#to me that doesn’t sound like such a big sacrifice because shit is ALREADY so fucked

[area51-escapee]

Like that’s really what it comes down to, we have these third parties, we have other options, but every election is dominated by democrats and republicans because no one is willing to inconvenience themselves to try and make a difference. Change doesn’t happen over night real change means suffering and taking some L’s sometimes, but you can’t achieve anything by just doing nothing and continuing to uphold the current system because stepping outside of it won’t make an Immediate difference. The people who insist on maintaining the status quo, voting blue again and trying to change the system next election, every four years, aren’t willing to risk whatever security they have for the benefit of others. They’re in a good enough place that the only threat to them is the Republican Party, they benefit from the system as long as it’s working in their favor, and they do not give a fuck about those of us who are fucked over no matter what to even consider trying to change things.

[noa-de-cajou]

Day 27 : Skating / Moving in together

Sometimes I look at my life, and I think, well shit, if someone had told fifteen year old me that she'd be at the ice rink on a saturday afternoon for a kid that isn’t even hers, I think she would have exploded on the spot. But hey, Bazyli hasn't been on the ice in a long time, and his health has gotten way better, so I guess I can sacrifice a few hours of my weekend. The little sprout waves excitedly at us, I wave back, he beams.

But I'm not actually here for him.

Tonia’s trying to keep up the “don’t worry I have everything under control” face but her eyes are all puffed and red and she does that thing with her hair when she pulls them out one at a time. Haven’t seen her since she moved in with her Tinder rat of a boyfriend six months ago and this is the state I pick her up in? You bet that asshole pulled some shit on her. Can't trust men like this one. Can’t trust men at all, really.

Bazyli's already fallen thrice on his ass and I dropped off Bronya at the hospital before coming here, none of them is going to interrupt us and I need this to be a kid-free convo. Even if Tonia’s barely twenty-one.

“So. You gonna tell me what's going on or you just gonna stare at the floor with your kicked puppy eyes?”

The kicked puppy eyes in question look up at me. I swear to whatever’s up there that if this fucking prick-

“You… promise not to yell?”

Well that's asking for a lot, coming from me, and it straight up just worries me more, but sure, I nod.

It can’t be that bad, I mean, unless she’s pregnant–

“I’m pregnant.”

Well fuck me I guess.

“I-I told Julien and he- he told me that he couldn’t have this and I asked why and he t-told me that he was m-married. F-For two years. His wife d-doesn’t know he has a f-flat.”

… The little shit. The cheating, lying bastard, I'd fucking kill him if I had him in front of me, and I'd do it slowly, I’d make sure he suffers while he chokes on his own dick-

“H-He said that he… he was already nice enough to let me stay with Bazya and that… that another kid is out of the question and that I was trying to trap him but I swear I t-took the pill on time and everything and-”

Oh, is revenge getting more tempting by the minute. If only all women had half the audacity of a mediocre corporate white guy.

“Tonia. Breathe. How many weeks are you?”

“I-I’m not sure… I think t-ten, eleven maybe? I had symptoms before but I was busy with work and Bazyli and everything so I-”

“Shhh. Deep breaths. Everything's gonna be fine.”

Ten weeks. Shit. Too late for pills. Well, she could still get rid of it, but it'd have to be chirurgical. And most importantly…

“Tonia. Do you wanna keep it?”

She sniffles, wipes her nose in her sleeve.

“... I… I think so. But I… I’m never gonna find an apartment on my own, a-and it’d have to be big enough for Bazyli and me and the baby and I- I don’t know what to do, Milena, I don't-”

Aaaaand she bursts into tears right there on the bench. I wrap my arms around her, hold her tight.

I swear on Christ I'm going to come after this man. This girl’s pregnant for the second time in her life, the first time was hell on earth, and the second… off to a great start, thanks to this son of a bitch.

“Tonia. Listen.”

It’s kind of impressive, how calm I sound, because I'm actually losing my fucking mind.

“You’re going to move back in with me. Okay?”

She sobs harder.

“B-But-”

“No buts. You're moving back in so you can rest and take care of yourself and we’ll figure it out. But you bet I'm not leaving you or Bazyli homeless.”

“B-But you don’t have that much money, and, and with the baby, it’s gonna-”

“You’ll work and I'll work and we’ll make it work. Bronya will share her room with Bazyli just like old times and we’ll share mine. And I'll give you my midwife’s contact.”

“... Y-You’re being too good with me.”

“Tonia, honey, I practically raised you, I was your legal tutor for eight years, I’m just being decent, unlike that asshole boyfriend of yours. Tomorrow I'm pulling up at his place and I'll help you pack everything you need, ‘kay?”

And maybe give his wife a call, see if he’s still feeling hot after that.

“O… Okay. Just don’t… do anything to him, okay?”

“No promises.”

“Milena…”

“As long as he doesn't show his face.”

Tonia laughs in-between sobs. I hope Julien knows how lucky he is. If it wasn't for her, he’d already be in the ground.

“T-Thank you, Mila. Really.”

“Don’t mention it.”

I see Bazyli looking straight at us from the rink. He knows something's wrong, kiddo isn’t as dumb as he seems. I still gesture to reassure him that I have everything under control.

Well. It’s gonna be a pain in the ass. I’m gonna have to ask my parents for money, again, and I'll never hear the end of it. I’m gonna have to buy a new crib since I sold Bronya’s and Bazyli's long ago, buy diapers and bottles and everything. I’m gonna have to take more shifts. To deal with two preteens and a baby in my apartment. To get used to being woken up by screaming every night for the next three years of my lives. To pick up more toothbrushes scattered around the bathroom and clothes strewn around the floor.

But I'll be damned if I let Tonia and Bazyli go through this alone.

My home’s theirs. It's always been theirs. That's not gonna change any time soon.

[ok-boomerang]

Can I get your thoughts on this post claiming Mai and Toph are very similar (and that Zuko clicked with Toph immediately because she reminded him of Mai)? https://at.tumblr.com/i-was-talking-to-momo/everyone-else-took-a-really-long-time-to/nyh2nz26iuay

Toph and Mai are similar? That’s a hard no from me. And besides, the reason Toph and Zuko get along so well is because Toph and Zuko are so similar.

I can kinda see the post’s first argument, that Toph and Mai are similar in that they both lived sheltered childhoods and their parents didn’t understand them or allow them to be themselves. But that’s…where the similarities end. And these are also pretty superficial parallels, based on a character’s circumstances instead of their development. And since we’re talking about a story, character development matters most.

The reason that Toph and Mai are so unalike is that Toph is a fully developed main character with an arc, while Mai is just…not. That’s not even an anti-Mai argument, it’s more of a critique of the story. Mai had the potential to be an interesting character, but she’s really just a stereotype of a gloomy goth girl (intentionally juxtaposed with the peppy pink-wearing girl) and the attempt in "The Beach" to add depth to her character sort of falls flat because all we get is “I’m like this because of my parents” and nothing about how she might want to change.

Toph, however, changes a LOT throughout the series. She sometimes literally puts up walls to protect herself, but very quickly learns that she can rely on her friends and that it’s okay to need people sometimes. She has heart-to-heart conversations and recognizes when she's made a mistake (see "The Runaway"). Mai does not learn similar lessons.

Toph puts on a tough-girl image but deep down she cares deeply for her friends and even decides she wants to connect with her parents. Mai does neither of these things. Sure, Mai stuck her neck out to save Zuko, but only after she yelled at him for breaking up with her because he was trying to save the world and after she refused to reconsider Fire Nation supremacy. She’s not actually interested in Zuko as a person, and so I would argue that her love for him is actually pretty shallow. (Note: I do not think Mai’s rescue is solid proof of selfless love. A person can make a lot of sacrifices for someone and still treat them like shit. Just ask my mom!)

So why do Toph and Zuko get along so well? It’s not because Toph and Mai are alike—in fact, Zuko pretty consistently does not get along with Mai. It’s made rather clear in the narrative that Zuko and Mai’s relationship in the Fire Nation is supposed to show that Zuko got everything he could have wanted but it was still all wrong. Some examples just off the top of my head: Mai not asking Zuko “for his life story,” Mai refusing Zuko’s gift, Mai thinking ordering servants around is fun, Mai and Zuko fundamentally misunderstanding each other at pretty much every possible moment, lol.

But Toph and Zuko both had to shed the masks they wore and embrace the person they truly were. It sounds cheesy because Toph and Zuko have to learn to embrace the cheese. (Sokka, Katara, and Aang’s developmental arcs are very different from Toph’s and Zuko’s arcs—they're already big on cheese.) Mai, as a sadly underdeveloped character, never embraces the cheese. The best example I can think of is Mai and Zuko bonding over hating the world in early S3. But that’s just the thing. Zuko doesn’t hate the world, and accepting that is what jumpstarts his ultimate redemption.

Toph and Zuko also share superficial parallels—both from rich families, both the black sheep (seems important to point out that Mai is not a black sheep btw. That’s kinda her whole thing in “The Beach”). And Toph, of course, wasn’t around when Zuko was chasing the Gaang. That might seem like a minor plot point, but it’s pretty important! All she knows is there’s a firebender there to teach Aang and that he’s earnest and trustworthy. (That he has daddy issues like her is just a bonus!) Sokka, Katara, and Aang have history with Zuko that’s hard to forget, AND they can’t tell when people are lying like Toph can. Toph has every reason to want to befriend Zuko, while the rest of the gaang’s reluctance makes sense.

Finally, another reason I think Toph and Zuko clicked—Zuko is good with kids. Remember how he taught Lee how to fight with broadswords instead of scolding him? Remember how Zuko carefully praised Aang during firebending lessons? There’s a reason the fandom has Dadko.

Thanks for the ask! This was fun to think about, and I really did try to consider how Mai and Toph might be similar. But I just don’t think you can really compare a flat character with a well-developed one. Toph is much more than her “tough girl exterior.” But Mai’s apathy isn’t even truly a strength.

[batstorm93672]

Can you please write a story where Damian is about to be kidnapped by the court of owls in a big fight with the entire bat fam their but the court is winning so Damian try’s to kill himself in an honor suicide so they won’t be able to get info about the bats out of him. The only reason he doesn’t succeed is because dick throws one of his batons to knock the sword out of his hands. Later after the fight when the bat fam are questioning why he did that they realize the league of assassins taught him that it was better to die then give info to the enemy.

Holy fucking shit.

Holy shit dude.

I love you. Let's go. This is angst, and I live for it!

.

The Court of Owls is Gotham's richest underneath of Gotham. Robin is fighting his best with the entire family. The Talons are already dead, zombies brought back. Honestly, they feel like a knock-off of the League of Assassins in Damian's opinion.

A strong Talon grabbed Robin from behind, and one of the Court members step to Robin. Holding a syringe...

"The Voice demands for the truth and you will give it to us"

Robin struggles and kicks the man away, then flips the Talon off of him. Robin grabs his katana and slices around him as a protective quick ring. Then he looked around. None of the others can help him. The Talon is strong, and he will be overwhelmed... there's no doubt. Then, he'll be forced to spill their secrets.

No. He can't let that happen.

Robin keeps fighting, blood coming from his and the Talon that he fights. He won't live long... he knows if this battle goes any longer, he might not make it. The Court wouldn't want him dead, though. They'll keep him alive and force him to tell the truth.

He knows what has to be done.

Robin turns his katana on himself, right to his chest.

I know what to do. I've learned this. So I will take my life in honor to withold our secrets.

Robin grits his teeth and is about to plunge his katana into his chest. An escrima stick knocks the katana away. Nightwing sounds absolutely pissed off. "WHAT THE HELL ROBIN?!" Robin flinches and looks at Nightwing. It feels like a long time since Nightwing was this mad.

Nightwing rushes over and smacks the Talon away.

.

Damian is sitting down on the couch as everyone else looks down at him. Dick is pacing, and everyone is sitting away from him.

Dick inhales. "Damian. Why did you do that? Were you... really going to kill yourself? What for?" "The Court had a syringe, possibly a truth serum to use on me. If they did, then I'd spill our secrets. I can't do that" "YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO KILL YOURSELF TO STAY QUIET!" Damian feels a surge of frustration. Why don't they get it?

"I've done it before. Wouldn't you have done the same?"

"...what"

"Do you not understand Richard? I-"

"I. Heard. Explain."

Damian has some sweat down his face, what is going on?

"Grandfather made sure at all costs that I do not let any crucial information be given to enemies. So I would honorable sacrifice myself to keep our secrets."

The room goes silent, and only the crackling of the fireplace fills it. Dick exhales with a shuddering breath and goes to Bruce. Dick rests his head against Bruce's shoulder. "He... what did they do?" "Why are you guys making a big deal of this?"

Bruce looks grim. "Damian. This isn't right. Your life isn't something that should be taken just to hold our secrets. We'd rather let our secrets out then lose you." "...Are you certain? The secrets we hold are precious." "You're much more precious than our vigilante work. That's what being a part of the family means."

Damian looks away a bit and nods. "I'm... sorry for taking drastic measures." "We're just glad it didn't go that way."

[bisluthq]

Swiftdom's collective stupidity never ceases to baffle me. Joever is, like you say, the simplest and most normal boring thing that happens all the time with ltrs: 2 people love each other a lot, have been committed for years and arranging their lives to make it work, then gradually as a result of normal life circumstances (new job opportunities, newfound professional passions etc) one or both parties' priorities change, they start to grow apart in spite of still trying hard to make things work, until one or both of them realizes that the effort and sacrifice being invested is not worth it anymore and wishing for things to go back to how good they once were won't solve anything, and so it ends. Idk it was very clear from Lover era and Miss Americana that she felt pretty certain at the time that her peak as a popstar had already passed and it was gradually moving downhill, so even if the pandemic hadn't happened she would've continued to write and create a bunch but gone for an indie sound and/or writing for other artists.Their plan seemed to be to set base somewhere in north London and he would continue with his acting career and she would obviously still be Taylor Swif, only not 1989 era/2023 levels of fame Taylor Swift, but Lover era levels of fame Taylor Swift, which imho was something that felt manageable to both of them. 2019-2020 media appearances and promo from both of them was more open and in hindsight I think that point was the ideal balance for them. Then the pandemic happen, which halted the previous momentum Joe's acting career had been having, folkmore happened as a direct result of lockdown, which along with the re-recordings catapulted her to unprecedented levels of fame that neither of them could've possibly anticipated and that tbqh Joe didn't sign up for 🤷🏻‍♀️ objectively, it would've been stupid of Taylor to ignore the opportunity so imo it isn't fair to shame her for "choosing her career over him" bc Eras was literally the logical thing to do. And it's what almost anyone in her position would've done🤷🏻‍♀️at the same time, it would've been stupid of Joe to accept being a trophy husband who follows her around (I personally would love to be that for her lol) bc that would've never made him happy bc he yknow likes to act and likes to work. It would've been unfair for him to surrender to the excessive fame that he clearly dislikes just to stay in a rs bc besties that's a fucking lifelong thing in spite of how much Swifties insist that it's not a big deal 🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️

So neither one is "right" or "wrong" bc no one cheated (physically at least) and neither did anything horrible like dv or stealing so genuinely the discourse at this point feels like a 12 year old's take and idk if it's cos there's a bunch of actual 12 yolds online or if it's just everyone being incredibly stupid and/or cognitively impaired lmao

idk I think it’s a lot of people not being willing to treat celebs as real people. Like no one on a tv show breaks up because shit just gets weird - people know they do but like TAYLOR SWIFT (the character) can’t because it doesn’t make sense to people. Idk. Just accept that she’s a person and it’s way easier to stan.

[unknownjpegs]

wings

Matilda pulls herself up into the bar stool and slides the paper across the marble countertop. There’s a familiar chip in the edge, one that Leo had left when they were all kids. He'd probably been running around with something heavy. Matilda can’t remember what it. Can barely picture him, remember Leo’s face, unless she looks at a picture.

She runs her thumb over the crevice.

Her mother glances from the skillet to the paper, eyes flicking over the words for just a moment before they shade over. Her mouth purses tight.

“But —”

“No.”

“Mom.”

“No, Matilda.”

Not Til. Not even Tilda.

She opens her mouth to argue, but the quick snap of blue eyes up to hers make it press shut. 

“If you think I’m letting you do that, you have another thing coming.” 

The paper is a nondescript contract application, stapled neatly with Matilda’s resume. Her professional one, printed on crisp resume paper. 

Audio Engineer - two year term. And quite a lot of money for each of those years.

“It’s temporary and it’s good money!” She tries to sound sure of herself, to keep the whiny waver out of her voice.

“No,” her mother says, and smacks her hand on the counter. Rare display of anger, of unspooled emotion. “Listen to me —”

Matilda doesn’t. She’s already in her own head. Pulling out, watching from above. 

It’s good experience, she wants to say. It won’t be that scary. I’m a grown fucking woman. I’ll have you like a shadow behind me. There will be armed guards for contractors, probably. 

Matilda isn’t even sure how a private military contractor is…structured. How it operates. Barely knows anything, besides what Isaac has told her. What she knows, vaguely, from brief internet research. They won’t let anything bad happen to the civilians that keep the place running. I’m not a kid. Skilled, educated specialists — it would be stupid if any of them got hurt, right? I’m not a kid. I can do this for myself. 

Her father had been in one, but he was never consistently around to talk about it. Isn’t now, either. And she’s not bitter about his absence, even though she feels the sting of emptiness when she watches a father-daughter relationship in a movie. Finds it hard to relate to those. She’s a big movie crier, but she can’t remember the last time a tragic paternal sacrifice had her weeping. 

Just unrealistic, she supposes.

I can figure it out. I’m not a kid.

Her mother is still going, omelettes forgotten as she waves the spatula:

“— don’t even want to know what some of those files look like. Pages and pages thick.” She points the red-tipped flat of it at Matilda’s nose across the counter. “Records so long you’d have to restock the goddamn paper, Matilda. From before they joined up.” She sucks in a breath, lips pursing slightly at the swear. She hates swearing. Makes her look uncouth, she says. Because her mother is the type of person to use the word uncouth and then lift her trousers and wades through the shit of it and still come out looking put together. 

Because she’s just as awful as them, says a voice. She ignores it. Because she’s caught up in the silences, now, not listening to what her mother is saying.

Matilda hears what she’s not verbalizing. Underneath it all: you can’t handle it. That’s a different world, and it’s not one meant for you, Til. It’s for people like her. It’s something Dr. Jacqueline Rhoades can deal with, and does, because Dr. Jack is a strong woman. She has hardened herself like a beetle. Or… has always had the sparkling carapace.

What she’s not saying: Matilda, you have delicate little fucking dragonfly wings. Ladybug wings. Weak bug wings. They crunch and twist and get holes in them, and then what will you do? Will you fly with wings that waft wind, instead of catch it? I think not.

Her mother scoffs. “No, I think fucking not.” And this time, she doens’t scowl. The swear doesn’t bother her. She’s hardened. None of it will affect her, but it will affect Matilda, and that’s where the incredulity comes from. 

Toss my precious baby to the animals? I think fucking not.

Matilda wants to harden, too. Needs to be a woman that can do things for herself. What is she, if she can’t? A child that relies on the protective swoop of her mother.

Hadn’t helped Leo, comes slicing, cruel and sharp, through her thoughts. It makes her wince. 

“Don’t pull a face with me, Til.” The spatula returns to the skillet. Liquid yolk cooked through, omelet flip, perfect little arc in the air. 

“I want this, mom,” she says. And it’s what she has said so many times in the past. Piano lessons, dance lessons, new paints and sketchbooks and a passing comment towards a pretty gold necklace at the mall.

I want this. You can give it to me. It would make me happy. It would put a smile on my face. You can make that happen. Make me smile, make me smile, make me —

Her mother sighs. Long, long breath that rises her robe-clad chest and wavers out her nose. 

Matilda smiles, because she knows that sigh.

It is an, oh, alright sigh. An oh, alright sigh means good things for Matilda. 

She always gets what she asks for after one of those.

“We need to establish some ground rules,” she begins, and Matilda slides into the chair to listen.

[ichayalovesyou]

Analyzing Ethan Peck’s statements on Spock & Chapel in regards to ‘Spock Amok’

From the most recent Ready Room on Chapel and Spock that very much caught my ear! The whole interviews (with both Gia and Ethan) are extremely good! Especially with Ethan Peck, he’s really enriching himself with his interpretation of Spock and enriching Spock in turn, but I wanna specifically talk about some of the things Ethan Peck says in it:

“I think he finds that human inspiration and permission, firstly Captain Pike, then in season two of Discovery in Michael Burnham. And now, in sort of a different angle, a romantic one, right, with Nurse Chapel, played by Jess. I think Jess brings this sort of sparkling and electric impulsiveness to Nurse Chapel, that makes her so fun and wonderful to watch. I think makes Spock so curious and fascinated, forgive me for using that word.”

I don’t know about y’all, I feel like this is a testament to what a lot of us already knew. If Sarek is Spock’s Vulcan father figure (as messy and terrible as that relationship is) Captain Pike is his human father figure and that brings an immense sense of joy to me. I genuinely think that Spock gets that intense “no man left behind (except for me)” overactive self-sacrifice habit from Captain Pike. Along with many other things, and now I genuinely wanna rewatch TOS just to recontextualize Nimoy Spock and what that character has learned and how he has been inspired and emulates from Pike, Burnham, and Chapel respectively after season one of SNW is over. I think he learns selflessness from Oike, rebellion/stubbornness from Burnham, and being a little shit for funsies from Chapel. Speaking of which! The words “sparkling and electric impulsiveness” and “romantic” definitely has me suspecting more than ever that Spock and Chapel may become A Thing later in SNW canon. Maybe not specifically that they’re romantically involved with each other, but that the tension between them gets worse, tension perhaps strong enough to snap?

“It’s really a gift to be able to explore those two halves of him and with those other characters like that. Because he is so disdainful of his human half in The Original Series, and I believe in Strange New Worlds has a great deal of shame with his Human side, and this is a time in his life where he really begins to accept it, explore it, and find strength in it. Because what I think is that he’s learning that emotion plays a big part in his logic as wrong as that sounds. Because the emotion that he feels and then interprets and intuits from, I think plays a big part in his problem solving.”

I love that he says this and now I’m even more curious on how that sense of shame Spock feels transforms into outright disdain by TOS, what happens to him?? Because you can see him going through accepting some of his humanity that certainly doesn’t just magically go away in TOS (the self-imperilment, feisty stubbornness, and enjoyment he gets out of being an impulsive little shit all being very illogical things he’s learned from human friendships).

But you can tell based on the contrast between Peck Spock and Nimoy Spock that something happened that hurt him and damaged him in a way that’s similar but not quite the same as damage he and Michael spend most of the second season of Discovery healing from. Somebody (probably Human) hurts him big time, or he hurts someone big time by letting his emotions/humanity rule him. I highly doubt it’s Pike, and he’s still grieving for Burnham, I wouldn’t find it a stretch for it to be Chapel.

Mostly because of the damaged, broken, practically still bleeding tone their relationship has in The Original Series. I mean, even if they were just friends, purely the exchange they have in The Naked Time is fucking heartbreaking. Chapel rhetorically saying Spock would never hurt her and that she sees him, all of him, and Spock apologizing profusely and breaking down in tears after being infected? I mean?? He lets her touch him and we know how Vulcans regard touch! The exchanges they have in Amok Time are also laced with an air of history and damage and sadness. Something MUST have happened to drive these two apart, since they obviously aren’t nearly as close in TOS. So like, what did happen???

I can’t wait to find out >:)

[slowpoke-fics]

Sacrifice

Fandom: Teen Wolf

Pairing: Pack x Reader

Request Summary: You're Scotts twin sister and make a sacrifice for the good of the pack

Warnings: death, panic attack, angst, murder described, death described, reader death; I know for a fact I've missed some and this one is pretty fucking rough, as always read at your own risk.

A/N: This one is angsty, and just a tad longer than normal, consider it my apology to nonnie for taking so damn long on this request. I hope you guys love it, and again, this one is rough, read at your own risk.

You're able to grab one of the fucking resilient demonic ninja's off of Isaac. You could smell his pain, his blood, and you could smell Allisons determination. The second one on Isaac was shot with Allisons arrow, it's glowing green, fighting with the clear pain it's experiencing. With a split decision you're next to Allison, pushing her out of the way, a sharp pain through your chest, and then you're numb.

Allison's face is rampant with fear, her shirt holding a tiny cut that didn't grace the skin. Good, she's okay, and then you're falling.

You don't hit the ground though, your brother, Scott, holding your face with a stray tear falling down his face. You reach up and wipe it away, "It's okay Scotty, it doesn't hurt." Scott chokes back a sob, his hand gently rubbing yours, "Is everyone else okay?" Scott starts to speak, his voice betraying him, sounding mangled, "Yeah, everyone is okay Y/n, you're gonna be okay too." You shook your head, "Not in the way you think I am," Scott finally releases a sob, "no, no, big brother," he tries to laugh, trying to give you a little peace with your joke that even though he's minutes older, he's still older, "it's okay, yeah? Me and you, fighting tooth and nail. This was the best gift I could've ever gotten, I love you, and I love the pack. This is okay." You reach behind him, fingers tangled into his hair, you pull him to you and kiss his forehead. "Don't let them blame themselves, and don't blame yourself," another kiss to his cheek, "I love you big brother."

Scott's memories with you flashes before his eyes as the color in yours goes out, how did we get here?

"Scott! You okay?" You look over his body for injuries, he hisses at you making contact with his torso. "Scott, what's wrong? Did you get bit by something too?" Scott's eyebrows raise, "What do you mean 'too'? Did you get bit?" You roll your eyes and turn around, shirt stained with blood, "Yeah, I managed to get away from the fucker while rolling down some hill, now let me see yours." You swat him away, lifting his shirt and taking a good look at the bite mark, "Okay, not too bad, you fix me up and I'll fix you up? Not a word to mom, got it?" Scott nods, walking with you into the house to take care of the bite marks.

Scott can't feel anything, surrounded by you, your lifeless body. His anger, no, pain, soars through him as his eyes glow, a roar deep within him. The only thing anyone in his pack can hear is the scream from Lydia's lips and the roar of pain from Scott.

Isaac barely notices the sound around him, only his own heartbeat in his ears as he listened to yours fade away.

"Isaac you fucking idiot!" You slapped Isaac on the back of the head, he looks at you with lost, glowing, puppy dog eyes, "Sorry, Y/n." His eyes dull to his normal brown and you frown, "You've gotta do better honey, you can't lose control like that, you'll kill someone and I know that's not what you want." Isaac sits on the metal bench in the locker room, head in his hands, "I don't know that I'll ever be able to."

You sigh, sitting next to him with your hand rubbing his back, "You will, just give it time, until then, you've gotta find something that works for you, something that prevents you from breaking someone fucking ribs Isaac." You voice becomes elevated again towards the end, irritated at Isaac's recklessness. "Yeah," he leans his head down to your shoulder, "I know firecracker."

Scott is blind to the feeling on his bloody hand, only noticing it when Allison's tears hit it. Allison brushes a hair out of your face, you looked peaceful, she's eternally grateful for you, for what you did for her tonight and what you've done for her up until this point.

"Allison, fuck," you huff, pulling yourself up from the ground, "let's do it again, I know that this isn't you, your aim is perfect, let it all go and focus on me okay?" She sighs, shaking the bow in her hand, "Maybe the fact that I could actually hurt you isn't helping." You're eye to eye with her, both hands on her face, eyes glowing, "No, you won't hurt me, I'm invincible remember?" She laughs, shaking her head, "Alright, last time." You grin ear to ear and took off running. Allison brings the bow up, listening to you run. She sees glimpses of you, through the trees, and the arrow is gone. She sighs, she didn't hit you, she's shouting at you "I told you! I can't do it!"

You touch her back, startling her, she lets out a small yelp and turns to you. Her eyes go wide when she sees the arrow sticking out of your shoulder. "Oh, Jesus Y/n," her bow drops and she's bringing her hands up to try and get it to stop bleeding. "Oh quit being a pussy and pull it out," you rolled your eyes, grabbing her wrist and bringing it to the arrow in your shoulder. "I'm so sorry I hit you-" she pulls it out and you let out a long groan, already feeling better with the object dislodged. "Don't be sorry, you hit me, let's do it again." Allisons eyes widen, if that's even possible, and shakes her head, "No, absolutely not." You laugh, "Lighten up buttercup, I'm invincible remember? And this time I'm not going easy." She scoffs at you, "Easy? Oh I see how it is, run little wolf, run." With that, you take off running, Allison laughing at your excitement.

Kira is frozen, she feels like she died, you were her best friend. Over anyone else, you'd been the first to accept her, the first to fight for her, the first one she'd confided in.

"Kira, what the hell are you saying?" You're sitting with your arms crossed at a picnic table, nose in your homework. "I-I know that we were friends first, so I was going to tell you first, before I said any-" You slam your hand one the table, "Kira, baby, spit it out, fuck." This is the you realize that Kira's scent holds fear and anxiety. "Kira, what's wrong?" You're more serious now, waiting for the bomb to drop that there's another fight to be had. "I like Scott, like like him, Jesus please don't be mad." You burst into full laughter, tears streaming from your eyes.

When you calm down Kira is staring at you, piddling with the strings on her sleeves. "Oh, my god," you laugh again, trying to calm yourself. "You're not mad?" You laugh harder, smacking the table a few times, "Jesus Christ no, I can't believe-" you stand up still laughing, hugging her. "I don't give a shit," rubbing her back, "you had nothing to worry about, as long as you don't get mad if I fuck your dad." Kira jerks back, shock on her face, "Y/n!" You laugh harder, "I'm fucking kidding, jeez," you sit back down, "fucking sit down and gush to me about my brother."

She shakes herself out of it when she feels her mother enclose her in a hug. Tears finally falling.

Lydia's scream has finally ended, and she's inconsolable. Memories flooding through her head as she lays her head on an unconscious Stiles.

"Lydia god dammit," you truck to the pool, "did you find another one?" You stop at the strong scent of blood, rushing to Lydia, Stiles right behind you. "Are you hurt?" Lydia shakes her head, staring at you, "I already called 911." Stiles looks hurt, arguing with Lydia over why she should call him before the police, but you push him to the side. "Heya honey," you wrap your arms around her waist, "it's okay, don't listen to Stiles grumpy ass, let's me and you go sit." You're not sure why you aren't phased by the body next to you, but you let Stiles do whatever he needs to do for Scott while you try and get Lydia's head back down to Earth.

"Hey Lyds, dontcha think you're a little overdressed to come to the pool?" She lets out a small chuckle and you relax a little, "This can't be my new normal, Y/n. Finding dead bodies? I can't take this." You hold her hand, sighing, "None of us asked for this Lydia, I'm so sorry. If you want I can stay with you for a few days, follow you if you zonk out again?" Lydia just nods, and she feels for the first time that you're as much her best friend as Allison.

Lydia can't stop crying, Scott is trying to get ahold of himself, Kira is crying with her mother, Isaac is breathless and in pain, and Allison is held by her father.

"She did it for me dad," Allison sobs, her father already made sure she wasn't hurt, "she did it for me and I don't know why." Chris shushes her, running his fingers through her hair, grateful for your sacrifice so his beautiful girl could live. "She did it because she loved you," Allison sobs harder, "I know sweet girl, but listen, we have to deal with this. You can cry, scream, break things later, but now? Now we get our stories straight." Allison nods, and her dad is off to Scott to prep him.

When Stiles finds out, it's like every cell in his body failed him. Scott caught him and pulled him into a hug, tears streaming down his face. "I know. I know brother." Stiles can't breathe, it's been a long time since he's had a panic attack, but here he is, without you, panicking.

"Stiles," you sigh, throwing a ball against his ceiling and back into your hand, sprawled out on his bed, "you've gotta stop." Stiles shakes his head, "No, no there is something here!" He tosses the books to the floor, you get off the bed, wrapping your arms around him from behind, "You'll find it but you're not going to without sleep. Come on." You tug him back to his bed, "Let's nap, and then we'll come back to all," you gesture to his board covered in multicolored string, "this." Stiles sighs heavily, letting you pull him to the bed. It's not the first time, and certainly wouldn't be the last, that you've convinced him to sleep. He crawls in next to you and you throw your arm open, allowing him to lay his head over your heart. He falls asleep to the lull of the thump thump thump.

Stiles shakes himself out of the memory, remembering that he'll never hear that beautiful sound again and vows to hold onto it. He lets out a pained, choked sob, "Scott-" Scotts arms are around him still, Scott can smell the guilt coming off of the small man, "Don't - It was not your fault Stiles. It wasn't anyone's fault." Scott lets Stiles cry, mourn his best friend, the woman he's come to love like his own sister. "Have you told Derek?" Scott sighs, Stiles already knows the answer.

When they get to Derek's place, Derek opens the door, already smelling them and their horribly displaced emotions. "What is it?" Scott lets himself in, Stiles following close behind him and he's checking for his little flame, and when you're nowhere to be found, his heart sinks. "Where's Y/n?" Derek can smell the grief coming off of Scott in waves, not missing the anger that hides beneath it. "Fuck, my little flame," his voice sounds broken, barely audible to the human boy who stares sorrowful at him.

"Derek Hale!" You kick the door open to home, "Derek Hale! Get your ass out here!" Derek almost materializes behind you, but you're just as quick as he is. "Derek Hale! I oughtta kill you, you son of a bitch!" You march to him, taking him off guard by your fist that collides into his face. He's knocked back a couple feet, staring at you with glowing eyes. Your eyes match his, "I am not afraid of your eyes, wolf boy! You turned three people!" Derek shrugs, "So what if I did?" You go for a second punch, this time caught by Derek, he can't smell a single ounce of fear, only fury.

"They knew what they were getting into," Derek lets go of your hand. "Oh, fuck you, Derek," you shove him back, "you can spin that stupid story to whoever you want, but you and I know better." Derek shrugs, "So what? They're better now, stronger, and they like it." You let out a deep growl, "Did you tell them about the death?" You step forward towards him, "Did you tell them how they'd be pulled into every murder in this town?" You shove him back again, following his step backwards, "Did you tell them of the pain? Did you? Of course not." Your hand grasps his chin, squeezing painfully with your claws out, making him look at you, "Hear me Derek Hale and hear me good. If anything," you squeezed him harder, bringing a hiss from him, "and I mean anything, happens to them, I will hurt you." You back away and head out of his house, stopping at his door, "And trust me, I'm a fire you can't put out." He laughs, watching you walk away, but mumbling just where you can barely hear, "I have a feeling I don't want to be burned by your flame."

A growl explodes from his lips, pain filling his entire being. You've been the glue that holds them all together, bringing them back from the brink again and again. How could they survive without you?

Months after your death, they've settled back into the groove of things, nothing ever feels the same without you though.

They talk about you all the time, Stiles has a tendency to try and calm people down like you did. Trying to help keep everyone grounded. He's nowhere near as good at it like you were, but he's trying. Allison keeps your memory around by never changing her lock screen, a picture of everyone in the pack resting on the screen she checks every five minutes. Isaac has found a new anchor, with Scott's help, using himself to be able to control the rage that flurries inside of him after your death. Lydia lives for adopting your fire, absolutely never keeping her mouth shut much to everyone's dismay, but it's a way to keep your image around. Kira has become closer to Allison and Lydia, but she knows they'll never replace you. They don't laugh at her like you did when she talks about Scott, and it's a painful memory. Derek's become much more involved with Scott's pack, dedicated to doing what he can for not fighting by your side the right you died, a debt he'll never repay. Scott finds his peace in his pack, but the hole in his heart for his sister will never fade, like the newly placed fire tattoo on his forearm will never fade.

They are all eternally grateful.

They all know it'll never be the same.

They all hate your sacrifice.

[shurisneakers]

harmless (viii)

Summary: Bucky volunteers to go stop a small time villain, but nothing can prepare him for what exactly he has to deal with. (Bucky x villain!reader, drabble series)

Warnings: cursing, protesting, frustrated bucky, dramatic reader, gamer (derogatory), smidge of angst

Word count: 3.5k

A/N: listen idk what goes on at construction site and im too sexy to research so we’re going with my version of the world. hello. how are we all doing?

here’s my ko-fi if you’d like to support my writing <333

Previous Part || Series Masterlist

He doesn’t expect to see you on TV. 

In jail maybe, for something scandalous and completely unnecessary, but not TV.

But there you are, a sign board waving around furiously in your hand, voice in protest against the demolition of the community centre. You’re flipping the board back and forth to alternate between the messages you’ve scrawled on the cardboard.

You were among a few protesting, but clearly the loudest. 

He thinks that maybe he has the weekend off if you’re too busy fighting big corporations. He’d send his support even.

Until he zeroes in on the sign when it flips over, finally reading what it says.

You better get your ass here, sarge

And so he does.

Half the crowd had dipped by the time he arrived. You were there, still the loudest, but he couldn’t help but notice the lack of people as compared to an hour or two ago on TV. He supposed that justice could wait as long as it took to get lunch from the nearest café.

“I can’t stop you from protesting, y’know.” He’s a little wary of approaching your raging self. 

“Oh, hey Barnes. You got my message.” You break away for a second to scream a bunch of obscenities at the gigantic glass building before turning to him. “You wouldn’t be able to.”

“What’s your dumb plan then?” 

“First of all, it’s not dumb. It’s stupid. Put some respect on my technological genius.” You held up a finger. “Second of all, it’s not here.”

“Where is it?” 

“At the construction site.” You point down the road. “Come on.”

Right along the way you stop to chant another slogan. He waves his arm around meekly in support. He did, after all, have to stand up for what was right, but if his publicist saw him here she’d have an aneurysm. 

The construction site isn’t very far off. It’s adjacent to the community centre, which he assumes they’re going to tear down to make more space for whatever shitty commercial building was going to take its place.

There are already a few excavators and dozers there but no one to man them since it was lunch time. What garners his attention is the small silver plate that’s on the floor a few feet ahead in the direction you’re walking towards.

“Here.” You stop once it nears. “The plan.”

“Am I supposed to know what this is?” He lightly kicked at it, earning a smack on the arm from you.

“Stop that,” you scolded, “and look at it. It’s not hard to figure out.”

He narrows his eyes. There’s a small u-shaped piece of metal in the middle of the plate. “That’s a magnet.”

“Exactly.” You clapped your hands together in excitement. “The world’s strongest electromagnet.”

He looks around. The only possibly magnetic things are the cranes and excavators around him.

“You’re going to... stop the machines from moving ahead?” he hesitates in his deduction. 

“Yep. Can’t tear anything down if they can’t get to it first.” 

Bucky looks down.

“Does this thing even work?” He toes at it again. “It’s kinda small.”

“It works beautifully, stop kicking at it, you demon-”

“What happens if I step on it, huh?” He knows this would get on your nerves wonderfully. He raises his leg. “Do I get to go home for the day?”

“You’re such a little shit,” you whine, reaching for your back pocket. “Stop bullying my invention.”

“’m gonna squish it like a bug.” He’s only half kidding about that part. “I’m gonna-”

Before he can finish his sentence something yanks him down hard. His head nearly hits the ground before his right arm shoots out to break his fall.

"Woah there, don't go falling for me as yet.” 

“What the fu-” he begins, eyes locking on his metal arm that was pressed flat against the earth.

“I told you it works,” you say smugly. “Try crushing it now, Barnes. If you can even get off the floor.”

He tugs his hand but it’s firmly attached to the thing. No matter how or where he’s applying the effort, his limb refuses to move. He’s stuck.

“Turn it off,” he sighs. “You made your point.”

“No. Stay there.”

“Y/N, shut up and turn this off,” he groans, trying to find a better position rather than chin down on the ground.

“Lay there and rot. You deserve it for underestimating me.” You huff.

“I wasn’t underestimating you, Jesus Christ.” He really was planning to just step on it, but he had complete faith that it worked. 

When he doesn’t receive a reply, his gaze follows yours. Suddenly the crane looks a lot closer than it initially did. Awesome. 

“Those are moving towards me.” He picks up on the low groan and creak of metal.

“Yeah, they are.” You nod, one hand on your hip, watching them.

He didn’t think that getting crushed under construction equipment would be how his day went. 

“Not my problem,” you decide finally after a bout of silence. 

Now that simply wouldn’t do. 

Death was definitely a problem, but what was more important was that he was going to get a dust allergy from the mud. He could already feel the blocked nose and temperature incoming.

“Are you really going to waste this on me? Don’t you have a demolition to stop?” He manages to twist his body so that he’s lying on his back.

“Good point,” you squint into the distance at the whirring of the heavy machinery. Their owners wouldn’t be happy to find them missing from their original spot. “But I still can’t help you out.”

“You’re willing to sacrifice your-”

“I can’t help you out because I don’t have an off switch. Yet,” you add the last part in a hurry.

“Then when the fuck were you planning to build one?” He sits up, leaning on his elbow. The cranes weren’t a mini object on the horizon now; the closer they got, the faster they were starting to move towards him. 

“I don’t know, after they agreed not to take down the building?”

He could just detach his arm and come back for it later he but had no guarantee that you would stop here for the day or that the vibranium could withstand all that pressure. 

“You better make a switch right now and get me out of this, I don’t care how.”

“Yeah, yeah,” you grumbled, bending to assess how badly he was stuck. “You know, this thing runs really deep into the earth. It’d take forever to dig back up and then get you back to my lab and then build a switch.”

“How long?” He didn’t have a lot of time, clearly, but even generally he didn’t have the whole day to waste. He had a mission the next day. He had to put the fear of death into some Russians and bring some pirozhki back for Nat. 

“I don’t know,” you furrowed your eyebrows. “Too long for my schedule anyway, I have class prep to do.”

“Motherfucke- that thing’s like twenty feet away.” He’s worried about how you don’t look fazed at all when he points at the stupid machine.

He’s about to volunteer to detach his arm when he realises it’s definitely less than twenty feet now. He had a backup just in case. It didn’t move as smoothly, but who could tell the difference when a couple of tons of pressure was aiming for your face, and hell, if he explained his circumstances of the destruction of his arm to T’Challa-

“Okay, fine.” You reach into your backpack to grab something that looked like a wrist watch. It matched the one already around your hand. 

You reach over and clasp it around his hand before turning a dial on the side.

“You ready?” you ask, ignoring the large crane that was starting to charge towards you. 

“For what?” he replies, looking down at it. He can barely hear you over the sound of the whining of machinery.  

“Teleportation, baby.” You send him a big grin before slamming down on his watch.

“Huh-” His voice cuts off immediately. 

If there’s anything that can be said about teleportation, it’s that he feels like every atom in his entire body violently splits to float around briefly before suddenly rejoining again.  

The ground beneath him feels different, and it takes him a second to realise that he was on the floor of your lair. 

“What the fu-”

“Hello,” your voice comes from above him. 

“You can teleport.” It’s not difficult for him to look at you now without the sun in his face. His arm is still stuck to the magnet but since the giant rod it was attached to was no longer deep in the ground, he could lift the entire apparatus up relatively easily.

“What, like it’s hard?” You discarded your bag on the floor. “You good? Takes a while to get used to.”

He gives you a grunt in acknowledgement, shaking his arm to see if he had any luck. It didn’t budge.

“Come on, take a seat.” You gesture to a lab chair you’ve pulled up for him on the raised platform at the front of the room. He realises that this is the first time he’s properly seen what’s actually inside your lair.

There are various buttons that do God knows what, drawers and cabinets painted black, several computer screens and gigantic pillars of glass on either side of the set up that encapsulate some green bubbling liquid. There’s a giant television set up against the wall, divided into several screens.

“Whaddya think?” You do a small swoop of your arm to show off the place.

“Gamer,” he says simply, testing his luck.

“What did you just say to me?” you recoil instantly, disgust on your face.

“It’s a gamer set up.” He points a finger at the TV screen. He was told by Shuri to use it as an insult, but he wasn’t exactly sure why. It just felt appropriate. 

“Take that back right now.” You raise a finger accusatorially at him.

“No.” He was sticking with it even though he had no idea what exactly the context was.

“Fuck your arm,” you announce, throwing your hands up in surrender.

“Fuck your demolition then,” he replies simply, getting up from his place on the chair to leave with the thing still attached to him. 

He takes one step ahead before your voice rings out.

“Sit down, drama queen,” your voice calls from behind him. “God, you’re annoying.”

“You’re infuriating.”

“I’m the best part of your week,” you fire back, ”and also your only way out of this. Now sit down.”

He didn’t even need the second warning, he was already on the chair the first time around.

“I’m not going to build a switch to turn this off. It’d take too long,” you examine the piece of equipment with more gentleness than he was expecting, “I’m going to remove it instead. It’s gonna take a while, so you better get comfortable.”

“I’m not.”

“That’s so sad,” you say without any indication of wanting to help. 

He rolls his eyes.

You pull up next to him, welding glasses covering your face and the tool in your hand. 

He turns away when you start, making sure his face is not directly within its trajectory. 

He makes himself busy by looking around some more. There are details you’ve put into the place, materials that are non-flammable made up most of the architecture. It’s dramatic, sure, but somehow the designs and colours seemed to go together. It did look sinister, he’d give you props for that.

The space was quite big. It occurs to him only then that that’s how you manage to sneak up on him so often in the past. Everything clicked. Fucking teleportation.

“So,” your voice was raised to speak over the noise. “How’s it going?”

He decidedly doesn’t answer. His position is more than enough.

“Right.” You clear your throat. 

He takes to counting the tiles on the floor, figuring out how many were there from the raised platform to the wall of the entrance. 

“Not how you imagined your day to go, huh?” you continued despite his lack of response. “But some might say it’s a privilege to be spending the day with a cool, mad scie-”

“Are you going to keep talking?” he interrupts, losing his count on the floor.

“Yeah, duh,” you say like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “You got anything better to do?”

He didn’t. 

“What’s it like living with a bunch of superheroes?” You change course. He’s not sure if he’s really allowed to disclose top secret information. “I assume there’s a lot of protein shakes, talcum powder for the chafing-”

Then again, how much damage could you do by knowing that Steve preferred pancakes over waffles?

“It’s quiet,” he says. “Most of the time.”

“Save all your smart talking for the battlefield, huh?” 

He doesn’t reply. It’s quiet around the Tower. A lot of their energy goes towards missions and recuperating once they’re back. 

“You go on missions a lot?” 

“I can’t tell you that.”

“Boo, you whore,” you say with mock disappointment.

He got that reference.

“What’s your favourite food then?”

He scrunches his eyebrows.

“What?” The welding stops for a second while you look at him. “Don’t tell me that’s classified too.”

It’s not, he’s just never thought about it. 

“I don’t know,” he murmurs, “Pasta?”

“Vague, but I’ll take it.”

He used to boil a lot of pasta, from what he could remember of his days in hiding. Cheap and bought in bulk before he saved up enough to buy things like fruits. A lot of the times the amount of sauce he had access to was enough for maybe seasoning, not a whole component on its own. 

It’s one of the perks of being a free man in the 21st century he thinks, a steaming bowl of fettuccini drenched in sauce and garlic bread on the side. 

“What do you do in your downtime?”

“Nothing.” Well, he considers it to be a pass time and doing nothing is a full time gig. It takes effort to do nothing. He even has days dedicated to doing nothing, as suggested to him by his therapist.

“Really?” You sound a little surprised, although it’s hard to make out when you’re already speaking a lot louder than usual. “No shining your penny collection? No software update for this thing?” You tap at his arm. 

There really isn’t anything. Truth be told, he thinks he’s the most boring guy in the Tower. He sticks to himself, has a few succulents that he adores and occasionally watches trashy television. So then why are you so interested in him?

“You’re obsessed with me,” he says pointedly. “Why?”

You give a short laugh. “I think it’s the blue eyes, sarge, they’re really popping today. Gotta say, I’m loving this colour on you. Is it different from the black you wore last week? And from the one from the week before that?”

He looks down at his dark t-shirt and utility pants. He had other clothes but those were reserved for things that were not this.

“Or maybe it’s the grumpiness, I don’t know. I love it when someone shows absolutely no interest in me. Very sexy of you.” Oh jeez, you were going to continue. “Hell, maybe it’s the thighs-”

“Okay,” he interjects, feeling the need to count the tiles more than ever. He equates the heat in his neck from the welding going on beside him. 

The loudness of your laughter is clearer than the sound of metal on metal when you tug a large piece of the invention off. Things were moving fast. He could get back home to his Star Trek marathon and forget this day ever happened.

“You know, you’re more interesting than you think,” you pipe up casually. 

He doesn’t expect this and therefore he supposes he can’t stop the curiosity from enveloping his face. He hasn’t told you anything about himself, so then the inference you reached came out of nowhere.

Apparently, you take notice of the confusion on his face, even though he can’t see through the giant welding mask, because you let out a chuckle. 

“Oh, come on, really? You have no idea?” you ask lightly, pausing to see if he offers anything other than silence. “You’ve come back almost every week even though you know it’s a waste of your time, you always keep your promises and I know for a fact that if you wanted to stop me once and for all, you could have. But you’re not.”

He doesn’t realise you’ve stopped welding until you start again. Good, it gives him an excuse not to have to look at you after that. 

Frankly, he’s a little stunned.

You’re not looking at him, he can tell from his peripheral vision. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you have a small crush on me.”

At that, he’s forced to roll his eyes out of instinct. Thankfully you do know better.

A few screws out later, another piece comes out. You inform him that’s it’s going to get trickier from there since the circuit was a little more intricate, a lot more time than the original few pieces. He can see his Star Trek marathon fade away in the distance.

You ask him a few more questions. Some he answers with silence, others maybe a tidbit here and there. 

“How’s dating now compared to the forties?”

“Strange.” He purses his lips in thought. “One guy asked for a gym date. Didn’t know that was a thing.”

“How’d that turn out?” you laugh.

“He didn’t ask for a second one.” His Bumble matches with girls somehow had gone down since he cut his hair, but he’s not too bothered. Not like there was a huge shortage. 

He likes cats, thinks the worst merchandise that they make is the stupid baseball card with his face on it, and doesn’t have social media for the sake of his sanity. He’s seen the thirst tweets. 

Clearly, he’s revealed his deepest, darkest secrets. Utterly classified material. But he doesn’t know anything about you other than your name, number, address, where you teach, what your hobby is-

“You, uh-” he hesitates, “You got a favourite food?”

Your hands hold still to hover above what they’re working on. You fight back a smile. “Sure do.”

He asks a few more questions. Shuts up when he feels his social battery drain. That’s enough for the next month, he thinks.

The sun’s dipped down beyond the horizon by the time majority of the work is completed. Both of you have taken a few breaks to fight the feeling of stiffness that was creeping into your joints. 

You scoff and tell him you’re not planning to poison him when he denies the offer of a soda. He doesn’t deter in his decision.

“How much to go?” He has a mission tomorrow that he’d really like to get some sleep in before. Waking up at 3am to get ready was the worst part of the job. 

“Basically done.” You roll your chair back, rotating your shoulder and stretching your fingers. “There’s just this little part that I can’t access from this angle. How good are you at hanging upside down like a bat?”

Fuck it, he sighs to himself, it was almost finished anyway.

Bucky stands up, tilting his neck to the side slightly before pulling at a small latch under his arm, one so tiny that you’d never make out was even there unless you knew it existed. The arm releases from his shoulder with a small click.

He offers it to you, a piece of your magnet still attached to it.

Your eyes are slightly wide. He raises his eyebrows.

You don’t say anything, just accept it and flip it to a position you were comfortable with. It takes only a minute or two for the sound of the last piece hitting the floor to reverberate through the hall.

You give a small cheer. He lets out a tiny exhale in equal parts fatigue and relief.

“So,” you drawl, handing his arm back to him, “you could have just done that the whole time.”

He doesn’t reply, just slides it back onto his shoulder. 

“You had the option of leaving your arm here and coming back later to get it.” 

He gives it a few shakes, opens and clenches his fist shut a few times to make sure everything is working.

“You wanted to talk to me.”

He gives you a deadpan look. “I was distracting you.”

“Bullshit,” you laugh.

“Believe what you must.” He shrugs, turning around. “My job here is done regardless.”

“Oh, I believe alright,” you call out from behind him as he walks towards the entrance of your lair. “I believe you’re a sneaky bastard, Bucky Barnes.”

He doesn’t stop himself from smiling at the overdramatic gasp you give when he flips you a middle finger. From the metal arm, too. 

Next part

[books-and-catears]

Can you do angst prompts 14, 15, 16, and 17 for Lucifer?

14: "Please forgive me, I'll do anything."

15: "You won't even say goodbye?"

16: "Can I hold you one last time?"

17: "Please don't shut me out so soon."

Too Late for Apologies

Lucifer paced up and down Diavolo's study, desperate to see atleast a glimpse of you. Barbatos walked in with a sour face.

"Apologies Lucifer, it seems MC would prefer you not to contact them. Young Master is trying to convince them but the answer remains unchanged."

"Please Barbatos, take me up to their room. That's all I ask of you. I know it's against your orders but it's MC's last day. I just... I just have to speak with them." Lucifer pleaded.

"What more do you have to say, Lucifer?"

Lucifer snapped his head at the sound of your voice. It seemed like he was seeing you after ages. He walked forward almost engulfing you - but you quickly ducked behind Diavolo.

"Have I really upset you this much...so much that you won't even say goodbye before you leave?" Lucifer seemed indignant. As if balancing his heart between anger and misery.

"Yes. You have. And the fact that you can't see it justifies my reasons not to see you again." You crossed your arms and stepped further back.

"I'm sorry. Forgive me, please. MC I'll do anything. Anything you ask." Lucifer pleaded further.

"Can you? Can you really undo all the times you've made me and every one of your brothers feel like utter shit?! Can you really take back your attempts to KILL ME OFF? The only reason I'm still alive is because Diavolo revealed I'm Lilith's descendant. Else you'd have finished me off long ago." You shook your head.

Lucifer's eyes widened as the accusations fell upon him like knives.

This is pointless.

"Lucifer, you were a good big brother. You've been protecting them with all your strength and made god knows how many sacrifices along the way - but that doesn't excuse how you treat them now. What you did to Mammon the other day was- ugh I don't even want to speak of it."

You were tired of this, already.

"You wanted to see me, here I am. You have no other work here so I'll be taking my leave, Solomon is waiting."

"MC!"

Lucifer had rushed forward to grab you by the hand. He held it gently between his palms, looking down folornly at you. He smelled like Demonus and old clothes.

Now that explains his words.

"MC please, can I hold you one last time before you go? I don't know when you'll be back or even if you'll be back at all so please MC..." Lucifer's head hung low, his hands still clasping yours.

He looked too pitiful to be left alone like this. Drunk Lucifer was better to deal with than the real one so.. you obliged.

"Goodbye, Lucifer." Your embrace was quick and clean and it was over before he could savour it. He wanted to hold on but you had already slipped away into the portal room.

He followed through and banged on the door. No response. You had already left. He sunk to the ground, a broken man.

"MC please don't shut me out so soon."

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 318: On Your Left

Previously on BnHA: The Hawksquad+Lurkers were all “well this sucks” and sat around a bit talking about how maybe they should actually come up with a new plan that is actually good, but then in the end they were like “nah.” Deku was all, “THERE’S SOMETHING INSIDE ME THAT PULLS BENEATH THE SURFACE!! CONSUMING, CONFUSING!! THIS LACK OF SELF CONTROL I FEAR IS NEVERENDING. IT’S HAUNTING HOW I CANT SEEM TO FIND MYSELF AGAIN. MY WALLS ARE CLOSING IN.” Just, literally that whole entire song. All Might was all “Deku you should take care of yourself, try eating a thing,” and Deku was all “BYE, ALL MIGHT,” and just LEFT. He left!!! What the fuck!!!

Today on BnHA: Endeavor is all, “maybe if Deku didn’t listen to All Might he’ll listen to me instead.” Deku is all, “[doesn’t listen to Endeavor]” because, well, yeah. The Vestiges are all, “surprisingly, even we are a little concerned -- maybe you should get some rest, kid.” Deku is all, “((Ò ‸ Ó)).” The Vestiges are all, “holy shit.” Deku is all, “[wanders the ruined city streets terrifying the populace on account of him looking like Shelob had a baby with one of the Nazgul].” Some shriveled-up puppeteer villain asshole is all, “HORIKOSHI SAID IT’S MY TURN TO ATTACK DEKU TODAY SO I AM GOING TO SUMMON MY FRIGHTENED HELPLESS ATTACK MOB!!” Kacchan is all “WHADDYA MEAN THEY FOUND THE NERD!!! -- oh wait, that’s me, I found him. I found the nerd, you guys.” And just in time, too. I was about to owe a whole lot of people a whole lot of dollars.

so I have been super good about spoilers this week as always, but let me tell you guys, for the past 36 hours my dash filters have basically been nonstop “manga spoilers” this and “bnha 318” that, and so I’m coming in with a fair amount of hype here. your move, Horikoshi

oh, good! they got Endeavor to call Deku to try to talk him out of it. what a great and wonderful plan

“listen up kid, you haven’t slept since March and you are basically a walking biohazard right now, I’m just telling it like it is. didn’t you get shot like three times?? and there was a whole thing about how you urgently needed medical attention?? and supposedly we gave it to you, but I mean you haven’t even changed your clothes and don’t seem to have any fresh bandages or anything, so did we?? did we, really?? and also we all got blown up yesterday, so yeah.” hmm he’s making some reasonable points here you guys, but you sure do go on and on, Endeavor

oh he says foreign aid is finally on its way! I’m sure they’ll be very helpful. I mean in fairness they can hardly be worse than the home-grown heroes at this point

hey Enji, could you maybe try appealing to Deku the sixteen-year-old human boy, as opposed to Deku The World’s Last Hope? he does have value beyond his quirk. I know that’s always been an incredibly difficult concept for you to grasp, but could you maybe TRY, jesus

and also we’re worried about you as a person?? you’re just a kid and you’re pushing yourself way too hard?? you were going to say that part next, right. why the hell didn’t Hawks make this call instead

“don’t worry about me... I’m completely fine” Deku you do understand that saying it over and over again doesn’t actually make it true

and again with the rush!! all the rush rush rush!! we’re running out of time, we can’t let AFO and Tomura keep getting stronger, I have to end this now, there’s no time to rest, etc. etc. etc. just the constant pressure of this whole big countdown on top of everything else

holy shit, you KNOW it’s bad when even the Vestiges are telling him to chill

these guys are basically the walking talking embodiments of self-sacrifice; if even they’re telling him he needs to take five, then he must seriously be like half a step away from death’s door

OH SHIT LMAO

DIDN’T EVEN LET HIM FINISH HIS SENTENCE BEFORE HE SENT HIM INTO THE FUCKING SHADOW REALM WITH THAT FUCKING LOOK. HOLY FUCK. DIDN’T EVEN KNOW IT WAS POSSIBLE TO DIE TWICE. SHIT

(ETA: so I’m pretty sure this was just Danger Sense activating and so he cut them off to go do more hero stuff, but I’m gonna go ahead and stick to my original interpretation anyway lol.)

anyway so how’s everybody doing. we all good? En, you good? Banjou? Shino? I’m imagining you guys all curled up in a little ball on the floor right now lol. can’t say I blame you though, no shame

lmaoooooooooooo

“SHEESH.” sheesh indeed, lmao. “what in the FUCK was that”

see, this is why y’all need Kacchan. you need someone who’s not going to back down from him no matter what. if it’s a matter of out-stubborning Midoriya fucking Izuku, then there’s only one other person on the planet capable of that, and we all know it. don’t pretend like you don’t. I am not going to shut up about this! we’ve had our hurt so now what about SOME COMFORT, DAMMIT

“I’m afraid that he’s becoming influenced by my conscience” nah are you kidding Nana this is all 100% made-in-Japan pure original Deku right here

see, Banjou gets it. “that kid, he’s totally going on his own.” exactly. this was so inevitable it was basically scientific law

“well I for one don’t see the problem with Deku being so obsessed with saving everyone else that he pushes himself until his body and soul literally fall apart” okay, whose speech bubbles are these?? we’re about to have words

lol of course

well you always did prefer the direct route didn’t you. but even you can’t possibly think this is okay lol

dark AU!Kacchan please tell us more about your badass doomed timeline in which everything went to shit and you apparently had the same character arc that Deku is having right now except it somehow made you sexier instead of turning you into a rabid t-rex. I have so many questions

oh so now you want to help??? well -- good, actually. sorry if that sounded offended just now lol

(ETA: so at first when I got to the end of this chapter I was wondering if Katsuki B. had somehow summoned his alternate-universe counterpart through trippy OFA space telepathy lol. but in the original Japanese there’s no reference to “we”, so this appears to be a mistranslation. this line should probably read more like “if there’s something/someone out there that would be able to complement/complete the current Midoriya Izuku [it would be]…” which, oh hello, is that Horikoshi once again reaffirming that Deku and Bakugou complete each other lol. “guess what guys, the Vestiges ship it too" heck yeah. they know what’s up!)

look how admiring his boyfriends are. HORIKOSHI GIVE US THE REST OF THIS BACKSTORY ALREADY GODDAMMIT

“meanwhile somewhere in the depths of the ruined city, Deku was having a dance-off with the villains”

I like how the villains all have this “AHH WHAT THE FUCK” kind of body language to them lol. I mean if it were me, and an eldritch horror suddenly clawed its way from the shadows with its writhing glowy tentacles and pants-shitting nuclear death stare, I would probably just die on the spot. no need to stick around. only pain awaits

lol for a minute I thought this was Can’t Ya See-kun and I was like “WHAT A FASCINATING CROSSING OF PATHS” but it’s just some random girl

he seems genuinely confused lol

Deku it’s because you look like something that crawled out of a sewer drain, sweetheart

lol they just took his word for it?

so trusting. even though they’re immediately hauling ass anyway just to be safe lmao

“my appearance is frightening to others” no shit Deku it’s because you look like a fucking alien exorcism. you look like a Lich that got caught up in an oil spill my dude

NO NOT THE CHOSEN ONE ANGST AGAIN

I RAN OUT OF ESSAY JUICE FOR THIS ALREADY HORIKOSHI!! I’VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT IT FOR MONTHS NOW WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG!! BUT ANYWAYS, GOOD!! I MEAN, BAD, THOUGH, OBVIOUSLY. BUT YES

“ENJOY THIS MONTAGE OF DEKU BATTLING A RANDOM KAIJU AND WANDERING THE WOODS LIKE A DERANGED GREEN BABA YAGA” okay yes but sir, exactly how much longer is this going to go on. if it’s a matter of you wanting to make sure we get it, let me assure you that aside from a few stray chuunis who think that Deku embracing the Darkness is the coolest thing he’s ever done, all of us here in fandom fully comprehend that this is Not Good

-- OH SO IT’S LIKE THAT

really. with the flashbacks to his loved ones’ smiling faces and everything. not even gonna try to aim above the belt, huh

AND NO KACCHAN??! NO CLASSMATES?!?! IS HE PURPOSELY NOT THINKING OF THEM??? OR ARE THEY BEING SAVED FOR THE NEXT PAGE??? SO HELP ME, IF THE NEXT PART OF THIS SENTENCE IS “CAN PROTECT THEM”, OR EVEN WORSE, “CAN SEE THEIR SMILING FACES AGAIN”, I...

WHAT DID I JUST SAY

(ETA: my man did Sero and Kaminari fucking dirty lmao. I miss their smiling faces too omg.)

the sheer, unparalleled irony of him saying this while he stands there looking like the gargoyle demon from Fantasia got crossed with an umbrella that got struck by lightning. Deku :(

oi who the fuck is this clown

is he controlling this mob with his evil hair. “what if I made an exhausted, running-on-fumes Deku battle a brainwashed mob at Ground Zero.” Horikoshi do you just have like a checklist of horrible things you want to do to your protagonist

easy there Sasori

well joke’s on you buddy because he’s apparently “completely fine”, so

“here’s to hoping that you know more about AFO’s location than the others” jesus christ Deku you really have hung your mercy out to dry huh

now he’s forcing his mob of terrified prisoners to attack Deku ahhhh. sucks to be them. at least they’re not being controlled by bees

so Deku is saying that Sasori’s control can be broken with “physical trauma.” similar to Shinsou’s quirk I guess. but so does that mean he’s gonna have to hurt them? ( •﹏•)

NO NOT MORE SAD EYES

“DEATH BY EMPATHY!!!” HORIKOSHI NO

fuck. he looks like he’s on the verge of passing out

this is what happens when you nerf a character’s self-preservation stats in favor of spamming their bone-breaking stats instead. NOW ACCEPTING BRAIN CELL DONATIONS FOR A BOY IN NEED!! with your loving generosity we can hopefully help him live to the ripe old age of seventeen

OMGFGGG

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

[grabs your hands] ლ(*꒪ヮ꒪*)ლ [swings you in a circle] へ(ﾟ◇ﾟへ)

THASSSSSSSS WHATSSSSSSS UPPPPPPPPPP

HORIKOSHI REALLY SAID FUCK THAT MASK (ノ°ο°)ノ YOU FINALLY LEARNED!! IT’S CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT!!!!

JUST FOR YOU KACCHAN, HORIKOSHI LEFT THIS ONE BAD GUY WHO’S STILL WEAK TO FIRE. GOD BLESS

IT’S YOUR COUNTERPART, KATSUKI B!!!! HOW WE DOIN OVER THERE IN THE TRIPPY COSMIC OFA SPACE REALM LOL. DO WE BELIEVE YET, FANDOM???

LIGHTS!!!!

INSTANT RESULTS!!! IT’S SUPER EFFECTIVE!!!

(ETA: imagine what this must look like to Deku though. he’s been caught up in this dark cloud of despair and exhaustion that’s been building up over... I’m gonna go ahead and say “weeks”, because yeah. and now he finds himself here, in the place where All Might’s legacy ended and the torch was passed to him. and the world is in ruins, and he’s surrounded by frightened people who are all trying to hurt him -- because who isn’t trying to hurt him, these days -- and he’s scrambling to figure this all out, but meanwhile the weariness is finally starting to catch up to him, and so he’s basically just standing there in a fog of complete and utter misery.

and then all of a sudden through that haze, he hears the one voice that’s more familiar than any other that he knows. like, I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if he thought he was just imagining it at first. Kacchan showing up to save him right when he’s at his most desperate and feeling the most alone. Kacchan, showing up to save him.

this is the person he always looked up to as a child (to be fair he was quite a strange child lmao). the person who was even closer to him than All Might. the person he always thought was amazing. and bam, here he is now. appearing in the sky out of nowhere to one-shot the bad guy with a single blast (which, btw, that was his armor-piercing attack too lmao dslkjlk take it easy there kiddo). like, that must have felt absolutely surreal to him, especially coming at a time when he’s already half-delirious and barely hanging on to reality. he must have really thought that he was losing it there for a second.

but he’s really there. it really is him. and for this brief moment -- before the rest of the situation catches up to him, and he remembers about all of the fucked-up AFO stuff, and remembers why he was so afraid and why he was pushing everyone away -- for just this one brief moment, he’s too exhausted and stunned to do anything except to just react. just stands there, looking up at him in awe.

and you know, it almost reminds me of...

just. you guys. the character development. the freaking character development. someone who brings reassurance. someone who shows up and makes you think, “oh, it’s all going to be okay now, because [person] is here.” the role reversals. the growth. the payoff!! because who is the one person who always had faith that Kacchan would one day grow up to become an amazing hero like that. WHO IS IT. YOU ALREADY KNOW.

omg. anyways, bless you Horikoshi, my feels which have been on backorder since fucking September have finally arrived lmao. yes, good, thank you. worth the wait. it is always, always worth the wait. fuck yeah.)

“LOWFRIES” SO YOU’RE TELLING ME THE WHOLE GANG IS HERE, AHHHHHHHH (º̩̩́⌣º̩̩̀ )

BEAUTIFUL. WONDERFUL. SENSATIONAL. I DON’T EVEN CARE THAT JUMP IS ON BREAK NEXT WEEK. THIS RIGHT HERE WILL SUSTAIN ME

[cursedwriter]

Dancing with your Ghost - Fushiguro Megumi

Jujutsu Kaisen Masterlist 

Warnings: Deals with death, Megumi has various breakdowns, it’s just really sad over all... sorry for making you cry in advance! 

Words: 4.9k

Author’s Note: Kind of inspired by this song: Dancing with your Ghost - Sasha Sloan // Also, when they dance, I kinda imagined them to dance to this: Technicolour Beat - Oh Wonder 

“Is he still in there?” Yuji pointed at the door by the end of the hallway. Gojo was walking in his direction, his expression unreadable.  

“No matter what I tell him, he won’t come out.” His voice sounded tired, almost worn out. The sight must’ve been hard for him to bear. Itadori gulped. He wasn’t sure if he could take it. “You should try talking to him. Maybe he will listen to you. We both know he would regret it if he missed the ceremony.” Gojo patted Yuji on the shoulder, hand lingering for a few additional seconds in silent comfort.

“I’ll try my best,” Itadori nodded, though, he sounded more hopeful than he was. This was going to be rough.

Soon after, Gojo disappeared behind the corner and out of sight. His shoulders were slouching and his head was hanging low as if he couldn’t walk upright. This was hard on everyone. But the person who had it the worst of all was…

“Fushiguro, can I come in?” Yuji knocked on the door three times. No answer. He tried again. This time more forceful. “Hey, Megumi! It’s me, Yuji! Do you mind if I come in?” Still no answer. Itadori sighed, but he pushed the door open anyways, peering into the dimly lit library of the Jujutsu Tech High school. Admittedly, he’s never been in here before. Yuji wasn’t really the non-fiction reader… or anything that wasn’t manga, really. But upon entering the room, he couldn’t help but gawk. The shelves were stacked to the max, piling up above his head in a seemingly endless supply of books. There were books everywhere. The amount of knowledge that was stored in here was immense. And all about curses and jujutsu? Incredible! Maybe he should’ve come here sooner. He bet that there had to be at least a dozen books about Sukuna here somewhere.

“It doesn’t make any sense. It doesn’t make any sense.” Itadori was pulled out of his thoughts by the repetitive mantra that was coming from somewhere behind a shelf. He followed the sound that was mingled with quiet sobs and he had to force himself to keep walking. This was more terrifying than facing all the curses of this world together.

“Megumi?” He peered around the shelf, finding his friend sitting on the old wooden floor, frantically flipping through a book with yellowed pages that seemed to be falling apart at the seams. It must’ve been ancient.

“No sense, no sense, no sense,” he repeated over and over again as if that phrase was the only thing keeping him sane.

“Megumi?” Itadori tried again and finally Megumi’s head snapped up and he looked at Itadori like a deer caught in headlights… only way worse. His eyes were bloodshot with dark purple circles underneath them. A stark contrast to his sickly pale skin. Briefly, Yuji wondered if Megumi had slept at all since it happened. Tears were streaming down his face and it felt like they would never stop. An endless river of sorrow and despair. Yuji was sure he heard his own heart shatter in his chest as he looked at his best friend. He wished he could take some of the pain away. Even if it was just a little, but of course that was impossible. “The ceremony will start soon and-“

“That’s stupid!” Fushiguro cut him off harshly, his voice hoarse and quieter than usual. “Why would there be a freaking ceremony when she’s coming back?!”

“Megumi, she-“

“No! Stop it!” He yelled, throwing the book he was reading against the opposite wall. “Stop it! Shut up!” He pressed his palms against his temples as if he wanted to crush his own skull. “I’ll do it, you’ll see! All of you! You’ll see! I’ll bring her back! I’ll bring her back, okay?! I will – I will!” He repeated it over and over again and it was apparent that he wanted to proof himself right more than anything else. Maybe making him believe would help ease his pain? Should he encourage him? No. Despite wishing that he could provide some words of comfort right now, Itadori knew that false hope would be the cruelest thing he could offer. No matter how much it hurt, but Megumi couldn’t go on like this… searching for something that wasn’t real.

“Megumi, please. You’ll regret it if you don’t come,” Itadori tried again, picking up the book that Megumi had thrown away. He flipped through the first pages and he could already tell that the answers Megumi was searching for weren’t in this book. It was mostly about how sorcerers could reincarnate as curses if their dead bodies weren’t handled properly. If they died you had to make sure that the last hit was infused with cursed energy. Usually, that took care of things. However, if they died of natural causes, diseases or accidents there was a special ritual, a ceremony that made sure their bodies were put to rest accordingly. Kind of like a funeral, but then again, not quite. This was the ceremony Fushiguro refused to attend, even though it was highly valued among sorcerers. It was a way to pay your last respects, value their accomplishments and thank them for their sacrifice. He probably refused to go because that would make her death final and he would be forced to move on, no matter how hard it would be… and it was going to be very hard.

“SHE’S COMING BACK, DAMMIT!” Megumi yelled at him, reaching for another book that was stocked in a pile he’d built himself. The tower crumbled with the way he yanked it out, dozen books falling to the ground, scattering to their feet. It was eerily quiet for a second, Yuji didn’t dare to speak. The atmosphere so thick, he doubted even Maki’s demon blade could cut through it. And then, right when he wanted to say something, anything really to get rid of the suffocating silence in the room, Megumi started sobbing. Not like before. Impossibly, it was even worse. His whole body shook with the action, hands that were clinging onto the book were trembling and despite him hanging his head low, Yuji could see the frequent tears that were hitting the old worn out pages of the book, blurring the ink further, making it almost unreadable.

Hesitantly, he took a step forward, but he wasn’t quite sure what to do. Should he hug him? What could he even say? Should he call for someone? Gojo-sensei? Would he know what to do? Or Nobara? Or, wait! Y/N always knew what to do when it came to him… Oh, right…

Yuji slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand. How could he forget?! It really didn’t feel real yet, huh? Itadori tried to swallow the big lump in his throat as he crouched down and gently took the book out of Fushiguro’s shaking hands. He looked so fragile, as if a single slap to the wrist could break his arm.

“I just don’t get it,” Megumi whispered. His voice sounded far away, as if he was underwater or as if Yuji had cotton in his ears, muffling his voice to a point where it was almost incomprehensible. “It’s just so unfair.”

Yuji placed the book on the ground beside him, skipping over the title “Resurrection and the balance of the world”, it read. He gulped again. Could it be possible?

“I know it is.” He laid a comforting hand on his shoulder and another muffled cry escaped Megumi’s mouth. Yuji had seen a lot over the course of just one year, but not once has he witnessed such utter despair. The sight pulled on his heart strings in ways he couldn’t even explain.

“She fought against the most heinous creatures every day and you’re telling me she died because some fucking asshole thought it was a good idea to drive while being absolutely shit faced?!” Some of his words were swallowed by his sobs, but Itadori understood him well enough. “I refuse to believe that! I refuse to accept that!”

Momentarily Itadori was thrown back to the moment they got the call, he remembered it all too vividly. The shock, the confusion and his scream…

“I’m sorry for your loss,” the nurse led them into the room. The air was chilly and it smelled like disinfectant.  The stench so unbelievably strong, Megumi thought he might throw up. It burned in his eyes and nose and he distantly felt his cheeks getting wet. He couldn’t tell if it was because of the smell or of what was to come… at this point, it still felt like a sick joke, some twisted game or prank. Just not real, like a dream, a nightmare he would wake up from any second.

There was a single bed in the middle of the room, the body underneath covered by a white cloth. Gojo, Nobara and Yuji gathered around it, hands clutched together in front of them as if they were silently praying. Megumi hesitated. He stood in the doorframe, looking at the scene in front of him and nothing seemed to make sense anymore. Everyone was crying. Even Gojo seemed more tense than usual and he was sure he saw a stray tear slip from underneath his sunglasses.

The room was silent, except for the door falling shut behind him as the nurse left them to mourn in peace. This was a dream, right? A nightmare? How could it be anything else?

Megumi’s footsteps echoed off the walls as he hesitantly approached the bed covered in white sheets.

This is just a dream. This is a nightmare. You’re going to wake up any second now. Just wake up. Wake up! Wake up, dammit!

But he didn’t wake up. Not even as he reached for the white cloth. And he didn’t wake up as he slowly lifted it up. He didn’t wake up when everyone sucked in a sharp breath. And he didn’t wake up as Nobara’s knees buckled and she fell to the ground sobbing. He didn’t wake up as he laid his eyes on your peaceful but lifeless face.

Megumi didn’t wake up. But God did he wish he did.

He stood there for what felt like an eternity. Studying your features. How your hair was softly flowing on the pillow, how your lips were slightly parted as if you would wake up at any given moment and tell him something important. But he also noticed that your cheeks lacked their signature pinkish tint and your lips were more blue than their usual vibrant red.

His hand inched closer to your face, connecting to your cheeks and adoringly caressing it. It was cold underneath his touch. Your skin feeling more like wax than it felt alive.

No one said anything, the only sound was Nobara’s quiet sobs that she tried to stiffle to the best of her abilities. Everyone watched Megumi and no one knew what to do. Neither of them has ever felt so helpless. Even Gojo was rendered speechless at the heartbreaking sight in front of him.

And then, everything slowly started to sink in…

She’s gone.  She’s gone. She’s really gone! You’re not waking up! Why aren’t you waking up?! Wake up!! No, no, no. This can’t happen. This can’t happen. This isn’t happening! Tell me this isn’t happening?!

Didn’t I just talk to her this morning? Didn’t we talk about going to the beach as soon as it got warmer? Didn’t we make dinner plans? Didn’t she boast about a new recipe she wanted to try? Didn’t this just happen? And you’re telling me that all of that is just… gone? Just like that? In a moments notice… poof?! Evaporated into thin air? You’re telling me that?

“Wake up, dammit! Wake up, dammit! WAKE UP!”

Everyone stared helplessly at Fushiguro. At first no one knew if he was talking to himself or you, but then he started desperately shaking your shoulders, repeating the words over and over again. “We wanted to go to the beach, remember? You told me you couldn’t wait! Come back, and I’ll drive us right now! Come back! Come back to me, please! Please!”

Gojo couldn’t bear the sight anymore. The way he shook your body as if that would change anything. With a few long strides he closed the distance between him and Megumi and pulled him away from the bed. He was thrashing at him, screaming in his face to let him go, but Gojo didn’t listen. He gladly took a hit or two if that meant Fushiguro could get at least some of his frustration out of his body. To Gojo, the room itself was a hard place to be in – for obvious reasons. The energy here made him feel uneasy and on edge. The amount of cursed energy gushing out of Megumi was immense and almost unbearable. He had to get his emotions in check or else…

Megumi continued to yell and thrash. “Let me go, you bastard! Let me go! I need to see her! I need to see her!”

“I understand that this is hard for you, but you need to calm down!” Gojo’s voice was stern. This was probably the first time ever that he actually put on the façade of a responsible adult. Nobara and Yuji watched the two with wide eyes, but didn’t interfere otherwise. “If you keep this up, you might end up cursing her! Do you want that?!”

“Let me go! Let me go!” Megumi wasn’t listening.

“Megumi, snap out of it!” Gojo’s palm connected to Megumi’s cheek, his flesh burning hot where it had connected. For a moment, the room was silent again. Only Megumi’s labored breaths broke through the thick tension.

“You bastard!” Megumi launched himself at Gojo with all his strength, but that was exactly what Gojo intended. It was better if he directed all his energy towards him than having it leak out of him uncontrollably. Otherwise he had the potential of manifesting a new special grade curse that neither one of them wanted to deal with, especially if you were to be reborn as said curse.

Megumi stopped his relentless attacks, knees buckling under his weight as a single agony filled screamed echoed off the walls…

Megumi slowly opened his eyes. His head was aching, blood soaring in his ears. What happened? He looked around himself. The room was dark, only illuminated by the moon light that peered through his partially closed blinds. He was laying in his bed, the room a mess just like he remembered. That was unlike him. Well, ever since that day he hasn’t been himself at all. Now, he more or less felt like an empty shell, existing but not alive.

He groaned, sitting up while he rubbed his temples, hoping to get the relentless throbbing to stop. Ah, that’s right. A few flashes of the previous events reminded him of what had happened. Megumi’s frustration and anger had gotten the best of him and he started throwing books, ripping them out of their shelves and even tearing some of them apart when he couldn’t find the answers he was looking for. Yuji had to call for Gojo and he in turn had knocked him unconscious.  

Megumi huffed. Great. Now he was probably not permitted to go to the library again. He should really start thinking before lashing out like this. No, matter, though. If push comes to shove he’d find a way in and if it’s the last thing he did. He didn’t really care anymore anyways. What’s the worst that could happen? Expulsion? That was nothing.

He peeled the covers back, his shirt sticking to his body uncomfortably. Maybe he should take a shower before he went back again.

Reluctantly, he got up and walked towards his bathroom, mindful not to trip on anything that was scattered on his floor.

Once he was there, he turned the shower faucet on, letting the water heat up while he stripped out of his clothes. His head was still killing him and his whole body ached. He shivered, even as he got into the shower and the hot water burned his skin. He was still cold. For some reason he didn’t seem to be able to get warm anymore, as if you took all of his warmth with you, when you left him.

“Ew, stop doing that,” you laughed wholeheartedly as Megumi shook his wet hair in your face after coming out of the shower. “Seriously, are you a dog?”

“No, but I love hearing you laugh.” Megumi wrapped his arms around you, pressing your back against his naked chest as you both watched your reflection in the mirror. “I really love you, Y/N. So much,” he whispered in your ear, not taking his eyes off the mirror. He could see the faint blush on your cheeks and he placed a soft kiss to the nape of your neck to emphasize his words.

“I love you, too.” The smile on your lips and the way your eyes sparkled with joy, filled his heart with warmth and light. He could bask in it for all eternity and he would never get tired of it.

Megumi turned the water off, still shivering. It was to no use. His skin was burning red, though, and the whole room was filled with steam and yet, he had goosebumps all over his body. His teeth started clattering as he dried himself and he put on new clothes.

The clock on his bedside table told him that it was three in the morning. He felt like he forgot about something… something important. What was it again?

And then his eyes widened in shock. No, no, no.

“Hey, look!” Megumi felt your slender fingers wrap around his wrist, your warmth immediately warming his cold skin. You tugged him gently and he followed you. It didn’t take long for you to reach your desired destination and you stopped, eyes shining with awe in them as you watched over the city, lights sparkling and illuminating the darkness. Megumi couldn’t deny that the view was breathtaking, but he couldn’t keep his eyes from constantly looking at you instead. The way your face lit up, the way the lights danced on your face and how your cheeks were always tinted in their usual pinkish color, made him fall for you all over again. His heart hammered in his chest and his pulse picked up. Butterflies assaulting his stomach in the best way imaginable and he felt like he was floating above ground. Never has he felt so happy. “There! It’s starting!” You beamed at him as the first flash of light painted the night sky in a bright blue color, then it changed to red and then green. The sound of other fireworks being set off rang through the otherwise silent night. Here, on top of the mountain away from anyone, it was the most peaceful place he could imagine. But he wasn’t sure if it was only because of the view and the fact that no one was around or if it was because you were here. Whatever it was, he didn’t dream to fight it. The feeling so foreign yet so welcomed.

Suddenly your hand appeared in his line of vision and he didn’t hesitate to take it. What he didn’t expect was you starting to spin around. It took him a moment to catch up. “C’mon, Megumi, what are you doing? Don’t just stand there so stiffly! Dance with me!” You urged him on and Megumi felt his cheeks heating up in embarrassment. He could only hope that you couldn’t see it.

“There’s no music, though,” he said, trying to find an excuse to not make a complete fool out of himself. You see, Megumi wasn’t a dancer. Give him a choreographed fighting formation and he could do that no problem, but moving his feet to the rhythm of a song? Nope. That was sure to end in him tripping over his own feet and in the worst case break his leg or arm.

You rolled your eyes at him, but instead of saying anything, you reached into your back pocket to get a hold of your phone. It didn’t take long and the sound of the fireworks was mixed with the soft tune of a song that he didn’t know. “Better?”

Well, not really… Megumi scratched the back of his head, unsure. Better to come clean, I guess. “You see… I can’t really dance… like at all,” Megumi stammered.

“So what? I can’t dance either,” you laughed, spinning around and jumping up and down like it was the most normal thing to do. The smile on your face never faltered and you did another spin, throwing your hands up in the air, moving them around awkwardly. Megumi couldn’t help but laugh at your awkward movements. You looked so silly, it was hilarious. “See? Now it’s only fair that you make a fool out of yourself, too. You can’t leave me hanging like this!”

What the hell, right? Megumi started moving his feet, still super stiffly and anything but graceful, but he did it. He looked at you, following your movements and it didn’t take him long to get the hang of it… well, somewhat at least. He still looked really awkward and helpless, so you reached both your hands out for him again and he grabbed them without hesitation, just like before. You started spinning both of you in circles, giggling at the way his face lit up slightly. He joined your laughter, looking at you with the most adoring smile in the world. It felt… so easy. Everything with you felt so easy.

So now it was just the both of you, spinning around in fast circles, laughing at the night sky filled with stars while in the distance the sound of fireworks slowly died down. The music playing softly in the background, but you didn’t even care that the rhythm of the song didn’t match with your movements at all. Nothing mattered in that moment. Just the two of you. Together. Forever.

“Ah, I was wondering when you’d show up.” Gojo scratched the back of his neck, smiling apologetically. “Maybe I was a bit too rough, when I knocked you out. Sorry about that.”

Megumi stared at him sitting in the front row of lined up chairs. The room was only dimly lit by the candles at the other end. The soft light they cast illuminated a picture of you in a black frame. It was the same one he had saved as his phone background. Megumi gulped, feet moving on their own as he approached Gojo, though, he felt his knees wobble unsteadily. The air became thicker and thicker with every other step he took. It felt excruciatingly hard to breathe. It was suffocating.

Megumi sat down on a chair next to Gojo, forcing himself to tear his eyes off the framed picture in front of him. If he didn’t he was afraid he might break down again. So he shifted his attention to the man in the chair next to him. He was already looking at him, his eyes hidden behind his sunglasses, as usual. There was a slight frown in his features, though, and his mouth was pressed into a thin line, a stark contrast to his normally giddy self. So Gojo could be serious, huh? Who would’ve thought? Bet you would’ve loved to see him like that…

“Megumi,” Gojo broke the silence first, his tone soft, but there was a certain sternness behind it that Megumi didn’t know he had until now. It left no room for interpretation. This was going to be a serious talk and Fushiguro didn’t know if he was ready for that yet. “I know that losing someone you care about is not easy and I’m not trying to pretend that I know exactly what you’re going through right now, but I’m telling you as your sensei and as a friend… you have to move on. And that means you have to stop looking for ways to bring her back.”

Megumi opened his mouth to tell him off, but Gojo just held a finger up to show him he wasn’t done yet. The crease between Megumi’s brows deepened, but he kept his mouth shut regardless. “The world works under a few distinct principles. Rules that cannot be broken, if you will. Like we know that after the sun sets, dawn will come. With darkness, there is light and no matter how harsh a winter might be, spring will always come next. And the pinnacle of those rules will always be that with life there comes death. We don’t get to choose when this’ll be or how it’ll happen, but from the moment we’re born we know without a doubt that we’ll have to leave this place at some point. Death is certain. It’s but one part of life and disrupting that cycle, breaking one of the unbreakable rules, would cause the whole system to fall apart. It would level the ground for mayhem and destruction, nothing would make sense anymore. The world would crumble. As sorcerers you know that we protect the ones who cannot protect themselves, but we also maintain balance and Megumi… while I do understand your desire to see her again, I have to warn you… even if there is a chance, I won’t let you do it at the expense of everyone else’s life.”

Silence fell between them again. Megumi had a hard time believing that these words really just came out of Gojo’s mouth. Deep down, he knew he was right. He knew it was a futile plan to bring you back. It was selfish and irresponsible, but he was so… desperate. So desperate to hear your voice again, so desperate to listen to you laugh or complain, so desperate to feel your delicate and warm touch on his cold skin. He was so desperate for these things; he couldn’t think straight. His mind felt foreign to him without you there. He didn’t know who he was, who he would be without you by his side. He didn’t know if he wanted to be in this world anymore with his source of warmth and comfort gone. They said, time healed all wounds but as of now that seemed impossible. Just a thing people told themselves to keep moving forward. A lie that was supposed to protect oneself from the cruel and harsh truth that the world didn’t stop spinning, that time passed by and that dawn always came… no matter what. The world moved forward regardless if you were here or not and it felt like a cruel joke to him. Nothing seemed the same. He didn’t recognize anything, looking at the world with different eyes. How could there be a world without you in it? Why was everyone moving forward while he was left behind? And how could they? How could they move on? Why didn’t the world stop spinning? It should. Because nothing felt right. Nothing was the same. And yet… that only held true for him.

Megumi wiped away his silent tears with the sleeve of his shirt. “But I didn’t even get to say goodbye,” he croaked out. It was the first thing that came to his mind. He replayed the morning with you over and over again and he couldn’t remember if he said goodbye to you when you left that fateful day. Did he? Did he not? In any case, he would’ve never thought how final of a farewell it would’ve been in the end. “I don’t even remember the last thing I said to her,” he sobbed.

He felt beyond guilty for not being able to recall it clearly. Did he say ‘I love you’? Did you say it back? He wanted to believe he did, but he just wasn’t sure and it drove him insane.

“She knew that you loved her very much, Megumi. I’m sure she knew until the very end.” Gojo patted his shoulder a few times, before he got up. “Take all the time you need.” He left the room, closing the door behind him, but not before he turned around one last time, looking at Megumi with worried eyes. “But remember, Megumi… You have to move on eventually, no matter how hard it is. For her sake and your own… Just know that you have people in your life that you can rely on any time, okay?”

Megumi nodded and Gojo let the door fall shut behind him. The silence that ensued was almost deafening. Finally, Megumi let his tears fall freely, sobbing like a child and sucking in air after shallow breaths.

Everything hurt with you gone. How could he ever move on? How could he ever love again? Megumi was scared he might break in half. How much pain could someone even bear? Though, deep down he knew that he didn’t have a choice… He had to try. And he would try his hardest to keep moving forward, holding on to that tiny glimpse of hope that one day he’d see you again. And when he did, he swore to himself to never stop telling you how much he loved you. Always and forever.

[dreamsclock]

MENTOR DREAM!!!! MY BELOVED!!!!! BIG BROTHER DREAM AND LITTLE BROTHER RANBOO MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE!!!

Dream has a moment of weakness the night before the final confrontation. Well, little brother Ranboo gives him comfort and Dream, knowing what happens when he loses, gives Ranboo his final two lessons:

Lesson 99: Sometimes you have to sacrifice yourself to save everyone you love.

Lesson 100: I love you, Ranboo. You're going to do something great.

i couldn’t resist - endersmile duo content is my JAM rn, and i had to write something based on this when it almost made me cry :’)

warnings: death, mental deterioration, angst, hurt no comfort

Dream knows his lessons are harsh. They’re meant to be.

And not in a mean way (though he knows they often come off as mean anyway), but sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind, and he knows his methods of teaching are much, much kinder than the lessons the SMP would and will teach Ranboo. He should know - how many lessons had he taught them? How many lessons had he been taught by them?

(Lesson 27: Do not reminisce on what you have lost for it will weigh you down.)

(His eyes dart to an open pasture.)

(He turns away.)

But Ranboo is a good kid, despite his mischievous nature and affinity for being a persuasive little shit. He reminds Dream of Tommy when he’d been younger - although much less chaotic and much less of a pain in his ass, he has to admit. Ranboo has been there for him time after time when Dream’s paranoia had gotten the best of him; had been there when Dream had come back furious and hurt and lost and losing his grasp on what little sanity he had left, there to pull him back from the edge and coax him into breathing, just breathing, and pushing through a little longer.

In turn, Dream had turned to mentoring him, because fuck, if he can’t make it out of here alive, then maybe his little brother can. The server likes Ranboo, sometimes, and he’s confident that when he’s dead and gone, Ranboo will slip under their suspicions and blend right in - nobody will ever even suspect he’s still on his side.

(He tries not to think about Doomsday, when he’d slipped up, lost his verbal footing in his hysterical triumph and called Ranboo a traitor in front of everyone. He remembers the eyes swiveling to Ranboo, remembers the hot burst of shame in his chest after realizing what he’d done.)

(Fuck, he wants the kid to survive this.)

And his moments of good mentoring - actual, sound advice coming from a man with nothing to lose - are few and far between now, because yeah, he’s not afraid (he is) to admit he’s losing it, but his brother sticks loyally by him anyway, doesn’t utter a word when Dream paces away the night and mutters plan after plan to himself under his breath. He watches, he comforts, he helps, and, when Dream actually blurts something useful out, he’ll write it down, per Dream’s request.

The last lessons come on the eve of the finale.

Dream knows he’s going to die.

(He thinks Ranboo does too.)

“Lesson ninety-nine,” Dream says, halting where he’d been pacing for the past three hours and turning to face Ranboo, imperceptible behind his mask, “sometimes you have to sacrifice yourself to save everyone you love.”

Ranboo’s eyes narrow. He doesn’t like this line of thought. “Odd lesson to teach me, considering what’s happening tomorrow,” he replies, frowning, “you better not be implying anything. Don’t do anything stupid.”

Dream’s laugh is strained, slightly hysterical. “How can I do anything stupid when I’m going to win?” He asks, and it feels hollow. He knows he’s already lost, a long long time ago: whether he wins or loses tomorrow is no difference, not really. Lose, and he dies. Win, and his last shred of sanity slips away and he controls the server. He can unite them all, if at the cost of Tubbo’s life and Tommy’s freedom and his own mind. “You’re being dumb.”

“Mmm. I don’t think so,” is Ranboo’s suspicious answer, and Dream knows he’s prying, Dream knows Ranboo wants him to open up, wants them to have one last heart-to-heart before tomorrow hits and takes whatever of Dream is left, be it his body or his mind, but instead he swallows, turning to face the window with a heavy heart and a strange burning feeling in his throat that he thinks might be tears.

“You should get some sleep,” he tells him, evasive, “I’ll see you tomorrow morning before I go, okay?”

And when Ranboo sighs and teleports away to his makeshift little room in Dream’s crude little house (less of a house than a bunker, he thinks, Prime, it’s been so long since he’s had a house, he misses it), Dream smiles, tight lipped, despairingly, because Ranboo has forgotten Lesson 53 doesn’t just apply to everyone, it applies to everyone and Dream.

He’s not going to see Ranboo tomorrow. He’s leaving now. And, stiffening his shoulders in resolve, Dream blinks when he catches sight of a familiar book lying on the table, forgotten in the tension before tomorrow. It’s Ranboo’s lesson book.

Pausing, he scribbles something down on a page, unable to help himself, before leaving in a hurry, chugging a potion and yanking his cloak from the door as he leaves. He has one final disk war planned, and he has to get there early.

(Ranboo finds Lesson 100 in his book weeks later, when he discovers it lying innocently in Dream’s old bunker. Heart breaking, throat burning, he brushes his fingertips over the scrawl.

Lesson 100: I love you, Ranboo. You're going to do something great.

And for the first time, he lets himself grieve who Dream could have been.)

[tender-rosiey]

hi hi <3 back to request bc i just love your work!

could i request haikyuu boys reacting to their fem!s/o getting a phone call and a guy on the other line says “hey, you home alone?” or something along those lines. there was a tik tok trend where girls would get a fake ft call with a guy saying ^ to see how their boyfriends would react, i think i may be able to find a video if you want but i do hope i explained this well :)

❥ “Hey, you home alone?” Prank on HQ characters

Includes Oikawa, Bokuto, Tsukishima and Kageyama

ᴀ/ɴ: i am glad you like my work, luv and this looks fun to write and I love these pranks a lot! hope you liked this luv 💕 also did my blog really go quack or is my stuff just getting ignored 👩‍🦲

Oikawa Tooru:

I would like to write a whole damn essay about how much I love oikawa but this is not our topic for today until now at least

SO, you felt bored and wanted to do something, plus oikawa has been free from pranks for far too long

That’s another reason why TikTok is your place to go for pranks

You saw said prank and wanted to do it since our lovely tooru has rather interesting reactions

So you set it up the sound and held your phone while your boyfriend is in the kitchen counter behind you preparing a snack for movie night

It was all fine and dandy until

“Hey, you home alone?”

You suddenly heard things stumble and your boyfriend was beside you in a snap with a frown on his face

“No she is not alone and in fact we are going on a date so you can just go FUCK YOURSELF— babe you are recording?”

You then smiled cheekily before bursting out laughing resulting in the blank stare and a pout from your boyfriend beside you

“Y/N, that’s mean, how dare you?”

However you didn’t expect your boyfriend to slam down on you and try and suffocate you with hugs

“Tooru get off!”

“No, apologize!”

He also peppered your face with kisses until you were sorry

You also posted the TikTok and it got more than 400k likes 👩‍🦲

And my favorite part is the comments so let’s start

Some of them were like

“LMAO THE SPEED HE GOT THERE WITH”

and “he is so pretty tho tf”

as well as “the kisses at the end were adorable tho lol”

Of course his ass was sticking out while peppering you with kisses so someone commented

“What a flat ass”

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Bokuto Koutarou:

I personally believe that Bokuto would have TikTok and would know about the trends unlike the dumbass up there who I think would only stick to one side of TikTok

Bokuto likes diversity in everything and doesn’t like getting left out, once again it’s my opinion

So he obviously knows the trend and you know that he knows, so you got a video of someone with a voice he never heard

He had just came from training and entered the home with a big smile and greeted you with a kiss

And so as he turned his back to you he heard

“Hey, you home alone?”

Bokuto threw the toilet roll at your phone knocking it down

His hair then deflated and looked at you with a look that made you feel extremely guilty

“Kou, it’s a prank.”

He then crossed his arms and faced away pouting

Now how do we make up things to a deflated and pouty Bokuto Koutaro, the great captain of Fukurodani?

Hug him from behind and start kissing his cheek and face then tighten the hug, like you are doing right now

He starts to relax to your touch still being just a little petty

“Don’t do that again, Y/N; these pranks aren’t funny.” He said barely audible as he was trying not to break his pout

He then broke into a fit of laughter and turned to hug you cause I stand by word when I say bokuto loves physical affection with every fiber of his being

And you guys continued the day cuddling <3

Onto the comments:

“HOW COULD HE KNOCK US DOWN LIKE THAT”

“That aim tho”

“HE IS SO MUSCULAR”

“Can we buy someone like him?”

He also gave you a kiss on the cheek while the camera was filming

Cause ✨ AFFECTION ✨

And by the way

He told kuroo about this

And kuroo is planning a lovely prank to get you back for what you did for his bro 🥱

And kou doesn’t have any idea that kuroo is doing a prank even

Tsukishima Kei:

BAHAHA

The fact that you thought this was a good idea is very humorous, however tsukishima has TikTok, but ,unlike Bokuto, he literally knows everything

And he knew the moment you kept staring at him with a smirk on your face that there is something up

Inasmuch he was patiently waiting for your time to strike

He however then heard kageyama’s voice say

“Hey, you home alone?”

Love, when I tell you he whipped his head so damn fast he almost snapped it

“Hey king why don’t you go stick your dick in a dirt hole instead, y/n is too good for you.”

Cue you laughing while replaying the recording of kageyama saying that same line three more times

Explaining to him that it was a prank took some long time cause tsukishima was being a petty bitch

“Keiiii, I told you I am sorry—“ “no.” “Please, talk to me!”

Maybe just give him a hug or threaten him with going to kageyama and he will hug you from behind

“Don’t do it again, or I will never forgive you.”

Of course you wouldn’t go off the hook so easily sweetie

Tsukishima Kei ,as Tanaka once said, never forgets to counter and take revenge

So you basically started a prank war and may god be with your neighbors

But y’all still gonna watch the movie you agreed on and gossip so 🙄

You even managed to make him put on a face mask which I salute you for by the way

He is a little disappointed in himself cause he already knew you were gonna do something but still was shocked or rather startled

And for the comments which are the loveliest

“Woah is his neck okay—“

“The GLARE HE SO MAD”

“So stubborn wow”

You showed kageyama his reaction and he almost burst out laughing instead just ended up smirking in an evil way

While on the other hand hinata was rolling on the floor having the best laugh of his life aside from the one after his first receive which I was very proud of him for

Kageyama Tobio:

Hinata was low key gonna ruin it all

Why?

He almost laughed his way through the one sentence he was supposed to say

So your boyfriend was just doing his nails peacefully like the pretty boy setter he is until your dumbass decided to do the prank him while he was doing that

And so in the middle of his nail care session he heard the voice of his best friend say

“Hey, you home alone?”

You didn’t want to use the actual audio since when you guys cuddle he watched TikTok with you and basically knows the trends because of you

Unlike his senior who despite having TikTok doesn’t remember trends for shit

So you called his best friend and made him take part in this and sacrifice his being for a good laugh

Anyways back to him almost injuring his finger when he heard it

“HINATA BOKE WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM Y/N?!”

“BAHAHAHAHA I AM SORRY Y/N I CANT!”

He kept glaring at hinata through the phone and ended up hanging up on him and returning him to the “to serve at their head” list for the 37th time

He just looked at you and pouted unintentionally

“It wasn’t funny you know, you scared me.”

Aw

now make it up to him

“What can I do so you can forgive me then, Tobio?”

“…milk and cuddles.”

And so he got it what he asked for

Hinata’s funeral got scheduled 3 days later but he made it out alive so it’s okay :D

The comments were interesting to say the least

“Did he just do like oxen do? You know, the air from their nose when mad”

“THE NAIL; IT ALMOST BROKE NO”

“So pretty”

“I feel like the orange headed dude is gonna get his ass handed to him.”

He went to ask noya and tanaka for advice to get you back for what you did

To which they told him to ignore you for 24 hours

They also shared the idea because they heard oikawa and tsukishima talking about it separately

They also showed him their evil laugh

copyright © 2020 tender-rosiey

do not copy or plagiarize or you will be reported

[familyagrestefanblog]

Just been thinking about the scene in "Gorizilla" where Adrien jumps off the skyscraper and Gabriel is forced to show some emotions while writing another post and I... I just-

Gabriel you selfish dick, what the hell??

I was just as glad as everyone else to see Gabriel expressing genuine concern and fear for Adrien, it hit especially hard BECAUSE he was being Hawkmoth at that moment. But this

THIS???

I just noticed how much of a bastard thing this was of him to say.

Think about it. This situation came to be because Gabriel completely disregarded Adrien when he just wanted to ask his father the short but very important question (which Adrien made known) of getting to see his mothers film in the movie theaters and send him away to his room when he noticed Adriens ring again which led to him suspecting Adrien to be Chat Noir. Gabriel wanted to confront Adrien about it but because Gabriel literally treated him like shit Adrien run away to see it anyway to which Gabriel reacts by sending the Gorilla after him (go after him yourself jerk,YOU fucked this up). The Gorilla can't catch Adrien though so Gabriel chews him out and immediately akumatizes him so Adrien has to reveal himself to free himself so he can help Ladybug deakumatize him.

Well, things escalate eventually leading to Adrien jumping off a skyscraper at the same time Ladybug gets caught by Gorizilla leaving her unable to save him from certain DEATH and here we are now

Adrien is falling to his death and Gabriel as Hawkmoth is literally BEGGING him to transform if he really indeed is Chat Noir.

....

....

Do you also see whats so genuinely fucked up about this scenario here? Let me repeat it:

Gabriel, the man who is not only the cause of all of this but also the one and only person involved who's is in complete control here, is begging ADRIEN, of whom he doesn't even know for sure if he really is Chat Noir, to transform to de-escalate his own fall to his death.

Gabriel Garbage Agreste, how DARE you start begging as if you were any kind of victim in this?!

Let me break it down just how much is wrong with all of this:

Even though Gabriel is fully aware that HE is the person in control here and is NOT sure if Adrien, who is literally about to die in mere moments, even has a definite way of saving himself, he's still putting the active "decision making" on ADRIEN. Who, let me remind you, can NOT hear Hawkmoth/Gabriel begging him to transform! Gabriel is making ADRIEN the one responsible for the outcome of this situation right now even though there is still the very real possibility that Adrien has no possible way of knowing that Hawkmoth is counting on him to transform BECAUSE HE MIGHT NOT BE A MIRACULOUS HOLDER IN THE FIRST PLACE!

It doesn't matter at all that Gabriel was correct with his suspicion because he's just immediately throwing all the responsibility he holds for this entire situation right off of himself, playing poor bystander father, when HE is the one who holds all the power and therefore should be the one immediately taking action in HIS chaos for which HIS SON is about to lose his life!

In addition to that point, let's talk about the ridiculous amount of time Gabriel let Adrien fall while just standing there waiting and begging.

Because Gabriel is not only asking Adrien to transform once, he's asking TWICE.

There are 31(!!!) seconds beween Hawkmoths reaction to Adrien jumping and Ladybugs yoyo-string reaching Adrien and even though one certainly can make an argument here that the show time does not translate into the “real” time as well, but even if, there is no way in hell these 31 insane seconds would ever realistically come down to a number that isnt unforgivable long concidering the circumstances. And even then he's only letting Ladybug go to catch him because he hears Ladybug call to an absend Chat Noir for help, finally getting it through his thick skull just how close he is to having his own sons blood on his hands.

Gabriel was willing to let his own, possibly innocent, son fall to his DEATH for this long for the off-chance of him revealing himself to be Chat Noir because Gabriel is unwilling or simply incapable of taking on the obvious responsibility he holds until things reach such unspeakable limits that he has to face reality for a moment so not everything goes up in flames.

But I'm not done yet. Oh no, definitely NOT.

Because even after waiting for so long he’s forced to let Ladybug go, this is still not the moment that convinced Gabriel of Adriens innocence. Its only after Wayham doubles as Adrien while Adrien transforms into Chat to join the fight that the sight of Adrien and Chat Noir at the same place eventually convinces him.

Look at his face here and dare to tell me he wasnt still 100% convinced that Adrien could very likely be Chat Noir. Also dafuq kind of reaction is “Well, thats for the better” with THAT expression? That is NOT anywhere close to the relieved expression he SHOULD have had here! How much horrible stuff has already happened to Chat Noir at this point of the show? And THIS is how you react to the for-any-somewhat-resonable-parent GODSEND (but false) news that it wasnt your own flesh and blood you did this to? Yeah, you truly care Hawkbitch. Can someone please just call child protection services already?!

So even after this IMMENSE risk Adrien was not yet save from his supervillain father and neither was he Gabriels actual priority after “finding out” that Adrien is NOT Chat and he just put his CIVILIAN son through all of THIS. Which is exactly what happened in "heros day" part 1 and 2, where in part 1 he once again tells Gorizilla to protect Adrien, he is his "number 1 priority" but in part 2, after Adrien escaped from his akumatized bodyguard, Gorizilla is one of the giants Hawkmoth calls to himself but Gabriel has nothing to say to that. It was literally like he totally forgot about Adrien all together which is only made clearer by Hawkmoth later on straight up calling himself "a man with nothing to lose".

Fuck you Gabriel, Adrien was literally never an actual priority for you and you proof it over and over again.

And apparently even a situation that proofs someones innocence in every possible factor will not be proof enough for Gabriel to accept that he was wrong if it was HIM who had to back down and take the needed action to de-escalate the situation and not someone else. Any situation that forces "weakness" of him and doesnt end with an undoubtable proof that 100% satisfies/clears his previous intention holds no worth in credibility for him, no matter how irrational or contra-productive it is to still cling onto it. Because Gabriel/Hawkmoth refuses to be the one having to back down and to be out-stubborned by anyone else. If he isnt the one tricking the others his paranoia and ego stop him from thinking clearly. Especially concering Gabriels and Adriens always worsening relationship, this is a bloody dark red allert for the future.

But besides that, lets talk about just how much of an selfish, self-centered and irresponsible thing is it of him to ask ADRIEN to pull the sacrifice in this moment?

Adrien didn't refuse to transform for no reason. If he were to do it not only everybody in Paris would see it but HAWKMOTH as well and Adrien has no way of knowing that Hawkmoth at this point is not as much his enemy as he rightfully thinks and actually just wants him safe and sound right now. Adrien is perfectly aware that the moment Hawkmoth finds out about his identity he WILL take advantage of it, endangering his loved ones, friends etc (naturally including Gabriel himself as Adriens father as a big priority) and going after him mercilessly until he gets his ring. Adrien didn't refuse to save himself for nothing and that's important as hell!

Because here is Gabriel now begging Adrien to pull that exact sacrifice even though HE could stop this whenever he wanted, saving Adrien himself.

But he doesn't right away

And do you know why he doesn't?

Because stopping it required letting go of Ladybug and that could possibly lead to him losing the chance of getting her miraculous.

So this rotten insult to fatherhood wants to tell me now that he's a poor, poor father who fears for his dear sons life while basically asking ADRIEN to be the one to pull the bloody heavy sacrifice that will lead in Adriens eyes to horrible and devastating consequences for all of his loved ones and himself.

Just so Gabriel himself doesn't have to do it!

This is Gabriels default reaction by instinct. Gabriel are you FUCKING kidding me with this bullshit? How come I only noticed the fucked up second face of this scene now? I went so long actually giving Gabriel some legit credit for this but in reality this is beyond 7 stars of awful.

Once again, I applause Miraculous for this nuanced charactersation. This is what I will forever and ever love this show for and its fine to portray this because it obviously leads up to something

So let me say this with every inch of my heart:

FUCK. GABRIEL. AGRESTE!!!!

[vyeoh]

this is your chance: wax poetic about an Empires or DSMP character of your choice to a fan who is new to both. Explain why I should love them. I need guidance in this new and meme-populated land.

okok this is a lot of pressure haha. Spoilers for EmpiresSMP and DreamSMP below, obviously. I wrote a lot so prepare yourself, anon

I watch a lot of empires POVs but the ones I most anticipate every week are Scott and Sausage.

c!Scott (I'll call him Smajor for the sake of simplicity) starts off the series chilling, not really getting involved with the rest of the server, and staying aggressively neutral. After all, he's an elf. He has lived far longer than most of the other rulers already, and will most likely outlive them for many years. So, the best thing is to stick to his mountains and not get invested in the dealings of mortal affairs, maybe sometimes causing problems on purpose and dipping because what's life without a little spice right.

But then, this demon comes to the server, Xornoth. He's going around causing havoc and wants to send the world into an eternal winter, but he doesn't bother the kingdom of Rivendell much so Smajor stays tentatively cautious but ultimately unbothered. But then, the puzzle pieces start falling together. The first thing that the audience noticed was was Xornoth sounded like Smajor, but we mostly thought that this was just due to cc!Scott voicing both of them and there was nothing more to it. However, then, the people the demon starts possessing start chanting in elvish. The demon hates mortals, and the elves are conveniently one of the two confirmed not fully mortal races in Empires.

This culminates when Smajor stumbles across a cave that contains the backstory of the patron god of Rivendell, Aeor. Basically, there's two opposing forces, Aeor and Exor, and both have a champion. In a previous life, those champions were two brothers, where Aeor eventually prevailed and banished Exor. In this life though, the champions are - you guessed it - Smajor, and the demon Xornoth.

So now Smajor is like. Well fuck. It's my literal god-given destiny to be responsible for defeating this demon who is technically my brother, and if I fail the server gets plunged into an eternal winter. And I have no fucking clue what is happening because I've just been here on this mountain actively trying to stay out of the issues outside my kingdom. We watch him panic and teeter on the verge of spiraling for an entire episode, and when the followers of Xornoth go to the End to kill the dragon, releasing Xornoth's full powers, he fails to stop him. Smajor is a character who was used to being the smart one, the prepared one, the one who has the least deaths on the server. But he's also a character who runs away from his problems and ignores them. Before and during the dragon fight, we hear the desperation in his voice, as he's thrown into a situation he is wholly unprepared for, and it's bigger than him going to the Cod Empire to kill their king, or assisting in other people's plans to kill the codfather. He can't run from this. cc!Scott plays this scene so well as well, as I've said before, one of the best parts of Scott's acting is how he's never super dramatic, but he's so effective in the little things like inflection to make you feel, viscerally, the panic and dread.

So after the dragon fight, Smajor realizes, I can't do this on my own. I've tried and failed. So he gets allies. We watch him, someone who has so strongly been an isolationist, learn the benefits of allies and watch him learn to trust others and watch him learn how to get that trust in return.

My favorite thing about Smajor's characterization is that he's an incompetent protagonist, but not in the way of the "plucky young adventurer". He's capable skill-wise, and fairly jaded and very pessimistic. However, his issue is that up until recently, he did not care about the rest of the server at all, and by the time he learned to, it was way too late.

Also, in 3rd Life, cc!Scott and cc!Jimmy were canonically married and they reference it sometimes in Empires. Like, Scott goes over to the Cod Empire every so often both in and out of character to kill and/or flirt with Jimmy, the ruler of the Cod Empire, which may develop as a secondary plot into the future who knows. So ty Scott for giving the gays what they want o7

Now onto Sausage: his is a story of Icarus, his hubris and ambition being his downfall. He's one of the two followers of Xornoth, who promised him endless power in exchange for his servitude. He started the series being eccentric, but not outright unhinged, but slowly gets more and more extreme as the series progresses, as he gets brought more and more to Xornoth's side.

One of the best parts of Sausage's character, in my opinion, is how his gradual corruption affects the people around him. Initially, he got into a conflict with the Cod Empire and was allied with two other people in the Witherrose alliance. They were allies, but also close friends. The fandom liked to joke that the three had sibling energy, and I'm pretty sure the ccs played to that even more lol.

It was painful to watch the other two members, Gem and fWhip, watch Sausage get corrupted right in front of them, and see them desperately clinging on to this old idea of Sausage in their head because if they faced the truth, it would mean that their friend was gone. Eventually, they do finally cut him out of the alliance, leading him to fully commit to the side of the demon. Sausage felt very clearly betrayed by this, and declared the remaining two Witherrose alliance members to be enemies.

He gets more and more possessed, and we even see the other Empires, his enemies even, slowly realize that something is very wrong with the ruler of Mythland. He starts doing more and more evil things, like killing people more, making sacrifices to the demon, and eventually helping to kill the dragon to free Xornoth. So things are good for Sausage, for a bit. He won, and is more powerful than ever. Then he finds out: he's going to die. Xornoth's possession is slowly killing his soul, and eventually, his body going to be fully taken over and he himself is going to be trapped in the spirit realm. So how do you react to this? Over the next few episodes, we watch Sausage struggle between "the demon is literally killing me" and "the demon has given me so much, and I love it", all while Xornoth takes over more and more of him. We hear him exclaim that "don't worry!! I'm still about 15% there!" while trying to downplay every time Xornoth completely takes over his body. We watch him willingly oppose anyone who is trying to end the thing that is killing him.

My favorite thing about Sausage is that he is undoubtedly evil and proud of it, but he's also undoubtedly human. If you like to watch evil characters go absolutely feral, he's the guy for you. He makes the deal with Xornoth in the beginning, knowing and fully embracing the evilness of the demon, but at the same time he knows what he's doing is detrimental to both himself and everyone around him, but he's gotten in way too deep at this point, and to be fair the demon has held up its end fo the bargain, right?

Also, I would be damned if I don't talk about cc!Sausage's editing. Every one of his videos is like a movie. The way he does camera angles and uses music is so skillful- every lore scene feels like something out of a high fantasy action saga (think: LotR). Every big lore event I always wait in anticipation for Sausage's ep because his editing truly takes lore to another level.

I'm just generally very excited to see where this series goes. Empires is such a good mix of talented builders and good lore. Part of the reason why the series is so immersive for me, beyond any other lore smp, is that they have the settings to back it up. There is a certain charm to the DreamSMP's objectively terrible builds (with a few exceptions) but in Empires, the settings help sell the plot so much.

Another part of why I love EmpiresSMP is how much the ccs are involved with the fan community. I'm sure you've seen the memes about Scott being on tumblr, and Sausage regularly goes through the EmpiresSMP fanart tag on Twitter and likes art, even ones not related to Mythland. Most of the ccs, in fact, have brought up tumblr content on stream at some point or another. Like, several ccs have said that they read tumblr lore theories and hcs and stuff and sometimes take inspiration from them. Fun fact: Rivendell's church was inspired by my pinned drawing; confirmed by Scott Smajor himself. It's just such a good cycle of ccs and fans being excited about each other.

As for DreamSMP, I'm gonna be honest here, the only person I really am invested in in Technoblade. I started watching when he joined the server, and he's the only person whose lore I keep up to date with.

Techno's fun to watch because he's like the Deadpool of DreamSMP. Virtually unkillable, very skilled and scary, but consistently cracks jokes and breaks the 4th wall during plot. His POV is just fun. Like, he does wild plans and gives speeches and some of the stuff that happens to him should be called deus ex machine if it wasn't for the fact that Technoblade is the one who's doing it, and all the stuff is grounded in the fact that cc!Techno is just that good at the game.

However, the fact that he rarely takes anything seriously makes the few times Techno is 100% serious so much more impactful. His whole character has a basis in being perceived as inhuman and being treated as such, and therefore in return trying to hide his humanity. So, when he shows that humanity, whether that's fear, anger, or genuine love for his friends, it really makes you go "oh shit."

Techno's often said not to have character development, but I'd argue that while he remains steadfast in his moral code, he develops leaps and bounds as a person. Like, at the beginning, he's brought onto the server to help Wilbur and Tommy overthrow a government; them knowing he's 1) an anarchist and 2) very very powerful. His character was more of a plot device at that point and was treated as such in the canon. Wilbur and Tommy straight-up lie to him about their plans to establish another government after they overthrow the current one, while he was led on to believe that they were abolishing all governments in the area. But he isn't a plot device. He's a person, as much as he only shows the terrifying, blood god side of himself.

After the establishment of New Lmanburg (the new government its a long story), his friend Phil joins. And for the first time, we see him be fully human with someone and we see someone treat him like a human. Like, we saw glimpses before, with Wilbur and Tommy in Pogtopia, but Phil is the first person we noticeably see he trusts 100%. Then Doomsday happens, and Techno essentially retires to the tundra. During this time, we see Techno learn to be more human, first with Ranboo, then Niki when he establishes the Syndicate. In fact, the two of them, along with Phil, canonically throw him a birthday party, which is a far cry from his treatment in Pogtopia.

Techno's development is one of a god learning to be human, and I just think he <3