#then we would have more room to flesh things out and yeah we wouldn't get as much plot but the season would still end at a comfortable spot

[sebbyisland]

i'm gonna be honest I don't care for Lucifer as a Redeemed Father Figure until he explicitly apologizes for being an absent father and also that it's actually acknowledged in the show that this happened and it sucks. He's clearly a man who had mental health challenges that prevented him from being present for his child. He's depressed, he still wears his wedding ring after at least seven years of divorce, he got kicked out of his home and LITERALLY sent to Hell. Even though he never blamed Charlie for any of that, he hurt his daughter. To say that Lilith "separated" him from Charlie takes away his own autonomy and responsibility as a parent. Charlie's mom has been MIA for literally seven years. What was stopping him from reconnecting then? Charlie is in her late 20s at MOST. Who has Charlie had to rely on except Vaggie and some Dinsey princess animal friends for nearly a decade through her young adulthood? Not her father nor her mother.

This isn't all to say Lucifer doesn't love Charlie. Clearly, Charlie reaching to him for help was a needed first step to rekindle a relationship he desperately wanted. However, it's very telling that Charlie waited until she was truly desperate to reach out to Lucifer. She loves her father, but she doesn't trust him, and she shouldn't. It's up to Lucifer from this point on to earn back her trust. Yes, mental health is difficult, and I'm happy that he seems to have realized that his love for Charlie is more important than his destroyed ideals, that there is more in life to appreciate. I'm happy for him and I love how he truly just wants to support Charlie the best he can. But he's still an irresponsible clown, and until that's addressed, I just don't think he gets to have a "Fathering Trying His Best" award. His behavior is realisitc in that most shit parents DO want to just pretend their shit behavior never happened and everything is good now, but it's not fair to their loved ones. It's ESPECIALLY not fair to Charlie.

I know this might not be as important to other fans watching, but I'm just a little dissappointed because I think there was a lot more we can get from the Charlie-Lucifer dynamic that I'm not sure the show will address in the future. Maybe in season 2? Here's to hoping idk.

[gatitties]

War & crack II

—Task Force 141 x young!reader

—Summary: more headcanons with your team as you being chaotic

—Warnings: none

Part One / Halloween special

yeah, I didn't finish my brainstorm and I bring more things from this sudden idea 🫣

─ Listen, you have a lot of problems.

─ And we are not talking about your jokes about death biting your ass anymore.

─ Price's going to go bald before he retires, how the hell are you still alive today? It is a mystery to them.

─ Everyone noticed during a mission where they had to stay in a safe house for a few weeks that you had the same concentration as a fly, empty thoughts behind your eyes lost in a distant point of reality.

─ You looked like another person when you were a simple civilian, Gaz had to pull you so you wouldn't get run over a couple of times for not looking at the traffic lights.

─ Price needs to put on videos of crunchy slime or Subway Surfers so you could hear what he was saying, (Soap won't admit that it also helps him focus).

─ They discovered that you can sleep in any position, seriously, whether it's standing up, in the bathtub, your body bent in an unusual way, now they understand why you complain so much about back pain.

─ Everyone looks in silence when they give you little impulses to do stupid things, like, last time you were walking to see the area and you found a woman walking her dog, you asked her if you could pet it and when she said yes you pet the woman instead of the dog, Ghost dragged you away murmuring an apology.

─ The following days they decided that you would stay at home, they simply fed your stupidity, every time they arrived you received them with the phrase 'where have you been, loca?' while playing a wolf howl in the background.

─ Luckily it was time to return to the base, during the trip you were listening to music, despite having your headphones you had the volume so high that everyone could hear it, Soap stuck to you because he liked what you were listening, the others decided to drown out the noise with some light talk.

─ Once you returned to the base you relaxed, returning to your working state, you focused again, which relieved all.

─ One day they decided that you needed a nickname since everyone had it except you, so they began to investigate your record as a cadet and even your years in the military school.

─ You kicked and fought because you were something else a while ago, but it was inevitable to find an old report where it said that you were violent with some classmates.

─ And in your anger for probably some nonsense, you ended up biting the ankles of a guy, or a group of guys, or even one of your lieutenants...

─ Soap and Gaz cried with laughter because there was a video of what was evidenced and you looked like a rabid chihuahua attacking its worst enemy.

─ Nibbles, at least it was temporary because you didn't entirely agree with the nickname.

— Since you were now known like that, you went from friendly punches to friendly bites.

─ Once you got kidnapped and you returned to the base the next day because your captors couldn't stand having you sing old Justin Bieber songs or listening to you talk about all your obsessions, they tried to cover your mouth but you just kept making too much noise, the information was not worth it.

─ You arrived in the middle of the meeting they had to prepare the rescue, having the courage to enter the room asking who they were trying to rescuing.

─ Price casually replied that they were looking for you until he did a double take, realizing you were there.

─ You were buried in a mass of muscles after the realization.

─ When you're depressed at random times (because you don't understand how your brain works and you feel bad out of nowhere), everyone will quickly notice, like even though you're not the most talkative person all the time, you usually drop some stupid comment, but on your bad days you are simply a piece of flesh and bones that walks without knowing where it's going.

─ The first time they saw you like this they tried to do something to cheer you up, Price gave you a few days off hoping your mood wasn't due to work overload, he even wrote some of your reports.

─ Soap bought stickers and decorations to your liking to decorate your prosthesis, he also told you that he could draw you a design to have your personalized arm.

─ Gaz tried to talk to you but you just didn't want to open your mouth, he chose to just keep you silent company, maybe you hug him, you need a little physical support.

─ Ghost will leave objects scattered around knowing that you would find them, knowing that they were things that you liked or had been looking for (because the poor guy always has to pick up what you forget around the common room).

— Nothing seemed to work until a stray kitten snuck in and lit up your face, so the easy answer was any baby animal would brighten your day, it was free therapy.

— You once dyed the boys' clothes pink by accident, but at least you told them that now they could go see Barbie with you.

— You promised you'd take them to see Oppenheimer, and that's why they agreed.

— You created a group chat just to send shitpost and teach them the meme path.

— Price just leaves it on seen, Ghost has the group muted, Gaz answers from time to time and Soap is the most active, he learns fast about today's shitpost.

— You really resist the urge to trim Price's beard to make it heart-shaped.

— You use the radio to sing parts of songs when you take too long to jump into action, Price scolds you for it.

— You complain that he seems constantly in a bad mood and you open a profile for him on every dating app you know, even on Grindr.

— You found Ghost's profile browsing Tinder and Soap's profile on Grindr... you decided to use it as a weapon in case you needed any favors.

— Gaz caught you red-handed, but you made a deal and he wouldn't say anything if he can profit from the manipulation.

— You hide it like you're hiding war crimes.

— Why does Price have so many likes from single moms?

[kteezy997]

can we maybe have some more lee content ?! you’re one of the few people that have written for him and he’s just sooo underrated !! i love how casually dominant you wrote him btw amazing characterization <3

Warnings: this is filthy smut, virgin reader, mention of condoms, unprotected sex, blood, female receiving oral sex while bleeding (sorry), mention of arousal, Lee enjoying the taste of blood? what do you want me to say? if you can't deal with blood, don't read this hehe

Make Me Yours// Lee (Bones and All)

You and your boyfriend, Lee, were traveling across the country together. No real destination in either of your minds. You were just driving until the truck gave out somewhere.

You had been a couple for a while, but things never got too carried away between you. You were young, and Lee was about three years older than you, and more experienced. He knew so much about the ways of the world. You felt like he was teaching you a lot about life in general. But these days, you wanted to know about sex, in particular, sex with him. You weren't sure if he even knew that you were still a virgin. You hoped that he wouldn't care; that he would still love you and want to be with you, no matter what.

"Lee," you started to say as you drove through the night, "I was thinking we could get a room somewhere."

"A room?" he asked, a smirk creeping onto his lips.

"Yeah, I think it'd be nice to sleep on a mattress tonight, instead of a truck bed for a change." Also, you could put your penis inside me.

Lee shrugged nonchalantly, "Okay, we'll stop at the next place we see."

"Okay." you said, scooting over close to him. He put his hand on your inner thigh, over your jeans of course, and you rested your head on his shoulder. You adored his natural scent. Most men needed an expensive cologne to smell good, but not Lee. He smelled of outside, maybe a little bit of motor oil from when he had to work on the truck earlier, and he always carried the smell of musk and pine intertwined.

You cupped your hand on his arm, his lightweighted sweater was soft and worn-in, such a delight to touch your cheek to.

"Are you sleepy?" Lee asked you, noting your snuggling.

"No, just wanted to be next to you." you answered.

You saw him smile and let out a tiny little chuckle. "We're almost there." he said, nodding to a billboard that mentioned lodging in 10 miles.

.......

You passed a small pharmacy on the way to the motel, and you made up a lie to Lee about having a little headache. You asked to stop at the pharmacy to get something to help with the pain, and he agreed.

"You want me to come in with you?" he asked, softly combing your hair away from your face.

"No, it's okay. I'll just be a minute." you smiled, then got out of the truck.

You ended up buying some condoms instead of headache meds. Now, to surprise your boy at the motel room.

"I'm sorry you're not feeling well, is that why you wanted a break from driving?" Lee asked you as he opened up the door of your room for the night.

"No, that's not the reason." you went over to the bed, plopping down at the foot of it.

Lee smirked at you, "What is the reason then?" he kneeled right in front of you, his hands tucked under your skirt, just barely.

"I want to have sex, Lee. I didn't buy meds for a headache. I don't have a headache." you took the pack of condoms out of your jacket pocket. "I bought these, actually."

He shook his head, surprised but very pleased, "Sneaky." He kissed you immediately and massaged his lips over yours with his signature sensuality. He put his hands on you as he climbed on top of your body.

You set the condoms down on the bed, just enjoying the kisses from your boyfriend.

His snaked his lips from your mouth to your cheek, then down your neck. He sucked your tender flesh there, leaving sweet little nibbles.

The grazing of his teeth sent shivers down your body. The heat between your legs mounted, and you were getting wet as he pressed his body against yours. "Oh, Lee." you cooed, putting your hands on his shoulders.

You felt his curly hair trickling along your jawline, his breath was warm against your neck as he said, "Y/n, I've wanted you for so fucking long." He left one more wet peck on your throat, then he reach up your skirt to pull your panties down. You were practically dripping when his fingers met your folds.

Lee watched your face as he rubbed your clit. His fingers were rough to the touch which made for excellent friction.

You rutted your hips against his fingers ever so slightly as your need for him grew stronger. You let your hand rest on his chest, and as he inserted a finger inside of you, you tucked your fingers onto his puka shell necklace. You shuddered when he introduced another finger.

His fingers left your pussy suddenly and you saw him taking his clothes off. He tossed his sweater onto the floor and untied the rope that he used as a belt. Your boy wasn't wearing underwear, and his hard cock was freed just by the removal of his mangled jeans.

Lee then helped you out of your dress, letting your garment join his on the floor.

You felt a little strange being naked in front of him, your breasts heaving up and down as your tried to control your nerves and your breathing.

He used his knee to part your legs, and he lay on top of you. His skin was comfortably warm and smooth against you, like a cozy blanket. He petted your hair, smiling down at you adoringly. He left kisses on your collarbone, then all across your chest. "You're so beautiful." he whispered, then cupped your breasts, softly kneading them.

Your nipples puckered in his palms, making you moan.

Lee held your tits in each hand, but left your hard nipples exposed so he could lick them. First was his tongue, then he put his lips on your left one, sucking, and moaning.

Waves of pleasure were sent straight to your pussy in a way that you hadn't know before.

He sucked your right nipple, leaving small kitten licks on the tender bud and softly bit down, and you whimpered. Lee chuckled lightly at your reaction. He moved his hips even closer to you.

You gasped as you felt the tip of his cock against the wetness of your pussy. "Lee, I-"

"Are you sure you're ready?"

"It's just that...I'm a virgin."

Lee couldn't hold back his delight, grinning, he said, "Yeah? Do you trust me?"

"Of course I do. I just...didn't want you to be freaked if there's, ya know, a little blood."

"I'm not afraid of a little blood." he admitted, kissing you firmly on the lips. He then hopped up from you and the bed, strolling over to the bathroom, retrieving a towel. "To go underneath you." he said.

You obliged, shifting on the bed to let him spread the towel out. You then got onto the towel.

Lee got back on you, putting his forehead on yours, "Let's make a fuckin' mess, baby."

You were taken aback a little bit. You knew your boy was special, but you weren't expecting him to be so intrigued by your virginal blood. You ultimately just chalked it up to him being in love with you and being your first.

"We'll save the condoms for later, I don't plan on coming in you this time." he said, his voice somewhat huffy. He looked between your bodies, and you watched as he lined his cock up to your opening. "Ready?" he asked, his green eyes searching into yours for affirmation.

"Yes, take me, please. Make me yours.”

Lee pushed his cock inside of you. You clung to him, thinking he would tear you open. You couldn't breathe, the pressure from his cock was too much. You held on, letting him slide in further. It stung like hell, but after a moment, it was amazing.

He started to pump in and out of you, increasing his speed slowly. His breath became uneven, and he groaned as he worked his hips. "Fuck, you're so tight, but so fucking wet."

The pain was still present, but the pleasure took the forefront. You cried his name; you dug your nails into his back to relieve some tension. His thrusts got quicker as the wetness between your legs grew. You knew it was your blood as well as your arousal. You were a woman now, his woman. And you loved it.

He was molding your pussy to the shape of his cock. Your body felt like mush, but in the best way. And Lee seemed to love fucking you with your fluids around his cock. He anchored his hands onto the cheap wooden headboard, and the structure creaked with his thrusts. His red tips took on a salmon-colored hue in the dimly lit room, and they bobbed beautifully as he bucked into you.

You felt his bony hips smacking the back of your thighs, you knew that you'd have bruises there tomorrow. But it was perfectly fine; just more proof that you were his.

He held your waist, and you put your hands on his tattooed ones. His hands were rough and scarred but that made you love him more. Every mark on his body made him who he was. If he hadn't had his past experiences, most of them too traumatic for him to even tell you, he wouldn't be the man you fell in love with.

You could hear the sloshing sounds his cock was making inside you. The sinful noise filled the room along with your whimpering moans. You looked down as he pulled his length all the way out, he was covered in red.

"I wanna taste you." he said, taking his eyes from his bloody member to your eyes.

You were stunned, "Really?"

"Yes. Please?" he pleaded, holding your legs apart.

You were horny, of course, and more than willing to let your boy do what he wanted, even if it was kind of grotesque. So, you simply nodded to him.

In an instant, his mouth was on your soaked pussy, lapping and sucking.

The suction was a lot for you to take, you trembled and threw your hands into his hair.

Lee slurped along your clit, licking up your blood and your arousal. It was as if he was sucking the virginal blood out of your body. He moaned like it was the best meal he'd had in years.

You were on fire with pleasure. Lee was squeezing your thighs as he ate you out. He flicked his tongue over your clit rapidly. Your legs shook, your tummy swirled with adrenaline. "Fuck, Lee!" you cried, knowing that this had to be an orgasm.

He continued going down on your even as you came down from your high. You knew it was just as much for his pleasure as it was for yours. He was enjoying this. Maybe he liked the taste of blood. Or maybe it was your cum that he was lapping up.

Once he finished, he perked up, looking down at you. His face was covered in blood from his cheeks down to his jawline, with dribbles trickling down his neck. There were even crimson smudges on his nose. A satisfied smirk was planted on his lips.

In the shower later, you couldn't get over how hot he looked as the water rinsed your blood off of Lee's face. The red collected at his chin and along his jaw for a second, before the stream turned pink as the blood diluted and ran down the rest of his body.

@gatoenlaciudad @thebetawolfgirl @musicandbooksaremyhappyplace @softhecreator @tchalamss @bitchyunknownuser @lixzey @kpopgirlbtssvt @ducktapebar

[mrsbuckybarnes1917]

Request from @lives-in-midgard: Bucky and reader just watched a movie and then cuddled up to sleep. After a few minutes a thunderstorm begins and reader can feel that Bucky holds her more tighter because the thunder and the lightning triggers something in him. Reader comforts Bucky and then has the idea to build a blanket fort with Bucky.

Word Count: 1,872

Warnings: Thunderstorms, Bucky's mental health

Sometimes you enjoyed a good session of Netflix and chill with Bucky but more often than not you'd end up with Hulu and hang, especially when he came home worn out from his day job of being a hero. Tonight was one of those nights. Bucky had come home completely and utterly shattered. You had been worried that he wouldn't make it home before the forecasted storm that was supposed to be rolling in. But he had come home safe and sound, if not a little worse for wear.

“Hey Buck,” you greeted him at the door with a soft tone and small peck on the cheek. 

He responded with a deep sigh, shrugging off his jacket and toeing off his dirty boots. Normally you'd chastise him for getting mud on the floor, but something told you to hold your tongue.

But it was as though he could read your mind. Bucky looked down at the mud on the floor and sighed. “I'm sorry, I'll clean it up.”

“Don't worry, baby. I'll sort it out later.”

“It's not fair on you.”

He picked up his boots and deposited them outside the front door. Bucky shut the door behind him turning back to you. He looked so lost and exhausted. You wondered what on Earth had happened to him during his last mission. As tempting it was to probe further, you sensed that it might not be the right time. Instead you opted for another question.

“What do you need?”

“I don't know,” he answered miserably.

“How does a shower sound? And I'll order your favorite take out and we can have a TV dinner. Okay?”

Bucky nodded mutely, trudging off to the bathroom. You sighed and picked up your phone to place your order. The food should arrive quickly, but you felt guilty for dragging the poor delivery man out in such terrible weather but your boyfriend needed pampering.

You answered the door to a pimply teenager who you tipped heavily for his troubles. It took you a moment to notice why he hadn't moved from his position of accepting your tip. Bucky had emerged dripping wet with a low hung towel draped over his waist. He was the epitome of a Greek God, water droplets tracing the outlines of his clearly defined abs.

“Get going, kid. Don't want to get caught in the storm.” You ushered the teen out of your doorway before closing the door behind him. You turned to Bucky with a grin. “Dressing to impress, are we?”

He blushed slightly. “Sorry. I was just looking for that towel.”

Immediately you realized that he was after the large fluffy white towel you had bought him a few months ago. It had been a self care gift. You had advised him that he needed to take care of himself better, that he deserved to have comfort. He had pretended to scorn the gift, but when your back was turned, you saw him rubbing his fingers between the soft fibers. It warmed your heart to know that he had heeded your words.

“Yeah, here it is.”

You fetched the requested item from the linen closet where you had put it after its last wash. He took the towel in his vibranium hand, his flesh one wrapped around your outstretched one, not letting you go.

You looked up into his eyes, searchingly. “Everything okay?”

“Only when you're here.”

He smiled, retreating to the bedroom to dry off and get dressed. You couldn't help but smile back at him, giving his ass a little pat as he left. Bucky returned promptly as you finished dishing out all the food onto one plate. He was definitely hungry, his insatiable supersoldier diet meant he always had room for a meal. Usually his mood was the only thing that would suppress his appetite, so it was a good sign to see him licking his lips with anticipation.

“Just one plate?” he frowned. “Is it all for you or me?”

“I thought we could share. Did you know that in Ethiopian culture, eating from the same plate is a symbol of love?”

“But you ordered Korean food,” Bucky replied, frowning in confusion. 

“You speak like six different languages and you’re so smart, but sometimes Bucky, you can be really dense.”

Bucky smirked at your teasing. He grabbed the plate from your hands and headed to the couch, beckoning for you to follow. He pulled the coffee table up to the couch and sat down on the floor leaning against it. You joined him in time to hear him heave a sigh of relief.

“Feel good to get off your feet?” you asked.

“You have no idea, Doll,” Bucky sighed.

“Did something happen out here?” you asked tentatively, helping yourself to a gimbap of the plate.

Bucky grabbed his chopsticks and stuffed a piece of sweet and sour chicken into his mouth as a way to avoid answering your question. You sighed, rubbing his thigh as an apology for your intrusion. He was definitely not in the mood to talk and you were happy to eat and watch your movie in silence.

Once you had both finished your food, you paused the movie to grab a few cushions and pushed the coffee table away to make room. You and Bucky made yourselves comfortable on the floor under a large blanket, turning down the lights and restarting the movie. You felt relaxed in his arms, in the dimmed light with the sound of rain pattering against the window.

The raindrops turned from the gentle tapping into a hammering against the glass panes of the apartment. It was accompanied by a duo of distant rumbling and bright flashes. The wind howled through the rickety apartment and you snuggled deeper under the blanket and against Bucky's side.

It was only when Bucky's fingers dug into your side sharply did you notice how tight his grip on your waist had become. This was what prompted you to cast your senses out and you noticed how rigid your boyfriend had become. His body was stiff and his breath was shallow and faster than normal. Your head was resting against his chest and you heard his heart pounding. This demeanor could almost have been mistaken for arousal, but you knew your boyfriend well enough to know when he was being triggered.

The trauma Bucky had suffered was unimaginable. He rarely spoke about his time at HYDRA, and what he did tell you was evasive at best. There would be times where he would stare off into space with a haunted look or wake up drenched in sweat after a nightmare. When you had first met, he had been reluctant to sleep over and you had felt anxious about his dedication to your relationship. But he had been surprisingly forthcoming when you'd expressed your concerns. Since then, you'd progressed in your commitment to each other and now you were a great source of comfort to him and sleeping beside you had significantly reduced the incidence of his bad dreams. And here he was again, showing all the signs of being lost in a haze of his past.

“Buck?” you whispered. “Bucky?”

He was mumbling repeatedly under his breath. “I'm not the Winter Soldier. I'm James Bucky Barnes.”

It broke your heart to hear the desperation in his voice. You had missed it at first because his voice was so soft and went unnoticed, masked by the sound of the television.

“That's right, baby. You're James Bucky Barnes, my handsome sweet boyfriend. You're kind, smart and brave. I'm so proud of how you fight every single day. How much good you do. That's the man I fell in love with. That's my Bucky.”

Bucky turned to you, not once releasing his grip on you. “I had a bad day,” he sighed.

“I know, baby.”

“I don't want to talk about it.”

“That's alright. You don't have to. But I'm here for you if you do. You know that, right?”

“I appreciate that. But I don't want you to see that part of me.”

His words made you feel a little disappointed. Of course it was his choice, but you wanted him to let you in.

“I love every part of you, Buck.”

“I don't know that I deserve that.”

“Well I'm here to tell you that you do, everyday until you believe it. Now, how can I help you now?”

“I should have listened to you and put up curtains. The lightning, it's-” Bucky didn't know how to put into words the source of his distress.

You bit your lip, pondering the problem for a moment. “Oh! I have an idea! Be back in a minute, need to grab a few things. Is that okay?” You checked if he didn't mind you leaving his side for a bit.

Bucky nodded and you jumped up and into his bedroom. You had insisted he bought a bed and with it came pillows, pillow cases and bedsheets. You ran into his room to grab the biggest one you could find.

"Got it!”

You proceeded to pull the chairs from the dining room table and place them parallel to the couch, facing outwards. You shook out the sheet and in one swift motion draped it across the backs of all the chairs, effectively creating a blanket fort. You dropped a few of the decorative ornaments that you had bought Bucky onto the chair, weighing the sheets down to keep tension in the roof. Last of all, you grabbed the little galaxy projector and flicked it on. 

The bedsheet was thick enough to block out the light coming from the windows. And the cave you'd created emanated a soft purple glow that Bucky found soothing.

He put his arm back around you as you dropped to the floor and crawled against his side.

“Want to carry on with the movie? Or I can put some music on? Or anything else you want.”

“Umm,” Bucky took a minute to think what he wanted.

You waited patiently for him to process his thoughts. Bucky struggled to give an immediate answer when he was exhausted and often got frustrated if people rushed him. You tried hard to respect his needs.

“You know that soundtrack you were listening to last week?”

You scrunched your eyebrows in confusion. You listened to a lot of music.

“The music from that show you like… the one with the Duke.”

“Wait, are you talking about Bridgerton?” A grin spread across your face, impressed that Bucky had noticed.

“Yeah, that one,” Bucky mumbled.

“Sure,” you answered, smiling and pulling out your phone and opening your Spotify app. You typed out Bucky's choice in the search box and hit play. “Happy?”

“Ecstatic.” Bucky answered, sarcastically and rolled his eyes.

You laid your head on the pillow beside his, looking up at the lights in the sheeted ceiling you'd created. The storm outside couldn't penetrate the haven you'd made. Bucky took a few deep breaths, trying to calm the storm that raged inside him. Your arm around his waist and your hand on his heart helped tame the tempestuous beast that gnawed upon his soul.

“Thank you,” he whispered in your ear. 

[magadauthan]

Ep 16: Fifth Moon

Trying to keep up. Maybe I can keep the @trigun98watchparty to one day behind? Yeah, right. Fifth Moon ends the first arc of the story and next we transition to the not-fully-fleshed-out TriMax portion.

"The greater the tragedy, the greater the emotional effect." You're not wrong, Legato.

--Midvalley has sax appeal lolz

--Meryl's so sad, look at her. She misses him terrible. Milly's worried too, but she's just as worried about Meryl as she is about Vash.

--"Oops, did I say that out loud? No, I don't have a thing for him at all, ah ha ha ha ha"

--Oh Meryl, honey, please be careful.

--The non sequitur with the weird little messenger... can someone please explain it to me? Is there a cultural reference here that a Western audience wouldn't get? Or is this some odd interpretation of the Garden of Gethsemane for Vash?

--WW can't stay away.

--yes, it's bowdlerization... but seriously, how can you get a major city evacuated in like one day? Anyone who's lived through a natural disaster knows how that goes.

--EG Mine anticipates the pandemic! Plus, only Legato gets to be a drama queen.

--Nice lampshading of samurai tropes against spaghetti westerns.

--Rai-Dei brings a sword to a gunfight. Indiana Jones knows how to handle this situation.

--Meryl has crossed the line from worried sick into worried stupid, and Milly knows it. Someone is going to have to be the adult in the room, and it won't be Meryl.

--Western audiences wouldn't pick up on Meryl's shift in pronouns (neither would I except for that excellent discussion) but she's crying out like a child to go to Vash. She's wailing in despair, fighting her best friend because she is desperate to help the man she loves, and Milly has to pick her up and drag her away. Milly knows how to be a good big sister.

--Twisted Christian Science is a good name for a band.

--Vash nukes another city, and presumably all the Plants in it, so what the hell, Knives

--WW doesn't seem terribly sorry to be offing Rai-Dei, especially since he's become more fond of Vash than he'd let on. "this annoying guy, and he beat up on Vash, fuck him"

--Oh, Meryl. Meryl. Trying to hide the tears under bravado, only to be told that she's to stop looking for Vash immediately and she has no further excuse to try in the future. The only reason she has to follow him now is that she loves him - which I'm not sure she's admitted to herself at this point - and it would cost her everything.

--The saddest part of the ep is that the individual people Vash has helped, or whose lives have been touched by his actions, now have to ask themselves which Vash is the real one. Were the kind things he did for them just a ploy? Were they tricked? Is he evil, is he the devil, is he wicked, is he inhuman? (yes on that last one... sort of. depends what you mean by "human.") It may be only Meryl who continues to believe in him wholly at that point. (Even Milly is angry, because Meryl is crying over him, and Meryl doesn't cry.)

Fade to black.

[bcbdrums]

For the fic writer ask?

🥭🍐🍇

From this ask game.

🥭 Rank from most enjoyable/fun to write to least: Fluff, Smut, Angst, Crack.

Angst, fluff, smut, crack. Crack is hard because I don't know how to do humor. And the humor I do occasionally write doesn't fit the crack-vibe. Smut... Becomes kind of one-note after awhile, for me. Fluff is a delight. They DESERVE to be happy and I will write all those warm fuzzy feels that may not be entirely in character but gosh darn it, the blorbos deserve them!!! And angst... Ah, angst, my wheelhouse. They're already suffering in canon. I will make it worse, I will drag it out for thousands of words... And I'm good at it. Definitely the easiest, and the most fun.

🍐 Is there anything in canon that you absolutely hate and love to fix in fics? A wrong choice made, a bad characterization, a misunderstanding never cleared up, a conversation never shown onscreen, etc…

I wouldn't say hate. If I hate something I tend to dissociate from it. Like, I won't watch Star Trek Generations at all. Never seen it. Trekkies know why, probably. If I didn't see it happen, it never happened! (I still don't hate it - can't hate something I haven't seen.) Or Soul Eater NOT, again don't hate, but hate certain choices so I just...dissociate and disavow. Especially when it heavily contradicts established canon, it's easy to disavow. But if I'm just mildly annoyed by something, or frustrated, I'll write like...missing scenes. Things that answer the unanswered questions or clear up confusion. Or when a thing ends too soon, I may write a missing scene thing that fleshes out more of the details and emotions. But as a canon purist I never change things. Now, if we wanna be specific about a specific canon... Honestly, nothing is leaping out? Just that missing scene/fleshing out details, thing.............. WAIT. I've got one. In the Soul Eater manga. Maka should have hugged Spirit. Like. I get that the author needed to wrap things up fast, and comedy is a good way to do it. But.... That...... What the author did there. That was wrong. Which makes me think of the Soul Eater anime. A specific thing I would have changed is, all of Crona's lines in the final scene in the Death Room should have been spoken by Spirit (and changed to make more sense). Honestly, that part makes me cringe. It ruins the final episode for me. I won't keep going about it because it'll make me upset, but yeah.

🍇 Is there a particular scene/episode/book/etc that you want to just write a million fics about, over and over? Which one?

Well............... I've technically written over 200 fanfics about Drakken/Shego in Kim Possible. Just....those two. Aaaaaaahhhhh yesssssss making a villain romance work. That hits the spot. Like. How many love confession fics can I write? A lot, apparently. In Soul Eater, basically any moment Stein and Spirit are together onscreen I want to write about. 😅 Same in the manga. I'm not obsessed, I swear-- Other fandoms... I do have those moments but they aren't leapint out at me right now. If I think of them I'll edit this post to include them. Was trying to think of Star Trek and Sherlock Holmes (book and TV) canons. Hmm...

Thanks for the ask!!

[final-girl96]

Broken World: Chapter Forty-Three

The next day we got ready to push into the rest of the prison to try and find the cafeteria. Once we find the cafeteria the infirmary is the next thing to find. “Ya comin’ with us?” I looked up from where I sat on the round metal stool in the cell I picked to sleep in. “Yeah. Yeah, I'm coming. Just making sure these mags are full.” Daryl nodded his head, looking down at the floor. He turned around and walked away. “Okay,” I whispered and went back to my task.

There was a little arguing about Hershel coming along with us but eventually it was settled and he came with us. We had chest plates and helmets from the riot gear walkers that we cleaned off. Glenn, T-dog, and Hershel were the only ones to wear it. As we walked the corridors Glenn marked which way we had come so we wouldn't get lost. There would be a couple times we would go down a corridor and there would be walkers. We would just silently back up and go another way.

Of course, the time we did that, we ended up getting separated, and Hershel was bitten. He trembled over a walker that was slumped against the wall. It looked like it was dead, but as soon as Hershel was close enough, it grabbed a hold of his leg and t0ok a bit out of his calf. Now we're in the cafeteria trying to stop the bleeding. “What're we doing, Rick?” I asked, putting pressure on the wound. He dropped his hatchet and began to pull his belt off.

He took the belt and wrapped it around Hershel's leg just below the knee and tightened it as much as he could. Then he picked the hatchet up. “Wow, hold on, Rick.” He looked at me with a serious face, “We have to do something. We have to stop the infection from spreading,” he said. He wasn't wrong, we did need to stop the infection before It spread. “We don't know if that will stop it.” With one more glance at everyone around the room he took a deep breath and brought the hatchet down, cutting through flesh and bone until the bottom half of Hershel's leg was off.

“Holy shit.”

All of our heads snapped up and looked towards where the voice was. There were six prisoners all staring at us from the kitchen of the cafeteria. “We need to get him back now, Rick,” I said. Glenn brought over a mental table on wheels and we loaded Hershel up onto it so we could get him back to the cell block. Daryl had his crossbow on the prisoners and as soon as everyone was out the door I stayed behind to help Daryl make sure they didn't try anything.

As soon as we got Hershel back, Lori and Carol were there to help us. We laid him onto the bed and started grabbing clean sheets to get a compress on the stump. Daryl, T-dog, and I went back out to the common area. The prisoners had followed us from the cafeteria. “What happened to him?” One of them asked. We didn't say anything until Daryl spoke up. “He got bit,” he said. The same guy looked at us confused.”Bit?” He said, taking a gun out.

T-Dog lifted the shotgun he had up and pointed it at the prisoners. I had my gun pointed at them as well and Daryl had his crossbow up. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, easy now. Nobody needs to get hurt,” he told them. “Who are you people anyway?” The “leader” of the small band of prisoners asked. “Don't look like a rescue team,” another one with a handbag mustache said. “There isn't any rescue team coming,” I said.

“Today’s your lucky day, fellas. You’ve been pardoned by the state of Georgia, you’re free to go,” Darl tells them. “What you got going on in there?” The ring leader asked, stepping forward. Daryl aimed his crossbow at his head, “Ain’t none of your concern.” The prisoner lifts his gun back up and points it at us again. “Don’t be telling me what’s my concern!” He yelled.

A big tall hefty man stepped forward, “Chill, man. Dude’s leg is messed up. Besides, we’re free now!” He tells them. “Why are we still in here?”

“Man’s got a point,” Daryl said. Anlthet tall man spoke up, “Yeah, and I gotta check on my old lady.” The mouthy one ignored what his prison buddies were saying and glared at us. “Group of civilians breaking into a prison you’ve got no business being in, got me thinking there ain’t no place for us to go!”

“Why don’t you go find out?” Daryl spat back at him. Mustache man stepped forward a little and said, “Maybe we’ll just be going now.” Mouthy pushed him back and puffed out his chest. “Hey, we ain’t leaving!” T-Dog aiked his gun at him, “You ain’t coming here either!” The prisoner scoffed, “Hey, this is my house, my rules, I go where I damn well please!”

“There ain’t nothing for you here, why don’t you go back to your own sandbox?” Daryl said. I was busy looking at the prisoner that was leaning against the wall, arms crossed over his chest, and a creepy smug smile on his tattooed face. He didn't have many tattoos on his face, not like he did on his arms and neck. But he looked awfully familiar. A twisting gut feeling told me that I not only knew him but he was extremely dangerous.

“Hey, hey, hey! Everyone relax, there’s no need for this,” Rick's voice Thomasforsing my attention onto him. “How many of you in there?” Mouthy asked. Rick tilted his head a little and squinted his eyes. “Too many for you to handle,” he said. “You guys rob a bank or something? Why don’t you take him to a hospital?” Rick ignlred him, “How long have you been locked in that cafeteria?” He asked. Mouthy looked at his buddies and back at us . “Going on like ten months,” he answered.

“A riot broke out. Never seen anything like it,” the big guy told us. “Attica on speed, man,” Mustache chimed in. “Ever heard about dudes going cannibal, dying, coming back to life? Crazy,” A shorter prison commented.

“One guard looked out for us, locked us up in the cafeteria, told us to sit tight, threw me this piece, said he’d be right back,” ring leader said.. The big guy looked down and shook his head. “And that was 292 days ago.”

94 according to my…” Mustache guy started but was cut off. “Shut up!”

“We were thinking that the army or the national guard should be showing up any day now,” the big guy told us looking disappointed. “There is no army,” Rick said. Ring leader gave him a skeptical look. “What do you mean?”

“There’s no government, no hospitals, no police. It’s all gone,” I said. “For real?” Mustache asked in a sad tone. The big guy looked around, looking us in the eye to see if he could find a lie. “What about my moms?” He asked. The other tall guy stepped forward a little, “My kids, my old lady! Yo, you got a self-phone or something so we can call our families?”

“You don’t get it, do you?” Daryl asked a little harshly. “No phones, no computers. As far as we can see, at least half the population’s been wiped out. Probably more,” Rick said. Mouthy shook his head, “Ain’t no way,” he said. “See for yourself,” Rick told them, pointing at the door. We went to turn around when the guy I had been looking at stepped forward with a huge cocky smile on his face.

“Well, hello, Detective Stone, Remember me?”

[otakween]

Digimon Frontier - Episode 50 (Finale!)

Yay, it's over! (lol). I'm sorry, but this ending didn't do much for me. We barely got to see the real world at all and the epilogue amounted to a boring slide show (aside from Koji reuniting with his birth mom, that was sweet). In the end, these characters just didn't feel as fleshed out as those in previous seasons and the digimon connection was lackluster too (it's hard to see the spirits as separate characters). Oh well, I don't mind watching some bland anime now and then...

Notes:

Seriously, compared to previous seasons, this goodbye was so blah. They just get yeeted back to the human world immediately after the final battle and miss their chance to say goodbye to the digimon. Bokomon gets the longest goodbye monologue, but I never liked him so...yeah. (Remember when Adventure gave us sentimental goodbyes between each human-digimon pairing that were indicative of their distinct, defined personalities? Yeah...I miss that).

The spirits showing up and even striking the final blow was...okay I guess. The "bad guy" spirits were just silent and in the background again. There's just no emotional connection because we haven't seen the main spirits as characters before (aside from silently nodding from the digivice from time to time).

Neemon snapping his own pants was a funny gag. The slapstick between Bokomon and Neemon did grow on me. (Funny how Neemon never served a single purpose...)

The Susanoomon thing was weird. In the previous episode Susanoomon was created by combining all 10 spirits but only Takuya and Koji were "inside" him, but in this episode all the kids go "inside." Either way it's still 10 spirits. They should have just made him be a combo of all the kids from the start! So clunky...

Lucemon Satan Mode gave major Millenniumon vibes in his lil grubby form. I'm not sure if "fall down mode" or "Satan mode" is a dumber name.

Seeing the digicode flow out of Lucemon/the digivices and reform the digital world was nice. (Hopefully the moons came back too lol). I wonder if everyone's going to start from zero as a digiegg?

Lol sure, they just let a bunch of kids barge into an emergency room. Hospital security apparently sucks in Japan! I was a little confused what exactly revived Koichi. Was it Koji's love or something from the digivices? Well, either way it was pretty silly.

I don't know why I didn't even think about the human/digital world time difference. I thought when Takuya returned to the human world in that previous episode that everyone would be worried about him, but they have the nice "no time has passed actually" loop hole.

Now that I think about it, it kind of feels like they all had the same arc. The epilogue was all about the kids having learned how to get along better with others (except maybe Tomoki who learned to "not be weak," but even that had to do with how he treats others!) Instead of just seeing them hang out with their one-dimensional families and classmates, I think I would have just preferred an epilogue of them hanging out in the human world and getting pizza or something. Or maybe they could be supporting Junpei at a magic show! (Maybe what I really need is fanfic lol).

Bring back parents!! The kids' parents in Adventure and Tamers were a big presence and it made them feel more like real, relatable people. Here they're mostly just in the background. Also, maybe if I got to know Koji's dad more I wouldn't think he was such a weirdo for lying to his son! >:/ I wanted to hear his side!!

Digimon Frontier was...my least favorite season so far for sure. It's not like it was a total loss, there were some cool digimon designs and I liked the digivolution sequences. The characters were charming enough, but not super memorable. I think this series' shortcomings really highlight what made previous seasons work better. IDK much about how it was received back in the day, but hopefully they learned from these mistakes. Onto the next! (After a brief gaming interlude).

[retrointhenow]

Match Maker II Lance Sweets X Reader

A/N : I think we need some more Lance Sweets fics around here, so this is my official attempt :))

--

Dr. Sweets could be anything he wanted. He could get you to do anything. Which is why you were a squint and not an Agent. Say the right thing to you and you do whatever was needed. Lance knew it.

"Y/n! Glad I caught you!" Sweets stopped you before entering Booth's office. "Hey Lance. What can I do for you?" You had a long-time crush on the shrink, you assumed he knew. Being a psychologist and all. "I have the files from the Alabama case analyzed. Mind delivering them to Brennan when you head back?" He flashed his pearly whites at you. "Of course! Anything for you." You lightly flirted. Normally you'd clam up around Sweets and make a complete fool of yourself, but today you must have had a newfound confidence. "A darling you are." He disappeared down the hall to his office. Your heart fluttered; he called you darling.

"You are so easy Y/n." Booth chuckled, peaking his head out of his office. You frowned and looked at the agent. "How so?" Booth motioned for you to enter his office, closing the glass door once you did. You took in his office, looking at the hockey photo behind his desk and the photos of Parker. "You fold at the sight of him. Your demeanor changes when he enters the room. It's amazing how you got through that short conversation with him." You face flushed then blushed instantly. "I won't say anything if you don't want me to. But Sweets is totally oblivious to you." He opened emails on his computer. You shook your head. "Sweets wouldn't. It's just a harmless crush. I'll get over it by the time the snow thaws." You shrugged and went to the door. "I might not be a psychologist, but I can pick up on body language, Sweets doesn't reciprocate." You held onto the file Sweets gave you earlier and headed to the Jeffersonian.

You swiped your key card to enter the forensics platform to hand Brennan the folder. "The smells never get easier, do they?" You asked to no one in particular. "Not really." Angela laughed and pulled up photos of magnified bone chips. You studied them for a few minutes before looking back at the skeleton of the table. You asked Angela to zoom into the shins. There was still a few bits of muscle and flesh covering the body. "That looks like shin splints does it not?" You asked Cam. "Yeah, it does. Good job Miss L/n." "I know a lot of girls in my high school got shin splints during track. Coming off winter sports or an off season. They're cause from overworking or changing their exercise routine." You smiled proudly. Brennan nodded and looked at the exposed bones. "Very well." You ran back and forth between the bone room and Hodgins's lab trying to solve this murder.

"Ah Mrs. Sweets. What can I do for you this time." Hodgins smirked looking into his microscope. "W-what?" You fumbled. "I uh brought you some soil samples found in the muscles." You shook it off. Maybe you just misheard him. He grabbed the empty Petri dish from you and ran it through his machines. "It's gonna take a few minutes. So, you and Sweets huh?" He wiggled his eyebrows. "I have no idea what you're talking about. There's nothing between us." You shifted uncomfortably. He nodded skeptically. His screen dinged with the results from the soils. "I'll leave you to your work." You quickly got away from the scientist.

"Alright squinty! Come on, Parker wants to see you." Booth ran into the bone room clapping his hand. You racked your mind for why Parker would wanna see you of all people. You're just a squintern. You only had a few real conversations with Parker when you first started at the Jeffersonian. He was a sweet kid, but he could be something else, either way you followed Booth to the Royal Diner.

"Y/n!" Parker ran up and hugged you. You hugged the young boy back and ruffled his hair. "Hey buddy!" Your smile quickly dropped when you saw Sweets sitting at the table. "What's he doing here?" You looked at Seeley panicking. Seeley threw his hands up in defense. "Parker invited him. Blame the kid not me." He slid into the seat next to Parker, forcing you to sit with Sweets. You may have mentioned to Parker that you had a slight crush on the shrink, but that was ages ago.

"Hey Y/n. Thank you again for running those papers for me." Sweets smiled. God you could have melted right there. "Oh yeah, of course." You chuckled and blushed. Seeley smirked. Go figure you couldn't have the confidence you did earlier when speaking to Lance.

"So, Dr. Sweets." Parker started. "Why doesn't my dad have a girlfriend yet." He asked innocently. You and Booth choked on your food / drink. You were laughing, Booth was embarrassed. "Parker!" Booth scolded. "Uh well. I think maybe you dad is just waiting for the right person to come along." Sweets tried not to offend Booth. He took it lightly. Parker smiled at you before asking Sweets, "Do you have a girlfriend?" Lance set his fork down and looked at the young boy. "I don't." You could have sworn he glanced at you. "Well, what about you Y/n? Do you have a boyfriend yet?" You took a deep breath. "No Parker I don't. The last one wasn't cool." You grimaced at the thought. A shit eating grin spread across his face; Seeley looked down proudly at his son. "So why don't you two get together then?" Sweets spit out his water and you turning a burning red.

"Well, uh I-" You started, completely flustered. You didn't imagine Parker trying to set you up or whatever. "Uhm, I think it would be a conflict of-" Lance started, focusing on you. "I can tell that Y/n likes you, and I think you like her too. I may be a kid, but I can definitely tell these things."

You and Sweets looked at each other for the first time during the outing. Your face still fiery red and his turning a light shade of pink. The corner of his mouth turned up ever so slightly. You broke contact and looked back at Parker. "Yeah uh, respectfully, you're still just a kid Parker." You got up and hurried out of the Diner. Embarrassment flooded your whole body; you could not believe Parker. Sure, he was a kid, but he had no idea what he was doing.

"So, you just walked out?!" Angela shouted as you laid on her couch. "What was I supposed to do Ange? Admit that I like Sweets? No way." You laughed. You could imagine him turning you down and having to avoid him the rest of your life. "Sweetie, he smiled at you, that's gotta mean something." She played on the Angelatron.

You groaned and threw your hands over your face. "You know what it means? It means that Parker made me look like a fool and now Sweets has probably already done his shrink stuff on me and has made a pros and cons list. Let's face it. I have no realistic chance with someone as smart as Lance." "I beg to differ." You shot up as Sweets walked into Angela's room. He looked at her, asking her for a moment alone. She smiled at you and scurried out. "Don't- run out on me. Please." You bit down on your lip and avoided eye contact yet again. "What do you want?" You stood up and walked around the room. There was no way you were going to sit still. "Can we talk?" His eyes followed your body around the room. "Nothing to talk about." You deflected his questions. He analyzed your emotions and movements as you reacted to his questions.

"There's not need to be embarrassed or humiliated Y/n." "Not be embarrassed? Really? Parker basically outed me about my feelings about you. And you totally did your shrink shit." Your body shook with nervous energy. "I pray to my spirits and ghosts that you'd never have to find out. Because you know what's worse than you knowing? It's you rejecting me, and then I'd have to see you every day until one of us moves on or does something else. And I can't handle that." He grazed over to where you were standing and took your hands into his own, he tilted your head up to meet his eyes.

"Look at me." His voice was soft and sweet. You dragged your eyes to meet his. "I am not going to shrink you or make a list of pros and cons about you, you certainly don't have to pray to your supernatural spirits, and more importantly I'm not going to reject you." Your body relaxed as his arm held your body. Still tense in some parts, not completely believing in him yet. "What are you saying?" You voice was just above a whisper. Eyes flickering between his gorgeous eyes. His lips curled into a smile, and he leaned down to your height.

"What I'm saying, Y/n, is that I like you. That I want to give us a chance." His lips connected with yours. You could have stayed like that for forever. His hand cupped your cheek and the other remained on your waist. Your hand laid on his neck and your opposite held onto his bicep. The only thing that pulled you away was a sudden roar of applause. Everyone from the Jeffersonian squints team, Booth, and Parker were cheering.

"It's about time." Clark exclaimed. You all looked at him with amusement. "I pay attention and keep my thoughts to myself." He shrugged and went back to the forensic platform. Sweets wrapped his arm around your waist and smiled down at you. You smiled back at Parker and mouthed 'thank you', he was pretty good at playing match maker.

[fixomnia-scribble]

For @smittywing! Since we're sharing unpublished Criminal Minds snippets, here are Prentiss and Morgan, in December Season 7, getting gently toasted and trying to reconcile their friendship with Emily's undercover past. Derek interrogates, Emily rambles, Clooney snores in the corner.

December 18, 2011

They were drinking again, looking out over a slushy December night in Virginia. Morgan's place, because while Sergio was content with his box, Clooney couldn't wait. They’d taken Clue for a chilly walk, letting the dog amble at will and set the pace, while Emily told him stories about the haute doggy culture of Paris. And then, back home, Morgan had spun the cap off a half bottle of scotch and tossed it somewhere behind a desk.

“Sergio can hang tight until morning,” Morgan reminded her. In case she needed to talk and drink all night, and crash somewhere she didn’t have to keep one eye open.

"Nah, I do have to get home sometime tonight," Emily said. Lightly glowing on her second dose of two and a half fingers in a comfortably heavy glass tumbler, she stretched her toes for the mohair blanket over the arm of the couch, and pulled it towards her. "And I need to spend time with my boy. Garcia's stolen his fickle feline heart away. But this is good for now. Really good. Thanks."

She rubbed a careful palm over the top of her chest, under cover of tugging the blanket up over herself.

"You've been scratching again." Morgan told her, from his easy chair near the window. He’d never ask her to sit with her back to a window or a room, ever.

"I know I've been scratching again."

The brand was worse than the surgery site below. At least she could be careful, and scratch delicately around the tender skin, while she was awake. Even if she managed to resist the subcutaneous phantom itch of burned nerves, during the day, she still woke up some mornings with blood smears on her sheets and under her nails, and another patch of angry new scab. So much for proper aftercare. But then, getting branded on her poor left boob was hardly a body mod she would have chosen.

"Anyone touches you here, you'll think of me," he'd said, calmly and coldly, as her flesh smoldered under the iron's tip. He wasn't doing this for enjoyment. This was a means to an end. She was only a safe to be cracked. Until she cracked him, instead.

That's when he saw her clearly again, and set about killing her.

"You could get it fixed, you know, Em. Plastic surgery." Morgan reminded her.

"It would probably hurt more. Plus, I'd lose more sensation and a patch of skin from somewhere else. I think I'm going to let it stay. Bastard did a decent job, all things considered. Maybe I'll get it tattooed, make it my own. Think that'd be hot?"

"Tough girl." he returned, unfooled.

"It's mostly bullshit." she admitted. "You didn't see what a mess I was in Paris, when I had nothing to do but think and drink. But my past is part of me. I don't want to pretend anymore about who I was. Scars and all."

"You never had to."

"Yeah, I did. You would, too, if you'd been doing that kind of work. Derek, I was in deep cover. International covert ops cover. The kind you're never supposed to admit, even fifty years later. Trust - " she shook her head and lifted her scotch for a sip. "Trusting you had nothing to do with it. I trust you with my life. You held my life in your hands and wouldn't let go. I would do the same for you. God forbid it happen, but I would. But I couldn't speak about it. I still can't tell you everything we got done, how many conflicts we prevented before they had a chance to flare up. Even if it might help you understand..."

She heard Morgan sigh, and shake his head, leaning over his scotch. He was trying hard. Which spoke volumes about the respect that had grown between them in the relatively short time they'd known each other, and how deeply he'd let her into his guarded inner circle. 

Of them all, Morgan and Reid were having the hardest time adjusting to her reappearance, she knew. Morgan, because he so rarely gave his trust, and Reid, because he trusted too easily. Reid was alarmed and confused and ashamed of his reactions to the whole bleak scenario. Her death, having to admit and learn to navigate his overwhelming grief, and now her reappearance. Of all the team, Reid was the one who needed to know he had some bedrock under his feet, in order to function in the world. 

She'd try to get through to Reid soon. Probably somewhere in the open, where he could get up and walk away if he needed to, and not feel trapped or obligated to talk. Soon. Tonight was about mending fences with Morgan.

"Did Hotch know?" he asked, refilling his scotch. "There must've been some gaps in your resume."

"He knew I was undercover with the CIA, and he confirmed the dates I gave him with the Agency. He never probed farther than that." She managed a smile. "He did ask me how many languages I spoke. When I asked him if he meant idiomatically, academically, or just enough to cuss someone out, he shut me up."

"I guess being your mama's daughter had some uses after all."

"Yup." she raised her eyebrows and blew out a breath. "But you know - the more I think about it, the more I think Lauren kicked ass, and I don't mind remembering her. She stopped a terrorist from engaging in more than a few major raids, and made him think it was his decision. She never once broke cover. She kept a little boy from harm in the middle of hell, and put him in a safe place. And Dec…Derek, even in that insane world, Declan trusted us. We all kept him so safe, and gave him so much love, that it never occurred to him not to trust us. He let me..."

A small tremor started in her hands, and she set her glass on the coffee table before rolling onto her side, and tucking herself deeper under the blanket.

"He was only four, and he trusted me so much that he let me hold a gun to his head and spray pig blood all over his face and hair. All I told him was that we had to pretend he'd been in an accident, so that a really mean man wouldn't try to hurt him or his father. I told him it was like making a scary Hallowee'en movie to scare the man off. Louise was too frightened to say a word. I think she wondered if I was going to kill them both, no matter what I said."

The tremor set in deeper, creeping up her arms and through her middle, and she pulle up her knees and crossed her arms and pinned her hands in her armpits to stop it.

Morgan did not miss this. He didn’t comment upon it. "I think I just got something I needed to get," he said, leaning forward. "Prentiss, I'll tell you straight up, I was pretty shocked. Not that you'd been working at that level, but where you let it take you. Not just into Doyle's business, but - "

"Into his bed." she said flatly.

"See, I know you. I know you'll use whatever you can to fight a good fight, but I couldn't wrap my head around that part till now. It was Declan that kept you there. Not Doyle. Not really."

"It was Declan that kept me there," she agreed. "It's not a pretty business, my friend. You get that Lauren was an arms dealer too, right? That was my in. I didn't expect him to...to offer me so much access. He wasn't psychotic. He was obsessive, hypervigilant and manipulative, but he treated the people close to him like royalty. So yeah, you can say I fucked Doyle to get into his sentimental little heart, after I got into his head. I did that. I'm hardly the first to use sex, and I won't be the last, and I saved a lot of lives by putting myself there. And it wasn't all a lie. He really treated me very well. Does that make me a whore? Or just a damn good agent? Honest to God, I don't know. I could sure as hell name my price with him. Anything I asked for. He tried to give us a good life. But yeah, if there hadn't been Declan, I don't know how much longer I'd have stayed. I'd have had to fake my death sooner or later. Ian would never, ever have let me go. But with Declan there, I was almost his...Well. He thought I was…he was so little, it only made sense to him. How would he know anything else?  But there wasn't much I wouldn't have done for him. So I stayed. Most days I just lived and breathed it all in. And occasionally reported in to my operator while I was supposed to be having my hair and nails done."

"My point is," Morgan said, slowly, "It's the mom-thing you got inside you. I've seen you go there. One of your babies is in danger, you turn mama-bear and get all eaten up inside until you know they're safe. That Kira. Honest to God, I think if her aunt hadn't been found, you really would have taken her in, wouldn't you?"

"Oh, like you and Ellie? You even had the paperwork ready to bring her across the country. I saw it. Cross-jurisdictional guardianship application, signed and witnessed. And I know she still e-mails you." Emily smiled at him, a little wet about the eyes. “That mattered, you know. Ellie knew you were fighting for her. That mattered, even if she found her home.”

"I do know. That's why I get it. I gotta be honest, I've been wrestling with the whole undercover sex thing, but you're right, it happens. I know it does. But hearing you talk about that kid - maybe it's just a handle I can wrap my head around, but I get it a little better."

"It wasn't any kind of Stockholm syndrome, you know." she cautioned him. "That’s a made-up bullshit thing some shrink came up with to get interviews. I knew what I was doing."

"Yeah, but didn’t it..." he paused. "Em, didn’t it wear on your soul? Or was it really just the job?"

"Fuck, yeah, it did. But maybe less than I'd like to admit. Women have been using sex as a power tool since the very beginning." She held his gaze. “It was a game I was trained to win and I won, Derek. D’you get that?”

“Except it wasn’t a game, and you lost nearly everything. And we lost you.”

“That’s also true. And I’m sorry for that part. Again.”

"I guess I've spent my career trying to protect women from being used like that, so it's...I just never knew anyone who...you know, worked at that level."

"High class all the way, baby." She raised her glass in a mirthless toast. Morgan didn't smile. She shook her head and tried again. "I'm sorry if it changes your opinion of me," she said. "But sometimes that's how the world is. If I hadn't consented freely and knowingly to be what Doyle wanted, he'd still be alive, there would be well-armed conflicts in parts of the world you don't even want to think about getting hot, and Declan would be training to be his successor."

"He is a pretty great kid." Morgan admitted, after a moment.

"And I hope he stays that way. At least now he has a chance."

"Tell me about Declan. From the beginning."

So she did.

[zoyaofthegardvn]

love love lovED your zoya fic and now i can't stop thinking about zoya and reader's first time they say i love you to each other (somehow i'm imagining an almost fwb to lovers and theyre both surprised they've fallen in love)

What Are We?

Can be seen as a prequel to A Mission Gone Wrong! In which reader and Zoya are sorta kinda friends with benefits, until they catch feelings...

A/N: Love this idea! I totally have to write something for it, thanks so much for giving me the inspo to flesh out that fic, anon, and thanks for the sweet words! :)

CW: Mentions of smut! Angst to fluff!

---

After pulling your shirt back over your head, you glance towards Zoya, asleep in her bed. You two had hooked up, again, as you had been all year. Many years before that had been spent being friends, until the lust-filled gazes finally led to something.

As far as you were aware, Zoya hadn't been sleeping with anyone since you two began your... thing. And you certainly hadn't either, Zoya had ruined anyone else for you.

And that's why you had to put an end to these hookups.

Typically, you two would fuck in one of your rooms, and you'd stay the night, cuddling, talking, the other only sneaking off in the early morning. Maybe you'd have a quickie in some hallway closet, just to spend the rest of the day together, training or going over paperwork.

But recently, you'd been encouraging the sex to occur in Zoya's bedroom only, so that you could sneak out the second she fell asleep. You were sure she had noticed the change, but she hadn't brought it up.

She probably doesn't care, maybe she even prefers it this way, you assumed. Ignoring the pang to your heart.

You had caught feelings for Zoya, which was likely the biggest no-no rule when it came to friends with benefits. And really, you had feelings for Zoya before your intimate relationship started. It's why you slept with her in the first place.

But now... now you're in love with Zoya, and not being able to truly have her... it hurts. The phenomenal sex had always been enough to counteract the heartache, until it wasn't anymore.

Zoya isn't the relationship type. She's had many partners, and none of them were official relationships. You had no reason to believe you would be any different. And so, in order to look out for yourself, and to preserve the friendship with Zoya that you cherished, you had to stop.

Tonight is the last time, you swear, as you gently close her door behind you, kefta draped over your arm. Your room isn't far, just a few doors down, as you two had requested in the early days of your friendship, when you were given permanent places in the Palace after proving yourselves as formidable Grisha.

You hoped things wouldn't become too awkward, and you dreaded the day Zoya found a new partner to be intimate with. As your friend, you'd support her, and as the woman in love with her, you'd be crushed.

---

The next morning, you woke to knocking at your door. Rubbing the sleep from your eyes and wincing at the cold hard floor against your feet, you make your way to open it for your early visitor.

It's Zoya. She clocks the surprise on your face, and gives you a confused glare. Truly, you hadn't expected to see her until you made your way to the yard for training. You stare at her for a few seconds, mouth open, thinking of something to say, before she beats you to it.

"I figured we'd get breakfast before training, we didn't eat last night?" Zoya asks, clearly a bit offended by your reaction.

You drop your eyes and realize that she's already dressed and ready for the day. Unsurprising, Zoya is always on time, always ready. It catches you off guard, though, still in your robe and slippers.

"O-oh uhh, yes?" Zoya quirks at eyebrow at the question in your tone. "I mean yes, yeah of course," you add, not trying to be rude. "Just let me get dressed, I'll meet you there?"

"Sure.." Zoya trails off, even more confused by the second. Typically, you'd invite her in whenever she'd show up at your door. If you weren't required to wear a uniform for the day, she'd pick you out an outfit. She'd lounge on your bed while you worked at your desk. She'd paint her toenails while you took a bath. She'd read a book while you dozed on your couch. Zoya is your best friend, and obviously, she's noted a change in your friendship, before she noticed anything different with your sexual relationship.

You close the door in her face, and you hear her slowly walk down the hall. Resting your head against the door, you sigh, and rub your face with your hands. Still drowsy with sleep, you pull yourself together and get dressed for the day.

Breakfast isn't typically very busy, as training begins early and most prefer to sleep in. But it's true that you're starving. You and Zoya had gotten back to the Palace late the evening before, dinner had ended, and the both of you were two occupied with one another to go about finding your own food. Immediately, Zoya had fallen asleep after, and you went back to your room to do the same.

You take the seat next to Zoya, who is nearly finished with her plate. Your stomach growls, and Zoya snickers at the sound, handing you en empty plate for you to gather your food. You elbow her side, muttering, "shut up," as you fill your plate.

"So," you say, willing to start the conversation after that awkward first interaction of the day. "What's your plan for training, today?"

As a Tidemaker, you and Zoya often worked together, as Squallers and Tidemakers made a powerful pair. Zoya was more harsh with the Grisha during training, so you preferred to know what she wanted before you laid out your own plans.

She turns to look at you, placing a forkful of eggs into her mouth. She shrugs, swallows, and you see a smile tug at her lips. "Well, Y/N, I think your Tidemakers have grown a bit sloppy," you fake gasp at her insult, "so I thought we'd put them head to head today? See who comes out on top?"

You sigh, roll your eyes, and shoot her a grin. "They are not sloppy! It was your Squaller that caused them to lose control of that spiral, you know," you tease her, knowing Zoya was a bit bitter that your epic experiment with wind and water had ended in disaster, with everyone dripping wet and cold.

She snorts, shaking her head. "Please, as if," and she takes a deep sip of her coffee.

Usually, you and Zoya would disagree on training, at least a little bit. But today, you don't mind the suggestion. "I suppose that's a good idea, we've trained them to work together, but never how to fight an opponent with those skillsets," and the mood turns a bit sour, the fact that rogue Grisha exist looming over the both of you. You don't regret saying it, though. It bothers Zoya more than anyone, and she has to be able to face it.

Zoya clears her throat, and nods. "Yes, yeah... exactly."

---

Training gets off to a rough start. You two had taken your Grisha far into a field, where a large pond was located, so that you had plenty of room to work and not interfere with the other group's training. Most of the Grisha grumbled at the plan, having no real desire to engage in a battle so early in the morning. But, Zoya snapped at them, and they shut up quite quickly.

The next two hours were spent with you and Zoya coaxing your teams, how to note weak spots in an opponent, how to target them, how to catch even a skilled fighter by surprise. Both teams fought valiantly, but in the end, your Tidemakers won.

You beamed, and gloated, patting your Grisha on the back. You praised Zoya's team too, because they fought hard, and Zoya has been too tough on them, scolding them for their loss.

As everyone began the long trek back to the Palace, you hung back to walk alongside Zoya, distanced from the larger group.

"Enjoy your win, it won't happen again," Zoya mumbled, and you laughed at her pout.

"Just admit, Zoya, my Tidemakers aren't the sloppy ones!" You sing-songed.

"If it was just you and I, I would've won,' Zoya said, under her breath, but you still caught it.

Instantly, your mood faded. "Well, Zoya, not everyone can be one of the most powerful Grisha alive, I didn't think this was really about that," you spat, hurrying your pace. "But excuse me if I misunderstood!" you called over your shoulder, ignoring Zoya's calls of your name.

Perhaps you overreacted, but you were so sick and tired of Zoya's obsession with being the best, at everything. You wanted to enjoy your win, though it wasn't really yours, it belonged to your Grisha. But you were proud of them, and you were proud of the training you'd given them that clearly paid off. You had hoped Zoya would let you have at least that. You understood that Zoya wasn't trying to be mean, that she had traumas and insecurities she struggled with, but still. You deserved more respect. And maybe, though you wouldn't admit it, you wanted Zoya to admire you the way you did her.

You stomped the rest of the walk back to the Palace, even getting ahead of the Grisha in your furious haste. All you wanted was a warm bath, a snack, and maybe even a nap. You had a meeting to attend in the early evening, but that was about it. You had plenty of time to destress and cool down from your anger.

Workers, Grisha, friends, all chose to not speak to you as you entered the palace, clearly sensing you were upset. You appreciated it, really not in the mood to talk anymore. And this... surprised you. You had endured some of the harshest, meanest comments from trainers and mentors as you grew up and into your powers. So why was Zoya's comment bothering you so badly? The more you thought about it, the more upset you got. And then, tears are welling in your eyes, and you're bursting into your bedroom before they fall.

You know that it's not just what Zoya said that's brought the tears, it's the realization that Zoya will never love you the way you love her. She'll never respect you as a Grisha the way you so badly crave. She'll never view you as her equal.

You wipe at your wet cheeks as you draw your bath, taking deep breaths to soothe the sadness in your gut. Your clothes drop to the floor, and you nearly moan when the hot water touches your skin.

And, because you deserved it, you pull the bubbles to your chest that you had poured into the bath as it ran. You place a washcloth against the edge of the tub, and rest your head against it as a pillow. You enjoy a quiet few moments before a knock at your bedroom door startles you.

It's muffled, as you're locked away in the bathroom, but it catches you off guard. Again, there's a knock, but you remain silent.

If they really need me, they'll yell. You settle back against the tub, closing your eyes.

As if on cue, Zoya calls your name.

"Y/N? I know you're in there," she yells, and you roll your eyes. Honestly, you hadn't expected her to follow you. You didn't think she cared that much. You expected to see her later this evening, after you had both calmed down, and move on. Clearly, Zoya had other plans.

And then, you hear your door unlock and swing open. You curse under your breath. You had forgotten that Zoya had the spare key to your room. You weren't comfortable with hiding it somewhere should someone else find it, and so Zoya was the natural choice. She'd never used it before, and you had never lost your key and needed to retrieve the spare.

The door closes and locks behind her, and then she's strutting towards the bathroom door, swinging it open. You don't even glance at her. "Leave Zoya, I don't want to talk."

"Well I do," she says, grabbing a stool and sitting next to the tub.

"Come to talk about how much better you are than me? How much stronger? As if I need the reminder," you spit, raising your head to level a glare at her. You wouldn't be this angry if she weren't here to take it. You rarely fight with her, usually opting to keep quiet. But paired with the realization that you're in love with her, her attitude has hurt you worse than ever before. The woman you love, thinking you're weak.

Zoya sighs, frustrated, shaking her head. "No, Y/N. Damnit, I'm sorry, okay?"

You scoff. "I came here to take a bath and relax. I want to forget about it."

"Well, I don't!" she exclaims. "Can you just let me apologize, please?"

It's obvious that she won't give in. You roll your eyes, close them, then rest your head back on the lip of the tub. You wave your hand, as a dismissal, but Zoya takes it as a 'go on.'

"I'm really sorry, Y/N. You know I never apologize," and yes, that's true, rarely does Zoya say she's sorry. "I get too jealous, I'm too quick to anger, I know that. You don't deserve it."

She pauses, but you don't answer, you don't move.

She sighs, and starts again. "I don't think I'm better than you, I never have."

And you laugh, though it's humorless. "Yes, you have, Zoya."

She groans. "Okay, yeah, back when I was a lot meaner than I am now and I thought I was better than everyone..." her voice trails off, "but never you, not anymore," she finishes. Her tone is tender, her voice gone quiet.

Your stomach flutters, but you don't react, not willing to show her how her words affect you.

"Y/N, I'm serious. I don't think I'm better than you. You're the strongest person I know, and not just in Grisha power. You're an excellent teacher, and the Grisha are lucky to have you. They need you more than they need me, so please don't beat yourself up because I said something rude in frustration. I'm sorry, Y/N."

And you really do believe her. Zoya can't fake anything, not an emotion, a sentiment, an opinion. She sounds genuinely sincere and sorry.

You sigh, and lift your head again to look at her. "Thank you, Zoya, I appreciate it."

She smiles. "Am I forgiven?"

You nod, and you drop your eyes from her gaze. "Yes, yes, you're forgiven... but, I really do just want to be alone right now."

You don't even have to look at her to know that her smile drops, it's evident in her voice. "Oh, okay... yeah, of course. I'll see you later, though? At dinner?"

Now, you smile at her, it's small and not true. "Yeah, I'll be at dinner."

And with that, Zoya gets up and leaves. She doesn't look back at you as she closes the bathroom door, and you hear her lock your bedroom back up before you're sinking deeper into the tub, hoping that finally, you'll get to relax.

---

After the bath, a bit of paperwork, a nap, and your meeting, it's time for anyone in the Palace choosing a kitchen dinner to gather in the dining hall. You purposefully go late, not wanting it to be too crowded, and you don't fail to notice how Zoya did not come to your room for the two of you to go together, as she typically would.

Though it makes you a bit sad, you are the one that sent her away earlier, and you are the one that wants to nip your intimate relationship in the bud before you get too hurt.

You slip out of your room, lock the door, and make your way to the dining hall. You nod pleasantly at those that you see along the way, but you don't engage in conversation. You wonder if Zoya is even still there, perhaps she decided not to wait for you.

But, you instantly spot her blue kefta when you walk in, her curly black hair. It's impossible to not notice her, when she's all you can think about.

And she notices you, too. Like she'd been watching the entrance, waiting for you to arrive. She smiles, and you make your way over, taking the seat next to her.

"Hey," you greet her, grabbing a plate and filling it.

"Are you feeling better?" She asks. When you give her a confused glance, she says, "I know you're stressed, beyond our... fight," she says quietly, like she doesn't even want to mention that you two had an argument, "and I'm... I'm worried. Are you alright?"

And again, your chest pangs at the sincerity. The concern. You thought she hadn't noticed you pulling away, thought she didn't care. But clearly, she has.

You smile at her, and nod, shoveling a scoop of rice into your mouth. "Yeah, I'm fine," you say, mouth full of food.

She nods, but doesn't look convinced.

Dinner continues in amicable silence, occasionally interrupted by comments from one of you, about training the next day, missions coming up, general Palace gossip.

You're nearly done with your plate when you feel Zoya's hand on your thigh. You jump a bit, and look at her quickly. She smirks, and shrugs. You give her an awkward smile, and place your hand atop hers, stopping it from moving any higher but not removing her touch.

You both finish your food, and Zoya pulls you up by your arm the second she knows you're done.

She pulls you out into the hallway, as you repeatedly ask what she's doing. She looks over her shoulder, smiling, beautiful and happy, and shushes you playfully.

When you spot where she's taking you, you grow nervous. She's headed straight for a particular closet that you two have... had several dalliances in over the past year.

She opens the door, pulls you in, checks that no one was looking, and then shuts the door behind her.

Instantly, she's pushing you up against the wall, hands on your waist. She leans into your face, lips hovering above your own. She smirks. "Let me make you feel better," and then she's kissing you.

And you kiss her back, though you know you shouldn't. Your mind is roaring at you, your heart clenching.

She moans into the kiss, and your tongues begin to dance, tasting one another. This is familiar, this is fun, this is simple and easy. Except it's not. Not anymore. Not for you, at least.

Her hands slip behind you, cupping your ass, rubbing your back, your ribs. One hand slips between your thighs, and that's what makes you gasp, what makes you pull away.

Zoya would never, ever, make you uncomfortable. So she pulls back. She looks at you, hurt and confused. "What's wrong?"

You start breathing hard, terrified to have this conversation. You stutter and stammer. "I-I... I'm sorry.. I..."

Her brows furrow, and she takes in your panicked state. "Y/N, what's happening?"

You begin pulling at your kefta, straightening it. You refuse to look at her. You pace the closet briefly, wringing your hands. "I-I'm sorry, Zoya, I j-just... I can't.. we.. we have to.. stop," Zoya doesn't flinch. She just stares. "This.. it has to end.. I-I'm sorry," you rush out, then you flee the room like a coward.

You don't hear the door open behind you, meaning, Zoya is not following you. She's not chasing you for answers. She knows what you meant.

You rush towards your bedroom before the tears can fall.

The minutes the door is shut, you burst into a sob, dropping to the floor. The hurt on her face... the one thing you never wanted was to lose her friendship. And it seems like that's exactly what you've done.

---

You sleep restlessly, tossing, turning, crying, even. You had immediately undressed, once you picked yourself up off the floor, turned out the lights, and climbed into bed.

The pillow is tear-stained, blankets crumpled around you. Your head pounds from the stress, and your heart feels like its been cleaved in two. You have work with Zoya in the morning, the two of you are set to leave for field work in just a few weeks, she's the only person you sit with at meals. In your panic, you had completely changed how you'll have to function for the rest of your long life.

You wondered if Zoya was just as upset as you. If she mourned your friendship the second you fled. Or, if she'd already found someone else to share her bed with. It was a bitter thought, and you felt bad for it.

And then, your doorknob jiggles. You sit straight up in bed, furiously wiping your eyes. Your stomach sinks in dread, wondering who could be breaking into your room in the middle of the night?

It looks and sounds like someone's struggling with the knob, like they aren't sure how to work one. You'd laugh, if you weren't scared.

You pull the covers off, climb out of bed, and before you can grab a weapon, a flimsy butter knife you'd sliced some fruits with earlier, the door finally unlatches and swings open.

You gasp, and go to charge at the intruder, when you realize the stumbling figure is Zoya. For the second time in the span of a day, she's let herself into your room.

You stare, dumbfounded, as she clumsily slams the door behind her, and locks it.

"What are you doing...?" You ask, trailing off in utter confusion. You set the knife down and cross your arms.

She turns to you, her face full of rage and hurt.

"Coming to see who you're fuck-" she breaks off in a hiccup, "f-fucking tonight."

It dawns on you. "You're drunk," you spit, rolling your eyes, ignoring her hateful comment.

She rolls her eyes right back, far more dramatically. "Astute observation."

"Damnit, Zoya! Why are you doing this to me today?" You're seething, pissed off that she interrupted the sleep you weren't getting, that she's making your heart pound simply by being in the same room, that she has you worried for her, because she doesn't typically drink, especially when she's supposed to be up so early in the morning.

"To you?" she rages, hiccuping again before she takes a few steps towards you. "And what exactly have I done to you? Have I stopped talking to you?" she takes another step. "Have I stopped looking you in the saints damned eyes?" another step. "Have I stopped hanging out with you?" her voice cracks, and again, she steps closer.

You back up until you hit your dresser, and your lower lip trembles as she drills into you.

"Have I started fucking you, then leaving right after, like nothing happened?" she spits. Now, she's right in front of you, finger pointed, accusatory.

She takes one more step, until she's in your face. In the dim light, you can see the tears in her beautiful blue eyes. "I haven't done shit to you," she whispers, and the tears fall. "I-I apologized, for earlier, and then you act like you're disgusted by me."

She stares at you, but you say nothing. Her hand lowers, she stands up straighter. "So, I came to see who my replacement is." Her tone is matter-of-fact, like the only possible way you could leave her would be if you had found someone new.

"Z-Zoya..." you cry, a bit ashamed now that she'd pointed out how you'd been treating her. In an effort to protect your own heart, you'd been hurting her. You hadn't realized.

"Zoya," you start again, taking a deep breath. 'I-It's not like that," she cuts you off with a bitter laugh.

"I know exactly what it's like," she whispers.

"I never, e-ever, wanted to hurt you, Zoya," you cry, reaching to grab her arm. She jerks out of your reach, she stumbles at the movement, then straightens herself back out.

Her rejection stings. "I... it's... it's complicated, Zoya, but I am so sorry," you try and reach for her again, and this time, she lets you. You grab her arms, and realize she reeks of Kvas. "Let me put you to bed, you're drunk."

She shakes her head, a frown on her face. "So you can leave in the middle of the night?" she scoffs. "I'm not that drunk, anyway."

You sigh, heart heavy. "You're my best friend, Zoya, hurting you... that was never my intent. But I can't.... I can't talk about it."

She pulls out of your grasp, sits on the bed. She hangs her head, and the room is silent for a moment. She wipes her face with her hands.

"Tell me, don't talk to me like I'm stupid, stop running around in circles," she says, and you grimace.

"I have never thought you were stupid," you tell her, frustrated that every thing is going so, so wrong.

She looks up at you, her face miserable. "Then fucking tell me. What did I do to deserve this?" her voice fades to a whisper, and she starts to cry again. Silent tears, you wonder if she even knows she's crying.

"I can't," you whimper, sitting next to her.

"Can't, or won't?"

And that breaks you.

"You'll hate me, Zoya, we'll never be friends again," you whisper into the dim room, the tension winding around the both of you like a restraint.

"I would never," she hiccups again, and if the situation weren't so dire, you'd laugh at the timing. "I'd never hate you," and her tone leaves little room for argument.

You don't respond, eyes on your hands, picking at your nails. She stops your movements, placing her hand on yours. It reminds you of all those times she scolded you for the habit, telling you your fingers would hurt if you kept at it. A smile tugs at the corner of your mouth, but it never comes to fruition, the weight of losing Zoya for good too heavy for any other feelings.

Zoya fills the silence. "I... if I leave, and you don't tell me what's going on... what I did... we won't come back from it."

At the threat, your resolve crumbles. You sob. "Damnit, Zoya, why are you making me do this?" you look at her, your face devastated in anger and heartbreak.

Zoya doesn't respond. Doesn't answer, doesn't stop you. She just stares, eyes glazed over with both alcohol and tears. Her cheeks are flushed and stained with dried tears. She makes no move to wipe them, too afraid to break the spell.

Your heart is pounding, hands clammy and shaking.

"Zoya.. I-I am... I'm fucking in love with you," you gasp, and squeeze your eyes shut, unable to see the physical rejection you're sure she's going to put you through.

Yet, her hand doesn't move. She doesn't stop touching you.

She takes a sharp inhale, and it's the only other sound in the room other than your quiet crying.

"I-I'm sorry, Zoya. I-I didn't want to ruin anything, so I-I just never said anything," you take a few heaving breaths before continuing, "and I s-still ruined it a-all, didn't I?"

You cry, and cry, struggling to breathe. Never, not once, have you felt such visceral heartbreak and pain. You wonder if you'll survive it.

"I know I wasn't," you sniffle, "wasn't supposed to fall in love with you, but I did, I can't help it, and I-"

And then, you're being cut off by Zoya's hands grabbing your face, her lips landing on your own.

You're so surprised for a moment, you don't even move, your eyes wide. And then, you kiss her back. Eyes fluttering closed, your lips move with hers in a tender, slow kiss. Your heart flutters, the pain gently ebbing away.

She pulls back and looks at you. "You're in love with me?"

You nod. She kisses you again, quick and soft. You stare at her, stunned.

"You love me, and you didn't tell me?" she says, a bit hurt, though she sounds relieved. She's cupping your face, and one of her thumbs starts stroking your cheekbone.

"H-how was I supposed to?"

Zoya shakes her head in disbelief. "I..." she stops, like she's gathering her thoughts. "All of this... all of this, because you're in love with me."

You feel embarrassed. "I'm sorry, Zoya."

Her eyes widen. "Don't be sorry, you fool," and your brows furrow in confusion. She kisses you again, then mumbles against your lips, "I love you, too."

---

A/N: This ended up being longer than I intended, oops! I also went the angst to fluff route, hope that's okay!

[krystalkitdemi]

Multiplayer. Part 2

First post

The piercing sound of static filled the room of passed out friends. All were asleep from previous hours of games and laughter. You were in your room as your friends had decided to crash in different areas of the room with the Bedrolls that 2 had brought with him. Nobody was aware of the Shadowy figure that slithered between all of them to make its way towards you. The red slits of the figures eyes cast over you and your friends, looking at them in both curiousity and contempt. You were the only one that was picked out of the sleeping group, you were the one he wanted after all. However, your friends were one variable that he did not account for. All of them had interference with his world, and even now, as his world was linked to yours, their own interferences were showing. Like the soft threads you made, their own light threads shimmered in the feedback of the static, tangling to his body as they were carelessly strewn about. Auditor felt disgust at this and nodded to his cohorts to pull him back.

The strings did not let him go.

The feedback caused by the extra weights of your friends flung them from the original path that you followed and into this new world without you. You may have been taken to somewhere of relative safety, but your friends had no such fortune. Something else was looking out for them, be it the maker or their own positions as players in this world that seemed to bow to your very natures.

:Player 2:

2 felt his body hit the ground harshly. The wind was knocked out of him and he woke up. The air around him stunk of rotting flesh and burning garbage, he coughed as he got up and looked around. It took him a few seconds to fill his burning lungs with oxygen. He bent down and picked up his hat before hearing a shot and an impact near his location. "Now hold it right there!," a familiar sounding voice shouted out, "Don't make any sudden moves."

'Well shit.,' 2 thought to himself and slowly stood up.

"Keep yer hands where I can see 'em.," the voice ordered. "I'm not here to cause trouble.," 2 announced. "That remains to be seen.," The man replied.

2 looked up to find the origin of the voice, that was when he saw a sniper pointing a rifle at him. And a very familiar looking creature standing next to the sniper. "Well, Aren't you the strangest looking son of a gun I've ever seen.," The cowboy hat wearing grey skinned creature chuckled. "I could say the same thing about you.," 2 replied with a bold smile, "As you can probably guess, I ain't from around here." He took his jacket off and raised his arms, "I have no weapons. I have no intent to harm anyone. I just want to find my friends." "Oh for- There's more of you?!," The man shouted down at 2. "Yeah. But I think it's past time to introduce ourselves.," The Bold player said, "I'm 2, Player 2." This caused the man to stumble a bit before he responded, "I'm the Sheriff. I'm the boss around here." 2 nodded, "I'll respect that. You got a good operation here, Self-sufficient, Reinforced, Rather safe."

"Now, what are you doing out here, 'player 2'?," Sheriff asked. "Like I said before, I just want to find my friends. We're not from around here, and we need to go home as soon as possible.," 2 responded, "I repeat, I do not intend harm to you." "Would one of these friends happen to be 'Player'?," Sheriff asked. "Yes sir.," The player replied, "We've been friends for years and have worked on many things together." The air felt tense to 2. He recognized this place as Nevada, Specifically, The wall that led to the MERC facility. He hoped Sheriff wouldn't have his men open fire on him. That would suck. 2 let out a sigh as the sniper was ordered to stand down. The gate was opened a little and Sheriff shouted for him to get in quickly. From the cackling he heard behind him, 2 did not need to be told twice and sprinted to the gate.

The young man brushed the dust off of him and put his jacket back on. He fixed his hat and gloves before looking over to the Sheriff, who was walking up to him. 2 could tell it was Sheriff from how he dressed. But he did not look like the bean men that he and the others were used to. 'Homunculi' 4 would call something like this. Something that looked human, but was not. 2 let Sheriff walk around him, examining him cautiously. The older man stood in front of 2, to which the younger noted that they seemed to be about the same height. Although 2 could also tell he was somewhat taller than the man before him. This made 2 think, if he was this tall, were grunts all taller on average than humans? He would just have to find out by seeing examples of more of them. That, however, was not his primary concern at the moment. "Sheriff. Would it be okay for me to stay here for a bit while I look for my friends?," Player 2 asked, "If not, then I'll just leave and let you alone, I know you have a lot to worry about right now, trying to scrape together a livin' for you and the rest of MERC."

'I swear, I'll find all of you so we can get home.'

:Player 3:

3 cried out in pain as she felt a kick to her side. "What the hell is this thing?!," a voice asked, "It's damn ugly!" The Red jacket wearing woman looked up at the thing that kicked her. It looked like a man, but had grey skin and no facial features, save for a mouth and glasses where eyes should be. "You're not much better looking.," the rough young woman wheezed out with a jeer. "This thing has a mouth on it.," Another voice said as 3 was roughly wrenched up by her arm, "It's scrawny, It wouldn't be any good for the agency." "Hank would chew it up and spit it out in no time.," the first said. Rough fingers grabbed her face and forced her to look at who was in front of her, She recognized him immediately as an AAHW agent. 'Great. So this is what they look like up close.,' 3 thought to herself as she saw her reflection in the Grunt's shades.

The agent's claws threatened to cut into her skin as he gripped her face tighter, "Hey, this thing's skin is very thin." "Your face is hideous.," 3 spat then launched a glob of saliva onto the agent's glasses. The grey skinned grunt stumbled back and took his shades off to look at them. He had a cross marking instead of a face, a cross that scrunched up in disgust. "Disgusting creature.," the agent grumbled then motioned to the one holding 3, "Tie it up and gag it. We'll let the uppers decide what to do with it. Especially since it's not from around here." "Hopefully they teach it some manners.," the agent behind her snickered, "The spit isnt acidic is it?" 3 felt her hands get cuffed together and a tie wrapped around her head as a makeshift gag before she was shoved into a transport truck. She gave a good kick to the one that shoved her in and hit him between the legs.

The grunt went down in pain. 'guess they do have junk.,' 3 thought and felt the one she spat on stomp her foot as packback. "This one looks like it'll have to go through a lot of obedience training.," The one that she spat on growled, "Bitch." "Bitch huh? That's what we'll call it.," The one she kicked gasped and got up before punching her gut. 3 gasped in pain and immediately thought of her friends, were they also in danger? Was player and 4 in danger?! She could take pain very well, that is true, but seeing her friends in pain was unbearable to her. She would have to bide her time until she can get out of this situation and find her friends. 'I'll show you a bitch when I get out of this.,' 3 thought to herself.

The truck itself shook as it turned on and the men drove off. 3 knew this was not going to be easy, but she was used to fighting. She'd fight just to keep her friends safe, even if it gave her greivous wounds. But she had to have a significant plan in mind, grunts are literally bred for combat and seeing how big these two were, she would have to be careful. She may be brash and hotheaded, but she's not stupid. 'I'll make you two kneel, then I'll go find 4 and the others.,' She thought to herself, '4, wait for me, okay?' She laid on the floor of the moving truck, gathering her strength and planning her next move. Somehow, she was not scared, this excited her.

If only she could control these guys like she could control the playable characters in the game she and her friends had played...

But that was impossible. She just needed to find a way to reunite with her friends and get back home. How else would she be able to go on motorcycle rides on the bike she fixed and upgraded. She would take Player and 4 on another bike ride once this is all over. Hell, maybe she could get player and 2 bikes to go on rides with her and 4. The thought of that brought a smile to her sore face. 'That would be nice. We can all go on a trip.'

'Then maybe, we can all smile again, really smile again.'

She could hear the agents of front talking about what they were going to do once they reported back to base. Their conversation was not interesting, but it would give 3 a bit of insight into these bastards and into this world she had fallen into. Perhaps if she kept her ears open, she could find more information about her friends. She wondered if agents were as vicious gossips as people back home.

:Player 4:

A loud splash resonated into a wide open room. A small body swam to the surface of the tank she fell into and took a big gasp of air. 4 looked around, trying to decipher where she was. The last thing she remembered was the sleepover she and her friends had. She and 3 were right next to each other as usual. They had been talking about their favorite Madness combat characters and which ones they would smooch if given the chance. 4 shook her head of that and knew she had to get out of the tank as soon as possible. The waterproof lining of her favorite coat would only stave off water for so long. The last thing she wanted was the work she and 3 did with making this special LED coat to go to waste. She quickly found an edge and climbed out of the tank of liquid. She found herself on a metal grate over the tank. Her eyes scanned back into the tank and saw something inside of it.

It looked like a large person.

'What in the world is that?!,' she thought to herself and shook herself off. It was cold in this place. And being wet did not help in the slightest. She took her Coat off and shook it before putting it on a hook she found on the wall. She may as well wait to dry a bit before going to see where she was. voices caught her attention. Panicked sounding voices.

"Did you see that?!" "It landed in the tank!" "Someone call security to check it out!"

4 did not know what was going on, but she knew that it would probably be better to get out of there before being found. Especially since this place seemed to be important since it had security. She took her still wet coat and shook it of water as much as she cold before putting it back on and running across the grated elevated walkway to the door she spotted. She heard a door open behind her. "Intruder spotted on lab 14's catwalk!," She heard someone report with the distinct crackle of a walkie talkie. The petite young woman dashed through the door after it automatically for her, she ran to a set of stairs and flew down them. She was running blind through this 'lab' area, but she was scared of what would happen if she was caught.

She was able to run into a more opened space, it looked like a observation room. The automatic door behind her closed and 4 came to an abrupt stop. Not because she was out of steam, no, it was because of the large creature in front of her. It was tall and armored. 4 recognized it immediately from playing the arena mode a bit between the multiplayer streams.

A G03lm.

The tall, lumbering, armored creatured had his back to her. She did not alert him yet. The door opened again and she heard boots run in. "There it is!," A man's voice yelled. 4 thought quickly and ran behind the G03lm, on the opposite side of where he turned in order to keep out of his line of sight. Being small did have some benefits. She could see the scars and stitches on the G03lm's body, it was a lot different seeing them in real life compared with seeing them in game. "Hey, big guy, There's an intruder behind you.," the security who had been chasing 4 told the g03lm.

4 took off towards the door on the other side of the g03lm but it opened to show some men in red lens'ed masks on. She felt a pair of huge hands pick her up. "Intruder captured," She heard the G03lm groan out. "Huh, smaller than I thought.," The Security officer commented, "Take this little strange intruder to a holding cell." 4 wriggled a bit in the g03lms paws and felt a sharp pain of shock. One of the security officers escorting the g03lm holding her jammed a shock baton into her wet leg. Pain shot all through her body, but no sound came from her.

'Everyone. Where are you?'

'I'm scared'

[idatenjumpfanatic]

I Got Your Back (Begrudgingly)

Loosely inspired by this thread here

Specifically about the Samejima siblings. We all have our own chance to make up backstories for the side characters of the show, but I wanna flesh out what yall already wrote about Gabu, plus some thoughts of mine with those headcanons on the end of this oneshot.

No word count bc I just wrote everything here. Not proofread, so this is basically word vomited before I lose the idea (and motivation)

Notes are that this happened far before the show. Anyways enjoy!

=================

Gabu never did house chores. He was never really fond of them. It was boring, tedious, and above all, not worth his time at all. There were better things to invest his time on, and it was definitely not on those. And besides, Taiga's there to do them instead of him.

However today Taiga was sick.

The older sibling was terribly bedridden, unable to leave his room levels of bad. He said just yesterday that he wasn't feeling well, and then it just got worse now. Gabu would've first thought he was faking it, both have done it before in the past (and neither snitched each time), but the vomiting sounds he heard earlier that morning behind the bathroom door was plenty enough to convince him otherwise.

"Mom, Tai's sick."

"Well, we're still busy at work. Just let him rest, okay?"

"Are you serious?!"

Gabu would've started an argument with his parents about this given the chance, but said parents were too quick end the telephone call before he got another word in. He growled, crossing his arms.

He didn't want to deal with sick brother quite frankly. It's just another chore before school.

Or, I could skip school using Taiga as an excuse.

That thought made Gabu grin. He'd say his poor older brother was down with sickness and he took the liberty to take care of him today, as his parents were really of no use in that aspect, but really he'd just go MTB riding at the trails. Yeah, that'll do it.

Though he needed to wait for a few more minutes to make sure his parents wouldn't catch him.

While he did though, he could hear coughing from the second floor.

Gabu frowned, listening as Taiga's coughing continued for a good few seconds before it stopped. He stayed where he stood even after the house fell into silence. Without even realizing, he was squeezing his own arms as he found himself double guessing.

He stared at the door for a long while, subconsciously humming quietly as he did so. His humming then turned into a grumble, and once he finally made his mind up, he threw his hands and groaned before walking away from the door.

Meanwhile Taiga, he wasn't in the best shape clearly. Every limb felt like lead, and his head was throbbing. It would've been a lot worse if not for the menthol ointment he kept in his bedside drawer, but even then it wasn't enough to alleviate everything else. It didn't help too that every time he wanted or needed to get up he felt like throwing his insides out.

Whatever he got, it was bad.

But still, he knew it was best to just power through it as much as he could. He didn't need to worry about convincing his parents; lately neither would notice if he or Gabu missed school, or if they were even home at all, because neither would be at home either. Sometimes it was for the better, oftentimes it was just depressing to think about, and right now it was the latter.

Gabu at least was told that he was sick, but Taiga knew his brother wouldn't be be able to take care of him. He loves him, but he's also well aware how incompetent Gabu was when it came to basic things. He once set something on fire in the kitchen when the Four Kings were trying to teach him, and whether that incident was in purpose or by accident the fact still stood that Gabu was no longer allowed to try to cook anything.

Which meant Taiga was left by himself.

Taiga heaved a sigh at the thought, but already accepted it ever since he felt the first signs of sickness. He just wasn't expecting that it'd get this bad. Whatever scolding he'd get for not cleaning around the house, despite his condition, he'd take, but for now he would rather try to get a shut eye and think about the aftermath later on. Food and water he'd figure out on getting later on once his body would cooperate.

He turned to the side where his unclogged nostril was up, pulling the blanket some more over himself as he tried to go back to sleep. That part, at least, wasn't that hard. He didn't even realize that he did fall asleep until he woke up in a coughing fit.

Slowly sitting up, Taiga rubbed his throat once the coughs finally died out. He grumbled to himself, disliking the idea of needing to get up for some water, but alas he couldn't blame anyone but his past self for not preparing sooner.

He was already willing himself to get off the bed, but once he was one foot down he spotted an unopened bottle of water just sitting on his nightstand. He stared at it for a long while, wondering if he actually left it there before. Though, his own body didn't let him think about it for any longer as he felt another round of coughs crawling its way up his already parched throat.

Downstairs, Gabu was still staring intensely at the pot of water that sat on the stove. Through rummaging the pantry, he found the easiest thing to cook: packets of chicken broth soup that was just needed to be put in boiling water. He read through the steps earlier, but he was now met with the roadblock of not knowing how to operate the stove.

During this he heard Taiga coughing again, which signaled that he was awake once again. It only meant less time for Gabu, unless his brother went back to sleep right after. His staredown with the inanimate kitchen equipment continued.

Gabu thought about calling one of the Four Kings, if one of them weren't at school, for assistance, but the thought of asking for help for such a menial task only made his cheeks flush with embarrassment. The Four Kings were by no means judgmental towards him, but the issue lied with him and not them.

Damn him for his issue of either serving his ego or knowledge.

"Okay, think about it this way," he began telling himself, "it'd suck if I have to say I still don't know after all this. And if I figure it out myself, I get to stick it in Tai's face."

Yeah, seemed doable. He grabbed one of the stove's knobs and started experimenting.

=================

Taiga laid still, blankly staring at the ceiling. The water helped for sure, but now his stomach was rumbling. He couldn't tell if it was hunger or wanting to vomit, but either way he needed to resolve it with food first. If he were hungry that was it, and if he needed to vomit it meant he needed medicine, and he couldn't take that on an empty stomach.

The stillness was really him psyching himself to get up despite aching all over. He took a few deep breaths (while hovering his ointment over his mouth and nose), before wrapping the blanket around himself as his slowly got up. Sitting up he could already taste the bile coming up his throat, but he pressed his lips shut as he swallowed it down.

Finally he was standing, despite all odds. He fought his urge to hurry as he took little steps, keeping his eyes down on the floor to avoid worsening his migraine. Though, in the few steps he'd taken he heard his bedroom door creak open.

"Ugh, why are you up?"

Taiga tilted his head up and saw Gabu standing in the hallway holding a tray that seemed larger in his tiny hands, and a mask over his nose and mouth.

"Go back to bed," he demanded.

Taiga stood and stared, blinking in shock while Gabu made his way into the room. Gabu was fast to notice his brother not responding, his scowl behind the mask deepening.

"Hey, are you deaf? Go back to bed!"

He didn't wait this time. Gabu quickly set down the tray on the table before he marched forward and practically shoved Taiga back to the bed, and yet despite his sudden actions he still did them with carefulness.

Taiga didn't give him much hassle though and shuffled back. He didn't have the energy to argue or fight back either, so he sat back on his bed and let his sibling do whatever he was planning to do.

"I called mom in her office today telling you were sick, but she didn't care. 'Too busy with work' as always," Gabu scoffed while retrieving the tray.

"And dad?"

Gabu gave him a half-lidded stare. "If mom's busy then he is too, duh," he replied sourly. He set the tray on the nightstand, adjusting it so that it wouldn't tip over since the table was smaller. From there Taiga could see what his brother brought.

A small thermos, a large bowl of soup with a spoon, packs of saltine crackers, a new bottle of water, and multiple sleeves of medicine tablets.

"I heated too much water so I made tea too, but yeah there's more soup downstairs, just let me know."

"You... made this for me?"

"Yeah, don't overthink it."

Normally making a bowl of soup wasn't much of a feat, but for Gabu it was an accomplishment, and Taiga knew that. He was impressed, actually, that Gabu was able to not only gather all of these, but to make some food unsupervised without burning anything down (at least, he hoped. His nose was a little stuffy at the moment to smell anything burning) as well.

Taiga smiled, picking up the bowl as he muttered Gabu a thanks. The warmth of the broth was welcoming to his hands, he'd been getting the chills so the hot food was such a relief. Before he took a scoop though he realized something.

"Aren't you supposed to be in school right now?"

"And so?" Gabu shot back with a shrug.

Taiga looked at him for a little while before he gave a defeated sigh. No way he'd be able to convince Gabu to try and catch up with school for the day. He went back to the soup, and while he started eating he could hear Gabu rummage through the tablets.

"You're welcome, by the way. Don't say I never do anything for you."

Taiga couldn't help but grin again. "Of course, I appreciate it," he said with full sincerity. Gabu glanced at him but then quickly looked away.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm calling the others though after their class to look after you this time. At least they're more reliable."

The last part fell into a mumble, but Taiga still heard it. He wasn't sure who Gabu was referring to, but he was hoping it wasn't a self-inflicted insult. A bit of a reach of course, but it was still a valid concern for him. He didn't know how to comfort him either, as words often didn't translate to what he wanted to convey; a problem for the both of them, in all honesty.

He genuinely wanted to thank Gabu again, since his sudden decision to stay actually solved so much of his concerns, but he also knew his brother was terrible with handling compliments. So instead, he reached out and ruffled Gabu's hair.

Instantly a complaint. "Ew! Get your sick hands off me, I don't wanna catch whatever you have."

Taiga laughed, though it quickly cut into coughing. While his little brother reached for a bottle, the same thought ran in his mind:

Yeah, it may be hard that mom or dad weren't there when he needed them, but Gabu always was, no matter how much he says he doesn't care. And of course, he'll always be there for Gabu just the same.

=================

After writing that last paragraph I realized that the headcanon of Taiga and Gabu having such a tight-knit relationship prior to everything is so much more devastating considering the events of the show.

I like to believe that the brothers are genuinely close, in tandem with the headcanon that their parents are neglectful to an extent, so blood-wise they don't have much besides each other. Also, I like to think that their parents are rich or at least holds a high status, since Gabu does a lot of stuff he gets away with (particularly with the stealing school equipment incident), but because they work first before their own kids, they've become blissfully unaware of what their children are up to. Which is tragic.

One last thing, I initially titled this one-shot as "Love Language" because I headcanon that both the brothers' love language is act of service (mostly through bossing other people). Seeing how Gabu is so bad at handling verbal compliments, I take it he's more of a "show, not tell" kind of person, and on top of neglectful parents it's more likely for him to pick that up from Taiga.

Also as siblings, especially in an Asian household, verbal show of genuine affection, gratitude, or sorry is difficult to do so at times. Often it's expressed through other means, like food or asking the other if they wanna hang out outside after a fight. Those kinda stuff

[cuban-feminist-that-gives-a-hoot]

Persona 3 Reload *SPOILERS*

So, I've let this sit for two weeks now and I think it's time for me to finally dish my thoughts. There will be spoilers for those that either haven't finished Reload or those who haven't played any version of Persona 3 at all. If you haven't done either one, I highly recommend you stop reading and go finish it *now*. This is your only warning at this point.

Have you finished it? OK, good. Let's get started.

Persona 3 Reload is a really, really good game. It makes what was once old new again and playing through P3R gave me the same strong feelings I had back when I first played Persona 3 FES. It was like meeting an old friend again after they got themselves both a makeover and nearly 20 years passed between the last time you saw them in person.

Let me get my nitpicky stuff out of the way before I heap the praise it deserves.

I straight-up did not like them taking away school club choice from us. How dare they?! I wanted to do Kendo and Photography like I did in FES, yet I was stuck with Track and Art? If I had to be stuck with a culture club, music should've been the canon club of choice. Our protagonist literally wears headphones all the time! You can't show me the music room at least thrice and tease me with us seeing it, yet not joining the club.

I hate the name change for Operation Babe Hunt. What's wrong with calling it Operation Babe Hunt? The name was fine! It was the creepy behavior of the boys and the transmisogyny that was the problem in it in the original, not the name!

The AI programming is shit. Look, a majority of folks bitching about not being able to control the characters in the original game and FES are being whiny babies that don't know how to use the tactics menu. It's a nitpick because I know that the game has decidedly gone for direct control, but honestly? I would've loved the sophisticated AI that Persona 3 and 3 FES used to be utilized.

Folks bitching about the High-Cut Bikini honestly just need to calm the fuck down. You don't have to use it if you don't want to. Whatever happened to the "Don't like? Don't use!" mindset? You're not being forced by evoker-point to use it.

The music is a downgrade. Lotus Juice is fine as always, but the new singer had a tough job to take over for Yumi Kawamura and fucking failed. The new songs that Yumi never sang are fine, but the new versions of the original songs? Oof. It is bad. Mass Destruction was whack and the less said about her version of Kimi no Kioku, the better.

So, yeah, those are my main nitpicks. Now onto the praise.

The voice acting is top-tier. And I need to put it in a second post because it would be too long. Just know that the English dub is fantastic and no one misses in it at all.

The extra scenes and hangouts we get with the boys are perfect. It fleshes out the guys in ways I wouldn't have expected. For example, I never knew Akihiko was adopted and has parents until Reload put that in there. Do you want to know where that information was originally known? In an artbook and a drama CD! Thank you, Reload, for giving us this vital information I never knew about.

The animation where there's a fusion accident is the funniest fucking thing they've added to the game. I love it, it's hilarious.

They made Shinjiro's death even sadder than the original. For those who have not played the original/FES, Shinjiro has enough strength to walk off before dropping dead under a streetlight. It was a more surreal, trippy moment for his death than anything else because of the art direction in the original/FES. In Reload? They went with what was shown in the movies, with Shinjiro dying in Akihiko's arms. If I had a nickel for every time the edgier of the two men in the ship die in the other's arms, it'd be two nickels. It's not a lot, but it's weird that it's happened twice now. Not to mention the link episodes with Shinjiro are killer. You actually get to see how Shinjiro would look in his school uniform and, fuck, seeing baby Shinjiro, Mitsuru, and Akihiko together is just... it breaks the heart. And that conversation with Mitsuru the day after when you go in Shinjiro's room? Fucking ow! Way to break my heart, Shinjiro.

I'm glad that you *can* save Chidori's life. My Junpei/Chidori heart is so happy about that. And Junpei's second theurgy? Heartbreakingly beautiful, whether Chidori lives or dies.

I am so glad the game allows us to ask why Takaya doesn't wear a shirt. Strega's motivations have always been clear to me from day one. But Takaya, why the fuck do you not wear a shirt?

But yeah, those are my thoughts. It's a good remake. If you're not certain it's for you, try it out on GamePass. Otherwise? Buy it, you won't regret it.

[hypersonicjd]

4. How many WIPs do you have right now?

5. What’s a fic idea you’ve had that you will never write?

6. Are there any fics from others you reread all the time?

7. How many ideas for fics do you have right now?

8. What project(s) are you currently working o

4: Currently working on A New Frontier Chapter 6, a story with another fic writter SheepishWitch and technically Stream of Emotions, but I don't know if I will ever put out that one.

5: A fic idea that I've had that I'll never write is definitely Trans Dakota. Yeah I know everybody loves it and what not, but I genuinely think I won't ever try to do it. I won't do it justice and it might come off as wrong or something alike and I just don't wanna think about how wrong I could end up writing it.

6: Yeah actually. CharmmyColour's A Normal Life, It Will Have To be Enough, LadyJuse's Meet The Parents, GiantRoboticPlatypusButt's It's Pretty Messed Up, Rotg5311's Flesh, Sandwolf's Where Your Loyalties Lie and LonelyLittleShip's Touch Me (Please Don't Let me Fall) 7: I have way too many fic ideas lol. I have two more western AU's for Cavendish and Dakota, one where they are pretty bad bandits and another where Cavendish is a rich owner of an enterprise and Dakota is the sheriff of the town and they get to meet each other in a saloon, a what if AU where Cavendish fails his B.o.T.T test and Dakota never went there in the first place, with Dakota becoming part of a mafia and Cavendish a pianist, one that Dakota is tasked with getting rid of but is unable to because he ends getting attached to Cavendish. Another AU that I would love to work with other people for, but most likely won't happen: Actors AU where the characters of the show were actors the entire time and what we saw of the show was also a show in the AU's reality, with Milo actually being a pretty shy kid and somewhat scared of interacting, Melissa being softer, Zack being a lot more confident on himself and being a star talent, Cavendish being a lot grumpier (yes even more) and an ego machine that will smack a water bottle away because it wasn't room temperature, but will still have a nicer side buried underneath all of that, while Dakota's a bit more closed off, quieter and tries to be Cavendish's friend. That does work for the most part and Cavendish would indeed consider him a friend, but you wouldn't think that's the case at all. I am honestly still missing ideas but these are the ones that I thought would be neat to share for now.

8: I am currently working on A New Frontier, my most treasured AU yet, which has Cavendish as a seasoned Earth agent that was sent to Mars, a place that's basically a mostly terraformed western planet and that will teach him new things in life and meet someone completely new: Vinnie Dakota, a lawman that's lived most of his life in there and hates folk from Earth, due to the culture surrounding it. Although the more he gets to know Cavendish, the more he will grow fond of him, the pair will learn stuff from their upbringings, see things in life differently, make Cavendish relive things from his past and the duo will be involved in a massive plot that's been orchestrated by a lot of people in the shadows.

I know a lot of people have told me that I really shouldn't be considering this piece of work my peak, but I really feel that is going to be the case lol. It has everything I have ever loved in terms of aesthetics, characters, interactions and storytelling and I don't think I'll ever have as much fun or put so much thought into things as what I'll try to do for this AU. I am seriously looking forward to working on it and I really wanna deliver something that will leave an impact in a lot of people. Thank you so much for your questions!

[petitelepus]

Highschool au lockdown and reader start a prank war in the house and swindle and wasp go to a hotel til its over since it always goes wrong

It started as a harmless little prank that you pulled with your little brother Wasp on your dad. Nothing serious, you just put some wasabi on Lockdown's toothpaste and thought it would be funny.

No one got hurt, except maybe your dad's tongue and pride, which led to him retaliating to your prank with his own.

It was in the middle of the night and you were sleeping when suddenly an alarm you didn't recognize went off in your room.

You groaned as you woke up to shut the alarm on your bedside table and you went back to sleep... Only for another alarm to go off after ten minutes of silence, on the other side of the room.

You got up and turned the alarm off, but then it came under your bed, followed by the lamp in the ceiling, your drawers and- Wait, was there one inside your wall?!

Needless to say, you got no rest that night and you were tired as fuck when the morning came and it was time to wake up for good.

You slumped into the kitchen located downstairs and saw your dad enjoying his black coffee and reading some news from his tablet.

"Had a good night's sleep, sport?" He asked with a knowing grin and you glared at him weakly.

"This isn't over...!" You swore and Lockdown chuckled, "You're right. It's far from it."

It should have ended at that, but you were Lockdown's child, his flesh and blood and you wouldn't settle for being the last person being pranked. Funny enough, your dad thought the exact same thing.

The harmless pranks turned more and more serious as the days went by. Wasp and Swindle weren't pranked, but they were starting to get tired of you and Lockdown butting heads.

You never expected your dad to plant a glitter bomb in an Amazon packet, but it wasn't you who picked the booby-trapped box. It was your daddy Swindle who opened the box, thinking it was his order... But it wasn't.

"Alright, that's it! Wasp, pack your things!" Swindle shouted as he stomped into his and Lockdown's bedroom and started to pack his suitcase.

Your dad and you ran upstairs to see what was happening and you were both shocked.

"Swindle, what are you-?"

"Wasp and I are staying in the motel until you two learn to behave again!" He shouted and you and Lockdown tried to talk him to stay, but nothing stopped Swindle when he made up his mind.

The two of you watched him leave with your little brother and the two of you just stared after their car that disappeared from view.

"Wow..." You blinked, "This must be bad if daddy is willing to pay for a motel."

"Hold on..." Lockdown muttered as he reached for his pants pocket and pulled out his wallet, "Yeah, no, he took my bank card."

"When!?"

"It doesn't matter." Your father shook his head and you frowned, "Should we stop? Daddy seemed very angry at us."

"Let's make it a tie, okay?" Lockdown asked as he looked at you and you nodded as you offered your hand, "Truce?"

"Truce." He smiled and the two of you shook hands.

"Now, let's clean all that glitter before it spreads all over the house." Your dad said and you nodded, eager to clean and have your little brother and daddy back.