#the whole ''cool motive still murder'' debate.

[liutheri]

  leaving a crime scene is harder than one might think , because you never truly leave it. more accurately , it never truly leaves you. he’s seen it all in his time — throats cut , faces smashed , entrails strewn across the sidewalk. bodies mangled so badly , they hardly seem human. after all these years , he’s learned to stomach it more easily.

  but the surviving victims? the families of the deceased? they're not so lucky. the atrocities he witnesses day in and day out are something only a small fraction of the population ever has to see , and those that do are never the same , left to mourn and remember their loved ones with a final memory often being a smear on the wall.

  missing persons cases , however , rarely end with such blatant carnage , assuming they end at all. dark eyes settle briefly on the untouched cup of coffee laid out on the table before her , now room temperature at best with how long they've been questioning one another ; he , with inquiries about her relationship to the victim , and she , with almost accusatory demands as to why she's being involved with the ongoing investigation. he's taking his own cup black tonight in preparation for a long night of paperwork.

  in short? he doesn't trust her. doesn't like her vibe. what john luther lacks in social graces , he more than makes up for in perception , and there's something about her ' mourning friend ' act that rubs him the wrong way , leaves him with an itch deep in his skull that he can't quite scratch.

@talyonis : ' i used to believe in justice. '

  he nods thoughtfully , lips parting as though he's poised to speak , but says nothing for several seconds. ❛❛ s' an easy thing to give up on , innit? ❜❜ an outside perspective might say he's being understanding , almost sympathetic. any other time , he might be. ❛❛ after losin' your best mate 'n all. and when the police work for months and turn up nothin' , well . . . ❜❜ his gaze fixes on her calmly , studying even the most miniscule of movements. ❛❛ i think , sometimes . . . people find their own justice. ❜❜

[weirdly-enough]

tumblr media analysis has spoiled me

[despairots]

surprise, ethan landry

ethan landry x freeman! gn! reader

summary: in which, mindy suspects amber freeman’s sibling to be ghostface, who grows distant from the friend group.

cw: murder , gore , bloody violence , swearing , spoilers , already established relationship.

authors note: wsp y’all 😍 really long btw

“and finally, [name] freeman, the sibling of a ghostface.”

“wait what?”

“mindy, what the fuck?” you scoffed when mindy excused you, “you’re insane. why am i suspect too?” mindy smiled at you and leaned down to your level.

“don’t think i’ve noticing you distancing yourself.” she pointed out making you scoff again, “cause i can cope, mindy. sorry it’s different from yours.” you retorted with the same sass she had.

mindy gave you a sure look, making you roll your eyes, “okay, mindy, i’ll follow along. even if i was the killer, even though i’m not, what would be my motive?” you questioned, crossing your arms.

“revenge for amber.” you threw your hands in the air, “unbelievable. tara and i killed amber, and you’re fucking excusing me!” you argued before looking at tara who agreed with you.

“okay but look, [name] was with me or tara ever time the killings happened, so it can’t be them.” ethan defended making you smile at him, “thank you, ethan!” he smiled back at you.

“okay, whatever but you’re still on my suspect list.” mindy dismissed the topic making you sarcastically smile at her before she went on a rant again not before two people made eye contact, both tense jaws.

·  ·  ·  ꔫ  ·  ·  ·

mindy gagged at chad and tara, “will you two just make out already?” she joked making [name] laugh out loud, on the phone while texting someone.

“mindy, that was so inappropriate.” chad scoffed with a smile, tara smiling at the twins, “oh, whatever.” mindy finished putting the utilities down and walked towards the three.

[name] still on the phone, their fingers flying across the keyboards, “oh, and are you texting ethan? adorable.” mindy teased with a smirk, “hardy har har.” they smiled back at her.

“where is he?” chad asked them as they turned off his phone and slid it into his back pocket, “at econ with a 100 people.” [name] answered and leaned back onto the counter.

“sam?”

“yep?” mindy looked at sam, who walked into the already cramped up kitchen, “we do not have to stay here.” she continued. “welp, to bad. i insist. safety in numbers.” sam grabbed a drink, “aw, thanks mom.” [name] joked around.

“you’re welcome, child.” sam joked back, “this is gonna be so fun. a little slumber party with the core five!” the others looked at him weirdly, “core five?” “yeah!”

“did you just give us a nickname?”

“yeah, well i sure did. i mean, we’ve been through a lot together, and… it’s a pretty cool nickname.” chad nodded, “it’s better then last time.” [name] muttered under their breath.

“that’s debatable.”

“extremely debatable.”

“you can’t just give us a nickname, dingus.” the atmosphere really relived everyone’s tension, “oh, of course i can, dingus, because i just did. core five! up top!” chad raised his hand to mindy, who shook her head.

“no.”

“down low.”

“get that away from.”

“high five.”

“don’t ever.”

“please for the love of god.” chad turned to sam, who chuckled at him, “don’t do it.” tara grinned with [name] getting a message, “y’know, i would actually like for more respect, and support—“

[name] walked back into the living room, eyebrows furrowed whole still staring at their phone, “guys. what the hell?” anika called out, turning up the volume for the tv, with concerning news.

“we’re hearing from sources inside the homicide division that the prime suspect is non other then samantha carpenter. one of the survives of the woodsboro killings in 2022.”

the news reporter reported, sam’s breath hitching in her throat, “that is so stupid.” [name] commented with a roll of their eyes, “seen here attack a women on the screen last night.”

it showed two nights ago a video where a girl splashed her drink onto samantha, who responded by pushing her, everybody watched with a pissed offed look.

sam muted the tv off before going into the dining room, the five friends looking at eachother with concerned looks. the three went to sit with her, [name] sitting back onto the couch.

eth <3

did u see the news?

no, why?

sam’s the prime suspect, that’s so fucking stupid

btw hows econ?

good, why?

[name] was about to respond before the three at the table exclaimed in happiness causing them to look back, “i told you, [name]! you have to give me 10 bucks now!” chad called out.

[name] scoffed, “come over here!” tara waved at them who smiled and went over, “i feel like we should high five or something.” chad stuck his hand out, “the core five high five.”

“don’t call it that.”

the five interwhined hands, letting go before sam’s boyfriend called, the five teasing her as sam declined saying she’ll call back later. a text being sent to the five, a image of quinn being attacked.

“oh what the fuck.” there was screaming and thudding in quinn’s room, everybody jumping up in front of the door, a few metres away from it.

“run.”

her body was thrown at anika, the killer slowly walked out as anima screamed loudly that probably everyone outside of the building could hear, chad, tara and [name] ran outside of the room, closer to the door.

they ran downstairs before tara realized that they left them upstairs, “what? tara! chad!” [name] called out, “call the police!” chad told them as [name] pulled out their phone, dialling 911.

·  ·  ·  ꔫ  ·  ·  ·

“anika’s dead.” mindy muttered into the arms of [name], “i’m so sorry, mindy.” ethan popped out, lifting up the safety tape and walked towards them, chad pining him to a police car.

“chad. hey, chad!” [name] pulled him away, “he was at econ, okay! he even sent a video to prove it to me!” they defended ethan, pulling out his phone to show the video to him.

“fuck, man.”

“where the fuck were you, [name]? i know you were with tara and i before but when i look back down, you’re gone!” chad pointed to them, “i was calling the police! i went to someone for help!” [name] defended themself.

“bullshit!”

“look, just because ethan wasn’t here last night, does not fucking mean you can blame him! if you wanna blame anyone, blame me!” [name] said making chad scoff, “who said i didn’t?” he sneered at them.

ethan looked at the body on the ground, “oh my god… who?” “anika.” chad answered with a hand on his hip, body tensed. the three went back to the ambulance, “mindy, i’m so sorry.”

“step the fuck back.” mindy snapped at him, “you’re at the top of my list.” she continued with a glared, “i had econ!” mindy and chad looked at eachother with doubt.

“he’s not lying.” chad whispered to her, “[name] has a video of him at econ.” mindy looked at [name] who was being questioned, “i’m gonna be right back.” tara said to the three and left.

“is that kirby?” [name] pointed out, the three looking at where they were talking about. “holy shit.” mindy’s jaw dropped at the sight of her.

·  ·  ·  ꔫ  ·  ·  ·

“jason and greg, were little rich, bitch boys, apparently they used fake names to use this place.” the group and detective bailey followed behind gale, “how’d you find it?” kirby asked her.

“it’s called investigating journalism for a reason.” gale replied with sass, “i like her.” [name] whispered to ethan who gave them a weird look, “how didn’t you find it?” gale continued to poke at kirby.

“i like her a lot.”

“weren’t you tracking them?” the two continued to go at eachother, gale swiping a card and pulled a door open, everybody hurdling inside. “what is this place? what’s with all the security?” sam queried.

the lights turned on, “it’s a movie theatre.” tara pointed out, “it’s not just a movie theatre… it’s a shrine.” gale added onto tara’s sentence, “it’s giving richie and amber’s motive.” [name] commented.

it revealed to have every victim’s and killers clothing’s and ghostface costume, everybody scattered around the room. [name] walking up to amber’s ghostface costume.

“you’ve all been through so much.”

“okay, how’d the get all this stuff? isn’t this evidence?” tara inputted making [name] frown, “yeah, i would like to know too.” they looked back to tara.

“well, cops like money, and evidence gets a lot money.”

“um, why am i here exactly? my alibi checks out.” ethan broke into the conversation, “so i can keep an eye on you, roomie.” chad answered, mindy doing the i have my eye on you gesture.

“the killer must have found this place before he murdered jason and greg, and then he took the mask off the mannequins.” gale stated, “all nine from stu, billy to amber and richie.” she continued.

sam went up to her fathers costume, “so, somebody killed these chuckle fucks and took over?” chad put the situation into a small sentence, “someone who believes that sam masterminded woodsboro.” gale added.

“if this was a normal stab movie, this would be killers layer.”

“yeah, well, who gives a fuck about the movies now?” [name] crossed their arms, “which means this isn’t a normal stab movie.” kirby said, the two ignoring [name]’s comment about the movies.

tara quickly walked away, sam following behind with everyone else just chilling now.

·  ·  ·  ꔫ  ·  ·  ·

“i gotta go.” [name] lifted up their phone, “my mom needs me in the hospital, said it’s a emergency.” they continued, almost leaving until mindy grabbed their arm.

“stay safe, okay?” [name] nodded, “who do you think i am? the helpless victim? come on now, i wanna be in the sequel.” they joked, giving them a smile before leaving the vehicle.

“do you think your friend over there is the killer?” kirby asked, eyes on the laptop.

“no.”

“yes.” mindy and chad said at the same time, ethan disagreed, the four looking at eachother, “wow. now, that’s was you call fake friends.” kirby whispered under her breath.

·  ·  ·  ꔫ  ·  ·  ·

“you know, you’re like the tenth guy to try this right? and spoiler alert, it never works out for the dipshit in the mask.” gale threatened, her boyfriend disappearing.

“oh but they certainly leave a mark of who to go, don’t they? richie and amber managed to butcher dewey, craved him up like a christmas goose. how does it feel to lose the only man who ever loved you?”

ghostfave taunted causing tears to prick gale’s eyes, “fuck you!” she sweared with anger. “how does it feel to know that you weren’t there for him at the end.” ghostface chuckled a little.

“not there to give him comfort as he died screaming in his blood.” gale sniffled, “you’re one who’s gonna die screaming!” she responded to him.

“maybe. but you won’t be around to see it. you couldn’t stop what happened to dewey. just like how you’re not gonna be able to stop this.” a loud sound was made behind her.

her boyfriend brutally stabbed, the killer appeared through the small hole, cleaning the knife off the blood and stabbed over before the killer ran, hopping over the couch.

he grabbed gale’s arm almost stabbing her as she grabbed a pan, smacking it over his face as she ran to the balcony, dropping things to slow him down.

she went back inside, hiding in her room and grabbing her gun to defend herself, she shot at the door, the pounding stopping. “how’s that for nostalgia, fucker?” she commented.

another call went through, scaring her as she picked it up, “you missed.” ghostface stated. “sure, i did.” gale replied, gun still pointed at the door.

“you win. i’m in the elevator, heading to the ground floor.” gale didn’t believe him, “sure you are.” ghostface scoffed at her before gale shot her gun again.

“maybe you did hit me, maybe i’m wounded or maybe i’m wearing a bullet proof vest.” ghostface teased, “that’s why i’m gonna shot you in the fucking head.” she opened the door, no one at it.

her breath grew heavier as she rounded the corners, “you would’ve made a good killer, gale. sidney know what’ve made sense, dewey was the fan favourite but you…”

“cracking under the pressure, turning into ghostface would’ve been a great twist.” gale rolled her eyes, “keep talking asshole.” ghostface laughed.

“sure. what do you wanna talk about? you never got to be the leading lady, did you? it was always about poor, sweet sidney sucking up all the oxygen. where does that leave you to be?”

“the brains and sex appeal.” gale answered, “sorry about your boyfriend, all those muscles didn’t help much.” gale eyed her dead boyfriend, “they sure didn’t.” the killer laughed again.

“can you hold please?”

“what?” gale called back, hearing it ring from behind her, pulling the trigger. ghostface opening the door, pointing the gun away and stabbing her in shoulder.

she tried to reveal him before she was pushed into the pillar again, and stabbed in the thigh. she pushed him away, and crawled to the gun, ghostface trying to stab her over and over again.

he was thrown onto the glass table, gale grabbing the knife, swing the knife down, she was stabbed in the side by the left over glass, forcing her to let go.

she grabbed his arms, stopping the knife from stabbing her through the head, “fuck you!” she glared up at him.

“hey, ghostface!” sam called out, shooting gale’s gun, missing as he ran away.

·  ·  ·  ꔫ  ·  ·  ·

“what the fuck happened?” [name] pushed the glass doors, eying everyone there, “where the fuck were you?” tara snapped at them, “i was at the fucking hospital, with my mom!” they answered.

“i’m so scared you guys, i don’t want to get hurt again.” mindy breathed out, tears pricking her eyes, “neither do i.” chad agreed, “i don’t want you getting hurt either.” chad leaned against her.

“no… no.” he sniffled, [name] ran a hand through their hair, “okay, what happened?” they asked calmly as everyone turned their hands towards them. “gale attacked while we tried getting the killer to come out.” sam explained.

“so, what do we do now?”

“maybe he gets to win this time.” sam shrugged, not wanting to deal what’s happening now, “he wants to punish me. me. so maybe we let him.” the four looked at her like she was insane.

“i’ll just give myself up. if this is what i have to do to keep you safe, it’s worth it.” sam cried, “no, we’re not doing this, sam. alright, you went back to woodsboro to protect me.” tara declined the idea.

“every single day you made the decision to protect me. none of us would’ve been be alive if kt weren’t for you.” the three nodded at that, “you have to let us protect you this time.” tara said.

sam shook her head, “no.” “yes. we’re a team remember?” mindy stood up, “actually, we’re a family.” [name] smiled, “yeah, mom.” they used the nickname for sam again, causing sam to smile.

“let’s go! core five! come on.” he stuck his hand out, “core what?” danny asked, “it’s a us thing.” chad pointed to lastest victims.

“he’s gonna keep coming for us.”

“isn’t there somewhere safe to hold up in?” ethan butted in, “he’s just gonna keep finding us.” tara pointed out, “great.” ethan breathed out. “we could use that though.” they raised an eyebrow at tara.

·  ·  ·  ꔫ  ·  ·  ·

“is this even a good plan?”

“you don’t have to come if you don’t want to.” tara rolled her eyes at ethan, “she’s got a point, eth.” ethan glared at [name] who was infront of him, “so we’re just gonna split off so the killer could pick us off one by one? no thank you.”

ethan stated, “we just have to get to the theatre.” sam stopped the argument, pushing through the crowds of people in costumes, some in ghostface costumes.

mindy and ethan got separated from the others, getting held back from the group of people. “fuck! fuck.” the train doors closed as it took off, leaving the two alone.

ethan grabbed her shoulder, scaring her, “get your ghostface ass away from me, ghostface.” mindy insulted, confusing ethan.

·  ·  ·  ꔫ  ·  ·  ·

“look, it’s fine, it’s okay, she’s with ethan.” chad put his phone away, the train lights flickering. “oh, shit.” chad breathed out, seeing multiple people in ghostface costumes. “that’s terrifying.” [name] shivered.

“how many stops do we have?” sam looked, biting her lips when she realized, “ten.” the tension was extremely thick, the lights flickering multiple times.

someone in a ghostface costume appeared in front of sam, before disappearing when another person entered the train, sam looked for the person again.

the ghostface sam saw slowly approached them, “guys.” the others looked over, danny moved infront of sam, the ghostface exiting the train. the tension grew softer.

[name] felt a vibration from their pocket, taking it out, having a text from ethan.

eth <3

mindy got attacked from a guy in a ghostface costume

seriously?

“um, guys. mindy got attacked... by someone in a ghostface costume.” [name] broke the silence, chad snapping his head towards their phone, “what? are you sure?” [name] nodded, showing them the text message.

“shit.”

·  ·  ·  ꔫ  ·  ·  ·

sam, tara, danny, chad, and [name] saw kirby, “hey! i talked to bailey. i’ve got everything set up.” she said following them, “where are mindy and ethan?” kirby looked behind them.

“they’re 5 minutes behind us.” tara answered for sam, kirby nodded. “let’s get you all inside.” kirby led them inside. “not you..” sam looked at danny, who was beyond confused

“what?”

“don’t trust anyone, remember?” sam looked at danny with a solemn look, “we don’t know you. not really.” she continued, “i can watch over him. i have a gun.” [name] reassured her, sam gently smiling at them.

“you know me.”

“you’re not woodsboro.” danny let it go, “i’m sorry.” she apologized, danny understanding and reassuring her that it was okay, giving her a peck on the cheek.

kirby, sam, tara, and chad went inside, leaving danny and [name] outside.

·  ·  ·  ꔫ  ·  ·  ·

“fuck, it felt good to kill him! this was your grandmother’s sam, nancy loomis. really runs in your fucking family, doesn’t it?” [name] appeared with tears streaming down their eyes.

“[name]! oh my god!” tara hugged them as [name] eye contact with sam and smirked, pulling something out of their back pocket.

“surprised, tara.” they said into the voice box, giving the carpenter sisters another wave of horror, “w — what?” [name] went into a fits of giggles before heaving a sigh.

they pulled a knife out of their pocket, “what’s the matter sam, you look you’ve seen a ghost?” [name] quoted billy, speaking into the voice box again. “and speaking of family, ethan’s names not actually landry.” [name] announced.

“right, dad?” ethan looked at detective bailey, who laughed and brushed his hair, “wait, if it’s you three, that leaves… mindy?” the other ghostface shook their head, pulling off the mask, revealing quinn.

“hey, roomies.” tara gasped, “didn’t see that one coming didn’t you?” quinn grinned, pulling off her gloves, “yeah, because you died!” tara replied, tears streaming.

“she kinda didn’t.” [name] walked over to them with a mocking pout, “though it was a good way to get off the suspect list. stab mindy on the train. that sorta fun.” quinn ranted.

“wait, then who attacked gale?” sam asked before looking at [name], who raised their hand, “i did. after what she did to amber, i thought it would be a little fun to toy with her like she did to my sister.” they smirked.

“oh, and i killed anika… when you guys got attacked in the apartment, locking eth out. i left from downstairs, i quickly went to the other entrance to your room to ambush you guys, killing anika on the latter.”

[name] explained, having tara glare at them, ethan giggling.

“yep, and i made sure to be there at the scene so i could switch the body out with the fresh one.” detective bailey wrapped an arm around his kids, “a little fake blood, prosthetic, something a grieving father could get away with.” the three surrounded them.

ethan wrapped an arm around [name], who smiled up at him, “and this is stu macher’s mask, he was my favourite.” ethan placed mrs. loomis’s masked on her mannequin.

“that’s three, that’s two, which leads… your fathers.” bailey pulled out billy’s mask, “this is what we’ve been counting down to sam.” he stated, “i’m gonna need you to put it on.” sam slapped the mask away.

“fuck you!”

“woah!” ethan slashed her forearm, laughing and taunting them, “you stay the fuck away from!” tara cursed him, [name] pointing their gun at her making her back away.

“remember who has the upper hand, tara.” tara glared at them, holding a brick.

“oh come on.”

“what is this? you think this is a family?” [name] shrugged, “for amber and their family, sure. why the fuck not.” ethan kissed the crown of their head.

“yeah, bitch you should know better then anyone.” quinn entered, “they’re still not getting.” ethan smiled, “look, i don’t know what you believe but i didn’t commit those murders in woodsboro. it wasn’t me.” sam looked back at bailey.

“oh, we know that! what do you think this is? some bullshit conspiracy theory? come on, who do you think started the rumours about you in the first place.” quinn raised her hand, a smug look on her face.

“you wanna know how easy it was to turn sam from the hero or woodsboro into the villain? how easy it is to convince the world to believe the worse in people rather then the best.” quinn pointed the knife at her.

“because it is not enough to kill somebody these days. you have to assassinate their characters first. so when dad discovers your horrible mutilated body.” [name] mockingly attacks them.

“pose to sam wearing her father’s mask. they’ll say some bastard on the internet that you’re the real ghostface and took matters into your own dilated hands.” ethan explained, sam scoffed.

“exactly why it’s a perfect alibi and all the best lies were based on the truth. you’re a killer, just like your father.” bailey pointed making sam defended herself.

“no, i’m not!”

“yes you are, you motherfucker, you killed our brother!” quinn yelled at her making sam widened her eyes, “what are you talking about?” sam breathed out.

“you said your brother died kn a car accident.” quinn pointed her knife to tara. “no, no, no. so you see something, he died in woodsboro… in the hands of your bitch sister.” ethan glared.

“and [name], here, shared the same interest in killing you both.” sam turned around to look at bailey, “you’re richie’s family.” he nodded.

“and [name]… were you apart of the killings last year?” [name] smiled with a evil glint, “who do you think killed dewey and attacked tara in the hospital?” they tilted their head, “you bastard!” tara yelled at them causing [name] to tilt their knife at her.

“you’re the real fucking bastard here! you think killing my sister and their brother, you’ll fucking get away with it!” they yelled back at her. ethan stabbed sam in the shoulder.

“look who’s finally starting to get it!” they went to attack the carpenter sisters, quinn held the knife up to sam’s throat, “there she is… there she is when she killed our fucking brother.”

the others conversed, [name] gliding their fingers down a photo of them and amber when they were younger.

“for they were just a little dark but richie really loved them, loved them. he made a few of his own. did you know? there’s a very special bond between a father and his first son.”

bailey looked back at them, “this is why i helped him build this place.” sam looked around, “this was all his?” bailey nodded his head, “yes, he’s a very passionate collector.” he commented.

the others yelled at eachother, “your son… he was so pathetic.” “that’s not true.” sam mentally smirked, “yeah, your son. he was a man baby, who had his girlfriend and [name] do all the killing.” [name] glared up at her.

“he was a strong feral young man.”

“he was a limp, dick fuck who cried before i slit his throat.” a gunshot went off, sam holding her side, “fuck you.” [name] muttered, tara went to throw the brick before ethan stabbed her.

“what do you think you’re doing?”

“i’m just finishing act 3, tara.”

[thesporkidentity]

an incomplete list of texts i sent as i slowly lost my mind over the second book of rivers of london, because i fully intend to drag at least one more person into this pit with me. come read with me i promise you're gonna feel so good and normal over this book, come closer

wow okay peter remains the absolute horniest bastard ever. is he a tits or an ass man? yes

oh we are just getting the surface levels hints of nightingales MOUNTAIN of unresolved PTSD and i am very 🥺

you ever feel like a character was written specifically to appeal to you? i'm getting so many tantalizing hints and i KNOW he's going to destroy because he's catnip. he is bait specifically designed to hurt my feelings

also his description makes me think of lee pace or like, 90s/00s paul mcgann and that's just Very Good and i'm being deeply not normal about it

also nightingale reads as SO queer to me, and the potential in fic to explore what that means insofar as how he has navigated the changing landscape of queerness from 1900 to present day is so tantalizing. i don't care that the author says he's not, in this case the author is wrong lol

i must say, i do not care for simone. if we absolutely MUST have hetersexual nonsense in this book i would like beverly back please. she was cool and not a cheating homewrecking jazz groupie lol

still not impressed with simone. i mean, far be it from me to judge a woman's grieving process and all, but she doesn't seem very broken up over her within-the-week dead lover. i mean, i LOVE peter and all and he's hot shit, but immediately falling into bed with him? sus

in conclusion bring 👏 bev 👏 back 👏

also peter, buddy, WHAT ARE YOU DOING

he's a disaster so even though i'm screaming DON'T DO THAT i am unsurprised he is being led around by his dick by a beautiful woman throwing herself at him

but i just. i Don't Trust Her. she doesn't make sense, and i can't tell if this is a case of male author writing wish fulfillment and thus not giving the hot girl adequate motivation of her own

or whether i AM supposed to find it suspicious the way she basically doesn't mourn the man she homewrecked who died very suddenly and then IMMEDIATELY jumps into bed with the magic cop investigating his very probable murder

and i REALIZE the only way to find out is to keep reading, it's just frustrating that women are written poorly so often that, even if he's written good women before, i still have to debate with this is a subtle clue or just Male Author Syndrome

oh my god he finally twigs that this may be weird behavior. peter. bud.

at least he got it before trying to sneak her past folly wards?

side note: god lesley really got the short end of the stick. like, her face fell off, her teeth are a fucking mess, and she probably has brain damage. she got royally shafted

peter "i'm totally straight" grant, talking about how he wants to take a muscly guy by the shoulders and kiss his cheeks and making sure to mention how many phone numbers her got while canvasing the gay bar.

hmm sure, jan

look i KNOW peter is Incredibly Horny All The Time when near any attractive woman, but simone appears from NOWHERE half dressed while he's canvassing for the jazz vampire and he just skives off like that? while looking for a potential killer? that doesn't seem like him he's not that irresponsible. that smells like conspiracy and glamour and i don't trust herrrrrrr

like, peter was already horny wanting to motorboat mama thames (lol don't think i didn't catch that pun) last book. but this book has been a whole new level of horny, and peter may be distractible but not THAT distractible surely

another side note. i love molly and nightingale's weird friendship they've developed living basically with just each other for decades.

oh jesus that's fucked up

oh the severed head is talking

oh. oh no. it got worse

peter, darling, beloved, is now REALLY the time to be talking about how hot your boss is? like i appreciate your dedication to the thirst but time and place, bud

oh never mind i forgive you nightingale is so fucking cool, i get it, i love him

he's so good. the most tragic backstory and perfect stiff upper lip old fashioned english gentleman on the outside, and then just below the surface he's a daredevil and a bit of a bitch and he fucking CARES just SO MUCH and have i mentioned how much the casterbrook wall HURTS ME?? this was revealed in the last book but i just remembered it and it stabbed me again

okay i'm done

i feel like peter has miscalculated making a deal with his cousin to teach her if she aces latin. that's gonna come back to bite lol hope you like teaching too smart for their own good teenagers cuz that's gonna be your life now

"but sir, what do we do if you die??!" "well, that doesn't seem like it will be my problem at that point :)" he's such a bitch sometimes and i LOVE him, mother

ohhhhh. oh no. the pale lady looked like molly and now molly is obviously not okay after she died, that resemblance wasn't just coincidence she definitely knew her 😢

and this is the first person peter has killed, no matter how accidentally. and nightingale is back in the hospital with his chest infection. wow everyone is just having a terrible time right now

okay. i realize that as a memory for him this probably isn't a GOOD one, it's from the war and probably much scarier and MUCH more traumatizing than he makes it sound with his dry narration of it. but god. nightingale knocked out two TANKS. by himself. with his mind. fucking sexy lol

oh damn it why can't they just let me be horny about how powerful he is instead of immediately following it with the fact that he was rear guard and making emotional that it means he was the one trusted to watch over and protect the rest of his men while they retreated as that one final shield between them and enemy fire

hhhhhhhholy shit what did simone DO to mama grant???!!!!

she just bitch slapped her!

OH MY GOD SHE TRIED TO HOMEWRECK HIS PARENTS TOO???

she's PLAUSIBLY IMMORTAL???

fuck i was right she was sketchy as hell!!

she's a fucking jazz vampire and she's been glamouring and sucking him dry! buddy, get to dr walid STAT for a brain scan and make sure she's not turning you into cauliflower!

peter don't you make excuses for her you KNOW it's possible, stop lying about your mum and trying to make her feel better you need to take her in she's a m u r d e r e r

i mean, glamour yes i realize but god, frustrating

good lad peter, i see you fighting it 💪🏾

ohhhhhhhh. oh fuck. she didn't KNOW. she didn't know she was from the 40s and killing people. oh this is bad

nightingale, attempting to show concern: "that was not the most intelligent thing you've done" xD 10/10 nailed it buddy

umm, nightingale? this may not be the black and white moral situation you think it is to go in guns blazing...

it's both funny and little sad how militant both molly and dr walid are when nightingale is injured like. i do LOVE when the person who is SUPPOSEDLY in charge gets lovingly bullied, but it hurts because that's also probably the ONLY way to make him take care of himself is if they FORCE him. and peter's not any better, he's gonna need bullying too

i do love when they team up though. molly and nightingale ganging up against peter like. nightingale gets the special treatment and a hot cocoa from molly, but peter gets the dog's leash and smug little "i'm on bedrest :)" or nightingale foisting the rest of his kidney pie on peter while molly is out of the room then grabbing his empty plate back to pretend he ate it all himself when she returns xD

the cases are interesting and all, but i think it's the core characters that are really the standout of the novel and the reason i keep reading even while i'm asking myself things like, but WHY is she killing via vagina dentata instead of literally any other assassination method? i think it's also why simone stood out so much. she HAD no background that we were told (until now) aside from being sexy. which of course i now know was intentional

"this is your brain, which is not only clean and unsullied by thought..." i love dr walid. it probably says something about me that my favorite characters all have to be at least a little bit of a bitch

oh no i'm having feeeeeelings about both nightingale and peter trying to keep the other out of the vampire raid to shield them from the emotional effects of it, just from opposite ends. nightingale doesn't want peter to have the pain of ANOTHER death on his hands, this one purposeful as opposed to the accidental death of the pale lady, so he's trying to just cut him out of it. and then peter ALSO doesn't want NIGHTINGALE to have the weight of more deaths on his soul and wants to protect him from what he sees as the unfortunate necessity of having to off someone who isn't intentionally hurting someone but still may be too dangerous to live. nightingale trying to save peter from his bleeding heart and peter saving nightingale from his practicality overriding his morality 😭 i just love when characters try to take care of each other in mirrored ways

uh...uh oh peter...no i don't think those are the police OR nightingale's paratrooper buddies

okay the audiobook is fucking excellent though, his infomercial voice while extolling the virtues of doc martins is KILLING me

oh this posh wanker. "oh what is feeding on people but another form of exploitation, and we all know there's nothing wrong with exploiting workers, equality is morally bankrupt anyway" god i hate you already you're insufferable

like of COURSE a dining club oxford nose wipe would think that way. he thinks he's sooooo slick and original with his chimeras they're such exciting new COL crimes but it all just boils down the the exact same rich white bullshit mentality

he would hate it if he realized how dull and banal his villainy is once you strip back the shock value of the trappings. just another entitled prick who views people as things, fuck this dude

i'd be tempted to say the faceless man's signare smelling like pork was a dig at david cameron and piggate if i didn't know it was written a few years too early for that lol

peter: oh no nightingale is going to give me SUCH a bollocking nightingale, obviously so relieved he's alive: very much does NOT give him a bollocking and instead tells him how impressive it is that he didn't just immediately die against the faceless man

"for a terrifying moment i thought he was going to huge me, but fortunately we both remembered we were english just in time. still, it was a close call" 🤣🤣🤣

oh ouch peter. just use all his dead friends against him. effective but also, low blow

god he wants so badly for peter to be right, too, that they and HE doesn't have to kill anyone anymore, that how that it's not Just Him ALl Alone they might have the support structure for other options. oh no i want this to work so badly so that hope is validated, but i just know something is gonna go wrong

welp

i didn't like her but i didn't want her fuckin DEAD you know?

and now the ones left standing have to deal with the trauma and the fallout

oh lesley :( they're both trying so hard to be normal about it and they're such good friends 🥺

LESLEY DO MAGIC?

LESLEY JOIN TEAM FOLLY???!!

also don't think you've been sneaky there and that i haven't noticed SOME sort of thematic symmetry of lesley struggling with having lost her face involuntarily from magic, and the faceless man having voluntarily masked himself. involuntary vs voluntary loss of identity. i'm sure there will be more parallels in the next book but like. i see you. i see you setting up face themes with these two

hopefully with lesley regaining her face somehow and thus reclaiming identity while the faceless man is unmasked thus losing the identity he built for himself and revealing the true one he hid. maybe hopefully? i want good things for lesley and bad things for the faceless one.

[notsocheezy]

Brain Curd #52

Brain Curds are lightly edited flash fiction - practically first drafts - posted daily and sometimes written with the express intention of being terrible… but, you know, in an endearing way. Please enjoy.

It was a gloomy sort of day outside - raining as hard as I’d ever seen it. The clouds were so thick and grey that the only light that managed to illuminate the city was that of momentary flashes of lightning.

It was the perfect sort of weather to spend inside with a cup of tea. I took a sip and flinched when the still-nearly-boiling liquid singed my tongue. A minute more to cool.

The very moment I set it down on my side table coaster, there was a knocking at the apartment door. At first quiet, nearly ignorable, it got louder and louder. By the ten second mark, it was a pounding, pleading sort of knock. I looked through the peephole, and through the distorted lens could not make out the face cloaked in darkness. Still, the figure continued banging on the door. Against better judgment, I opened it - though with the chain still attached.

The figure brought their eye to the opening, and I was mortified to see my own face staring at me, saying “You are capable of great evil.”

If it was anyone else saying so, I’d tell them to take a hike, but I couldn’t turn myself away back to the frigid cold.

I poured another cup of tea and set it beside them. They eagerly took a sip and burned their tongue.

“So…” I said, trying to start the conversation. “Evil?”

“Ah, yes.” They put their cup down on the table without using a coaster. “Great evil. Not your everyday run-of-the-mill kind.”

“What do you mean, like - like Hitler?”

“The painter?” They scratched their chin and looked up and to the right. “Oh, no, hold on…” They pulled out a device that looked like a modern-day Blackberry and scrolled through some text. “This is universe 52, is it not?”

“I don’t know, to tell you the truth.”

“Oh, wait, sorry, I was looking at the wrong document. Is your Hitler a musician… or an architect or something?” Their face froze up when they got to the part they were looking for. “Uh… no, to answer your question, no - not like Hitler.”

“Well, that’s a relief.”

“Yeah, no, sorry to scare you like that. I just meant, like… world domination type stuff, you know?”

“That was Hitler’s whole thing too.”

“No, I mean, yes, but the genocide thing… we don’t do that.”

“Oh good.” I tapped my fingers on the arm of my chair. I never knew I was so awkward. “What did your Hitler do?”

“Other than painting? Massive tax fraud. And there were some… allegations too, but there’s still some debate on that.”

“Did you guys still have the holocaust?”

“Well, yeah, of course, Hitler wasn’t the only person capable of fascism.”

“What about 9/11?”

“Forget about that, it isn’t important. We’re really off track here.”

“Okay,” I put my hands up. “Sorry I asked.”

“Right, where was I?” They fiddled with the trackball on the side of their device until finding some sort of notes page. “Right. You are capable of great evil… yadda yadda yadda… in universe 51 - your neighbor universe - you stole nuclear warheads and held the entire Earth population ransom for one billion dollars.”

“Like Dr. Evil.”

“What?”

“From Austin Powers.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“Nevermind.”

“Anyway, in the process, you murdered thousands and caused countless more minor injuries.”

“That sounds like genocide.”

“It wasn’t racially motivated.”

“How does that make it any better?”

“Shut up.” They pinched the bridge of their nose and sighed. “Maybe you aren’t villain material.”

“No, no, wait, I can do this. I really need a job.”

“Fine, fine, here.” They handed me an aptitude test. “Go take this exam in the corner. No cheating.”

It wasn’t an easy test, and it took me about fifty minutes to complete, but it for sure could have been worse. I bombed my SATs back in high school. I turned the exam back into my alternate self. They put on reading glasses and took out a red pen to start grading.

At first, they seemed pleasantly surprised, but as they turned pages, their expression soured and the red pen was used more and more often.

“This is unfortunate.” They said.

“What was my score?”

“Ninety-seven.”

“That sounds great!”

“Ninety-seven per-bi-cent. That’s out of two-hundred. This was a true or false test. You did slightly worse than guessing.”

“Damn.”

“And what’s worse, the inter-dimensional police consider you an accomplice to the you who stole the nukes.”

“Why?”

“You were nearby and you didn’t say anything.”

“But I didn’t even know until you just told me!”

“You’ll have to tell that to the judge, I’m afraid.”

I slumped in my chair. “This has been an absolutely awful day.”

So anyway, yeah, that’s why I didn’t make it to the unemployment office yesterday. It was a job interview, and I’m telling you, I would have taken the job if it was offered. Denied? Shoot. Here’s hoping the inter-dimensional police serve decent prison food.

[autumnslance]

33. How did they feel about what happened with Yotsuyu? Did they feel like she was justified in her actions?

Complicated on Yotsuyu; "cool motive, still murder" applies in a lot of ways. Like, there's understanding how she ended up as she did, some "there but for the grace of the gods go I" feeling on it, but also...Yotsuyu never had to torment and murder so many people, either. Especially when it was her family that most of her ire was directed at, and is finally sated by their deaths.

Also there's the societal issues at play; a lot of it only happened because of how Doman society was, especially pre-and-early occupation, so it's a blind spot for many. There's a sincere hope that Hien does heed Yotsuyu's words and her story, and makes some changes.

(So long as he's not being written into an obtuse corner like in the patch quests with Jifuya, who honestly should have been a character we interact with positively in 4.0 to make the patch story as actually emotionally complicated as we're simply told it's meant to be; I have a whole other post about him and some other characters and how player sympathy is developed and who gets it.

The "childish amnesia" plot is also...less than stellar, though it's meant to show how with a different life, Yotsuyu could have turned out differently. There's a lot of Nature/Nurture debate with some of the StB antagonists, including Zenos.)

In the end, Aeryn mostly feels sorry for Yotsuyu, that she was a tragedy almost avoided but in the end, the machinations of terrible people unwittingly in league with the Ascians caused it to happen anyway.

There's been nights since fighting Tsukuyomi that Aeryn's looked up at the moon and remembered, and been melancholy over how it all ended.

[thenewfuture]

so what your opinion on the new DT episode?

Episode 15! The one that got everybody shook with the Teruko thumbnail! The climax starts here, so let's GET IT OOOOOON!

...

...

...

It's so Aceover, dude. It's so Acever.

So Teruko starts accusing Ace as the only last suspect remaining that fits the criteria. It turns out that Ace was stalking Eden from episode 6, surprisingly enough, but he was stealthy enough to view Arei and David's conversation so that checks out. And any other evidence Teruko has on Ace is superficial at best.

Charles suggests that Ace strangled Arei unconscious before binding her wrists and tying her up in the rope, something only he could do and not Eden. But that still isn't enough. Then other story to chime in a with a sorta major problem with this whole theory.

And that sets Ace off naturally, as no one believes he has the brains to pull off a murder this complicated. This whole trial and even chapter Ace has been getting picked on relentlessly, it's not even funny at this point, it's just sad.

Charles doesn't believe in that and does what Charles does best, call everyone an idiot.

Charles, you've been growing on me ever since the chapter started. You keep it up man.

So now with that out of the way, they talk it over more and realize that Ace could have used an item to chuck the rope over the high ceiling with to get it where he wanted it. And it's the rolled up ball of old clothes, that comes back finally. And that's why the lights are messed up, because he missed a few times. But simply chucking it isn't enough as so Teruko has to deal with Ace's Argument Armament.

It looks really cool and fit's with Ace's talent of course. It's not animated as Min's was but that can be excused given the burnout the Dev went through. And props to Ace's VA, he is really going all out with these lines!

But, the finishing blow comes out when Teruko finally gives Ace some cold, hard, definitive evidence against him.

Ba-dadada-duuuuum! The fitness band from episode two come back! No one even thought about it until now. Planned so far back it's kinda nuts. With this, Ace could have slingshot-ted the ball up over the raft to get the rope as he wanted it. But Ace seemingly will not back down, but little did he know...he has awoken the beast...

Teruko Ta-wildin' out.

....Have I ever mentioned how much I love Teruko?

Teruko and Ace are under very similar circumstances themselves. Both are potential murder victims and suspects being ganged on by everyone else. But Teruko has literally fought tooth and nail and clawed her way out of suspicion from everyone and led the trial to finding the true culprit given sound logical deductions and definitive evidence. All Ace does is yell and scream and fling profanities at everybody, it's clearly not helping him but that's all he can do...

So....Ave gives in...

Ace admits defeat. His motive? Simple really...

And yeah...of course that checks out...

Ace has been a nothing but a coward this whole game, always whining and screaming not unlike Yasuhiro or Kazuichi. And who could blame him? He's trapped in a killing game with a bunch of strangers he doesn't know and most of them are bigger, stronger, and more willing to commit murder than he is. And no one really trusts him either, there isn't even a scrum debate for this trial because no one was willing to come to his side. And Nico attempting to kill him just confirms his paranoia!

Poi told me that it really goes with the theme of trusting others this chapter, and its sorta reminiscent of Sayaka from THH.

But then I comes along dropping the truth bomb.

J, I've always been pretty neutral towards you, but now.....you're growing on me...

One Closing Arugment later, and that's a wrap.

All that's left is the execution and set-up for the next chapter. This trial has took us all over the place and had us guessing at every turn. Some would say that's a bad thing, but sometimes mysteries aren't any fun if you can tell where they're going right off the bat. And despite the Dev seemingly rush the ending here as a result of going through burnout and a hiatus, I still think the ending is pretty satisfying all things considered

With that being said...

LMAO! RIP BOZO!

-Mod

[eilarae]

man i Really wish the undertale fanbase as a whole could acknowledge the complexities of asgore's character without jumping to extremes.

i just feel like i either see "grrrr he's the DEVIL and deserves NO REDEMPTION and anyone who likes him advocates for CHILD MURDER!"

or

"asgore did nothing wrong, his motives justify everything!!" or alternatively, "yeah he did a bad but TORIEL is SO MUCH WORSE ugh she's so overrated!! she was abusive and is the DEVIL!"

like............

first off back up from my girl toriel i would die for her. obviously she's flawed too but she went thru hell and back and hating her to be different isn't as cool or quirky or smart as you think. if u want to debate me on why the vitriol against her is unwarranted, i will GLADLY oblige with a well sourced essay.

but second off!!

why on earth everything gotta be so black and white. why is it so hard to realize that YES, he did really bad stuff, but NO, it doesn't make him an irredeemable monster (lol). and YES, his motives are understandable and he was in a super tough situation, but NO, that doesn't just magically excuse his actions. in the wise words of an old friend: cool motive! still murder.

he did Very Bad things. but he isn't a bad person. but unfortunately, grey areas are kind of hard sometimes.

i just think it would be cool if we all stopped trying to claim he's either a perfect angel or a horrible demon. he is a guy who tried his best and made terrible mistakes. let him have his redemption arc.

[onewomancitadel]

Whats your response to the whole "cool motive, still murder" argument people love to throw around these days? It's an oversimplified cheesy one-liner but a lot of people are actually taking it seriously.

Nonnie, I'm sorry my response to this is late.

It's silly. I think I may have criticised it once in the span of time between when you asked this and now, but the line of dialogue is literally from a cop-comedy show and said by a cop, who famously has no reason to care about the intentions of someone committing a crime, especially if they're trying to charge them for something.

I'm just saying, its ethics are completely inappropriate for analysing narrative to the point of being so laughably, laughably absurd it makes you look stupid trying to challenge it. It's a thought terminating cliché, which means people whip it out to shut down the conversation and position themselves on the high ground: they're speaking to a wisdom that everybody should simply acknowledge and therefore shut up.

In the time of pithy online debates constrained to text and not conversation, and more importantly constrained by wordcount and actual substantial attention time, this sort of rhetorical tactic flourishes. It's underhanded. No doubt the moral content of this statement (that intentions don't matter, that narrative is flat and cynical, that people are just mathematical sums, that you can figure out the moral weight of an individual based on weighing one's soul against the feather of Twitter shortform) is inversely related to the platforms it's home to.

By 'people taking it seriously', you're not exaggerating, not remotely; actual published authors bandy this shit out unironically (most infamously, Bardugo herself of Darkling fame in The Grisha Trilogy).

So how do you challenge this type of narrative cynicism - and of course, flat ethics? I can't tell you what the best tactic is, but if people aren't interested in listening to what you have to say in response (because that's the purpose of the thought terminating cliché), a mode of attack that can work is the Socratic method.

Why doesn't it matter? Why should or shouldn't I care about motive in narrative? What does that teach me about the character and the story? What's the purpose of enaging with a story and its moral message if I don't consider everything it has to offer?

There is no 'winning', (and that's not the point, one supposes; other people decide that in a true debate environment) but it's better than wasting your breath.

[catgirl-catboy]

Bro is dead- I name him Zechariah in my head which means in Hebrew "to remember"

Mika and Val having very harsh communication issues and I live for it! Please kiss eachother.

Tom and Val is interesting pair too like victim x killer of course they are.

I believe Zechariah and Yukio's friendship is ending very roughly to both of them cause I believe Yukio have a finger on it.

I'm still excited to find out who the mastermind is but Maybe this story doesn't contain a mastermind or that was Primrose (joking way)

Actually, the mastermind is Mukuro, who's busy supervising this via Monokuma while Junko is planning the THH killing game. This becomes a serious problem because she's so close to the pods she can kill someone IRL super easily.

That being said, in addition to Robin being the traitor, Mika helped create this program with her tech expertise. However it was more of a "fooled by Junko that in-line with her beliefs" and she turned on Junko when she found out its true purpose.

The Ch4 motive is that every day, a random classmate has to face one of their fears (stolen from Total Drama, because I can.)

Zechariah has it easy, since he doesn't have enough memories to really fear anything. (He has to give himself a stovetop burn due to Aiden's murder scarring him.)

Miyuko has to admit that she was doping to keep up with Yukio, who is technically the better skater of the two. If she's caught, both of them will be stripped of thier titles. Her coach forced her into it, to a degree. (she has a better artistic component.)

Yukio fears betrayal, so he has to mentally deal with the traitor. He's not having a good time about Miyuko's secret.

Mika has to have a standoff with a robot version of her mother. Also, cornbread. She has a fear of that due to getting food poisoning from it once, and everyone else has a good laugh at that.

Celene fears car crashes due to her vision, but also being seen as a god figure.

Robin fears letting people down. Which is why he became the traitor in the first place. He has to face the bodies of the kids he risked his life to save, in an au where he failed to save them. It fucks him up.

Celene has to deal with the fact that her Mika and Tom vision didn't come true, and probably won't due to Tom's death. Were all of her visions fake? Does she even deserve to lead? Is her talent a lie?

Throughout this chapter, (which would take 2-3ish weeks in-universe, but there'd be timeskips if this ever became playable) Celene sympathizes with Mika, while everyone else does NOT. cool motive, still accomplice to murder, you know?

Miyuko distrusts her the most, and even lashes out in anger and tells her its her fault (this is not true.) she regrets it almost immediately after, and runs off the apologize.

Mika, of course, forgives her. He isn't the type to care about stranger's opinions.

Over the course of the chapter, almost everyone makes an attempt on Mika's life. Robin, out of obligation to keep the game going, Miyuko in a fit of anger, etc. I'm debating having Celene get a vision of attacking her and being forced to do it, but idk if thats IC.

Mika understands, forgives all of them, and talks them out of it. He doesn't tell anyone about it, because that'd ruin group unity.

They find Z dead one day, and Mika freaks out because he failed. It isn't clear how he died, and its speculated its because of the peanut allergy.

He died of natural causes, because he was (unknowingly) suffering from brain cancer the whole time. Celene had a vision a couple of days before HPA, but it wasn't clear who it was about. (It was foreshadowed due to a lack of his medical records in the nurses office, and supplies for hospice patients there.)

So in order to beat the trial, you have to not vote.

The problem is one person can knowingly vote incorrectly and kill everyone. Due to everyone's murder attempts being exposed, tension is high. Thankfully, it goes without a hitch.

Monokuma then begins chapter 4.5, find the traitor and kill them! Whoever gets voted off gets killed, simple as that.

[gabenvrhappened]

MoviesOr... American Psycho

Whenever I searched for videos about being successful and types of skincare routines for men, I always came across YouTube montages that used scenes from American Psycho to illustrate the perfect male physique, which made me curious to see what the fuss was all about regarding this iconic movie from the 2000s.

Apart from the obvious title, I had no idea about the storyline of this motion picture, so I decided to watch it without any research since it can be fun watching a movie already well known, not knowing a thing about it; and shocking was my surprise to see that there are men who want to be like Patrick Bateman: a serial killer who is romanticized for his good-looking appearance, his care about image, and his social position. The social critique of the movie still remains strong more than two decades later.

In the story, Christian Bale plays a deranged murderer motivated by status and envy. Even though we can be sure his instincts were always there, it's funny to imagine that the whole mess he put himself into started because of a simple business card. That was only possible, however, because of something that still holds true to this day: white (and male) privilege. More than the debate of whether Patrick (or his actions) is real or not, what struck me as the biggest intention of the movie was to show how men can get away with anything, specially if they're white. Patrick doesn't care who he kills or where he kills because he knows that he won't get caught.

More than just having multiple identities (or using others' identities to keep himself safe), the character that Christian plays - whoever it is, if that's the debate - knows that people won't delve too deeply into his wrongdoings. The detective never got to him, even with many pieces of evidence and many killings inevitably pointing towards Bateman. His lawyer, knowing or not who his real client was, didn't care much about the long frenetic confessions his client made, finding them more enjoyable than dangerous. It became clear to me that everyone would rather say that they talked with Paul Allen in London than admit that something may have gone wrong with him.

To this point is clear that the acting of Christian Bale is suberb and he deserves the credit of being in every video about the perfect men physique. It was cool to see an young, and equally hot, Jared Leto acting here as the reputable Paul Allen, since I thought he only started in this business recently. It was also surprising to see Chloë Sevigny and Reese Witherspoon, as the secretary and the girlfriend of Patrick respectively. The whole casting is great, even with Willian Defoe playing a characther that is too stupid for the role of detective that it plays.

The movie makes us question a lot of things while playing with our perceptions. I'm not here to say that the apartment sale scene isn't odd since it contradicts some of the beliefs that the story was building, but I strongly believe that Patrick is the person Christian Bale is playing, and that he really did all that we saw him doing during these almost two insane hours, and that this wasn't just a fantasy sketched in several pages of a notebook. After all, we saw him killing Paul Allen, and we saw him dropping a chainsaw directly onto one of his victims (I'm sorry, but that was genius and it reminded me of an episode of Game of Thrones that taught us all that if we're a targert running from something, we should be doing that in zig-zag).

I'll definitely come back to this movie a few years from now to have a fresh new perspective on it, which is its strongest asset for me: you want to watch more, not because the movie is too complex to be understood in only one watch, but because it has layers that can make it more and more interesting. It's just too bad that we're in the 20th century and that I can't rent this in the way it was intended: through a videotape. How awesome would it be to come back to the video rental to return this masterpiece and use it as the perfect alibi, huh? Not that I would need one, of course.

[fancyfade]

NGL I do love pre 2011 batfam all having such different internal motivation around killing (and if they agree it's never OK, the why it is not OK is different for people).

Like Bruce has rules that he tries to follow. these are for many reasons, some to keep himself in check, some because if the entire point of Batman is that no other family is torn apart him killing people is literally defeating that point, it reads as generally ideology based. and I think that Bruce's character traits in the 70s or 80s where even if he doesn't kill people he isn't super distraught if they die is kind of interesting and it's a shame the writers dropped it. tho IG it could also be character development. (should note: he also has accidentally killed people but doesn't blame himself for it in some 80s comics like son of the demon)

Cass's rhetoric is based on her compassion and perfectionism and just. it's wrong period. no one deserves to die, and since she always has to be perfect, she always has to be able to save everyone even people who are trying to kill her. i feel like even if there was a case where someone had to kill someone else in self defense, cass would never view that as acceptable for herself because she should always be able to solve everything perfectly.

babs is sometimes vocally anti-killing people but i think it's fucking fascinating that she is also shown as being willing to potentially kill someone pretty often (at least pre new 52 when they removed 95 percent of her personality). not wanting to be faced with the prospect of being a victim again, she lures thinker into a trap with the intention of killing him. even after she's gotten more solid footing, she still is willing to kill to protect other people (she starts getting ready to snipe black mask when she thinks he will kill someone who was working for her in no man's land, before helena as batman shows up) and she is willing to authorize huntress to use lethal force to protect tim.

and tim's rhetoric for not killing people is very 'becuase bruce said so'. no seriously like (link) his rhetoric for a lot of what he does as robin is based on following The Rules ™. who made the rules? Bruce. and if he breaks the rules he feels unworthy. it would've been cool if the writers had acknowledged this way they wrote him so he could develop his own moral code, but I'm not sure they did in what I read. generally bruce was right because he's batman, so tim following bruce's rules for the most part is tim being right. no need to think of it further

dick is very anti-murder in ntt because heroes don't do that ™ and he seems less so in later comics. like he beats himself up a ton for nearly beating the joker to death but in later nightwing issues he's fine with people getting hit by ricochet when they are shooting at him and it is unclear if he maybe causes this guy to get hit by lightning, which kills him (but he had to do it to save a baby). i guess like with tomasi's run on nightwing and late new earth continuity, he just seems in general unconcerned with the whole debate and like. he doesn't use lethal force b/c that's not what you do, but he also doesn't let himself get too concerned about it, and when he was in NTT it was very much just. those are the rules (like tim)

damian's rhetoric starts out opposite from everyone's because killing your enemies is just what you do. like not even out of malice if writers are keeping anything consistent from the original LoS/LoA goal it should be to save people/the world. and he evolves from there. post R:SoB, fter his character arc, he seems to be one of the more anti-killing members of the batfam, probably behind cass, and a lot of it is based in the belief in people to change and his own feeling of guilt and empathizing with the people they fight because! Why was I any different from them? (he does not accept that he was a kid as a reason for why he should be held less responsible). and it's not just a case of 'not killing people b/c they are like me' he often tries to get them to reform. cass does this too.

and you have helena who is portrayed in batfam comics as like. having a super high body count but its fucking hilarious if you read her solo b/c she really doesn't. and she does kill 2 people in her solo, a lot of the time it seems to be based on even if they are a bad person and by her rhetoric they deserve to die, how she is feeling when it is going down. like she was going to rescue one of the guys responsible for killing her parents before he said something indicating he was intending on using her or something that triggered her (I can't remember the exact dialogue) which like what an IDIOT. and she also killed a serial killer, but i believe she felt personally responsible for the serial killer since she had inadvertently provided him with the means to escape from prison and failed to stop him before. i feel like even if she goes in a situation thinking "I am definitely going to kill this guy" she does not always do it, and frequently she can lean to leniency barring external circumstances. but she doesn't consider herself as someone who considers killing automatically wrong, even though there isn't a ton of things different from her situation than from dick or babs's, both of whom who have either been ready to kill people or been unconcerned if people they were fighting died or both.

and then obviously you have jason who is very pro-murder (i'm only going w/ pre flashpoint continuity b/c that's the one i've read more of), who does not care if people who aren't 100% deserving to die by his standards are killed by him (he kills drug dealers w/o giving them a chance to follow his rules to intimidate people or b/c he has no need of them after consolidating his power, he poisons people he can't control who he is poisoning in prison, causing many people to die -- both of these written by winick, generally regarded as the 'good' pre FP jason writer), because he is acting from a place of trauma and pain but believes that if he can control crime correctly he can 'fix' things -- but his reasoning is very based on his own personal experiences and not in compassion for others, or at least the people he allegedly is helping are very abstract and not real for him. and like. it's an interesting character trait because LOTS of batfam members' motives aren't really even tied into compassion when talking about not killing (dick's aren't, tim's aren't, babs's aren't), and some also have their personal experiences highly motivating them (babs, cass, damian).

i realize that steph is not on here but she is also like. really changing based on the writer (so do the others, but her evolution felt harder to track). i feel like pre batgirl-ing, she definitely feels some people deserve to die and might kill someone in anger if they reminded her of her dad and no one stopped her. batgirling, her writing is different, the writer wants to portray her as a little 'softer', more based on hope, but the writer does not actually show us how she changed, which is frustrating.

anyway i just think they're all so interesting and i love them

[hot-wiings]

The One Where Despite The Sports Festival, Shouto Todoroki Hates Using His Quirk, But [Y/N] [L/N] Enjoys It.

Edited: 12-2-2020

"It's so fucking cold."

The words came out rushed and loud as you clattered your teeth together. Your arms rubbed up and down over your thin school jacket as you cursed at your teacher in your head. You were supposed to be indoors, doing this school activity inside of the warm enclosed walls of Gym Gamma, instead, Shouta had your class outside, working on the P.E grounds due to miscommunication and overlapping training schedules with class B.

"C'mere, you're warm, I'm cold, hug me."

You buried yourself into the warmer side of your boyfriend, Shouto Todoroki. He had his own personal built-in heating pad, it wasn't fair to let him keep it all to himself. After all, sharing is caring. A light blush spread across his face as he slung his left arm around your back and let his left hand rest on your arm. He pulled you against him, helping you create heat as he debated giving you his own jacket to put on.

"Mm. That's great."

Shouto let out a small smile and he moved his warm, left hand up and down your arm as you both watched Mina spar with Mineta. His hand came up and rolled over your shoulder and made soft contact with your ear and cheek.

"Talking about me or the fight?"

"Well I was talking about you, but I can't say I don't find pleasure in seeing Mineta get beat."

"I know he can be a jerk, but isn't she going a little extreme. I'm surprised he isn't unconscious."

You let out a small chuckle as Mina destroyed his balls with her acid and delivered yet another punch to his face. You had to admit, she was going a bit hardcore on him, and you were sure Mr. Aizawa could see that, but no one stopped her. You were sure she was going so extreme with him due to the stunt he tried pulling the week before, your blood boiled and you clenched your fists just thinking about it. You hadn't told Shouto about said stunt, choosing to keep it a secret between you and Mina.

"He deserves it! He's commenting on our bodies is one thing, but he crossed a line last week."

"What did he do now?"

Shouto knew the boy's schemes were horrendous, and he tried his best to put the pervert back in line when you asked him to or complained about it. It was his job as a boyfriend to make you feel secure, and he took pride in it. He wanted to be the opposite of his father, a significant other you could run to for help, and making you feel safe and protected from the antics of your lesser classmate was how he did that, but you and neglected to tell your boyfriend about how bad the boy was getting.

Shouto placed a chase kiss onto the top of your head as he ran his hand up and down, his fingers leaving warm soothing circles on your shoulder. You pulled your lip between your teeth, realizing you slipped up and mentioned it. You hadn't told your boyfriend about the stunt Mineta pulled because you were both embarrassed it even happened, and ashamed you couldn't defend yourself. Besides that fact, Shouto could get jealous and possessive. Whenever you mention Mineta was bothering you Shouto didn't give you a chance to ask for help, he just seemed to take care of it. Jealousy and possession was a natural human feeling, but you didn't want him trying to murder the boy for his severe actions.

"Uh, well, I mean it's not worth sharing that much. Just the usual nasty things he does."

"What did he do?"

Shouto ran his fingers over your rosy, cold cheeks. Trying to entice you to answer him by distracting you with warmth. It worked.

"He snuck into the girl's dorms to spy on us after hours! To make things worse, he tried watching me change. When I saw him, he used his damned balls to make me sticky. Stuck in my bra and panties, completely helpless and unable to move. You have no idea how humiliated and disgusting I felt!"

"I would've made him apologize. Why didn't you tell me?"

Shoutos grip on your arm loosened but you could still feel the heat just radiating off of his body. He was upset that you didn't tell him, you knew that, but for all the wrong reasons. What you assumed was jealousy, in reality, was fear. The thought that you didn't need or want him to defend you. He took joy in it, he took joy in protecting you. What he so proudly took pride in, was swept away by Mina.

Mina had finally knocked Mineta out and walked past you and Shouto with a shit-eating grin on her face. She shot a thumbs-up signal in your direction as she went to the infirmary to retrieve Recovery Girl for Mineta. Nonverbal communication that she had avenged your dignity, but to Shouto it was just a slap in his face. Why hadn't you immediately told him? He would've knocked Mineta down a peg or two. He would've humbled him down and made him apologize. He should have been the one to redeem your dignity and redeem your image. He should've been the one defending your honor, but you hadn't even told him about it.

Did you not trust him? Was he not good at making you feel secure?

"Todoroki vs. Bakugo."

The anger and frustration was already taking over Shouto as he broke away from you and walked toward the center of the training grounds to meet Katsuki. The feral boy wasted no time in blasting Shouto, trying to anger him resulting in him using his flames unlike he had in the sports festival.

"Die!"

Shouto rebutted Katsuki's blast by hitting him with ice. Aggravated and aggressive, Katsuki sent boom after boom, blast after blast while he growled out phrases to work Shouto up and bring out his flames.

"Won't use your flames? Pathetic. I honestly wonder why [Y/N] is with you, my explosions always got her going."

"Leave her name out of your mouth."

Emotions consumed him once your name left Katsuki lips. He was angry that you didn't trust him enough to tell him about how his classmate tried to defile your image. Sad that you hadn't gone to him for comfort and redemption but Mina instead. All his emotions were thrust into his quirk as he sent Katsuki one hard blast of his flames. Blow after blow, eventually, Katsuki went down. He gripped his arm which now held a severe burn from a Shouto as he screamed out fuck you's.

As he cooled down, ex or not, Shouto couldn't help but regret his actions towards Katsuki. He saw the burns he left Katsuki with. He saw Katsuki gripping his arm as Recover Girl made her way over to him. He could see Katsuki resist help, trying to say it wasn't as bad as it was. He looked over at you, as you stared at him while you bit your lip, guilt flooded his entire being.

What if that had been you? What if he had lost his temper with you? If he was capable of snapping at Katsuki so quickly, what was he capable of with you?

Shouto made his way over to you and with quick hands, you grabbed onto him. You inspected him for injuries, worried he had been hurt too. Shouto hadn't been the only one to get blows in, but his injuries weren't physical. As your worried eyes met his, he felt disgusted with himself. He didn't understand how you were able to cling to such a monster like him. Katsuki's burns flashed in his head as Shouto pulled away from your grasp and ripped his jacket from his back.

He could hurt you. He was capable of hurting you.

"I'm fine. Here, take my jacket so you can be warmer."

"Oh, won't you need it? Quirks are just physical extensions of your body, I don't want you overexerting yourself."

"Don't worry about me. I'm going back to the dorms since my fights over."

His voice came out rushed, his tone cold, harsh and you frowned. Before he even heard your reply, Shouto turned on his heel and walked off to class 1-A's dorm rooms. He hadn't meant to be so cold with you. He didn't want to be harsh with you. Anyone, but you. He didn't want to, but he couldn't stand to be there with you. He couldn't stand there and let you take advantage of his quirk. He couldn't stand there and heat you knowing how he could hurt you. After what he did to Katsuki, you should have been disgusted with him.

He was a monster, he wasn't worthy of you.

"Who's next on the list?"

The snow fell around you, wetting your hair and getting your clothes damp as you pulled your hands out of your pockets and opened your phone with stiff cold fingers to look at the Christmas list you both together made weeks prior. Shouto wanted to reach across the small gap between you. He wanted to reach over and push your hair behind your ear. He wanted to reach out and pull your frozen hand into his warm one, but he wouldn't. He couldn't, he was already pushing the limit by being here as it was.

He was distancing himself, pulling away, and hoping you would receive the subtle hints he was dropping your way. The hints that he wanted to break up, to no longer see you, to no longer be yours. It wasn't that this is what he wanted, it's what he felt needed to be done. Shouto didn't want to hurt you by breaking up. He didn't want to be away from you. To him, you were his whole world, one of his motivations to become a hero. The more he thought about it, the more he realized how much safer you'd be off without him. How much safer, how much better you'd be without a monster like him.

He hoped the list was almost over with, he wasn't sure he'd be able to handle another minute with you. He knew he couldn't handle breaking your heart himself, so ingeniously he found a solution: Be detached until you break up with him instead. He was supposed to distance himself, but all he wanted to do was pull you in his arms. He knew he should've stayed at the dorms, stayed in the confines of his dorm room, neglecting you under the pretense of studying. However, when you came to him asking if he still wanted to go Christmas shopping together like you both originally planned to, he couldn't say no. The way you looked at him, a broken hopeful expression that he would say yes. Hopeful that he'd want to spend time with you despite him pushing you away. It broke his stoic reserve.

"We still need a guitar for Kyouka, a bag for Ochako, and something for Momo, she's kinda hard to shop for because she already has everything, but I saw her eyeing a necklace last month. I bet we could even find Ochako a bag in the same store."

He was practically ecstatic to hear you only had three more people to shop for, two of which could be hit in the same store. The quicker this was over the better. You placed your phone back in your pocket and reached out for Shouto's hand. The gap was closed between you both as you tugged him along the sidewalk with you towards the store you needed. Shouto smiled. He briefly smiled and relished in the feeling of your hand in his, but it was short-lived as he pulled his hand out of yours and stuffed it in his pocket.

He knew there must have been a hurt expression on your face, but he had to take a moment to remind himself. He had to remind himself why he was distancing himself from you. It was for you. You didn't deserve to be with a monster like him. You didn't deserve it, all you needed was a push in the right direction.

As you walked beside Shouto into the Lois Vuitton outlet store your heart felt heavy but you tried your best to push through the pain. You couldn't pretend that there wasn't anything wrong with your relationship. You couldn't pretend that your boyfriend hadn't been distant, hadn't been cold and closed off. He used to be so sweet, sweet, and present. He would walk you to your dorm after class, take you for walks, hold your hand, and more often than not, take you out on impromptu dates. He didn't do that anymore. He was cold and absent. He rarely talked to you and he put little to no effort into being with you. Even when you tried putting all the effort, you could see him pulling away. As he pulled away more and more, you had to wonder if he even wanted to be around you.

You had a whirlwind of thoughts on why he was being so distant, why he no longer wanted you. You just wanted all the worries and thoughts to go away. You wanted the negative reasons you'd come up with every night as you laid in bed to be gone. You wanted things to go back to normal because, despite all of this, you were holding out hope that things would go back to normal. Hope that perhaps he would begin to come around again.

You walked through Louis Vuitton with Shouto hot on your trail as you went to the jewelry display. Shouto quickly grasped the right necklace in his hands, the expensive a thousand dollar golden lipstick holder necklace. He turned to you with a determined smile.

"This is the one right?"

Suddenly, that dark cloud of thoughts came out again. The one that rained on you when you were at your most hopeful. The one that said he didn't love you, but most likely fell for another. The one that gave you the most probable answer.

"How'd you know that was the one she wanted?"

"I was with you both when you saw it."

It was a logistic explanation, but the simple sentence placed the seed of doubt into your head. Doubt that slowly diminished your hope. Despite the awfully, distrustful feeling it left you with, you chose to give Shouto the benefit of the doubt as you made your way over the bag selection.

"So, everyone's making plans for Christmas, and I was wondering if we were going to spend it together."

"I haven't really thought about my Christmas plans yet."

"We don't have to if you don't want to, figured I'd ask."

You kept your face away from Shouto and buried in the bag rack. You didn't want him to see the expression on your face. You didn't want him to see the remnants of all the hope you had left in this relationship. There was a right answer, the right answer you hoped he'd say, but that seed of doubt knew he wasn't going to say it.

"I was gonna go home for Christmas. Figured we both could use time with our families."

A single stray tear made its way down your cheek as his sentences tumbled out. All the hope you had left in your body crumpled as his words resounded in your ears. You hadn't spent a Christmas apart since the start of your three-year relationship. He knew you didn't have the best family. He knew you hated your father just as much as he hated his father. You both made it your tradition to be together for the holidays. You asking about it wasn't supposed to be a question, but reassurance he wasn't going to leave you alone. It was reassuring you he still cared, but all it did was water the seed.

"You want to go home for Christmas? I thought you hated being home over the holidays."

"Some things change, [Y/N]. You don't have a problem with it, do you?"

Of course you did. He was abandoning you. He was leaving you over Christmas for his bastard father he hated. The seed of doubt was beginning to blossom and you were looking for ways to uproot it. You had one vice left to try. His jealousy. If he so much as still loved or even liked you as a girlfriend, then just bringing up you and another boy alone would bring out the beast. No matter how innocent it would be, whether it be walking in the halls, or studying, Shouto could get possessive of you, and while you hated the idea of playing into his emotions like this, it was necessary.

"Of course not! Denki invited me to go on a trip over holiday break anyway. The guy he interns for owns a mansion up north, perfect for skiing. You don't have a problem with that, do you?"

"No, I hope you have fun."

You scanned Shouto's face for any indication that you going up north with Denki alone bothered him, but stoic as ever he was unbothered. A last resort really, but you pulled out a card you never wanted to.

"You're sure? Katsuki is going to be there, and I don't want to make you uncomfortable by hanging out with my ex for a week and a half."

"[Y/N], I don't care. Go ahead, you know not to do something you'd regret."

If Shouto really cared for you he would have said yes. He would've said he had a problem with his girlfriend going on a trip with her ex-boyfriend. You thrust the bag into Shouto's arms and avoided his eyes, scared you would let the tears flow out in front of him.

"Um, can you go pay? I need to use the bathroom."

Shouto tried not to look over at you on the couch. He wanted to scoot closer to you, he wanted to pull your body against his. He wanted to see the little face you made when his warmth took over your freezing skin, he wanted you to fall asleep on him. He wanted to be close to you again, he wanted things to go back to how they used to be. They couldn't go back, it wasn't that simple. He could never revert back into your loving boyfriend, he couldn't allow himself to be yours. 

As the weeks from that day in the outlet mall progressed, Shouto could feel his resolve diminish. Despite the distance you still tried to connect and be around him, he was still your boyfriend no matter how cold of a front he put up. It hurt to have you trying to cling to him but he kept pushing you away. It hurt to have you offer date opportunities only for him to turn them down. What hurt Shouto the most was letting you go on that trip with Katsuki. He wanted to tell you not to go on that trip, he wanted to tell you to stay at the dorms with him. With every passing day you talked with Katsuki more and more, it pained Shouto to act like he was fine and chill with it.  

Shouto didn't know this was a ploy to make him jealous to try and incite any lingering feelings for you. He didn't know that you weren't even planning to go on the trip with Katsuki but actually planned to stay at the dorms once he left for his own family home for the holidays. You chatted up katsuki more often and even went as far as to ask Shouto for advice on a bathing suit to both bring forth feelings from him and make your lie more convincing. It wasn't as though Shouto wasn't jealous, it wasn't as though he stopped caring for you and who you hung out with. The idea of you in a bikini with Katsuki grated him. The two of you in a hot tub, escaping the dreaded cold rubbed him the wrong way, but he needed to let it happen, he needed to push you away into the arms of someone more worthy, into the arms of another.  

"When are you leaving for your trip?"

Shouto hadn't even turned to look at you as he spoke out the question. He hadn't looked and maybe had he, he would've seen how broken you looked, he would've seen your disheveled appearance and his resolve would've broken for sure. With your legs pulled up on the couch and your head resting on your knees, a frown on your face as you stole sneaky little glances at your boyfriend when he wasn't looking. He never looked at you anymore, just another indication of where your relationship was headed. 

"Katsuki and I are meeting at the airport in a couple of hours, he said the ticket was paid for by his internship boss, but I think he's really paying for it."

Shouto didn't look at you, and it hurt. What guy didn't get upset, or weird at the very least, at the idea of his girlfriend going on a trip with her ex-boyfriend? Beyond that, the proposed idea that his girlfriend is getting a plane ticket paid for by said ex-boyfriend should upset him. You snagged your lip between your teeth as your grip on your legs tightened. 

"When are you going home?" 

"Tonight."

You nodded your head and made a mental note to leave until he left to make it seem you went on the trip. You didn't want him knowing that you planned to stay in the dorms alone over Christmas, but those were his exact plans. He hadn't spent a Christmas apart from you since the beginning of this relationship, and he just wanted to wallow in self-pity over having pushed you away successfully. 

"Do you want to exchange gifts before we leave?"

"I didn't think we were getting each other gifts since we're not seeing each other on Christmas."

You let out a sigh as you tried to keep the tears down. You were so hopeful, you were holding out for him but you couldn't anymore. You got him a gift, hoping that Christmas would bring out the best in him and make him open up. You thought that the day would roll around and everything would be fixed by the magic of Christmas. He hadn't even gotten you a gift, yet he knew what neckless Momo wanted. You couldn't do it anymore, you couldn't pretend things would get better. You couldn't pretend he still loved you.

"What did I do wrong? I'm sorry, I can fix it. I'm sorry, I'll fix it."

The tears began leaking out and running down your cheeks in warm streaks. You tried to keep your little sniffles quiet by pressing your hand over your mouth and nose. You didn't want him to see you cry, you didn't want him to hear your tears, but he did. Shouto looked over at you with knitted eyebrows before looking back at the fireplace. He wanted to comfort you, he wanted to hold you and reassure you that it was okay, but he needed to push you away. 

"I'm drowning, I'm drowning Shouto. I don't understand what I did to make us like this. Am I too clingy, do I suffocate you? I'll give you space, I can give you more space!"

Shouto clenched his fists as your words tumbled out in frantic sentences but he stayed silent. He did so well, he's done so well at pushing you away. He had to keep his resolve up, he had to push away. You didn't deserve him, you didn't deserve to be with such a monster. 

"When Katsuki broke up with me he said it was cause' I'm weak. Is that it, am I too weak for you? I'll train harder. I'll be a hero you can be proud of."

Shouto kept his face away from yours, silently and still staring at the fire. He knew if he looked at you then he would break. If he looked at you he would crawl into your arms and whisper reassuring words on how Katsuki is an ass, reassuring words on how strong you were. He wanted to tell you that you always made him proud, but he didn't let himself. The more he continued being silent, the more it hurt you. More tears flowed from your eyes as you spoke out the sentence you so solemnly tried to quell. The thought you so desperately had been trying to put out like a wild fire. 

"Deep down I know the truth, you want her, don't you? Momo? God, how stupid I must look, my boyfriend and my best friend right under my nose."

You pressed your hand to your mouth to muffle a strangled sob as you wiped away your tears with the back of your hand, futile as more quickly replaced them. Shouto looked over at you, a few tears dripping down from his own eyes. That's what you thought? That he was cheating? Shouto wasn't sure if he should feel insulted for you thinking so low of him, but then again, had the roles been reversed with you pushing him away, he would think the same.

"I... I just want you to know I don't blame you Shouto. She can suit your needs so well. She's smarter, rich, and god, she's so much prettier. I- I'm sorry I wasn't enough for you, I'm sorry I couldn't satisfy you. I'm sorry I wasted your ti"- 

"Don't say that, don't, just don't. Don't compare yourself to her. I don't want Momo, I haven't wanted anyone except for you."

"Then why don't you want me? You don't touch me anymore, you don't even look at me. I don't understand what I did."

"You didn't do anything! You did nothing, it's me! I'm the problem, I'm the issue."

Shouto stood up abruptly, pacing back and forth he ran his hand through his hair roughly. He should've kept his resolve, he should've stayed solid, but hearing the quiver in your voice, hearing your thoughts, your deeply negative thoughts broke him so.

"You are so perfect, [Y/N]. I love when you cling to me, you're so strong, you're beautiful and perfect, and fuck! The only reason I remembered Momo's necklace was because it was right next to the earrings I bought for you."

You stood up and wrapped your arms around Shouto. You buried your face in his chest as he let his tears fall. He should push you away, he should make distance from you, but he couldn't. He couldn't, instead, he wrapped his arms around you and let out his own sob into your hair as he held you close for the first time in days.

"I'm such a monster [Y/N]. I'm such a monster, I'm just like my dad. You saw how I burned Katsuki. You shouldn't be with me, I might hurt you."

You pulled out of Shouto's arms to cup his face. There was a frown on your face, leaving him with an unsettling feeling in his gut that you agreed. It was quite the opposite.

"Shouto, you would never hurt me. I don't know where you got that idea, but I know you would never. You are sweet, caring, and possibly the best boyfriend to ever exist. You are not your father, you are Shouto Todorki, my boyfriend."

"I've hurt you so much these past few weeks. I've ignored you, and I've been cold, why are you still here."

"You pushed me away because you thought it was good for me. Granted that wasn't your choice to make, I'm still here because I love you, and you love me, the rest is pudding."

You pressed your lips against Shoutos, they felt warm and rough, you hadn't felt them in so long, how you missed them so. You pressed into the kiss, with him pulling you closer, want and need dripping between you both as your wandering hands pulled and tugged each other.

"Tell me what's going on instead of pushing me away next time. I'm not letting you go, no matter how hard you push me away. I'm here to stay."

"I will, I promise. I love you, [Y/N], so much. I need you in my life. I've been an awful ass, and I know I'm in no place to make requests, but please don't go with Katsuki."

"I never planned to, I turned him down when he first asked. I wanted to spend Christmas with you, Sho. We're always together for the holidays, we have our own traditions, and spending it with anyone else isn't right."

"I wasn't gonna go home either, was gonna stay here. What a pair of liars we are, c'mon, I think we can still salvage this Christmas Eve."

Shouto kissed your hand and tugged you towards the kitchen. With your hands enveloped in each other, all was right. It was right, being with you was right. Maybe he was a monster, maybe he was temperamental, but that was something he was willing to work on to be with you.

[tiredcowpoke]

TITLE: Blank Spots [21] PAIRING: (Somewhat pre-established) Arthur Morgan/Fem!Reader, could be seen as an OC. REQUEST: Unprompted. BLURB: After waking up at the base of a steep incline and nearly freezing to death, you stumble upon a group of strangers who swear up and down that they know you. WARNINGS: Some creative license for amnesia. Violence, kidnapping, death. NOTE: Hey, it’s been a good minute since I posted another part to this. My summer hasn’t been off to the best start, but I found some motivation returning to continue this series so here we are. I hope you enjoy, I’m still trying to find my legs again so I apologize if things are a little rough. Anyway, thank you all for the patience!       TAG LIST: @on-my-way-to-erebor / @otherthingstoreid @ireallyhonestlydontcare @elanisha @darlingsdevil @cirillamylove @bunnyreese12 @rollyjogerjones @callmemythicalminx @r4reland @itsnothingwithoutchaos

The only sound that filled your ears for the last couple hours was the noise of rope feverishly rubbing against the wooden leg of the bedpost you had been tied to. 

You could feel the ache in your arms and the burn of the rope against your skin. You could feel the pain of the bruise forming along your ribs when you had been kicked around for fighting back--back when you believed you still had time to get Jack and get the hell out of this place. However, that was hours ago. A voice in the back of your head said it was too late now to try to save Jack, nightfall had darkened the room they had put you in for the time being and the sun going down had mercifully allowed things to cool off. However, you knew the window of opportunity to help that poor kid had closed. 

“Shit--” you cursed, pausing in the rubbing of the ropes that bound your wrists to pull against them in some futile attempt to snap them again, your jaw aching with how you clenched your teeth. The rope had loosened some, it was probably your only sliver of hope in this situation. Yet, the exhaustion from both the current situation you found yourself in and trying to break them for hours now was getting hard to ignore. 

With a sigh, you slumped and allowed yourself to bow your head in defeat. Momentary defeat. You had survived falling off that mountainside, you could survive this. At least, that’s what you kept repeating to yourself whenever you battled with the urge to quit. 

However, the sound of footfalls heading toward the room would have had you stilling anyway. You let out a slow breath as you heard the door open, only glancing up a moment to see the stranger there before dropping your gaze to stare hard into the floorboards. Whatever he had to say, you didn’t want to listen. 

“You gettin’ a little warm there, miss?” he asked, the tone suggesting that his words didn’t carry a single tone of compassion. “Ain’t got the best breeze back here.” 

Don’t buy into it. 

You heard him walk closer, his boots shifting into your view before you found yourself glancing up at him as he seemed to study you. After a few moments, he let out a short huff. 

“Don’t much understand the reason to keep you ‘round--then again, didn’t see much reason to take the boy neither, but he’s with them Italian fellers now.” 

That news had you dropping your gaze, pressing your lips into a thin line as you shook your head. It only just confirmed what you had been thinking, but it still pulled at that terrible sense of guilt in your gut. Should have done more for him, should have fought harder. 

“Though, heard you got a nice little number on your head. Given those folk you ride with murdered all those Greys in town, figure we’re keepin’ you around to offer the new lawmen that step up to that. Don’t know yet.” 

That information was dropped on you like he was talking about the weather, your gaze lifting back up despite yourself in some confusion. You figured you would have had a bounty from when you had been riding with the gang previously, but it was another memory that you didn’t really have or could recount exactly how much was on your head. Apparently it was enough for them to keep you alive, if only to collect on it later. 

There wasn’t going to be a later, you were going to make sure of that. 

“Why are you telling me this?” you asked after a few moments, catching his attention as he was about to turn to leave from the looks of things. 

“Figured you might give me some reason in why we are keepin’ you here,” he said with a light shrug, cocky and nonchalant. Well, you guessed that was all you were going to give you, falling back into your lapse of silence. 

Eventually, he turned and walked back toward the door, bored or moving on to more important matters. However, upon hearing the door shut once again, you renewed your attempts at fraying the ropes. God, you knew the pain once you were free was going to be rough, but you couldn’t sit by and wait for whatever resolution this was coming to. 

You knew the gang wouldn’t sit by and let Jack get kidnapped, and you figured that them taking him meant that the Braithwaites were counting on them showing up eventually. 

                                                          ***

The first tug and snap you felt of a rope finally being cut was almost in time with the first sounds of gunfire. The feeling pulled a short somewhat breathless laugh from you. Night had fallen, leaving the room to be cast only in the dim light from one of the candles as you sat there with a small, relieved grin. Still, you knew your time was limited and you had to get yourself free before things only continued to escalate. While it took a couple more attempts to release the rest, the ones that came after were somewhat easier and eventually you were able to free your hands. 

You could feel the ache in your limbs, hands, and fingers as you rubbed lightly at the angry red and bruising marks on your wrists. However, the commotion growing louder and closer had you lifting your head toward the door. You weren’t too sure just what was happening, but if there was a chance that the gang had shown up, you needed to get out to them. Debating on if you should sit for a while, wait to see if your ‘guard’ returned, you decided that was just wasting more time. 

You gathered yourself to a stand somewhat unevenly, the ache in your limbs and the light swaying in your head from where you had been hit a couple hours ago made you pause for a few moments. 

Being unarmed, you knew there wouldn’t be much of a chance for you to fight your way out. However, with the chaos, you figured it might give you enough cover. 

Heart in your throat, you moved toward the door. Move down a couple hallways and this could be over, yet it didn’t seem like things were going to play out that way. In the time you had taken to get yourself out of the bindings, the man from before had been making it back toward the room. So, as you reached the door, it swung open to reveal him standing there. It had to have only been a moment, but the seconds that ticked by as your hope dropped down into the pit of panic that formed in your stomach felt like whole minutes. 

Instantly, he reached down into his holster to remove his gun and you moved without thinking as you lunged at him. Given the hours of physical exhaustion that weighed on your limbs in your attempts to escape and him already riled up from the gunfight, it was a bit of a futile attempt. Yet, it was enough to keep you from getting a bullet to the gut or worse, slamming your body against his that knocked you back against a table. 

He shoved you back hard, the motion giving you a moment to grab at his firing arm as you tried to make a grab for his weapon. He fired off a shot, the noise putting a dull ringing to your ears. Still, you kept your hold until he struck you in the side that sent you buckling at the knees somewhat, ripping his arm from your grasp that sent you tumbling to the floor. 

You glanced up as he stepped quickly toward you, hearing the click of a bullet being loaded into the chamber as he aimed the weapon down at you. However, if he intended to kill you, he seemed to be a little slow to do so and you acted without thinking. You lashed out, kicking him hard in the knee, the sudden motion and attack sending him stumbling down almost on top of you. The clamouring for the weapon began again, this time you managing to rip the weapon from his hands. Your captor tried to pin you to the floor, pressing hard against the side of your head and tried to hold your arm down. However, you managed to shift the weapon up and fired off a shot. 

You had felt the barrel come into contact with the side of his vest, the bullet ripping into his side as he let out a loud howl at the pain. In doing so, it gave you enough time to shift him back, ignoring the fresh blood that stained your torso as he seemed to push himself off you. Though, you almost didn’t register what happened next. 

He had risen up somewhat on his knees, your gaze catching the murderous intent in his own, and then a bullet from behind seemed to rip through the top of his skull. 

Scurrying back, you shoved him fully away as he fell forward, completely dead. Not really registering who had just shown up in the doorway, you raised the weapon up as they stepped toward you. Thankfully, you hadn’t quite had the mind to fire off a shot before the familiar voice seemed to break through the rushing in your ears. 

“Easy! Easy, it’s John!” 

You stared up at him for a moment, taking him in before the small bit of relief settled. With a small exhale, you lowered the weapon as you glanced toward the man you both had just killed. 

“Is Jack with you?” he asked, the question causing him to look up at him. 

“What?”

“Jack.” 

“No--No, he’s...he’s not here,” you said, trying to gather yourself to a stand. You could feel the pain in your ribs from the struggle, but it certainly could have ended worse. 

“...Damn it,” John cursed to himself before he reached out to help steady you somewhat, “C’mon, we need to get outta here.” 

You nodded almost numbly, following him out toward the main part of the house. You could hear that woman yelling vaguely, the smell of fire and smoke hitting your nostrils. God, if John hadn’t found that room or if you hadn’t found a way out of there, they would have burned you down with the rest of the building unaware. Did all of this really happen in only a couple hours? It was clearly night once you were back outside, lights from the lanterns and the building that was slowly starting to burn to the ground. Still, in the commotion, your thoughts fluttered by without too much reaction from you. 

That woman, the Braithwaite, was kneeled on the ground. You could only vaguely pick up on her saying something about Bronte, the name pulling hard at the guilt and fear in your gut you had over Jack. You could have done more, should have done more. Reasonably, you knew trying to escape with him when you had been tied up and had to work all day to get the ropes cut was impossible. Given the time frame, you had already been working against the clock even before you knew you were. 

Still, it was a hard feeling to shake. 

However, the sound of your name broke you from that train of thought as John led you toward where the gang’s horses were. Arthur stepped forward, placing a hand against your shoulder as he seemed to look you over somewhat. 

“Couldn’t find you anywhere, thought they’d moved you along,” he said after a moment. 

“Would’ve left without any the wiser if I hadn’t heard the gunshot,” John commented, sounding exhausted. Considering what was happening, you couldn’t blame him. “Got there just in time, I’d say.” 

“They were keeping me and were going to hand me over to the sheriff as some sort of...I don’t know,” you replied, finally finding your voice, “John...thank you. I’m...I’m so sorry about Jack.” 

John gave you a short nod, “C’mon, we need to get back to camp.” 

“Yeah, you’ll ride with me,” Arthur said, placing a hand between your shoulder blades and he walked with you toward a familiar horse. 

You were going back to camp, this whole ordeal was over yet in a way it certainly wasn’t. You couldn’t bring yourself to glance behind you, wanting no more than anything to get the hell out of there. Arthur climbed into the saddle behind you somewhat, seeming to catch onto the exhaustion in your limbs as he wrapped an arm around your middle before starting the ride back to camp. 

“They hurt you?” he asked after a few moments, “You’re covered in blood.” 

“No, it’s--it’s not mine,” you replied, keeping your gaze on the path ahead of you as Arthur continued on at a steady pace. 

Thankfully, he didn’t say anything further as you both continued on down the path. However, your mind lingered on the events of the past couple hours. God, you had no idea just how your day was going to turn, worrying about Arthur when you should have been doing so about yourself and Jack. You thought about killing that man back there, firing a shot into his side and John planting one in his skull in your hesitance to do more. There was a part of you that hated that--what’d happened to you? It never used to be like this, did it? Stilling at the thought of violence and defending yourself? Couldn’t even protect a damn kid? 

“Hey,” you heard Arthur’s voice in your ear, suddenly feeling the warmth of his chest against your back, the tightness of his arms around you. The two of you weren’t moving anymore, stopped just off the path you were taking back to camp. You hadn’t been aware of the way you had started breathing, the stinging at your eyes and the shaking in your limbs. 

“It’s okay,” he continued, “Ain’t gonna let somethin’ like that happen to you again.” 

“It’s not that,” you replied after a moment, letting out a shaky breath, “I was there with Jack, I knew they had Bronte coming to take him and I did nothing. I could’ve done something and I didn’t.” 

“That ain’t your fault,” Arthur muttered, not releasing his hold as much as a part of you didn’t feel like you deserved the comfort. Still, you couldn’t help the way you were leaning back against him, even if he was holding you there himself. 

“I don’t know,” you muttered, blinking back some tears. 

“We’re gonna get the boy back, he’ll be just fine,” Arthur said, “Nobody in that camp is just goin’ to let him be taken, made that clear tonight. Might’ve damn well lost you in that, too, if John hadn’t been listenin’.” 

You weren’t too sure about that, you had gotten out by the time John had shown up. Though, you didn’t have the energy to argue that in the moment, knowing that they knew you were taken with Jack must have worried him too. With a small exhale, you brought a hand up to grip at his forearm comfortingly. 

“I want to help get Jack back,” you said, “even if it’s in the smallest of ways.” 

“We ain’t sure just how these fellers are,” Arthur replied after a moment, loosening his hold somewhat, “With everybody we just lost, I don’t know if…” 

“Lost?” you asked, turning your head slightly as much as you couldn’t face him fully in the saddle. You saw him nod softly out of the corner of your eye, Arthur letting out a sigh. 

“Yeah, Sean…” he muttered, “Them Greys set us up in town, he got shot and died before we could do anythin’.”

“...God,” you replied, shaking your head lightly as you felt your shoulders drop. 

You and Sean weren’t close, the last time you had really spent any time with him was on that terrible robbery job and now...shit. You weren’t even sure how Karen was going to take this either, you knew she and him were an item. How did all of this happen on the same day? It was...you had no idea how to feel. 

Awful. You felt awful. 

“Yeah. So, maybe you can understand my hesitance to let ya run headlong into danger,” he replied, spurring his horse into a trot again as you shook your head lightly. 

“I know, I understand. However...I need to do this. Please.” 

“...I can’t say I’m gonna enjoy it, but I can’t hold you down if you’re gonna be doin’ this,” Arthur replied, “Least give me some peace of mind to make sure you ain’t doin’ anythin’ alone if you’re helpin’ get Jack back.” 

“Fine,” you replied with a nod--that was more than fine. You weren’t going to pretend that you could get that kid back by yourself, but you wanted to try. Hell, you were still trying to process Sean on top of everything else, you knew you probably weren’t thinking too clearly. 

Still, you reached down to where his arm was wrapped around you, wrapping your fingers around his own. A silent thanks, you knew given the situation he could have been a hell of a lot less negotiable. 

You just wanted to help, if only to make up for the trauma that poor kid has likely gone through. Even somewhat. 

[liberty-barnes]

Done Wondering

Jock!Tom Holland x Female!Reader

Highschool AU

@danicarosaline requested: Hi pretty!! i saw your requests are open so may i please request a jock Tom x reader! Tom is a big softy and the captain of his football team and reader is a tough ‘not taking shits from anybody’ type of person? Like Tom gets in an argument with a team mate and he’s being all nice and calm about it but reader thinks his team mate deserves a good punch in the face so she punches him and it shocks the entire team and Tom himself even though he expected it!!

Warnings: F L U F F, not sure that the football talk is 100% accurate, all I know about American football is that Tom Brady's a quarterback, their jerseys are cool and apparently I'm supposed to cheer for the Pats? (yeah, that's my dad's fault), B99 references (i fucking love that show), cursing, a bit of violence ig

Word Count: 2.3k words (why can i not write short things?)

Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes

A/N: so sorry it took so long to get this out! also, i got waaaaaay to invested in this... oopsie

Masterlist

You ran across the field as people all around you celebrated with only one goal in mind: kiss your boyfriend.

You and Tom had been dating for almost seven months now, to many people's surprise. The entire school thought you'd be together for a week tops, but you surpassed all their expectations by becoming the longest standing couple in junior year (not that it was hard, high schoolers change partners like discardable gloves). 

Tom was one of Sunset High's best and brightest, loved by the teachers, captain of the football team, and the object of many's affection.

You, however, were nothing like that. You hated sports (everyone knows art's better anyway), social interactions were your personal little slice of hell, and everyone was too scared to approach you since you threatened to gut Charles after he accidentally forgot to give you back your pencil.

All in all, there was no way you two could stay together.

There was no way you could even make a friendship work, let alone a romantic relationship.

But then there was that fateful summer night...

Your mind ran at a thousand miles an hour as you rocked in the park's nest swing. The stars looming over you were the only thing keeping you from spiraling, and after an hour of watching them, the peace in your mind was crumbling.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see you there."

You sat up on the swing and looked to your right where stood a sheepish-looking Tom.

"It's okay, I should probably leave anyway..."

"No! I mean, it's okay, you were here first I didn't mean to disturb you."

You cast your eyes down until he spoke again.

"You go to my school, right? (Y/n)? We were in the same English class in freshman year."

"Yeah, I think so... I'm surprised you remember me, we didn't have any classes together last year..."

He huffed out a laugh and leaned against the support beam, hands in his pockets.

"It's kinda hard to forget someone like you. You stood up to the teacher on the first day after he yelled at a kid and spent the next year having actual coherent debates about the books that most of the class never even read, let alone understood. You're kind of amazing."

You ducked your head once more to try to cover the blush on your cheeks, biting your lip.

"Thanks."

He nodded and took a deep breath, then sat in front of you and pushed so the swing was rocking softly, always catching it before it hit his face.

You giggled a bit and sat criss-cross applesauce, back straight, your mother's words permanently etched into your brain.

"So, what are you doing alone in the town's most secluded park at midnight?"

"Oh, you know, questioning my life choices, freaking out because in three weeks we're going back to school while simultaneously feeling stir crazy after having nothing cool to do all summer, regretting ever being born, the usual. What about you?"

"Getting crushed by everyone's expectations, feeling constricted cause I have to set a good example for my little brothers, freaking out cause I have no idea what I want to do with my life, the usual."

A comfortable silence settled between you.

"Do our lives really suck or is it just the teenagers in us that dramatize everything?"

He huffed out a laugh.

"I don't know, tell me your story and I'll let you know."

You scooched to the side and patted the now empty spot on the too-small swing so he could lay down next to you. Looking at the stars seemed like a better idea than looking at him.

"I never really liked school, people are jerks, cafeteria food is disgusting at best, I have no friends -not that I care about that, I'm better off alone. Still, it's better than being home. When my father isn't working in his study, he's berating me about getting better grades, even though I'm a straight-A student, not that he cares enough to actually know that. My mother's usually either gossiping with her other rich friends or telling me to correct my posture, dress better, act like a lady, it's infuriating...

"My older brother, the only person in that family that I genuinely like, left for MIT today, so I guess I'm just now realizing that I'm really... alone. I'll have to suffer through my father's lectures about getting high grades and act like someone I'm not so my mother doesn't take away everything I love until I "learn to act like a respectable woman". Jake used to get them to lay off me, but now he's not here. Sometimes I wonder why they even adopted me if I'm such a bad daughter. It just sucks."

You felt his hand twitch next to yours and his eyes on your face.

"Your turn."

He took a shuddering breath before speaking.

"My parents are amazing, they really are, they only want what's best for me, but sometimes it's a little much. They constantly remind me of going to training, doing my homework, studying for tests, and even though they always say it's okay, I see the disappointment in their eyes when my grades lower even by a single point.

"My little brothers look up to me a lot, and they're always telling me how much they want to be just like me when they grow up. I know they mean it in the best possible way, but it's just that much more pressure. I just... feel the need to always be the best at everything. The best football player, the best captain, the best student, the kindest person in that school, most helpful... it's all a bit much."

This time, it was you who were looking at his profile while he gazed at the stars.

"It's okay to feel overwhelmed, Tom. It doesn't matter that they have the best intentions, they're still putting too much pressure on you and you deserve the chance to relax."

He turned towards you and for the first time that night, you realized just how close you were.

"You're not a bad daughter just because you have different interests. I, for one, think you are a strong and independent woman who doesn't need to change because of some mere peasants. You're a queen... You deserve someone that'll treat you as one."

Your breath caught in your throat as you locked eyes with him.

"Wanna make a deal?"

You nodded tentatively, though at this point you'd probably agree to murder someone as long as he kept looking at you that way.

"I'll be your friend, give you something to do whenever you need it, save you from your asshole parents and remind you of just how awesome you are every day..."

"And in return?"

"And in return, you'll say stuff like what you said before when I get too stuck in my head, save me from my so-called friends when they're being jerks, and come to every practice with me so you have something to do and I have someone to make silly faces at."

"I'm pretty sure there are a thousand girls in that school that would kill to have you make silly faces at them."

"Maybe so, but they aren't you. A lock of your hair is worth more than all of them combined."

You bit your lip and smiled.

"Okay."

"Cool."

"Cool."

He pecked you softly on the lips before he lost his nerve, quick and fleeting, feather-light but strong enough to leave fires in its wake. You pulled him back and gave him a slightly longer kiss before setting your head on his shoulder and going back to stargazing, now with someone to keep you company.

Three weeks later, you walked into school hand in hand and haven't let go since.

"Tommy!"

You jumped into his arms, ignoring the smell of sweat and how it would probably cling to your clothes.

"You did so good baby!"

He kissed you straight on the lips, not minding his teammate's wolf-whistles, having grown used to them already.

"I had a pretty good motivation."

"Oh?"

"Mm-hm, my girl told me she'd bake me cookies if I won this match, and I really like her cookies."

"Sounds like you have a great girlfriend."

"The best."

You kissed him again and he smiled when he felt the fabric of his spare jersey adorning your figure.

"Yo, Holland!"

You forced apart by Teddy's call, one of the newer players. Since you went to every single practice, you knew that Teddy was being an ass lately, always wanting the glory, never passing the ball to his teammates. If it weren't for Tom's skill as captain of the team, he would've cost them most matches, including this one.

"Why didn't you pass me the ball?"

"Pardon?"

"That last play, I was free and you passed the ball to Harrison even though he almost lost it. You should have passed it to me, we almost lost because you want to make your useless bestie feel included!"

"Johnson was closing in on you, if I'd passed it to you, we would have lost for sure. Passing it to Harrison bought me the time I needed to get out of danger. It was purely strategical, you would know that if you paid attention to your teammates instead of playing all on your own. Haz is an amazing player and I don't treat him differently just because he's my best friend. I'd like you to apologize to him, please, it's not kind to insult your teammates."

You admired the fact that he managed to remain calm and collected throughout the whole conversation, looking like the embodiment of 'I'm not mad, I'm disappointed'. You, however, were not having such an easy time keeping your cool, hands firmly clenched at your side.

"The hell it was! You just feel threatened by me because you'll never be as good as me, so you never pass me the ball, it's ridiculous!"

"Okay, buddy, you need to back the hell off and close your mouth before I punch it shut."

His eyes flickered to you and he rose a brow mockingly.

"Oh, your little slut's standing up for you know? I always knew you were a chicken, guess my theory's been pro-"

You cut him off with a punch to the nose, smiling when you heard the satisfying crack of his bones and his howls of pain.

A collective 'ooh' came from the crowd, and they took a few steps back (excluding Tom of course, who was only looking at you with wide eyes).

"What the fuck?"

"I warned you, didn't I?"

You smirked evilly as Teddy was pulled away by the coach to check his injury.

"You're a bitch!"

"Baddest of them all, sweetheart. Have a fun time at the hospital!"

The whole crowd had gone silent by the time you turned back around, seemingly satisfied with your vengeance.

"What?"

You tilted your head in confusion at the awestruck looks on the team's faces.

"You broke his nose!"

"Uh-huh."

"With just your hand."

"Uh-huh."

"Since when are you so violent?"

You were actually kind of offended at that.

"I know that I bring you guys snacks after practice, but do none of you hear when I threaten other people? It's a daily occurrence."

The rubbed their necks sheepishly.

"Well, you see..."

Haz started, seemingly measuring his words.

"You're kind of like Rosa from Brooklyn Nine-Nine. No one actually knows what you're capable of, no one thinks you'd actually kill someone, but we're also kind of too scared to test you, so we just... wonder."

"Well, when you're done wondering, go take a shower so we can go celebrate, I'm hungry."

They all scrambled away in a chorus of 'yes ma'am' before you turned back to Tom with a smile on your face.

"You didn't have to punch him, you know?"

"Yeah, but I've been wanting to for weeks now."

He huffed out a laugh and kissed your forehead.

"How're your knuckles?"

"A bit sore, but I'm pretty sure that if we put some ice it'll be good, the rings took most of the impact."

You wiggled your hand, showing off the array of rings covering your fingers in what you deemed to be an aesthetically pleasing way.

"I love you, babygirl."

You kissed him, smiling into his lips.

"I love you too. Now go, shower!"

You patted his butt and laughed at the look he threw you, standing next to the field while you waited for them to get out.

Their coach came to stand next to you and you smiled at him, having taken a liking for him. He was a good teacher and treated the team well.

"Coach Jeffords."

"(Y/n)."

"What's the verdict?"

"Nurse says it's broken but we'll only know the full extent of his injuries after he gets examined at the ER. He's on his way there as we speak."

You nodded.

"You'll be pleased to know that he's been taken off the team and suspended for a week for unruly behavior. His parents aren't going to press charges since they feel it's deserved."

You smirked evilly.

"I'd advise you to watch out for Pembroke. He's starting to become a nuisance. If he keeps it up, he might be next."

He nodded, fighting back his smile even though you knew damn well he agreed.

"I'll do my best."

"And I'll do mine."

"(Y/n)! Ready to go?"

You nodded in goodbye at the coach and walked over to a freshly showered Tom, interlacing your fingers.

"Always."

«────── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ──────»

Taglists: (if your name is striked through it means for some reason tumblr wouldn’t let me tag you)

PERMA TAG 

@jeezkiddo @beananacake @yoinkyourheart @averyfosterthoughts​ @onebigolemess​ @samoney69​ @agirlwithpointlessideas​ @ddaawwssoonn @inhumanwithpowers​ @imagineshere-forall​ @stiles-banshees​ @orowit​ @spideynut​ @deathofmissjackson​ @ephemeral-limerences​ @write-from-the-heart​ @cardboard-ben​ @my-alignment-is-bisexual​ @mendes-marvel​ @shawnsnovel​ @inthecornerchair​ @lovelynerdytraveler​ @niallssweetheart22​ 

ACTORS/RPF TAG 

@bubblegumbarnes​ @sofiaconlaz​ 

TOM HOLLAND TAG 

@tomsirishgirlx​ @dreaming-lia​ @markleehee​ @juliebean247​ @gypsystuf​ @quechulitaaa​ @theoretical-theo​ @bubblegumbarnes​  @sofiaconlaz​ @underooling​ @hannahholland1811​ @bellaaa321-blog​ @parkerpetertingle​ @emily-louise-hynes @clara-licht​ @ekelly2015​ @inlovewithmobtom​ @quaksonhehe​ @danicarosaline​ @arts-ismything​ @peachyafshawn @tutuabby28​ @sovereignparker​ @tokhalaxoxo​ @cathwritestragediesnotsins​ @incorrect-things​ 

[indigosabyss]

Jaded

Izuku didn’t know when it started exactly. He supposed it might have been when he first got his own laptop, when he was twelve years old. In the years before this, his mom usually made sure that he didn’t get sucked into forums for hours on end, but once he got his laptop, he was almost immediately sucked into the rabbit hole of hero forums and discussions. Sure, Bakugo might bully him in school, and all the teachers would turn a blind eye, and every person who knew that he was quirkless treated him like he had been given a death sentence or something, but on the forums, no one knew him, and no one could tell that he was quirkless. His voice mattered.

Well, it mattered just as much as every other faceless voice on the internet, but that was at least more than you could say about his actual life. Until, one day, he found himself looking at a news clipping on one of these forums.

Middle School Mass Murderer Still At Large

Tragedy struck as a middle school in Yokohama that we are not allowed to name because of privacy laws. A dozen students was found locked in a janitor’s office, with stab wounds covering them. At least half of those students succumbed to the wounds, while the remaining students are in critical condition.

According to the statement of one of the victims, they had been led there by a classmate, who had also been found dead in the office, and furthermore, had already decayed more than the other casualties when the kids were found that same day. Of course, the traumatizing circumstances make the statement somewhat untrustworthy, but with this just following an incident a few blocks away, at a school which had a seemingly healthy and bright student allegedly kill a fellow student, is sparking worry that there is a mysterious villain in the shadows, with a Quirk that is manipulating these poor children to butcher each other.

All citizens are firmly advised to stay safe, and all middle school students should be on high alert. If you think anything is off, or have suspicions about the identity of this atrocious criminal, do not hesitate to contact the local heroics agency.

Pictured below are the innocent children who’s lives were taken far too young, just hours before the tragedy.

Izuku stared at the pictures of several students, smiling happily at the camera, and some candid shots too.

There was fervent debate below the post, discussing who exactly could’ve done such a thing, and how it was possible. It all seemed redundant to Izuku.

Couldn’t they see? The killer was right in front of them. Everything lined up so well.

Of course, he could be wrong though, it would be just like a Quirkless Deku like him to be barking up the completely wrong tree, but a quick Google searches later, and he didn’t think that that’s what it was. It just seemed so crystal clear for it to be wrong.

So, he through his hat into the ring, and dove into the comments.

MightyGreenBoy217: It’s pretty obvious that it was the girl who killed her classmate from a couple schools away.

IceQueen: Umm… proof?

MightyGreenBoy217: I looked up her case, and it has slightly more information. Her name is Himiko Toga, and her Quirk has to do with blood, considering the fact that she was seen drinking the blood of the victim. Her Quirk is not public as she is still a minor, but taking into account that both of her parents have somewhat shapeshifting-based Quirks, it would be prudent to assume it’s the same for her. Remember that there is eye witness testimony of a girl who should’ve been dead before the incident took place, leading them to the scene of the crime.

Furthermore, the idea of a Quirk unlocking violent tendencies in the minds of other people, while plausible, doesn’t seem to match anything I can find in the database. It could be a form of brainwashing, but it seems unlikely, since there were no suspicious figures loitering about the school according to reports from other newspapers.

Plus, if you look into the backdrop of the pictures we’re shown, you can actually see Himiko Toga standing there in the corner. Plus, I got super curious, and started thinking about motive, because no one would do anything without a motive, and I found out that one of the children pictured here was also in a picture in another article, about the Himiko Toga incident. I dug into it, because I was super curious, and it turns out that one of the victims was actually a former friend of Himiko Toga’s, who had actually been the one to report her to the authorities, so it’s safe to assume that she did this for revenge.

He released a breath as he tapped the Enter button. He’d gone on for a bit too long, but he needed to cram all his information in it so they might just follow where he was coming from, just in case it turned out that he was wrong.

He bit his lip and waiting for someone or the other to respond.

Meteoric-iron: Holy shit…. You got that from some news articles?!

MightyGreenBoy217: Yeah, I did. Why, you think I'm off the mark??

IceQueen: Wow... That's a lot of evidence. It's nowhere near enough proof though. But you gotta admit the coincidences are a bit too perfect.

Yeah, that was all it was, just a massive coincidence he was looking too deep into.

He ended up putting his laptop away when his mother called him out for dinner, and didn't think about that incident again.

Until that is, a couple days later when the user called Meteoric-iron sent him a DM.

Meteoric-iron: ARE YOU A PSYCHIC OR SOMETHING?!

Along with that, there was a link to an article, that Izuku hesitantly clicked on.

Middle School Murderer Identified

The culprit of the slew of deaths happening in middle schools in one corner of the Yokohama Prefecture has been identified as one Himiko Toga, aged 14.

Police were able to connect the dots when someone brought up the fact that a person with great resemblance to Himiko Toga was found in pictures taken on the same day as the attack. Further investigation revealed her saliva was found on the scene, and usage of her Quirk seemed to be the reason behind the conflicting sequence of events.

The local authorities admit that it might have been solved quicker, and the villain might have been apprehended, if they had had a more competent analyst, since Quirk Records of children are not disclosable to anyone without good reason.

He stared at the article, hardly daring to believe it. He actually got it right? But how?

He typed back to the person.

MightyGreenBoy217: Haha, nothing that cool. It was just a hunch. Glad I was right tho!

Meteoric-iron: That is so crazy. You got to the bottom of it in… what? A couple hours? And it took the police several days. You a hero or something?

MightyGreenBoy217: Oh, nothing like that! I just like quirks and stuff. It just clicked when I saw the pieces laid out.

Meteoric-iron: Huh… you should be a QA. Bet everyone will fall over their feet for someone that good.

Izuku felt like scoffing. Yeah, right, like anyone would want some of his crappy analyses.

But... Well, this person wasn't the first person to say that. It couldn't hurt to try.

That night, he looked over the profile of his new analyst account on the quirk discussion forum he'd been a part of for a while.

Everything was there, from his fees per commission (Nothing; he didn't want to make someone pay for his work when they didn't know how poor quality it was), to any restrictions he had, (nothing about lethal spots, especially for heroes; he'd heard enough horror stories about villains approaching analysts to get them to help kill a hero)

All that remained was a name. What could he do?

He tapped his chin as he tried to think. What was special about him?

Considering how he was always being told how plain looking he was, there wasn't a lot.

He was Quirkless, but that wasn't something he wanted to be known for. No way someone would trust him with a quirk after that.

He ran a hand through his hair, before freezing. Wait, he had green hair. Wasn't there some English word for the color green? What was it? Jared? Jaded?

Yeah, jaded, that was probably it.

Just to be sure, he Googled it.

Turns out, it did not mean green. It meant exhausted. What was the word he was looking for?

As he thought it over, his eyes drifted over the definition again. Huh, oddly, it seemed fitting to him.

It was an impulsive choice, but he typed it in quickly.

Jaded_qa.

He didn't have time to overthink it, as he pressed Enter before he could start to back down.

And just like that, it was done.

He didn't know it then, but his life was about to get a whole lot crazier.