that forced your mouth into an “o” shape around his tongue as he greedily licked into you.

Santi was busy watching Will’s cock pump in and out of you, his hands still massaging at your ass. His thumb rimmed the hole of tight muscle, moving with each movement that Will was forcing on your body and you moaned a bit louder. Santi looked up at you. “Do you want to be filled, querida?” he asked and he waited until you nodded.

When you did, you mewled as his thumb pressed against the tight hole, slipping one knuckle in. You cried out even at the small intrusion, the way even just that little motion filled you even more. “More!” you cried out and you heard both men curse under their breaths.

Will fucked you relentlessly still as Santi pulled his thumb out, to which you whined in protest, just so he could spit all over his hand. He used his free hand to try to spread your ass cheeks a bit. “Will, man, stop for a second,” Santi commanded and Will obeyed, holding you down onto his cock.

Santi moved one finger into you and you couldn’t help the pained groan that came from you. “Good?” Santi checked in and when you nodded and bit your lip, he started moving his finger within you. He looked over your shoulder at Will and nodded and Will resumed moving.

You choked out a sound as your entire lower body started to clench up. “Oh, she’s close,” Santi praised, his smirk so evident just in the tone of his voice. He leaned down and bit at the soft flesh of your ass at the same that Will leaned into to bite at your collarbone. The dual biting did you in.

You cried out as they fucked you through your orgasm, both sets of muscles clenching down around them. Your lower stomach fluttered and your chest heaved as your mouth lay open in a pant, your eyes screwed shut. Will was close behind and fucked you through your high until he reached his own. When he pushed up into you, stilled with a groan, Santi stopped moving too.

You finally caught your breath and felt yourself come back to reality. Your body was spent, completely but also completely sated. Will carefully pulled you off of his softening cock and the moment your feet hit the ground, all you could feel was all of their cum slipping down your thighs.

Santi moved with you both and released his hand from you and saw you dripping. “Fuck, you’re a mess,” he muttered in a groan. You nodded, your arms still wrapped around Will’s shoulders. Will grunted and wrapped his arms around your waist, bringing you to your tiptoes so he could walk you back towards the bathroom.

Once in the room, Will and Santi worked together to strip you down, one moving and the other acting as your balancing stabilizer. Your eyes were heavy and your body felt like it was made of jello as you attempted coherent thoughts. You were naked, in a room with two men who you found extremely attractive. One of whom was leading you into the shower that had at some point been turned on.

“You got it?” Will asked softly as his hand lingered on your lower back as you held yourself up with your arm against the shower wall. You nodded slowly, your head feeling heavy. You let the warmth of the water just cascade over your back and tried to let it soothe you.

You tried to let your mind relax but there was a burning ache that felt it was far off in the distance. You could hear Santi and Will talking quietly but the roar of your heart in your ears combined with the water rushing over you made them also seem far away.

As you slowly started to wash up, your soapy hand brushing over your very sensitive clit, you yelped as a bright flame lit within you. “Fuck!”

Will and Santi immediately rushed up and opened the curtain to see you rubbing at your clit furiously. “What is it?! Are you okay?!” Santi asked in a hurried, worried tone.

“I need - fuck! - I need,” you whined as you squeezed your breast with your other soapy hand and felt your nipple immediately stiffen. Will was first to step into the shower behind you. His large hands came over your breasts as he held you against him.

“What do you need? Tell me. We’re here,” he spoke lowly in your ear, nibbling at the flesh as Santi pulled the curtain a bit on the opposite side to watch. 

“I need to cum!” you screamed as one of Will’s hands came down behind you and his thick fingers ran through your folds. The fire within you was burning brighter by the second and it was almost painful.

“How do you want to cum? On my fingers or my cock?” Will asked and Santi chewed his lip as he watched you writhe against Will.

“Your face. I need your tongue on me. Now!” With your command, Will turned you and dropped to his knees without hesitation. Santi reached out and put his arm up behind your back so you wouldn’t fall.

Will shoved his face against your cunt, licked a broad stripe through your folds before his mouth closed over your clit. You whined out and Santi quickly slipped himself into the shower behind you. His hands wrapped around your breasts and tweaked your nipples. Your head fell back against his shoulder as the warm water cascaded over your chest and stomach.

Your hips moved against Will’s face as his mouth attached to your clit, his tongue licking and flicking as if you were a hard candy. His hands remained on your hips and he used just his tongue to work you up and within a minute there was a gush coming from you and spilling all over his face.

Santi peeked over your shoulder. “Holy shit baby. You just soaked him and not from the shower water,” Santi told you and turned to kiss your cheek. He was oddly proud and smirked against your wet skin as he whispered more praises into your ear, letting your body come back.

Will stood up and let his face get wet from the shower before he held onto your hips and kissed your chest softly, letting the water run down his face. He stood up and wiped the water off with one hand before looking at your blissed out face. “Are you back?” he asked and when you nodded slowly, both men looked at each other and chuckled. “Are you good? Like do you need more or-?”

You shook your head with a blissed out smile on your face. “I think it’s gone,” you told him and you felt Santi kiss along your cheek and down to your neck. “Though if you keep doing that Santi, I might not ever want you to stop,” you laughed weakly and moved your head to the side to allow him more room.

“Who says I want to stop querida?” he mumbled against your skin and you hummed contentedly. Will took the opportunity to actually wash your body with soft, gentle touches. He washed his own face then looked at you and Santi together and felt a new kind of pull in his chest.

“We could do this again… right?” Will asked softly and both you and Santi opened your eyes and straightened up to look at him. You chewed your lower lip and your head turned to look between the two men as the shower continuously rained down on all of you.

When you didn’t speak, mostly from not being able to find the words, Santi spoke instead. “Yeah man. I mean, if she’s down for it, then I’m down for it. I like you Will, you know that. And you,” he turned to lean in to kiss your cheek again. “I don’t think I could get enough of you now that I’ve had you,” he told you and nuzzled into your neck as his arms wrapped around you again. Will stepped forward and wrapped his arms around both your and Santi’s shoulders together and the three of you sat like that until the water ran cold.

[postmodernmulticoloredcloak]

I decided to watch the Walker pilot so you don’t have to. #1

I don’t know why I’m doing this, but I’m doing this and the more I put it off the less I’ll want to do this. So. Let’s start.

The fist thing we see is Jared Padalecki, em Walker, driving. He’s vaguely smiling and there’s the sun behind him. He seems happy. He’s driving a truck, for some reason my mind goes to Twilight. I’d rather watch that. At least there are vampires (not dressed like clowns) there. Anyway. Walker is meeting someone. He’s meeting his wife! “Look at you!” she says. The camera makes us look at him. He looks like this

I am unsure whether we’re supposed to see this as sexy or cool. It looks frankly ridiculous. I don’t know if I’m just not American enough to appreciate the aesthetic of this. But I didn’t go through 15 seasons of Americana-in-British-Columbia for nothing. If a character appeared like this on Supernatural, it wouldn’t be presented seriously. It would be played for a chuckle or in a light-hearted way at least. Not even Dean Winchester would find this hot.

The Padaleckis tell something to each other. Apparently he needs to go home with the kids and his parents because it’s game night. My mind immediately goes to Game Night the episode and I am sad now. But Walker lifts my mood in its own weird way.  He doesn’t know the rules because every time she tells him the rules, he blacks out. I would make a fun quip about this, but the truth is that I relate to him a lot right now because I blacked out during the entire scene. I’m not sure what they said other than the game thing because I wrote it here. I already forgot the rest.

Anyway. What we’re supposed to get from this scene that they’re Very In Love (see that soft warm light?), and that he’s anxious because he’s not great at being a father because he’s shit at games apparently, but his wife is like ~don’t worry so much~ because she’s a kind, understanding wife. He tells her to be safe, because the Texan countryside is dangerous or something. She needs to stay on a route he approved for some reason. Is she traveling with supersoldier serum in her car? Is Hydra going to murder her? [cue the Marvel snipers shooting me to death because they don’t want Marvel to be associated to this]

Later, everyone is having fun playing fake monopoly, but Walker (whose mannerism is just Jared, he’s not even trying) is apparently too stupid to understand a game for kids. Plot twist, this is anti-cop propaganda because it says cops are dumb.

“Et tu Brute” Jared says when the kids point out he broke a rule so they get an extra turn. I thought I was safe from hearing Jared speak Latin! I thought I was safe! I am never safe!

Emily (Gen) suddenly texts him “SOS. Answer” which is OMINOUS! Oh my god! Aren’t you feeling the tension. The rest of the family keeps playing fake monopoly. Someone throws dice. Are we supposed to go “oh! The dice are ~symbolic because someone’s playing dice with her life” or have I been watching too much good tv.

She is running somewhere in the countryside, wearing a white shirt (is this the cowboy lady equivalent of the Wife Nightgown?). She says something is not right. He’s worried. Then he hears gunshot and her scream. He does the Alarmed Jared face, presses lips together and does a Upset Jared face.

Then he goes out, tries to call her again, and again, does a Jared Upset Sniff--

Oh! We actually see her! She’s alive, but she’s been shot in the stomach. Her white shirt is definitely the cowboy lady equivalent of the Wife Nightgown! Ah the blood coming from the stomach! How terrible! Her phone is ringing but she cannot reach it. She is definitely alive right now, though. She’s breathing heavily because of the wound, which is breathing, which is the opposite of being dead.

He decides that she’s dead, and lets out the already infamous manly scream of anguish.

It would be sad if it wasn’t that literally one second ago we saw her wounded but alive. Her turning out alive in the season finale or so will shock everyone. Nobody will have seen it coming. Who wrote this? They should have just shown the ringing phone and her bloody hand/side, making the audience assume she was dead, instead of showing her breathing. Now the audience is gonna assume she didn’t actually die, and wonder “why didn’t he call someone or went looking for her” but apparently Jared’s characters have forgotten that, like, ambulances are a thing. Jared’s manly screams of anguish are more important than common sense.

I’m not going to say anything about the manly scream of anguish. I’m not going to say anything about the manly scream of anguish. I’m n

We’re just 4 minutes in, guys. Why am I doing this?

Eleven months later, says the screen.

It’s night, outside a house. The son is waiting for him. The daughter doesn’t think he’s coming. On the porch there are two men, one is his brother and one is apparently his former partner, now new boss. He’s dressed like you’d expect a normal person to be dressed in a casual Texan night, hat and tie and all. If you are law enforcement in Texas and don’t wear a cowboy hat at any moment, you will be executed. That’s what the death penalty in Texas is for.

Somebody arrives, but to the kids’ disappointment is some dude whose function is to tell us the men’s names. The brother is Liam, the cop dude I forgot.

Walker is being sad on the back of his truck and drinking alcohol, which is the only way television can express a man having trauma. Holy shit - he reminisces of his wife like this is some emotional Lord of the Rings scene in a place where Elves live except this is not the Lord of the Rings and is just ridiculous, look

She’s seen running towards the gazebo, then she turns

This is exactly shot like the scene where Arwen has a vision of her son. Flowy hair and all. I cannot take this seriously.

He smiles sadly. Then a cop car arrives.

Mexican Lady Cop(TM), whose function in the story is to be a Mexican Lady Cop(TM) asks for his licence since he’s drinking alcohol in a public place.

“You ask so nicely” drunk Walker says. Ew. “Yeah, they train the girls special” Oh! Can you see? She is the Feminist Icon who Takes No Shit from the Dude! I’m so excited. I am slowly losing the will to live.

She drives him home on the police car. His legs don’t fit. At least this is realistic.

He does exposition in the car, including “I needed to visit a ghost instead”. There-there was no need to say it. What’s the demographic they’re aiming for? Five year olds? Do they have to spell everything out loud?

“It’s been a while since I had an actual conversation” he says, which supposedly explains why he’s making awkward exposition, but it’s just bad writing. At least they acknowledge it’s bad writing.

She figures he’s law enforcement coming back from an undercover mission from some drunken ramble he makes. This is worse than the Sherlock phone cable port thing.

She says she just got promoted from state trooper, ehe she will work with him wink wink nudge nudge. Is she going to be a cop-buddy-character slash love interest except when they’re almost about to realize they’re into each other, his wife comes back and draa~ama? I can already see it.

He goes home, makes some Jared grunts, and falls asleep on the couch.

Next morning, he goes out and jogs to where he left the truck. He puts on a cowboy hat which is supposed to be an artistic shot.

I’m slowly dying. He makes some Jared Deep Breaths, at least this made me laugh.

Wait, he’s now wearing a black hat. He’s in mourning, see? What.

He drives to his father’s ranch. His father is Super Not Impressed. It’s awkward. They took about horses. Mitch Pileggi is thinking that at least the other show was more exciting and there was Jensen Ackles in it.

He gets into his parents’ house and the dogs run to him, he does the Jared Dog Chuckle. He hugs his mom. He hugs his son - “August, my boy!” he says, like a normal person his age says.

He hugs his brother and they joke-wrestle and he says “I’m still the big brother” and did I mention I’m dying inside. I just can tell this is SUPPOSED to be reminiscent of Dean and Sam’s first meeting at Stanford in the pilot except Jared is the big brother now. Ew.

We learn that the brother is a DA and gay. All pilots suffer from Forced Exposition Syndrome but it’s like this isn’t even trying.

He goes to work and hugs (very manly hug of course) his friend-now-boss, who is called James. James asks him if he’s good and he’s like yeah I’m good, which our I’m Fine Lie Moment #1. Some things never change.

Enter the case of the week - a cop offered roadside assistance but he was assaulted. We’re already starting with a “Oh No Poor Cop :( Someone Doesn’t Like Cops And Gets Violent” plot. Yay.

Ta-da! Mexican Lady Cop appears, cowboy hat and all. James says she’s Walker’s new partner. My heart cries while Walker says “figured you’d be a guy” and she replies “so did my mom”. The feminism is so strong :’) She’s such a strong female character :’) I’m so happy :’)

Then Walker makes such a quintessential Jared thing with his mouth that I need to stop this here and take a break.

It’s been 13 minutes. So much still to go. I’m bored. Why am I doing this.

[wesimpforxiao]

Say My Name and I’ll Be There: 9.3

Childe elected to ignore your groan of pain when he yanked you to your feet.  "No hard feelings, comrade."

"I-I'm gonna kill you," you breathed.  "I'll kill you and that damned witch if it's the last thing I do."  A cold hand pressed to your side while the harbinger threw your other arm over his shoulder to escort you inside.

"I suppose I'll have to train you then if that's your goal."

He wasn't joking; the two of you would remain at a stalemate until your strength grew.  He taught you--what you assumed was--almost everything he knew, though for you to reap the full benefits of his knowledge would take years of training.  Despite this he pushed you over and over again, every day, after the wound he gave you closed.  He didn't give you the courtesy of healing completely before initiating fights with you.  He didn't go easy on you either--but it's not like you would've wanted him to in the first place.  At least your sparring sessions gave you an outlet to take out your frustrations on.

You didn't count the days that passed.  You didn't call for Xiao.  You didn't rely on him to save you when all is said and done.  It was time to rescue yourself; if you overran the palace on your own, then other nations wouldn't need to get involved on your behalf.  If the palace fell, no one except you would be held responsible.  You were okay with that.  If it meant Xiao, Aether and Zhongli would be excluded from the wrath of the cryo archon, then your struggles were more than worth it.

Yet with every passing day, more and more Fatui agents were injected with the serums that contained your blood--and survived.  The only thing that made their successful adaptation possible was the sealing of your and Xiao's bond.  With that thought in mind, you were growing increasingly impatient.  You were the one that insisted upon training for most of the day, not Childe.  You were the one looking for a fight.

"Why're you doing this?"  You asked one day while your hand absently trailed down to the fresh scar on your side where he had impaled you.

"Doing what?"

"Training me.  Isn't it a stupid move to train someone how to fight when they're intent on killing you?  If I was you, I would've just let me bleed out in the snow back then."

"If I didn't train you, I would be missing out on one of the best fights of my life."

"Is that supposed to flatter me?"

"It's the truth.  Where else am I supposed to find a worthy opponent?  At my current power level, I'd have more luck with creating one."  Childe conjured his bow and twirled it in his hand, seemingly debating something that was on his mind.  "With your improved skills, I think we'd be able to take the other harbingers."

You froze.  "What?  Why would you say that?  Whatever happened to your undying loyalty?"

"My loyalty for the Tsaritsa and my respect for my coworkers are two entirely different matters.  What I really care about is fighting.  It's been so long since I've had an exhilarating battle, even after Aether showed up.  I would give anything to feel that thrilled again.  And that, dear ojou-chan, is where you come in."

"I'm not fighting you for the thrills.  I will kill you, I'll make sure of it."  It's insulting that he'd even look at your anger as a type of entertainment!  The nerve of this guy--

"Well until then I think we could stir up quite the trouble, you and I, don't you think?"  His eyes finally left his weapon and locked onto you.

"...What exactly are you implying, Tartaglia?"  Narrowed suspicious pupils returned his mischievous ones.

He didn't answer, instead leaving you with an ominous smirk and returning to the palace walls.  Why should you trust a word that fell from his mouth after the Lantern Rite stunt he pulled?  Maybe a small part of you wanted to believe he had some inkling of good in him, but you forced that wishful thinking down into the depths of your soul.  Childe betrayed you so many times; it was in his nature to do so.  He would never be done deceiving you either.  You were sure of it despite the doubts that weighed on your mind.

.........................

"Bow before Her Majesty, the Tsaritsa."  La Signora crossed her arms over her chest when you just glared at the dark throne that sat beneath the shadows.

"I think not."

The clicking of the harbinger's heels echoed in the silent room as everyone held their breaths.  No one dared stand up to the cryo archon; it was unthinkable, even considered treason to question her actions.  This would be the first meeting with the god since you formed a contract with her.  And yet despite your quivering knees, you didn't remove your disrespectful glare from the throne.

"I wasn't asking."  Fingers gripped your chin and forced you to look Signora in the face at an uncomfortably close distance.  "You know the drill.  Bow."

A beat of silence hung heavily in the air and then an awkward cough came from one of the Fatui advisors to your far right.  You didn't blink.  "Did I stutter?"

Signora's lips curled into a half-amused smirk before her fingers let go of your chin and were replaced by a palm slapping you instead.  Her nails broke skin, but your expression never changed even when the stinging pain rang through your ear.  "Have you forgotten who you serve?"

"She's not my god."

"Maybe not the one you worship, but I am the one you serve," the Tsaritsa leaned forward from her place on the throne and gestured for the Fair Lady to return to her side.  "Tell me, why did you request to see me?"

A quick glance was sent Childe's away as if to check yourself.  You had decided it best to at least try the peaceful way out before throwing yourself into a suicide mission.  If worse came to worse, at least you'd be able to put your new knowledge to the test.  "I'm no longer working for you."  The archon's silence urged you to continue.  "You don't need me here anymore.  You got what you wanted.  I'm going to return to Liyue."

"Is that so?"

"I will leave regardless of your answer."

"And you think I'd just let you walk out of here after all I've done for you?"  The temperature dropped, but it displayed an emotion that you couldn't put your finger on.  "I gifted you your vision, spared your life and that of your friends, and you insult me in return?"

What is this feeling of dread in my stomach?  Your fists tightened and you took a deep breath to steady your nerves.  "The trials are over now that Dottore's injections work.  That was our deal, was it not?  You want to break our contract?  I thought you were more credible than that," you tested.

"I know what you've been thinking," the archon's thin lips formed a sinister grin.  "I know you're plotting to cause an uproar, and I am telling you now that you will fail.  Heed my words, Mezzetin, you are and always will be under my control."

"Wh-What did you just say...?"  Your heartbeat drummed loudly in your ears and you knees felt like they would give out beneath you.  This...This happened before.  When did she say that?  Where did I hear these words from?  Cold, desolate eyes watched you carefully as the room spun beneath your feet.  "Stay...away..."

"You work for me, not the other way around.  If you leave now, I'll give the order to kill those friends of yours.  You're not done until I say you're done."

"You wouldn't--!"  Bile burned the back of your throat, and a shaky hand covered your mouth in case you suddenly couldn't hold it in.  "You...you..."  An unsettling realization came to light.

"Do you understand the position you're in, Mezzetin?"

"It was...You gave me those nightmares!  Those were all you?"

"You don't think I'm oblivious to your desires, do you? You will always be under my control."

"If you dare touch him I'll--!"  Hundreds of shards manifested behind you and simultaneously shot at the throne.  The more that shattered against the seat and back wall, the more that manifested and replaced them.  

The ones that barreled nearest to the Tsaritsa diverted their path and shattered against the back wall like they had a mind of their own.  Signora used her catalyst to redirect the remaining shards to you.  Luckily none of them landed a strike on your skin, but a charged arrow of Childe's landed before your feet and you slipped on the forming ice.  His hydro blade was immediately at your throat, along with Signora hovering over you with an annoyed look on her face.  The three of you were surrounded by Fatui officers in an instant; despite their capabilities, they were slower than the harbingers.

"If she makes a move, kill her," the archon calmly ordered, completely unbothered by the commotion.

Signora had her men drag you away to the all-too familiar exit that led to the cells beneath the palace.  They forced your head forward so you didn't see the Tsaritsa recline back in her seat and into the shadows.

The archon swiped her finger across her pale cheekbone and warily inspected the fresh blood that had run down the side of her face.  I missed one?  One of your shards did manage to hit her.  Such a measly attack shouldn't have injured me, she thought as she stared at her fingers in awe and concern.  While your power had grown to a certain extent thanks to Childe's training, it was by no means anywhere near equivalent to his--much less equivalent to a god's.  Your strikes, while powerful, shouldn't have been able to hurt the cryo archon.  Yet here she was, staring at the blood you drew from her.

She recalled the wild look in your eyes when you decided to attack her.  Such a beautiful, pitiful sight that held an immeasurable lack of sanity and rational thought.  Your rage was feral, but just like a wild animal, so was your fear of being caged.  She could see it in your stance;  you were all bark and little bite.  The soft interior within her hardened heart actually admired your bravery...only a little, though.  If she were to achieve her goals, that flame of admiration would quickly be extinguished since it had no place in such a cruel world.

Her thumb smoothed over her bloodied fingers while she thought quietly to herself.  It shouldn't have been possible to harm her.  Not on your own, not even with your vision.  It was then that it dawned on her the true meaning of your bond with Morax's sole-surviving warrior adeptus.

So this is the power of the Vigilant Yaksha.

[aelingalathyniusrailme]

If you find me on the edge, we’ll jump together.

Pirate au pt 4

azriel was so insanely close to sucker punching berdara. but unfortunately the bargain forbid him from hurting her until after they found the huge hall

he was heading towards his own ship when gwyneth stopped him. “pick your best men I can fit 5 maximum of you on my ship” 

“and why exactly are we taking your ship” 

“and why are you determined to be difficult” he nearly laughed at that, him difficult when she had spent the last 10 minutes toying with him at every chance. 

“I am determined to be fair, we’ll play for it” 

that peaked her interest as her eyes went wide “sword fighting, combat, cards, good old fashioned fists?!?” what was with this girl and fighting.

“uh no I was going to suggest rock paper scissors.” 

“who hurt you to make you so damn boring” 

“who made you a masochist” 

gwyneth didn’t falter for a second “wouldn’t you like to know” she said with a lazy grin

“so majesty are we going to play or not?” 

“best of three”

she put her fist up in answer. 

once again I’ll cut to the chase, after many rounds and accused cheatings azriel won 

“Oh fuck off” she grumbled while he smirked triumphantly 

“that’s not very nice gwyneth” obviously her response was to give him the finger

“bite me” 

“don’t give me any ideas” 

“do what you need to do we leave at dawn” 

“you’re going to be a delight on my ship aren’t you” 

“always am” with that they went back to their respective crews and ships to prepare. 

now that she had left to her own ship azriel thought over what had just happened. he wasn’t so much of a fool that he couldn’t admit she was  beautiful, with hair of flaming locks and a slightly insane look in her eye. there was something about her that despite being incredibly violent she radiated a certain amount of joy. every insult, every quip was said with a bright smile on her face. and she had pinned him with an alarming amount of ease but he wouldn’t let that happen a second time

and fucking hell he had made a bargain. well he knew for sure this journey was going to be something else alright 

on the shadowsinger azriel made an announcement to his crew “everyone sit your asses down and listen up. 5 ladies from the silver majesty are coming aboard our ship to assist us in our search for the huge hall. I am under bargain that no harm will come to any of them, so by affiliation every person aboard the shadowsinger is under the same bargain. you have any questions, take it up with rhys and cassian. I have shit to do in preparation for this voyage and to make sure our other ‘business partners’ stay up and running in our absence. do not bother me” 

about an hour later he was once again alone in his chambers with his first mate and quartermaster. 

“so you really believe they can lead us to it” cassian asked

“I believe that she made a bargain and knows the severity of a bargain.” 

“you bound yourself to the captain of our biggest rival, who you currently want to murder, captain I trust you with my life but I hope you know what you’ve gotten us into” rhys ever the strategist 

I hope so to he thought instead he said “I have thought over every possible outcome and we will come out of this with the huge hall and their heads strung up like trophies nailed to the wall.” 

————— gwyn’s pov at the same moment—————

alright crew fortunately the shadowsinger is on board, pun not intended, unfortunately I lost rock paper scissors and now I will be choosing 5 of us to join them in our hunt for the huge hall. so Em, archeron, VIv, and cressieda you guys are coming with me, bring only as many weapons as you can fit on your person. nuala cerridwen you guys are in charge. if everything is not in order by the time I get back I will start slitting throats. there are instructions in my chambers. so fuck, drink, steal, kill you guys know the drill.” 

gwyn sat with nesta and emerie strategizing 

“how do you see this playing out” nesta asked 

“oh we are going to walk away from this bleeding money with the shadowsinger kneeling at our feet” 

------------------------back to azriel’s pov------------------------

azriel watched as for the first time since he had become a pirate, there were women on his ship indefinitely. to gwyneth’s right stood a tall slender women, with her hair in a simple braid, she was assessing his ship with eyes that looked far too old for her age

to berdara’s left was a thin women with eyes that cut through him, they were sharp and very resentful. she was devastatingly beautiful with two katanas at her hips. behind them were two women with white hair but their differences lay in their skin tone. one had the fair skin of the winter court while the other had dark skin that contrasted her hair marking her as from the summer court. 

azriel looked over to his own crew. cassian was starring at the female with the swords practically drooling over himself while rhys looked indifferent. 

lucien was also starring at the women to gwyneth’s left but he looked at her like he recognized her rather then whatever the fuck cassian was doing 

the women noticed cassian and immediately threw a dagger at his head. it didn’t miss by much. 

“hey!” cassian shouted. “if you had chopped off my hair I swear to fucking god I will rip out your throat like its nothing” 

the girl looked him up and down and ignored him. “really you could have killed me”

so obviously she threw another one. it fell right between his arm and ribs

“berdara can I have a word please?”

“of course”

“rhys please make sure they don’t kill each other” 

“no promises” he replied not looking up

gwyn followed him into his room. 

“so shadowsinger, what do you want to talk about?” she gave him a light punch on the shoulder. he glared at her

“what do I want to talk about? hmm how about that girl just threw a dagger at my quartermaster. twice!”

“ok 1 that girls name is nesta and 2 if she wanted him dead he would be. so I consider that a great success” gwyn smiled earnestly. 

“are you forgetting the bargain we just made?”

“clearly threats were not taking off the table or have you forgotten ‘i will dump you in the river’ or ‘i’m going to shoot you in the head’ or ‘i will leave your guts across the 7 courts’ etc. hers was just a little more physical thats all.” 

“well can you try to control your crew” cheap shot but worth it, until gwyn broke out into a fit of laughter.

“me? control nesta? I thought you said you’ve heard the stories, you must have heard about the time she climbed 6 mountains in 5 different courts to find a man who ripped her off by 2 coppers. coppers! and I was all ‘that’s my girl’  because if there was one thing I’ve learned in this business it would be that men will take every single opportunity to tear you down but they can’t do that if they don’t have limbs.” 

“great so your entire crew is just as insane as you are”

“we maybe insane but at least we aren’t crying over every dagger that comes within an inch of our hearts.” 

“yes I’m sorry we would rather not fucking die”

“oh poor you, you must be a truly terrible pirate if death doesn’t stop at your door every once in a while.” 

“you know I am very much regretting working with you at this moment”

“wait you aren’t in love with me? shocker.” gwyn’s whole demeanor changed and she brightened as if some realization struck. “but that reminds me I was told I need your help to find the treasure and I certainly don’t need more man power so how will you be contributing?”

“I had thought about that and I was think about something you-”

“aww you think about me?” azriel rolled his eyes

“I was thinking about something you said and I would like you to elaborate on the blank map.”

“no please?”

“please” he forced out 

“well my informant who found me the map has never been wrong before and my witch says it reeks of magic.” 

“you think its spelled.” 

“I do”

“and you think I am going to help you uncover the magic?”

“indubitably” azriel was kind of impressed by her certainty

“aren’t you?”

“yes” he grumbled

“thought so, I’m smart like that.” 

“of course you are perfect in every way possible” 

“look any other day I would love for you to shower me in accurate compliments but we are kind of on a time crunch” 

“yes majesty”

“you know what its kind of growing on me, I too consider myself a queen” 

az ignored that and went to his closet. he opened the doors and unlocked the safe taking out the only thing in there. it was a small vile that contained a vibrant blue liquid. he gently carried it over to gwyn

“this is the last liquid fashioned by the last pheonix to ever exist”

“oh my fucking god you have pheonix piss” gwyn was practically jumping with glee. 

“I mean I wouldn’t exactly put it that way but yes, the liquid of the pheonix was said to act as a serum to reveal ones truth. it should be powerful enough to break through any ward or spell. and while mostly used on people it should work on objects too.”

“wait wait wait, that could get you millions and you’re going to use it on this??”

“who’s drooling now? yes it could but this hall could get me more and I’d prefer it not in the hands of certain people.”  

“alright I mean not really how I operate but it’s yours so you can do whatever you want with it.” “glad you approve, map?” gwyn cautiously pulled out the blank map and set it down on the table. 

he opened the vile and began to pour it over the map, praying that this would not be in vain. the vile had cost him greatly. he looked down and gwyn stole the words from his mouth “holy fucking shit.”