#this whole thing is so one piece coded i swear

[beanghostprincess]

I see Zolu everywhere

[chaotictoasterstrudel]

LU headcanon

Wild is a sneaky klepto.

Like he won't take things from the rest of the chain, he has a kind of code or something, but when the chain reaches towns/villages and anything like that, Wild leaves with 10x more then he came with.

And the rest of the chain doesn't really notice. Like they question some stuff but don't put the dots together.

"how is it that Wild breaks so many weapons but seems to always have something to fight with?" Four, Sky, and Warriors question "he must have a lot of weapons on him"

"how does he make so much food when we only see him buy a few things and scavenge a little bit?" Wonder Legend, and Hyrule? "Must have a lot saved up from before we met him."

"how did he get those boots that I swear I saw on that guy over at the tavern?" Thinks Time "must have bought them off him."

Twilight is starting to piece things together but at the same time is like saying to himself "no he wouldn't do that"

The only one who kind of knows is Wind for obvious reasons but he doesn't say anything, because he ain't no snitch.

It's not until way later in the adventure that everyone starts to notice that Wild has some pretty sticky fingers and starts to think about things that happened that would only make sense if Wild was a kleptomaniac.

1. Guards asking people if they know anything about their missing weapons.

2. Ladles, Axe's, and other stuff being there one moment and gone the next.

3. Food stuff being left out with no one watching it disappearing mysteriously.

And a whole bunch of other stuff.

Once all the pieces fell together they had to confront Wild about his stealing problem.

Now whenever they go to towns/villages they have to keep wild on a rope or someone (not Wind ever) has to watch him like a toddler.

[mikareo]

“ ࣭⸰ ★ GARDEN SONG . . . ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ブルーロック ; itoshi rin x fem reader (6.8k)

⊹ ⠀⠀ rin's never been in love. he's never had the right to fall in love. so when sae is betrothed to a foreign princess, he doesn't bat an eye. you're just like every other girl who's attempted to marry his half-brother; yet, for some odd reason, he can't seem to shake you off. his heart aches thinking of you, despite how heated you make his head. he hates you. no. he loves you. no. rin doesn't know what he feels.

contains; royalty au, e2l, sfw, bastard prince!rin, princess!reader, reader is betrothed to sae, slowburn, rin calls reader names (like lowkey sexist sometimes), lots and lots of worldbuilding (bear with me please), forbidden love, swearing?, some sexual innuendos, kind of like...medieval dialogue??, tw rin literally calls reader a breeding ground like..., reader is very princess kaguya coded, some princess kaguya references near the end author's note; literally dropping this out of nowhere sorry lol :3 i think this is my best piece of writing i've like ever produced so pls give it a chance n enjoy it! i rewrote the whole thing today in present tense,, so there might be tense errors

⋆⋆⋆⠀ ⠀this part of the fic is about 2 1/2 years old ⋆⋆⋆⠀ ⠀originally a keiji akaashi fic,, lmk any name errors ⋆⋆⋆⠀ ⠀extremely descriptive worldbuilding writing,, (heads up) if it's not ur thing then u likely won't enjoy reading this ⋆⋆⋆⠀ ⠀will have a second part titled swan song in the future!

It’s humorous to Rin— the perception that titles and notability have complete control over one’s life, obligations, and status. The pure and blind belief that every problem or issue can be solved with a man on the throne; a man whose birthright has always stated that that is where he belongs. Where he’ll rule and live out his days, utterly unhappy and self-sacrificing all for the benefit of people, his people, that he doesn’t even know. Strangers. Where he’ll wear a weighted crown encrusted in sapphires and jade, bound to strands of hair that’ll be ripped out if he dare defy his solemn promise to protect his kingdom. The crown must always be worn with pride and honor— the two things in the unspoken king’s code that every man of status is expected to follow— two simple things that seem impossible in Rin’s eyes. 

Yes, he’s been raised according to the precept of manners and fulfillment of duties, but there’s something of the way his own father seems so distant and disconnected from the world around him— from the connections and relationships that he should be closer with— that makes the idea of being emperor completely disheartening. It’s completely and utterly horrid to Rin when he compares a life of golden chains to his dreams of travel and adventure. 

It’s for the best that he’s nothing but a bastard child, then.

Prince Rin of the Itoshi family is nothing if not a black sheep. He’s a man who gentlemen aren’t envious of and whom women never lust for. He’s simply a royal with no drive, no meaning to motives or dreams, and no purpose to carry him onwards. Fortune and prosperity have never and will never be the necessary materials for his happy ending— but freedom and individualism, two contrasting colors amidst blocks of the same shade, speak his language. For in his situation, there’s no point in slaving away his natural qualities in hopes of gaining an ounce of respect from his parents. 

The second born bastard child is but a shadow of a man when he stands behind the true heir—his half brother, Sae. The golden child, the pure-bred son of the true royal bloodline coming from their shared father’s genes. Sae, the future Emperor of Japan. 

An emperor who’s bound to be married off to an unsuspecting princess who’s just recently come of age, and live happily ever after with their countless children. It sounds positively dreadful, doesn’t it? A life that’s been bestowed upon all of the men that have come before Sae— a life void of real love and connection, one that pleasures the theory of bountiful rulings in retrospect to genuine happiness. A life that Rin has never wanted for himself, and has been lucky enough to avoid. 

But as his brother stands opposite to him, with his head held high as he’s about to meet his betrothed for the very first time, Rin feels pity.

It’s a sorrowful sight for Sae and the predicament that he’s been cornered into, but Rin knows his brother does not want his comfort. Their broken bond has been laced with new threads of sadness after years and years of competition— yet, everyone still deserves a choice in their future, in their loved ones, and that choice is being taken away from the crowned prince with every second ticking by. 

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

The time is now. 

As the courtroom doors burst open, gold and silver accents vanish from sight. Five guests gracefully enter the palace— that of two guards, a handmaiden, a king, and the most important arrival…you. You, the princess of the neighboring royal family from the South. The royal family that will be merging with Rin’s father’s in a legal binding between you and Sae— the infamous royal wedding of the century. 

“What an honor it is.” Emperor Itoshi greets your father with a firm stare.

The two men analyze one another, squaring out in a power strike before stepping forwards for a decisive handshake. As their palms clap together, Rin can see that this king is much different than his father— seemingly gentle, showcasing a non-plastic smile that’s true and bright whilst his daughter stands behind him— and Emperor Itoshi smiles back. “It’s truly spectacular to finally meet you; well, you and the princess, of course.” 

At his words, your father grins and extends his arm out to you, encouraging you to step away from your trusted handmaiden and towards your future father-in-law— the man who’s retiring his lifelong title in a mere two months for the sake of passage that’s occurred for centuries. A sacred passage between fathers and sons, full blooded fathers and sons. 

“Your majesty,” you bow your head.

As you curtsy in respect, your skirt drapes to the floor— the gown’s extravagance dusting the marble tiles, shimmering beneath the dense candlelight, and reflecting off the mirror and shined surfaces scattered across the ballroom. Despite the perception of beauty and grace that his father and brother seem to share for you, Rin peaks through the cracks of your facade. He can tell this regal persona you’re displaying is nothing but an act. Your stoic expression speaks all he needs to know, that everything about you is princess protocol and lacking personality, and proper folk have never been his usual cup of tea.

While he’s been ordered to entertain ladies of the court and women in the social ring for years-on-years, there wasn’t one occurrence where he actually obeyed his father’s demands— rather string along every maiden sent his way and bid them farewell after a night or two of endless, droning conversation; that and perhaps a few turns in and out of his bed chambers, which is a fact that is infamous among the palace staff. Rin disregards them, though. Tuning others out is his speciality. He uses it in daily conversation, diplomatic meetings, as well as other important matters such as the one happening now, right in front of him. Just a few feet away. 

This is pointless. 

Why is he being forced to be here? 

It’s not like you're his bride.

Rin doesn’t even bother to tune into the presumptuous meeting of you and Sae. They don’t involve him in any way nor does he care for either of you. Typically, most others don’t give him the time of day, so who’s to say that they deserve it from him? The only thing he owes to others is his mere existence as the kingdom’s greatest mistake— all to remind the ton that there is a good and gracious prince, and they should be grateful that he is to be their ruler and not Rin. 

Rin, whose birthright is to stand still and respond to his father’s wishes with no choice other than to agree.

So, as the decadence concludes with the bowing of heads and nods of approval dispersing amongst royals and servants, Rin thinks nothing of the way you and Sae stand beside one another in light conversation.

It’s desperate. The sight of you attempting to find a sliver of mutual interest or some sort of connection that binds the two of you other than royalty, makes him look in disdain. He’s grateful that he won’t be the one spending the rest of his already grey life with you, ruling the kingdom.

You aren’t really his type.

“Rin!” Sae’s voice rings through the courtroom, his eyebrows raise in expectancy as he ushers his half-brother towards his bride-to-be, wanting to introduce the two that’re going to be living in close proximity for the weeks to come. “Do come close, I’d like you to meet my bride. Perhaps you’ll find something in common and make a friend for once, for this girl can’t be another one of your whores.”

Typical Sae.

Whether the dig was intentional or unintentional, Rin grimaces at his brother’s words—pursing his lips into a tight smile and closing his eyes in an attempt to disguise his disdain with faint exhaustion.

“Apologies, my brother. I’m afraid I’m rather tired and would prefer to return to my quarters.” Rin nods towards the two of you in respect. “Do enjoy her company, yourself. I’m sure the two of you will be sharing personal physical matters in the near future— best to be comfortable.”

With a quick turn of his heel, he carries on, making his way towards the exit of the throne room, to his grand living quarters— quarters that are fit for a bastard prince such as himself. However, his rancid suggestions aren’t left unanswered, instead contemplated by you as he hears your light voice speak to his brother. Rin hates first impressions. Not because he gets anxious or worried about being disliked; but because he already knows whoever he’s speaking to already knows his history. They know the truth of his bloodline, and they’re never afraid to step on his already small ego. You’re no different. 

“So the rumors are true then?” 

You speak aloud in a low tone, deciding the best words to use, and phrasing your statements in the most respectful manner you can muster— not wanting to offend Sae in any way, shape, or form while you address his little brother. 

“Your brother is not the royal he’s made out to be?” As your voice trails off, regret immediately overcomes you as the subject of conversation stops dead in his tracks.

A scoff escapes his lips, head tilting to the left as your remark settles beneath his skin— hitting that special little spot that enrages every buried emotion, feeling, and reaction in his heart. 

Rin spins on his heel with a manic look on his face as he analyzes the regret hidden in your weary posture; which is in great contrast to the confidence and poise you’d displayed a mere seconds before— poise that appears to be only a facade, a mystery that he’d gladly uncover if he actually cared just an ounce about your wellbeing. Taking long strides towards you, ignoring the words of concern from his half-brother, he stops to a halt at your feet— giving you nowhere to avert your eyes, gaze being forced to rest on his anger and distaste only. The rage bubbling in the pit of his stomach is like an over-boiling copper pot, scorching water taunting the brink of the lid, causing it to fly off and wreak havoc elsewhere.

“Tell me, princess.” He ponders mockingly, finding great humor in how tense he was able to make you with three simple words. 

“What is it that you make me out to be?”

There’s a shit-eating grin at the tip of his tongue, a taunting aura to his spite. Perhaps there’s a part of him that hopes your response will be genuine, positive to the darkness that’s held to his head on a daily basis— but no matter. He already knows what your misconceptions contain. He knows that you’d already filed him away in the troublesome cabinet at the back of your brain. It’s almost like he’s looking at an average cavern girl with great beauty. You’d be nothing without the small tiara on your head, that’s clear after determining the lack of assertiveness you assume. 

…but perhaps, for once, Rin is wrong.

Not a single response emits from your mouth, the silent stare down between glaring eyes being intimidating enough; there’s absolutely no way you were going to anger the bastard prince any further. Yes, he’s considered to be nothing but a brute, but there’s something in his sparks of blue that makes you believe otherwise. 

This man is an underestimated enigma, and you sure as hell aren’t going to be one of those common fools who blindly thinks otherwise.

“Your brother tells me you are a good man.” you speak enunciating each word to ensure that it gives its intended effect, that being of a derogative nature masked with falsified kindness and fortitude. “He says that your people adore you, that you are one in the same. Grounded. Of level head.” Bullshit. 

Sae would never say those things.

The people would never say those things.

Rin scoffs, listening to the meaningless and unoriginal acclamations being brought to his attention, tired of having to hear them day after day by not only his fellow royals, but staff and peasants— and every other person who’s ever been fortunate enough to cross paths with the royal family, always being disappointed that he is the one to be met.

As he steps closer, wanting to see just an ounce of fear in your eyes, a frown is brought to his beautiful features. What?

In no way are you intimidated by his presence. There’s no shudder, no wince, no flinching whilst his steps grow closer and closer to your position. Just a blank stare of nothingness at his furrowed brows. You aren’t reacting like the other princesses that’ve come to attempt to wed Sae; all princesses who have come and gone due to Rin’s dark intimidation. You have spirit, a fire that’s not willing to be doused by his ocean of hatred.

“Are these your words?” he interrogates.

One of his hands reaches out to brush a stray strand of hair behind your right ear, noticing the tomato red of your cheeks. Smirking, he thinks to himself how dismantled you likely are beneath your stoney stance. “Or are these all of the things my brother has told you? Do you have any thoughts of your own, princess?”

“No need to answer that. I already know what you think of me.” Continuing on, deaf to the attempted precautions from Sae, he leans in— his lips just ghosting over yours, and whispers his final remarks. 

“You’re an open book, beautiful— and I can’t say that I'd ever want to read you.”

So, as Prince Itoshi Rin’s steps recede, the distance between you two grows with every second; and you feel a bright, red, rage bubbling deep within your heart. It’s a hot and heavy anger simmering within your soul for the sly man with dark hair— knowing full well that he will be one of the many, if not the biggest, challenge you’ll face in your newfound kingdom.

And never before, have you felt more ready to take on a challenge.

Annoyance is the most prominent emotion Rin has felt in the past two weeks. 

Utter disdain at the sight of you and Sae conversing through the courtyard, picking flowers in the rose garden, and taking romantic boat rides in the nearby lake. It’s one thing to fall in love, feel your heart begin to swell at the physical presence of that one special person— but it’s another to have to witness first-hand with no relation to the budding romance at all. Having no need to be involved in the newfound relationship, yet still being forced to interact as a third party member. It’s absolute madness.

He’s somewhat happy for Sae, he truly is. There’s a sense of pride in his soul at the sight of his half-brother stepping up to the position that he’s been in preparation for for all of his life— but with that promotion comes you.

With the rise of power comes your completely lethargic presence. 

Oh how he cannot stand you.

You’re just insufferable. You’re unapologetically and unequivocally insufferable to his mind. The mere sound of your voice sends him into a downward spiral. The mere thought of your existence ruins his day with ease. The slightest mention of your life-lasting role in the kingdom he’d grown up in ignites the most powerful feeling of disgust he’s ever known. The weight of his conscience burns with every snarky remark, dig, and insult that flies from your throat; your trained grace never falling scarce in melody, although your words could be considered crude by any proper lady. Words that allow you to terrorize his brain in the midst of night, keeping him awake whilst the moon becomes one with the sun.

He fully believes that you were created to be the bane of his existence…the hell to his heaven…the demon behind all corners in the everlasting game that he has the misfortune of living. 

“You’re looking a little grey today, Rin.”

Oh no…

“Perhaps it’d be wise to freshen up a bit!”

Please, just shut up.

“I’m sure the servants won’t mind spending a few hours by your side in an attempt to make you look handsome!”

He hates that damn sound.

There it is. The dreadful sound of your sing-song voice ringing through the hallowed halls, emptying the painfulness of your personality in the wake of the morning dew— as for some god awful reason, you always insist on being the first person to the dining hall, wanting to mark each new day with a classic and large Japanese breakfast.

“As I’ve said many-a-times before, princess.” His head swivels to face you, eyes rolling at the skip in your step. “You are to refer to me as Prince Rin, it is what I prefer.”

“Is it your honored title or is it what you personally enjoy?” you challenge, looking over your shoulder with a mocking pout, having the knowledge that he has certainly come to despise you in the short time you’ve known one another. “Greatest apologies, my liege; but it wouldn’t be proper of me, a woman, to call you, a man, a name that isn’t of great decadence.”

“Surely you can see where my true intentions lie?”

A pained grin comes to shine on his features, shooing away the rain clouds and allowing sparse rays of phony sunshine to shower you. His teeth bite his bottom lip as he struggles to keep his curses imprisoned between his heart and his tongue. You had to have been born of a despicable nature. In no world that is right, in no paradise would anyone deserve the punishment of having to know you— as Rin believes all tyrants belong with the street rats. Not to insinuate you’re a tyrant, but to express that you’re equivalent to a sickly rodent. 

“I’m not a fool, you know.” he spits, striding towards your retreating figure and grabbing you by the forearm and stopping you in your tracks. Rin smirks as his touch forces you to become overwhelmed in shock. “I see you, princess. I see through your poise and ladylike mannerisms. I can see what a lonesome and sorrowful shadow you’ll inevitably become. No wonder you’re going to be nothing but an objectified woman, an accessory to Sae’s power— a dull little doll of a woman who perhaps had moxie in her past— yet still became a lifeless puppet beneath a bejeweled tiara, stuck with the hands of judgment up her arse.”

You’re a fool to go toe-to-toe with him, of all people. 

Rin doesn’t think he’s ever seen such fire behind your eyes. Fire that burns hot, raging with seething anger and humiliation. If the world were to be supernatural, there’s no doubt in his mind that you’d have set it aflame in response to his vile predictions; the castle crumbling in ash with you standing alone in its wake atop his lifeless corpse that’s burnt to a crisp.

“You are entirely incorrect, never have I shown servitude for the sake of reputation—”

“Really?” his snarling voice interrupts you, refusing to let you get a single word in amidst his long-winded attack. “Then what is it that you’re doing right now, at this very moment. No princess with a functioning brain would ever find herself working with kitchen servants to prepare breakfast for two royal families. She’d simply order them to do it on their own. Every single thing you do is in order to gain likability from those who shouldn’t ever matter. If you had a backbone of any sort, you’d understand that— and you’d understand that titles are of nothing. They’re of no relation to any true purpose or meaning.”

“Then what are you?” you retaliate, ending the lengthy trail of hurtful words and confessions spewing from his mouth. “What are you but a sorry excuse of a prince…of a son?”

“You say titles are rubbish, yet you continue to wear that horrendous crown atop your hair. You choose to take it off of your placid vanity and wear it with honor; although you aren’t much of an honorable man, are you? If you were, then perhaps you’d have a grain of respect from your people. Perhaps you would spend your days in the throne room, being in the advisory alongside your brother— your splendid and valiant brother who has done nothing but serve for the greater good— instead of dallying away with mundane and useless tasks that no one cares to notice! As why would anyone bat an eye at a mistake, when they could be focused on someone like Sae. Someone of the sun’s decadence?”

The face opposite to yours is almost unrecognizable; with his red skin, flared nostrils, and dead-set eyes, Rin looks as if he’s just murdered a man out of spite and grief. He looks as if he’s just induced a homicide and is preparing to start anew, find another victim…that victim undoubtedly being you. 

He tips his head downwards, breath grazing against your upper hairline whilst his dark crown shifts in his hair— nearly falling off the front of his forehead, the large arches seem ominous and unwelcoming along with the deadly ocean depths of his eyes. The usual gem-like blues holding a more dangerous tone than a tsunami. 

Rin knows he’s frightening…

…and he’s enjoying it.

“You speak on things you know nothing of.” Rin fakes a straight toothed smile; his outside appearance looking completely opposite to the growing pit at the bottom of his stomach. If the peasant’s freak show has come to the kingdom, he’ll be the opening act—a fraudulent performer behind a mask of stoney emotions. “I have freedom and opportunity. If I so wanted, I could order a horse to be prepared, ride through those gates, and never look back. There is nothing holding me here— not my father, my brother, or the people. When will you realize how little your beliefs matter to me.” 

He’s boiling with rage, as are you whilst his words ring truer than you’d like to admit; each one hitting the most insecure corners of your heart. “Your meaningless and unimportant opinions in relation to my kingdom— when in reality, you’re simply another black plague that’s washed upon its shores. Another person who’s crawled out of the local sewers and weaseled their way into the generous hands of the royal family. It’s just so unfortunate...”

“...that in the end, you’re nothing but a breeding ground for my brother.”

On instinct, without a coherent thought in your mind, you feel your arm swing out— open palm flying through the air, only to land against the dark prince’s swelling cheeks— leaving not only a bright, red mark, but also an expression of identical shock on both of your faces.

Taking a step back, he reaches upwards to cup the bruise only to realize that you’ve done far more damage than a measly purple wound. You’ve managed to produce a cut, one that seeps through his scarlet blossoms and runs from the corner of his eye to the bottom of his chin; displaying the path of your anger whilst your ring-studded hand has directed itself across his face. 

Raindrops of ruby pour from the injury as you stare in horror at your blood splattered engagement ring.

The shimmering diamond turns dark as the tide of rouge rolls in, encasing the notion of property beneath your outspoken and unintentional hatred for Rin; and before you’re given a chance to respond, a second to apologize, the man has already stalked off towards his living quarters— not wanting to see the look of expected satisfaction on your face at the sight of his uncontrollable winces. You don’t deserve to smug as he rests in pain— despite how you are, in truth, regretful of what you’ve done.

Though, not that he’ll ever come to that conclusion.

As why would you, someone in the same likable ranks as a weathered gargoyle have any intent of remorse. Why would you, a woman who would soon have all the power in the world to hold over his head, care about a lasting scratch; no matter how deep. 

You’re a tyrant, and oh-how he loathes a tyrant.

A garden of statues would perhaps have more purpose than Rin in his current predicament— standing between his father and half-brother, listening in on the up-and-coming preparations for the royal wedding; whilst even the breaths he takes are ignored, lost in a sea of ignorance and invisibility. Emperor Itoshi gleams with pride, his mindset focused on the change of power— the crown on his head that will soon be worn by his eldest son, the one of pure royal blood. Yet, with the happiness in his heart, his smile only reaches so far; never shedding light on the tundra that consumes his bastard child. 

“Rin!” The man hollers beside him as he grasps Sae’s shoulder in a love-bound strength; his god-given touch of a father being miles-on-miles away from the fragile prince who needs it most. “Look at the life your brother’s going to make for himself! Witnessing him amidst the coronation will be splendid—”

“Remind me again, father.” Rin interrupts, not wanting to hear a minute more of the relentless doting. It’s night and day, a never ending string of praise and compliments, all for the great, Sae. “Where is it that I am to be for the duration of these wondrous festivities? I don’t believe I’ve heard spoken word of that as of yet.”

A wave of ignorance acts upon itself through his father’s careless hand, dismissing the trivial concerns of his youngest son; his heart only having enough room for one soul other than himself. “I suppose you’ll stand with the castle staff, it’s likely we have a limited space at the head of the church due to the size of our friends' traveling blood.”

The castle staff?

He’s to stand with lowly servants?

Rin doesn’t know why he feels so shocked, after all, he should’ve been expecting to be cast aside with those of low status. While his title associates himself with the royal lineage, he’ll never truly be accepted into the upper class— that divide has always been inflicted upon him by his own father. 

“So, I am not to be in our primary aisle? I am not to have a sliver of sight at Sae’s crowning?”

There’s a hint of spite in his tone, a spite that was usually hidden from the eardrums of others, revealing itself to the people who’d known it was lurking for decades. While Sae simply disconnects himself from the conversation, a privilege that he’s lucky to have, refusing to meet his younger brother’s eyes— their father pushes further. He’s well aware of the growing insecurities his bastard child has, but he also knows how to obliterate the subject in its entirety.

“You aren’t pure.” His voice is stoney and directed at Rin whilst gesturing to Sae, as he shakes his head at his least favorite son. “I can’t possibly have you, a boy I conceived with a gutter whore, stand at the equal sides of neighboring royalty. It would be seen as disgraceful.”

This isn’t the first time Rin’s heard these words.

“You are a disgrace.”

His father tells him these things often.

“All you are is a physical representation of my shame, boy. You’ve already embraced the darkness—it’s about time you allow the shadows to consume you whole.”

That doesn’t lessen the pain, though.

With that, Kyohei turns away and grasps Sae’s arm, leading him towards their higher chambers; ones that Rin has never been honored to walk upon. There are no glances, no solemn, not a single look back by his father to perhaps ensure that his son is somewhat okay or devastatingly upset— though, neither one is true. The only emotion racing through the thick blood in his veins is emptiness. Just the familiar feeling of being worth absolutely nothing in the eyes of the man who should see him as the world. From the beloved emperor that cares for nameless peasants and civil servants, his father is seen as just and valiant— his true nature of disdain and cruelty only being known by his immediate family.

So as he walks alone, with no council weighing down on his heart, no angel on his shoulder, and no devil in the ranks— Rin is blind to the world around him. He chooses to maintain blindness in relation to any matter that seems regal and of importance. Since, after all, who is he to state a claim on that significance…

…when he, himself, has no significance at all?

His feet move on autopilot, like a white pawn at the match’s first mark. As if there’s a knife at his throat, forcing him to play down the chessboard— across the bi-colored tiles and towards the blackened queen. Him being a simple sacrifice; one of many to ensure a victory, no matter the underlying consequences. No matter the fact of how he’ll never hear the final calling, the call of wind inducing the fallen king and victorious player— as he’ll be far too acquainted with death to rise back from the shattered stone. A small sense of relief overcomes him as he steps into the courtyard. His soul is satisfied and alleviated at the location his muscle memory has taken him. While the twilight moon is nearing, his mind is awake; fully conscious and stormy of his own self-doubt and insecurities. Two things that can typically only be dissolved by his favorite location on the castle grounds.

The secluded lake amidst the willow trees. It shimmers and glistens beneath the draping branches, and acts as a hub of life and growth. His secret spot is possibly the most beautiful feature in the kingdom, at least Rin feels so; with its evening flowers and low-light critters, the soft grass and blossoming lily pads, and the perfect view of Andromeda— it’s his safe haven.

A safe haven that he prefers to keep to himself. 

A place that no other person has stepped foot in for as long as he’d known of its existence.

A place that has just now been infiltrated by the disguised cockroach that is you.

“You torment me day and night within the walls of my own home; yet you still find it necessary to follow me as if you’re a lost duckling during ungodly hours.” he deadpans, shaking his head at the sight of your furrowed brows and taking a seat at the bay. Rin sighs deeply as his calloused skin comes in contact with the grassy fibers. “A proper princess would be in her chambers by the time midnight struck. It’s nearly 12:30, princess.”

Why are you looking at him like that?

The strange look on your face is laced with some sort of emotion that he’s never seen before. It's buried beneath the layers of organic makeup and skin. He can only assume it’s something similar to discomfort, and despite your intentional mask being well kept— he can see through anyone. He has the rare ability to understand the thickest of thieves, as he, himself, is the biggest phony of them all. 

The sparse shadows soften your usually antagonized features in his mind, a more human appearance alleviating in its wake; and Rin swears he sees a tear drip from your right eye, swimming down your cheeks, and dropping off at your chin into the dewey land— becoming one with nature’s true beauty. The earth embraces your unexplained sadness with open arms, blowing the willow branches around your body. In a strange way, Rin thinks this is the first time he’s truly seen you as what you are. A princess. You’re beautiful beneath the moonlight, but perhaps it isn’t your physical beauty that’s catching his eye…but your emotional vulnerability.

“Dearest apologies, my liege.” you mutter, voice droning on with not a sliver of spite in your tone; only exhaustion. “I’m afraid that I’m not much of a proper princess, tonight. If you’d prefer it, I’d be more than welcome to leave you be— perhaps I’d regain some of my lost dignity in doing so.”

He studies you for a moment, his eyes grazing your posture, the physical habits you display on the daily are missing beneath the moon’s kisses. All that’s left in its disappearance is a small-spoken and sadness-consumed girl. A girl that’s tired and painstakingly sick of the expectations and predecessors that she’s been forced to live up to by birth…and as much as he hates to admit it, even just to himself, he’s found a similar identity in you. A familiarity he’s never quite noticed before.

“Stay.” His voice is so faint that even he is surprised at his statement. 

“Perhaps we’ll both freeze to death.” he continues on, feigning the annoyance he typically spits in your direction. “I’d quite enjoy seeing your ghastly face covered in ice.”

While Rin believes his offering to be nothing out of the ordinary, your expression tells otherwise. It’s clear that you’re able to read through the misconceptions he’s trying to give you; looking straight into his eyes with an amused gleam and giggling softly in response. He’s never made a princess laugh before— usually the only girls he spends one-on-one time with are the tavern girls who wish to sleep with a prince— and he’d be a liar to say he didn’t like the sound. You have a beautiful laugh and Rin hangs onto every second it continues to carry through the wind. Perhaps he’s been misjudging you just as you misjudged him. Perhaps you’re not like the others.

“I’m sure you would, Rin.” you smile, sitting down next to him on the plush comfort of uncut grass. “But I have had such an awful day, that I don’t think there’s anything you can say to me that will make it worse.” An awful day?

“May I ask what happened?” Why does he suddenly care?

“Yes, you may.” Why do you want to tell him?

A sigh breathes out of your lips, whistling in the wind and getting lost in the space of stars. “I’m a lousy princess.”

He chuckles, shaking his head and nudging your shoulder. There’s no way that you, little miss prim and proper, are a bad princess. You’re practically the model that every father bases his daughter on when raising her in a royal setting; he knows because he’s met his fair share of truly lousy princesses. “No you’re not.”

“Yes I am.” you’re not looking at him anymore, rather at the constellation ceiling above you. The stars reflect themselves in your eyes, and if you weren’t a princess on earth, Rin would think you were a gift from the moon himself. “I could barely keep up with Prince Sae today. We had dance rehearsals for the wedding, and our instructor is so strict that I can barely breathe around her without being reprimanded. I couldn’t even memorize the basic steps, I don’t know what is wrong with me. I have practically been training for this duty for my entire life and I can’t remember a few dances? I’m not fit to be a queen. I just turned eighteen, I’ve barely lived at all. How can I protect an entire kingdom, when I cannot even fend for myself?”

“Prince Sae is perfect. He’s amazing. I can’t possibly be enough to be his wife. I can’t live up to those standards. It’s impossible.”

Suddenly, all of the broken pieces seem to come together. They’re swept by a broom, one that the moon king holds above the two of you, as your shattered stars of insecurities collide into one pile of stardust. Rin sees himself in you. He sees himself from a perspective that he’s never known before. Never in his life has he met someone who understands and agrees that royal duties are impossible; usually common folk and other royals tell him what an honor it is to be of a royal bloodline. They don’t care or consider his feelings on having to be held to a higher standard, while also being at a disadvantage as a bastard child. You are different. He knows you won’t judge him for these fears he has; a small part of him trusts you now. 

“My brother is a golden boy.” Rin smiles at you, and it’s the first genuine smile he’s ever given someone. “Please do not take it too personally if you cannot live up to his excellence.”

You gaze at him in appreciation, scooting slightly closer while keeping a healthy balance that wouldn’t ensue romantic implications. “Thank you. I can’t even begin to imagine how difficult it must be for you, though. How do you handle all of this? I can barely keep my head above water.”

Wow…you’re the first person who’s ever asked how he feels. 

“It’s difficult,” he explains, “but manageable. I’ve only ever known this life, so I’m quite used to being at the end of the line so-to-speak. My brother— I’m not sure why I even call him that, he’s not my brother, I’m sorry. My half-brother is the kingdom’s blessing. He’s my father’s blessing. He’s perfect like you said; but his destiny isn’t his own. Do you understand what I’m trying to say?”

Your head shakes in confusion, not quite understanding where his story is going.

“I’m sorry, I’ve never spoken of these feelings before; at least not out loud to someone other than my own mirror.” His human instinct shuffles himself closer to you, wanting that physical comfort whilst knowing that he can never have it. “I’m not unhappy that I am not the one to be emperor. I would rather be a bastard, because at least I have freedom to run away one day without worrying about feeding the masses and avoiding war. I can leave this kingdom and not have to think about my father or Sae ever again. That’s the one luxury I have always had— and it’s the one thing that I look forward to. I’m so sorry that you don’t have that same privilege.”

Nothing comes as a response and Rin feels a little concerned, that is until your soft voice reaches his ears. 

“I’m sorry for being so difficult towards you.”

You’re apologizing?

“I don’t regret anything, though.”

That makes more sense.

Another laugh bubbles up from the pits of his soul, setting off the volcano of amusement that’s been dormant for so long. “You’re a tyrant princess, my kingdom should be more weary of you.”

You giggle beside him, “Tyrant princess sounds more fun than disciplined empress.”

Maybe he’s gone mad or maybe the chilling breeze has gotten to his brain and made him delusional, but Rin feels his heart pounding— and not in the familiar way of anger and aggression. This rapid heartbeat is something warmer…fonder…gentler. If he’s not mistaken, he believes it to be the warmth that comes with falling in love; something that he’s only read about and wished for when he does eventually run away from home. However, he never believed he’d find that feeling within the palace walls— especially with you, whom he despised prior to this night. He promised himself he’d never fall for another royal, but his destiny is shaping itself in ways that are unpredictable.

He should thank the man in the moon.

Rin stands, dusting off his pants, before offering you a hand. It’s an earnest gesture, one that you cannot ignore, and he’s vulnerable with his sincerity. “I can’t promise that I hold any skills near to my brother, but I swear on my soul that I won’t push you into that lake if you give me one dance.”

“Just one?” your tone is teasing, yet you accept his offer. The feeling of your hand in his sparks flickers of jealousy in Rin’s mind. Why is Sae the one who gets to hold you? It isn’t fair. “If you push me in that filthy water, I’ll give you a matching scar…”

“...right there.”

One of your fingers softly grazes his cheek, the spot underneath his right eye and flicks upwards, brushing against his thick eyelashes, before you lace your hands around his neck. You sway together, with the moonlight showering its stars down upon you, blessing you with well-wishes from the galaxy— and drift away from the worries of royalty and betrothals. Rin is miles from the anger that nestled itself inside of his heart, freezing it and shrinking it until he no longer knew what the emotion felt like. You’ve melted that ice. You’ve found a crack and broken the cycle of rage he’s so accustomed to…and he’s grateful. 

For this is the first time he’s ever felt loved…

…if only you were his…

…but you aren’t.

⋆⋆⋆⠀ ⠀thank you for reading! reblogs are greatly appreciated! ⋆⋆⋆⠀ ⠀will have a second part titled swan song in the future!

[gods-favorite-autistic]

Fantasy high headcanons let’s gooooo

Fhjy spoilers, long post so it goes ✨under the cut✨

Weekly sleepovers but that’s a given

Somewhere in one of the rooms in Mordred the Bad Kids all carved their names somewhere

Kristen and Fig have an entire corner of the Mordred living room designated as the ‘Secret Service Corner’

Riz is so good at shoplifting to the point that every time they go shopping Sklonda just keeps shooting glances at Riz’s hands to make sure he isn’t taking something or thinking about taking something

She has an entire pocket of her purse dedicated to distraction fidget toys because he can’t shoplifting if he doesn’t have anything to shoplift with

Fig perfected her screamo voice over the summer before freshman year (yknow the one where she was really pissed at her mom. Yeah that summer)

If Fabian ever needs advice on anything his go tos are Riz and Cathilda

Anytime one of the Bad Kids get a call in the middle of the night they just assume it’s Riz

Adaine is the only one allowed to ignore texts and calls and that’s only because she just uses the Message spell to respond to people

Kristen learned Morse code to talk to Fig in class

Fig does not know Morse code but by Cass she can pretend she does

After dropping out Fig will occasionally just shift into different fake students and drop by the others classes

The party always knows its her but nobody else ever does

The freshman thinks it’s a myth (legendary rockstar who dropped out of the school and is being hunted by the school just randomly shows up to classes she has never been enrolled in even when she did go there) but the seniors keep being like “no I swear to god I saw her at lunch earlier she’s gonna be in my class today I know it”

Agent Clark is always hunting her

Kristen Applebees has POTS and Ehlers Danlos Syndrome because I said so she my special girl

Gorgug has made each of the Bad Kids a playlist

And now for a list of things the party has banned Kristen “dex score of 3” Applebees from doing

Playing on Fabian’s DDR machine

Driving

Baking (cooking is fine though)

Skateboarding

Anything involving putting her on wheels

Juggling (you’d think this wouldn’t be a problem but she did try to once. It did not go well)

Any type of stitches that Riz would be capable of

A lot of Wii games

Just Dance

She also sucks at fantasy Mario Kart but nobody can figure out if it’s the low dex or if she’s just bad at the game

The story of the DDR machine is that once Fig and Kristen challenged each other to a DDR battle to the death and Kristen danced so hard she broke an arm

That was a fun call to Jawbone /s

Adaine once gave Gorgug one of those motivational cat posters except she changed the words to say it’s Gorgug keep going

He genuinely loves it it was one of the things he took with him when he went to go live with Fabian

They’re all neurodivergent because I’m neurodivergent and I said so

Adaine weekly has to take another pair of noise cancelling headphones out of her jacket because Kristen keeps losing hers

Kristen and Adaine are the only two who know how to properly cook

Gorgug is decent at it but he mainly just follows recipes

Riz and Fabian are banned from the kitchen

Fig hasn’t even tried to cook ever everyone knows it wouldn’t end well

Kristen swears she figured out how to make cottage cheese ice cream

She just froze cottage cheese and called it a day

Riz is constantly on hire by Fig to find Bobby Dawn

He found him like a day after he was hired (Bobby Dawn really isn’t that smart) and he told Fig exactly where he was but she just keeps vaguely bothering him

Her goal is to make him think he’s haunted

Riz refuses to take free money from Fabian so Fabian just keeps paying him insane amounts to do the easiest things

1000 gold pieces to make him 1 cup of coffee

Adaine figured out how to do the whole eyes rolling back and glowing thing on command so when someone pisses her off she just casts fly on herself does that says random words and then casts scatter on the person who pissed her off

They all love shrimp and they all love cottage cheese but they absolutely resolutely agree that combined they are fucking terrible

Aguefort does an “everyone gets a a familiar” day

Riz picks a fox

Kristen gets 5 snakes. People try to tell her she only gets one familiar but who is going to argue with the most talented cleric like ever wielding 5 snakes

Fabian picks a parrot and gives him a little eyepatch

Gorgug picks a straight up fucking bear

[eggroll-sama]

THINGS THAT REMIND ME OF THE LI

This is purely self-indulgent and just based on stuff that makes me go, “it’s them!” when it’s unrelated to them. But here you go and hope you like it. To make it sound more accurate, I replaced the nouns to fit Touchstarved cast.

AIS

Tyler Durban and Edward Norton from the FIGHT CLUB— “How much can you know about yourself if you’ve never been in a fight?” “Maybe self-improvement isn’t the answer, maybe self-destruction is the answer,” “Only after you’ve lost everything you’re free to do anything.” “We are the same person.”

The song, ‘I Remember You’ from ADVENTURE TIME— “I can feel myself slipping away, I can’t remember what it made me say, but I remember that I saw you frown, I swear it wasn’t me…And I need to save you, but who's going to save me? Please forgive me for whatever I do, when I don’t remember you.”

The punk from FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF. I can just see Ais at a police station, giving advice to a pretty stranger, and end up making out with them.

This scene (warning: graphic violence and gore) from ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD. It’s just so Ais and Princess-coded

VENOM, enough said.

KURAS

The murder-mystery film, THE DA VINCI CODE. I feel like Kuras would love the movie if it existed in his world since it’s canon that he likes trashy murder mysteries.

The song, ‘No Good Deed Goes Unpunished’ from WICKED— “[MC] where are you? Already dead, or bleeding? One more disaster I can add to my Generous supply…No good deed goes unpunished. No act of charity goes unresented. No good deed goes unpunished. That’s my new creed.”

GONE WITH THE WIND— “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn.” This line was controversial when released in 1939 because swear words weren’t normalized. I feel like Kuras, like this movie, rarely swears but when he does, the whole room goes silent and you know shit’s about to go down. Also according to the RSS radial chart, Kuras has low empathy plus maxed out strength high wisdom, damn at some point that man might legit not give a damn-

MAQUIA: WHEN THE PROMISED FLOWER BLOOMS— “you smell weird, you smell like the sun;” “If you fall in love, you will truly become alone.” Contextually the line is about how an immortal should never get too close with mortals because they'll one day they’ll die, and it fits Kuras a lot.

HUNTER X HUNTER 2011—“[MC] you are light. Sometimes, you shine so brightly, I must look away. But even so, is it still ok to stay by your side?” I love the idea of an angel heavily associated with the sun (Prometheus, likes sunny days, radiates heat), finds someone that is the light of their life.

ONE PIECE— “I have seen the future of this country. And it is destruction. As long as [the Senobium] remains here, this country can never be cured, because even if medical technology progresses, even if [alchemical] research continues… there is no cure for stupidity.”

OPPENHEIMER. After I watched the movie all I could think about was Kuras doing the blank eye stare at the end of the movie.

LEANDER

Goob from MEET THE ROBINSONS (he’s literally just child Leander in the modern world ;o;)

Michael Scott from THE OFFICE— “I wanna be married and have 100 kids so I can have 100 friends and no one can say no to being my friend,” “it’s not about the horniness, it’s about the loneliness”

The painting, Death of Sardanapalus, by Eugene Delacroix. King Sardanapalus palace is besieged by enemies and he decides to commit suicide after he learns of the army’s defeat, but not before ordering his men to destroy all his favorite possessions- wives, horses, pages, and dogs. He’d rather his valuables all be destroyed than his enemies own them. King Sardanapulus selfishness is humane, but the extremity’s he would go to keep what is his is monstrous.

GASTON from BEAUTY AND THE BEAST— Gaston and Leander both have similar vibes. They’re both trusted and well-liked by most people, viewed as heroes, are human but are monsters on the inside, overconfident, attractive, has a possessive streak, hangs out in bars, nice singing voice. The main difference is that Gaston doesn’t try to act like a nice guy like Leander Fake ahhh

The song ‘Burn’ from HAMILTON— “Do you know what [Vere] said when we saw your first letter arrive? [He] said, be careful with that one, love, he will do what it takes to survive…Do you know what [Kuras] said when [he] read what you’d done? [He] said, you’ve married an Icarus, he has flown too close to the sun.”

Michael Corleone from the GODFATHER.

Sampo from HONKAI STAR RAIL— I barely know anything about Honkai Starrail, but I was going to an anime goods store with my friend and one look at him made me think of Leander. My friend gave me a run down that he betrays you for money and runs away and unironically I could see Leander throwing us under the bus.

VERE

This scene from the movie, MALENA. Vere is heavily desired by men and women alike, but his flirty and fickle personality is just a front to protect himself. And he hates how people see him as a pretty face or someone who needs saving from the Senobium. Tbh Malena herself just reminds me of Vere’s problem of how being pretty is a double edged sword. People see you’re pretty, so they feel threatened or idealize you. You feel extremely lonely bc people are distracted by your beauty and won’t try to understand you intimately. So you either own it and be alone OR assimilate and have friends. Vere is the former.

Madonna-Whore Complex. This article explains it pretty well, “The Madonna Whore Complex (MWC) is a psychological complex often perpetuated by heterosexual, cisgender males which places women into two categories the “Madonna, a woman who is pure, virtuous, and nurturing, or a “Whore,” a woman who is deemed as overly sexual, manipulating, and promiscuous. The dichotomy of MWC creates a rigidity that limits women’s sexual expression, agency, and freedom by defining their sexuality into one of two categories.” Vere is the latter.

Ymir from ATTACK ON TITAN. Both of them were self-proclaimed deity, was caught lying (presumably), and paid for it. Their personalities are similar too except Vere masks himself through innuendos.

The song, ‘The Red Means I Love You’ by Madds Buckley— “The red on my face is matching you. And goodness, you're bleeding, what a wonderful feeling. You're down and you're pleading, my head is just reeling. The red means I love you. Tasting your blood means I love you.” (I can’t see Vere becoming a yandere because he’s already deranged)

MHIN

Another line from ONE PIECE —“Someday I will become too much of a burden. Someday you’ll betray me and cast me aside.”

SHUTTER ISLAND— “What would be worse, to live as a monster or die as a good [person]?” Mhin hates monsters ironically since they are one, and I could see them nearing the time limit where their curse becomes permanent and decides that maybe it’s better to die with their humanity than live forever as a monster.

The Beast from BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. I already said this in another post but like IMAGINE THE AU. AHHHHHH

Felix from LAST LEGACY but more depressed.

Disclaimer: we don’t know much about Sen or Elyon yet so I don’t have much.

ELYON

THE GREAT GATSBY— “…can't you see who this guy is, with his house and his parties and his fancy clothes? He is just a front, a gangster, to get his claws into respectable folk…(to Elyon) We're all different from you. You see, we were born different. It's in our blood. And nothing that you do or say or steal... or dream up can ever change that.”

SEN

Unfortunately I don’t have any for Sen. Her design reminds me of Frankenstein’s creature tho.

BONUS:

MC

This scene from SHAPE OF WATER. MC falls in love with a monster and trying to save them from danger. MC knows that they are also an outsider, a monster. Being with the LI’s feels like they were finally accepted for who they are, regardless of their curse, so they can’t abandon them— “When they looks at me…the way they looks at me, they don’t know what I lack. How I am incomplete...and now I can either save them or let them die.” I think this quote can also be interpreted as the players choosing a route, essentially dooming the other players if we don’t choose them.

Famous line from 10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU— “but mostly I hate how I don’t hate you, not even close, not even a little bit, not even at all.” The fact that us as players will keep coming back to them, replaying their routes even though they killed us, and obsessing over them. Yes they suck but we still love them.

This quote from Green Mile— “ I’m tired…I'm tired of bein' on the road, lonely as a sparrow in the rain. Tired of not ever having me a buddy to be with.” I think this quote really emphasizes how touch-starved MC is, and how alone they feel from being betrayed by people they cared about in the past (also sparrow name drop ^-^)

[kiwinatorwaffles]

hermit species headcanons: volume… 2!

i made this post two years ago when i was fresh to the series and was just getting to know the hermits. a lot has changed since then, but a lot has also stayed the same! my headcanons are getting refined every single time i talk about them, so chances are, this list won't even be accurate to my thoughts a year later.

with that being said, let's get started! click the cut to read them all

bdubs: glare! small, hates the dark, is a feral creature, will never let go of the moss. he and pungance were born from the same tree in the same patch of moss so they are brothers LMAO

beef: vampire! but not a full one. he was bitten by a bat and gained two vampiric traits exactly: fangs and sensitive skin. beef thinks his tendency to get sunburnt easily is just something in his code or a genetic condition. he never got it checked.

cub: alien shapeshifter! his original form is this shapeless void blob, and he can only copy how other beings look like. his forms were taken from two astronauts he saw in space, an old man and a young man. his void form can be seen slightly on his inner arm, where there is just a sliver of night sky hanging out

cleo: zombie (duh) cleo was permakilled by a witch's curse but when faced with the pearly gates they were like. nah. i'd rather be down there. and just straight up left and came back as a zombie. that's how she met joe. because he was sitting on top of her tombstone eating a sandwich

doc: originally a fae, but now he's super fucked up? what can i even say. he was a fae who got super interested in the sciences and started experimenting on himself just for the hell of it. there was that whole dinnerbone cyborg arm thing but he also managed to make himself a centaur form that he uses for extra storage and height. nobody knows where the creeper came from. was it from his dad's side? did he give it to himself? not even stress, his cousin, can tell you how he came to be. what the hermits DO know however is that he can steal pronouns by asking for them

etho: redstone deity! etho was an ancient builder who was executed for witchcraft upon his discovery of redstone. he was resurrected by the universe as a second chance and to spread his knowledge to the world. you can read more from my fic here ehehehehe

false: human! yes she is 100% human. i just thought it would be funny if such an awesome and skilled fighter was just some normal ass human with a bit of social anxiety

gem: forest spirit! she has nature powers and can change parts of her body to reflect parts of nature. she's a deer? an elf? nope! only sometimes. she can mix and match whatever traits she wants on any given day. but be careful of those deer legs and horns. they Hurt

grian: red macaw avian! he has bird feathers covering his ears, parrot wings, and bird talons! he is also able to mimic voices perfectly (which he uses to play pranks and swear in other hermits’ voices) and is a Hollow Boned Menace. he carries a lot of bird tendencies, like being a piece of shit or preening his friends’ hair when it’s too messy (which is always). in start of seasons, he has x lock away usage of his wings to keep himself from an unfair advantage. he also has stolen powers from the watchers, which he can use to change his wing colors or view the entire map from afar.

npg: ????????????? he’s supposed to be a robot, but he has wings and flies sideways?????? he’s somehow even more fucked up than robot grian. not even grian is sure of what he created tbh. he just knows he did NOT give npg those conure wings to begin with.

ariana griande: galah avian! she is grian's cousin who is a pop star. she has never actually been on hermitcraft before -- that was grian cosplaying as her.

hypno: human warlock! he accidentally made a pact when he replaced his tooth with a piece of cursed gold. jokes on his patron though, his faulty human memory can't even remember how he got his powers! he has lots of inscriptions as tattoos written in galactic just all over his body that he completely forgot how to read at this point and is immortal. maybe that's a bit bad for his sense of self-preservation

impulse: demon/imp! he used to be a gargoyle that dispensed candy, but a wizard passing by granted him life and well. now he's here! demons are actually underworld spirits that punish permadead players who have been genuinely horrible to the players around them, but impulse wanted to build houses and play with redstone instead of stirring the torture soup. so when he met skizz he decided hanging out with the players was the best thing to do. he also used to have larger horns and wings but his time on the surface has made his wings very tiny and unusable without the help of an elytra. skizz always teases him for this.

iskall: cyborg! the hermits don't know if he was fully human before the cyborgification. me, personally? i think it would be funny if she was actually built to protect a village but had too much of a personality so the villages just let him go have fun with the players. not sure if i want to adhere to that though

jevin: slime! certain slimes have evolved to be more like players. jevin is from the blue variety (that's his gender)

joe hills: ???????? void-born universe being??? joe is actually the oldest living being in the universe. he was just popped out of void (even predating the void gods) and spent all this time just doing whatever fuckall was around to do. he looks like a normal human being but just Slightly to the left, like his a bit-too-many teeth or slight lean when he stands. other than that, he acts like any other human!

joel: human mage! he actually only has powers of illusion that changes only how he looks. he Really wanted to be an orc but the spell couldnt last forever (as his fae wife lizzie found out after marriage). every day he wishes he had as much swag as shrek did. more on the headcanon here

keralis: weird fucking eldritch cryptid being? except he looks exactly like a human. nothing weird about him, nope. just don't look too closely at his eyes. he promises that he blinks like a normal person and not with his pupils.

mumbo: robot! with a core heart and stretchy limbs, he runs mainly on the consumption of redstone and occasionally typical foodstuffs. he had a creator before the days of hermitcraft (who originally built him as a war machine but something went deeply sideways during construction) that taught him all there is to know about redstone and the outside world. he also inherited the british accent and mustache from his creator. his creator did want him to be free and wiped mumbo's memory of his creation before setting him off into the overworld and letting him roam free. now he's just a silly guy!

grumbot: robot! he was first built to give suggestions on what to do with the mayoral elections but then he developed actual attachments to his horribly neglectant dads </3 but it's alright! he now chills with renbob and goatman up in the hermitheus

pearl: moon spirit! she was the moon from a player's hardcore world. the player used to talk to the moon for fun, but suddenly disappeared from the world one day. now feeling lonely, pearl took a humanoid form and descended to find where her player went, but she ended up discovering the joys of being a player herself. contrary to popular belief, she had no influence on the season 8 moon.

ren: weredog! can shapeshift into a dog form, which he usually uses to either run fast or play fetch. he’s also more prone to change when the moon is larger…. except he just becomes a hyperactive dog who chases his tail all night and is deeply embarrassed by it. he also probably has rabies, but everyone whom he has bitten probably already had something deeply wrong with them to begin with anyway

renbob: human...? he's related to ren from the human side, or at least that what he tells people. but he might as well be 50% weed by now

scar: human(?) wizard! he can fly, subtly change his physical appearance, cast spells, and do all sorts of magical shenanigans! he also can read galactic fluently, which is how he learned that hypno enchanted himself with loyalty at some point. jellie is his beloved familiar. also he's a capitalist. nobody knows where that came from

skizz: angel! why are there angels in minecraft, you might ask? some people are satisfied with their lives and let themselves permadie. skizz, after being born randomly from an angel statue (i wonder if it’s related to the other statue guy) was supposed to be one of the angels who helped escort players to the pearly gates, but he met impulse while his demon clan was taking a field trip to heaven. the two immediately became besties and skizz begged the universe to let him join the players. the universe begrudgingly agreed and now he's here! he hides his many other halos as ring tattoos on his arms as well

stress: fae! she's got fairy powers, magical swag, an affinity for flowers, and will beat you up if you assume she's the resident server cleric.

tango: ex-blazeborn! he saw some yummy packed ice and ate it, which extinguished his internal flame. his blazeborn tribe felt bad for him but knew it would be dangerous if he stayed, so tango just left for the overworld instead. he tries to convince people that he is 100% a human and not suspicious at all because he's embarrassed of having to explain that he lost most of his powers due to eating some yummy ice cream. a more detailed post about my headcanon can be found here

tfc: human! the only non-human aspect of him is a prosthetic leg. contrary to popular belief, he did not lose that leg while mining. it was after fighting a horde of skeletons. (he won)

wels: human. he's just a human. nobody believes him when he tells them because they've seen him accidentally level a building while sparring before. but nope. he's just a human. and a very fucked up one at that

hels: ???? techncially has the traits of wels, beef, and etho????? is there a species for evil clones created by copying machines or

xb: guardian! he was a guardian made to guard the magical treasures of ancient builders, but he got bored of staying in the same spot for centuries and his creators never returning. hypno casted a spell of bipedelity on xb, so now he can walk on land! i wrote a fic about it here too

xisuma: voidwalker! created by the young void gods, he was made from a fucking mspaint file where the void gods dicked around with the program and made a deeply fucked up being (him) on accident. he has no mouth, his hands are as black as the void, and his voice is terrifying without a modulator, which is why he wears a helmet. more about it in my fic here

evil x: also a voidwalker, but this time the void gods pressed random on a picrew and sent him out into an alternate dimension. he grew up in super england until x fished him out of the void. this little rascal has red scleras, ram horns, and a devil tail. he doesn't need to sleep, so he gets all his energy from eating, which is convenient because his sharp teeth can crunch anything and he can digest everything. his hair acts like an enderchest with a portal to the void, where he keeps snacks and various trinkets.

zedaph: human, but he’s not sane. i mean look at this guy. look at what he’s doing. nobody knows how he became so deeply fucked up but he's truly just Like That. he gave himself sheep features once on accident though

worm man: surprisingly, human. he's lucky to have stayed human for this long with his brother's insane experiments. accurate to popular belief, he has no superpowers.

[xxwritemeastoryxx]

Target Acquired

Author: xxwritemeastoryxx

Pairings: Bucky Barnes x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 6502

Warnings: Canon typical violence, flashback scenes, time jumps, and not enough Bucky. Somewhat angst. necessary filler to make sense of what's coming next.

Author’s Note: I KID YOU NOT I TRIED TO MAKE THIS A PART 2 WITH A FLUFFY ENDING AND IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE! So you get an in-between part to lead to the fluff. Don't come for me. I swear the next part to this will end in fluff. Even if it ends up being over 10k 😅 Please be sure to read Compromised before diving into this one! As a reminder please go and follow @xxwritemeastoryxxlibrary and turn on notifications so you never miss a new fic!

I do not and will not ever give permission for my fics to be copied and posted on other sites. Don’t do it. Don’t be that person that ruins it for me and everyone else.

Feedback gives me life and motivation for future things. While likes are appreciated, reblogs are gold. Seriously, if you enjoyed this in the slightest, please reblog ♥

Compromised || MCU Masterlist || Fandom Masterlist || Taglist

“I’m going to ask this one more time.” There was hurt in his voice and every part of him hoped that the answer he now had in his mind was wrong.  “Who is your mission?”

“You.”

“I know you don’t owe me any favors, and I definitely don’t deserve this, but please. Just pretend we’re okay, just for tonight, just for show.” She watched as his eyes hadn’t changed as he kept them on her. “Please. The others don’t need to hear about this right now and I promise that I’ll be gone by sunrise.”

He stood there for a moment, taking her in one last time. For the briefest of moments, this was his Y/N that he was looking at. The woman he had loved with everything he could give. She wasn’t the enemy that had been standing in front of him. Nor was she the woman that broke his heart several times within their conversation tonight. 

The pain in his chest shattered the illusion a moment later and all he could see and feel was the betrayal from her. The lies he had heard over the years on a loop in his mind as he looked into her eyes. He couldn’t give her the whole night she was asking for. He didn’t even know if he’d be capable of giving her any time longer than him walking out of this room.

“I’ll give you until your candles are out.” He said as he shook her hand off of his and opened the door. “That’s the only time you’ll get. After that it’s fair game.”

Party decorations were still displayed throughout the area. The table that sat off to the side and held several stacks of presents were left untouched. The party atmosphere that had been in full swing several hours ago had been sucked out the moment unease settled within the air.

Bucky didn’t want to talk about why Y/N had left so quickly after she had blown out her candles. Their friends had bombarded Bucky with several questions, trying to figure out what happened. But eventually the different questions had caused Bucky to quickly get up from his seat and leave the room. 

He made his way back into the side office he had been occupying earlier. In his rush to leave the room to give himself some space from Y/N, he didn’t grab the file. And as he made his way back into that room, the contents of it had been neatly tucked back into that file. 

His eyebrow raised as he moved towards it. The last time he had seen it, the contents of the file had been spread out on the desk, with every piece of information on display. For it to be put back as neatly as it had been, he knew Y/N had been back here as well. 

Proof that it had in fact been her had been the single sticky note that had been left on the front of the file. Her writing was easily recognizable to Bucky. And as his eyes scanned the words, he couldn’t stop the mixed emotions that bubbled within him.

It's yours to do with as you please. 

Beneath that had been several words and phrases that wouldn't make sense to anyone else. But to Bucky they were code words he only knew the meaning to. A secret language the two had created for themselves. Even though his eyes read the different words on the paper, he could only hear the translation in his mind. 

Forgive me. You have my heart. I’ll be there if you need me.

Bucky’s fleshed fingers ran over the words on the sticky note before pulling it off and crumpling it up in his hand before tossing it in the trash can beside the desk. There shouldn’t have been the warm familiarity of seeing the code words, but there was. There shouldn’t have been the slightest bit of guilt seeping through the anger and betrayal he felt. But the guilt reared its head like an annoying thorn.

“Why can’t you just answer the question?” 

“Because it isn’t necessary! I left. I made the choice to be better. You got to do the same. Why is it any different with me?”

Her voice rang in his ears at the memory. The conversation was just hours old and Bucky was still playing it back as if it just happened. The guilt that poked through the anger constantly reached for that exact moment. The exact words eating at him. 

Was her situation the same? Definitely not. But had she done as he had and left the grasp of Hydra and done better since then? He knew she had. He knew she had worked harder since that night he found her sitting in his doorway. She had proved time and time again that she could be trusted. That she was one of them as the years followed. 

“Because I don’t know how I can trust you without knowing all of the facts.”

His own voice played through his mind as the memory continued. His voice shot back at her as he took that step closer to her to keep her from leaving. His anger and hurt laced within his words as he said them. He believed that anyone else would understand how he was feeling. He was sure they’d understand why moments later he had told her to leave. 

Bucky had all the information he needed right in front of him. It pointed to all the right reasons why Y/N shouldn’t be around him or the team. Why he feared whatever ties she may currently still have to the organization he fought so hard to escape. And the one person he had opened his heart to had been working for them. Yet, the guilt laid there under the anger telling him that he had taken it too far. 

Grabbing a hold of the file, he walked out of the room, returning to the common area. He could have waited until the morning to tell the others. He could have waited a few days to process everything. But he knew he wouldn’t have been able to handle the questions that would come if didn’t deal with it now. 

“I don’t see her just up and leaving like that.” Tony’s voice carried over as he spoke with the others. “Did something happen between them that she would need time away?”

“I doubt it.” It was Sam’s voice that came next. “They had been gone for a bit earlier. He came out before her and there didn’t seem to be anything out of the ordinary.”

“She left because I told her to leave.” Bucky made his presence known as he walked over to the table they were sitting around. 

He hadn't missed the shocked looks he had received the moment the words left his lips. The furrowed brows mixed in with the widened eyes was something he was used to around here. He watched as Tony opened his mouth to speak before Bucky started once more.

“There was something she mentioned some time ago that didn’t sit right with me. I tried to ignore it but after a few weeks I just couldn’t stop thinking about it.” His eyes moved to Steve for a moment before looking at the others. “‘Being free from the memories tied to it makes it easier to get the job done.’ Were her exact words that I couldn’t get out of my head.”

“That could have meant anything.” Tony shook his head. “We say a lot of things around here that sound weird out of context.”

“How many SHIELD agents do you know that can relate to having memories taken away?” Bucky asked. “Because all the agents that came over besides her never experienced anything like that.”

“She was Hydra.” Steve said with a disappointed look forming on his face.

“No.” Natasha added. “There’s no way she was. There would have been some kind of information on her.” She looked over to Tony. “Your A.I. would have picked up on something.”

“I wondered the same thing.” Bucky said, catching their attention. “I wondered how someone could have gotten through not only your defenses but kept a low enough profile to not have anything on record anywhere. So I asked someone that I knew was good at digging.” He looked over the others before his eyes landed on Natasha. He knew if anyone was going to understand, it was going to be her. “Phantom.”

The others watched as Natasha’s eyes widened the moment the words left Bucky’s lips. She shook her head quickly after. “No. There’s no way that can be her.”

“I didn’t want to believe it at first.” Bucky tossed the file on the table in front of him. It slid across the top and came to a stop in front of Natasha. “But it’s hard to ignore all of the signs when they’re in bold flashing letters.”

“Wait, who is Phantom?” Sam asked, looking between Bucky and Natasha. “Isn’t that the woman Scott had to deal with?”

“No.” Steve shook his head. “I believe that was Ghost.”

“Phantom,” Bucky said, getting their attention once again. “was used more frequently by Hydra. Never hand in hand on missions with the Winter Soldier or else I would have remembered her. I remember it being said where the second batch of Winter Soldiers failed, Phantom was their success.”

“While in the Red Room we heard stories about a girl who was purchased by Hydra the day before her ‘graduation ceremony’.” Natasha added. She hadn’t missed the grimaces on some of their faces when she said ‘purchased’. “Phantom was to be their saving grace. It was said Phantom could get in and out of wherever easily with whatever information was needed in record time. Put Phantom undercover for 24 hours and they’ve got everything they need to overthrow the target in 12 hours.” Her eyes moved to the file that she hadn’t touched yet. She shook her head before sliding the file towards the middle before looking up at Bucky. “It's not her. Or else we would have been in shambles years ago.”

“It wasn’t the Avengers she was trying to dismantle.” It was the tone of Bucky’s voice that clued the others in on what her Mission was. “When I confronted her, she admitted that her mission was to infiltrate and report information that was deemed useful to Hydra while waiting for her orders about her main target." He paused for a moment. “When I came to the compound, I knew there was something off. I felt it in my gut when I first met her. But she had been thick as thieves with most of you so I put that feeling aside. And after some time of letting that guard down I let her in not knowing that I was her mission.”

Steve shook his head. “If that were true, she would have attempted to take you out at some point. We would have known.”

“Unless she had a change of heart.” It was Tony's voice that spoke up. 

Tony had taken the file and begun going through it while the others continued to speak. The amount of information that it held was astonishing to Tony. How FRIDAY had missed any of this had stumped him. 

Every search that had been done on candidates had been thorough. Sealed records and even crimes that one may think had been brushed under the rug would have been found. Yet everything in the file was news to him. 

Sighing, Tony gently tossed an image onto the table. It was a photo they had seen before. A destroyed Hydra base they had no explanation for.  “We were wondering who our mystery vigilante was that took down that Hydra base. It makes sense. She spends a bit of time with a kindred spirit and when given her mission, she can’t go through with it.”

“Hydra would have pulled her out if she was compromised.” Nat shook her head. 

“Not if it meant getting our attention that she was gone.”  Steve added.

“And wiping her memories would have risked the mission.” A huff of a scoff passed Bucky’s lips as a thought crossed his mind and shook his head. At one point she would have been breaking through the brainwashing Hydra had put her through. The nightmares she’d occasionally have along with her moments of spacing out, remembering something. All the same things he had gone through, just not at the same intensity. “All of the signs were right there and I didn’t see them.”

“None of us did.” Sam said as he crossed his arms over his chest. 

“The question we should be asking now is do we trust her enough that she’s actually changed?” Tony asked as he looked at the others. “Or should we be on full alert that the one person who knows way too much about us is out there with no alliance?”

It was that question that Bucky couldn't bring himself to say anything. His mind and emotions were everywhere and he couldn't give an answer. He had been on the opposite side of things this time. He hadn't been the one on the run. He hadn't been the one with all eyes on him. 

"I am not Hydra anymore! If you’re going to take anything away from this, please let that be it.”

And it was as her voice rang through his head once more that the guilt poked through again and hooked on. He shouldn’t have just let her leave like he had. Not for the fear of what she could possibly do, but for the fact that while he had gotten a new chance, he practically tied the noose around her neck for her.

ONE AND A HALF YEARS LATER

Old floorboards creaked as Y/N walked across the room with a ceramic mug in her hand. She walked over towards the small window in the kitchen that gave her the perfect vantage point of the neighborhood. There was some peace that came over Y/N every morning that she came to stand by it. She had only been in this apartment for a few weeks, but there was always a need to keep checking to make sure she was in the clear. 

After leaving the compound, she jumped from place to place constantly to ensure she stayed under the radar. She wasn’t sure what to expect in the weeks that followed. She expected many of the people that she cared about to come looking for her. She expected to be arrested for the details that came to light. 

Instead, when she occasionally picked a familiar safe house to stay in from time to time, she’d find messages directly to her. Messages asking for her to get in contact with a few of them. Most of the notes had been from Natasha. But no matter how many times she missed the people she cared about she couldn’t bring herself to respond. Soon she stopped going to the familiar places and stuck with the occasional rundown apartment.

Her eyes scanned the buildings across the way before moving down to the civilians down below on the busy streets. She watched as several vendors sold their items from time to time or watched as the schools of children ran home the moment the time came. Always searching for something that stood out in the familiarity of things. Even after moving around for over a year and across the world, her routine never changed.

No matter how free she had been with the Avengers, she was now someone who was alone. She was someone without any ties to an organization and that meant someone would always come knocking. And Y/N knew that some of them wouldn’t come with a container of cookies. 

As she brought the mug up to her lips, her mind instantly went to Bucky and how he would have enjoyed this little town. How even though the streets were crowded, she had mostly been left alone. As the thought played through her mind, it didn’t stop the ache in her chest from forming.  No matter how much time had passed, she still missed him. 

Maybe she didn’t deserve to miss him. Not after what she had been keeping from him. She tried so hard to bury her past and keep it under for it to only be uncovered by Bucky. She deserved his anger and how easy it was for him to ask her to leave. If she was being honest, she had expected many things to come from that night, but staying under the radar hadn’t been one of them.

A part of her wanted there to be a message from Bucky waiting for her when she stopped by one of the familiar safe houses. Yet there never was. Not that she was expecting there to be. She knew Bucky could possibly never forgive her. If he had…even then she wouldn’t know. Not when she tried hard to make sure she lived like the namesake that was forced upon her. 

Shaking her head slightly, her eyes moved along the alley way at the far end of the street. Her eyes instantly fell on the shade the building provided and the man standing within the shadows. He was by himself and scanning the crowd in front of him. She would have thought he had been waiting for someone until he turned slightly and she caught a glimpse of a handgun attached to his hip. 

Her eyes hesitantly moved from his figure as she began scanning once more. As she did, she found another standing by one of the vendors. His appearance stood out in the crowd. It made the hair on the back of her neck stand as she watched the second one for a moment. His movements were quick, but she watched as his hand fiddled with the comms in his ear. 

When she found a third making his way up the fire escape across the street from her building, that had become her queue to get out of there. After setting the mug on the counter, she began moving around the small space and collected her essentials. Her pace is quick, but thorough. 

Moving from place to place meant keeping things light at all times. Her getaway bag had maps and tools she needed to ensure she could get from one place to another. Tucked in a hidden pocket in the back of the bag, she had a yellow envelope with small mementos of her life before leaving the compound. Once she had what she needed she was out the door.

"There's my favorite rogue agent." A feminine voice came over the low murmurs of patrons speaking around them. 

Y/N's eyes rolled as she finally turned her attention to the woman that had been speaking. "What do you want, Valentina?" 

The moment Y/N heard Valentina step into the area, she had known she had overstayed her welcome in the city. She may have been across the country from the Avengers Compound, but it apparently wasn’t far enough for her to show up. 

“You mean I can’t come and visit you while you plan out your next move to completely avoid your ex boyfriend?” A close to genuine chuckle passed Valentina’s lips as she continued to move closer to Y/N before taking a seat next to her in a small cafe. “I must say you’ve gone soft over the years. The Y/N I knew when we first met wouldn’t have let someone such as James Barnes to drive her away. Let alone turn her back on not one but two organizations she showed loyalty to.”

“There’s a reason one of those organizations no longer exists and most members are dead.” Y/N’s eyes never left Valentina’s. She didn’t trust the woman at all and with her being there now, it couldn’t be good. “Some people refuse to be puppets.”

A small smirk pulled at the woman’s lips. “Yet here you are, hiding out in a cafe after spending the day on rooftops to get even the smallest glimpse of the man you betrayed. Seems to me he’s still holding the strings.” She watched as Y/N shifted through her emotions for the briefest of moments. “Such a shame the betrayal happened on your birthday. Must have been one hell of a party.” 

Before the words completely left Valentina’s lips, Y/N had her gun cocked and aimed at Valentina from under the table. While any other time she wouldn’t move to make a scene, Y/N acted on her emotions. “You were his informant. You handed him the file.”

Valentina rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms. "Oh sweets, I have someone else to do my dirty work. I simply provided the information at a higher link."

Valentina may have heard the sound of the gun cocking back, but she made no move to act on it. She was calling Y/N’s bluff. It was a crowded cafe and she knew Y/N wouldn’t intentionally cause a midday scene with the Avengers still in the city. 

"What is it that you gain from giving it to him?" She asked with a raised brow. "Or was it for the satisfaction that you still have some ties into my life?"

A huff of a chuckle passed Valentina's lips as her eyes never left Y/N. "I did it because if given the right persuasion, I'd gain you without any loyalties to anyone or any organization."

“Wrong move. Because I’d rather be retired than have any kind of ties with you.”

“What if I told you I happen to come into possession of something that can remove that trigger in your head. Would you change your mind?" 

"I'd call you a liar and still want nothing from you. I'm safe from my triggers. They don't exist anymore." 

A huff came from Valentina. "You should know that there are a few others that are interested in having you with them. I'm your best shot at not letting you fall into the wrong hands. They're building from the ground up."

Y/N's eyebrow raised slightly. "I think I'll take my chances."

This wasn't the first time she was forced to move because someone had found her. After her interaction with Valentina, she was always keeping her guard up. Her past made her a valuable asset to have. Many tried bribing her before she kept herself under the radar. Others were planning on a more forceful approach. 

Y/N wasn’t stupid. She knew that there was the possibility that there was someone out there that was crazy enough to try and keep Hydra going. While the Avengers and herself had taken out the bases, she knew there were smaller factions that were waiting for their big break. Their big break being the woman that can easily get what they wanted quickly. 

Following her escape route should have been easy. She had timed it out twice since moving in and it had been an effective way out of the town. If her pursuers hadn’t seen her yet, she’d be able to get away in record time. If they had, she'd have to find a way to push the time.  

The moment she reached ground level, she began merging herself in with the small crowds around the vendors. Her pathway out of town was to the west and from where she currently stood. Her eyes are constantly moving, taking in every detail to ensure her escape as quickly as possible. 

Two vendors down, she took note of the man she saw from her window. She watched as his eyes moved from the booth he was looking at, up to the apartments. No doubt looking at the window she had been standing in not too long ago. 

As she carefully made her way, she kept her eyes focused on the vendors as she passed him while keeping her ears open. She needed to know their current stance before making a run for it. The moment she was in proximity of him, she had been able to hear the partial conversations he had been having through his comms.

“She was just there.” There was a pause as he listened. Y/N stiffened a bit as her hand ran over a necklace hanging in front of her. Don’t run. It will bring unwanted attention. “Search the area. She couldn’t have gotten far.”

With that, Y/N moved in between two of the vendors before making her way down the street. She had almost been to the alleyway she had marked for her escape when she caught sight of another agent walking out of that exact alley way. 

Quickly thinking, she walked into the small tourist shop she had been in front of. The shop had several aisles of shelving that were filled with trinkets. She moved her way through the little shop, knowing there was a back entrance she could slip out through. 

"Alleyway clear." 

The moment the words were said, she backtracked her steps and moved back into the aisles. Shit. Her thoughts played as her eyes moved towards the front of the shop. She watched as two others ran right past the window of the shop. 

Knowing she was surrounded this time sent a spike of fear through her body. Her mind raced through several ways this could play out. One, she could fight her way out with the attention it would bring and run with the ability to lay low. Two, she'd fight and die in the process because she wouldn't let anyone take her to manipulate her. And then there was the third option. 

It was an option that she didn't know if it would work at all. She could lay low for as long as she needed to in order to get a message out before fighting long enough before being captured. But it was a matter if the person receiving the message would care enough to act on it. 

She bit her lips as she watched the agents from the opposite end of the street begin to close in. "Option three it is." 

She worked quickly to get the items she needed. Grabbing a postcard from the rotating rack, she made sure it had the little shop’s name on it. Second, she grabbed a small decorative box that had been on the shelf across the way. 

With both in hand, she began making her way towards the shop owner that had been standing there watching her the whole time. His eyebrow was raised with a small scowl on his lips as she approached the counter and she gave a soft smile, placing the items on the counter. 

She had been in his shop only once before. But it had been enough to know she could use him to help get her message out. Even now she could see the way the news clippings and posters of her former teammates hung directly behind him. 

"What if I told you I can get the Avengers to show up here to your shop?" She asked as she pulled out her old Avengers patch from her tactical suit and placed it on top of the items. The scowl on his face slowly formed into a smile and she knew she was in. 

It wasn't long after he had helped her get things in order when she heard the front door open. She could hear the heavy boots hit the tiled floor. 

Perfect timing. She thought as she gave the shop owner one more smile. "Sorry for any damage that's about to happen." 

The moment she finished, she felt a hand grab a hold of her shoulder. Out of instinct and all her years of training, Y/N was able to flip the agent over onto his back. A knife was easily in her hand, stabbing him right in the neck before he had even hit the ground. 

Another set of hands reached for her before she blocked his movements with her own arm. It allowed her to turn and face him as she dodged his blows and before swiping her legs right under his. With his fall, he crashed against one of the shelves of trinkets causing a shattering mess of figurines. 

As he moved to get up, Y/N looked around for anything to use to her advantage. At least that was until the shop owner held out a crowbar towards her. Her eyebrow raised for a moment before she shrugged and took a hold of it. Without a second thought, she swung the crowbar, hitting his head with full force, sending him back into the broken glass. 

A scoff passed her lips as she took in the mess before her. It had felt way too easy to her. She hadn’t even come close to breaking a sweat. Neither of them seemed prepared for what she was capable of. If they really wanted to take her down, it was going to take a lot more than they had been giving. 

Placing the crowbar on the counter, she leaned down and pulled the knife still lodged in the first agent. “Mail that out quickly. When they get here, make sure you stick-”

“To the instructions you gave.” The shop owner rolled his eyes. He motioned towards the front door. “If you’d be so kind as to leave before more of them come and cause more damage.”

She pulled the knife out quickly before she was moving out the door. It gave her the chance to move along a few of the shops towards the other alleyway she knew would make it out of the block to exit the town. Turning into it, she began running. 

As she neared the end, she braced herself for whatever would come next. Her escape had been too easy. Agents had barely put up a fight. And in the back of her mind, she knew. This is where they get her. 

The moment she ran out past the exit of the alley a shuddered gasp left her lips. A jolt of electricity pulsed through her body, immobilizing her. She fought to keep the scream that bubbled in her throat at bay, not wanting to give them the satisfaction of hearing it. When she fell to the ground, she watched as the shadows of agents moved in on her. Before darkness could consume her, she watched as one of them stood over her.

“Welcome back to the fold, Phantom.”

_____

"Man, it sure is good to be back." Sam said the moment he stepped off the ramp of the quinjet. 

"Debrief is in an hour. Don't get too comfortable." Steve added as the rest of them made their way towards the compound. 

A few groans filled the air before they went their separate ways. Some of them went towards their rooms to free themselves from the tactical gear they were in. Others, in an attempt to not fully relax before the debrief, went into the common area. 

"Looks like we've gotten mail." Wanda noted as she walked past the countertop they were on, heading for the fridge.

"Does anyone else find it odd that you actually get mail here?" Clint asked. 

Sam collected the small stack of mail and started going through it. As he did he began handing them out the people currently in the room. 

"Can't hide from the bill collectors." Natasha joked as she reached out and got the singular piece of mail from Sam. 

"Bill collectors or fan mail." Sam added. When he reached the bottom of the stack an eyebrow raised. "Well that's a first." His eyes caught as Bucky moved further towards the seats by the back wall. "Barnes actually has mail." He began moving towards Bucky. 

"What, junk mail?" Bucky joked as he sat himself down in the arm chair. 

“Looks like fan mail.” Sam said as he handed him the post card. “Though it doesn’t say who it’s from or why they sent it.”

Bucky’s eyebrow raised as he took a hold of the postcard. A foreign gift shop covered the front of it. It was a place Bucky had never seen let alone heard the name of. When he turned the card over, he instantly knew who it was from. 

Y/N’s writing had been rushed. The Compound’s address is written along with his name. Right in the open block for a message had only been one single word. It took a moment before recognition registered in his brain at the phrase, causing him to quickly stand from his seat.

“Hypothetical scenario,” Y/N said as she looked over at Bucky as he looked out the window, keeping an eye on the target. She could see the way he slightly shook his head with a small smile pulling at his lips at her words before she even began. It was something she always did with him when they were stuck playing the waiting game. “If anything were to happen that we got separated and went missing. How would you let me know you were alive?”

Bucky spared a glance over at Y/N. “By showing up and proving that I can’t be easily gotten rid of.” His eyes moved back to the target. “I doubt with the technology Stark has, there’d ever be a need for this scenario.”

Y/N rolled her eyes. “Okay then let’s add onto the scenario. We’re not working with the Avengers and we’re two rogue agents out there in the world. Someone attempts to take us out and we need to lay low after that attempt to make sure it’s clear. How would you let me know you were okay?”

Bucky sighed and thought about it for a moment. “Postcard of where we are.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Send it to a previously discussed location. Maybe the next safehouse we planned. With a code word that makes no sense to anyone else.”

“What would the code word be?” She asked as she got up from her spot to go stand beside him. 

“For safe?” He watched from his peripheral as she nodded. Her eyes on their target. His mind could only think of one thing. The first time he knew he loved Y/N was over breakfast after an exhausting mission. One where pancakes may have burned since they had been distracted. “Pancakes.”

A laugh passed her lips. “Burnt or Regular?”

“While I prefer regular, the burnt ones make the memories.” He bumped his right shoulder against hers. She bumped hers back against his as they watched the target pace back and forth on the phone. “What if you were going to be late to the randevou?”

“Stark.” She said without hesitating, causing him to laugh. “That proves it's a perfect fit. Okay, worst ever possible case scenario. What if we know we’re being stalked- let's say by Hydra- and more than likely be captured. You only have enough time to write one word before sending it, what would it be?”

His brows furrowed at the mere mention of the scenario. Sometimes her hypothetical worried him but he always went along with it and thought about his answers. While he never believed they would ever need something to warn each other, he knew that one word needed to stand out. After a moment he nodded his head. “Siberia.”

Bucky’s widened eyes focused on the single word within the text block. Unlike how she rushed with the address, Bucky could tell she took the extra time to make sure this word was loud and clear. 

SIBERIA

"FRIDAY, how long ago did this arrive?" Bucky asked, never taking his eyes off of the postcard. 

The postcard was delivered three weeks ago. Two days after the team left for the mission. Threat level zero. 

His chest tightened. They had all been gone when the postcard got there. He hadn't been there when it had arrived. The only person that could decipher the single word on it had been nowhere near it when Y/N needed him to get the message. 

Three weeks he and the rest of the team had been out there dealing with the small weeds of Hydra that were starting to grow. Three weeks of making sure nothing would ever come from them poking their heads up from the ground. Three weeks of fearing that Y/N would be entangled in them somehow on her own free will. 

Even before the mission and in between, he spent several months checking in on safe houses and apartments along the way. It may have been brief moments of arriving but it was enough to give a thorough check in. All of the stops with one goal in common, looking for Y/N. 

Looking for her so he could apologize. Looking for her to make sure there was some proof she was alive out there. Looking for her to bring her back home with him. But she was good at keeping herself invisible. Good enough that part of him wanted to give up, but he couldn't bring himself to.  

Now, there was no telling what kind of trouble she was in before she had been captured. While part of him hoped it was any other organization attempting to get their hands on Y/N, he knew that wasn't the case. Not with that code word. 

An uncomfortable chill ran up his back and he had to stop himself from crumpling up the postcard in his hand as he dealt with the whirlwind of emotions he was feeling at that moment. 

"What is it?" Natasha asked, watching him. Bucky’s eyes moved towards her before looking at the others who were watching in curiosity. 

For a moment his brain shifted through every memory he had within the grasp of Hydra. Every scream he let out had echoed in his ears. The torment and conditioning he had been subjected to. It wasn't long before the visions of himself morphed into her being the one to experience it all. All of it screaming at him that everything has gone wrong. All because he forced her to leave. 

"It seems we missed a growing Hydra faction on our mission. It's from Y/N."  He hadn't missed the widened eyes at the mention of her name. "She sent the postcard. It's a warning and a plea for help. She's been captured by Hydra." 

[soukokvn]

Theres one thing that I love about one relationship in one piece but I think it’s too unclear and like between the lines for everybody to understand it so imma explain it to y’all 🫵

This is all about the Law/Cora/Dofy situation and I swear you won’t regret knowing that.

We know Dofy is a literal demon spawn he was born to be a menace to society and don’t give two fucks about how what he does affects others.

During the Dressrosa arc you get to meet with the Donquixote family with its three main units named after the four symbols in card games so « heart, clubs, diamonds and spades ».

It’s easy to make the link between Corazon and the heart unit obv since it’s a code name to represent that he is the head of this unit, and before him it was Vergo.

Now back to the Dressrosa arc 13 years after Cora’s death, the heart unit doesn’t exist anymore. Or I should say doesn’t have anybody officially in it. Since Cora’s death Dofy didn’t give this name to anybody again.

I have three reasons that could explain why :

For when Vergo comes back eventually

Because he didn’t want anybody to take the place of his brother (either out of love, even if it sounds quite unreal, either because he didn’t want anybody to remind him of him)

Because he kept this place for Law if he ever came back

BUT Law still wears the heart. His tattoos, his jacket in this arc and even his crew (called Heart Pirates), and THIS is something that Dofy doesn’t like at all.

Dofy never looses his cool, he has a lot of temper and is very cold headed but we saw him giving in to his emotions two major times. The first time being Cora’s death.

If you watch true crime or things like criminal minds you know that when someone is killed by being shot or stabbed repeatedly it, pretty much every time, mean the victim and killer had a strong bound and the crime was due to something happening in their relationship that created hatred or frustration for exemple. Now look at Cora’s death.

It’s clearer in the anime but Dofy shots Cora repeatedly. And the same thing happened a second time 13 years later with who ? Law obv 👍

It’s the scene where Dofy sees the name Corazon on Law’s back, he absolutely loses his shit.

He hates seeing Law wear the heart because it must remind him of his failure with him and Cora, how he wasn’t able to get the two of them to stay with him.

We know that Dofy still associates Law with the Heart tho no matter how much it seems to affect him, when Law was captured he was attached to the Heart throne, out of the four empty ones.

So when Dofy wanted to kill Law after losing his shit over how Law will forever be associated with the Heart no matter what he has to say about it he ONCE AGAIN shoot repeatedly.

Im not pointing this so say that Dofy is attached to him in any way but in a way that Law, more than anyone else, affects him so deeply he makes him lose his cool even for a second. Even when he lost to Luffy Dofy was not much affected by the situation, but as soon as Law shows him how linked he still is to the Heart and Cora it’s the end of the world for him.

You can even see how he will forever associate the name Corazon to Law, because of their relationship of course, but also because Dofy probably wanted Law to become the new Corazon, as he said 16 years ago that in ten years Law would be his right hand.

I think I’m pretty much done, their trio is one of my favorite in the whole series, it’s so interesting to try to understand how Dody feels about them and the other way around, their relationship is so complex and well written I just love them all three sm 🙏

Hope this didn’t bore you and you liked it 😁

[parachutingkitten]

The Villain She was Meant to Be

Happy @loving-cryptor-day ! A little 750 word drabble. Echo and Cry, living as roommates, chat about Pix.

Echo entered the living room holding a large laundry basket, and set it down on the floor in front of the couch. His roommate lounged on top, flipping through channels, and getting progressively more annoyed. 

“Anything good on?” Echo asked, folding onto the floor next to the basket as he began sorting the load.

“Nothing but the worst press conference on every channel,” Cryptor groaned. “I swear, I can’t stand her stupid smile.”

Echo chuckled, looking up to see Pixal’s face filling the screen, giving some sort of address in front of the Bounty. “She really is everywhere, isn’t she?”

“It’s infuriating.” Cryptor grumbled. “I mean, plastering her face everywhere is legitimately insulting.”

“I mean, it’s a little annoying, I guess.” Echo shrugged.

“She should be rotting behind bars.” Cryptor asserted, still toggling through stations, only to meet more feeds of his sister.

“For what?” Echo scoffed, shifting his glare over to the couch. “From the sounds of things, it seems like she just saved the city again.”

“For everything I got pinned for.” Cryptor stressed, muting the television. “She started the whole thing, she’s the one who helped the Overlord escape in the first place.”

Echo continued his folding, rolling his eyes. “Well, she was also under the control of the Overlord-” 

“We were all under the control of the Overlord!” Cryptor lurched forward. “It was all the Overlord! There was no piece of corrupted technology that wasn’t just the Overlord!” 

Echo dropped his wrists over the edge of the basket, a shirt still hanging in his hands as he turned his attention back to his roommate. “Didn’t the Overlord commission you though? You were made to work for him.”

Cryptor sighed, now hunched over at the edge of the couch, a hint of defeat entering his manner.  “...the first memory I have, is of being arrested.” He stared out into the room, his eyes sitting with a thick, heavy blankness.

Echo stared back at him, the room frozen in fragility. “What do you mean?”

“It’s the very first event written into my processor. There is no record of anything before then.” Cryptor looked back at Echo, eyes still impenetrable. “Things from before came back to me eventually, but it was information. Events I knew had happened, but had no memory of participating in. Because I didn’t do any of it. I didn’t have any kind of control. People called me a weapon, and a murderer, and a terrorist, before I’d ever had the chance to make a single decision for myself.”

Echo leaned over the edge of the sofa, now locked on getting to the bottom of the situation. “Why didn’t you fight to get out earlier? You would have had a decent case, manipulation by an evil presence is pretty common in Ninjago.”

Cryptor shrugged. “Because I did it.” He lowered himself onto the floor, his glance reaching toward his companion. “Even if it wasn’t really me, it was still me, you know? And it was the only thing I had ever done, even if I didn't do it. It felt sort of pointless to try and resist. If people wanted to label me a monster, I didn’t have any grounds to disbelieve them. It all felt sort of inevitable.”

Cryptor’s eyes turned again to his sister’s image, still smiling on the screen in front of them. “The only difference between Pixal and me, is that she was freed of the Overlord’s code soon enough to get away scot-free. She managed to win the heart of the hero, and so everyone forgives her.” His head sunk back onto the couch cushions behind him, his eyes now pointed at the ceiling. “She lucked into falling in love with the right person and the right time, while I’m left playing the villain she was supposed to be.”

Echo gingerly leaned over the laundry basket, toward his friend. “You know, I don’t think Pixal should’ve gone to jail, but for what it’s worth, I don’t think you should have either… I know how rough that can be, especially in solitary.”

Cryptor’s head turned Echo, a new found solidarity in his face. “But hey, we got out.”

Echo nodded. “We got out.” 

Cryptor’s hand reached out, grabbing the other end of the laundry basket, his expression softening. “How about I do this load, and you find us literally anything else to watch.” 

Echo’s face lit up in a smile as he quickly sat up. “Is this permission to put on a rom com?!”

“As long as it’s not about two stupidly perfect robots, I think I can handle it.”

[inqorporeal]

There was something odd about the bookshop. Well, specifically its owner, but the shop was weird, too.

"I dunno, I just get the oddest feeling every time I go in," Mona said through a mouthful of croissant. "Like it's just a piece of set dressing. Like on stage, you know?"

"The books are there to be seen and occasionally looked through, but not actually claimed," Stuart agreed.

Nicola folded her arms on the slightly sticky coffee-shop table. "You know what I think--"

"Not your MI-6 theory, again," Mona groaned.

"Look, all I'm saying is that the owner knows a disturbing amount about history and especially contemporary warfare and politics. He totally helped me with that one paper I had to do last year, and I swear he didn't look anything up, but somehow just pulled books off the shelf that had exactly what I needed. And--"

"Aw, here we go," Stu muttered, amd poured another cup of tea for himself feom the shared pot.

"Shut it," Nicola growled. "He somehow had a newspaper from the start of World War I, in absolutely pristine condition, that had an article about the death of--"

"He's a history nerd, so what?" Stu said. "He inherited the place from his Da, who was also a complete nerd. My Ma swears they're the spitting image of each other, it's a whole schtick they have goong on. Welcome to London, we have weirdos, if you look to your left you can see a skyscraper that looks like a cock and we call it the Gherkin."

"I'm telling you, he's like some sort of secret agent," Nicola insisted. "There's that one skinny guy all in black who's always around, never takes off his shades even indoors. And remember last month, Old George swore up and down the shop burnt to the ground and then reappeared as good as new?"

"Old George is ancient and forgets you're not his little sister's best friend from church," Mona said. She drained off her ridiculous coffee drink and wiped foam from her upper lip. "The building probably burnt down when he was a kid and he's getting confused because back then they tried to rebuild things as they used to be rather than ploughing them up."

"Besides, even the best secret agency can't just rebuild an entire building stone by stone overnight. He's definitely suffering something." Stu held up a hand in the face of Nicola's poisonous glare. "Okay, okay, Old George's faulty memory aside, what makes you think the proprietor works for bleedin' MI-6?"

"I was in not too long before that, working on that nightmare essay, remember?" She waited until the other two nodded, although Mona now had her mobile out and was rexting someone. "These two creepy guys in absolutely pristine suits came in and loudly asked after pornography. Just like that, really kind of stilted, and loud. You know the place as well as I do, there's no porn there."

"I dunno, some of the classics are pretty spicy," Stu joked.

"That's different. He doesn't exactly stock Playboys you know? And the owner got real uncomfortable-looking, like he didn't want to be anywhere near them, and then took them into the back room."

Mona's head came up. "No ody goes in the back room except--"

"And the skinny bloke, aye. And when they came out, they were thanking him for 'the pornography'." Nicola pulled out the scare quotes this time. "Nobody ever buys anything from A.Z. Fell's. It's a fucking library without the legal permits. I think they were foreign agents--"

"You can't expect us to believe that Mr Fell is a secret agent," Stu insisted.

Nicola rolled her eyes. "No, I think he's the middle-man between the creepers and that skinny bloke. They can't be seen near someone like that, right? So Tall and Skinny--"

"Is way too obvious to be a spy," Mona said, shaking her head.

"But that's the brilliance of it! If he's an obvious eccentric, nobody thinks he's a spook!"

Nicola was on a roll now, and Mona and Stu exchanged a look.

"He's like a foreign agent, yeah? And 'pornography'--" scare quotes again-- "is just one of those code phrases they use, right?"

Someone stopped by their table, casting a long shadow against the light streaming through the dusty front window. "if you ask me," the stranger said, "it sounds like you watch too many spy films." He smiled thinly and the lenses of his round dark glasses seemed to flash for a moment.

"Right?" Mona said. "How many times did you see the last Bond film?"

"That has nothing to do with it--"

"What's more likely," the stranger continued, sipping at a monstrosity of a drink that could only tangentially be called 'coffee', "is that the gentlemen in question were local mob shaking our poor bookseller down. You should avoid them."

"See?" Stu agreed. "That makes a lot more sense. A Z. fell has a reputation to maintain. They were definitely threatening him."

Nicola grumped for a moment, slouching in her chair. "Alright, you have a point. He didn't act like they were friends."

"Exactly." The stranger smiled and left his empty, sugar-smeared mug in the middle of their table and left.

Mona opened her mouth to protest when someone else huffed a little sigh. Mr Fell himself picked up the mug, muttering, "Honestly, darling," under his breath, and returned it to the dish drop.

Nicola stared at her plate. "Wait. Who ordered danishes? Do they even sell danishes here?"

[britt-kageryuu]

The guys are sitting around a large table that has a long grill through the middle, with a couple metal plates on some parts that act as griddles. The table seems to be on a rooftop somewhere, but the skyline is blocked by canvas sheets painted to look like a New York City Skyline.

The guys are all dressed in color coded shorts, their masks, and shirts with different graphics on them. Raph = an Aligator Snapping Turtle holding a barbell in its mouth wearing sweatbands, Donnie = Reboot Process Interrupted Current Mood: Murderous, Leo = a turtle covered ing glitter with a unicorn horn on its head, Mikey = I have a Psychology Degree and am Eager to Use It! (Threat).

They were having Yakiniku, with a few other things on the grills and griddles, chatting among eachother, and answering questions from the chat. On one end Mikey was experimenting with 'steam baking' a cake on the griddle.

Shelldon is flying around the area announcing the questions, while River is in stand-by/sleep mode on a box in the back charging. Shelldon is also acting as a speaker playing music as he floats around.

"So we had to send someone to grab some more ingredients, the poor new guy was so confused by the list, so I volunteered to go with him." Mikey says as he checks his experiment, "This guy apparently never went shopping in the marketplace before, and I swear he almost overpaid on ingredients, so many times. Senior Hueso gave us a budget, and I wanted to make sure we stuck to it."

Shelldon swerves around next to Donnie, "Hey Dad, TechnoTurtle, wants to know how you have so many 3D models in such a short amount of time. Got any answers Dude-Dad?"

Donnie was in the middle of eating so it took a minute for them to answer, "Well to be honest, I have planned to make numerous games with 3D models in the past, and then lost interest for various reasons. So I had all the Models saved on a spare memory bank." They pause to take a sip of their drink, "And before we get a question about the many outfits, I left some odd videogame clothes/costume data attached to the models so it's very easy to add new outfits. Think of our Models as videogame avatars instead of VTuber models. Also I don't know what programs others normally use for making VTuber models, Mandarin and I have been using a mix of my programs, and some free to use art programs."

Mikey is seen moving his cake experiment to a counter near the table to cool under a netted cube, "I may have made our original model concepts, and done some minor rigging for them, but once we discovered the mix of programming we use now, yeah definitely better for us. I may love doing art, but making models for VTubing was more complicated than I wanted to deal with." Mikey quickly grabs a few pieces of meat and veggies from the grill with tongs, "Heck, once I told everyone I designed our models, I had to emphasize on my commission page that I don't do models. But I have been making 2D, 2.5D model Assets, with a wide variety of skin tones, and even different species variants." Mikey says with some pride in his voice.

Leo was about to say something, but stopped to stare as Donnie starts to eat a sandwich, he made with grilled meats and veggies, whole. It wasn't an unusual sight for the guys, but it's been a while since he last saw Donnie do this. And that's not to mention the audience who are all very confused and concerned by this.

"I don't know why I'm surprised to see you eat like that Dee, but Wow. I forgot you could-" Leo paused for a sec, "That almost came out very wrong. And not in a way I would want to say."

Sadly some of the audience was able to pick up on the almost innuendo, thankfully they didn't mention it in chat, but they did make memes out of the clip.

Donnie looked at Leo with great offense after finishing his sandwich. "Annoyed Huff. Rude. Dear Brother, you can not fault me for my softshell instincts!" They say with a huff and crossed arms. Their tail seen whipping around behind them.

Raph just lets out a sigh with a shake of his head. "You two are always so chaotic with eachother. But you're my knucklehead brothers." He uses some custom chopsticks to flip the meat he put on the grill before eating it after a few seconds.

The stream goes on with more chatting, and eating, though after a bit of time they're joined by April, Cass, and CJ. With a note that their Dads are on vacation, to get away from some the guys chaotic antics recently.

The chaotic antics in question were not mentioned, much to the audiences great disappointment.

--------------------

Masterpost

This was at least partly my original idea for their 4th of July post, but I decided that the guys would rather just enjoy the festivities instead of streaming the entire time.

And yes Donnie is swallowing the sandwich whole. I just realized how wrong/weird it sounds to describe that hence the 'unspoken innuendo' line.

[chaosnojutsu]

good morning!! I see your backstory ask post and I would love to hear more about the bridgerton AU or extraordinary love!! Whatever you want to say about them. they are faves of mine!! ❤️ thank youuuuuuu

You get both as I try to decide if I can swing something for Shikatema month and prep for Nejiten month! Perfect timing, I actually just re-read these two last night looking for inspiration!

ask about the backstory for one of my fics!

send shivers down my spines: I wrote all the Nejiten story and separately wrote all of Lady Whistledown as one cohesive letter, and then decided where I wanted to place each of her gossipy interjections. That was neat to explore as a writing device because I had room to expand upon the world and add a little more flavor (like detailing Naruhina’s relationship and my obligatory background Shikatema mention) without feeling like I had to do it all from Tenten’s POV, which would have detracted from the core of this story: Tenten being horny for Neji.

Another fun part of writing this was casting what role each character would play! Coding Neji as Simon was easy — deciding to split Daphne between Tenten and Hinata then seemed natural; the premise of having sex in the library comes from Daphne and Simon, but it felt disingenuous to her character for Tenten to be the diamond of the season. My personal favorite analog is Tsunade and Queen Charlotte, which also felt like a duh decision given their roles in society, but I liked the nod to Tenten wanting to impress Tsunade.

I solemnly swear to never refer to Tenten’s junk as “nethers” again lmao. I usually can’t stand that one, but it felt appropriate for the piece. And I can’t talk about this fic without bringing up the dom Neji agenda! Who’s going to tell the head of the house he can’t give head anywhere he wants in his house?? Definitely not Tenten, and apparently not any of their house staff. I’ve spent some time considering what a dom Neji might look like since your initial comment on the fic, so he might make a stronger appearance in another work — yay and thanks for putting the bug in my ear!

extraordinary love: “Temari knows damn well why a stupid social construct like her nonexistent virginity matters. Back in the day of arranged marriages, the whole thing was more of a business deal. The wannabe groom would have to pay more to his bride’s family in exchange for her hand in marriage if she was pure. Virgin brides from influential families were high dollar items. Temari’s family is influential enough. But now that the matter of virginity is off the table… this barter is looking more like the Sand seeking retribution against the Leaf than tit for tat. If her marriage is blessed, they’ll probably stipulate Shikamaru move to Suna instead of the opposite, which is not what Temari and Shikamaru decided on. In the most drastic worst case scenario, like Kankuro said, their engagement (or the knowledge that said engagement has been consummated on a number of occasions) might be seen as an act of war. They’ll stick Shikamaru’s stupid, handsome face in a bingo book with shoot to kill orders.”

This premise is the heartbeat of the story. What does it look like when your personal values don’t align with those of everyone else around you? How do we respond when well-intended people stick their nose in our business and give an opinion we never asked for? Combined with fan theories/headcanons that Shikadai was a pre-wedding pregnancy — and that’s an interesting concept to me, especially considering what that might have looked like for Temari and Shikamaru if they were still long distance or abruptly decided not to be (and the parallel to Mirai and Kurenai and Asuma, of course, which I didn’t hit in this story because Temari wasn’t actually pregnant) — everything fell into place.

Making the call to write from Temari’s POV was exciting but scary because she’s so Particular, you know? But this story needed to come from her because of what it is, and it’s about Temari’s agency: she gets to decide who she marries, and whose baby she has, and she gets to decide when those things happen. And then I got to actually write her being in love (which I’m eager to try again), and I love the energy of Temari being like “Look how impressive my fiancé is! I made a good choice! I’m trying really hard to make you approve of him!” and Shikamaru being like “Yeah, what she said!” Because Shikamaru understands that as far as Suna’s customs and culture go, he doesn’t have a dog in that race, he IS Temari’s underdog in the race.

I’m honestly proud of this fic because I know I just made it sound really serious in terms of themes etc., but it ultimately is a comedy, and anyone who has ever done comedy can speak to how difficult of a skill it is to learn and hone. One of the things that makes comedy work well is that the characters have to take everything seriously and respond sincerely, now matter how ridiculous or grandiose their circumstances or responses may be. Temari even says from the beginning of this story that she knows she has the Kazekage on her side, but she panics a little because of her circumstances and takes matters into her own hands, and she doesn’t relinquish that control until shenanigans have ensued and Gaara finally reminds his sister that his support of her was never in question. (I’m not sure how I feel about my iterations of Gaara and Kankuro individually or overall, but I do like their scenes with Temari as siblings and their consistency.)

Side note: the reception of this story gave me the confidence to write chapter 15 of Reliance the way it panned out!

(also, I’m late, what’s new, lesbian nejiten is coming i promise)

[sansxfuckyou]

you say you love me, i say you crazy (we're nothing more than friends)

summary: this is what he gets for thinking that Gai would be happy with one night and nothing more than that

tags: aromantic Kakashi, angst, communication errors, implied one night stand

authors note: theyre so allo4aro qpr coded to me

https://archiveofourown.org/works/57561631

Gai won't stop bugging Kakashi about it.

It was supposed to be a one night stand, get the deeply enjoyed annoyance off his back for a bit. Mostly to turn the amount of "we should spar!" declarations he'd get from Gai, but it's backfired. He's let himself into a whole new world of horror.

And that world?

Desperate pleas of more.

It's nauseating to him. Sex is fine, sex is great, he'd be fine doing it with Gai every now and then if it meant keeping him from being so insistent. He gets it. Gai's a guy with ideals, he's got plans, and he plans full well on living them out. He's got an idea on how the world should work and what he needs to do to succeed in life.

Kakashi? He'll pass on the training and the teaching and the searching for the one. He has his books, his dogs, and his three students. That's more than enough for him. He loves them equally and ambivalently, his stories, his lifelong partners, his bastard children- unlike what Gai keeps trying to convince him of.

Someone didn't read enough of Jiraiya's books to understand a one night stand can stay as one night. One single night. Not a single string attached to it. A little fling between friends for shits and giggles, a simple parting gift for someone you'll never see again, a cost of fifty dollars for a quickie. What's so hard to understand?

He said one night. He said it loud and clear. To prove his point he left before Gai could wake up in the morning to start on his reread of Makeout Paradise. See if he can figure out why it was such an awful experience compared to any other affair he's had.

No matter how much he tried to shut Gai up by kissing him till he turned blue in the face he kept saying so many sweet things. Sugary sweet. Sticky like honey and it made Kakashi's skin fucking crawl. Love, love, love- yes, he'd rather die for Gai than bury another a dead friend, but where does that translate to love? He doesn't know.

Maybe he should try to get less hot under the collar when he's reading anything emotional. Maybe people would get the message that he's not fucking interested at all. Just his luck that he's disconnected to the point that an utterance of adoration in his stories where nothing can go wrong makes him flush bright red.

Gai tries to confess to him again, ask him out on a date, try and see if he'd like to spend the night once more. Can't he take a single hint? Or is his skull really that thick?

"What do you want from me?" The amount of exasperation on his tone borders onto a shout, final straw having been plucked.

Gai huffs, "I thought you'd have picked up on my hints by now-"

"I have picked up on your hints! How come you keep trying to give me hints is what I'm asking!" Kakashi swears he doesn't mean to snap, but that'd be a lie. He can't do this anymore. Can't brush off his best friend and say 'maybe later' anymore.

"Because the sex was great and I'm-"

"I've had better, now will you please just stop. Take a hint, Gai, I'm not into you and I never will be."

Kakashi swears he can see Gai's heart shatter into a million little pieces in real time. He knows that he'll regret his harshness later on but right now it feels fucking cathartic. He feels so fucking justified it's unbelievable.

As the beat of silence stretches on Kakashi opts to open his book once more and walk off. Whatever. Just, fucking, whatever. If the tables were turned everybody would care. If Gai was getting borderline harassed for romance every other day then there would be riots. But he's Kakashi Hatake, he's used to Gai's pestering, used to his insistence on rivalry, he can't complain.

Just suck it up and keep moving.

He lacks, he feels a gaping absence in his soul- why would anyone care for someone missing something. Missing what's supposed to make you human. Whose supposed to care about him in spite of that when he never brings it up calm and collected, even if he does they pity him. They pity his happiness because that's not how happiness works. No, sages no, what would he know about happiness?

-/-/-/-

Kakashi doesn't talk to Gai again for a week.

Kakashi doesn't talk to anyone for a week unless they come to him, and the only one who does drop by is Gai.

"Kakashi-"

"Don't."

"What?"

"Don't even bother, whatever you have planned in your head won't end up with me buying you roses, I promise you that much."

"You didn't even let me try my speech."

"Because I know that nothing you can say will ever make me love you as anything more than what we already are- and that's final."

"But-"

Kakashi has Gai in a chokeslam against the wall before another syllable can be uttered, and as much as Gai could break out, he doesn't. He waits for Kakashi to speak, "Listen to me, Gai, I don't work like that."

Gai keeps listening.

"And I never will, you either live with it or leave."

The silence he gets in response is deafening.

Kakashi let's go of Gai's throat and slams his front door shut. What an idiot. Bothering to explain it, even in simple terms, is a death wish, a way to seal any coffin. He should know by now that Gai follows the hierarchy, that he'd see romance as higher than what they have, that he'd want romance after sex. It's the only logical progression to people like him, not to people like Kakashi.

He's too different to ever find peace, isn't he? That's the world keeps telling him at least.

-/-/-/-

Gai buys Kakashi a single rose after another week passes. A bright yellow flower, carried in a tarnished cup with some masking tape that had the word 'sorry' scribed onto it. He hands it over to Kakashi eagerly and watches as his rival starts to tear up.

"Gai, I fucking told you-"

"Before you say another word, rival, consider the meaning of the yellow rose!" The exuberance on his voice is enough to snap Kakashi from his disappointed state.

"A rose is a rose and a rose always means love."

"Not quite, while the classic red rose may symbolize love, each individual color has its own meaning. Blue, mystery. Orange, enthusiasm. White, purity. And yellow symbolizes what we have."

Kakashi gives a defeated sigh, "What do we have?"

"Friendship, dear rival, and nothing more."

Kakashi has the gall to laugh, "And what makes you think I believe you?"

"You said I lived with you not loving me or leave, and I'll live with it."

That's sweet, but, not in a way that makes Kakashi sick to his stomach. He grabs the rose and the glass it's in, "Thanks, Gai."

"No problem at all, Kakashi." He's back to his old self again, not like his old self ever really left though.

"Wanna go get some sushi, or something? We didn't actually do that last week."

"You and I both now that I'd never turn you down."

[reveseke]

Why is there no Morgan x Hotch x Reader poly ships at all in general ??? This shit has consumed my mind for the past few months as an after thought and now I'm going to do it myself :( .

Soooo rogue and spontaneous headcanons time !! bc i can't keep track of new things and work on old things.

Feature ... Aaron "Hotch" Hotchner | Derek Morgan | nonbinary reader ( they them )

CW nothing much actually – absolutely nothing, I'm swearing here and there but nothing extreme. Bolded words highlight the headcanon's main topic and will continue to be of same topic untill it meets the new bolded words headcanon lol.

Disc ... Reader is nonbinary coded even if it's not outrightly said and all of my stories are towards masc intended readers.

DNI - Fudanashis/fujodashis, women & fem-aligned, profic/proship, anti - LGBTQ+ folk & exclusionists, anti-antis, Necro- Zoo- Pedophiles + (NO)Maps(and other terms), basic DNI criteria, kink/nude/nsfw/sh/vent/pro-ana/ed/18+ blogs

General headcanons – Grumpy meets the guard dog and sunshine.

Interpret it as you want, but we all know reader's the sunshine here when it comes to that sentence.

But i kinda see something akin to that that the grumpy is just Aaron and Derek is the guard dog who is as much talk as he can be bite.

Also imo Morgan and Hotch can mask and generally hide their relationship in BAU so fucking well behind general banter and professionalism nobody would suggest their together. It's surprisingly easy looking back at how the whole team in their hands is full of profilers and still they manage to share some touches and glances here and there away from the unsuspecting team. (Bc if I've understood correctly you can't date someone in your team and cannot be family to them bc emotional ties and rash/impulsive thinking when one is in trouble.)

Which leads to kind of fun situations with Hotch being asked if he found someone to be in his life after Hayley and he answers yes but never actually slips names out so everyone else but Morgan is kinda on the edge with the fact that they know he's dating, but don't know who. Bc i really think he would other wise be encouraged to meet more people if he didn't tell he was already in a relationship and it could became a nag.

But when it comes to off-duty work their guards just drop around each other knowing they don't have to hide it anymore. They'll just kinda be in comfort silence both knowing their safe and don't need much more on the topic. Bc i don't see either of them being really uh lovey-dovey if they are not in the mood and home.

Wkvdvdj thinking thinking ... if R was not part of the BAU but instead worked somewhere else and just spontaneously met the two or was part of a case by accident like as someone who may have seen something, as a suspect etc etc or just plainly seeing him work when they were on a date and both regonice the interest they share for the Reader.

Cuddle piles. Really it's going to be Morgan, then R and then Hotch depending on if your actually smaller than them. If your bigger then by all means it's going to be R, Morgan & Hotch. ( I'm thinking this perspective from laying in a literal pile on the sofa and trying their hardest to have the heaviest/biggest on bottom and lightest/smallest on top so nobody feels like they're going to die lmao) but otherwise it's alternating on who feels like being a side piece and who an in-between piece of the cuddle sandwich in bed.

Ooh also thinking of Jack, just when R comes and if he isn't part of the BAU he's got time to spent helping Hotch's SIL and lending a hand on taking care of Jack. Making sure he knows he's cared for and can trust them even if building that trust may take awhile.

Silently making fast friends with Aaron's SIL and Derek's family.

Also the reader in this is normal, there's no aus on it yet . But mark my fucking words I'm going to make a hybrid, spider maybe even BAU team aus off of this fucking ship at some point in time lmao.

[hauntedberries]

my 30th attack gets a whole post to itself because its SPESHIL and i spent a WHOLE DAY ON IT!!!!!! attack for GravellyMistaken / @graveys-art-blog featuring their twp guys YAYYYYY

extra analysis bits under the cut (shamelessly copy pasted from my twt). mwah!

the first sketch is so funny to me i put all my energy into sam and then went eh fuck dat for the other two AHAHAHAHA im sorry i swear i have better sketches of vitor and uri im too lazy to pull them out

initially i wanted the soldier poet king themeing hence the arrangement (sam soldier, vitor poet, uri king), n u can see here that uri was supposed to have a blood splatter crown for the 'king' part but it wasnt coming out right.. i really had 0 idea what to do w her background until i Had to do it. it was just all trial n error and i was working until 4am so brother were there Errors. but i think it came out nice in the end! and while drawing i realized uri's themed after the king of diamonds/hearts so it looped back into the king themeing luckily AHAAHHAA

speaking of uri's bg tho, one random detail i like that somehow made it better for me was this streak at the back which could be interpreted as a river of blood OR smoke from a gun. cool fun stuff

i also wanted to do a thing w the composition where its like.. this is so scuffed but this. just so their poses didnt look completely random? sam n uri have one arm folded and the other doing whatever, while both of vitor's arms are folded. so it kinda has some sense of cohesion

and the border! i am a big fan. i took a lot of inspo from the tarot card series ive yet to continue. here's a wip image of it from april though. u can see the similarities of it w the one here!

THE top is the symbol i use for twp, which is a butterfly with eyes and the morse code for SOS. its encased in whats supposed to be the portal w 7 tentacles coming out of it to represent eri's 7 fragments!

as for the side border, its supposed to be quiro, lanluy, burmelio, then kh'elle, which is the order of the kingdoms the spinoff party visits in their adventure!!!! u can also see the morse code repeated :3

lastly their body language! sam is closed off, quite literally shielding their heart w their sword. they both look ready to strike but defend too.

vitor is juggling but i also wanted it to look like he's shrugging! to represent his kinda go with the flow attitude, but also how his arc has themes of being left in the dark bc my ouppy is a . fucking. dumbass

u can also see above that at first uri's pose had her holding the book closer to her but it made for a bad silhouette.. and it felt more ic to me to have her have a more open pose? bc she's eager to learn and spunky and confident!

e knee way those are just my extra thoughts on this piece. i had a lot of fun making it and i hope u have just as much fun Looking at it HAHHAHAHA im really proud of this one >_<

[lets-try-some-writing]

Guilty Pleasures (Part 3)

I swear this is the last post of Guilty Pleasures! I just felt the need to spread the love around a bit! With that said please enjoy more wholesome robot hobbies.

Ultra Magnus

The Autobot's second in command has been widely regarded as stiff and by the book. His hobby unsurprisingly keeps to this standard.

Even before arriving to earth Ultra Magnus always enjoyed puzzles.

Anything that really put his mind to work could keep him occupied for hours at a time.

But once he got to earth he quickly became interested in the puzzles Raf brought to base.

It took a great deal of effort at first. Attempting to move the small pieces being a lot more effort than it was probably worth, but he persevered anyway.

However Ultra Magnus didn't really get into the whole puzzle thing until Wheeljack proclaimed he couldn't do it.

Suddenly doing puzzles wasn't a matter of interest, but one of pride.

He started with small puzzles in order to work on his dexterity, and then over the course of several weeks, worked his way up to thousand piece puzzles.

It only continued to escalate, with every completed puzzle not so subtly being shown to Wheeljack to prove that he most certainly CAN complete puzzles, thank you.

It became habit for him to set up the most complex puzzle he could find and try to complete it as fast as possible, a true challenge given the size of his servos.

The act soothes him and give him a well earned break from the stress of everyday life.

It also helps ease his anxiety when Optimus isn't around to calm him down on bad days.

Predaking

Predaking, the noble spark that he is, likes to read and listen to stories from ancient times.

Both Cybertronian and earth mythologies interest him greatly.

He has developed a deep respect for Primus, the Thirteen Primes, the previous Predaking, Arthur Pendragon, and the Norse Gods.

The deep set code of honor present in all the before listed entities keeps him positively enthralled.

He prefers to hear the stories from the most reliable sources, as such he goes to great lengths to find those with the appropriate qualifications.

He has listened to every reliable podcast on the subject of earth culture that he can get a hold of.

He has also in great secrecy, met up with Optimus just so he can listen to the older mech's stories.

No living mech knows Cybertronian history better than the Matrix bearer and former head Archivist.

And Optimus doesn't mind telling Predaking his stories, in fact, he finds it relaxing to speak to one who isn't tired of his tales.

Predaking likes to pretend that he is mightier than everyone else, but secretly he holds a great deal of respect for Optimus Prime, partially due to his excellent storytelling but also due to his prowess in battle.

When he isn't gathering stories from the Prime, Predaking goes to historical sights under the cover of darkness in order to see a glimpse of what earth might have been like during Arthur's age.

All in all it is a rather wholesome interest.

Wheeljack

Wheeljack doesn't have a hobby in the traditional sense.

Yes he likes explosives and building things, but he doesn't really do either of those things for his own benefit.

All of his skill and enthusiasm always end up being used to help some other bot enjoy their hobby to the fullest.

He prefers helping others ramp up their interests to amazing new heights, mainly to see if it is even possible.

His interference in Smokescreen's beetle battles being an excellent example of this.

But his meddling is also present in nearly every other Autobot's hobby as well, not just Smokescreen.

Wheeljack has experimented with Arcee's plants to see if it is possible make something like the pea shooter from plantsVSzombies.

Arcee was not pleased, but she also held a certain degree of morbid curiosity towards the bulbous abomination that came from Wheeljack's experiments.

Wheeljack also likes to assist Bulkhead in testing out his more wild conspiracy theories, building drones to sneak onto bases like area 51 to see if there really are other aliens in there.

Results on that front have been inconclusive as Agent Fowler and co have always managed to catch their drone before it could get far.

Ratchet has also found himself with Wheeljack's assistance as he has attempted to figure out human recipes.

Most of the time their combined brain cell ends up taking the instructions way to literally or to the utmost extreme.

What do you mean a pancake isn't supposed to be made of pans? It's in the name!

And the cookies aren't meant to lathered with fire? The recipe said to bake them at 350?! Why can't a blowtorch be used to speed up the process!?!

Their collective IQ decreases and increases simultaneously when they work together, leading to either ingenious creations or utter and complete chaos

As for Bumblebee, he sticks to simply competing with Wheeljack on game nights, he would rather not risk his PC blowing up.

And Optimus, well, Wheeljack quickly learned to never, EVER speak of the Prime's little hobby.

It is a secret he intends to take to the grave.

The Vehicons

The little goons are bored more often than not, as such they take great joy in pranks and recording the hilarious blunders that occur around them.

The Vehicons have developed an advanced communication system that links them all into a version of the internet reserved for them and them alone.

This communication wasn't devised for efficiency, no, it was created by Vehicon St3v30z, nicknamed Steve, for the sole purpose of sharing Starscreams many high pitched screams with the rest of the Vehicons.

It was immediately a hit among the troops and Starscream became a meme over night, not that he knew of course.

It just escalated from there, with different Vehicons assigned to different areas sharing their own recorded videos featuring the embarrassing actions of those in high command.

Soon of course, just waiting for funny things to happen wasn't enough for the Vehicons anymore. They needed more content, thus began the secret, and still ongoing, prank wars.

As a good chunk of the Vehicons are not in any position to record or play pranks they contribute to the cause by providing resources to the recorders.

Usually this just means they take their sweet time with assignments or vacate an area in order for a prank to take place.

This then is the perfect opportunity for the pranksters to get some good content.

A random pipe bursting and scaring the scrap out of Knockout? Hilarious, instant meme.

Arrows on the floor leading Breakdown to wander endlessly and in great confusion in a giant circle? Perfect, comedy gold.

Giant cardboard cutout of Megatron placed ominously around a corner to terrify Starscream? You know Steve was there to capture the marvelous shrieks.

Glitter bomb on Megatron? Pray that Soundwave doesn't rat the perpetrator out and enjoy the show.

Not even the Autobots are safe.

Poor Optimus has been left creepy notes from a supposed ghost, terrifying the rather religious mech and granting the Vehicons some satisfying pictures of the Prime's disturbed expression.

Ratchet has had glitter bombs thrown at him literally every single time he appears in fight. All Vehicons carry at least one so that should Ratchet turn up, they have the chance to hit him with it.

Vehicons who manage to get Optimus caught up in one of the glitter bombs are paraded as heroes privately.

As for the rest of the team? They get random troll messages often showing one of the Vehicons playing an kazoo or doing something equally irritating.

The Vehicons laugh at everyone else's expense.

Here it is! Done! No more! Time for new things and new headcannons! I couldn't think of anything for Arachnid and I don't know if I missed anyone else or not. Please let me know if there is any bot you want some headcannons for or that I missed.