#this was the last commission. if i was supposed to text you to but didn't please contact me

[astralis-ortus]

guess i missed you too much

✱ boyfriend!bc x fem!reader

— that's what being in love does to you.

w.count → 1.2k genre → fluff warning → reader referred to as baby and my love, 2 (two) chatroom screenshots a.n → based on this request! ngl i was like '!!!' as soon as i read the request bc i can just imagine how it would go i'm—ㅠㅠㅠ also, i have an announcement here about requests, commissions, and fanart shop—i would really appreciate it if you'd check it and help a girl out♡ ⋆ see masterlist

to put it simply, chan is dumbfounded.

he's pretty sure he had mentioned to both han and changbin that you're coming here, to seoul, in a exactly week and chan needs to have all the urgent project revisions to be done prior to your arrival. he's absolutely sure the two promised they will only be gone for a little while to get some coffee to wake them up, and chan is now certain that the two are definitely not only heading out to grab those goddamn coffee.

"if you two aren't back here in 5, just know this is your one and only warning," chan muttered through gritted teeth, trying his best not to sound too pissed before sending the voicenote in their '3racha only' groupchat.

it's not that chan didn't understand—he knows he's been pushing both changbin and han more than he usually does, and chan is very much aware that the duo are bound to be a bit more rebellious than usual once they reach their point of exhaustion, but he really is looking forward to the time he's about to spend with you, and he's not about to let anything come and ruin that.

it's been a while since you've last spent a considerable amount of time together with chan. sure, there are stolen dates here and there whenever a holiday would match up and you could take some time off to visit chan's version of paradise (which is unironically everywhere within the bounds of japan) together, but those visits always ends as quickly as it starts and left the two of you with a longer list of regrets by the time you had to let your hands slip away from chan' warmth.

so this time, when you finally were able put your responsibilities on rest for two whole weeks, it didn't take much of a convincing for either you or chan to finalize the dates when you would finally be able to be within each other's reach. chan even went the extra mile to immediately book your flight coming in, though you had to basically threaten him with no video calls for a week if he went through with his other plans to spoil you rotten.

well, you could only hope that chan won't pull any uno reverse card on you once this plan came to an end.

a bell sound from his phone quickly distracts chan from the lines of lyrics he's trying to edit—an action he came to regret when the notification in view were merely a singular line of emojis sent by changbin, consisting of the same teasing faces and a pink ribbon both changbin and han been sending chan for days now on end.

"oh, he's done," chan groaned, head tilted back in annoyance as he threw his poor beanie back at the sofa where changbin was supposed to be seated right now. to be frank, chan didn't understand what changbin has been implying with the string of emojis at all. presumably changbin and han had seen the way chan saved your kakao talk profile—hence the pink ribbon, but why now? exactly when chan's the most sensitive of the topic? the fact that chan couldn't contact you drives him even crazier—you had told him you haven't been feeling well and you'd text him again once you feel better, but that was like, what, an eternity ago? chan didn't want the risk of waking you up either especially with your trip coming up, so…

he's basically helpless.

another set of annoyed groan became chan's initial response when his phone came alive with a new notification. reluctantly grabbing the device, chan was mentally prepared for a text bubble sent by the youngest of the three, containing of the same string of emojis changbin had just sent—only for his heart to jump out of his chest when he saw the pink ribbon next to your name.

before chan could type another reply, his attention were robbed by the knocks on his studio door—which is a little weird considering neither han or changbin would bother, and the fact that it's nearly midnight meant that almost no one that chan knows of should be looking for him around this time of night.

"manager hyung?" chan cautiously called out, instinctively grabbing his discarded beanie before he went to reach for the door. "did you leave something? or are you—"

the words on chan's tongue dissipates soon after the door swung open—but even with the way his eyes just doubled in size, chan still couldn't believe what he's currently seeing right in front of him now.

"hi, my channie," you finally spoke, a wide grin decorating your lightly flushed face from all the adrenaline you've been feeling; and only then, chan seems to wake up from his trance.

"wha—baby?" chan could hear how voice had skipped an octave higher, but he couldn't care less—did he fell asleep? is this a dream? chan had to pinch himself before he even pulled you in his arms, tightly wrapping the giggling mess that you are in his warmth. "you're actually here? wasn't your flight next week? did i got the dates wrong? how—"

"whoa whoa, calm down there, racer," you quickly stopped your boyfriend's wild train of questions, still with your smile plastered across the span of your face—your plan is a massive success.

"it was supposed to be next week," you confirmed, eyes still taking in chan's perplexed face while your brain etched the memory in its hall of fame, "but i miss my boyfriend too much to wait another week, so… i asked for bin and jisung's help to change my plane ticket!"

suddenly, everything that's been happening to chan in the past week just clicked—the time he caught changbin and han meddling with his laptop, the nervous chuckles, the way they become way to secretive with their phones, the phone calls, and those lines of goddamn emojis. it all finally makes sense.

"is that so?" chan shook his head despite the clear view of his dimpled smile, arms tightening around your waist, "so you three little naughty being has been cooking up plans behind my back, that's what you're saying?"

the sound of your sweet laugh fills chan with an overwhelming sense of warmth— you might spend the majority of your year apart from each other, but for chan, it's moment like this that makes all the dark nights of longing seem worth to be worth his patience.

after all, you're everthing chan ever wanted in his life.

"my my," clicking his tongue in faux disappointment, chan gently fixed the strands of hair falling over your eyes—ones ever so tender whenever you fixed your gaze on him, "what am i gonna do with you, hm? you naughty little baby?"

"not sure," you cheekily replied, lightly scrunching your nose the way chan usually does. you're just happy that you're finally in chan's arms again, to hell with any of the 'repercussions' chan might be building in his head for your little misdemeanor.

"but can you kiss me first?" you continued, trying your best to stay nonchalant despite the sudden spike of your heartbeat due to your own silly attempt at being witty and chan's surprised laugh, "i think i need my boyfriend's kiss so i could face my punishments later."

frankly, chan's head is still plagued with tons after tons of questions of your little successful stunt—he can't help it, you're someone he love and cares about after all,

but who is he to deny your sweet little plea?

©️ astralisortus, 2024. | likes and reblogs are highly appreciated♡

[arrgh-whatever]

Commissioned by @zone1act2

[re-lmayer]

i can't afford rent because of my abusive ex and desperately need help. if i don't pay, it will cause a domino effect where i'll be homeless, lose my emotional support animals, and eventually i can be sued and my paypal account seized. i'll also fail this college semester, which will mess up all my student grant funding and getting a degree

i'm disabled and was recently hospitalized for a nervous breakdown, and stress is making me sick. i've been diagnosed with an ulcer

there's a lot of ways to help me and my cats. you can commission me on kofi, donate directly via paypal, check out my crowdfunds on youpay, share my twitter and bluesky threads, and of course reblog this post. sharing is free!

more context under the cut. it will be updated as things change

my ex boyfriend is an abusive alcoholic. he's raped me, tried to medically neglect me, stranded me at our new apartment alone with no food and a clogged toilet, and most recently refuses to pay any rent and is content to allow me to become homeless despite legal obligation

i have been granted a hud/section 8 housing voucher, but to use it a unit must pass inspection

the apartment i applied for didn't pass, and needed repairs. the landlord told me he'd accept the first applicant that could pay first month rent and a huge deposit. the housing authority told me i'd lose my voucher if i didn't proceed with this exact unit

originally, i was supposed to be on my own. but i was shoved between a rock and a hard place with the voucher and deposit. i couldn't afford the deposit despite friends crowdfunding for me, so... i asked my boyfriend for help

he needed a place to go himself, because he broke his lease bringing me and my cats in. (i was unaware of this, and had no suspicion he'd do something that would compromise his 2 bed/bath apartment)

my doctor also prescribed caregiver after my hospitalization so it seemed mutually beneficial from a financial standpoint, even if i wasn't enthused about it

we couldn't afford movers, so over the course of march we'd been moving things by the carload ourselves. the queen bed was too big, so the night before last he informed me he was dumping it while he had help from a friend to move it. i had a bedframe and mattress from the last place i'd lived, but it had already been taken to the new place. i thought we'd agreed i'd basically move in to the new place early so i'd have somewhere to sleep

come saturday night, i messaged him that the toilet was clogged. he refused to bring a snake, and told me i was using him because i don't hug and kiss him enough. (i'm a csem victim, asexual, and autistic and don't like physical affection)

he's decided he doesn't want to proceed with the unit, and it hasn't passed the inspection, so my voucher doesn't cover it yet. i can't afford the rent out of pocket, and i'm broke because i'm disabled. we agreed he'd pay rent until the voucher kicked in, then he would be added to it as my caregiver, because he'd take me to medical appointments, ensure i get my medication on time, ensure i'd and bathe, etc.

but that ship has sailed. now i'm left in a lurch, and desperately need help. a large portion of the security and pet deposits were nonrefundable, so all the previous effort would go to waste if i can't stay

because i was recently hospitalized, i don't know how i'll survive homelessness. my cats are prescribed emotional support animals, and losing them would be devastating

these are text messages from when he refused to bring the snake and dumped me:

after this, he proceeded to continuously ignore me when i'd bring up rent, that he's on the lease, and going to the bank to pay the landlord

he never responded to the above and then proceeded to act like nothing happened

he didn't respond to any of these except agreement to let me get my cats with the help of someone from my weekly ywca meetings

he is now proceeding to STILL not respond or accept responsibility despite me explaining to him in great detail what the repercussions will be if he doesn't help pay rent. he continues to say "you"

as of august 29, i don't have enough to pay the rent on my own, but i am keeping all of these text messages to present in eviction court if it comes to that. i also intend to take my ex to small claims court

the landlord's maintenance guy also """plunged the toilet""" after leaving me without a working one for five days, and after i was informed there was a problem with the entire complex's pipes. i was not here, so i can't vet if it was true. they """plunged""" without permission, and then sent me an invoice after the fact. i also can't afford this fee, and find it predatory in nature. the maintenance company is owned by the landlord

i have reached out to legal aid to ask about the legality of the landlord handling the situation like this. i will reach out to them again if i get an eviction notice

[lair-of-platonic-yanderes]

Platonic yandere step father Diluc has so huge potential... Just imagine he and his teen! step child. Like to bring a kitten from street. Something like that. My English is bad sorr

Fluffy companion

Platonic! Yandere! Step-father! Diluc Ragnvindr x GN! Teen! Step-child! Reader

Description: You were in a bad mood. You wanted some company.

Diluc didn't like, that you had a bad mood. He tries to make up for it.

Warnings and tags: OOC. Platonic Yandere. English is my second language. Unpleasant Donna. Diluc is married (somewhat). Diluc's spouse's (Reader's biological parent) gender aren't specified. Reader's biological parent are a lousy parent. Child abandonment. Arranged marriage. Discussion of arranged marriages. Long backstory. Lumine is Traveler. Attempt at worldbuilding (arranged marriages in Mondstadt, CPS in Mondstadt). Diluc's age aren't specified. Implied blackmail, murder, robbery.

_______

Sometimes, people of Mondstadt didn't look at you. They had to make themselves to look at you. And then, they would not.

The "would not" part was almost the same in all cases. They would look above your head, at the ground, at the birds, at Barbatos's statue. Anywhere, but not at you. Someone would even ignore you talking to them, forcing you to repeat your words again and again. Well, perhaps, such people want you to yell to get their attention, so they could call you a disrespectful brat, complain to Master Diluc and get you in trouble.

But, before "would not" part, came a "look". And "looks" were different.

~~~~~~

Moco's and Hillie's looks were curious. In the worst way possible. They were looking at the source of gossip, when they looked at you.

You tried to shield away their whispers, focusing on a book.

"So... Are they a part of the Ragnvindr clan or not?"

just focus on a text

"No one knows... They weren't officially adopted..."

on a text

"Really? Well, it explains what I heard about their upbringing..."

text

"Tell me..."

please, stop talking about me

"Discuss your poorly done work, you lazy gossips!" Adelinde was livid. "Get back to work!"

A pair of maids quickly strode off, looking with fear at the Head Housemaid. She turned towards you.

Her look was full of pity.

"[Y/N], are you okay?"

You nodded. You weren't, but you don't want to discuss it right now. Adelinde didn't believe you, but decided to drop the subject.

"[Y/N], can I ask you for a small favor? Can you go to "Floral Whisper" and get decorations? They are supposed to be ready."

You immediately put your book down.

"Of course, Miss Adelinde!"

She gave you a small smile. She held a basket towards you.

"Here. For carrying them."

You took the basket and were ready to go, when Elzer called for you.

Elzer's look was full of sorrow and guilt. His gaze didn't linger, choosing to look at the owl statue.

"[Y/N], can you, please, bring that bottle to Master Diluc?" He pointed at the bottle on his table and turned around, showing, that he won't speak to you again.

You quickly put the bottle in your basket to leave the manor, heading to Mondstadt City.

~~~~~~

People from the Winery were, mostly, fine.

Citizens, on the other hand...

~~~~~~

Getting decorations would be a fine task, if Flora was there. She was kind. She looked at you.

Unfortunately, she wasn't here. But Donna was.

She was the worst. And that days she will be even worse.

"Hello. I am here to get commissioned decorations."

Your voice was loud enough to be heard. Yet Donna didn't react, choosing to look at the Quinn's stall. You waited. You repeat your words again.

"Please, can I have decorations? Are they ready?"

Donna didn't answer. But she spoke.

"Such a shame, that Windblume Festivals and Ludi Harpastum lost a lot of charm during last two years. Especially for a young maiden."

She gave you a quick side-eye. A very angry side-eye. You flinched, but repeat.

"Please... The decorations..."

Donna groaned, tear off the basket from your arms, took a box with Master Diluc's name on it, that was full of small flower decorations, and dumped the contents in the basket.

"Here. Be on your way."

You clenched the basket and walked off.

It has been going on for the last two years.

Young and unmarried were borderline hating you.

You were a constant reminder, that the Uncrowned King of Mondstadt was married.

_______

______

Mondstadt was beautiful that days. Well, it's not like Mondstadt wasn't beautiful in any other days. But, no one would disagree, that during Windblume Festival, capital city would become especially beautiful.

"Angel's Share" tavern has surprisingly a lot of free tables for a Windblume Festival.

Right now, on the first floor, Lumine spotted Nelson and Payne, both were sitting on their usual spots. She and Paimon were occupying a table on the second floor, and were the only ones up here. Lumine and Paimon were enjoying their berry juices, when Paimon noticed someone else.

"Look, Lumine, there is a kid down here!" Paimon pointed a finger at the first floor's corner. It was hard to look at it from duo's spot (and if Paimon didn't float a little bit higher, she also wouldn't spot the kid), so Lumine had to stand up.

In the far corner, there were a teen. They sat at one of the tables, looking before them. A basket full of flower decoration were standing on the table before them. They looked deep in thoughts. And very sad.

What was conserving, is that there also was a bottle of wine on the table.

Paimon float closer to the railing, taking a better look at the bar counter.

"Charles isn't here. Do you think they steal the bottle?"

Lumine and Paimon glanced at each other. They have never seen an underage drinker, and they knew, that people of Mondstadt are very careful with drinking age. But, everything can happen.

Lumine and Paimon hurry to the first floor.

They didn't notice, that two more people walked into the tavern.

"Hi! Happy Windblume Festival!" Paimon waved her hand, trying to get teen's attention. Lumine smiled.

"Happy Windblume Festival!"

They almost jumped, and turn their head towards them. A solemn look returned to their face.

"Oh... Hello. Happy Windblume Festival." teen looked uncomfortable. They chew their lip. "Do you... need something?"

Paimon float forward.

"Paimon's name is Paimon. And that's Lumine!"

Lumine waved.

"Nice to meet you." Traveler cast a sneaky glance at the bottle. It still was full. And wasn't open.

Teen nodded. They didn't say a word. Paimon continued.

We just saw you here alone. In a tavern..."

Teen slammed both hands against the table. Their voice trembled. It looked like they were on a verge of crying.

"I have the right to be here! I didn't do anything wrong!"

Lumine raised both of her hands.

"Calm down, please, we didn't mean anything bad!"

"Oh, is our Honorary Knight harassing kids?"

Lumine could hear a smirk in Kaeya's voice. Calvary Captain slowly approached them. Diluc was silently walking beside him. Kaeya ignored Lumine and Paimon, instead focusing on the teen.

"Sad, [Y/N]? Want to have a hug from your uncle to make you feel better?" Kaeya opened his arms, inviting [Y/N] for a hug.

"Uncle?! Kaeya? Master Diluc?" Paimon and Lumine asked in unison. Diluc didn't answer immediately. He walked closer to the teen and awkwardly pet them on the head. After that, he finally answered.

"I am married. [Y/N] are my child."

"What?!" Paimon squeaked. Her eyes sparkled with interest. "Master Diluc is married? Who managed to win his heart?"

Lumine looked as interested as Paimon.

Duo failed to see an uncomfortable look on Diluc's, Kaeya's and [Y/N]'s faces.

_____

Everyone in Teyvat know, that Mondstadt is a city of freedom. So, people would assume, that arranged marriages in Barbatos's land are forbidden.

People, who think like that, aren't mistaken, but, they also aren't completely right.

Marriages, that are arranged only for the sake of getting a hair, are banned. Here, parents can't sell their children into what can be called a slavery.

However, marriages, that arranged for establishing new business connections, for helping to Mondstadt, for making lives of both families better, are still legal. As long as parents discussed everything with their kids, there should be no problem with a consensual, mutually beneficial arranged marriage of Mondstadt's citizen.

On multiple occasions, Crepus spoke to Diluc about arranged marriages.

First time, he explained in the smallest details, in what situation he will consider arranging a marriage between Diluc and another person. Crepus also promised not to think about arranging a marriage, and doing it only as a last resort.

Second time, Crepus talked to Diluc and Kaeya at the same time. It happened few years after Kaeya was adopted into a clan. Crepus explained, that Diluc and Kaeya, despite both being part of Ragnvindr Clan, have different "fiancé" values. Diluc was more valuable, as future head of a clan. However, marriage with Kaeya will let someone have a higher title, without getting the hardest responsibilities of the clan members. Crepus gave a permission to hit anyone, who would discuss Diluc's and Kaeya's value as possible husbands.

The third time, Crepus discussed with Diluc reasons for agreeing to a marriage.

Of course, not for getting an heir. Diluc should find someone he loves, to have children with. And, Diluc should be careful about having kids in an arranged marriage. If one day, they decided to get a divorce, Diluc and his spouse won't deal with traumatized children.

Think twice, before agreeing to a marriage to help Dawn Winery. It would be better, if Diluc will deal with business problems with his own power.

It's a good reason to help Mondstadt by marrying a possible ally. And, as usual, it should be Diluc's decision.

Getting married to help someone is a noble cause. However, Diluc should be careful about who he helps.

Crepus Ragnvindr never insisted on Diluc getting married. He never tried to arrange a marriage for him or Kaeya. Master Crepus just wanted his sons to be happy.

Diluc didn't think about having a spouse.

Not before Crepus's death.

And, he wasn't thinking about getting married after Crepus died.

Perhaps, it was the end of Ragnvindr bloodline.

_________

Diluc was sitting beside the fireplace, deep in his thoughts, when someone, who were standing behind his chair, coughed. He looked behind him. Elzer was standing here, looking exhausted and slightly guilty. Diluc raised an eyebrow.

"Elzer? Is something wrong?"

Elzer take a deep breath, before he spoke. He was speaking slowly, carefully choosing his words.

"It's complicated... Master Diluc, let me start with this... What I say next in no way, shape or form is a request, a plea or an offer." Elzer take another breath. "An old... acquaintance of mine has some problems. Many years ago he helped me with some serious task, so I have a small debt. So, to fulfill it, I agree to pass his message." Elzer looked at Diluc again. "I am simply delivering a message."

Diluc remained quiet. Elzer was always professional and collected, when he talked to him. Seeing him in that state wasn't something Diluc expected to ever see in his life. Diluc nodded to encourage Elzer.

"I understand. Please, continue."

Elzer sighed, rubbed the bridge of his nose. He even slightly lumped forward. He looked... tired.

"Will it be strange for me to say, Master Diluc, that I was hoping that you wouldn't listen to me?" Elzer asked rhetorically. The next second, Elzer spoke again.

"My old acquaintance is from Liyue. He is from one of the smaller noble families. He is facing some serious troubles." Elzer looked into the fireplace. Diluc could swear, that, for a moment, Elzer hopped, that fire would escape the fireplace and either burned him, or his mysterious acquaintance with troubles.

"He has two children. And older one messed up. Badly." Elzer, once again, spoke slowly and carefully. Diluc decided not to interrupt him. Better gave him as much time as he needs. "Twelve years ago they disappeared. Or, perhaps, they just decided to travel. Their father refused to elaborate. It's not that important. What's important, is that Older One returned a few months ago. With a spouse and a child. New made grandfather was delighted. Until the first family dinner."

Elzer rubbed his temples. This time, Diluc decided to ask a question.

"What happened?"

Elzer answered immediately. With every world, Elzer's voice became more and more irritated.

"Older One got drunk. And confessed, that they did something to... They trick their spouse into... Dear Barbatos!" Elzer was almost growling at that point. "That idiot confessed, that twelve years ago they were sabotaging protection and contraceptives, so their child would be conceived and born. They wanted their spouse to always be with them. They used the child to chain their spouse to them." Elzer became silent. Diluc waited. Elzer voice was tired.

"Their spouse weren't happy about it. They asked for divorce. And disowned [Y/N] on a spot."

"Their own child." Diluc wasn't asking. There was no need for it. Still, Elzer nodded.

"The word about the whole situation get outside the family. And now their reputation is in shambles, they are loosing their wealth. However, there is one way to fix the situation. To marry a younger one to a good family, to someone outside Liyue. That's why they asked for help."

Elzer looked at Diluc with a guilty expression.

"Master Diluc. They asked me to deliver their proposition. Fourth of their future income, partnership with Dawn Winery, base for gathering information in other nation. In return, they ask..."

Before Elzer could finish, Diluc spoke.

"For me to marry the younger one."

Elzer nodded.

"Yes. But, as I said, I only was asked to carry a message. I never promised them an answer, or an agreement."

Diluc looked at the fire.

"I understand... Never thought, that I would get such an offer."

It was a messy situation. And none of Diluc's business. He should just reject this "offer".

However...

"The kid... How they are doing?"

Elzer shrugged.

"I can't tell for sure. "Happy" grandfather mentioned his kids and himself, but hardly spoke about [Y/N]. But, I can guess, that they aren't in a good place right now."

There was no doubt in it. Kid lost everything in one moment. And, it was unclear, if they have someone, who weren't busy and can reassure them.

Crepus did mention, that helping someone through arrange marriage was a noble cause. It would be a good deed, to help a kid. By marrying their relative.

Diluc turned his head towards Elzer.

"Can you, please, arrange a meeting? I want to talk to them."

______

Meetings went surprisingly fine and productive. Diluc counted at least five times, when his "future father-in-law" was ready to bow before him.

It was concerning, that there was hardly any interactions between him and his "future partner". But, as Diluc can see, that all family members were focusing on salvaging what remains of their family's connections. They didn't have much time for a small talk.

The contract was made.

Marriage will end, when the family establish themselves in a different nation and will be able to have a normal income, that will let them live and not survive.

Diluc can ask for divorce anytime he wants.

Cheating is punishable with divorce.

Diluc and future generations of Ragnvindr Clan will get all support family can give them.

Diluc's property and finances were secured, he shouldn't worry about losing them during divorce.

It wasn't relationship. It won't be a fairy tale romance.

It was a business relationship. That, hopefully, would help people in bad situation.

_______

There was no need for a wedding ceremony. They could just go to the Cathedral and have a small ceremony. Just two of them. No guests, no feast. Nothing.

They could just sigh a contract in Liyue. No guests, no feast. Nothing.

But Diluc felt bad. He wanted to let his future partner have at least a celebration.

And all went downhill.

Wedding started with a scandal.

He said his wow.

And they start screaming.

Accusing him of being a monster. Of taking advantage over their sorrow. Of being a virtue.

Soon, the whole family was screaming at each other.

Younger one refused to get married.

But the contract was signed.

And Liyue citizens value contracts. Heir of family should marry Diluc Ragnvindr.

That day, the wedding did happen.

Diluc and Older Sibling got married.

And Diluc became [Y/N]'s step-father.

_______

It was evening.

Diluc was checking on the vineyard. His mood was sour.

His "spouse" were an unpleasant person. They spent days pitying their previous marriage, they disrespect his workers and ignored [Y/N]. The kid were eleven, their family was destroyed, their parent disowned them and second parent didn't pay attention to them. Moreover, every time Diluc tried to talk with [Y/N], his attempt would be shut down with a "Don't you dare to parent my child, Diluc!"

And now, Diluc has loosed all chances to help [Y/N].

His "spouse" wanted to help their family in establishing a new life in a new region. So, they left in the morning, right after Diluc left for a Mondstadt city. Diluc didn't have a chance to say goodbye to [Y/N].

Vineyard was quiet and peaceful. Only sounds of wind were heard...

"ACHOO!"

Diluc froze. Which of his grapevines caught a cold?

Diluc looked down, after he heard rustling of the grass. Red eyes met with [e/c] ones.

[Y/N] were shivering. They looked tired and hungry.

"Sorry, Master Diluc... I don't know if I am allowed to stay in the Winery! I will leave if I..."

Diluc shushed them.

"We will go inside. Adelinde will prepare a warm bath for you. We will have dinner."

________

Year passed.

[Y/N] were living with Diluc. Live was more or less normal.

Diluc can't say, for sure, when exactly he started to think about [Y/N] as his own child.

Diluc didn't think twice about hosting a birthday party for them.

But, one problem remained.

[Y/N]'s biological family.

Mondstadt laws about abandoned children were simple.

Child abandonment was a crime.

However, there was also an "Exception".

If the child in question had guardians, caretakers, and their distant parents can be reached via mail, in that case, it won't be viewed as an abandonment.

Currently, only Alice's and Klee's situation was considered an "Exception".

Alice treated that arrangement seriously. She spoke to Knights, nuns, her old friends and even Diluc's staff, making sure, that her little girl won't be left unsupervised. Alice was always reachable. Jean could write a letter to her, and Alice would respond. And would return to Mondstadt, if situation calls for that.

Was it a good solution? Maybe not, but no one would dare to call her a "bad mother". She did her best to care for Klee and fulfill her responsibilities for Knights.

Diluc's and [Y/N]'s situation shouldn't be an "Exception".

Diluc has no reason to let [Y/N] stay. He could just divorce their parent, who were nowhere to be found and who refused to contact their child.

There were no reason for Diluc to keep being involved with them.

But, Diluc knew, that he was the only one, who cared about [Y/N].

Two months after [Y/N]'s twelfth birthday, Diluc filled necessary paperwork.

Now, there were two "Exceptions" in Mondstadt.

________

While Kaeya was keeping Lumine's and Paimon's attention on himself, Master Diluc leaned towards you.

"Are you okay?"

You nodded.

"Yes..."

Master Diluc pat you on a head again.

"Are you sure?"

You could lie again. Like you lied to Adeline. But Master Diluc wasn't Adelinde.

"Moco and Hillie were gossiping again. Donna was rude. Grandfather and others... still didn't write."

You missed Diluc's dark glare.

"Don't pay attention to them. They aren't worth it." Diluc saw, that his words didn't work so well, and you still were upset. He should find a way to cheer you up. But he still was busy and can't spend time with you. And you barely have any friends in Mondstadt. Adults knew about your family's behavior and were suspicious of you. They thought, that your situation was your family's ploy to get into Ragnvindr Clan. And kids tend to mimic parents' behavior, so, a lot of kids and teens ignored you. Still, Diluc didn't want you to spend the whole day in the tavern on in the manor. He took a heavy coin purse, full of Mora, from his pocket, and gave it to you.

"Hey... [Y/N]. Take it. Have some fun. Play games, eat a lot of treats. At the end of the day, we will go home together. Deal?"

A faint smile appeared on your face. You took the purse.

"Thank you, Mister Diluc."

You still have troubles with calling him "dad". Well, can't have everything at the same time.

You left the tavern. The basket and the bottle remained on the table.

_______

You were bored and lonely. You were sitting on a bench, munching on a Hash Brown.

Food was delicious, but you weren't that hungry to eat for a whole day.

Most of the games weren't interesting to play by yourself.

You wish you had some company.

Something soft rubbed against your legs. You looked down and saw a fluffy ginger kitten. You always wanted to have a kitten, but your parents didn't let you, and you still were nervous near Master Diluc to ask for a kitten.

"Hi... Are you also alone?"

The kitten meowed, rubbing against your leg. You slowly reached towards kitten. He sniffed your hand, before bumping it with his forehead.

It looks like, you get a company you wanted.

________

The workday was finally over. Master Diluc and you were on your way home. You had your kitten with you. He was hidden. 

It was wrong to sneak in an animal. But, you wanted to keep the kitten.

"[Y/N]... Are you hiding something?" Master Diluc looked unamused. You tried to give him an innocent smile.

"No, Mister Diluc. I am not hiding anything."

Diluc skeptically looked at the suspicious bungle under your shirt. 

"Really?" Diluc flatly asked, pocking the bungle. One offended "meow" later, and a ginger kitten climbed under your shirt and sat on your shoulder. You were busted.

"Master Diluc... Cookie played with me today... I thought..." You swallowed your words under Diluc's gaze.  

"Today we will give him a bath and feed him. Tomorrow we will go to Margaret and ask for advices on kitten care." simply stated Diluc.

You looked at him with wide eyes.

"You mean... You are fine with me having a pet?" 

Diluc ruffled your hair.

"Why I should be against it? You could have asked for one long ago."

 You didn't know, what got into you. But you hugged Diluc, kitten was still on your shoulder.

 "Thank you do much, dad!"

 Diluc let your words sunk in. He put his hand on the top of your head. Diluc's lips barely moved.

 "You called me... dad." 

 You froze. You tried to get from the hug.

 "It was an accident, I didn't mean..."

 Diluc's hand pressed you against his chest in an awkward hug.

 "That accident... It will make me really happy, if you start repeating them more often."

 ________

It was middle of the night.

Diluc was patrolling Mondstadt City. Right now, he was observing, how Donna got in serious trouble.

Windblume Festival tend to lure criminals. People, who were trying to get their hands on something valuable.

Quite stupid and gullible people. Who believed an anonymous note about maiden from flower shop having some rare expensive jewelry at home.

Donna will be terrified, and her house will end up completely messed up.

Darknight Hero should probably help her.

But, she was so rude to Darknight Hero's child. 

That should be a lesson to her.

Diluc will make sure, that the rest of Mondstadt won't be damaged.

He had a busy evening.

He helped [Y/N] take care of Cookie.

He had a strict talk with maids. Reminding them, that they should do their job, and not gossip about his child. And reminding them, that he has connections, money, and he knows where their families live.

He had dinner with [Y/N]. [Y/N] called him "dad" a few more times.

 Last time, Diluc was that happy, was when he got a letter on [Y/N]'s thirteenth birthday.

From his allies from underground intelligence network. 

About a successful operation to get an intel on Fatui.

Unfortunately, they arrived a little bit late. There were casualties. 

A certain noble from Mondsdat became a widower.

To keep the network safe, that casualties should be hidden from the public.

Diluc was patrolling Mondstadt City.

And his thoughts were focused on [Y/N].

On how Mondstadt view them.

He could easily put the end to all rumors.

He could make Mondstadt citizens accept [Y/N].

He didn't do it.

It’s probably for the best that no one else tries to be friendly with them. Diluc wouldn’t want to see [Y/N] break out of that shell they were forced in, after all. As long as they are like this, he will be their only source of comfort. 

Their father.

[dinodanicus]

you can skip this wall of text its just about the scam this illustration was involved in.

This fairly ordinary illustration of two hands holding was involved in a very weird and convoluted scam. Last month I was commission to illustrate this image for invitations meant to go out for a supposed wedding anniversary coming up in March. The whole commission seemed odd to me I mainly draw dinosaurs and aliens. Not many people know I also draw people but the buyer who called himself Petterson Reid was offering to pay 300 up front and 200 after the work was finished. A nice offer for what was a very simple illustration. I took the job and sent him a very rough sketch of the hands to show him what the final image might look like. He liked the sketch and told me to finish the image after he sent the first payment I went ahead and finished the image that night. I held onto the picture to see if he would really send the 300 dollars first. The buyer wanted to send a check by mail which is weird but I thought he might have been a boomer who didn't understand how to use PayPal. His emails and text seemed like something my grandmother would write very proper and overly polite. I was fairly suspicious of him and waited to see if a check would actually be delivered. To my surprise a check did arrive a week later from Petterson Reid except it was for 2,790 dollars. knowing this was far too much money I asked him if it was a mistake. He said the extra money was for a PayPal invoice to the printers involved in the invitations. He wanted me to use the extra money on the check to pay the printers on his behalf. Again very weird but I chalked it up to an old person who didn't know how to pay online. I cashed the check the next day, since it was from an out of state bank they were putting it on hold for 3 days to see if the funds would clear. I told the buyer about the three day waiting period and asked for the invoice I was suppose to be paying and he went absolutely ape shit. He claimed I was trying to steal his money and was threatening to pursue legal action I was completely shocked by the change in attitude. I had to mute my phone because he kept sending wave after wave of threatening texts. At this point I was 90% sure this was some sort of scam but when I called the bank they said there was nothing to do until the hold expired. I was confident it wouldn't then to my surprise the check cleared and the money was in my account. At this point I had the finished artwork and the money so I wanted to get this crazy asshole on his way so I wouldn't have to deal with him anymore. I told him to send the invoice for the printer and I would pay it with the money on the check then I would send the picture and our business would be done. This prick sends some half assed looking invoice with a payable link on PayPal. When I try to pay, it says payment will be held till Feb 7th. Apparently this date is too late for the printers so now that processing payment has been canceled by the printer in favor of a new payment process through Zelle. I was trying to figure out what was going on, if its a scam what is the take the entirety of the check was still in my account it didn't even say it was pending. I go to pay on Zelle and discover the 2,790 dollars has been rescinded by the bank. I call and learn this ass hair had sent a forged check to the bank in an effort to have me pay these fake invoices with my own money. He guessed the bank would deposit the check without fully vetting it for the standard 10 days since I'm a long time member. He knew he had until about five a clock that day before the bank would catch the discrepancy. He was posing as the printer in order to scam 4,740 dollars from me through both attempted payment methods. luckily for me I'm broke as hell right now and didn't have the money in my own account to cover either payment with out the check. everything has been taken care of now I just thought I better share this story since I've never seen a scam like this before. It took an entire month for him to essentially get nothing I really don't know what to think of any of this its such a weird scheme.

[cts-ryu-writing-desk]

Her Favorite Sleeping Position

This one took me way back to something I had almost forgotten about. A little bit of a past relationship that was from a more innocent time in my life. Anyways, enough about that I hope you all enjoy this!

Don't forget my Commissions are open!

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

Margo sat on the couch TV playing in the background. The volume was set rather low but not silent. Her eyes were heavy, it was late. She was already in her nightgown ready to go to bed. The twins inside her womb kept her weighed down. She was too weak to move. She sat there almost uncomfortably, constantly moving and adjusting her position and weight.

Margo was a big girl. Her rather plump shape was that of a slightly bottom-heavy hourglass. That was not to say that her bust was small, her pair of double D’s were already swollen with milk and spilling her nighty, which was supposed to be two sizes up from her last measurement of thirty-eight double D’s. She was considerably plump well before Chris put their twins inside her. Her pregnancy only seemed to augment this image of her.

Chris would often compliment her large girthy hips and waist hidden between a little big of a backfold. It was something she often looked forward to. He knew her so well. How to talk to her, how to treat her. The once confident and self-reliant Margo would turn into a cinnamon roll at Chris’s slightest touch.

The constant of her personality was her bratty stubbornness. Which was well and truly on display tonight. She was exhausted yet she refused to go to bed just yet

She didn't want to sleep without Chris. She only liked falling asleep next to his naked body being his little spoon. His left arm under her neck, his right arm patting her huge ass, their bodies pressed against each other. Feeling his cock squished against her ass cheeks. She felt like it wasn't truly a good night's sleep unless she was in that exact position down to the letter. Like she had many times before she stayed up. Forcing herself away and waiting for him.

It was getting late. The eleven o'clock news came on. She was usually asleep by this point. She looked at her phone for what felt like the thousandth time. She knew Her husband, Chris, was working late. All Margo wanted was for him to be home.

In a text from earlier that day, Chris told her he'd be home late, closer to midnight. Margo huffed, setting her phone down again. Chris had been gone all day and she craved his touch. She wanted to feel his presence next to her.

The twins were calm. She hadn't felt them playing in hours. She liked to imagine they were dreaming right now. She stared down at her pregnant belly. She had grown so much in the last few months. The stretch Chriss were obvious as they booked through the slit down the front of her nighty. She carefully put her hand on her bump. Feeling the warmth under her palm.

She closed her eyes for just a moment. Yet that moment felt like hours. She felt relief from her heavy eyelids. A gentle sigh, a deep breath in. She pictured Chris coming through the door. Margo imagined she'd shoot right up and rush over to him, groping him gently as he came through the door. She pictured Chris being happy to see her and they'd go to bed where he'd hold her closely. Keeping her pinned as his little little spoon. She'd have a big smile from ear to ear. This was what she wanted, and didn't wanna sleep without him or that wonderful feeling.

She opened her eyes. It had barely been a minute, the news was still talking about the same news story. The minutes continued to tick by.

Again Margo picked up her phone. No new messages, or notifications. She flipped through some of the photos in her camera roll. There were new photos and old pics before her pregnancy when she first started dating Chris. And some as recent as yesterday, she and Chris posing in front of her vanity mirror giving each other a sweet peck each.

It was coming, reaching eleven thirty. A light in the front window. She heard a car pull up. She perked up scooting to the edge of the couch. The lights went out and a door slammed shut. Margo got to her feet and slowly crept to the door. Familiar rustling of the front door knob, as it was flung open. Chris walked in, a tired expression on his face, his eyes lighting up when he saw her sitting there. He was remarkably thin, giving quite the contrast to Margo’s rather plump physique.

"Missy?" Chris said softly

"Welcome home sweetie She said with a drowsy slur

"What are you doing up? You should be asleep," Chris replied throwing the door shut behind him

"I couldn't," Margo said sweetly gently rubbing her eyes

"What, why not?" Chris asked

"I didn’t want to. Not without you," Margo replied

"What, no.” Chris was frustrated and between his exhaustion, his patience was rather thin “You're pregnant, the twins could be here any day. You need to get your rest."

Margo started to act bratty, "But I didn't wanna. I only want to go to sleep with you. That’s how I like it. And I’m pregnant shouldn’t I get what I want" She said to him giving her biggest puppy dog eyes.

Chris let out a frustrated sigh. Chris spun Margo around and started to nudge her in the direction of their room "Alright, come on we're going to bed,"

"Really?" She asked turning to him slightly

"Bed. Now." Chris said

But Margo saw it, his eyes said it all. She felt like he was upset with her. Chris was turning off everything, the TV, the lights, as he walked behind her towards the bedroom. She pouted as they got to the bedroom. Margo climbed in and got under the blankets. She watched as Chris stripped down. Shuffling over to his side naked. She didn’t say a word as he got right under the blanket. Chris scooted right next to her pushing his left arm under her pillow right where her neck rested.

Margo scooted back feeling his bare skin pressed against her. She could feel his flaccid dick pressing against the crack of her ass cheeks as she nuzzled against the pillow as she grabbed his hand under her pillow.

"I missed you," she murmured

Chris let out a sigh "I missed you too, sweetheart," pressing a kiss to the back of her head. "Now it's time to sleep,"

"But don't you?" Margo started

"No," Chris said with his right hand as he started to pat her ass.

He kept a steady rhythm; each pat was like a little hypnotic ticking. This was her favorite position. Being his little spoon, laying with his left arm underneath her, patting her ass, his cock between her cheeks. It is partly what led to her pregnancy in the first place.

Chris was very intimate with her likes, needs, and the shape of her body. He felt a few new stretch marks around Margo's ass. Feeling each supple ridge up and against him.

"I love you," she said with a melancholy drowsiness

"I love you too babe," he said sweetly as he kissed the back of her head again.

Margo closed her eyes and cooed sweetly as she nuzzled against her pillow. She felt relief on her eyelids again. She didn’t have to strain herself to force her eyes to stay open. Being in her favorite position, next to Chris - now she could go to sleep. Being like this, with the gentle rhythm Chris patted her plump ass acting like a metronome. Lulling her to sleep.

After just a few minutes of patting on her ass, Chris would hear Margo let out her gentle snore. She was out cold finally. Chris moved his hand up to her baby bump. The tips of his fingers rested against one of the deep grooves of her stretch Chriss. He closed his eyes, "you two better not be this picky when you get here. I don't have enough limbs for three needy babies."

Chris closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep himself.

In the morning Chris was up before Margo. He had managed to get his phone and was scrolling through it. She could feel his morning wood pressing against her cheeks. Margo arched her back against his hard cock. Chris threw down his phone. Lifted his left arm putting Margo into a little choke hold. His right hand went right to her hip, pulling her into his hip with a long rough grind. Sliding his cock up the length of her crack. Margo let out a cute little moan of want and pleasure. She liked to think that he didn’t know, But Chris knew this was why it was her favorite position. Because it could often lead right into some early morning fucking.

Chris relinquished his hold. Margo cooed again, happily remarking to him, “Morning!”

“Morning babe,” Chris planted a kiss on the side of her forehead.

Today was their day. Margo had everything she wanted right there in their bed.

[nalyra-dreaming]

What's up with long-time VC readers saying the queerness of the books were subtext and they're glad the show made it clear? I've seen it on twitter and even a couple official interviews. Is there any truth to that? I don't know the books but based on the screenshots and quotes y'all are sharing, the text seems pretty clear...

Well... the books have always been queer.

But the vampires didn't have sex. Which is something that needs to be spelled out for some people apparently.

I don't mean to be rude here. We are living in a fairly oversexed but undersatisfied world, where what we see is what we're supposed to believe in, and where "truth" is advertised to us.

Louis and Lestat have always been kissing, petting, sharing a coffin, coming together as lovers. For example.

"Have you come back to me, as lovers say?"

Gabrielle has always been shedding her woman's clothes and cut off her hair to "become" a boy.

Armand always chased Daniel around the globe, and then turned him, eventually.

Et cetera.

But their peak intimacy in the books is sharing blood, and the kill, not sex (well, that may have changed in the later books, everyone say "thank you Fareed" :), but that is a longer story^^).

And so a lot of things were seen as "subtext".

But... I never understood that (and apparently Sam didn't either^^), because how is this subtext:

"I begged Lestat to let me stay in the closet, but he laughed, astonished. ‘Don’t you know what you are?’ he asked."

or

Armand kissed him.

or

Lestat embraced his companion Louis, and they kissed on the mouth, as the mortal musicians put their arms around both of them.

or

I stopped. I put my arm around him. I held him close to me.

“I’m Lestat,” I said in a low voice. “Your Lestat. I’m the same Lestat you��ve always known, and no matter how I’m changed, I’m still that same being.”

“I know,” he said warmly.

I kissed him. I pressed my lips to his and I held this kiss for a long silent moment. And then I gave in to a silent wave of feeling, and I took him in my arms. I held him tight against me. I felt his unmistakable silken skin, his soft shining black hair. I heard the blood throbbing in him, and time dissolved, and it seemed I was in some old and secret place, some warm tropical grotto we’d once shared, ours alone in some way, with the scent of sweet olive blossoms and the whisper of moist breeze. “I love you,” I whispered.

In a low intimate voice, he answered: “My heart is yours.”

And finally (in the last books)

But not before holding Louis for a moment, and then kissing him and telling him low in French that I loved him and always had.

... I don't find it subtext tbh.

Never have. 🤷🏽‍♀️

And, btw, the "lingering kiss" Lestat gives Louis, and that I commissioned art of, that is from "The Vampire Lestat." And... that was released 1985.

[hexfloog]

2021 - 2022 - 2023 - 2024

Can you believe there's barely 10 days left to the year?? Because I can't! Time to lay my feelings bare again!!!

So I definitely slowed down quite a bit compared to 2022, but I still made enough to fill the template and, in spite of everything else, lots of life development things happened these last 365 days that I think makes 2023 one of my best years in recent memory :)

I have less to say about the art this time. The drop in quantity checks out when I stop to reflect on just how much time I spent on each one. I definitely don't have as many sketchy works to show off this time either (probably in no small part due to the fact that I've also slowed down on Detco) - and that's probably owed to having spent most of my art effort this year drawing for other people, be it commissions or fan projects, and I already know that I'm more inclined to take risks when I have just myself to please. It's not a bad thing, that's just how it is.

I suppose my one observation of this year's body of work is that the vast majority of it is quite ambitious. Real pushing-my-comfort-zone stuff, but it's more of a polished brand of risk rather than the kind you get sketching ideas on the spot. Some examples:

February - both a collab and a thing that became a fan cel intended as an autograph piece at a con

April - simultaneously a gift and a very personal piece

June - silly comic (anything humorous is automatically out of my comfort zone)

August - community project + comic page redraw that really tested my ability to find a new style to play with

September - made to become tangible merch (it did)

October - redraw of my very first digital piece

November* - character design from text description only and formal reference sheet commission (my first ever)

December* - digital watercolor + fake children's paperback cover

*active WIP, not yet complete

It's not that much (really, it's average output for me) but I will take my wins where I can get them, especially since this is pretty much the scope of my art projects this year. Didn't really have much time or energy to write, or make more models, or scan more cards, because... ya girl was too busy getting a promotion/raise, moving out, enjoying the best con experience of her life (so far), volunteering, meeting lots of new people, dating again, having general fun, eating good food, trying new things, finishing a monthly art challenge for once, playing creative romhacks, waking up to new career opportunities, etc. etc. etc! It feels like so much happened this year!!

I tend to be harsh on myself and often feel like my life is not going anywhere, but this year really made me feel like I'm finally gaining some momentum again. And like... I don't expect (or want) to live life in the fast lane or anything, but stagnating isn't good, either, and with every passing year I have to ask myself with a little more sincerity what my future looks like.

So all that said, thanks very much for sticking around and suffering me another year <333 Who knows what 2024 will bring!! But for the first time in a while, I think I am looking to it with more than just a resigned "meh" and I hope the same for anyone reading this, too.

[thessalian]

This is probably important to know about.

A summary: y'all know how SAG-AFTRA was on strike recently about a lot of things, up to and including the whole thing with voice actors being replaced by AI? Well, the strike ended, but some things didn't quite get ironed out. A lot of people were still not overly keen on the lack of protections voice actors had with regards to their voices being used by AI. So something had to be done.

Something apparently was, or is starting to be. SAG-AFTRA signed a deal with Replica, an AI tech company that deals with voiced AI, about when they can and cannot use a voice actor's voice that way. There are reportedly a lot of protections for the VAs there, though without having seen the actual text of the deal, I couldn't speak to how many loopholes are in it, but I would guess there were a lot.

Why do I guess this? Well, mostly because the minute the news broke on this, every major voice actor out there started flagging up that, despite SAG-AFTRA's claims of having spoken to "leaders in the VA industry" about this, no one had heard about it. I mean, Steve Blum hadn't heard about it, and he is a foundational pillar of the VA industry. So ... SAG-AFTRA is lying when they say that they spoke to "industry leaders", frankly. The question becomes, why?

SAG-AFTRA says, "Oh, you can opt out of letting them use your voice in future!" but ... well, first of all, an AI cannot as yet mimic a human's performance, so their reputation's going to take a hit as their voices end up doing a fairly flat and unconvincing acting job because their voices' stresses and inflections are going to be decided on by a computer that doesn't entirely get nuance. Voice acting is a freelance gig, and if your voice acting gets a bad rep in the industry, you can probably kiss further work good-bye. So what option do you have but let your AI-generated voice do more work? At least there's some money coming in at that point. Which is ugly across the board.

SAG-AFTRA says, "It's entirely opt-in!" but ... what happens when video game companies start demanding that VAs go through AI tech companies instead of casting agents and literally won't hire you unless your voice is AI-generated?

SAG-AFTRA says, "It's only the one AI tech company we have this deal with!" but ... they're talking about being in discussion with several more.

SAG-AFTRA most of all says, and here I paraphrase a bit but not that much: "AI is an innovation and we can't stop it so we're just going to stop trying and make the best of it". Which is not any kind of 'best' at all, for the reasons above.

And on top of all this, and in a similar spirit to that last comment by SAG-AFTRA, Steam has decided to actually let games with AI-generated assets be sold on their platform ... provided, Valve says, that they actually state publicly, on their Steam store page, that the game was made with AI assets and exactly what those AI assets are, so that consumers can make an informed decision. Given what garbage games Steam lets through the screening process anyway, I worry about what they won't catch.

Because I am not going to knowingly touch anything generated by AI. I'm not going to do it. I've seen online friends (mainly Facebook, honestly) who do AI generated images and go, "I know, I know, buuuuut..." And I'm like ... no. Just ... no. Do I commission art as much as I'd like to? No. Could I get all the art I wanted if I would just use an AI image generator? Yeah, with the caveat that bits of it would be weird as fuck. Am I going to do so? NO. The whole point of automation was that it was supposed to do the grunt work while humans created art, not the other way around. I refuse to support it in any fucking way. I don't care if it's "innovation". I don't care that "we can't stuff it back into Pandora's box". I hate it.

I mean, at its heart, AI is just one more way to delay the inevitable bursting of the bubble economy that late-stage capitalism and "fiduciary duty to shareholders" has created. AI means they can cut more labour costs, and make profit margins expand a little more, to keep up the fiction of perpetual growth just a little longer. Companies are going to push this to its limit, and people are going to suffer as a result. I will not support anything to do with that ... well, at least if I have any choice in the matter. The worst part of all of this is that because it is companies who pretty much run everything that are pushing this bullshit, I actually don't really have any choice in the matter most of the time.

It's one more depressing thing, finding out that AI is being parcelled into damn near everything at this point, even things we're more or less forced to use. I hate that Microsoft is just bundling AI wholesale into its next Windows updates, and why I'm holding off on Win11 for as long as possible.

[lovra974]

Chapter 1 : The hero on the screen.

Be indulgent, it's my first fic in English. I'm not sure of what I'm doing.

You are an underground Pro-Hero who need to take back the case the Commission robbed you, because it's linked to a personal case that you swore you would close.

You didn't expect to have to team up the #6 Pro-Hero Dynamight to keep the case, but at least the guy looks okay...

Bakugo didn't expect Hawks to put him up with his hero crush when he went to the top 10 meeting. Damn, it wasn't even in his plan to ever meet you. You were supposed to be a fantasm. The untouchable hero on a screen that he admired from afar. And now you are here, in his personal space talking about a case he should be focused on.

Y/N = your name

L/N = last name

Reader has a quirk, it's explained in the story. I know it works like Lemillion.

No Warning for this chapter, but maybe for others. Pinning Bakugo.

Please comments and reblog are appreciated. Happy birthday to Katsuki Bakugo! Have a nice read !

The planes roar was deafening. Y/N L/N pulled her suitcase with a sigh. She was relieved to be back in Japan, but she knew she would need some time to really relax. 

She was back from a six month mission in Europe. The Commission said it was a success, like always. They gave her her paycheck and sent her back to Japan. Y/N didn’t agree with the said success of the mission. Indeed, the children were all safe and sound. Indeed, most of the villains were arrested. However, one was still free. He was probably helped by someone. 

She thought her mission would continue with the tracking of the last members and the chief. But the Commission took back the case and sent her home. She still had a bitter taste in her mouth that wouldn’t go away. 

In the airport hall, she recognized Hitoshi. The purple hair" head hero was texting when he heard her approach. He smiled. He didn’t wear his costume, but a black puffy coat and a scarf, probably knitted by Eri. 

They hugged for a short time, familiar thanks to the years of working together. She worked for EraserHead agency for two years alongside him. She was the underground hero they favoured with international cases. 

The man asked how Europe was. What did she eat ? The weather ? It’s only when they closed the car door that he dared ask about her case. 

"That’s bullshit ! She grunted. I did everything ! The tracking, the proof checking, the rescue operation and the arrest ! I should have the right to finish the job myself.”

"You wrote everything in your rapport ?”

She nodded. Oh yes, she had the time to fill her rapport with black during the flight. She poured her heart into it. From her point of view, the flight was too short for all she had to say about the case. She will file it with their agency tomorrow. 

She worked with Shinso at EraserHead Agency. It was one of the rare agencies with only underground heroes. She was employed two years ago, after working for the Commission for two years. It was a very welcome change of pace. 

She felt better at the agency. Her job was far more rewarding than before. She was the International Underground Hero of the agency. The IUH, the representative of the agency for worldwide missions. 

Not gonna lie, the pay was good too. 

"Hey, began Hitoshi with his fingers playing on the wheel. I have friends from UA that want to do a get together party. You wanna come with me ?”

"I’m not from UA.“

"Doesn’t matter, it’s just for fun !“

She turned to him. "MindJack, you hate, partying.“

"There will be free food and alcohol !” 

She looked at her friend. He was a very laid back kind of guy. Most of the time. He doesn’t express his emotions, he’s very talented at bottling them up. But the hero was twiddling his fingers on the wheel.

"Why do you want me to come ?“

"I need emotional support.“

She laughed. "Sounds like a joke ! Hey, what's worse than one introvert who’s forced to socialise ? Two introverts forced to socialise !“

She managed to make him crack a smile. 

"Jane will be there, and I… I promise to come before knowing this.“

"Ooooh… So I’ll be the shield.“

She thought about it. Parties were not really her scene, even more if she doesn’t know the people here. She guessed it would have most of the top 40 in Japan because well… They all were from UA. But, at least she will be distracted from the stupid mission in Europe.  

She thought about Mindjack’s relationship with the said Jane. She never met her officially, only passed by when the girl came to the agency after she left the Commission. She was a Pro Hero too. And for years, Hitoshi and she kept breaking up and coming back together. Eraserhead said it was a “one way” relationship and an absolute waste of time. 

"But what do you want from me, exactly ?“

"I must not talk to her, at least not alone. You will… Guard me ? I guess. To prevent me from doing something stupid.“

"I’ll be a menacing guard dog then… I can work with that.“

The man sighs and thanked her. He felt relieved. 

"But you pay for my next visit to the hair salon, she added.”

He laughed. He knew about her weird ritual. After an overseas mission, she went to the hair salon. When he asked her why she did it, she explained it felt good to change her face. He thought it was weird at first, but it became a habit to see her metamorphose herself.  

"Alright, but what are you gonna do this time ?“

She played with a long blue braid. She was looking for shorter hair. But she had no definite idea yet.

"I’m still thinking about it.“

XXX

Bakugo didn’t like the top 10 meetings. The first time, he felt pride at being invited. But the feeling faded really quickly. 

Because those meetings were absolutely chaotic. You anticipated excellence and professionalism, you got excited kids on a school yard. It was exhausting.

Who thought it was a good idea to put the ten heroes in the country, who are closest to the ultimate dream ? Being number 1. Obviously, chaos and fights would ensue. 

You could say whatever you wanted about Endeavor, Bakugo hated him, but the guy knew how to lead these meetings. He knew how to be listened.

Which was not the case for Hawks. He became Number 1 when Enji Todoroki retired. These meetings were a bunch of disorganised explanations he could have gotten with a mail. But no, Bakugo had to come and lose two hours of his time when he had better things to do. He always left with a beating headache and ringing ears. 

He opened and closed his fists. Three heroes were arguing for a reason he didn’t really care about. Deku, who always sat next to him, observed the exchange with big eyes. His head turned each time somebody shouted. Again, he could have watched a tennis match at home…  

They had been there for ten minutes and he was already seething.Hawks tried to take back the attention, but he got cut each time. The noise was becoming hurtful for Bakugo’s ears. A strident sound rang around his eardrums. 

"SHUT THE FUCK UP !“

Everybody turned to him, surprised he manifested himself. Dynamite stayed in the back during those meetings. He only spoke when he had a question about the topic. He kept his fire when on patrols and missions. He shot down the people who tried to contact him. Hawks took advantage of the baffled silence. 

"Let’s begin, everyone ! Before we reviewed last month, the Commission asked me to share some news with you.“

He tapped on a computer. A video with the Commission’s Archive was projected on the white board.

Immediately, Dynamite looked at the top left corner. He smiled. He was satisfied when he saw the name of the hero who took the video. Hawks showed them most of the time. 

"This video was taken two days ago. They are from Switzerland.” explained the number 1. 

The Hero Phantom wore a camera on her costume. The video was edited with other videos from other heroes. 

It began during a fight inside a big warehouse with a school bus inside. Phantom was using her trademark weapon against the villain. It was a telescopic metal pool, Bakugo knew there was a knife inside one edge and some catch nets in the other. She used it to tie up her assailants.

On the video from another hero, they saw Phantom running for the bus to take the children out. Dynamite noted she had long blue hair this time. He thought it suited her better than the blond one he saw last time. 

"All the kids were saved and sent back to their home. The villains are called the Hell’s Wounded. They do child traffic for their particular quirks.“

"If everybody was saved, what’s the problem ?”

"Because not everybody was arrested.”

He clicked on a button. A man appeared on the board. He looked tall, around the thirties with grey hair and eyes globe completely black. The image was also signed Phantom.

"This is Henry Blecker, the Hell’s Wounded boss. They work all around Europe, mostly in the West. Unknown quirk. Nobody has ever managed to arrest him. But two days ago, he was in this warehouse in Switzerland.”

A new video began, shorter than the last one. Phantom followed Blecker alone. But three men cut her way and forced her to stop. Bakugo knew he would watch the full videos at home. He could access the Commission’s Archive with his hero account. His ranking in the top 10 gave him access to most of the secret archives, like the international ones or the underground ones. He would not confess even under torture that he watches Phantom videos quite often.

The first time he saw one was three years ago. It was during one of these meetings. He didn’t pay much attention to the name. Then the name came more often, during meetings, and even inside some rapports. Phantom was like a promise of truth when working with undergrounds. 

And one day he saw her in action. It was over a year ago. The Press Director from Tokyo’s Journal was held hostage by two villains. Twenties heroes were waiting in front of the journal’s building where the villains were. Phantom came and used her quirk to go inside the building without being seen. She could become like a ghost, invisible and intangible. The police kept track of her position thanks to the camera in your costume and a screen. She “possessed” one of the villains to release the director, another use of her quirk. 

Bakugo was impressed by the efficacy of her quirk. So out of curiosity, he typed her name inside the Commission’s Archives. He didn’t get disappointed. 

He watched her fight, most of the time in fast or surprised attacks. A video followed, then another one and quickly all he could find. He had sworn when the website refused him access to some. 

Admiration was born. He kept it for himself. She was only known by some top heroes and governments. Which in his eyes made her even more precious. She didn’t have a fan club like him or goodies. She didn’t do interviews, which really saddened him. Damn, he was ready to pay just to hear her talk about herself ! All he had was those videos.

"Blecker was seen in a plane for Japan yesterday, revealed Hawks with a serious face. So we think his accomplices must be here too. I’m asking you to keep your eyes open wide. When the first kid disappeared, we sent out a research group.”   

The meeting lasted more than an hour. They talked about last month's event and they could leave after. 

Bakugo didn’t stay to chat. He didn’t have to go back to his agency, All Might be blessed. He went straight to the apartment he shared with the shark head named Eijiro Kirishima. 

They have been roommates since they left UA. Bakugo directly began his own agency and his best friend joined him directly. It was practical for the two of them. They knew each other, they trusted each other and none of them had to come back to an empty apartment with himself to distract the dark thoughts. 

The negative point, for Bakugo, was the others. The first years, they lived in a little seedy apartment, barely large enough for them both. Then they began to rank higher, their agency got bigger. They made a name for themselves. They could hire more people, interns and staff. Then they bought a better apartment. This is when the said Bakusquad invited themselves more often. Too often for Bakugo’s taste. 

They had to change the couch four times since they moved in. Those stupid extras they called friends broke the three preceding ones. 

But tonight, tonight there was nobody. The calm reigned. The apartment was dark and peaceful. Kirishima must have told them Bakugo had a meeting tonight, they all knew what it meant. 

He got out of his costume and showered himself. He warmed up the cooking he had done last weekend. Kirishima was on a night patrol, he thought. He wouldn’t be there before morning. He ate while typing things on his phone. Once finished, he opened his computer and sat in his living room. 

He connected his account inside the Commission’s Archive and looked for the videos Hawks showed them. There were two. He charged the first.

Phantom was talking to two heroes in sign language. She rarely talked, barely a grunt or sometimes a swear word. The sign language was more used by underground heroes. 

Phantom possessed a guard to open the door. She was in the guard’s head, controlling his body, possessing his being. 

He was so absorbed in the video that he didn't see Kirishima coming. The blond jumped when his best friend appeared and turned on the light. The red head, still in his hero costume arched a brow. 

"What the hell are you doing here this early ? Grunted Bakugo. Didn’t you have a night patrol ?”

" I was on the evening patrol, not the night one. And you ? What were you doing alone in the dark…?”

Kirishima looked at the computer and took three steps to see the screen. Bakugo closed it before he could see anything. He shot a dark look at the redhead who was grinning. 

"Oh… what were you looking at ? Phantom ?”

Bakugo’s reaction was immediate. He felt like somebody threw ice at him. His eyes widened and the tip of his ears became red. 

“Wait… How do you know that ? Are you watching me, Shitty Hair ?”

At this, Kirishima had the decency to look a little ashamed. 

“Bakubro, your Commission’s ID is ‘dynamight’ and your password is ‘greatexplosionmurdergoddynamight’.“

Bakugo threw the couch pillows at him. Kirishima caught one to block the other. His best friend was getting enraged. 

“Come on ! It’s no biggie ! I promise I won't tell anybody about your crush…”

“I DON’T HAVE A CRUSH !!!”

“Then why are you stalking her ?”

Bakugo was out of pillows, so he took the TV remote and threw it at Kirishima. By instinct, Red Riot hardened his skin and the remote exploded.

They stopped. The living room was a mess and now they didn’t have any remote. Bakugo stayed silent. Kirishima understood with the scowl and shifting eyes to drop the conversation.

He didn’t want to cross his best bro intimacy. It was kinda an accident. He had noticed, obviously, how stupidly he was smiling when looking at his computer. He thought it was porn at first. And one day, Kirishima really needed to find their oven reference to buy the exact same thing before the blond discovered he broke it. Again. 

He had seen the website repeating itself multiple times. It was from the Commission, nothing extraordinary there. And he saw the name “Phantom”, and he thought the worst. 

Their apartment was haunted. And Bakugo didn’t tell him to not freak him out. It thought it was logic, okay ? Everything got broken way too easily in this stupid apartment. 

A few minutes only were needed to find the blond password. Kirishima needed the truth because Bakugo could be damn sure that if their apartment was haunted, they would be moving out the same night. He didn’t get it when he found videos about international cases and the same hero in each one. Then, he understood. 

He closed the computer and didn’t watch more. What he had done was absolutely not manly. He felt terrible and guilty about it. 

But it explained some things that happened over the past year. 

Like Bakugo's bizarre obsession with the sources of the report, he agreed to use his social media - which he usually delegates to his media team - likely to find Phantom. And the cherry on the cake, that he suddenly finds sign language cool, after Kirishima talked about it for months to ease the tired eardrum of his best friend.

That crush was a great thing. An excellent one! Kirishima was so glad Bakugo finally took an interest in somebody. Even though that person was related to ghosts... but Kirishima seemed to be mistaken on one point. Just because Bakugo was interested in anyone doesn't mean he accepted it.

[ashboy-3]

The Truth Will Set You Free

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

Ao3 Link:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Your not?” he was confused.

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

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

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

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

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

“I do not!” he said shocked.

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

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

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

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

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

Part 1 of Hawks and His flock

[mxstball]

[Past Dealings] Inopportune Time

Origin City, Ruined Kingdom

Nergal started to hum as she was walking. Initially, she came here to find the source of the energy burst, but arriving here was all that she needed to understand. She could sense Tor here, along with someone else that accompanied her. If that's the case, then it was a good thing that she dropped off little Lati in the first place. This was going to be interesting. Still, despite that, Nergal kept a casual pace as she approached Harmony Shrine. There was no need to rush, after all.

Meanwhile, within Harmony Shrine, Lauren was still hard at work on her application, being sure to check in on Tor and the entrance on occasion. She already backed up the logs for processing later, but she was still troubleshooting her applications; however, she was not getting as much progress as she liked. There was still an extreme amount of static, but the screen seemed to somewhat resemble a map for her Aura Tracker; however, her Aura Jammer was still completely out of commission. Lauren was starting to get extremely frustrated. "Come on, you silly Gogoat…. The one day that I really need you to work, you go offline--"

"...Need a hand with that, love?"

Lauren's heart dropped the moment she heard that statement. Initially, she turned to Tor in hopes that Tor had said something; however, Tor was still in the middle of meditation. Then, she turned to the door.

It was Nergal. Just her luck.

"N--Nergal!" Lauren quickly rose to her feet and put her phone away. "Wh--what are you doing here!?"

Nergal chuckled. "If anything, it should be me to be the one that asks you that, Lauren." Nergal glanced at the meditating Tor before looking back at Lauren. "After all, this place is my home."

Lauren moved to stand between Nergal and Tor.

Nergal laughed again. "Relax! Relax! Do you think that I came here to hurt my little Tor?"

"I don't trust you enough not to--" Lauren glared.

"...A wise decision." Nergal held out her hand and summoned an orb of flame to appear in it. "So, let's get to the main event, shall we?"

"Don't think I'm just gonna let you do whatever like I'm Heidi, Nergal." Lauren held out her own hand and an orb of feathers appeared. "I will protect Tor even if it's the last thing I d--"

RIIIING! RIIIING!

"...."

"...."

It was Nergal's phone. 

RIIIING!

"...." Nergal retracted her palm and reached for her pocket. "Hold on. I think it's your sister."

Lauren put her attack away. "... Really? Why the fuck would you at least not silence your pho--"

"SHHHHH! Shut it." Nergal grabbed her phone. "Unless you want her to know that you're here when you're not supposed to, let me take this."

Lauren kept her mouth shut and let Nergal answer the phone.

---

"Oh, hey darling~" Nergal kept it casual.

"Hey, love!" Heidi chuckled. "Sorry that I didn't text beforehand like I usually do."

"That's okay. You know that I don't mind either way. Is everything okay with your visit, sweetheart? Were you able to meet your friend, Sapphire?"

"Yeah. Everything's fine, and I was. I'm actually still at her house right now. Daiyu has really been treating these humans well, and everyone has been full of hope."

"I see."

"Uh-huh. I plan on meeting more of the townsfolk in another visit but I wanted to call and ask about something first."

"And what could that be?"

"Would it be okay if we adopt Sapphire, at least for a little while?"

"Adopt?"

"Yeah. Sapphire… she doesn't have any living family or friends to go back to. She's been really lonely and lost and I want to help her find herself again."

"So you plan to let her stay in the Hall of Origin?"

"Yeah. I'll find a way to help her be able to come and go. I know it'll be weird to let a human stay, especially since we also are letting Daiyu stay, so I wanted to ask for your permission."

Nergal laughed. "Look at you! Taking after Rayquaza~. It seems like he wasn't entirely to blame for the house full of children, after all."

"Sh--shut up!" Heidi was blushing, but it's not like Nergal could see that through the phone. "I'm not going to go on an adoption spree, Nergal!"

Now, Nergal got her flustered. "Alright! Alright! I'm just riling you up a little, Heides. No need to hide in a pillow!"

"Ugh. I hate you sometimes."

"Heh. Love you too. Anyway, I'm okay with it as long as you've thought it through. Though, be sure to call Mewtwo and ask them, too."

"I will. Anyway I'll get going now. I love you~"

"I love you too."

Heidi and Nergal hung up.

---

Nergal turned back to Lauren and Tor as she put her phone away. "Well, it appears that little Lati has a human sister. This will be interesting. Anyway, where were we-- oh!" Nergal swiftly ducked out of the way of an incoming Mist Ball.

Lauren started to prepare another attack. "If you're just gonna be lovey-dovey with my sister, get the fuck out! I have another sister to protect."

"Oh, look at you! Trying to defend yet another sister in vain, hm?"

Nergal used Dragon Pulse!

!!!!

Lauren used Protect! Lauren was protected from the attack!

"You don't belong here, Lauren, even if you're just here to watch over little Tor over there. Despite my little opener, I was planning to give you the chance to leave this place in dignity, but it's clear that you have a little... unfinished business with me, don't you? Fufufu~" She then glanced at Tor before back at Lauren. "Although, you wouldn't want a stray attack hitting little old Tor, would you?"

"Huh?" Lauren quickly turned back to Tor, who was still meditating. She then looked back at Nergal, who started to slowly back up smugly while gesturing to Lauren to come with her outside. She groaned and charged up another Mist Ball before rushing outside. She'll make sure this isn't just a trap, however.

[skorchinq]

Bows Only: WE'RE SO BACK!!!!!!!

[Image IDs in alt text]

Ok so apparently the last time I updated was in August? And it's April now... um. Sorry about that? I didn't realize it's been so long TTOTT there hasn't been much to talk about honestly

Actually uhhh scratch that. I didn't update in so long ON PURPOSE. Totally. The reason I didn't was because I didn't want to update again until the curse of Jean was broken. And guess what finally happened B)

But before we get to that, let's start where we left off with our last post... way back in August of 2023...

As we waited with bated breath for the release of Version 4.0, I did manage to get a few more notable acomplishments. Namely...

Childe friendship level 10!

And clearing floor 9 with all 9 stars! (I still cannot do this consistently on this account as I type this btw ._.)

When 4.0 finally dropped, I fist went to wish on Yelan's banner. Things were off to a great start:

We got another stringless! I already had two built up, so I used this one as refinement for one of them.

And then... the shooting star lit up gold, and... well, you know how that went.

Try as I may, and Try as I might, Yelan would not come home. And, in this account's most humiliating L to date...

The banner cycle ended with no Yelan and no Lyney.

Still, I could not afford to simply give up. I still worked hard throughout September, earning primogems and building my characters...

I got this really satisfying set of Daily Commissions once

So like. That kinda makes up for not having Yelan. sure

Also! I decided to test Childe's limits!

Look at that damage. All Tartagles babyyyyyyy

And uhhh the date on that one is in September and the date on this next one is in January so. I suppose nothing of interest happened in those months. Makes sense honestly, I had enough to gurantee a 5 star on here so I wasn't quite as desperate for primos and therefore wasn't logging on much... Plus with all the new content that comes with a major version update I was spending more time than usual on my main, leaving less time for this account. But anyway!

In the second half of 4.3 came two very important banners, one for each of my accounts:

On my main, My Raiden went from C1 to C2!

And, here on Bows Only, that 50/50 gurantee from the Yelan disaster finally came in use:

After dodging us countless times... in 2.8... in 3.2... in 3.7... Finally... FINALLY!!! We've obtained the most elusive fireworks maker!

Our quest to max ascend all our characters also continues:

And uhhh here's some event scores:

I also did Klee's story quest, and something they mentioned at the end really stuck out to me:

...They talk a lot about Ludi Harpastum in this quest, but we still haven't gotten to see that festival in game... Not once...

And it was soon after this that... my computer broke .-. I downloaded genshin on my phone while I waited for the repairs on it to be complete, but mobile genshin fricking sucks so I was only logging onto my main account to do limited time events and that's IT. I wasn't even doing my dailies on there and I was barely even touching Bows Only at all...

And it was only supposed to be a couple of weeks, but things kept getting delayed (They ordered the part they needed. they were sent the wrong one. they sent it back. they got the right part but it was broken. they sent it back. they got the wrong part again--) and my computer was gone for like two months TTOTT So I was stuck on mobile for the entirety of 4.4 and the better part of 4.5...

But eventually my dear puter came back to me (and I deleted genshin off my phone immediately) and I was able to consistently play on both accounts once more! It's a good thing, too, because coming up in 4.6 was a Lyney rerun...

I decided to do the Ararycan quest on this account because there's a follow-up to it I still haven't done on my main and I wanted to replay the first as a refresher. And uh

How do I still keep forgetting this is my name. Genshin characters talking about David Bowie still throws me through a loop.

We garnered up primogems upon primogems... by the time the 4.6 update day came around, I had 94 fates at hand. But I also had 0 pity, and no 50/50 gurantee...

I knew what was coming. I knew exactly what to expect. When that shooting star turned to gold, it would be C5 Jean coming to greet me. But even so, I had plenty of savings, and 3 weeks to get even more. As long as I was a little lucky with how many fates it took for each 5 star, getting Lyney afterwards wasn't out of the realm of possibility.

At the 5th 10 pull, it turned gold. "Good," I thought. "That's early. I could get back up to soft pity before the banner ends."

And then, on 52 pity, the impossible happened...

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

BOWS ONLY HAS OFFICIALLY WON OUR FIRST EVER 50/50!!!!!!!

Ever since this account first came to be, nearly 2 years ago now, we've lost ever single 50/50, and to the same character no less. But finally, after L after L, right when I least expected it, we've finally taken the W. And it's all thanks to this wonderful, amazing, magical catboy. Thank you, Lyney. I love you

I... did not prefarm for him like at all but that's okay, I had over 100 fragile resin saved up. I fought that crab countless times, and in only a day:

It's what he deserves <3

He's not the only one who got to be ascended that day, either. After him, there was only one character left who was still on ascension 5, but not for much longer:

Now that all of our characters are max ascended, we have three main goals for this account:

Continue to build our characters in other ways. This includes ascending and/or replacing weapons, leveling up talents, and of course, the artifact grind... and also I might level the characters up to 90. We'll see. Pretty sure I have the books for it tbh

Gather primogems. Because of how early we got Lyney, we've got a good head start on our savings for the next 5 star bow to release or rerun (though the only character we still need to rerun is Yelan). But it's always better to be safe than sorry. Just because the curse of Jean has been lifted doesn't mean we can't still lose 50/50s (though if we lost a 50/50 to Tighnari I'd be quite amenable to that). And finally...

Advance the main story. Cyno's Act II story quest is being added this version, so I'd like to replay Act I on this account first before playing the new one on my main. In order to do that though, I first must complete Act IV of the Sumeru Archon Quest-- and I haven't even done the Chasm Archon quest on here... Still, I think it's about time we did the Sumeru Archon quest. Actually, assuming there's another Traveler Archon Quest coming before Natlan, which there ought to be, I should play Caribert on this account too. So, that will be our goal. We play up to Caribert, and then give archon quests a rest for another while.

With those goals in mind, I think this series may be seeing more frequent updates for a while... maybe. Don't @ me if that ends up being wrong.

As always, feel free to send a friend request if you're on Europe server:

And if you're on America server, here's my main:

[silentexplosive-diary]

2/13

So the last time I posted was the 4th, and honestly, so much has happened and also absolutely nothing has happened at the same time. I haven't had time to come here and rant about it, but I've been sitting on this in my brain for a few days now.

Today is Tuesday, the day before Valentine's Day. My partner and I got into a little fight on Saturday, our first fight actually. We're fine now, but I'm just going to summarize it for context.

So my partner was fired from their job a few weeks ago and spent a week looking for jobs and applying before they got hired. Turns out, they're now working as a solicitor and making commission instead of salary, so it's not a very stable job. I thought from the start that it was shady, but I did my best to be supportive and just keep my negative views to myself, as I always do in any given situation. My partner throughout the week would give me updates on how their day went, and someday last week, they had the cops called on them twice and a gun pulled out on them. They're fine, but was a little shaken up due to having PTSD from being in the military.

That was kind of the last straw for me with this job. Then came Saturday night, when they're supposed to come over to my place and spend the night so we can spend Sunday together when we're both off. I usually cook us dinner and we just hang out and spend time together.

They warned me beforehand that they were going to be late, but gave me no specific time. I texted around 5, they said they were still going to be late. I texted again around 7:30, they're still out there knocking on doors. By this point, I've talked to my mom who I live with about what I should do and if I even wanted them over anymore, and I've texted my best friend about it to try and sort out my feelings about this. I end up texting my partner that maybe they should just go home since it's so late and my dinner plans were ruined at this point (since dinner was going to take over an hour to make), and after two more hours, my partner texts me that they're just up the street.

They make it to my house around 10pm, and they can see that I'm clearly not happy. After getting them inside and locking back up, I start to talk to them and explain why I'm not happy, the main reason being that it's dangerous to be out and knocking on stranger's doors to sell shit at fucking night. I then said I wanted them to look at other jobs since this one was shady, and I pointed out details about why they're shady that I won't disclose here, and my partner heard me out, and apologized, which honestly shocked me.

This brings me to the thoughts I've been having for the past few days since we made up and are good now.

They listened to me. They apologized, more than once. And I mean an actual apology, not just a half-assed sorry. They promised to do better so I wouldn't worry or be stressed out, and I felt that they meant it. I'm not used to that.

It's no secret that I was in an abusive relationship about a year or so before my current one. My ex was a cheater and a liar all around, and I was too blinded by what I thought was love to see it. They used me to cheat and I just saw it as affection, then they cheated on me and I didn't find out until we were over. They would lose their temper and blame me, depsite taking it out on me, and their "apologies" were always manipulative as fuck. Always "I'm just a horrible person and you deserve better," or "I don't know what you want from me, everyone expects things of me."

So to now have a partner that actually listens and wants to do better? It's crazy to realize it. I was standing there in front of them, listening to them apologize properly and tell me how they were going to do better for me because they want a life with me, and I was immediately back to telling myself that it was a lie, because all previous apologies I was used to were lies. I had to convince myself to trust my current partner and remind myself that they are not my ex. These are two very different people.

So, yeah. That's what's been circling my head the past few days. Might tell my partner about it when they're back this afternoon. Who knows.

[aspenforest732]

Mortem ad Wrens Chapter 3: Pouches of... Jelly

Summary:

tw: drugs, gang life, crime, drinking/intoxication mention, homelessness, ed behaviors Boss: what do you have? Akira: A knife! Boss: NO

Notes:

Sorry! Just realized I didn't actually post this chapter ‘text‘ is JSL Text is thoughts

Recovery Girl kept Akira in her office until the end of the school day to monitor their concussion and help raise their body mass with an IV and gummy bears. Overall, new Lichtenburg patterns to trace for a couple of days and bruised ribs weren’t the worst injuries to come away with after what happened.

As the school day wrapped up, Koda shyly entered the office and signed something to Recover Girl as she approached. She shrugged and gestured to Akira, who sat up a bit more.

'Sorry I didn't interpret for you,' Koda signed shyly. 'I froze, and I know it hurts to not have a voice.'

Akira blinked in surprise at the apology and reassured, 'I can understand that, especially to All Might. I'm going to request an interpreter for his class, but the teachers are supposed to be fluent. At least that's what the information booklet said.'

Recovery Girl sighed, "He is supposed to be, dearie, but the Commission fast-tracked his employment here. All Might is working on a few of the qualifications that are standard. I'm having dinner with my kids and grandkids tonight, would you like to join us? I can give you a ride there and back to your house if you let your guardians know."

Akira slipped a small smile on their face as they shook their head. 'My family's celebrating my first day tonight. Thank you, though.'

Aizawa, looking as cheery as usual, was waiting for them outside Recovery Girl’s office with their backpack. ‘Did you want to speak with me or are you waiting on Recovery Girl?’ they asked.

Aizawa stared at them a long moment before sighing. ‘Next time you need more food, whichever teacher is present will write you a note. Otherwise, I expect you to communicate with the faculty whether you feel the need to or not. If you pull this again, you will be expelled from the Hero Course.’

Akira nodded stiffly and gave a shallow bow before snatching their backpack and hurrying with their cane towards the locker room for their duffle bag. Their pack weighed a little more than it had this morning, but as they hefted it, the extra weight was light enough to probably be from lunch. Akira caught the last bus and train leaving for the warehouse district, grateful that their U.A. ID let them ride the train for free. Very few people were on the train this late, mostly blue-collar workers and people who had little elsewhere to be. While they checked their phones and evening newspapers, Akira pulled out their math homework.

Eventually, Akira got off on the second to last stop with Arata, the local drunk, and made sure he was headed in the right direction before heading towards Blue Fang territory. At least there, they didn’t have to worry about being beaten up for sleeping in the wrong warehouse or unintentionally running into troublemakers.

At this point, all the regulars knew Mortis, the one who’s getting out. A few of the other unhoused kids teased them about trying to become a hero as Mortis headed to the back of the bar. Slamming the door open, jammed as it had been for years, Mortis rapidly signed, ‘Hey Boss! Got any work for tonight? Could use the extra cash if you have more deliveries.’

The chair facing Boss turned around as she grinned, “Perfect timing, Mortis, we do need someone to run a parcel – same drop and pay as usual. This is Dabi, he/him pronouns.”

A heavily burn-scarred man with medical staples and familiar blue eyes raised an eyebrow as they appraised Mortis. “You want me to trust this kid to run a deal this large? They don't look a day over ten,” Dabi’s icy voice drawled.

Mortis silently laughed, knowing how the sight unnerved some. ‘I’m the fastest they’ve got! And lie detection quirks either don’t work on me or require a lot of finesse since I can't talk. I may be lean, but I won’t snap as easily as a bone if that’s what you’re worried about.’

After interpreting, Boss turned to Dabi with a cocked eyebrow. “Well? Do we have a deal then?”

“Fine. I still don’t like involving kids, though.”

‘Good thing I’m not a kid then,’ Mortis signed off-handedly. ‘I haven’t been for a long time.’

As Dabi stood, Mortis almost saw a flicker of emotion other than anger in his eyes before brushing it off. Behind him was, admittedly, a large duffel bag that they looked between and Boss. ‘You know that’s suspicious as hell, right? Unless you have a cover story built in, I’m gonna be made immediately for that,’ they signed with a pointed look.

“You’re almost college age, right kid?”

‘You know I’m 15 and look like I’m 12 on a good day.’ Mortis caught the uniform tossed at them, eyeing the logo with disdain. ‘Did you at least get the right size this time? The Detective’s quirk might not work on me, but I don’t exactly enjoy spending time with him. Especially now that Eraser is my homeroom teacher.’

Boss just smirked at that. “And what, I suppose you made a bad enough first impression that he’d remember you?”

…

“No, seriously kid?” Boss cackled and Dabi, still in the doorway, looked bemused. “What the hell did you do?”

‘It’s not my fault he decided to open with an intensive quirk assessment! Hell, it was worse than the entrance exam, and you know how long I spent recovering from that. And then, because of course it did, afternoon class also took quirk use.’

Pausing to look at Dabi, Mortis continued, ‘Tell Wildfire that he should invest in some contacts if he doesn’t want people to know who he is.’

Dabi stilled, staring at Mortis’s slightly smug face with fury before chuckling darkly. “You’ve got balls, kid, I’ll give you that.”

‘I like him. Do you think we’ll keep him around?’

Boss just tossed the carry bags at Mortis as they ran off to change. The fit was right this time, fortunately, or they’d be tagged as a homeless kid, which was arguably more awkward for them to explain than why a junior high schooler was walking around in their sibling’s clothes.

Settling into their usual college student routine, Mortis stuffed their hands in low-rise pockets and stumbled with all the exhaustion of an evening-class college student complete with designer eye bags, mousey hair, and a slump that would make Disney proud. Instead of slightly swaying from chronic pain, they were swaying from what they drank at a party. The grey contact lenses and cuff bracelets distinguished Harry Newman the American foreign exchange student from Akira Mori the U.A. student from Mortis a drug runner for the Blue Fang from… well, they hadn’t thought about her in months. Why dredge that back up again?

Just as it seemed they were in the clear to make the drop, a figure on a roof caught their eye. Even as they felt the slight reprieve from their quirk being suppressed, Harry seemed confused, step hitching a moment. They looked around, very pointedly not up, and after a moment of no action from the figure, he continued on to the run-down apartment building, easily slipping his battered keys into the rusty lock.

Mortis was well acquainted with the small, dirty flat on the second floor and swept for bugs under the guise of noting what areas were damaged. Mortis frowned at the lack of devices, wondering if they’d gotten lucky or the police had gotten smarter and used a quirk. They shrugged and mixed up their drop locations just in case while making ramen. If the police were going to search the apartment, might as well leave them something for their trouble.

Mortis’s burner pinged with their “all clear” code. They sighed, acting as though a friend was dragging them out to socialize, and stopped by the landlord’s office on the way out. It was closed, of course, but gave them the opportunity to double-check the street before slipping away. Eraser continued to tail them for a few minutes into the more crowded nightlife area but dropped off soon after.

A few smaller runs to alleys and the rest of their lunch later, Akira carefully lowered themselves onto their blanket pile to continue homework. What the hell? Akira startled as their textbooks were covered in jelly pouches of various flavors. Fortunately, none of them had burst, but as Akira fished out a note, they sighed.

“To replace what you needed for this morning. Inform me when you need more. Aizawa”

Akira shook their head as they assessed their new food stash, setting one to the side to avoid weight loss tonight and putting the rest in the front compartment of their backpack to avoid ruining their textbooks.

With the bigger drop tonight, I should have enough for this week’s protein drinks and powdered milk. Since Recovery Girl gave me a Standard size cream, I shouldn’t need to buy more this month, but I should avoid Kaminari and Bakugo to be on the safe side. Akira huffed, as if any part of their situation was safe. After homework, they removed their contacts and set them in an old case, adding only a dash of contact solution.

Notes:

I went to Otakon this weekend!! Met BrownBakugo and Ricco Fajardo, Mirio's voice actor. Ricco officially can't comment but does approve of Sun and Moon (MiriTama) ship :D

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

[dean-winchester-is-a-warrior]

Walk Away From Me

Any Fandom Kink Squares Filled:

Angry Sex & Forget Me Too - MGK & Halsey

Lines from the song will be bolded in the text.

Pairing: Dean x fem!reader

Word Count: 4214

Summary: It's been almost three months since Y/N has seen Dean. She hasn't been able to forget their night together, has he?

Warnings: Smut. Angry Sex. Dean being an asshole (for a reason). Some dirty talk. A touch of Dom!Dean. P in V. Fingering. Oral (fem receiving) Mostly porn, with a heaping dollop of angst and fluff if you squint.

A/N: This fic fills two of my AFK Bingo squares. It is inspired by the gif below that @deanwithscissors sent me in an as as a celebration of my reaching 100 followers. (It was supposed to be a drabble. It is decidedly not a drabble. 😁) The section of the fic that is directly describing the gif is in italics. Hope you enjoy it, hon! And I hope everyone else enjoys it too! 💓

Rating: 18+ Explicit. Read the warnings!

Created for @anyfandomkinkbingo

"Well, I didn't ask for your fucking help!" Dean yelled as he burst into the motel room, the cheap wooden door shaking as it banged into the wall.

Y/N stormed in behind him and slammed it back into its frame. "Oh, I'm so sorry. The next time I'll just let the vamp rip your head off. I didn't realize saving your life was gonna be a problem for you."

Dean threw his bag of weapons on to his bed and grabbed a beer from the warm six pack sitting on the table. He plunked himself on to the chair and downed the can, scowling at Y/N as he finished.

Y/N was still breathing hard, standing in the middle of the room. She was sick to death of this attitude from him.

She'd been teaming up with the Winchesters for about six years now. Whenever a job got to be too much for her on her own, she'd call them. And whenever they needed an expert in supernatural weaponry they'd call her. Sometimes she worked with both Winchesters, sometimes it was just Sam. And sometimes, like with this job, it was just Dean.

She'd called them up for help when the nest of three vampires she was tracking turned into a nest of seven. She was hoping Sam would come or would at least come along. But no, he was out of commission with a broken leg, a gift from a particularly pissed off demon.

So Dean had come on his own. She'd almost told him not to bother when she found out Sam was unavailable. But she knew she couldn't take on a nest that size on her own, and there was no one better at chopping up vamps than Dean Winchester. So, she'd sucked up her pride and attempted to be friendly.

Which was more than she could say for Dean. He'd been surly and bitchy since he got there late last night. They shared a room, because who had extra money to throw around? But all evening yesterday and all day today, he'd barely said two words to her. Everything was grunts and sharp, one-word answers.

It was amazing to her that he had the gall to act this way. She'd expected some tension, of course. After their slightly inebriated hookup on the last job they'd worked together, there was bound to be awkwardness. But where did he get his attitude from? Who was it that had slipped from the bed and out the door before the sun was even up? Certainly not her.

Nope, she was the one who had been quietly in love with Dean Winchester since the moment she'd walked into Jody's living room and seen him sitting on her couch.

She knew who he was of course, she'd heard all the stories, and she knew Jody was friends with the Winchester boys, but she had still been shocked to see him, just sitting there like he wasn't the legendary hunter who'd saved the world a handful of times.

He had been sprawled on the couch, actually, leaning on his side, with his feet up on the arm of the couch. That is, until Jody smacked his foot, and told him to make room for Y/N.

She introduced them properly and Dean looked up at her and smiled. Y/N could practically feel her heart leap out of her chest and into the palm of his hand.

But she knew his other reputation too, she knew he got around, knew he had a girl in every town, and the last thing she wanted to be was conquest number three hundred and two. So, she rolled her eyes when he flirted with her, dismissing him with smile and pretending it didn't make her heart flutter in her chest every time he winked at her. He still flirted with her from time to time, but it was like breathing to him, and she never put any stock in it.

Which was why their hookup had been such a surprise. It was after their last job together in Topeka. They'd taken care of the demon who was setting up shop and making deals in town, exorcising him and saving the college kid he had been possessing. So, they'd gone out to celebrate a job well done. They were a little drunk, but not drunk enough to really blame the alcohol for what followed.

It had just been one of those things where something in the atmosphere between them crackled and before she knew it she was kissing Dean Winchester.

And in the morning he was gone, leaving nothing behind. She hadn't heard from him since.

Now here he was, sitting at the table, staring at her, pissed and brooding. He ran his right hand absentmindedly across his mouth, fingers trailing back and forth against his pillowy lips and suddenly frustration wasn't the only heated emotion Y/N was feeling.

Unwanted flashes came into her mind of their night together. She may have been tipsy enough to let it happen, but she was also sober enough to recall every second of it.

And she remembered that mouth. The feel of his lips against her skin, like heated silk. Her stomach flipped and her core clenched.

Fuck! I've got to get a grip. Y/N thought, angrily spinning away from the vision of him rubbing his calloused fingers along his full, soft bottom lip.

"Look." Y/N said as she faced the motel window. She could see a half-formed image of Dean reflected in the glass. "I'm just gonna come right out and deal with this bullshit head on. I'm assuming you're being an asshole because of what happened between us last time."

She shook her head and lowered it, as memories flooded her mind. His strong, capable hands running across every inch of her body, his fingers lightly skimming across her skin, before he delved them deep into her body. The vision made her squeezed her thighs together.

She pushed it away and seized onto the memory of the anger, hurt and slight humiliation she felt the next morning when she rolled over to find the bed beside her cold, and Dean long gone.

She used the memory to put steel into her voice when she turned back to him and spoke. "But I don't get why you're being an asshole to me! You're the jerk who didn't even say goodbye. It wasn't even a 'Wham! Bam! Thank you, Ma'am' because you didn't stick around for the thank you."

She laughed without humor. "You left before I woke up! I mean, I wasn't expecting you to propose, but I thought you'd at least make it to the morning."

Dean dropped his hand away from his face and shifted so he was no longer looking at her. She knew him well enough to recognize the guilt he tried to hide in his expression.

But she didn't want his guilt. She hadn't expected anything to come of the night they'd spent together. She may have wished it, but she didn't expect it. She had just thought she meant more to him than that. However, it turned out she really was just conquest number three hundred and two.

When Dean remained silent, Y/N threw up her arms in frustration. "So, what do you have to say for yourself? Why are you being such an ass and why did you get so mad that I pulled that vamp off you?"

Dean stood up and began pacing around the small room. He reminded Y/N of a lion and the sight of his strong, powerful body moving back and forth across the carpet like something caged, made her swallow hard. She was suddenly desperate to feel all that weight and muscle burying her in the mattress.

He finally stopping his pacing, and crossed his arms across his chest, head facing down.

At his continued silence, Y/N reached her breaking point. "Dean!" she shouted, anger bubbling over. "For fuck's sake! What is your problem?"

For a moment there was no response, but then he raised his head, looking right at her. His green eyes were hard, the look in them penetrating and frightening as he stared at her; into her. His voice was low and quiet, menacing almost, and even though she trusted him completely, it still caused a shiver of fear to run up her spine.

"I don't have a problem. You're the one with the problem. I don't know what you think happened here. But we fucked, we slept, I had shit to do so I left. Sorry I didn't leave you a thank you note."

Y/N reeled back as though he'd slapped her. Awkwardness and attitude were one thing, but Dean was not cruel. She'd never heard him talk like that. Even around beers when he'd talk about one night stands of the past, it was always with a smile and fondness.

His face was closed off, completely devoid of expression. But his jaw was clenched and his muscles were tense. And suddenly, like some kind of lightning bolt from the sky, Y/N was struck with the answer.

His pissed off attitude, his shortness with her, this unexpected cruelty, he was pushing her away. He was putting up walls of anger and trying to make her hate him. And there was only one reason he would do that.

To keep her safe.

In the years she'd known the Winchesters she'd learned a lot about Dean and knew how his mind worked. She knew he took on the guilt of the world; every wrong thing was somehow on him. It drove her crazy and broke her heart at the same time. She knew when he felt something very strongly, he shut down. He'd put on a mask of nonchalance or bravado. Or, he'd do what he was doing now, let himself feel the only emotion he was ever comfortable with - anger - and use it to drive everyone away.

She also knew he thought he was cursed, bad luck, a death omen he'd once called himself, jokingly, except not. She knew deep down he really felt that way.

So, his pushing her away, being deliberately cruel, it was his way of trying to get her to leave, to walk away and save herself from him. As usual his low opinion of himself and his determination to believe he was nothing but poison made her want to scream and cry, strangle him and wrap him up in her arms all at the same time. But she wasn't going to do any of those things.

She was going to call him out.

She walked closer and she could see his biceps tighten where they were folded across his chest. "You love me." she said matter-of-factly, her voice even and calm.

He looked like she'd kicked him in the gut. His voice was a hoarse whisper. "What?"

"You love me. That's what this big show is all about. That's why you got so mad about the vamp. You think you're going to get me hurt or killed. So you're pushing me away."

His expression showed his fear of discovery for just a second and then he pretended derision, but it was too late. She'd seen the fear, she knew he was lying. "Wow, Y/N, you've got some kind of ego on you. I basically tell you I have no interest in you, essentially tell you to fuck off, and from that you get 'I love you'? Just wow! "

He rubbed his hand across the back of his neck and moved away from her. He took a deep breath and turned back to face her from across the room. The deep breath gave him away and Y/N knew he was gearing up to say something awful. She wasn't wrong.

"I mean, really it's pretty pathetic. How long did you go without getting any for you to believe the first guy who reams you is your fucking soulmate. Jesus! I'm a hell of a lot closer to hating you right now than loving you."

The words were awful, there was no doubt. But they were contradicted by the small waver in his voice when he said the word hating, and the tiny flash of hurt she'd seen in his beautiful emerald eyes before his mask of incredulity fell back in place.

She was not going to back down. Dean was stubborn and pigheaded and absolutely determined to believe he contaminated the people he cared about. She needed to make him see he was wrong.

If she could do that, maybe there would be the possibility of a future together.

She walked toward him again. He took a step back before he seemed to realize he was retreating and he stopped and stood his ground, scowl in place as she reached him. She looped her arms around his neck.

"You tell me you hate me? Yeah, I bet. Prove it. Want me to forget about you, move on, stop being 'pathetic'? Okay, forget me, too."

Y/N pulled herself up onto her tiptoes to reach his mouth. "Forget my lips." she kissed him, featherlight.

"Forget my touch." She ran her hand down his torso before cupping her palm around the bulge forming in his jeans. She felt his cock twitch and his body shudder. He could lie with his words all he wanted, but his body was truthful.

"Forget my softness." She took his big hand in both of hers and placed it on her breast. His hand seemed to squeeze her of its own volition, a ragged groan falling out of his mouth without his permission.

"You can't forget me Dean. Just like I can't forget you. And I'll die before I let you leave this room without admitting that to me."

The silence was only broken by their shallow breaths. Then the absolute stillness of their bodies was shattered as Dean grabbed Y/N by her upper arms and smashed her into the wall beside them.

His face was a sneer. "You're wrong, sweetheart. You're grabbing my dick and putting my hand on your tits. How do you expect me to react? I never said I didn't think you were fuckable."

He punctuated his angry words by ravaging Y/N's mouth. He invaded the wet recesses, his tongue stabbing and licking, his teeth scraping and biting.

He pulled back long enough to rip open her flannel button-up, before using the weight of his body to ram her back into the wall and pin her there. He was angry, Y/N had no doubt, angry that she'd figured him out, angry that he couldn't hide himself away from her well enough. Angry, and determined to make her want to walk away.

But that wasn't going to happen. Angry or not his hard body was pressed tightly to hers, his mouth was moving from her lips down her neck, hot breath painting her skin. She reached for his belt buckle desperate to get him inside her, but he wrapped his hands around her wrists and slammed them against the wall on either side of her head.

"Don't move." He ordered in a harsh growl and Y/N felt a shudder of pure lust pulse through her at his command. He let go of her wrists. She didn't move them.

He wrenched her bra down, letting her breasts fill his hands before putting his mouth around her right nipple and drawing deeply. A shockwave of heat ran straight from her breast to the core of her and she clenched almost painfully around nothing. He moved slowly down her body, mouth open, his teeth and tongue licking, nipping, and biting as he went.

He sank to his knees and unbuttoned her jeans, yanking them and her panties off. When she was exposed to him completely he cupped his palm over her mound and slid a finger into her folds.

He found her entrance and roughly shoved two thick fingers, knuckle deep into her opening. Y/N let out a cry of surprise and harsh desire as she felt herself clench around his digits, her body thrilled to have at least a piece of him inside her.

He added a third finger and pumped them in and out of her body, his thumb circling her clit. She reached out and ran her fingers through his hair, gently scratching his scalp as she did. She saw him shudder.

Then he suddenly pulled his hand out of her with an indecent squelching sound and grabbed hold of her wrists again. He held them tight to the wall, level with her hips.

"I said don't move." His voice was deep and dark and Y/N shook with her need for him. "I'm going to fuck you. This is sex and heat, animal instinct and nothing more. I WILL prove it to you."

Her wrists hurt where his fingers wrapped around them, bruising her she was sure. But in the next moment his mouth was on her cunt, wide tongue swiping through her dripping folds and the pain was forgotten.

She screamed as he wrapped his lips around the bundle of nerves at the center of her and sucked hard. She gasped when she felt his hard tongue push into her.

He fucked her with his mouth until she was a shuddering mess. He threw her leg over his shoulder as he pushed his fingers back into her, moving his tongue to swirl around her clit.

Dean's anger was still being given free reign. His touch was not gentle, his fingers ramming into her, stretching her wide. He was determined to prove their connection was only physical, to make everything between them hot and desperate, but empty and detached to prove that the last time meant nothing.

Just as she was reaching her peak, moments away from falling over the edge, he pulled away from her and she almost started crying, she wanted him so badly.

But then she saw him unbuckle his belt and unzip his jeans, lowering them just enough to pull his hard cock out. He wrapped his hand around it, pumping it twice, before he dug his blunt nails into Y/N's fleshy hips and lifted her, impaling her in one swift, hard stroke.

"Dean! God, yes, please!" Y/N called out incoherently, wrapping her legs around him and holding tight to his biceps for balance.

She expected him to keep going, to ram into her until she was seeing stars, but when he was fully buried in her, he stilled. His left arm was wrapped around her waist while his right hand was splayed against the wall beside her head, bracing himself.

His face was buried in the crook of her neck. She expected to feel his teeth scraping and biting her skin, but she didn't. He didn't move. Then shockingly she felt something warm and wet falling against the side of her neck and she realized it was tears.

She felt his body tremble slightly and she grabbed his face with both hands, trusting Dean's strength to hold her in place against the wall. She pulled his head up to look at him. His eyes were shut tight, but sure enough a few tears had worked their way from beneath his long spiky lashes.

His face was twisted, and full of pain, his voice cracking as he spoke. "Why, Y/N? Why are you like this with me? Why do you pull me in, hold on to me so tight? Why do you let me..?" He broke off.

She was confused by his questions and her voice was soft when she spoke. "Dean?"

He just shook his head. He pulled out and slammed back into her, wrenching a deep moan from her.

"Dean." She said again, her voice unsure but thick with desire.

"Shh..." Dean pressed his finger to her lips and pulled her away from the wall walking with her to the bed. He lowered her slowly to the mattress, pulling back to quickly strip off his clothes.

Y/N watched his muscles ripple under his skin as moved over her on the bed. She ran her hands over his smooth, lightly freckled skin. He warmed her all over as he pressed into her again, this time slowly, smoothly. She drew a shuddering breath as he lowered his mouth to her breast, flicking his tongue against her nipple, puckering it even tighter.

He slipped one hand between their bodies, finding her little bundle of nerves, his forefinger, circling and pressing on the hard nub with delicious precision.

He moved slowly above her, his hips rolling rhythmically, his cock finding and hitting the incredibly sensitive spot inside her every time.

With one final, deep thrust she came apart, calling out his name again and again. In the midst of her climax she heard Dean groan and felt his warmth coat her insides. He collapsed on top of her and she was happily crushed into the mattress as she'd wanted to be.

He stayed inside her, his hips still resting between her legs. She curled them around his upper thighs wanting to keep him there.

As their breathing steadied, Y/N ran her hands up and down his back. Eventually he rested his head on her breast and allowed her gentle ministrations for a few minutes before he pulled away, rolling on to his back.

Y/N propped herself up on her elbow and reached out to run her hand across his broad chest. Dean covered her hand with his, halting the caress.

"Y/N." His voice was rough and deep, even deeper than usual. But quiet too, and so very, very sad. "Y/N, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry for leaving before you woke up. I'm sorry for tonight. I'm just..." he trailed off and then ran a weary hand across his face.

He was quiet for a minute and Y/N was tempted to speak, but instinct told her to wait, to give him some time to work out what he wanted to say.

"Y/N, I'm sorry I love you." A tear slipped out of the corner of his eye, and although the sight made Y/N's own eyes well up, she couldn't help the feeling of joy that zinged through her heart at his words.

He closed his eyes and continued. "I've tried so hard to stop, but I just can't. I needed you to go, I need you to go. I need you to be the one to walk away, because I'm just not strong enough to do it."

He opened his eyes then and rolled over, pushing her onto her back beneath him again.

He ran his palm across her cheek, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Please, Y/N." he begged. "Walk away from me." His expression was heartbreaking and if he had been asking her to do anything else but walk out of his life, she couldn't have resisted the plea.

But she just shook her head gently. "No, Dean. Because I'm not sorry. I'm not sorry I love you. I'm not sorry for the last time we were together and I'm not sorry for this time either. Both times we made love..." she said, emphasizing the gentle euphemism as a contrast to his hot as hell, but harsh words earlier. "...were amazing and perfect. I won't just go away and we know you can't push me away, so I guess we're going to have to figure out a way to be together."

Dean closed his eyes and dropped his forehead to hers. "I'm gonna...they're gonna take you from me, Y/N."

"Who?" she asked, cupping his face and looking into his forest green eyes, so dark and troubled. "Who's going to take me from you?"

He shook his head and lifted a broad shoulder in a shrug. "I don't know. Monsters. Demons. Angels. God. Whoever has the most to gain by hurting me in any given moment. They've take away everyone I've ever loved."

Y/N pushed his head down gently to lay against her breast again. "Not Sam."

A small shiver passed through him. "Oh, they've taken him too. He's just too stubborn to stay dead."

She ran her fingers through his hair, slowly, soothingly. "What about Jody, or Donna, or Claire and Alex. You care about them, love them, and they're still here."

"Don't say that out loud." Dean admonished. He sighed deeply. "Y/N, I'm poison. Even if a monster doesn't come to tear you from me, I'm broken; dark and damaged and I'll stain you." He paused for a heartbeat. "You're this bright, beautiful thing Y/N, and I don't want to ruin you."

Y/N shoved against his shoulder so he'd raise his head and look at her. When he did, she was frowning. "Dean Winchester." Her voice was scolding and accusatory. "How dare you think I'm so weak that loving you could ruin me? How dare you think that way about yourself? I will tell you today and everyday for the rest of your life, you are a hero."

Dean rolled his eyes and tried to pull away, but she used her hunter training to flip him onto his back beneath her. She straddled him, resting her palms on his chest.

"You are my knight in shining armor, Dean Winchester." Dean looked even more incredulous at these words, but she caught a hint of laughter in his gaze as well.

She shrugged. "Well, okay. You're my warrior in worn jeans and a flannel shirt." Y/N leaned down and pressed her lips to his before speaking softly against his mouth. "And I love you so much."

A reluctant smile spread slowly across Dean's face. "I'll believe you for today, but I'll need you to tell me again tomorrow."

"Deal."

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