#which is why the gang was seperated so easily

[akanemnon]

Shouldn't there be a minotaur in the labyrinth? Who put this goat here? This is not accurate to the mythology! /j

FIRST - PREVIOUS - NEXT

MASTERPOST (for the full series / FAQ / reference sheets)

[faithlesbian]

Wesley and guns actually makes total sense in the context of ATS I think.  Throughout S1 and S2, and even in the opening of S3, Wesley is shown to be a ringer of sorts at throwing darts - planting the seed very early on for his arc of becoming a marksman and has kept a shotgun in his closet from the point that his character had an apartment set. Being that the Wesley of old was rather deficient at defending himself, it would stand to reason that a character like that would learn how to shoot in order to defend himself in other ways. And being that the character is shot and wounded by a gun at essentially the halfway point of S2, showing that he’s out of his depth, his recovery and the fallout become what spurs him into the leadership position he assumes by seasons end. In a way, it makes sense to me too that when Wes falls to the dark side he fully embraces guns as the weapon of choice since they’re the antithesis of everything he was before (meek, quiet, mystical-minded). Maybe it’s the LA setting but guns are all over ATS as opposed to like the 5 in Sunnydale and it’s fairly baked in how and why Wesley uses them to adapt to and try to supersede the environment he’s in.

this is a Fascinating response thank you for taking the time to write it all, i hadn't put two and two together about the darts thing but it makes total sense! i definitely see how guns can be symbolic here for both character and setting, when i was watching ats i also thought that wesley's increasing use of guns could be a sign of him 'americanizing', and the fact that it happens after he was shot by a cop is definitely charged in that way.

my main issue is that, although guns are a lot more common on ats, they still for the most part follow the same rules as on btvs: they are used by the bad guys, and they dont work. i see what you mean about the LA setting, but for example gunn's gang dont use guns to fight vampires because they're smart enough to figure out that bullets wont kill them, it's only once they're playing an antagonist role in s3 that they're shown using guns to cause pain and chaos, for destructive rather than defensive violence. the cops use guns, wolfram and hart's operatives use guns, guns in this universe only work to non-lethally hurt demons, or kill humans, and since the protagonists (typically) want to kill demons and help humans guns stay pretty firmly in the villains' arsenal.

wesley hardening his outer persona as a result of the violence he's faced is a logical progression of character, and his use of guns fits into that, but this doesnt solve the fundamental problem that guns still dont work. wesley has a gun (either back in his house or in his car, either way nearby) when justine slits his throat. it didnt help him. in almost every single fight he's in where he fires a gun, two guns, a shotgun, multiple rounds -- none of them work because he's fighting demons, and the established lore has always been that guns dont kill demons. there is one exception to this and its when he shoots directly into the demon's ear because his skin is bulletproof but this way the bullet goes straight through his brain. this happens once, out of easily half a dozen seperate fight scenes where guns do absolutely nothing except maybe slow the demon down or piss it off. it got to the point where me and @titsgirlbuffy were laughing every time there was a slo-mo shot of wesley jumping through the air firing two handguns because all he achieved was to fall on his side dramatically.

american gun culture is a self-perpetuating cycle of paranoia and violence, and the buffyverse typically refuses to capitulate to it, which is why it's so baffling that wesley, an otherwise smart and logical character, keeps trying to shoot things that wont die from being shot. its that classical definition of insanity as doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. and at the same time, the narrative won't interrogate this as a potentially fascinating character flaw, a result of wesley's traumatic history with gun violence sending him into that spiral of paranoia, convinced against all evidence of experience that being armed will protect him if not this time then the next time, surely.

please dont take this is criticism of your ask btw, you make great points, its the show writers i have issue with! if they wanted to play him being a marksman as a cool thing (and they totally couldve) they shouldve had it work more than one time out of ten

[ravenouscultleader780]

COTL : Planning on Making my Own COTL AU Very Soon(In Celebration of TROTOF DLC Update coming soon hopefully this Month or April) OCs Included(Sketch Drawings Only)

Hello Fellow Cultists, Well i've been pretty M.I.A for a while, so im not dead and am really excited for The Upcoming Major Update for COTL titled Relics of The Old Faith(with 4 Brand New Structures Coming in it aswell!) and I've been also seeing inspo on Tumblr by searching for cotl AUs and some of them are Amazing & Even Interesting with The Lore of This Game's Characters, Including NPCs aswell! so I've have decided to Plan my own Cult of The Lamb AU(It's Nameless for now) but The Plot is Simply a Epilogue or Possible Prediction for ROTOF's Postgame Story(What If The Bishops can be Resurrected, Reborn as Smol Followers like Narinder has and with Lamberina(My Lambsona OC who's introduce soon) along with Her Faithful & Loyal Followers try their best to Help Nari & His Sibs get along by doing Family Therapy and with Lamberina struggling to Reform each Smol Bishop(or Baby Bishops in this Case) along with Meeting New Friends and Discovering New Locations along her Journey.

This Will Feature Followers in my Own Cult(I have Currently Created 2 Completed Saves both Spared Narinder) and will even have my iwn OCs and Maybe Bring Back Ratuu as a Bonus. But For Now I'll do some Refs for Each Character(And Insert my Good Friends from Discord into the background as Cameos or Easter Eggs, Maybe even Family Members)

As for The Ships that will be involved, Obviously Narilamb will be in this only difference is Lamberina is a Sweet & Sour Lamb(don't mess with her when she's angry or messing with her Sweet Nari or Other Spouses) Next to That will be SozoxHelob(Better Ship than Sozolamb and Makes Sense that their both Insects) and Finally There will be a Bishop x Follower OC Ship in this mainly Leshy x OC type ship(cuz after playing each save, i noticed out of all the bishops Leshy goes easy on you, hence why he's the youngest and he's a pacifist i.e doesn't cause any plagues on your cult like famine or illness/plague sickness to any of your followers or even makes your loyal followers fight against you. he's such a sweet pacifist bush boy i love him) so of course any follower in lamb's cult would easily befriend him possibly even one of the reformed bosses like Barbatos or his Henchman Amduias even.

And There will be a Bonus Part to Revive Ratuu(Since he deserves better and even M.M/COTL's Official Twitter made it Canon that the Knucklebones gang doesn't matter for ratuu vesseling the red crown they love him no matter what he does! which is super sweet and wholesome to me) with Red Shady Fox Included.

and Finally Here is The Cast List(so Far) in this AU.

Starring :

Lamberina(Lamb)

Narinder(TOWW)

Leshy(Rebirthed)

Heket(Rebirthed)

Kallamar(Rebirthed)

Shamura(Rebirthed)

Sozo(Revived, Hence he's OD sadly, is dating Helob)

Helob(Sozo's Husband)

Side Characters :

Followers-Oldor(Horse or Donkey?), Aquamarine(Blue Cat), Turquoise(Blue Cat), Samantha(Purple Blood Moon Batdemon), Opal(Frog), Tay(Blue Wasp/Bee), Barbatos(Female Dune Worm), Valefar(Dig Worm), Slaughter(Scorpion), Chilli Dog(Hedgehog), Amanda & Armillo(Twin Sib Fennick Foxes), Stella(Female Snail) & Plumsweet(Female Unicorn)

OCs : Prya(Red Cat), Carrie(Pangolin), Athena(Crow), Benjamin/Benny(Crow), Cobb(Deer Skull) & M3gan(Nightwolf), Natasha(Nightwolf)

End of Cast.

This is pretty much my 1st big COTL Based Project Im doing in countdown to the update(in celebration of the Game's 1 yr anniversary this August! but that's later down the line) and maybe i will use this AU as a Main Blog Post if i stop my Journal Diaries of my Saves In-Game.

Hope you all like this post, comment down below of what you think of my W.I.P of my 1st attempt COTL AU and maybe add inspo for adding new Bishop OCs as a Concept Villain or Villains in the Storyline.

This will have it's own Seperate Blog all dedicated to This AU soon but the 1st few Chapters will be posted on this Blog first as a First Attempt.

Goodnight yall

Edit : "So I decided i'm more of a Pencil Sketch Artist and will Draw Some Ref Sketches of The Main Characters, OCs and The Smol Bishops soon(maybe I'll start Either Tonight or Maybe Tomorrow) just a small quick change.

[0aurelion-sol0]

In just those 3 pages of this preview for the new ST comic, I have been more invested in El's character and story than I ever have in 3 seasons. (I haven't been able to find a way to read this comic yet so I only have this preview.)

One of my main problems with ST3 and ST in general, it's that we force El to be this savior-like entity or the only one who can do anything literally everytime she is somewhere on screen, for no real reasons sometimes and that's all she remains. Or in short reduced to her powers. Even when she lost her powers, we were forced to expect, somehow that she will somehow do something that will fix everything. The only thing she did is save herself by saving Billy but in the end this event was the closest thing you could call to a defeat in ST for everyone since Billy died and Hopper "died", Russians escaped and the gang had to seperate in the end.

In season 1, there was a reason why as it was her own way to "redeem herself" for opening the gate, at least that's what she thought even if it's wasn't her fault at all.

In season 2, she wasn't there and she only came back towards the end to close the Gate. Which came out of a collective effort to find that information through Will. Which yes, she was the only that could do that at the time but this ended in the others forced to do nothing for no real reason until they had the good idea to try to distract the Demodogs from attacking El and Hopper.

But in the end, this sort of thinking (I guess ?) isn't very much right or accurate because El has only really saved the world one time because the Demogorgon could have easily been killed by other stuff (she saved her friends but it's not an ending world threat type of of scenario) while the MF, an army of Demodogs, tunnels and a giant gate actually is.

We barely really have any thoughts on what this fighting does to her, it's there sometimes but it's either too subtle, ignored or shoved in the background because we don't have time to really get into it. Even in season 2 where we dug deeper into her backstory and some of the effect it had on her, her encounter with the Demogorgon and almost DYING is never really talked about.

So when FINALLY we get into it, still in a side comic book may I add, I can't be anything else than happy.

What does pushing herself in the action does to her ? What does getting face to face to these monsters does to her ? What are the wounds she carries ? What does she think of what she experienced ?

By making her just a stone cold hardcore badass savior-like character, we forget sometimes the personal and emotional aspect of her character despite being just a little girl who should by now not be thrown into such situations.

And with this comic we can clearly see what it does to her, she is just as terrified even exhausted of being confronted to those monsters. (Plus creates a parallel and a contrast with Will which is also very interesting.)

In the end, despite her powers, she is just a teenage girl who barely had a stable or "normal" life since forever. Despite being able to fight and go against those monsters, inside she doesn't want to face them. (Which reminds me a bit of what I said about what Millie's acting conveys in 3x06 and how that relates to El's wants, perception and the world she has been living in.) Plus merging that and comparing it with the way she lives and reacts to the "real" world, it's just (mwah!).

It's like being pushed into an abyss more and more because you have the means to handle it but in the end it doesn't really go well because you don't want it anymore despite how capable you might be. (Kinda reminds me a bit of Carol's arc in TWD in the second half of season 6 and season 7.)

That's interesting. That's nice. I want this. Where was this in season 2 and 3 ?! Or at least why wasn't this more explored ?! This is actually interesting, I'm on my season 2 El type of hype again, thanks to this.

I really hope this is an actual taste of her storyline or type of storylines we are getting into in season 4 because this actually looks good. If I ever watch season 4 and this is the type of stuff we get into with El, I'll be very much happy and go all in. This is the type of stuff I want.

Plus maybe a tease of what type of interactions that exists between the Byers and El in S4 and it is indeed quite interesting if that's what that's they're going for next season. 👀

[mlm-mod-taka]

Hi! Can I request some Yasuhiro, Kiyotaka, Mondo and Kazuchi (Seperate) X GN reader headcannons where the reader sneaks up on them and starts tickling?

Thanks in advance!

TICKLING THEM • hiro, mondo, taka, kazuichi x gn reader

of course! another interesting fact about me: i am extremely ticklish, heh. also! i overuse the word "tickle/tickled/ticklish" alot, so my apologies if it gets tiring to read. and im also sorry if this is a little short, i sort of ran out of ideas. i hope this is still decent though!

tws/cws: kazuichi kicking you & mentions of bruises.

|| -> mod taka <3

is somewhat ticklish. he isn't on most of his body, but he is on his neck and feet. every other part doesn't feel like anything, but the moment you touch those parts is the time he'll run away from you.

the first time you tried to surprise tickle him, is by doing it to his waist. he didn't react at all, so thats a complete fail. but, when you tried it the third time at his neck, he started giggling like an entertained baby.

the second time was ticking his armpits, which didn't work either. third time is always the charm, though! sadly, he immediately bolted to the other direction after you even slightly touch his neck.

after that, you use your knowledge to your advantage. everytime he tries to annoy you, all you have to do is threaten to tickle him by his neck and he'll shut up right away.

the way you found out that he was ticklish on his foot, was by offering to massage his feet jokingly. which, he started distancing himseld from you, so this raised your suspicions.

when you go to touch the alarmed hiro's feet, he runs away from you, which confirms that he is, in fact, ticklish on his feet. you could use this to your advantage as well, if you wanted to.

he's just that one person that bolts away the moment he sees a sign of your hands going to his neck or feet. he'd rather get in trouble from running in the halls by taka than being tickled.

is one of the most ticklish people you'll know, which is slightly unexpected but still. he has gotten extremely good at hiding it, though. he has a gang and needs to keep up a bad boy persona, so he knows how to hide it for the first few times.

the only time you can actually tickle him is when he doesn't know you're around and/or when you catch him off guard. which is why you deicided to surprise tickle him. you didn't really get why he was trying so hard to hide it, but you swore that you were going to break his calmness.

the moment you slightly graze your hands onto his waist, he's booming in laughter almost immediately. of course, he covers his mouth after he realizes that you just tickled him, and now you have to deal with an annoyed mondo.

after you actually manage to tickle him, he'll avoid going near you for about a few days, at the least. the man isn't about to get tickled again out of fear that others will make fun of him for being so ticklish.

gets revenge by doing the same to you in front of everyone else. if he has to be embarrassed in front of the others, then you do too. of course, he would defend himself if you ever tell others that he's extremely ticklish.

so, after you tickle mondo and find out his deepest, darkest secret, is the moment you're agreeing to an extremely long lasting tickle battle that will probably last for years. but hey, atleast its fun!

okay, this man is by far the most ticklish on the list of characters. the worst area for him is by his armpits, if you even slightly touch it then he'll start to laugh extremely loudly.

he has no shame in admitting that he's very easily tickled. the only downside to confessing this in front of all of your classmates, is that they all try to tickle you atleast once everyday.

when he hears someone sneaking up behind him, he immediately assumes that its leon. and right as he was about to turn around and lecture "kuwata" on repeatedly tickling him, to his surprise, its you instead.

of course, he becomes a laughing, giggling mess in your hands, which is very entertaining to watch. just get ready for the scolding of your life afterwards.

if you could slowly become more resistant to tickling, taka would be the first to get rid of his tickle spots. its such a common occurance of him getting tickled that theres a whole archive of videos of your boyfriend being tickled.

he thinks its a little funny though, so he lets it continue without too much complaining. it does get annoying at times, but its nice to know that he's making people so happy by simply laughing.

overall, he's completely fine with you and the others doing it to him. since its ishimaru, he'll still tell you off, but its definitely not as bad as most of you thought it would be. the whole situation just gives everyone a good chuckle and morale boost.

no. he will not in any way shape or form let you tickle him. he doesn't want to be made fun of for being pretty easy to tickle, so he just avoids anyones hands that goes near his ribcage.

his ribcage is the worst area to touch him in, you did it once accidentally, and since he's one of those people that kicks and moves really haphazardly when he's tickled, you got a bruise from it.

it takes you awhile to figure out that he has a tickle spot. he hides it pretty well at first, but when you realize the area then you'll see how obvious it was, you just needed to look a little closer.

so, when you go to tickle him behind his back the first time, he ended up running away because he heard you beforehand. the second time, you actually got to do it, but it ended in him kicking you because of how much he moved around.

he apologizes the moment that he feels his foot hit your leg. but, he won't help you out since you shouldn't have tickled him! he really dislikes when people do so. he'll let it slide this time, since he loves you.

practically begs you to not tell any one about his tickle area. the moment that the others' know about it is the time that the others will start to take advantage of that knowledge and use it against him.

just, don't tickle him too much. unless you want to be kicked and have a squirming kazuichi on your hands. he's fine with you doing it every once in awhile if you two are alone.

[gladerwolfstarkimagines]

Tea Shop Part Four: Zuko x female reader imagine series

Zuko joins the group and everyone is soon sick to death with the two of you bickering. You finally manage to put your differences aside long enough to help Sokka sneak into a fire nation prison to look for his dad but once there the fighting starts again and gets you both in serious trouble...

Part one here

Part two here

Part three here

Your POV

After your argument you and Zuko weren’t speaking apart from petty comments or mutterings that turned into arguments, both of which happened a lot! You glared at each constantly making the atmosphere very tense and the gang were not appreciative.

"Anyone else get the feeling y/n and Zuko just need locking in a tent for the few hours?" Sokka asked one morning after you’d just made Zuko leave the room with a well timed quip. Toph smirked, Katara and Aang smiled but you frowned "what? Why? We'd end up killing each other". "Ow it’d get physical" Sokka agreed and you scoffed throwing a rock at him. Sokka was under the insane impression all this tension was because you and Zuko had left things unresolved in Ba Sing Sei and so he was trying to nudge you two together constantly but it wasn’t working. "Don’t you think you're being a bit harsh on Zuko?" Sokka tried again and you glared. "Want me to start on you too pretty boy? Don’t get on my bad side". Sokka just stared at you in reply "you think i’m pretty?" he asked and you rolled your eyes and walked away as the rest of the gang all laughed.

The next day

It annoyed you how the others all took to Zuko so easily, as if they’d forgot everything he’d done. You were determined not to be so easily won over and so kept a close eye on him. While you were having supper you noticed Zuko and Sokka whispering away from the campfire. You tried to assess what was going on but couldn’t make anything out. Sokka having secrets with Zuko worried you, what is Zuko hurt him? Zuko could NOT be trusted and so you decided to get involved. That night you kept watch outside the temple incase Zuko tried anything and sure enough you saw him appear in the dead of night. He crept towards Appa and you followed him. "I knew you were up to no good!" you cried before pausing "Sokka?". Zuko was there but he wasn’t the one who’s been sneaking around, that was all Sokka and they seemed to be going somewhere. "Hi y/n" Sokka smiled "erm so i don’t suppose you can forget you saw us?". You shook your head "nope, why are you sneaking around with the traitor prince?". Zuko glared and you just smiled. "Erm prison...". "Good turning Zuko in?". "Look i know you have a problem with me...” Zuko started. "Ow wow you're clever" you retorted and Zuko cried out in frustation. "You are so annoying" he glared and you laughed "Really? Okay lets weight that up so i’m annoying and you’re a traitor, which is worse?". Zuko went to argue and Sokka stepped inbetween you "enough you guys are so loud you’ll wake everyone up! I’m going without either of you". "No" you and Zuko said simultaneously before glaring at each other. "You can’t go on your own you don’t know where it is" Zuko called. "I don’t know where you’re going but there’s no way i’m letting you go alone" you added. Sokka glared "the two of you can’t both come, you’ll argue too much, you can’t work together". "Then just take me" Zuko shrugged. You went to argue and Sokka groaned "no i want both or neither! I am not getting involved in this". You frowned and let out a large sigh, you knew Sokka wouldn’t change his mind when he spoke in that tone. So you either sent Sokka into the firenation alone or swallowed your pride. You debated the Sokka alone plan and couldn’t see a way it happened without him dying so grudgingly huffed. "We won’t argue and give away our cover" you told Sokka "i promise to stop". Zuko looked up at you in shock while Sokka beamed "you will?". You nodded purposefully not looking at Zuko "i promise". Sokka turned to Zuko who frowned "i promise too". Sokka smiled "yay road trip!".

To keep your promise you just stayed away from Zuko. On the ship you stuck to opposite ends and when you got to prison you found the guard helmet covered his face making your anger lessened. The plan to break Hakoda out was on track...and then Zuko got caught impersonating a guard and got you dragged down with him. Needless to say you were furious. As soon as you were let out of your cell you spotted Zuko and stalked towards him. Zuko was expecting this and sighed “Y/n...”. “You just love annoying me don’t you, did you plan this the whole time?”. “Of course not!” Zuko cried “but maybe i should’ve...”. You glared and got ready to argue again when Sokka appeared. "Look i know this isn’t ideal" Sokka tried and you laughed "yeah no kidding". "What was i suposed to do? Let them catch Sokka?" Zuko asked. "No but leaving me out of it would’ve been nice". "Ow like i meant to implicate you" Zuko snapped. "Guys!" Sokka cried "you promised". You frowned seeing Sokka pout and nodded "sorry". "Sorry" Zuko mimicked you and you raised an eyebrow. "Okay so this changes things but i have a plan" Sokka cried and you focused on him and just blocked Zuko out.

The plan was Zuko would get supplies from the freezer but to get him there he had to cause a disturbance worthy of such a punishment. So Sokka proposed he start a fight and you watched Zuko provoke one. The fight went as Sokka planned and Zuko and the other inmate fought before guards intervened. Zuko’s fire bending caught their attention and he stopped to let then arrest him but they didn’t seem keen on taking him so willingly. You watched as one grabbed Zuko’s arms while another snook up behind him. The guard raised his baton against Zuko aiming right for the back of his head and Zuko couldn’t see him coming. "Stop" you cried using earth bending to trip the guard making him fall over into the other guard. Zuko jumped and turned avoiding the man and looked at you suprised. People laughed and the guards glared "you!" he said spotting you. "You were going to hurt him!" you shrugged "i was just trying to make you stop". One of the guards grabbed your arm and Zuko frowned "hey get off her" and yanked the man off you. The man tried grabbing you again and the other guard joined in too. With Zuko’s help you outmanouvered and tripped the two of them again. The guards fell over harshly and glared. The main guard looked furious and called for back up. Immediately more guards streamed into the room and spotted you and Zuko as the trouble makers. They seized you both and forced your hands behind your backs. "Benders" the man spat at the floor "they both need some manners, a night in the freezer". That made you stop struggling in shock, he couldn't put you, an earthbender, in the freezer too. "But i’m not a fire bender!" you cried "I'll die if you do that". "Not my problem" the guard smirked and you and Zuko were dragged away. You tried resisting and Zuko was determined to help you too. He broke out of his restraints and attacked your guards. Not managing to get them off you he clung onto you instead. Not sure what his plan was but not wanting to be seperated you grabbed onto him too and the guards couldn’t seperate you. You caused so much fuss they pushed you both into the same freezer just to get you in there and slammed the door shut. "Let me out!" you cried "i’m not a firebender let me out i’ll freeze" you yelled beating your fists against the door. "Y/n trust me they dont care" Zuko frowned. You ignored him and kept at it. Zuko left you to get your anger out for a while before sighing "y/n stop that". "I can’t i have to get out" you gasped feeling the smallness of the room closing in on you "i can’t stay in here". "Y/n stop" zuko said grabbing your shoulders "they aren’t coming, the only thing that’s doing is wasting your energy and annoying me, we’ll only survive this if we’re smart". You frowned "so what do we do?". "We have to conserve our enevery...we need to huddle" Zuko said and when you rolled your eyes he rushed to explain "my body temperature is warmer than yours! The only way you’ll survive is by sharing my body heat". "I bet you’d like that" you scoffed and Zuko blushed "it’s not like that". "Either way i’m not touching you" you retorted and Zuko frowned "fine then freeze!" and turned away. You went back to banging on the door and lost track of time when you suddenly and shockingly felt your energy ebb. You grabbed the wall and realised your hands were so cold you hadn’t even noticed they were bleeding. The red and blue contrast of your hands made you feel dizzy and you held onto the door tighter. "Zuko..." you said softly and immediately Zuko was there “Y/n?”.You turned showing him your hands and in response Zuko just tugged you into him. You were scared, your skin looked blue-ish to you and you felt numb. Zuko folded your arms into him and wrapped his own over you. "Put your hands against me" he told you "bury your head in my neck and try to think warm thoughts" he commanded. He rubbed your shoulders and arms alternatingly and it felt nice and warm...for a while. "It’s not working" you stuttered feeling the freeze and Zuko shook his head "no, no way i’m letting you die". He frowned and sat down tugging you with him. You were so cold you didn’t even object when he pulled you onto his lap. He tucked your feet under his legs and put your hands aginst his chest. "Keep rubbing your hand together" he told you and engulfed you in his warm bulk again. You fully rested your face in the crook of his neck and tried to tuck your limbs in as much a possible. Again Zuko rubbed your back and arms to keep you warm and even breathed fire surprising you. "I didn’t know you could do that" you stutted and Zuko looked at you "conserve your strength, don’t talk". You smirked at his tone but winced to feel the numbness spread. It was getting worse despite Zuko’s efforts, you didn’t want to give in but the cold was so inviting. You just had to do one thing before you went....you had to say goodbye. "Zuko if i don’t...i don’t think i’m going to...". "Don’t even say it" Zuko cried and he spat more fire warming the air slightly. "Take slow deep breaths and remain calm, you’re fine". "Zuko if i don’t...". "Y/n" he scolded you but you carried on "i��m sorry Zuko...for wasting time being angry at you, i was just hurt and i...". A tear fell down your cheek and then promptly froze. Zuko shook his head "y/n stop it" he frowned "you won’t make it if you don’t try". "I just want you to know i regret wasting that time with you...I wasn’t really angry at you, I was just hurt" you cried "i like you Zuko". Zuko breathed in sharply. “I have since Ba Sing Sei and I should’ve told you earlier but i was confused and i....but i wanted to tell you before i...". "You're not dying" Zuko replied shakily "i’ve seen you fight pleanty of my decisions before y/n don’t fight this one and i...I like you too so you just have to keep trying, you can make it". "Zuko i can’t..." you sighed growing tired and Zuko shook his head "y/n please". When your eyes started to close Zuko panicked "y/n!" he cried shaking your shoulders. Zuko yelled your name but got no response. Running of out of ideas Zuko held you face and yelled your name. He was shaking in frustration and fear but tried his last gambit. He yelled your name and then kissed you. He hoped, one it would warm you and two shock you into waking back up. It did both. Against your cold skin his lips were practically painful but you didn’t care. If you were going to die, kissing Zuko after telling him you liked him seemed like a good enough way to go. "Y/n please for me keep trying" Zuko whispered kissing your forehead. You blinked and breathed slowly but nodded "okay". Zuko smiled and tucked you back into his neck. Zuko chattered constantly to make sure you stayed awake and just spoke about random stuff. His uncle, turtle ducks, the palace gardens. Everything and anything and it was sweet and kept you awake. You even smiled as he explained the time a duck bit him and were feeling warmer when the door snapped open. "Aww how cute" one guard commented and the other snorted "wow she’s still alive, well lucky for her your presence has been requested, the both of you so get up".  Zuko helped you to stand and you practically clung onto him as the guards pushed and pulled you faster than your frozen legs could manage. They thrust you into a room and you almost fell but Zuko caught you. He helped you into one of the two chairs and knelt down beside you. "It’s warm you smiled and Zuko nodded rubbing your hands "still regulate your breathing though, you’re not in the clear yet". "I feel fine" you argued and Zuko raised an eyebrow "you’re still ice cold, your hairs frozen and your lips are blue". "Well that’s your fault for only focusing on my hands" you commented and Zuko shook his head but smiled. "Don't worry i’ll get round to it". You grinned as he rubbed your arms and smirked at the serious face he was making. "What?" he asked noticing you watching him and you smiled "nothing". Zuko blushed glancing at you and you grinned. The door opened suddenly and Zuko shot up towering over you. You used the chair to stand up too and noticed Zuko step closer to you as soon as he saw who it was. You frowned and peaked out from behind Zuko to see it was the dark haired fire nation girl. Zuko’s ex girlfriend if you’d read the signals right. From her glare you did. "I told you to bring him, not her too". The guard frowned "sorry we'll take her". "No" Zuko said shielding you protectively, he knew if they sent you back into the freezer without him you’d he dead in minutes. "You won’t touch her! If you send her away i won’t say a word, if you want to talk to me you’ll keep her right here". The girl glared and time seemed to drag on before she glanced at you and sighed "fine". The guard asked it she was sure and she nodded before they shut the door leaving the three of you alone.

To hear Zuko arguing with his ex after you’d just kissed and admitted your feeings to each other was awkward to say the least. His girlfriend was pissed he’d left and nothing Zuko said made it better. You kept your eyes down trying not to listen but couldn’t help it. You chair made a large squeak suddenly and you looked up. Mai fixed her eyes on you and tilted her head to one side "you’re the beach girl, the one Zuko stood up for, aren’t you?" she asked. "Well usually people call me y/n but beach girl works too". Mai raised an eyebrow in disgust "i bet you feel so special having him protect you, having him stand up for you...it won’t last, he’s good at betraying people". "Mai leave her alone" Zuko called but you weren’t intimidated. "Really you're trying to scare me off him? This bickering didn’t do it so i’d save my breath if i were you, i don’t care what happened between you. For all i know the problem was with you not him and based on what i’ve heard about you that’s a safe bet". The girl’s eyes twitched and her hand went to her sleeve. "Mai no!" Zuko called "you’re mad at me leave her alone! It’s between me and you not her". "If she doesn’t shut her mouth..." Mai glared. "She will" Zuko assured her and fixed you a look as you went to protest. You sighed but obeyed. "Atleast you have her trained" Mai commented. You glared but didn’t reply.

Zuko and Mai carried on talking, or well arguing, when a guard appeared informing Mai there was a riot. He offered to be her body guard and opened the door. Zuko met your eye as the door opened and you got his subtle hint. "I don’t need any protection" Mai explained and Zuko nodded "she doesn’t". Mai frowned and Zuko gestured to you. You stepped closer to him when he suddenly threw the guard into Mai and grabbed your hand. Zuko dragged you out of the room before slamming the door closed. Mai’s face appeared on the other side of the door and she looked pissed. "I’m sorry Mai" Zuko frowned "i really am but we have to go" and he turned to you. “How are your legs feeling? Can you walk on them?”. “I can do more than that and I think we’re going to need it” you replied and set off in a run for the meeting point you’d arrranged with Sokka.

You barely made it but thanks to Suki’s fighting skills and suprisingly Mai’s help you made it out of the fire nation prison successfully. You stood on the air ship watching the prison fall away in disbelief. You were trying to comprehend everything that had just happened when you jumped feeling something behind you. "Sorry" Zuko said when he saw you flinch "didn’t mean to scare you". "It’s fine" you smiled "you saved my life i don’t think i can be angry at you again". "I’m sure that’ll last a week at most" Zuko smirked and you shrugged but knew he was right. "Thank you" you said placing a hand on his arm making him look at you "if you hadn’t taken care of me....i’m still sure you enjoyed it somewhat...but either way thank you". Zuko blushed looking down "of course i didn’t enjoy it you were almost dying!". "So you didn’t like the close contact...the kiss at all?" you asked smirking. Zuko’s face went bright red "no, you were in pain, i was too worried about you to enjoy it much". "That’s a shame, it was pretty good from my perspective" you smiled. "I’m glad for you, that was my intent". You laughed "well next time i’ll make sure you enjoy it too". "Next time?" Zuko asked and you nodded "yeah if you meant what you said". "I did" Zuko nodded and you blushed "good so did i". Zuko smiled at you and your blush grew "you know next time could be sooner than..." you started when Zuko, already ahead of you, kissed you for the second time that day. "Now?" he asked and you nodded kissing him again. Zuko held you tightly against him, your hands were against his chest as he pressed closer to you and you didn’t mind the lack of space, you forgot you needed any so lost in it. "Zuko the ships..." Sokka’s voice suddenly cut in jolting you out of it. Sokka stopped his sentence seeing the two of you, his jaw hanging open as he stared. "Ow my god where did you find the time for this to even happen!" he cried. Zuko narrowed his eyes putting an arm around you protectively but you smirked turning to face Sokka "in the freezer". "I knew it!" Sokka cried "you guys are so obvious". "If you knew it then why did you disturb us?" Zuko asked, still pressed close to you. You smirked at his angry face and turned back to Sokka "what’s wrong with the ship Sokka?". "I don’t know i need you to work that out if you’re not too busy". Zuko raised an eyebrow but sighed “fine” and followed Sokka away still glaring.

When you reached camp and explained everything to the others Zuko caught Katara and brought her over to you. "Katara can you check over y/n, her hands are pretty bad and she was in the freezer for so long...she seems okay but i’d feel better knowing you made sure" Zuko said and you rolled your eyes. You let Katara heal and then wrap your hands in bandages carefully. You waited as she examined you for any signs of frostbite or muscle damage and shot Zuko a smirk when she announced you were fine. "Your body seems fine just tired, well done Zuko you managed to make sure no long term damage was done". "Pretty heroic" you smirked and Zuko blushed "i’m just glad your okay". You smiled up at Zuko, both of you obviously smitten and Katara froze "wait....are you two...?". You and Zuko looked at her and she grinned "i knew you liked him! This is amazing!! I should’ve been able to tell from how you’re not glaring at each other anymore! You’re still looking at each other a lot but it’s different now” she trailed off before realising she was embarassing you “i’m so pleased for you both" she cried and hugged you. "Thanks Katara but we kinda need to talk about it so mind giving us a sec?". "Of course" she nodded "sorry" and backed out of the room. "We need to talk?" Zuko asked worried and you shook your head "nope, i just said that to get rid of Katara, can anyone in that family read social cues?". Zuko smirked "you’re the best". "I know" you smiled "but you’re pretty good too". You frowned and looked at him "but while we’re here...Zuko i want to apologise for everything i’ve said to you over the past few days, i was just so angry but that’s no excuse for what i said to you". Zuko frowned "y/n its okay i said things too". "I know but you tried apologisng first and now i think of all i did to provoke you, you’re not a traitor Zuko, you’re not a bad person and i don’t hate you, i’m sorry for ever implying i did". Zuko smiled and took your bandaged hand "thank you for saying that but i knew you didn’t hate me, you don’t hate anyone you’re too kind...plus that kiss definitely was not hate". You blushed "in my defence i thought i was dying"."Hmm that explains why you were just as eager on the ship then?".  "Zuko" you whined and pushed him playfully. Zuko smiled and realised that was the first time you’d said his name, his real name, without sounding angry or upset. It was the first time you said it in a good way and he liked how it sounded. You realised he was staring at you adoringly and blushed. "Today was pretty awful but this is the best thing that’s happened to me in a while" Zuko said smiling at you. You were still blushing but nodded "me too, i’m just annoyed it took us this long". Zuko shrugged "we can make up the time now" and you smiled agreeing. “The sooner the better” you smirked and Zuko agreed leaning in to kiss you again. 

____

That’s it!! I skipped the whole taking over the capital because I liked that as the ending. Thanks for all the support :)

[somesuperherowrites]

For Him

spencer reid x fem!reader

summary: The team is working a case when things start to go awry. After Spencer and reader get kidnapped, some feelings come to light that will change the way they look at each other. 

tw: typical criminal minds stuff - kidnapping, mentions of murder

.......

It was a blistering day in Fort Worth, Texas. The team had just landed to investigate a serial killer who was abducting couples and holding them for days before eventually killing them. Hotch started giving out orders as the team began walking from the airplane to the SUVs waiting for them. 

“Y/N, Spencer. You go to visit the most recent crime scene. See if you can find anything the local PD missed.” 

You nodded and looked toward Spencer who was already smiling your way. You stuck your tongue out playfully at him. He stifled a laugh as Hotch continued to give assignments to the rest of the team. As soon as he finished, the team split up to their own SUVs, with you, Spencer, J.J. and Emily piling into one. 

It was a short ride to the first crime scene where Emily dropped you both off before her and J.J. headed to the M.E.’s office. You walked to the police tape and Spencer held it up, so you could easily duck under it. 

You entered the house with Spencer following closely behind you. You crossed your hands over your chest. “First impressions?”  

“Well, C.O.D. is probably blunt force trauma. If you look at the blood spatter patterns, you can see that the woman was probably sitting here when she was beaten.” Spencer stated.

At this point, you chime in. “Yeah and he had to position the man right here. So he could see everything that the unsub was doing. Positioning may be important to this unsub.”

Spencer paused. “It’s interesting that he beats the women so severely, while the man is relatively untouched, besides the single bullet wound to the head of course.”

“So his rage is against the woman in the relationship. Not surprising. There are a lot of guys out there with hatred toward women.” You half-joked.

Spencer nodded. “The only problem is that we don’t know what’s driving his anger toward these women.”

“We’ll have Garcia check if there are any recent incidents involving violence with women in relationships. I think we can omit domestic violence cases though. This kind of beating is the result of a lot of suppressed rage. Let’s see if we can catch a ride with some of the local PD back to the station.” You shot Spencer a small smile as you walked away from him to talk to a local officer. 

.......

As soon as you arrived at the police station, you and Spencer split up. You sought out Hotch to bounce some theories off him of what the crime scene could mean. Spencer quickly busied himself by calling Garcia to ask about violence toward couples excluding domestic violence cases. 

“Hotch!” you called out as you saw him walking across the precinct. 

He raised his eyebrow in response and waited for you to catch up with him. 

“It seems like all the violence is toward the woman. But the thing is, it seems staging is important to this unsub. Spence is having Pen look into cases where there is violence against couples, especially women, but omitting the domestic violence cases.” You stated.

“Good work, Y/L/N. It’s possible that the unsub is sympathetic toward the male in the relationship, which is why he kills them so quickly.” 

Your eyes light up. “You know, Hotch. He might see himself as helping these men. Since he makes the men watch before killing them, it’s possible he always wanted to do this to his significant other, but something was stopping him. This could be revenge toward the woman but a mercy kill for the man.” 

Hotch nodded. “Let’s go see what Emily and J.J. found out from the medical examiner and then give the profile.” 

Emily confirmed that C.O.D. was blunt force trauma for the female victim and gun shot wound for the male victim. Hotch shared your preliminary profile with the team, who added some more possibilities to the mix. Just as the team was finishing up the profile, Garcia called Morgan’s phone. 

“Whatcha got baby girl?” Derek asked.

“Well my hunky crimefighter, I am coming up with nada. That is a big ole zilch. There is nothing here with violence against couples that isn’t domestic abuse. If you could give me some more parameters, I might have more luck?” Garcia quickly stated. 

“Okay, try men whose girlfriends or wives have left them recently.” You started.

Spencer chimed in, “they might have left because of a specific incident that revealed to them the unsub’s true nature.”

“Also, look at any cases that have ended violently, with one of the couple in the hospital,” Derek added. 

“You all are wonderful. Just WONDERFUL. I am working on it know. Hit you back when I have something. Garcia out.” Penelop stated, already typing away.

“J.J. and Rossi, you stay here, we’re going to give the profile to the local PD. Emily and Derek, you go talk with the recent female victim’s family. Spencer and Y/N, go talk with the male victim’s family.” Hotch stated.

The team looked at each other for a second before breaking to do their respective duties.  

.......

You and Spencer finished talking to the victim’s family and headed out the door of their house. You sighed as you looked at Spencer. “Better call Hotch.” 

“Hotchner.” 

“Yeah Hotch, we just finished up with the victim’s family. They don’t know anything. They say that the couple was happy. Nothing to report on this end...” You started your report just as you got an oncoming call from Garcia, “Um, hold up Hotch. Garcia’s calling.” 

You added Garcia to the call, “Garcia, you have me, Spencer, and Hotch.” 

“Okay my lovely doves, I found information on a Jacob Waterson. 28 year-old white male. Recently seperated from his wife after an incident.” Garcia started.

“What was the incident Garcia?” Spencer asked.

“Ah ah ah, I’m just about to tell you! Stop stealing my thunder.” Penelope scolded, “When the couple was walking back home from a date, gang members approached them. In strange fashion, they let the woman flee, but beat Jacob to a pulp. Put him in the hospital for 2 weeks.” 

“Did the woman call for help after she ran away.” Hotch questioned.

 “Hmmm, yes... it looks like she reported it a day later to the police. Said she was too scared the day it happened. Someone who was walking by the alley later that night found him.”

“Hence his rage toward women in relationships,” you stated.

“Y/N and Spencer are closer to his home. I’m sending you his address now.” 

Your phone dinged with a notification, “I got it Garcia. We’re on our way.” You put the SUVs’ lights on and turned the car toward the address. 

“Be careful. I’m sending Morgan and J.J. for backup. Rossi, Emily, and I will check out his work address,” Hotch stated. 

....... 

You made your way out of the car and hesitantly placed your hand on your holstered gun. 

“I’ll knock on the front entrance, and you go to the back. Sound good?” You asked.

Spencer hesitated before he agreed with you. “Just be careful, okay?”

You gave him a small smile, “always brainiac.” 

He gave you an awkward pat on the back before he headed behind the house pulling his gun out of its holster. 

You couldn’t help but let out a small laugh at Spencer’s awkwardness. He had to know by now that you liked him more than an awkward pat on the back, right?

“Ughh, focus Y/N,” you whisper to yourself as you pull out your own gun. You approach the house and harshly knock on the door. 

“Jacob Waterson, this is the F.B.I. Open the door.” You shouted. After a few seconds of no response, you kicked in the door. 

You cleared the first room and started the second room. As you walked into the second room, you were hit with a blunt object. You fell to the ground and struggled to maintain your grip on your gun. You fired off a shot at the unsub, but you were too disoriented to see if you had actually hit him before he hit you again and you passed out.

After hearing a gunshot, Spencer hurriedly cleared the rooms closest to him before heading toward the room where he heard the shot go off. He immediately saw you on the floor, but cleared the room before approaching you. While he was checking your pulse, he heard a shuffle behind him and turned just in time to be hit by the end of a bat. 

........

You woke up disoriented. After blinking a few times, your vision settled and you tried to move. When you were unable to move your hands, you looked down to see your wrists had been tied together with some rope. 

You looked around the room to take note of your surroundings. Spencer was still unconscious across the room from you. There was no light or windows. Must be a basement. However, the structure doesn’t look like it belonged with the house that you had stormed earlier. You furrowed your brows in confusion. Secondary location?

The unsub wasn’t in the room with you, but there was no telling when he would come back. “Spence!” you whisper shouted. “Spence, I need you to wake up.”

Spencer drowsily came to and blinked his eyes. You smiled as he immediately looked toward the location your voice was coming from. “Spencer, hey.” You were relieved he wasn’t hit too hard by the unsub. 

“Where are we?” His scratchy voice was music to your ears. 

You sighed as you pulled at your restraints. “I’m not sure Spence. I’m thinking secondary location. This basement doesn’t look like it would connect to his house. What do you think?”

He cleared his throat. “What I think is that this unsub is extremely dangerous and is especially violent toward women. Y/N, you need to be careful.”

“Why don’t you stop worrying about me and work on finding us a way out of here, brainiac.” 

Spencer smiled at the nickname you had given him lovingly. He looked toward the ground as he continued talking, not able to meet your gaze, “I just need you to be safe, okay?”

You stopped fiddling with your restraints and looked up at him. “You say that like you care about me, Spence.”

His cheeks turned crimson in a matter of seconds, “I do.. I do care about you Y/N,” he murmers lowly. 

You tilt your head and look at him curiously. You had liked, as in really liked Reid for a while, but before you can interogate him about what exactly he means, you hear footsteps on the floor above you.

Jacob descended the stairs with a baseball bat in hand. He stared at you as he stalked toward you. He eyed you as if he were challenging you, and despite Spencer’s previous warning, you returned his harsh glare unwaveringly. 

“Oh, we’ve got a fiesty one. Huh?” Jacob sneered at you. 

You heard Spencer sigh from across the room and let out a soft, “Y/N, don’t do it.”

You swallowed your pride and broke the staring contest between you and the unsub. The unsub chuckled at your response to Spencer’s words. He looked between you and Spencer before his gaze ultimately landed on Spencer. “I see.” He began walking toward Spencer. “the way to get to you - ” he stated as he pointed his bat at you “is through him.” 

The unsub swung his bat at Spencer and you heard a sickening crunch. God, you couldn’t just sit here and listen to this.

Before you knew it, the words were coming out of your mouth - “Stop! You want to know why you are the way you are - why you kill couples?” - you blurted out to stop him from advancing on Spencer.

You could take it - the unsub’s pain and anger. In your eyes, Spencer needed protecting. He didn’t need to be subject to the unsub’s rage. Especially since he had been through enough to last a lifetime already.

Spencer watched with horror as the unsub turned his attention to you. “Y/N, what are you doing?”

You ignored him and focused your attention on the unsub who was stalking toward you. His large hand wrapped around your throat.

“Oh, please tell me.” He said sarcastically as he applied pressure.

You began gasping for air and struggled to talk. “You kill couples... because... of your wife.”

This seemed to pique his interest as he abruptly go of your throat. You fell to the ground coughing as you tried to breath.

You faintly heard Spencer calling your name and pleading with you to stop talking. You squeezed your eyes shut for a second. If you were going to do this, you had to ignore Spencer.

The unsub tapped you with the baseball bat he held in his left hand. “You think you know so much? Kept talking.” He wrapped his other hand in your hair and yanked until you were standing up. “But it might cost you.”

Spencer pleaded with you once more. “Y/N. The team will find us. Please stop talking. You don’t have to do this.” With every statement he mumbled faster tripping over his words - his tell that he was nervous. You could practically hear the desperation in his voice.

The unsub looked toward Spencer. “If you don’t shut up, I’ll make you.”

You panicked as Spencer kept talking so that the unsub’s attention wasn’t on you. You had to get the focus back on you.

“Your wife ran away and left you to die when you were approached by gang members. You’ve been kidnapping couples, because you want to see if true love exists. Will someone die for their significant other?” You practically shouted to the unsub.

He cocked his eyebrow and pursed his lips. “Go on.”

You took a deep breath. This was for Spencer. You had to say something that would really get him riled up. “The truth is your wife lied to you. She never loved you.”

Anger flashed in the unsub’s eyes, and he hit you in the stomach with the butt of the bat. You grunted as he reared back for a second hit.

“You’re lyin’. She loved me.” He swung the bat this time at your mid section. You doubled over as pain immediately blossomed in your side. The sickening crunch that had accompanied the hit was definitely a sign of a few broken ribs.

“She didn’t Jacob. If she did, she would have been willing to die for you. That’s why you killed all these couples. When they’re willing to die for their partners, it just shows you what you never had.”

The unsub threw his bat across the room and punched you in your face. Your head lurched left at the strength of his hit, and he quickly followed it with another hit, effectively knocking you the ground. Because your hands were restrained, you couldn’t catch yourself from falling and your shoulder took the brunt of the fall. A loud pop followed by searing pain in your shoulder let you know that your shoulder was dislocated. A pained groan left your lips. 

You knew you couldn’t keep doing this, but one look toward Spencer desperately trying to maneuver his restraints off his wrists quieted any reservations or weakness that you had. You were doing the right thing. You were doing this for Spencer. Your resolution hardened and you looked the unsub in the eye as he towered over you.

“The problem, Jacob, is the fact that you couldn’t have picked a better pair of FBI agents to kidnap.” 

He snarled at you and gave you a swift kick to the side, “What do ya mean?”

You took a shuddering breath. “Well, you want to prove that people won’t die for their partners, and I would gladly die for him,” you said nodding over to Spencer, “because, I love him.” You squeezed your eyes closed to help block some of the oncoming pain that the unsub was no doubt going to inflict upon you based on your confession.

Spencer look wide-eyed at you after your confession. The unsub was standing between the two of you, and Spencer tilted his head to try and get a better look at you. He had to mouth the words. He had to yell it from the rooftops. He had to do something, anything. You had to know that he loved you too. Spencer let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding when he saw you physically shift, no doubt preparing yourself for the unsub’s attack. 

Jacob was seething with rage at you. “You lyin’ bitch. You don’t love him.” He landed a series of swift kicks to you stomach. Everytime a hit landed, you felt your entire body cry out in pain. 

“Y/N! Y/N! Look at me. I love you. I love you!” Spencer continue to plead with you to hang in there. He was helpless as he watched the unsub kick you around like a rag doll. He wanted you to know that he was here with you. He wanted to hold your hand and assure you that everything was going to be okay. Tears began falling down his face. 

You heard Spencer faintly shout your name, but all of your concentration was going to the pain that your body was in. You eyes were already swelling from the impact of his earlier hits, and it took all your remaining energy to look at Spencer through the slit of one of your eyes and give him a small smile. You passed out as the unsub continued his relentless attack against you. 

Just after you lost consciousness and your body went completely limp, Spencer heard the sirens. The team was coming. 

The unsub frowned as he kicked your body out of the way and grabbed Spencer. He reached for the gun that he had taken from Spencer when he kidnapped you both and held up it to Spencer’s head as the team kicked in the door. 

Hotch slowly walked down the stairs into the basement with his gun drawn. “Jacob Waterson. Put the gun down.”

Jacob tightened his grip around the gun. “I’m not goin’ back to prison.” 

J.J. walked down quickly after Hotch. “We can talk about that. But right now I need you to put the gun down.”

The unsub thought for a moment before he pushed Spencer away and dropped the gun. Hotch ran toward the unsub and starting reading him his rights as he was cuffing him, while J.J. ran towards Spencer. Jacob had a cocky smirk on his face as he looked toward J.J. and Spencer on the floor. “It’s alright. I’ll go to prison, but at least I’m still livin’.” He gave a pointed look to your limp body on the other side of the room. 

Derek rushed over to your side as J.J. undid Spencer’s restraints. He quickly checked your pulse - it was thready, but still there. “I need a medic! Agent down!” 

Spencer leaned against J.J.’s side as she brought him over to where you were laying. He cried at the sight of you. Bruises were forming over your face and arms. Your eyes were so swollen that there was not a chance of you opening them anytime soon. 

J.J. placed a hand over her mouth in shock at your condition. “Spence, what happened?”

Spencer felt the tears rush down his face as the medics placed your body on the stretcher and raced back up the stairs. “She did it for me. She said she loved me.” 

J.J. wrapped her arms around Spencer. “This isn’t your fault - what happened to Y/N is not your fault, okay?”

Spencer looked at her with pain in his eyes, “It should have been me, J.J.”

She just hugged him tighter. “Don’t say that. Now c’mon. Let’s go to the hospital and make sure our girl is okay. Okay?”

Spencer nodded aimlessly as J.J. helped him up into the ambulance. Only one thought was running through his mind as he stared at your broken body laying in the ambulance - it should have been him. 

[popculturebuffet]

Top 20 Animated Episodes of 2020 Part 1 (#20-#11)

Hello Hello Hello animation fans! And welcome to something i’ve wanted to since last year. See I had the idea for a best episodes list back in 2019: rather than do a best shows list, which would be only about half of 20+ shows anyway, I thought i’d do a best episode lists: to give as many shows a possiblitiy to shine as possible while still honoring the best of the year. But my own natural foibles got the better of me: I INSISSITED on watching everything I missed.. then just kept putting THAT off until it was was spring, shows were coming back and I just threw up my hands. I’ve regretted it ever since and vowed, especially since in the interim animation went from just being something I analyized for fun to my analyzing it for fun AND profit, to get it done this year.  So I had to make a few caveats. First I gave myself at first till the 31st of the year and then due to covid and everything that happened, until the end of the first week or so of the year, i.e. today, to watch as much as I could. So several shows are missing. Some I REALLY got behind on and don’t have an excuse for (Craig of the Creek and Big City Greens), others I also really liked but my depression made it really hard to watch (F is for Family and very nearly Bojack), some I just kept putting off ever starting or forgot to start entirely (Hilda, yes even since season 1, Kipo: Age of the Wonderbeasts and It’s Pony) and some.. I gave up because as you can tell I sit on shows way too often (Ilve action wise I still need to get back to Doom Patrol), and I realized i’d rather watch stuff old and new I care about than waste time with something that I just stopped liking, i.e. Rick and Morty and Big Mouth which i’m guaranteed some flack for saying but I dont’ care. I have my reasons, and while I originally GAVE those reasons I decided to leave them out: this list is not about me bitching about why I quit certain shows. I’m a grown ass man, I can quit a show anytime, and given last year was such a craphole, I think we could use less piss and vinegar and more sugar.  So before we begin, a bit about the state of animation last year: It was in flux. WIth a new decade dawning we got great new shows like Owl House, Close Enough, which in a year full of terrible suprises not only FINALLY got released but did so with a second season order, Solar Opposities, the Midnight Gospel and Kipo: Age of Wonderbeasts. Ducktales returned for it’s best season ever. Amphibia returned for a pretty good season. Disney brought back the wonderful mickey mouse shorts towards the end of the year, FINALLY given D+ some non-movie animated content. The Casagrandes got better as it went and just barely didn’t make this list and the Loud House kept on trucking and shows no signs of stopping with a season renewal and a movie coming out. And Adventure Time staged a comeback a few years after it died and while I haven’t seen BMO yet, Obsidian was fantastic and only barely didn’t make the list. 

Not only that but we got   great new series announced for the next two years: Lumberjanes is FINALLY getting adapted and by Noelle Stevenson herself. Gendy Tarkovsky is not only returning to children’s animation but with a wonderously weird concept about immortal unicorns turned into teens> There’s a promising show about a ghost and a plucky tween coming this summer. The Rise of the TMNT movie is still happening. Craig McCracken is also coming back.  But naturally given this was 2020 the news wasn’t all good as we said goodbye to a lot of shows.. and this was after 2019 already took several from us, OK KO still being the hardest loss to this day and Star Vs very disapointing finale still leaving a bad taste in my mouth: Most gutpunchingly, the two frontrunners of animation at the time, shows that truly changed the game and probably gave other shows a chance at life they never would’ve had, including some on this list, ended. 

Steven Universe took it’s final bow after we got one last trip to beach city with the Future miniseries, with the show ending gracefully and beautifully, and having pulled off it’s third succesive possible ending for the franchise and it’s defntive ending for steven’s story. Bojack did the same not long before, ending on a bittersweet but beautiful note and with a one two punch of the series best episode and i’ts second best episode, a satsifying but bittersweet finale we’ll get to. Both shows as I said have set hte standards and tones for most animation after them, and both’s absence is felt.  She Ra suprisingly ended, though with a beautiful and wonderful finale we’ll, again, get to, and on i’ts own terms, but given it was the most likely to take up the shield from steven, it was another punch. Less peacefully was the ending of Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, a show I caught up on after it’s demise which was screwed by the network over toy sales because that’s.. still.. a thing. 

There is a light of hope, as the movie is somehow still in production and if it does well we may get season 3, but it’s dim and given the show, despite it’s flaws, had found itself and the finale, which they were given weeks to put together, was spectacular and, say it with me now “we’ll get to that”, I really hope it does. And that nick learns how to run an animation company for fuck’s sake. 

Infnity Train while not dead, is on life support despite having it’s best season in season 2 and an okay season that still tackeled racisim very well even if story wise the season faltered, at a time when we REALLY need to tackle racisim in our entertaiment period. Venture Bros meanwihle was just flat out canceled for no given reason despite both having as eason renewal order and you know, being Adult Swim’s highest rated and best show for over a decade. Like Infinity Train and Rise there’s a SCRAP of hope, both adult swim and hbo max are apparently looking into ways to bring it back so a finale movie or a season 6 comic are propable, but given the show ended on two big cliffhangers, and given 2020 already had pushed back a LOT of things I’d looked forward to for good reason, and had now just outright killed a show, it was a massive shattering blow and easily the biggest of the year.  But coming VERY close was finding out Ducktales was ending. While the finale would serve as a proper finale, I feel the show easily could’ve had more seasons.. Disney just dosen’t let shows go on forever, or sometimes not even for a reasonable amount.. or put those shows it didn’t let go on a resonable amount on Disney Plus.. and I will be bringing that last part up until Wonder Over Yonder is FINALLY put on the platform, along with MANy other shows. Figure it out.  But yeah that was ANOTHER show I thought would lead the way and like Gravity Falls lead to Ducktales, Ducktales will probably lead to more shows including HOPEFULLY a frank and matt lead Darkwing Duck.. and even that’s in jeapordy since instead it might be done by Seth Rogan’s company who while not bad people and if their working on Frakn’s reboot great.. are not the people who spent three seasons setitng up a reboot in a unvierse they already spent three seasons deftly crafting. I DOUBT Frank won’t be involved since Let’s Get Dangerous was promoted to hell and back, but again given this is disney.. it worries me and I won’t be settled on this till we get conformation of a proper reboot with frank and matt at the helm. 

Point is it was a rough year for animatoin even without covid taken into account pushing back seasons and forcing a change in work habits. But as this list attests even in the worst year in recenet memory, here’s hoping 2021 dosen’t say hold my beer, there was some damn fine animation, including some of the best i’ve ever seen and the shows that did leave or are getting ready to gave us one hell of a show. Before we get started one last bit of buisness for transparency: As I said i missed some shows and others I did watch but given despite this list’s sheer size it was still VERY tight, for the record each show got four nominees a piece, and some had even more episodes considered before widdling it down, and even at the 40 episode mark there were some tough cuts and by the end it was brutal. So here’s the show’s considered. 

Shows Watched: Steven Universe Future, Infinity Train, Close Enough, She Ra, Ducktales, Amphibia, The Loud House, The Casagrandes, Rise of the TMNT, Animaniacs, Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse, Adventure Time: Distant Lands, Solar Opposites, Bojack Horseman, The Owl House, The Midnight Gospel Shows That Did Not Make the Final List: The Loud House, The Casagrandes, Animaniacs, The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse, Adventure Time: Distant Lands, and Solar Opposites.  Final note: all episode’s i’ve done reviews of at the time of this list will have links in the title to said reviews in case your curious So with that in mind , here’s my top 20 list, part 1.. becasue these posts are going to be long as hell so I needed to split up gang. On with the show after the cut as this is a really damn long one

20. Fragments (Steven Universe Future) “I bow to your strength.. my Diamond”  Steven Unvierse’s final act was a masterstroke. The show ended with every major conflict resolved as the Diamonds decided , if only for Steven’s sake at first, to change their ways and helped him restore the corrupted gems, while Lars made it home. Our heroes were FINALLY, after seasons and almost two in-story years, as Steven “Finally Done, Finally Us, Finally Me”, the last part being especially pogniant since, while done thanks to a horrifying action on whites part, his breif seperation PROVED there was nothing of rose left; She’s gone.  So Future uses this cleverly: With the conlfict of the movie resolved things were still very nice.. but eventually Steven started breaking down piece by piece: As the series went on it became clear what it was: A deconstuction of some of the less healthy part of the mostly fairly healthy and wonderful main show. It showed just what happen when someone whose put his identity into having some kind of destiny, someone whose felt their purpose in life is to make other people’s better and solve their problems and be a good person.. has no issues to solve. Oh sure there’s an antagonist here and there and Jasper refuses to change or admit no third great gem war is coming and that peace really has come.. but his family are finally happy with who they are, and are moving on with their lives. As someone whose had people move on without them and whose clunt to people this hits close to home.. hits close to home a lot. 

So as the season went on Steven clung to everything, taking it VERY badly when Lars and Sadie not only revealed their attempt at a relationship failed after years of build up, and never told steven because they thought it wasn’t his buisness, which is true to a point as them breaking up isn’t anything to do with him but someone should’ve told him it was amicable given the amount of shit he’s seen between you two, just saying. But it still meant a good chunk of his friends leaving town, and him, behind. Attempts to fillt his gap with tv watching or gardneing, aka what the crew amazingly dubbed “Depression Hobbies:”, a term that hits close to home, failed and then a far WORSE attempt to fill the void in his life by proposing to connie failed.. she turned him down firmly, but gently recognizing this was a terrible idea, they were too young, and he was clearly going through some stuff. As garnet put it “Your partner is your compliment, not your missing piece”. Another beautiful term to stick in my brain. 

So as if this wasn’t bad enough his body started mutatating and it turned out the pink form he’d gained was actually supposed to just be his body’s version of adrenline, but since he’d spent years in constnat struggle, his body was treating his emotinal stress like do or die situations with predictable results. We’ll get to that more in a bit but needless to say steven’s family were concerned and Greg returned from managing Sadie to TRY and help his son.. only to drive a wedge between them as Greg’s Smothering Parents seemed like the life Steven never had, instead of obnoxious people who refused to reconcile with their son even decades later despite plenty of effort on greg’s end and Greg having to raise a child alone with only marginal support from the gems at best at first. But Greg’s tragic inablity to see his son was hurting, as with everyone elses lead to him nearly getting them hurt in a car accident and thus this episode.  After getting chewed out by the gems, who tragically simply don’t realize what’s wrong with steven, can’t figure out why themselves and he refuses to tell them, Steven runs off, to the one person who would never tell the gems where he is and the last place they’d expect him to go at his lowest: Jasper. And thus we get one of the darkest and moodiest episodes of the show’s long history. 

After having lost a lot of his sense of peace of mind: his best friends are gone, his girlfriend is next, his parents and sister are constantly busy, there’s no one for him to turn to. Steven NEEDS someone like him and while his family is trying they just don’t know how to reach him and deep down he dosen’t WANT them to. Like me at times, shocker I know, he fears deeply that if they knew some of the flaws about him, some of the problems he’s had, they’d hate him. When as time would bear out for both of us, as my first stint of therapy near the end of colllege proved, it just means they understand you better and can HELP YOU. 

So instead he turns to Jasper, and he does so for good reason: He wants to control his power and emotions.. the problem is Jasper dosen’t WANT what Steven wants. Steven wants to feel godo again and feel healthy and be the person people want him to be. Jasper.. wants a fight. She wants a diamond, someone to serve, someone stronger than her who will LET her be what she feels she’s meant to be: a warrior, a destroyer, a breaker of worlds. So she slams that steven shaped peg into a round hole, and it’s horrifying and uncomfortable to see our hero turned from a loveable hero.. to a power obssed, almost vegeta-esque asshole .. in short she’s made him into the very thing he spent years fighting against, all because he’s so scared of himself he can’t face himself. It shows just how bad things have gotten: that steven’s hates himself SO MUCH, that he’d rather become something worse than face the truth and let his family help him. So convinced they don’t need him that he needs to be something ELSE. 

And so tons of training, abuse and hard labor lead to the moment Jasper and fans had been waiting for: a rematch between the two. And.. it’s easily one of the series best fights. For a series that’s at it’s core about ending the cycle of violence and often big exchanges of words and someone emotinally healing are treated as big as victories in combat.. the show has some of the best fight scenes in cartoons period, and this being the penultimate one, we’ll get to the last one next time, it’s a brutal, dbz style slugfest, something unlike the other fights in the show, with two opponents full of rage and hate going at it with everything they have.. ending in Steven, for one breif terrifying moment having BECOME what his grandmothers and mother used to be: A sadstic monster drunk on their own power “Your right jasper, I WAS holding back”

But when we next see Steven, running into the house and ingoring his rightfully concerned family..... he’s not that guy anymore. He’s back to who he was at the start of the episode: A scared teenager who deeply hates himself and who wants to be better but is ironically shutting out the only people who can help him. And one.. whose committed murder. This was a VERY bold move to make: Steven KILLED SOMEONE. Sure it was  shattering so it got past censors, but in his lowest moment.. steven did the one thing that to someone who treasures all life, is anthemia to him: he killed, did what his mother did before she changed, did what his aunts have done countless times to countless worlds. And it horrifes him, with him desperate to bring jasper back and using everything he has, his powers and his aunts essences, to try and fix his mistake.  And unlike anyone else in his postion he succeeds.. and Jasper, ignoring steven’s attempts to apologize is surprised at first at being shattered, knowing what happened.. befor bowing proudly, FINALLY getting what she was REALLY after: A diamond to serve. And steven can only gaze in horror at what he’d become and at the realization he can’t go back from this and he has no idea what to do now. An utterly grippling, utterly terrifying character piece with some of Zach Callistons best character work in the show’s storied history, with Steven shifting from being drunk on his power to utterly broken at having broken jasper. One of the series finest moments.. only topped by some things the series proper did.. and some more on this list. 

19. Perils of Peekablue (She Ra and the Princesses of Power) 

“They are my people. Which means most of them have sworn revenge against me at some point “  She Ra was easily one of the best shows of the 2010′s. While it started out excellent, and pretty gay, it ended being a masterpiece, and fabulously gay, as is befitting something related to He Man in some way. 

A masterful space opera, She Ra had some great bones in a thrilling love story, great humor, great action and wonderful characters most of them main and supporting going through some form of development. It was a wonderful, magical show and I look forward to Noelle giving Lumberjanes the series treatment, both because the series concept is frankly better built for an ongoing tv series than a monthly comic, and because after this series she has my utmost faith in whatever she does. Also her story about how she both came to terms with her sexuality and met her partner was VERY lovely.  Seriously check it out. Also her partner was the one who co wrote another entry on this list, just a fun fact. Point is this show was awesome.  But as I said part of the show’s strength was it’s character and that shines on this day in the limelight episode covering what’s going with the rebellion since She Ra shot off into space to rescue her best friend. We do get to see the best friends squad breifly, but their simply heading home: With Catra rescued and on the path to being a better person, and firmly in adora’s lap because again this show is wonderously gay and because it annoys her and Catra gets off on that, our heroes are wondering how everyone else is fairing.  So we see that, as with the Rebellion not doing so good against Horde Prime, our heroes seek the solution to their problems with the same solution homer simpson always uses:

Well okay less starting a new life and more getting the help of the mysterious prince peekablue, who I now realize is where the whole pikablue name for merril probbaly came from.. or maybe nerds making things up in the 90′s werne’t that creative. You decide!

So we get the ragtag team of Mermista, Seahawk, Scorpia and Perfuma, as the quartet try to bluff their way to the prince for help. Naturally we get Seahawk being seahawk, i.e. an awesome ham with a voice way older than he looks, Mermista being annoyed by that and being forced to admit she tried out pyromania to see what it’s like, which naturally is the most romantic thing Seahawk’s heard in his whole life.. as well as some VERY charming ship tease between Scorpia and Perfuma as Scorpia enrouages her the two bond and Scorpia finally likes someone who both likes her back and isn’t so obssed with her sorta ex and tied up in her own issues a relationship is impossible. Look I was suprised she found someone else as everyone here, but i’m happys for her. She’s the nicest person on this show and is now dating the second nicest person on this show. It’s nice okay. 2020 didn’t give me much nice, it gave me the emotoinal equilvent of being constnatly stung by hornets.

We also get a lovely musical number from Scorpia about being a spy.. and the revelation Peekablue.. is just Double Trouble. THEIR BACK BABY. It was nice for them to make a comeback for one last apperance and they do provid vallid information.. but prove to not be too useful despite this both due to their habit of being only out for themselves, hence setting up an elaborate cabaret act under the ocean.. and because Mermista got chipped by the crowd, so now our heroes are stuck in a giant coffin surronded by the thing she can manipulate. It’s only through a harrowing sacrifice by scorpia that Perfuma and Seahawk escape but with their sorta partners now brainwahsed to the other side.  To amp up the tension back home.. things are even worse as Spinerlla, whose been brainwashed for several episodes and seriously worrying her wife Netossa... has made her move and with the rest of the rebellion’s leadership gone, chipped everyone but Frosta and King Micah, who dosen’t last long, meaning not only do our two remaning heroes BARELY escape, but the horde now has, between both plot lines, four really heavy hitters, as later episodes would bear out that Spinerlla is basically the red tornado when it comes to wind powers. Point is perils is a fun, breather episode... that then turns into a still fun but also heartbreaking episode as our heroes loose and loose bad and their only hope is in our ohter heroes making it back to htem in one piece. 

18. 100% No Stress Day (Close Enough) “Long story short I owe them three grand”  Close Enough.. has not had the easiest existence. It was greenlit in 2017, used it’s pitch reel as the trailer meaning everyone thought it was MUCH farther along, was meant for TBS but got shelved because the show it was to be paired with, The Cops, was created by sexual predator Louis CK. And since he came up and h’es primarily responsible for this show getting shelved for so long... Louis CK is a bastard. He harassed women, literally and metaphorically waved his dick around to show his superiority, knew he could get away with it, and ACTED contrite when caught and rightfuly punished for it by loosing everything.. then has spent the last year or so TRYING to mount a come back, with the help of Dave Chapelle who I lost ALLLLL respect for in recent years, despite not having apologized or done anything that resembles him having actually learned his fucking lesson or tells me that, could he get away with it, he wouldn’t just do it again. I’m taking time out of this unrelated thing ot make sure he does not get ANY power back, as too often preadatory or abusive assholes get away with this and get right back to doing stuff, like say Doug Walker, who I only bring up to remind people he’s a bad person who enabled worst people and abused a lot of innocent critics, and let htem lovingly euologize a man he knew was a preadator in life without telling any of them about said behavior, which he coudl’ve done without outing the victim to the world against her wishes. Because as another episode we’ll get to next time briliantly put it 

But now i’m done reminding people of assholes, I can get back to what’s really important: The fact this show is a goddamn miracle. Not only is it as good as I hoped, which let’s face it in this year it was just as likely the show would be the video equilvent of scabies, but it got RENEWED. Turns out it’s being delayed.. was a blessing in disguise as it sidestepped being part of a failed animation block, and instead go to be the first adult animated show on HBO Max with tons of promotion. And judging by the future lineup of adult animated programming.. it’s probably going to be the ONLY good one for a while as other offering includes the prince, about life with the royal family, and a show about a 12 year old whose constantlly going thorugh trauma because they apparently did not get the irony when watching moral orel and also skipped the entire third season. And possibly got some brain damage I dunno. Hopefully will lead to much better shows down the line and actually gets a second chance at life, and even if it clocks in at only two seasons, it’s still a damn miracle and I will acknolwedge it. 

So yeah as I said the show is fantastic and was one of my faviorites this year. The show treads some familiar terroitory as it does use the formula from Quintel’s “Regular Show”: Normal problems that spiral into bizzare chaos that still has it’s own effed up internal logic. The thing that honestly makes it BETTER in my opinon, is the passage of time. Quintel is no longer the brighted eyed fresh out of college and menial job guy he was: he’s married with a kid, and that fully informed this project, as instead of being about doofing around in your 20′s, it’s about the pressures of hitting your 30′s: from aging to keeping your relationship fresh to all the perils that come with parenting, to missed opportunities you deeply regret. There’s a lot of good stuff they dig into here, but it never overdies the comedy, simply ads a bit of depth to it. And regular show wasn’t LACKING that by any means, i’m not bashing the show.. i’m just saying Close Enough is starting at the level Regular Show was at at it’s best.. and could easily and handily suprasss it with time it now has. 

And I was first given a good and proper introduction via this episode, as it leaked beforehand due to a french animation festival and I couldn’t help reviewing it, as i’d waited quite some time. But honestly while I like the first episode in the all in the show proper, quilty pleasures.. I feel this is a WAY better first episode and shoudl’ve been swapped with Quilty, as it introduces things even better and lets the whole cast shine, and thus is one of two close enough episodes on this list.  The episode starts with Emily, the stable but stressed and anxious half our our main couple at the doctors office where we get a great barrage of jokes off the bat, from the laundry setting a blaze leading to one of the series best lines

Naturally this has lead to her body constnatly sleep fighting .. while she’s awake, so Josh, her husband and loveable doofus, offers to take care of errands so she dosen’t implode from the stress. This also displays one of the series best assets: While Josh and Emily are an optimistic and impulsive idiot and a stressed out, often voice of reason.. they actually LOVE each other. It’s like a far more healthy of early seasons homer and marge, where BOTH get in over their head but  both clearly love and respect each other, and while Josh CAN be irresponsible.. he still holds down a decent job (Though Emily is more of the breadwinner and her job provides the insurance), is attentive to their daughter candace, and WANTS to be repsonsible. Trust me after countless dom coms where i’ve had to restrain from yelling “GET A DIVORCE” at the screen, it’s nice the tide is turning and Bob’s Burgers has become more of the norm couple wise than the exception.  But yeah so the main group splits up: Josh takes candace and his best friend and local weirdo played by Jason Mantzokus every series needs, and easily my favoirite character, Alex to do errands while Bridgette, Alex’s ex husband, Emily’s best friend and both the bbay of the bunch and the most irresponsible one.. gets her high to help her relax. 

Both plots are really great: The boys and candace run into a ham shortage, a joke that actually plays better in the pandemic age, and stripper clowns because in the series best gag so far, Alex explains via flashback he bet them they couldn’t make a dog, and one did so.. using his dick. 

Just in case you were wondering if JG was enjoying the fact he could use adult humor now, though another part of the series charm is while it freely makes more adult jokes, it dosen’t ever get into gross or dudebro territory. It just means the censors are down and they don’t have to hide beer as soda anymore. They also have to tangle with some hamburgalers who are reselling the meat at rock bottom prices and creating the shortage.. and who deny being hamburgalers despite their tactics being backing up into houses with a large van and stealing hams. OUr heros avoid becmonig meat and naturally end up both in a car chase and then a bet for their lives in a game of Ladder World, josh’s latest game.  Meanwhile Emily blazes it and we get a great getting high montage, as it shows BRidgette’s idea does genuinely help a bit.. until they run into Timothy, the teacher at cadance’s school who I hope gets an increased roll as he’s always a delight and this is his best apperance. Depsite the understandable awkwarndess and paranoia of running into your kids teacher while high, being an open minded guy Timothy offers them wine and then weed and even takes Emily punching him when her trip takes a bad turn, giving her a stern but fair “bitch use your words!” before the next seen has him helping her through her issues with some solid advice, allowing her to arrive in home just in time to save her husband and the cave goblin who lives in her house from clown strippers and meat gangsters.. which sounds like one hell of a gay porno. All in all a solid, always hilarous, always charming ep that shows the series off at it’s best. 

17. How Santa Stole Christmas! (Ducktales)

“No, no.. Christmas is a SAD story?” 

This is my third and hopefully FINAL time talking about this one, though given it has a high chance of showing up on the series best of list, probably not. Not that I mind, this is a VERY good episode, I just don’t have anytihing new left to say. It’s a heartwarming, fresh, engaging christmas special that uses the characters perfectly and for once actually strips down the cast effectively instead of making you wonder where everyone else is, while still giving everyone an apperance. It also has Webby giving Lena (And Violet) an adorable cheek smooch when delivering her parents and I will never not find that fucking precious. Plus it’s gay as hell with plenty of gay subtext between Scrooge and Santa, a sentence I never thought i’d say but i’m so glad i’ts my job to get to type things like that, and said kiss so that helps. But even besides that it’s just REALLY damn good. Again i’m leaving this short both because i’ve talked about this twice now, once when it came out as I do regularly for ducktales and again for my best christmas specials list, but it’s really that good and made it damn high on my bet christmas specials list and is only so low here.. because despite being a terrible year in every other respect we got some REALLY good episodes this year. So yeah this one’s a classic, I love it but i’m tired of talking about it till at least next december. Moving on. 

16. Finale (E-Turtle Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Shreddy or Not,  Anatawa Hitorijanai, and Rise) Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles “Oh and Blue your leader now”  As I mentioned in the intro. Rise of the TMNT was unjustly canceled this year and even worse got it’s season order chopped in half and was given just weeks to throw together a finale. So it’s remakrable that not only was the season pretty damn good, having the series usual problems of sometimes overdipping into the boys stupidity hence the episode where everyone but Raph keeps eating poison, but also had both great character arcs in Baron Draxum’s reformation and Splinter getting more and more fleshed out and more screne time, and great laughs. Seriously Clothes Don’t Make The Turtle, aka that episode where our heroes end up trapped in an 80′s dress up montage, BARELY didn’t make the list. 

And as a longtime fan of the franchise I couldn’t be happier this fresh take, which I was aprhensive about at first because it looked like yet another dumbed down teen titans go ripoff, and given it was dumb to begin with... but instead was a fun action comedy with a lot of really unique and intresting ideas. And despite the rush to finish.. they delivered one hell of a finale and on the high chance season 3 dosen’t happen... it’s a hell of a note to go out on.  First things first: yes i’m counting multi parters as one episode. Not more seralized shows like SU Future or Infinity Train, where events can flow in and out, but stories that are clearly one big story, in pieces like the old days. Since hour long episodes of shows are fair game, I felt it only fair that multi parters around the same length as an hourlong special be given the same treatment. Not that any hourlongs made it this year, sorry fans of Obsidian and “Let’s Get Dangerous”, though both are throughly EXCELLENT episodes this was just a tight list. 

Okay good. So yeah the finale, split over four episodes, is an epic: taking plot threads from all season and series and weaving them into a well paced, emotoinal, finale. Like previous more serious episode the comedy’s downplayed.. but it doesen’t feel like an entirley diffrent show and works well, and the always great fluid animation was kicked up to 11 for this one.  So to make a long story short: in this series shredder is a demonic set of armor, but came back wrong at the end of last season when the food clan revivied him, so while the clan now has him back, they can’t really use him. And current head Foot Recurit, a spunky foot recruit whose failed to rank up despite being tough and ambitious and worthy of it, is at a loss how to reviive her master.  The turltes, naturally, end up accidently blundering into the solution as they head into Splinter’s head to find the info to beat Shredder. The show gives splinter easily one of , if not the best, backstories he’s ever had: While at the start the character was highly annoying, being a lazy asshole who didn’t train the boys and did nothing.. the show eventually give us valid reasons WHY he’s like this: he didn’t like being turned into a rat by big bad of season 1 Baron Draxum and thus has depresion over that, had quit fighting since he’d been forced to be a cage fighter by his ex for a while,  his ex being a giant spider just in case you thought this would be remotely normal an forgot what show we were talking about and genrally just had no horse in the tight training he usually does in most continuties. 

This episode adds another, heartbreaking lair: We find out back when he was Hamato Yoshi, Splinter’s mom left to ward off shredder when he was a boy.. and thus never came back and presumibly died. Understandably he had no time for the clan at that point, constantly defying his grandfather.. and why should he have time for them? They took his mom away for a thankless duty sacrificing herself to stop something he had no way of knowing was real, another reason he never trained the boys. And his grandfather rather than be AT all apologetic clearly, via his actions, thought of this as some great honor and was baffled why Yoshi would have no intrest in repeating his mother’s actions or have any sense of honor, duty or even love for a man who as far as he could tell, threw his mom to the wolves and had no regrets about it. So we see Yoshi as both a rebellious teen and as a movie star throwing out his grandpa.. we see those in reverse of course, but the later scenes give context to those showing why Yoshi was so rude.. because he lost his mom and it still hurts him.  HOwever helping her frees the shredder.. but also Karai who bizarely, in this continuity is not only an aincent ancestor of theres but a firm ally instead of either a deadly enemy or a fremeny of sorts. Or Splinter’s dang daughter, one of 2012′s best plot elements.. that was then wasted by turning her into a snek for a while because that show really went off the rails. So it quickly turns from a heartwarming and awkard family reunion.. to our heroes and karai barely escaping with their lives as shredder demolishes the lair, and Draxum, now a good guy after a season’s worth of wonderful chracter development, and Splinter stay behind, with Draxum cleverly bluffing and pretending ot be evil again.. only to try and take out shredder. 

Meanwhile we get this series take on “the turtles going to teh woods to retreat” as Raph beats himself up for being a bad leader and our heroes learn to tap into their hamato nimpo.. which basically means super magic ninja powers which allows them to bring back their classic weapons and enhances their magic, as it was never in teh weapons but in them all along. Also April gets Karai in her, phrasing, and a glowing boost to her bat.  The result.. is one of the best fights of both the year and the franchise PERIOD, which is what got me to catch up to see the finale because I saw a fan video synching it up to “Spin and Burst”.. and while not a naruto fan.. that song is fucking awesome and that video showed off an utterly marvelous fight. See for yourself

Seriously I wasn’t kidding. I’ve been a fan of this franchise since 2003. This is one of the best sequences in it’s history with or without the added soundtrack: The fighting is fast, frentic, beautfully animated and cool to watch and perfectly combines the series humor, with our heroes giving out quips and callbacks at the right times, with it’s fast paced and wonderous action. It also shows how far our heroes have come: while PART of it is them having super mystic powers unlocked.. they both had to work to reach those powers, and spirtually rather than phsycially,in the third part, but each power is merly an upgraded versoin of their old weapon powers, ablities they’ve spent the entire series mastering, paticuarlly leo who went from BARELY being able to work his portals to using teleport spam here. While they did pull a power BOOST out of their ass, it would’ve meant nothing had they not been anymore skileld than when they started and it makes the fight feel rewarding and impactful. And it ends with the hamot clan as a whole, with new ally foot recurit aka cassandra jones ina great last minute reveal that they CLEARLY didn’t have time to build up better, and smoke that bitch. Also Leo’s leader now bye. It’s just a damn good finale and I dind’t even get into all the great character stuff, including the great payoff of Casey’s face turn after seeing just how much of a monster the man she always wanted to serve is, and how he’s hurting Splinter, who ACTUALLY cares about her well being despite being an enemy. It’s just good stuff that fits the franchise like a glove but iwth the series own unique stamp on it. Nuff said. 

15. Toadcatcher (Amphibia)  “Your not upset because you lost the fight, your upset because you lost your friend! Your upset that Anne stood up to you and things between you will never be the same again.”  Amphibia was one of the first shows I covered reguarlly and along with Ducktales one of the most popular.. so yeah it’s weird it not only is low on the list, but this is the only represtintive. But this was a high volume year for quality and while the show had other standout episodes like gravity falls tribute “Wax Museum”, Marcy’s introduction “Marcy at the Gates” and noir patische “Little Frogtown”, as this list already shows it was a really tight race. It dosen’t help that while Season 2 isn’t terrible.. it’s a bit more uneven, and unlike season 1 it’s weaker stretches of episodes weren’t as easily covered, as instead of airing every weekday, it was a weekly release. Which I prefer, as it means they aren’t being dumped out en masse and are given room to breathe and the passage of time feels more warranted when it’s spread out over a few months intead of a few weeks. It just meant the weaker episodes stood out more and drained on me more.. but it also meant the stronger ones were all the more a breath of fresh air. And nowhere was this more apparent as teh worst episode of the season, and series, thus far, Quarallers Pass.. was paired with Toadcatcher, an utterly marvelous episode and followup to ironically the series best so far, Reunion. 

This episode catches us up with Sasha, Anne’s former best friend who tried to kill her in a sword fight, one where the entirety of wartwood including her adopted grandpa was at sake and Sasha knew this and did not care. She then followed it up by letting go when Anne was depseratley holding on, with the help of her new family, to save Sashsa’s life.. and Sasha let go. I discussed the full implications in the review so I will avoid trigggering anyone, and I mean tha tin the medical sense anyone using it ironiclaly or to mock people using it as it’s intended can get fucked, but she clearly didn’t intend to make it, but Grime saved her and spirted her off.  So we catch up with both licking their wounds from the ordeal: Sasha has decided to take the Jasper route of horrible coping mechanisms and is training constnatly, readily kiling dolls of the plantars but still unable to truly hurt Anne, burying her feelings over her guilt and her best friend rightfully turning on her and then trying to save her anyway despite Sasha trying to gut her. Grime.. is binging on the wonderfully terrible teen soap Supscion Island, coming back this january on the cw, that was intorduced last season and generally not carring the king has his best men, women and nonbinary folks out for his head. 

So both issues come to a head as General Yuaan, scourge of the Sand Wars, defeater of Ragnar the Wretched, and the youngest newt to ever achieve the rank of general in the great Newtopian Army, and she’ll never miss a chance to say that, has come for Grime whose in no condition and has no will to fight back. He also finally confronts Sasha when she snaps at him for it, pointing out she’s simply burying the fact that she lost Anne, things won’t be the same, and she won’t deal with it.  The episode adds real depth to grime, going from an intresting but semeingly just evil overlord.. to someone who worked his way out of a fighting pit to be given a thankfless if cushy job by the same people who threw him in in the first place, someone who to my shock at the time.. CARES about his protege. While allowing Sasha in was simply to their mutual advantage at first.. he’s grown to genuinely care about her as his friend and offers to let Yuaan have him so she can be free. but Sasha refuses. Despite her issues.. she CARES about the old toad and together, and using Yaan’s ham against her, they beat her, and decide to rebuild their army... after Grime finishes his soaps of course. Can.. relate. A thorughly good, throughly emotinally episode that dosen’t lack the series humor but does have a depth and rhthym to it that the series has at i’ts best. 

14. Quack Pack! (Ducktales)  Jesus I was so tired when making this I nearly forgot an entry. And shame on me as this was one of the best episodes of an already amazing Season. Season 3 is easily ducktales best and i’ve been proud to cover it. It’s been my most popular feature and while not every episodes been GREAT, only one’s really not been very good, and none have been out and out bad. While it may be the end of the shows run and not without problems, they still have trouble ballancing the adults at times if not nearly as bad as before, to the point Launchpad just sorta vanishes after Let’s Get Dangerous outside of the Christmas Specail that takes place before the season anyway, and Louie is often written VERY badly.. but i’ve talked about these things all season in my reviews.

Point is those faults are overwhelmed by the strengths; The character ballance is better, several side characters have gotten tons of payoff to their arcs and more development, and the main plot is easily the best in the series history: By having essentially one main plot with two focuses, before they merge at the halfway marker, it allows the season to be far more streamlined after the really messy way season 2′s plots were handled. It just shows the show at it’s best and has produced amazing episode after amazing episode and it was really hard to widdle it down to the ones that got selected here and even then one got left out. 

But one boost I haven’t mentioned is their wilingness to take risk. While past seasons had flashback episodes and what not this one, in hindsight, has some of the more risky episodes of the series, ones you really COULDN’T do in seasons 1 and 2: a whole episode flashback to the twins, basically taking our present day kids out for the whole season, an hour long special focusing on what, to fans not familiar with darkwing duck, is simply a very engaging side character and his new sidekick.. and launchpad (The ducks aren’t OUT of the special, but they aren’t the focus and aren’t around for most of the climax). An episode with really dark emotional moments.. which isn’t unsuaul for a disney show, see next time, but for one so close to their chest it was a lot. They were settled in enough to take plenty of risks and it’s paid off. It’s not to community levels of experimentation, but it’s still nice, intresting breaks from the usual adventures. 

And one of the best and boldest of these was Quack Pack. Taking our heroes and plopping them into a TGIF sitcom. Of which this plot not only happened TWICE this year, three times if you count the entirety of beef house, which I do so let’s call it three, but both cartoon examples are on this list. But both tackle it in diffrent and intresting ways so both got on here.  IN this case.. during a stock plot about a family photo, complete with Donald having his Don Cheadle voice back, we get some great parodies of convetions of les.s. good sitcomes nad even some of the greats: there’s the constnat catcphrases (ranging from a sticomy version of Della’s “On the moon”, to Beakly’s “I’m not a spy.. which sh’es understandably inscnesed to find out is her catchphrase) ,and even the wacky neighbor with our lord and savior Goofy showing up in the roll, as a nice nod to the more sitcom side of the Disney Afternoon. We just get a lot of good gags.. until Huey becomes aware, starting to realize things are off, with his guidebook being empty and things just not adding up. We even get a great bit of him being forced to do a disney channel/that 70′s show dance transtion only to react with exesntial horror.  Naturally, given their lives,a  genie did it, Gene, played by Jaleel White in a pefect bit of casting. Having been imprisoned in his lamp since the 90′s. Gene’s a bit behind on how sticoms work, but was just granting a wish, Donald’s wish, which the family figures out by trigggiring a flashback, Goofy VERY MUCH included. where we find out it was, unsuprisngly Donald’s fault.. though in his defense, and in the best line of the episode, when confronted about wishing for a normal life “I wish for that 30 times a day. How was I supposed to know a lamp was under me this time?”

And we find out why and it’s heartbreaking: Donald just wants a normal family, where everyone’s safe and, most tellningly “No one gets lost.”. It’s the climax of a series long HATRED of going on these adventures. For everyone else it’s fun, thriling, good stuff.. to him.. it’s not only a reminder of what cost him 10 years with his sister and his adopted sons their mom for that time, but a reminder of a lot of pain and humilation. To him he just wants the normal life he used to have back, despite that not being an option and his kids to be safe and his sister not to leave again. Granted his refusal to undo the wish is selfish.. but i’ts understandable. And while the rest of them try to break the wish, and end up fighting the horrifying audience it’s GOOFY who gets donald to see all families are diffrent and that there is no normal: just what you make and enjoy. It makes donald realize that as hectic as his life is.. it’s his life, his family.. and maybe. it’s not so bad. After years of denying how much he used to love adventuering.. he realizes part of him stilld oes and no amount of turning against it will fix what he lost... he just has to enjoy NOW. It’s good solid character development for my favioriote member of the cast, and overall a fun, genre spoofing episode that pokes fun at the genre but reallyg ets how it works. 

13. Growing Pains (Steven Universe Future)

“ What do I do? How do I move on from all the stuff I've been through? How do I live life if it always feels like I'm about to die?! “ So yeah big recap of steven’s emotional well being to get into future earlier, but rewinding a bit, this one takes place with our hero at a low point. Not “oh god I comitted murder what am I now oh god” low as we got to earlier and the series itself wold get to later, these lists make time warped and space bendeble, but still pretty damn bad.  As mentioned before Steven tried proposing to connie, not helped by Ruby and Sapphire both being fully on board, as both are hopeless romantics seprate but when combined as a Garnet their shared braincell can get working properly and has settings other than “emotoinal pain, peppy (ruby), a bit distant but kind (Sapphire) and horny”. While it was as beautiful a propsal as you’d expect from Steven.. Connie gently rejected it since you know, he also wanted to be permafused and their not even legal marrying age left. He’s 17.. despite what this episode claims. She’s 15 or 16. They aren’t ready and she knew it not even ruling it out entirely, just saying “not now”.  But as this episode bears out.. Steven really isn’t an emotinal state where he could properly process that way and after shooing her away, even though she WANTED to talk it over and genuiely make sure he was okay as she damn well knew this wasn’t easy on him, but also knew it’d probably be bad to press him while he was clearly in pain. So like everyone else she made the mistake of leaving.  So Steven’s binging on junk food, and bemoaning the fact that even dogcopter is getting married.. also Dogcopter is gay. Given the show he’s a fictional character in, you THINK i’d of been less suprised but you’d be wrong. Point is steven isn’t dealing well and is going pink and with the gems gone for the weekend, and Greg unavaliable due to being busy as a manager, Steven is getting worse and his body is starting to warp. Thanfkully connie comes to check up on him and insits he see a doctor.. and since her mother’s a doctor and thankfully had a cancelation. Unthankfully it turns out, to Prianka’s understandable frustration.. Steven’s never been to a doctor. Which does make sense, Greg taking him in might’ve alreted authorties to his lack of schooling or his injuries from age 13 onward, plus he had no idea of knowing how his body would react to tests. That being said given by this point in the series Gems are well accepted and known around town and everyone loves and adores steven, Greg had no real excuse by this age especially after the second gem war.  And that’s proven by the fact it turns out steven’s body has tons of internal scars which, due to him turning out to have a wolverine style healing factor, mean h’es alive and without brain damage, but still has plenty of internal scars. It’s a godo metaphor for his mental trauma: he came out of his various happenings ALIVE.. but not mentally okay and with PLENTY of ptsd. When Prianka asks him to list his traumas.. he dosen’t even get past season 1 before she’s understandably horrified, though she’s figured out exactly what’s causing his pink mode: as mentioned before his contstant life of danger and having the threat of a fight at any moment over his head for 2 solid years, maybe 3 given the third light game shows he still had a lot of work to do before the movie and future, and honestly still does at times during both, mean his flight or fight response has been shot so the adrenline charged pink form, meant to protect him from danger.. is triggering for EMOTIONAL pain and suffering. 

Steven dosen’t take it well and keeps enlarging when pressed.. and accidently spills the beans about the proposal... and understandably, even if she was FULLY in the right can’t be around Connie: while she had every right to reject him, it dosen’t mean it hurts any less. Sometimes even when you do the absolute right thing.. it can still hurt to be on the receiving end of that. But Connie is still Connie, aka the most emotinally  stable and mature person in the main cast very much including the sentient space rocks who are centuries older than her, so she called Greg who naturally dropped everything because his son needed him. It shows the genuine conflict, one, again that I’ve grappled with: Steven is so obssed with not boterhing those he loves, he fails to see they’ll help him when he needs it without a second thought. So Greg thankfully calms him down and taks over the failed proposal with no judgement or anything just support. Sadly things go downhill from here but it’s a good episode that turns the entire series on it’s head with some damn good character work. 

12. Annhilation of Joy (The Midnight Gospel) 

“Again? How Many times is this guy gonna die?” “Until he learns”  The Midnight Gospel was a plesant suprise. Penndelton Ward’s return to animation after leaving Adventure Time, the show is a collberation between him and podcaster Duncan Trussel. It was a suprise both in how quickly it came together, and in how it’s real nature wasn’t properly expressed in the trailers: while the series does tell us the trippy adventures of Clancy, a 40 something “Spacecaster” who uses an illegal simulator to visit worlds to interview various people.. said interviews are expercts from Trusseul’s own podcast, the Duncan Trussel Family Hour, something this series has badly made me want to listen to. As such while dealing with zombie apocalypses, a quest to avenge a dead lover, being processed as meat and meeting death herself while looking for his hose, Clancy interviews his subjects, including Death herself, and talks on various subjects related to medation and spirutality, throughly fascenating interviews greatly woven into trippy visuals. Hopefully the show will be back for round 2 at some point as both Ward and Trussel are game, but for now the first season stands on it’s own as a throughly trippy, throughly wonderful blend of Trussel’s words and insight and Ward’s boundless imagination.  And the best of these, narrowly beating out the final epsiode which uses an interview with Truseel’s late mother to inform clancy’s own actions, as Clancy’s Mom is dying from cancer same as Trussels tragically did. But I like this one slightly better due to it’s great blend of the subject with the plot. Once again Clancy is ignoring his pain, and his sister’s calls, by diving into the space vagina of his simulator, taking a weird form, and easily my faviorite of his shapeshifted forms of the season: a living rainbow that wouldn’t be out of palce in a pbs kids show, complete with the fact he makes musuical chimes when touched not unlike a children’s toy and has chosen this form to enter the simulator’s jail.  It’s there he gets engagled, literally, with Bob and Jason. Bob is an angry, upset prisoner who chewed his own tounge out years ago, and Jason is his soul bird, a represntation of his pain bound to him by blue rope that Clancy got tangled in. So Clancy is taken along for the ride with them as every time Bob dies, the celestial beings in charge of the prison put him through weird emtional torment, pluck out his heard and weigh it against  a feather plucked from jason. 

Thus while Clancy and Jason have a spirited conversation about Buddishm and about not treaing spirutality like a game with levels and having to earn progress but as an emotinal journey, Bob goes through a buddishm inspried journey of his own, mixed with a bit of edge of tommorow. He dies, gets tourtured then resets.. but slowly learns to empathize, to let go of his anger and violence and help those around him. It’s an utterly mesmering journey to watch this angry green big headed man go from a violet convict who will gladly shoot and stab.. to a pacfisit eager to help those around him. And it’s thorughly convincing and backed wonderfully by the interview and easily a sign of what this weird and unconveintonal series can do at all cyllnders. Seriously Netflix you’ve been on a loosing streak decisionmaking wise. Make. More. Of. This. 

11. Save the Cat (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power) "C'mon Catra. You're not done. Not yet..."

God that image is unsettling. Anywho back to She-Ra, and somehow this is the second time i’ve had to rewind the progress of a season by about an episoide. Weird. Point is saved the cat is one of the most tightly packed and thrilling episodes of the series.. and the crux of Catra’s character arc.  Before this Catra had hit her lowest point, having lost ..j well everything. She pushed everyone from adora, to the nonambigiously a couple trio, to her own best friends away through her shitty behavior and inferoirty complex and somenoe she THOUGHT was her friend.. turned on her for money. Oh and as an added stomp on the tail all that betryal, all the blood spilled in her name.. was for nothing. Horde Prime made her irrelvant: she couldnt’ manipualte him because a combination of a god complex and an army of loyal drones meant he had nothing to hide and eyes everywhere. She had nothing. Eveyrthing she did every sacrifice she made every worse and worse turn she made a s a person... amounted to NOTHING.  So it was at this point she and glimmer, despite you know killing Glimmer’s mother, were forced to work together.. and Catra sacrificed herself both to get Glimmer safe and because for once.. she wanted to do something right. Her self loathing, some of it warranted, a lot of it already there from an abusive childhood, left her with one option: sacrifice herself and HOPE, something good can come of it, Apologize to Adora, hte one person she ever loved and hope she can at least surivive this.  Naturally, Adora having seen her friend/love of her life has not only REALIZED what she become, but sacrifice herself.. isn’t having this, and after an episode of repairs both on the ship and emotinally, our heroes are naturally, despite any personal hangups with her ready to save Catra. Naturally this hits snags. On Bow and Entrapta’s end, they accidently free a horde clone she mistakes for hordak and, having no other real option and with the guy being useful, Wrong Hordak is born! I love me some Wrong Hordak. What a guy, makes you cry, und I did. 

The main issue though is Adora let herslef be captured.. only to find Horde Prime is a sadstic bastard and has not only chipped Catra, but is using her newfound peace of mind to play with adora’s head, using Catra’s heartbreak from the past to manipulate Adora in the present.. and force them to fight because hey he’s a sadistic jackass with a god complex. They make their own fun.  But Adora gets through to her .. only for Prime to decide fuck it and try killing her with Adora BARELY saving her with her power, and Catra, as she fades, wondering why Adora even bothered. And the why is simple.. as a wise fictional version of a wise president once said “Dying is easy young man, living is harder”. Not the last time that quote will be relevant in this top 20 list, but the point, and it was delebrate on Noelle Stevenon’s part, was to subvert this kind of thing> The bad guy gets redemption but then dies seconds later. Instead.. Catra has to LIVE with what she did and make up for it, become a better person and work for redepmtion, instead of just getting to end in some big blaze of glory. But at the same time.. it’s the better route. The harder one sure.. but she gets to have a life and to undo the damage and maybe for once.. actually live instead of just trying to surivive. IT was the right call in a series full of them. 

But yeah the day is saved, our heroes have two new roomates and Catra weakly greats Adora.. but with genuine warmth for the first time in .. years I guess? I don’t know this series time span. Point is the healing and the ship tease for our finale can begin and this episode is a tense, well put together masterwork. The pacing really is what put it up this far, as it really ratchets up the tension, and being the last season, meant there was no guarantee anyone, including catra, was going to make it. Excellent stuff all around. 

So that’s where we leave off for now. i’ll be PUTTING PART 2 HERE WITH A LINK. once i’ts finished For now watch this space and..

[thorin-is-a-cuddler]

Getting to know them

A/N: Alright, I love The Old Guard and ofc I adore the messy one the most: Booker 💗 I wanted to write something slightly shippy for him and Andy, so it‘s definitely suggested in this One Shot. :) Nile asks the gang a question: what is your weakness? I‘m sorry, I can‘t do the „keep reading“ thing

Nile looked around with curious eyes, scanning each and every single member of Andromache’s so called army. All of them were male. All of them seemed a little mysterious and suspicious to her. Except for Nicky with his gentle smile. And Joe, too. Basically the only really suspicious looking person at the table was Booker.

There was a milky fog in his eyes that seperated him from the rest.

Nicky and Joe gave off a warm, welcoming aura that was too honest to be anything but real. There was the sharp piercing coldness in Andy’s eyes that was scary at first, but eventually appeared to Nile as the natural look of someone who had been alive for ages and eons - and had seen horrors beyond imagination. But in Booker’s eyes there was nothing readable or analyzable going on. Sure, there was a certain amount of sadness and possibly tiredness visible in that milky fog. Apart from that nothing really invited Nile to look closer.

He was friendly enough. But he also seemed the most reserved among the group.

What Nile did notice was a short lively flicker in his gaze when Andy entered the room with a new bottle of Scotch. He straightened out his back and seemed a lot more attentive all of a sudden. Nile wasn’t capable of telling whether the outlook on more booze or the sight of Andy herself was causing that slightly more vivid reaction. It definitely caught her interest.

Especially since Andy’s attention upon entering the room was directed at Booker first. It was short and seemed like an uncontrollable impulse on her side. But both of their faces were grazed with a short blink-and-you-miss-it smile when their eyes met. Almost timid.

Nile turned her head to check Nicky’s and Joe’s possible reactions to this quiet exchange between their „boss“ and colleague (?). But the two of them were pretty busy with staring into each other’s eyes. Nile was close to rolling her eyes. Please, someone assure her that she didn’t stumble into a group of immortal lovey-dovey couples.

She crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair. Her mother would have called her posture „sulking“, but none of the people in the room were aware of that luckily. „So.“ She sternly said, raising everyone’s attention towards her.

Andromache took the seat next to Booker - aha, suspicious enough - and put the bottle down on the table in front of her. She raised her brows and had another silent exchange with her neighbor who was smirking pretty obviously now.

„So.“ He repeated, crossed his arms and sat back, eyeing her with what could have been called challenging, but most likely was a mix of slightly drunk and generally tired. She was seated next to him on the far end of the table and had a good look on everyone. They all seemed very eager to hear what she had to say.

„I feel I have quite the disadvantage in this group of ours.“ Nile almost stumbled over the word „ours“. It didn’t feel natural on the tip of her tongue yet.

„Why’s that?“ Nicky asked, listening attentively with a kind look in his eyes. He reminded her of her brother which was why she quickly had to look away. She gulped and tried not hold her own hand too tightly.

„I don’t mean to be rude, but since you all are so much older than I am and have known each other for so much longer, I feel like I should get to know a few things about you all.“ Nervously Nile bit down on her bottom-lip, before she concluded with: „We are going to sleep in the same room after all.“

Booker unexpectedly started to laugh after that last sentence. He had a deep voice that made his laughter sound very pleasant. They all seemed to have nice laughs, though, which Nile could convince herself of in that specific moment as they all joined in on Booker’s low chuckles. Nile blushed against her will - as blushes tended to happen - and gritted her teeth. But no one looked at her with ill intend. They all seemed to get where she was coming from.

She relaxed a little, when Andy nodded at her with a smile. „Of course, you can ask us whatever you want.“

„Ah,“ Joe interrupted and gave Nile a meaningful look, „everything above waistline.“

Nicky scrunched up his face at that and made a slightly put-off noise as he closed his hand around Joe’s atop of his armrest. Joe laughed as Andy and Booker made similar grossed put noises. Andy additionally decided to throw a napkin in his direction. It was all in good humor and Nile couldn’t help but let a small smile appear on her features.

„Ask away, Nile,“ Nicky encouraged her and pushed Joe’s shoulder with his own to make his giggles die.

Nile looked at every single one of them and leaned in closer. „Okay, since we are making ourselves very vulnerable in this constellation, the question that first comes to mind is: what are your weaknesses?“

Again everyone’s similar reaction was to groan. Except for Joe who was still giggling just the littlest bit. Despite that big wave of nope, Nicky was the first and quickest to answer: „Joe. That is not a hard question for me.“

Booker rolled his eyes, as Joe’s giggles stopped altogether and he turned his head to look at his lover with devotion and fondness. Andy didn’t look at them, but she was smiling.

„I hope it does not count for less, because I am saying it second. But for me it is Nicky. Nothing is certain. And my world, my life revolves around him.“ Nicky extended his hand in response and touched Joe’s face with his fingertips, gently moving them down his cheek. Joe leaned in closer to steal a soft and tender kiss from his lover. For Nile this characterized the two of them as deeply loyal and overwhelmingly in love. It was hard to imagine how deep their love for each other truly was. Since it must have rooted deep, deeply into the earth, closer to the core than any love before had ever reached.

Andy raised her voice and matter-of-factly said: „My weakness is baklavas.“

Booker squeezed his eyes shut and started laughing again, shaking his head and grumbling: „That’s not fair.“

„It’s the truth though.“ Andy held against his claim with a smirk, pulling something out of her jeans pocket and unfolding it in front of Nile’s eyes. Nile could see that the wrapping paper had contained a little dessert. Andy held it close to her nose and inhaled. She smiled. „Mhhh.“ Carefully she wrapped it up again, storing it back in the pocket next to her knee. She glanced up at Nile. „I’m not sharing this with you ever.“

Nicky and Joe laughed at that and somehow seemed to have gotten even closer to each other than before. Nile was really looking forward to sharing a room with them…

„Which leads us to you, Booker.“ Nicky pointed out, making a movement with his hand in the blond man’s direction.

„Yes, Booker, what is your weakness?“ Andy asked with a sort of flashy smile, moving a bit closer to the man in the chair next to her who was cluelessly raising his arms and shrugged.

„Uhm… well… maybe the booze?“ He asked, toasting to Nile and downing his drink, looking at the others for approval. Which he didn’t get. Andy shook her head vehemently and seemed very focused on him now. Nile watched the two of them like a movie. They seemed comfortable around each other in a way that was similar to Nicky and Joe - at least potential-wise.

„No, that doesn’t count. That’s just a terribly bad habit.“ Andy told him and put his glass out of reach to allow him no refill.

„Ah, pardon, but the baklava counts?“ Booker exclaimed, pushing Andy’s shoulder and meaning to grab for his glass again, which was easily pushed even further out of his reach by the leader of the group.

She grinned and put her hand against his chest to keep him from getting up. „Baklavas are basically art and I doubt that can be said about Scotch.“

„Oh, I am ready to defend the arts of Scotch, Boss. I believe I even studied them back in the day of-“ Booker’s ironical soliloquy was stopped abruptly during the tame wrestling fight against Andy when the formerly worshipped godess shoved her hands under his arms and started tickling.

Nile’s mouth opened in awe, as Booker immediately crumbled on his chair, trying to defend himself with his elbows close to his ribs and his body twisted uncomfortably. His eyes were squeezed shut, the tip of his tongue was poking out between his teeth and the smile he wore was one of utmost joy. It suited him impossibly well and Nile was shocked to see the difference between his formerly displayed smiles opposed to this one. He hadn’t made a sound up until that point, as silent laughter had taken over his bodily functions. This changed though when Andy pulled at one of his elbows to get more vulnerable space to her attack.

„NONONONO!!“ Booker shrieked, in the husky voice of a man who didn’t usually laugh that outgoingly. His deep giggles had a desperate ring to them, an out-of-breath undertone that was absolutely contagious and forced Nile to grin at the chaotic pair.

Joe and Nicky were looking at them with similar looks on their faces. It seemed very affectionate. Obviously it wasn’t the first time that this situation occurred.

„STOP STOP STOP!! NOHO PLEASE AHAHNDY!!“ Booker started kicking a bit too violently, meeting the table with his shoe and making it shake vibrantly, leading to Nile’s drink falling over.

„See, that is a weakness, Booker,“ Andy stated as she reduced the mysterious man to a snorting, giggling, wheezing mess in his chair with skillful fingertips and a steady knowledge of his most ticklish areas.

Nile couldn’t stop grinning, as Nicky and Joe made it their job to save the rest of the food and drinks on the table by placing them on a table further to the back. This only seemed to make the new option of tilting Booker’s chair available to Andy and in no time they were rolling onto the floor, with Booker eagerly trying to rob away on his back and Andy very eager to keep him from doing just that. Booker’s laughter was getting a hysterical notion to it when Andy came close to him again, threatening him with more vicious, unbearable tickles which really seemed to be his number one weakness from what Nile could tell.

„Wait wait wait wait WAIT!!“ Booker barked out as he extended his hands in front of his body in order to defend himself against Andromache the Scythian. A very adorable tactic really. And one Andy herself wasn’t necessarily impressed with. With a big smile she quickly latched on to Booker’s sides again, despite his struggle to keep her away.

And Booker was an instant mess. Andy’s thumbs wiggled into his hips, making Booker’s entire body buck up and shake with the unbearable feeling this attack sent through his nerve ends all the way up to his brains. He was wheezing with laughter and couldn’t get away from Andy’s tickling fingers working their way up his stomach and ribs as if his defenses were a joke to her. „THIS ISN’T FAHAIR!!“ The poor man squealed as his cheeks started to blush from the effort of laughing this incessantly.

„No, it isn’t,“ Andy agreed with fake sympathy before she started wiggling her fingers into a spot below Booker’s armpits that made his laughter kick up a notch, „but it’s fun.“

Nile watched with amusement as Booker was reduced to a giggling pile on the floor and Andy was having the time of her life turning him into it. They both seemed to be rather comfortable in their position. Even Booker didn’t exactly fight for his life to get out of the tickle hell Andy was putting him through. When Andy’s fingertips were scribbling up Booker’s chest, nearing his neck, he started fighting a bit more, giggling a pitch higher than before and actually starting to beg. „NONONO PLEASE NO, I GIVE UP, I GIHIVE UP!! AHAHANDY STOP IT!!“

„Oh, alright, alright, I’m stopping, I am.“ Andy quit her ticklish attack with a sombre smile on her lips, moving her hands away and holding them up innocently. Booker was wheezing on the floor, folding his arms over his chest and shaking his head at his boss, as little giggles kept pouring out of him.

„No more,“ he huffed, a smile on his face, as Andy started laughing at him, seemingly enchanted by his defeated, weak little self. „No more, Andy.“

„I think Nile got an answer to her question.“ Andy calmed him down and affectionately rubbed his arms which he did react to by relaxing more. With an imploring, cheeky look she fixed his eyes and added: „I think she also understood that you don’t exactly mind this little weakness of yours.“

„What!!“ Andy grinned at Nile as she got off of Booker.

„Your other questions might just have to wait until tomorrow.“ She said and winked at her, before walking over to where Nicky and Joe had retreated in the big room.

„Are you implying that I like this?“ Booker turned on his stomach and yelled after her, trying to grab for Andy’s heels, but failing. With a loud sigh he allowed himself to roll over on his back again. He looked at Nile out of the corner of his eye. „I do not like this. Not at all.“

Nile nodded completely convinced and felt a wave of affection flood her stomach when Booker closed his eyes and started snoring. In that very moment he didn’t seem suspicious in the least. She took this as her cue to join the others at the east side of their room as well. Of their shared room.

Ours.

The word didn’t sound that threatening anymore all of a sudden.

[hjh-ceilo-monster]

Soulmate Verse : Twisted (KTH)

Summary :  You were the agent undercover on a mission.It has been a month that you hanged around some gang stuff.Everything seemed to be easy and smooth sailing or so you thought.Two factors changed your mind comepletely. First was your tattoo start burning without any reason to explain it.Second was your plan got ruin by a police officer,who has ego higher than mount everest,and captured you.What the hell was going on? 

Author POV.

“Mission on board..here me?”

“Yes miss!”

The sound answer back.Checking everything escpecially her eyes plug,she decides to move forward for the second plan.She is dressing in a black long dress with side cut to shiw her leg.It hovers her parefectly and show her curves. 

“Let’s end this game.” 

Month ago

“Y/N,here’s the file for your next mission.”

You collected the black folder case.Opened and read every details inside it.Not going to lie but everything in here it seemed interesting.You had no hesitation in your mind to accept the job.

From that day,you continued research more about those group.A few times you got inside their bars,their company and many other places that involved their business.Making sure your got everything from them before building the plan.

“So they’re having a party in their Yatch.Get me an invitation.”

“Yes miss.”You subordinate took care of it as you ordered.

Continue the story

You enter the Yatch which is full of rich people.There are gangs,politicians and business people all over the Yatch.‘Secret my ass’ You think before step on board.

“Invitation.”One of the guard block your way.You roll your eyes in annoyance before send it to him.He checks and asks few questions.You answer all of them and decide to hurry things up.

“Sorry but I have a meeting so can you hurry up?”

The guard then let you leave with no more question.First step complete,second is progressing.You decide to give yourself a tour around the Yatch first. Collecting information from the conversation here and there,that’s enough for you to start second step.

When the event start,you secretly enter main deck where every files and important list of peeple are there.Knocking out the guard one by one,you finally arrive in front of the metal door.Spin the metal wheel,the door unlock.

“Here we go,my final.”

Taehyung POV.

“Sir we ready.”

“Then start the mission.”

All of my men seperate all over the venue.I,myself,walk toward the main deck to find the files and send to the headquater.I stroll along the way down the corricor until I find the place.

To my surprise,The guards around there knock down by someone.Something looks suspicious here.I hope the other gangs get it.I am going to destroy this loop by myself.I enter the open door,carefully step in.

‘No one,impossible.’I become even more careful after find and emoty room.

*crack*

‘Like I thought.’

“Come out or I blow your head.”

I threat.Gun point at the sound source.I am really sure someone is inside here with me.The figure show up with gun also pointing at me.Nice body....wait,what am I thinking.Taehyung,focus on your mission. 

Just then she dodger me and start to live the room.I follow her out and block her way.We both start fighting for the file which still in her hand.She’s a fierce on,I could tell.

“Sir,you got it?The team will arrive soon.”

“Yeah got it.”

Y/N POV.

‘Such a pest’ I think to myself while fighting to get free from this guy.Why I need to have someone tail behind right now.All of sudden my grip on the guy loose,my tattoo is burning my skin like fire.

“Ouch”With that,he uses this opportunity to cuff my with hand cuff.

“What the hell!”I whisper scream.

“You’re coming with us.”And then that guy talk something into his ear pieces and drag me along with him.

‘This is great.’

I am sitting inside the ruin dusty metal bars.What the fuck is happening again? I want to finish my mission and here I am,in this room.Just then one of the officer bring me out and push me in the white room.

“Sit.”

“Who the hell are you? And don’t order me.”

“I’m the leader here and I suggest you to sit before I command my men to drag you out and let the judge sentence you to death.”

“Don’t you dare to threat me!”

Author POV.

The interogation process is a mess.Both of them nearly fight inside the room.No one really dare to get inside since that’s the order from their leader.Someone then enter and everyone bow.

“Stop you both.”

“Sir.”Taehyung turn toward the cheif and bow.You throwa dagger to him with a stare.

“What is this mess,uncle?”Taehyung raise his head up and look at the figure in front of him.‘Uncle?’One word that become a question to him.

“So you decide to not tell me that you let this guy*point at Taehyung*interfer my mission?Give me a good reasons right now.”

“You are a stubborn kid who solo the mission without being aware of your life. Can’t I worry about my neice?”The cheif reply.

“If you were worry,you wouldn’t let me train 15 years ago.”

Y/N spit the hurtful fact about her life.The cheif sign and then continue to explain Taehyung about you.The guy only nod and speak nothing.He’s still confuse the relationship between the cheif and this girl.

“So I decide from now the case you will handle with Taehyung.”

“What!”

Few weeks later

“I’m the leader!”

“No I’m the leader!”

In the meeting of his team and yours,it doesn’t go really well.‘Both of you are good,you will get along.’ No that’s not gonna happen in any minute and your subordinates can see that quiet clear.

“Sir we have problem...”And before he finish,the electric start to go off.

“Hi ladies and gentlemen,how are you guys doing?”

“Bastard”Both of you grit your teeth.Knowing well who is he.

“Well chill....I can see you guys team up already.What a nice little plan.However, make sure that you guys won’t be late for my party.I’m waiting.”

The screen turn off again.You and Taehyung need to quit this little game right away and start planning everything.His team will take care of information while yours will take care of operation plan.It’s easy for your team to handle operation team.You are the top spy afterall.

“Boss we get his location.What next?”One of your coworker ask.

“Be ready,we’ll arrive there soon.”

You decide not to tell Taehyung and his team since this is your mission.You want to work this out alone.Little do you know,your body isn’t fine for the past few days.After the day that you tattoo burnt or it was just youe feeling.Your body so getting weaker.

“Lucky it was on my left arm.”You wrap a pain relieve up with the bandage around it.Then you continue to dress for the mission.

“What are you,super hero?”

“I can handle myself!”

“Shut it,I won’t let you ruin this!”

Talking about your mission,it was smooth sailing.One thing that piss you off are Taehyung standing here and arguing with you right now.No one dare to enter the room,not when you both consumed by anger and try to kill each other.

“Missy listen here,you uncle order is important to me.”

“But not to me.”

“Can’t you quit that stubborn attitude and let’s work this out together?”

“I’m not gonna work with the one that ruin my plan.”You boil with anger.Shouting back and forth with him like it’s a battle.However,that stop when you feel your arm burn again.

Taehyung whose patient is now below than zero grab your arm.You yelp out with pain.‘Bsastard why need to be there?’ You curse in your head.HE notices it immediately and takes off your bandage.Revealing the red burn around the tattoo which is like a hole for something.

“You need to rest.”He speaks with cold demanding voice.You startle with how his attitude change.He leaves the room.You look at your tattoo and back to the door.

‘It’s not possible,is it?’ Last thing Taehyung think in his head before he leaves.

Time Skip

“So this is our plan.We’re going to lure them out into a cruise...”Taehyung explain the plan, but you didn’t listen one a bit.You feel like you aren’t yourself today.Head throb with pain.

“Y/N stay here,you guys dismiss.”The others go out one by one.Worrry is written on their face.Preparing themselves to hear both of them argue loudly in this room again.They are all worry their leaders,but afraid to interfer.

Taehyung explain the plan and discuss with you.You quite surprise of his new side,calm yet serious at the same time.You never see this side of him. Wondering how this guy who arrogant and full of himself change into someone that speak calmly yet you can feel his dangerous aura.

MIssion Day

“Woh our captain is sexy as hell.”

“Yeah wish we can see her in swimming suite again after this.”Your subordinates whisper to each other so do Taehyung.He suppress his thirst and focus on the plan.

Your subordinates and his dress as if they are apart of big mafia.Taehyung is the boss while you are his assistance.You all cover the identity really well.Some of you need to make over especially you and Taehyung since you both might already be in the information base.

“Thanks for making this deal with us,Mr.V”One of the member speak.

“Not a problem,I think we should relax a bit and let’s enjoy my party.”Taehyung gesture to the girls that we hire for fake party.Their leader nod.He easily gets in the trap.

The party start and everything is under the control of you guys.None of them notice that this wasn’t a party and you all weren’t a mafia group.When there’s a chance,one by one disappear.Leaving the leader with you.

“Gotcha”You speak and handcuff him.

“Wait what is this?”

“You’re under the arrest.”Taehyung speak with his gun pointing at the guy.The guy then smirk and all of sudden kick you and get your gun.You stand up and fight with the guy.

*click bang*

The sound from gun appear.Taehyung doesn’t why he mad all of sudden,but he use his gun then slap that guy.Knocking the man which in a second lay on the wooden floor.

“No I’m fine.”You speak.You head is spinning and your blood run cold.You feel like you’ll knock out in any moment.‘No not yet.’You mumble with yourself and clear eveything with Taehyung.

“Y/N!!!”

A week later

“No I’m not going to listen to this bullshit!”You shout.One week in hospital wasn’t  something you expect.Well there is one thing far worse than staying in the hospital anyway.

‘Miss this is the sign of you rejecting your soulmate.If you continue,it might be so dangerous that it will be fatal pain.’

“No it’s not him!”You scream out.You can’t believe that your soulmate is Taehyung.Why on earth?You want to go and find god and slap him really hard. Maybe that will make him gain some sense that you and him weren’t a good partner.

“You can’t ignore your fate.”The last thing your uncle say before he leave the room.You sigh and look out the window.

In this pass week,Taehyung atiitude changed completely.You don’t know if it’s because he know that you’re his soulmate or other reason.You can’t trust him yet.Even though,he seemed to be nicer than before.

“Maybe he changes because of soulmate thing.”

On the other hand,Taehyung went crazy when he found out.He didn’t think that his guess would be true.It made him fell for you more than he had.His big secret was a crush on you and you didn’t know.You can say it’s love at first sight. Knowing you’re his soulmate makes everything clear for him.

Attempt #1

“Let me give you a drive back home.”

“I say get lost,Kim!”

Attempt #2

“Flowers for you.”

“I don;t like flowers.”*throw them into a bin*

Attempt #3

“I heard from the other day that today is your birth-”

“If you buy me a present,I’ll return it immediately.”

*Later on in the evening,the dilivery land on your house* “Miss,the order is here.”

Attempt #4

“Are you free tonight?”

“Yeah.”

“Let’s go on a date.”

“Then no,I’m not free tonight.”

Sadly that he needs to put effort to get his girl.His coworkers notice it and they help him.Yes,they still afraid of him.However,seeing him smile and many attitude change make them want to help their leader.

*knock knock*

“Jagi what’s that?”Taehyung ask.You startle and hide his diary.

“ No..noyhing.”Taehyung gaze at you and give suspicious look.He notices you hide something so he walk closer and closer.

“You know...naughty girl should be punish right?”He smirks and you gulp. Leaning closer until his face is in front of you.Staring deep to reach your soul, you freeze in place.Using that chance,he gets the diary from you.

“Tsk..tsk..tsk...”You smile with your face drain the color.Knowing what will come for you.You then run out while Taehyung chase you from behind.

“Yah! stop it Kim Tae-”

“Gotcha.”He carry you back toward your share bedroom.Ending up exhausted from laughing too much.You both lay down and catch your breathe.

“Still hurt?”He asks while caress the tattoo area.You shake  your head.Then he kiss it gently.

“Not anymore.Not when I accepted you that day.”He smiles genuinely.Caress your face he peck your lips.The pairs of cherry lips land on you feel really soft as if it’s a cushion.

“Thank you,for accepting me.”

First you chased someone.The next moment someone chase you.What a plot twist you having there?Well you won’t complain anyway since you end up getting your soulmate.

[caroline18mars]

A Man On Fire - Chapter 54

“How many more shows here in Italy? Because I keep eating and eating and eating, it's been so long since I had food as decent and as tasty as this”, she pushed another piece of bread in her mouth with a sigh “and if I keep at it, I'm well on my way to gaining a whole lot of weight”. Jared took another mouthful of his granola and shrugged “so? Even more woman for me to handle, mmm love it” with a grin, earning himself a kick under the table, “not funny! Oyyy I'm stuffed” she leaned back in her chair holding her hands on her stomach. “Again? I remember you saying that a couple of times as well last night” he flashed her a dirty grin, “can we talk about anything else than sex for a minute?” she rolled her eyes in mock-drama. “Nope” he leaned back, happily chewing “ok, ok, let's talk about your paintings, where will the magic happen? Do you want me to book a seperate hotelroom where you can paint? Or do you want to work at the venue? I guess you don't want to be moving them from our bedroom to another hotelroom to a venue, there'll be enough damage moving them from city to city or even overseas as it is” he leaned in again sipping his coffee. “Damage? Oh darling, Leonardo Da Vinci crossed the Alpes with Mona Lisa rolled up in a bag hanging from a donkey when he moved to France to be with his lover, I'm sure my paintings will survive” she leaned in to him too and tapped his nose with her finger. “Really?” he was genuinely impressed, “really, so one step to the left or right too far and the most expensive, most famous painting in the world would have been no more, sometimes you've gotta take a risk you know?” she nodded. He rested his hand against his cheek “promise me one thing? If we get to Florence tomorrow, you show me around town? Show me Da Vinci and Michelangelo and you tell me everything you know about them, I didn't get nearly enough art history classes as I should have wanted, I love it, and hearing you talk about these anecdotes it's like watching a documentary, which leads me to the next brilliant idea, making an art history docu your style?” he rattled, getting lost in the dream already. “Hold it, wooahh, back up back up, Jared, hun, Jay?” she shook her head as he just kept spewing ideas and grabbed his hand “just let me paint, ok? Besides the fact that absolutely nobody would be interested in the topic, there's no way I want to be in front of a camera, I don't have the need to be in the limelight, I'm quite happy in the shadows” he scrunched his nose, not happy with the answer but knowing full well this was not a woman whose arm could easily be twisted “but you'll still show me around Florence?”, oh silly man you're absolutely adorable “of course I'll take you around Florence, just put on your walking shoes and don't you dare start moping when you get fed up with all the musea we're gonna do”. Harper leaned in to him, pushing a little kiss on the tip of his nose “and if you're a really good boy, I promise I'll buy you an icecream, ok?”, her giggle was contagious “and are you gonna spank me if I'm a bad boy?” to which she encouragingly wiggled her eyebrows.

Strolling through the park on their way back to the hotel, duty called for Jay in about an hour, he held her hand tighter than he ever had, squeezing, letting go, squeezing again, oh yes this was an internal convo with himself “Come to a conclusion yet? I hope so because I think I've already felt a bone snap in my hand”. What? His head whizzed to look at her “what?” he held up her hand to check the damage done, “wanna talk about it?” she raised her eyebrows when she looked into his eyes “just goes to show how dangerous your thoughts really are”. Something was brewing, that much was clear if him biting his lip and the unintentional harder squeezing of her hand was anything to go by, oohhh trouble, definitely trouble, she almost braced for his reaction “it's just..”.  It's just what, Jared? I'm so not ready for whatever this is, “you're scaring me now, ok so what is it? You changed your mind and you want to end it after all? For fuck's sakes Jay” she babbled, getting more anxious by the second. His head shot up again and he took her face between her hands to calm her down “No! That's not it, I didn't change my mind..it's not about us, I just have bad news” his eyes became darker again “I was thinking about how to tell you this, but I guess there's just no right way..Shayla..she's coming back on the road with us” he blurted it out and watched her face go instantly pale like someone had punched her in the stomach. “You're joking, right?” she whispered, ugh why did she feel like the ground was gonna dissapear from underneath her feet? “Jay?” her eyes pierced his, “it was Shannon's idea, there was nothing I can do, I'm so sorry babe” dissapointment, hurt, it was all there in those beautiful brown eyes. “What's next? I mean Sean's back, now Shayla, within a month or so you're probably gonna tell me that Val's part of the gang again too. It just doesn't matter what they do, does it? And I don't matter, and neither does everything they did to me, because I'm temporary, right?” she blurted it all out, the frustration, the pain, just when she thought they could finally get back to being a normal couple, there was always a spanner being thrown in the works.

“Harper, babe? No stop” he followed her as she started walking again “you're not temporary, ok?” and caught up with her “listen to me” he stopped her by jumping in front of her and grabbing her hands “Shannon tried to do good, we really need an assistant and she knows the business, ok? And Val isn't coming back ever, you have to believe me! I swear I don't want this to come between us, you're all that matters to me, not Shayla, not Val, not Sean, I don't care about them, I only care for you, I love you”. Coco took a deep breath and looked at him “I love you too..in my heart I know where I want us to be..but it's always one thing after the other, I just want to have some peace and quiet” she sighed, grabbing his hand “let's just walk back to the hotel, if anything those three fuckers can be an inspiration for a painting and I definitely need a word with Shannon”. So relieved she wasn't angry, he pulled her against him “fuck them all, this is about us not about them” and kissed her lips, god that man's kisses were pure gold, reassuring, firm, hot, tender and demanding at the same time, she wanted a real life with him, settle down and have millions of babies with him..whoaaaa hold on a minute, getting way ahead here, the only thing she wanted right now was a normal, quiet life together, 'quiet' as in out of the spotlights, not like the soap everyone was expecting it to be.

They took their time to get back to the hotel, talking, connecting, “where would you like to have dinner?” he pushed a kiss in her hair as they turned the street of their hotel, glued to each other. “Anywhere is fine really, as long as it is just you and me” she snuck her hand into the back of his pants, just above the curve of his butt “I think this is my favorite part on your body” she squeezed his warm skin there. “Finally someone who doesn't want me entirely for my massive..” he paused for effect, grinning from ear to ear, “that too of course, but in broad daylight I prefer this bit” she smiled at him but it was Shannon who burst their bubble. “Hey beautiful, and I don't mean you bro” he just skipped down the steps and up to them, but when he wanted to plant a kiss on Harper's cheek she pulled back “that's a little hypocrite, don't you think?” she hissed. Shannon looked at Jay with a panic in his eyes, but he just shrugged to show him that this was none of his business, “why don't you and I take this inside?” she let go of Jared and walked up the steps to the entrance. “Is there something you need to tell me, Shannon, or is this your way of showing me how much you really hate me?” she plopped down on one of the couches in the lobby and zipped open her jacket. “Harper..I..” Shannon was crumbling in front of her eyes, he looked like a little boy that was being put in his place “so Jared told you?” he sighed while his brother came walking in as well and sat down next to her. “Of course he did, did he have to wait until she finally showed up here and you'd make it a nasty surprise? You must really hate me” there it was again, her thinking he hated her, “Coco, I don't hate you, really I don't and it pains me that you think I do, we're in a bit of a pickle here..I mean we really need someone to take over all those tasks we don't have time for and Shayla seemed like the best option”. He shuffled uncomfortably in his seat when the waiter brought the coffees Jared had ordered, “both Jared and I know what they've done to you so we've decided to put a special clause in their contract: if they give you even the slightest bit of trouble, they're out”. Coco took her cup and leaned back in her seat, her eyes locking with Jared's for a moment, god he was gorgeous, the way he sat there in that beautiful diffuse light, his cheeks rosy from the cold morning walk, he did need a shave though..mind wandering again, take care of the older Leto first. “It's your show and I do realize that I'm a guest on this tour as well so I'm not the one to interfere but I have to admit it shook me” she sipped her coffee, warming her hands on the cup while she glared at Shannon. “I get that but I hope you can forgive me?” Shannon gave her a careful smile “Nope, not just yet anyway” she shook her head and focused back on her coffee.

”I think you're the only one who can get under Shannon's skin” Jared smiled, sipping his tea “look at him, he's completely shook up”, Harper put her cup back down and nervously ran her hand through her hair “I didn't mean to, I don't want him to think I'm an egotistical bitch who thinks this is all about her because I don't, maybe I should go and apologize..”. Jared pulled her closer and kissed the side of her head “Oh no, you don't! Let him stew for a bit, let it sink in..” while his brother shuffled back over to the lounge “we have to go..uhm..Harper, wanna come along?”. Harper grabbed her bag “no, I'm gonna try out all those beautiful colors, you know..just keeping sane” and stood up, Jared pulled her against him and whispered “you sure? I don't want to miss you”. Her finger ran over his leather jacket “I'm sure, I take it she'll be landing shortly? And I don't want to be confronted with her just yet..I'll miss you too, but at least we'll be doing something we both love to do” why did this beautiful freak have to be so damn sexy? He was talking just now about getting under someone's skin, but damn he, his name, his whole being was already tattooed a million times under her skin. “Ok..I love you, remember that” he whispered, unable to leave her lips alone, “too mushy, Leto, too damn mushy” she acted all tough, but her inner voice wanted to scream that she loved him too, more than he could ever imagine, but to be that vulnerable? Oh no, not in a million years, she had been too vulnerable in the past and look where it got her, nope, she was a tough cookie and she could resist anything. Something as normal and simple as watching him leave almost became unbearable, this had to stop, she hated being so dependent, not being, feeling, definitely feeling, there was a difference! The van that took him away hadn't even turned the corner or her phone bleeped

From: BJLCubbins

To: HCDeRobiano

Subject: Not my first but definitely my last!

Babe,

Just stop me from popping the question, because I'm about to,  put my feet back on the ground because right now I don't see any reason why I shouldn't just ask you to marry me.

My love for you is scaring me

Loveyouloveyouloveyou

Your fool Jay

Her heart hammered in her chest, whatwhatwhatwhat? She read it again, he actually did ask..wait no, get it together De Robiano

From: HCDeRobiano

To: BJLCubbins

Subject: Re: Not my first but definitely my last

Oy Leto,

Did you drink paddo-tea? I'm just gonna ignore this because you're probably gonna eat those words by tonight, why? If you're asking me to stop you from asking, then I'm stopping you here and now! Breathe! Think about how impulse marriages don't work in 95% of the time, feeling better? Good!

That being said, I love you too, very much, you adorable fool of mine

Coco

Hitting the 'send' button, her heart sank, there was no turning back anymore, did she ever think or want to get married? God no, but with him? Absolutely! Ah well, too late now, what are you thinking, they had known each other a couple of weeks, no ok, done, ridiculous idea!..or not?..paint Coco, just paint!

[yeehawsimulator]

A Long Lost Love

Arthur Morgan x Female reader (1/?)

The start of my red dead 2 ‘fix-it’!

You and Arthur meet back up again after a failed relationship you had nine years ago, and decide to join the van der Linde gang again.

This is an edited version of my Arthur x OC version I’ve been posting on AO3

No warnings for this chapter

Requests are always welcome~

•

“Always yours, Y/N” You finished, lifting your pen from the paper as you took in a deep breath, staring at the words under the candle flame besides you.

You placed your hands on the wooden desk to stand up, folding the letter in half and putting it in your satchel. You exit the farmhouse you had lived in after getting seperated from Dutch’s gang 9 years ago, Arthur forcing you to stay behind when they went on what he assumed to be a suicide mission. You had always thought him and the rest of Dutch’s gang to be dead after that day, but hearing a few girls in the saloon talking about them a few days back, made you realise you had been living a lie these past nine years. You had to bring up the courage to actually write the letter you were now on your way to delivering to the post office, climbing on your horse; Florence to ride there. Your shaking hands handed over the letter to the courier, knowing damn well to not expect a reply but you would sure as hell give it a shot.

“I’ll try to get it there as soon as possible ma’am” “Thanks mister” You told the man with a short nod before walking out the post office.

Living on a farm as if you had a normal life just wasn’t your way of doing things, you had proved that in your time spent with Dutch. Valentine wasn’t exactly what you’d call an exciting town to live in either, the only rare event being an escaped cow at most.

You looked up at the moon that had illuminated the muddy streets below your horse, riding back to the farmhouse you had inherited from your parents.

You woke up early the next morning, tending to the other horses and sheep you kept at the farm. It was enough to make a small living and have decent food on the table, nothing exciting but at least you were still alive.

After finishing brushing your last horse you went back inside, the sun already starting to set again. You made yourself a cup of coffee and grabbed a book from the shelf, sitting down at the dining table to spent your night calmly reading, until a knock on the door interrupted your plans.

You looked at the pistol laying on the counter next to the door, always having to make sure it was there before opening it. You straightened out your long skirt and rolled up the sleeves of your blouse before walking to the door, opening it slightly to see who was dumb enough to knock at your door.

“I-I’m sorry it’s this late, but I ah.. I had to see you as soon as I received this letter” Arthur spoke as he stared at his feet. You quickly opened the door completely as you still had your pistol clutched in your right hand.

“I quite frankly didn’t expect you to actually show” You replied as you had the gun pointed at him, Arthur quickly backing up against the railing on the porch once he noticed the gun in your hand. You fired at the bottle sitting on a fence behind him, huffing at the man in front of you.

“You’d truly think I’d ask ya to come over only to shoot you?” “You’re still as good of a shot as I remember” Arthur spoke with a soft laugh as he lowered his hands again.

You sighed deeply as you looked up into his eyes, he had clearly gotten older, but still looked so much the same as when you were still together.

“Y/N, I- I don’t know where to start”

Arthur took off his hat and placed it on the railing, lowering his arms besides him as a sad expression formed on his face.

“That’s the only thing you have to say after abandoning me for nine years?” “I never abandoned you-!”

“Yeah yeah, I’ve already heard it, you were trying to protect me and all that bullcrap. Why didn’t you ever bother to search for me Arthur? I told you about this farm and I.. God, I never stopped waiting for you”

“I didn’t want you to get yourself killed over us fools, and back then you would do it in a heartbeat. I’d rather not have you but know you’re safe than having to bury you for being too brave again”

You felt your eyes burning as your fingernails dug deeper into the skin of your palm, shaking your head which made the tears roll down your cheeks.

“I didn’t ask you to come over here only for you to be making excuses Arthur” “I know Y/N, I goddamn know and had to live with it the past years” “So did I” You replied, making Arthur furrow his brows as he averted his gaze to the wooden planks of your porch.

“I just don’t know how to make it right goddammit. You know that if I could I would’ve ran away with you back then, god I still think about it time to time” “I never expected you to betray Dutch like that Arthur, I still don’t. But can’t you realize you made me do exactly that? I was as much of a member of the camp as you were. And I was young and dumb enough to blindly follow everything you told me to do like a fuckin’ lap dog”

“I’m coming with you, let me pack my bags” “Y/N-“ “Don’t even think about trying to stop me, it’s a wasted effort. Come in, it’s cold out” You stoically told him, a deep breath escaping Arthur as he followed you inside.

“I’ve been living in hell the past nine years, I’d rather die being with all of you tomorrow than live another 30 years on this goddamned farm Arthur” You spoke as you packed your guns and a few spare clothes, entering your bedroom to change into a pair of pants.

“There isn’t anything that I can do to stop you is there?” Arthur sighed as you entered the main room of the farmhouse again, a packed bag slung around your shoulder. You shook your head and walked past him to grab the keys from the wall, motioning your head for Arthur to walk out the front door, following behind him and locking it behind you.

“Can we head through town first? I want to give the keys to a good friend of mine” “‘Course, lead the way”

Arthur retrieved his hat and followed you to your horse, taking the bag from your hands so you could mount on easily. He secured it on the back of your saddle before walking over to his own, “Come on boy” He muttered, patting the horse before following you into town.

He looked at you entering the saloon, moving his horse forwards a bit to see you hugging what he assumed to be your friend, handing over the keys afterwards.

Arthur sighed as he ran his fingers over the scarred knuckles of his other hand, his mind racing wildly about seeing the love of his life again, the same woman he tried to forget about all these years, and there you were back in his life again in the matter of a day.

“Done, she deserves it more than any other person I know of” You spoke as you mounted your horse again, Arthur laughing at himself before riding up next to your.

“What?” “Nothing, just- just you” Arthur chuckled as he shook his head, signing for you to follow him. “Is the camp far away from here?” “What did Hosea call it again.. Horseshoe something”

“Horseshoe overlook? You guys are that close to town? Bold move of Dutch” “You said it”

You ran your fingers through Florence’s mane, making Arthur smile at you, you always cared for the horses when you all were done riding for the day. “Never lost your love for horses hm?” “Never will either, they’re such beautiful creatures”

Arthur told you you’d take the next left, riding up a muddy path in the forest before the tents came into your view. You slowed Florence down before coming to a complete halt, seeing that Dutch and Hosea had been expecting you. “I told you you wouldn’t be able to stop her!” Dutch’s amused voice sounded, Arthur grabbing your bag off your horse, wanting to help you off next but you were already running over to Dutch to hug him tightly.

“I’m so sorry I left” “Arthur didn’t give you a choice, it’s so good to see you” Dutch told you. Hosea pressed his hand on Arthur’s shoulder, the look on Hosea’s face already saying more than any words could.

“I’m glad to finally be back, and to see you as well Hosea” You continued with a broad smile plastered on your face, Hosea taking you into a tight hug. “You’ve grown quite a bit since we’ve last seen you” “Ain’t even been here for a minute and I’m already being insulted-“

“Y/N?!” Another familiar voice sounded, turning you head to see John walking over to you, taking you into a tight hug as well. “Hey there greasy cowboy”

“God it finally feels as if we’re complete again” Dutch spoke, his hand firm on your shoulder. “I’ll take your bag to my lodging, I can set up a bed for you there if that’s okay” Arthur softly spoke, you nodding your head in response. “Thanks”

“Everyone! We’re having a party tonight! There’s someone you all have to meet” Dutch yelled, a few heads popping out of tents since it was already dark out.

Dutch introduced you to the other gang members, as they sat by the campfire. Your gaze had wandered off to Arthur sitting alone on his bed, scribbling away in a notebook he apparently was still holding onto after all these years.

“She was the craziest out of all of us back then! Popped the poor man’s head off as if it was a melon” John spoke with a loud laugh, You shaking your head in embarrassment. “You’re giving me quite a reputation to uphold Marston” “I have no doubt you will”

“I think we should call it a night folks” “Thanks for being so welcoming, I promise I’ll make it worth something” You told the group, wishing everyone a goodnight.

“You’re not one to miss a good night of drinks”

Arthur huffed as he looked up at you, closing his notebook and laying it on a cupboard next to his bed. “I needed to clear my head, you have no idea what you do to me woman” He sighed as he let his the back of his head rest against the wagon of his lodging, as you sat down on the bed he had set up for you.

You took the hand he had resting on his knee into your own, staring at his scarred fingers, which made Arthur flinch slightly. He wanted nothing more than to hold you against him and tell you he’d never leave you again, but he would never even think about actually doing so.

“We should sleep, I’ll show you and the boys around Valentine tomorrow, heard there’s some good bounties at the sheriff's” You spoke as you took your hand off his, laying down on the unsturdy bed, your eyes focused on the night sky. It made you feel weirdly comfortable, sleeping out in the wilderness again like this.

[gladerwolfstarkimagines]

Zuko x female reader series: Part Six

After leaving the firenation you and Zuko track the avatar down, break into a fire nation prison and you get into a fist fight with Sokka...but your fun summer aside, It all comes down the agni kai between Zuko and Azula. Although you’re only there for support you end up doing more harm than good for Zuko...

Part One here

Part Two here

Part Three here

Part Four here

Part Five here

Tagged: @taeeemin​ @creation-magician​ @kaylove12​

The first meeting

After leaving the fire nation you’d found the avatar pretty easily and now it was just the matter of convincing him not to attack you that was the problem. Zuko rehearsed his speech to an audience of you and a frog you’d befriended and you and said frog glanced at one another not convinced as Zuko finished his speech. Zuko saw you expression and groaned “this is stupid! I’ve dragged us out here for no reason, they’re not going to let us stay”. You shook your head “no they will it just depends on what you say! Come on we can get this right! Try again but this time maybe don’t seem so...teriffied?”. Zuko sighed but tried again.

Zuko wouldn’t let you come with him the first time he approached them incase they reacted badly and you agreed only because one fire bender was less intimidating and punchable then two fire benders. Despite all your rehearsal the inital meeting didn’t go well but Zuko eventually managed to get the gang to agree to your presence. He only had to risk getting attacked by them and then save their lives from an assasin, almost dying in the process, but he came back beaming to tell you the gang was expecting you. Zuko led you to their camp and the gang came into view, each and every one of them staring at you. You stared back, putting names to faces and Zuko stopped infront of Aang. “Aang, erm everyone this is y/n, she’s a firebender so she can help teach you aswell”. Aang smiled at you hesitantly but the two water siblings huffed and the earthbender just frowned. “Nice to meet you, cool airbison” you said in greeting and Aang couldn’t resist a smile “thanks his name’s Appa!”. “He’s glorious” you grinned “can i stroke him?”. In reply Appa licked you and you made a noise of disgust and suprise. Aang laughed “that means he likes you! He must smell Zuko on you”. You exchanged a raised eyebrow with Zuko but smiled back at Aang “great I made a friend already!”. The water tribe girl, Katara according to Zuko, made a noise and rolled her eyes walking away. Her brother and the earth bender stared at you but seemed equally curious as they were angry at you, which for a first day you took as a win.

The gang’s reaction to you and Zuko

Straight away you could tell the gang was confused how you and Zuko worked. You knew Zuko had mentioned you were dating but still the gang all seemed shocked at the concept. The Zuko they knew was so different to the one you knew and even though Zuko was never one for PDA even watching him be casually sweet and attentive to you was like seeing a completely different person from the angry man they first met. The day after you arrived Aang started his firebending training and Zuko asked you to help. You were more than happy to but soon realised something was wrong with Zuko. He trired showing Aang the forms but he didn’t have any fire. You basically ended up demonstrating everything to Aang while Zuko got more and more stressed that he couldn’t do it. Aware Zuko didn’t perform well under pressure you told Zuko you should break away from the training session to give him and Aang time to bond. You’d barely been back at camp 10 minutes when Zuko and Aang came into view on their way back to camp, training apparently abandonned. Aang reached you first and explained Zuko still couldn’t fire bend. You looked up the hill to where Zuko was slowly sulking his way back to camp and frowned, he looked sad, his body language defeated, head slumped. You weren’t having this and without a word to the gang marched over to Zuko.

The gang’s POV

The gang watched super confused, and partially fearing for your safety due to the look on Zuko’s face, as you marched over to Zuko. You reached him and they all held their breath. They couldn’t hear what you said but whatever it was made Zuko more upset, he exploded, gesturing wildly to where him and Aang had been training and they all recognised that temper. What they hadn’t seen though was someone control it. You touched Zuko’s hand and his whole body seemed to deflate. You gripped his hand and stared speaking to him calmly with a small smile on your face. Zuko sighed but smiled too and you hugged him tightly. They were all shocked when Zuko sunk into you and wrapped his arms around you burying his head in your neck. You seperated and said something making Zuko smile and took his hand leading him back to the camp. Sokka raised an eyebrow but Katara rolled her eyes “so he’s kind to his girlfriend, big deal he still tried to kill us”.

Zuko and Aang’s went on a fieldtrip to re-learn firebending and when they returned the gang all watched amazed as Zuko animatedly told you details of what had happened. None of them had ever seen the boy smile let alone talk so happily, it was odd. You smiled at Zuko brightly and after he’d told you everything he seated hismelf beside you an arm around you. You leant into him, tracing his hand around you, and Zuko grinned at whatever you were saying. "Is anyone actually buying this?" Katara asked watching and Sokka frowned "what the fire duo?". Katara nodded and Aang shrugged "they seem pretty happy maybe Zuko was always tring to kill us because y/n wasn’t with him". Katara scoffed as Sokka nodded like that was a plausible excuse for trying to kill them.

The first fight

Your first argument with the gang was with Sokka and unsuprisingly it was about food. The daily rations had just been split 6 ways and there wasn’t much of it, something the ever perceptive Toph noticed. "That’s it for food?" she asked when Sokka passed her a bowl and he sighed "yes there’s not much to go around now there’s 6 of us". You were sat nearby and thought the tone Sokka used was very pointed but didn’t comment.  Aang frowned "so we'll get more food, no big deal". "I mean it kind of is a big deal" Sokka sighed "it was hard enough the four of us and now there’s six of us...”. “I needed a firebending teacher Sokka you know that” Aaang shrugged and Sokka rolled his eyes. “Yes and I get letting Zuko in to teach you but do we really need to be responsible for every run away from the firenation?" Sokka asked talking about you. "First it’s his girlfriend but what next? His whole extended family? His gardener? This is hard enough as it is without Zuko’s girl tagging along". "Zuko’s girl? Tagging along?" you asked loudly and Sokka jumped seeing you’d heard. “You think that’s what I did?” you smirked "I was no use to Zuko during the escape, I didn’t help him get here or anything?”. “I didn’t say that” Sokka started but you cut him off “and we brought food too so i’m not the reason food’s short, you’re the one who eats like a horse. I’m just as much an asset as Zuko". Sokka raised an eyebrow "really because he’s a fire bending prince". "And i’m a fire bending navy expert, what can you do?". Sokka blushed "well i....". "Water tribe right?” you said not giving him the chance to repeat himself “but you can’t water bend can you?" you asked smirking as the boy glared "i can still fight" Sokka cried. "Really prove it, fight me" you grinned. Sokka frowned "i’m not going to do that". "Why because i’ll beat you?". "I’m a warrior of the souther water tribe" Sokka argued and you rolled your eyes "big deal i’ve been sparring with Azula Mai and Ty lee since I was 7, have you ever played fire knives with Azula? I don’t think so, you’ll be easy". Sokka glared and you knew you’d triggered him. "Okay no bending" Sokka said and you nodded "sure and no weapons, that includes boomerangs". "Guys are you sure..." Katara started but Toph shushed her “shut up Katara I want to feel Sokka get his ass kicked”. You and Sokka stood feet away from each other and Sokka smirked looking past you to Zuko "don’t worry i won’t hurt her too much" he said cockily and your anger peaked. You were going to teach this water tribesmann who was useless.

_ _ _

The fight over, you and Sokka sat beside one another on the floor. Sokka held an icepack to his head for the swelling, it was the only injury you’d given him Katara couldn’t heal, while you inspected the red mark from where Sokka bit you when you had him in a headlock. "I’m sorry about that" Sokka blushed "i don’t usually bite, it’s not noble for a warrior to do". "Any victory is a victory no matter the means...even if you lost" you replied. Sokka frowned but you smirked at him to let him know you were joking and Sokka laughed. "I let you win". You raised an eyebrow and Sokka sighed "okay maybe i didn’t but there’s no shame in losing to a better opponent". You grinned "friends?" And Sokka nodded "friends".

Zuko and Katara’s POV

Zuko and katara watched you two confused. You’d gone from arguing, to physically attacking one another to now laughing like old friends. "Is she...does y/n always fight people?" Katara asked hesitantly. Zuko shrugged "usually not physically but yeah she does that, does your brother usually bite people?". Katara shook her head "nope just your girlfriend". "I don’t know if i should be offended or pleased?" Zuko frowned.

The prison break

True to your promise, after you fight you and Sokka became fast friends mainly because you had the same reckless energy and it was utter chaos when you two were brainstorming ideas. Zuko was kind of jealous at first but you reassured him he’d always be your best friend even if he was your boyfriend and Zuko didn’t mind as much. Sokka didn’t object to you coming with him to rescue his dad and considering you actually knew where the prison was considered you a pretty important asset.

You were meant to stay on the ship during the prison break but that idea went to pot as soon as the steam made the ship useless. So you entered the prison with Zuko and Sokka and soon enough Zuko got caught. You managed to get the job guarding his cell though so could keep an eye on him when there was an announcement important guests had arrived. Your plan to escape was soon so you ditched your guard uniform and headed to your meeting point when you came across one said important visitor who spotted you straight away.

Mai.

You swore inwardly but tried to offer a friendly smile incase she was in a forgiving mood "hey Mai...". A knife was embedded in the wall next to you and you nodded "okay okay, before we start trying to kill each other any chance you'll accept my apology, realise me and Zuko didn’t mean to hurt you and let me go?". Mai sent a knife for you and you used your bending to only just knock it off course. "Fine i guess violence is the answer" and launched into an attack. You didn’t want to hurt Mai so mainly avoided her attacks in an effort to tire her so you could then take her out carefully. The best way to do that was to make her lose focus. You’d been told your best weapon in a fight was your mouth, you could make people angry and lose concentration easily and so tried to use some of that now on Mai. "Also just to clarify i’m not fighting you because of Zuko, i mean two girls fighting over a guy is so gross and demeaning i’m fighting you because you’re trying to stab me! Alright? Okay good, just wanted to make that clarification". "Stop talking!" Mai cried and you smirked, it was working. You carried on talking nonesense, apologising for that time at school you’d accidentally fell on her in gym, that time at the dinner party you’d knocked her drink over, that time when you were eight and called her knives dumb etc, until finally Mai’s anger peaked but it didn’t make her an easier opponent, the anger seemed to fuel her. Mai threw a knife and before you could move it landed in your arm. The pain was red hot and more intense that any burn or hit you’d been inflicted before. Angry and barely thinking you retaliated. You yanked the knife out of your arm and sent it right back at her. Mai hadn’t been expecting that and neither had you. It cut her hand and you stared "Mai i’m sorry...". "Stop apologising" she cried trying to attack you again “fight!”. “I don’t want to fight you” you cried and Mai glared “well i’m not letting you go, this doesn’t end until me or you can’t get back up”. You winced “I hate to disagree with you but no”. You shot a wave of fire at her knocking her back against the door of a cell. “Sorry” you winced and kicked her in the chest. She tumbled into the room and you slammed the door shut. Mai beat her fists against the door in rage and you grimanced opening the eye hole. "Mai i’m sorry but I’m not fighting you so this way I don’t have to, i hope you can understand that and some day we can maybe be friends again" and then rushed away. Your escape was still in motion and you had serious time to make up for. You ran down a tunnel and shot out into the sunlight of the main yard. You spotted Zuko and Sokka and worked your way through the crowd to them. You reached Zuko and the others and were panting hard "Mai’s here...very angry...we need to go". Zuko nodded gripping your hand "yep that seems wise, let’s go!". “The barge is this way” Suki cried and you all took off running again.  

You’d finally reached the barge with minimal trouble when the pain in your arm flared and you held it awkwardly trying to ease the pain. Zuko spotted the blood on your arm and frowned “Y/n!”. "It’s fine" you smiled seeing his worry and he shook his head ripping a piece of fabric off his shirt “No it’s not, here”. He wrapped it around your arm tightly "i’m sorry we'll get you back to Katara soon" and squeezed your hand. You smiled and Zuko looked at you for a few more seconds before he had to turn away to help Sokka. Mai wasn’t the only one in the prison, Azula and Ty lee were here too of course. You watched the fight from the barge, furious you couldn’t join in but your arm was making you feel faint so you knew fighting was not an option for you. Azula and Ty lee appeared to be winning but thanks to Mai you got away. You cheered for Mai as she attacked the guards, taking out multiple men at once and Zuko looked at you confused “y/n she just stabbed you”. “But she saved us Zuko” you smiled “my apology worked...that or she just wants to kill us herself...no it’s hopefully the first one!” and then you prompty fainted from blood loss.

_ _ _

When you came round you were back at camp, arm healed courtsey of Katara, Zuko asleep at the foot of your sleeping bag. You sat up carefully not wanting to wake him but Sokka didn’t get the memo. “Y/n” he yelled seeing you and rushed over. Zuko jolted awake and stopped Sokka from touching you “don’t she could still be sore!”. “I’m fine Zuko” you smirked but still he pushed Sokka away from you so he could hug you first. “You worried me when you fainted...I had no idea your arm was that bad...i’m so sorry”. “Don’t be” you smiled “i’m fine aren’t i? and we got Sokka’s dad! and Mai might have forgiven us! All in all it was a good trip”. “Only you could think you almost dying was a success”. “Almost” you said pointedly “almost dying Zuko”. Zuko rolled his eyes and kissed you making Sokka groan “ugh I think I’ll take my hug later...” and left you and Zuko alone.  

The campsite

Azula soon found your hiding place in the western air temple forcing you to move to a camping ground and there was a limited number of tents. Katara was trying to sort out the sleeping arrangements but she miscalculated.  "And y/n you can share my tent" Katara announced, her long and careful explanation finished and you and Zuko exchanged a look. "That’s sweet Katara but i’m fine bunking with Zuko". You’d barely finished your sentance when Sokka spluttered in suprise. "But you can’t do that" Sokka cried and you raised an eyebrow "why not?". "Because you’re dating" he cried but you and Zuko shrugged "and?". “And? well it’s...it’s against the rules! I’m not allowed to share with Suki, tell them Katara!" he cried pushing his sister forwards who frowned awkwardly. "Well we’re older than you" you shrugged and Zuko nodded "and smarter". "Plus we’re engaged" you pointed out and everyone’s eyes widenned "what?". "Is she lying?" Aang asked Zuko shook his head "i mean no...just i didn’t actually ask her my father did it for me but yes, technically speaking we are engaged". You nodded to Sokka "are you and Suki engaged?". "Well no..." he blushed. "Then that’s why you can’t share a tent" you retorted and pulled Zuko’s arm as you went into the tent "night guys". Zuko followed you as Sokka called out protests and Katara just sighed "leave them alone Sokka". Sokka stared mouth wide-open before an idea formed in his head and he started towards Suki’s tent. "Go to your own tent Sokka!" Katara called and Sokka cursed "ow come on!".

You moved around campsites pretty regularly after that incase Azula found you again and ended up in an old villa Zuko’s family owned. Everything was going fine, you had a beach day, Zuko and Aang got better at firebending, you even managed to drag Zuko to the theatre and then Aang went missing. With Aang gone Zuko figured the only person who could take on his father was his uncle and so you set out to find him. Zuko recruited an old friend to help and you soon found King Bumi and the white lotus who took you to Iroh’s camp site. Bumi told Zuko the tent Iroh was in and you saw Zuko tense and fear covered his face. “Don’t worry” you said patting his arm “your uncle will forgive you, just tell him what you told me and it’ll all be okay”. Zuko nodded but seemed unable to do much else, he looked paralysed. “Can you...can you come with me?” Zuko asked softly and your heart exploded in sympathy. “Of course I will” you nodded hugging him tightly. The others all dispersed and you and Zuko walked arm and arm to the tent. Zuko took a breath before entering and you looked at him “ready?”. He nodded looking at you before fixing his eyes on the tent opening and he stepped inside. You followed a few steps behind and saw Zuko look around before his posture slumped. It took a few seconds for your eyes to adjust but Zuko filled you in on what was happening “we should go he’s asleep”. You frowned knowing Zuko wouldn’t get any rest until this was done. “Why don’t we wait for him to wake up?”. Zuko looked at you before nodding “yeah okay”. You sat crosslegged on the floor beside one another waiting for Iroh to wake up. The hours stretched on and on and you felt sleep trying to take you but you resisted. You kept ahold of Zuko’s hand letting him know you were there with him. You were sure the time felt far worse for him and weren’t going to leave him, even if it was just to sleep. When Iroh did move Zuko jumped and you swallowed. “It’s okay” you assured him and he nodded standing up. Zuko moved forwards and you didn’t follow. This should be between him and his uncle, but when Zuko started to cry your heart did crumple slightly. Just as you were begging Iroh to forgive him already he wrapped Zuko into a tight hug and, also crying, forgave him. Tears fell down your cheeks too as you smiled at the sight of Zuko and his uncle. Iroh noticed you when he opened his eyes and he smiled warmly.  "Y/n get in here" Iroh grinned holding out a hand to you. You blushed “ow are you sure? I mean this is your family moment...I don’t want to intrude”. Iroh scoffed "any girl who visited me in prison and snook me snacks is family in my eyes". You grinned and Zuko frowned "wait you visited my uncle in prison?". You shrugged "not too often about once a week". "How did i not know this?" Zuko asked and you paled "i purposefully didn’t tell you, i wanted you to work out your feelings on your own, i hope you’re not mad". Zuko shook his head "of course i’m not mad now come here". You smiled and stepped forward to join the hug between Zuko and Iroh.

Afterwards you caught Iroh up on everything he’d missed and Zuko explained his idea to have Iroh overthrow Ozai. Even as Zuko said it you got the feeling it wouldn’t happen, you could tell by Iroh’s reaction he had something different in mind. When Iroh said it wasn’t him who should be the new firelord you knew where he was going, you’d already been suspecting Zuko should have more say in how the fire nation was run and Iroh apparently agreed. "Me? Firelord?" Zuko asked "but i can’t...". Sokka, Toph, Katara and Suki just looked to you, now very used to you giving Zuko pep talks and you were on it. "You can" you smiled taking Zuko’s hand "i figured you’d have to do it for a while now and you’ve proven yourself Zuko, you can do this". Zuko stared at you blankly as his uncle joined in, listing the reasons why Zuko would make a good ruler. Zuko gripped your hand tighter as what you were both saying set in. "Okay" he barely whispered "i’ll go see Azula and become..." he swallowed and you smiled "you won’t be facing her alone" you told him and Zuko beamed at you.  

The Agni Kai

Judgement day here you and Zuko returned to the fire nation so he could fight his sister. Katara accompanied you as you figured you’d need a healer no matter who won. You landed in the courtyard and told Appa to fly away in case Azula tried to hurt him. You stood behind Zuko, beside Katara, waiting for the fight of his life. If he won he became firelord, if he didn’t...lets just say there’s no way Azula would let any of you live. The fight began and you stayed out of the way of Azula and Zuko’s duel as much as you could. With the comet fueling their bending it was one of the most intense fights you’d ever witnessed but Zuko was performing well. As Azula started to lose you could see her eyeing her surroundings for a way out and she fixed on you. You were ready for this, back at camp Iroh had warned you about this and given you a crash course in deflecting lightning, you pushed Katara back and readied yourself to deflect your first lightning bolt ever as it hurtled towards you. Zuko yelled out chasing it but was too slow, not that it mattered. You caught it and using the technique Iroh had taught you shot it right back at Azula. It worked and you were thrilled until you realised Zuko had been running towards you and was now right in the path of the deflected bolt. The bolt struck both Zuko and Azula within seconds of one another and sent them both flying back at the force. The smoke cleared and you went cold as you saw Zuko smouldering on the ground. "Zuko" you yelled rushing to him, it had hit him on the shoulder and the wound was badly burnt. "Katara" you called and she rushed over. "Heal him! Please! please!" You pleaded "i didn’t mean to hit him, i didn’t know he was so close". Katara worked and you stared at Zuko’s burn, the burn you’d given him until his breathing evened out and you gasped in relief. "I’m going to go make sure Azula’s okay and bind her" Katara told you and you nodded barely even listening as you cradled Zuko "Zuko are you okay?" you asked "Zuko i’m so sorry!". "Don’t be" he smiled weakly "i should’ve learnt long ago you don’t need me to save you, when did you learn to do that? More secret visits with my uncle". "Maybe" you smiled before frowning at Zuko’s burn that would surely form a scar despite Katara’s help "i can’t believe i did that to you". "Don't' Zuko said moving your gaze to his face "you did it, we did, we won". You nodded smiling and hugged him, carefully, but none the less passionately.

When Zuko was well enough you helped him to stand and walked him to the balcony overlooking all of the firenation. Zuko looked over the city below and you followed his gaze. It was still barely light but dusk was approaching and small lights were lighting up around the city. They news would be spreading as you stood here that Zuko was the new firelord and the war was finally over. You smiled standing beside him "surveying your new kingdom? Looking for a place to build a statue of yourself?". Zuko tutted but smiled. "This doesn’t feel normal" he sighed "this...that i’m...". "Firelord" you smiled "Firelord Zuko". Zuko nodded "it even sounds weird you saying it". You smiled and wrapped an arm around his waist. Zuko didn’t hesitate to wrap his around your shoulder. "It sounds weird now but you’re going to be an amazing Firelord Zuko, you’re kind and smart and actually want to help people! We haven’t had a firelord with that mentality in...well forever! I have total faith in you". Zuko sighed "i’m glad someone does". "Hey" you said tilting his face to yours "remember what i said to you on that ship all that time ago, i never lie about important things. You will be an amazing Firelord Zuko, just you wait and see". Zuko smiled and kissed you softly. You smiled stroking his cheek as you kissed him back. Zuko broke away but pulled you to his chest wrapping his arms around you. You smiled looking out at the city. "With you with me i can’t mess this up too badly right?". You smiled "that’s right, together we can handle this".

2 years later

"Y/n" Zuko groaned as you messed with his hair but he didn’t push you away. You’d been on your longest voyage since you’d been dating and honestly Zuko wouldn’t push you away from him even if you were stabbing him he’d missed you so much. You’d returned this morning after a 6 month naval trip to the water tribe and Zuko had left your side once. He had to leave for a small disaster in one of the colonies and that had killed him but now he was back in his rightful place beside you and that was all that mattered. You were messing with his hair, trying to get his hair free of the crown he’d had to put on to attend his crisis meeting. You were never of a fan of anything restricting Zuko’s hair and finally yanked the clip from his hair and smiled as it fell down in all it’s glory. "There" you said patting his shoulders and Zuko shook his head blowing a piece of hair out of his face. "Y/n you know i can’t have my hair down all the time". "But why not? You’re the Firelord and now is the time for important changes!". Zuko rolled his eyes but smiled "and this is the big change you think i should make?". You nodded "ow yes, you need to look respectable as Firelord and with your hair down you look really really good" you sighed and Zuko smirked. "Well i’m glad you like it but it’s not practical, how would i even wear my crown?" Zuko asked and you frowned before pushing him down so you could reach his head. "Hmmm maybe we could fashion a little stand, or pin some pieces to hold it in place...". "That sounds like a lot of effort" Zuko commented when you gasped "or you could plait it!". "Plait it?" Zuko asked and you nodded. "I saw lots of men with plaits in their hair in the water tribe on my visit, Sokka’s dad has one and it looks very good on a man". Zuko raised an eyebrow "you think Sokka’s dad looks good?". "No...well yes Hakoda is hot but you’re missing the point, let’s do your hair like that!". "No i think we should go back to the Hakoda’s hot part..." Zuko commented but you hushed him and pushed him to sit on the floor as you fiddled with his hair. Zuko sighed but liked the feeling of you playing with his hair so smiled and closed his eyes. You were gentle and your touch soft so Zuko relaxed into you until you abruptly stood up "done!". You showed Zuko himself in the mirror and he smiled "wow it does look good". "I told you" you grinned when the door opened and Sokka walked in. You’d brought him back from your trip as a suprise for Zuko and he’d wasted no time settling into the palace and letting himself into rooms without knocking apparently. "Zuko where do you...." Sokka started before he stopped dead in his tracks seeing Zuko’s hair. He started laughing with glee while crying "water tribe!" multiple times as he pointed at Zuko "you’ve got a water tribe hairstyle!". "Yeah y/n apparently thinks they look good on the men in your tribe" Zuko said raising an eyebrow, still not over your comment about Sokka’s dad, but you weren’t listening. As soon as Sokka heard you could plait hair he’d grabbed you "do mine! do mine!" and shook his hair loose. Zuko watched as you pulled Sokka’s hair into a plait delicately until it looked like his. "Finished" you smiked and Sokka rushed to the mirror before laughing at himself in glee too. You smiled as Sokka grabbed Zuko "we look like twins!". Zuko raised an eyebrow but you saved him the effort of replying "now do mine Sokka!". Sokka complied and you made Zuko watch so he could do it for you when Sokka wasn’t here.

Plaits all finished it was quiet a sight, the three of you sat together with matching hairstyles. You had a games night and then relaxed and chatted. You soon fell asleep against Zuko, your journey and reunion with him tiring you out too much to wait for Sokka to leave, and unbothered Zuko and Sokka carried on chatting.The conversation went quiet and Sokka looked at you "is she asleep?" he whispered and Zuko frowned "y/n?" he called but you didn’t stir "i think so". Sokka smiled "so wanna see the necklace?". Zuko nodded and Sokka went into his pocket pulling out the betrothal necklace Zuko wanted. "I had Piandao help me make it like you wanted" Sokka told him and opened the box. Zuko didn’t want a design exactly like the water tribe one, the fire nation was different and so a different necklace was needed. The one he asked Sokka to make was thinner, with a black cord crisscrossing several times before dipping down where a red stone sat, glimmering in the light. Zuko grinned, it was exactly like he’d imagined it. "Do you think she'll like it?" Sokka asked and Zuko nodded looking down at you "yes". "Well she better or she’s never going to say yes to marrying you". Zuko gulped, that was true but Sokka hit his arm "i was joking, of course she'll say yes, she loves you more than anything, anyone can see that just watching you two together". Zuko smiled down at you asleep against his chest and thought about the proposal he’d prepared. He was going to take you to your favourite restuarant, a tradition you’d still kept up even after he turned into the firelord, and treat you to your favourite foods. Then you’d walk back to the palace through all your favourite spots in the gardens and end up by the turtle duck pond. He’d have your turtleduck come over with the necklace securely attached to his back and Zuko would ask you then and there. "I hope so" he sighed when you moved in your sleep suddenly. "Zuko can we go to bed" you yawned "i’m tired and the light is very bright". Zuko and Sokka froze as you sat up and you frowned "what? Did i drool or something when i was napping?". They both sighed in relief, you hadn’t heard. "Yeah we can go to bed" Zuko nodded and Sokka stood up "i’ll see you guys tomorrow" and sneakily left the box on a table for Zuko. You were oblivious already pulling the covers back to get into bed. Sokka grinned at Zuko and made his way to the door "night y/n" he called and you said a sleepy reply before face diving into the bed. Zuko smirked closing the door and turning the light off before joining you. You sighed sleepily as Zuko snook closer to you and pulled you against him. You shuffled your head getting comfy against him and eventually stopped "goodnight Firelord" you said sleepily and Zuko smirked, he still hadn’t gotten used to it but he liked how it sounded when you said it. "Goodnight y/n" he smiled kissing your head but you were already asleep. "I really hope you say yes" he whispered before resting his head beside yours and going to sleep.

You said yes of course.

______

So that’s it! I had to get in a comment about Zuko’s hair progression one last time because honestly that was one of the greatest things about the whole series. This was kinda hard to write cus so much happened once Zuko joined the gaang but i tried to split it into parts so hopefully it wasn’t too disjointed 😐

Thank you for all the likes and support it means a lot :)

[ethompson928]

We are Bulletproof (BTS GANG AU) Part 20

Previous Chapter / Next Chapter

Living briefly with GOT7 the past two days had been like a massive 180 in comparison to living with Bangtan.  The boys all seemed friendly enough, there was no militarised training sessions, no orders and she wasn't be treated like a kidnap victim, there were still limitations on her so called freedom, while she was allowed to freely move around the building, she couldn't leave.  JB was very strict on telling her she could go anywhere she liked, just not outside.  The short experience almost felt like a breath of fresh air, the nervousness and timidness were lifting away, she smiled freely and was never asked to do crime work or anything of the sort...however the little voice in the back of her head (which had been unusually quiet since being kidnapped.  Ally you see was an overthinker, always allowing that voice in the back of her head to control her and her feelings, more often than not talking herself out of things she wanted to do) told her there was still time.

However she couldn't get over the fact that something was missing.  Something she didn't have with the GOT7 boys, she couldn't figure out what it was.  

GOT7 all seemed friendly enough, they were all willing to help her with whatever she needed and were waiting on her hand and foot.  Ally almost got to thinking were the boys of Bangtan even looking for her after she went missing at the so called book shop they went to just before she was re-kidnapped?  Or had they just been using her?  Was she just someone they could just easily replace the second she disappeared?  To erase the demon from her thoughts to make her over think the situation more than what she was she guided her attention to the window, the beautiful landscape.  Green, red and autumny colours stood out in the trees and bushes, summer fading into autumn.  The slowly declining temperature also guided as a parting farewell to the summer months.  Ally could also faintly see buildings through the tree line so she assumed she must be close to the city.

"I'm sure you'll be happy here."  Jinyoung casually commented as they walked down one of the many corridors that lined the school.  The once dark corridor was now filled with natural light and it seemed very open and spacious.  Ally could almost imagine young students running up and down the halls as they went to class, hung out with their friends and went about their days.  Something Ally missed from finishing school, she only ever kept in touchwith Ayami, it had been a long time since she had seen her and she missed her greatly.  But she didn't have time to dwell on this as Jinyoung's statement caught her off guard so much that she stopped dead in the middle of the corridor, Jinyoung turning around after continuing a few steps to realise the girl wasn't following him anymore.  He raised an eyebrow confused as Ally stared at him curiously, her small eyebrows knitting together as she thought her next choice of words through so she didn't sound like she was arguing.  

"I'm sorry?"  It was all she could think of.  A simple question, in hopes he would shed some light on the situation.  Her eyes quickly scanning Jinyoung's face as he remained rooted in his spot where he stood, not moving anywhere.  Almost like a silent stand off, each waiting for the other to crack.  Ally decided to break the unintended silence.  "I thought you'd be helping me get home."  She said curiously, timing her words to judge his reaction.  

He smiled.

"That is a possibility yes."  He mused.  "We want you to be safe.  That is what we told you and we plan to honour our agreement.  Consider this a waiting zone.  A temporary location, if you will.  Don't get me wrong, we would love to take you home and make sure that no harm comes to you ever agai, but what if Bangtan were to come after you again?  They know a lot about you and they're not stupid, how long do you think it would be before they tracked you down again and did something worse...what if they killed your family to get to you?  You're still a walking target to them, at least if you stay here for now we can evaulate, shall we say, your situation."

To Ally all she heard was excuses.  If GOT7 wouldn't take her home then who would?

She smiled sweetly at Jinyoung. "Don't worry I understand...thank you".  Her repsonse was almost robotic.  She would just have to play her cards right and hopefully get out herself if they refused to help, but how would she do that?

"I know you want to go but we're trying our best" a voice added as Jackson rounded the corner.  How much had he heard of their conversation.  Were the boys under strict instruction to keep her here?  "Until we neutralise Namjoon and his group of kids we need you to stay put.  Trust me, I know Namjoon, when he wants something, he gets it.  One way or another."  Jackson looked genuinely sympathetic.  "Ally at the minute, he wants you.  A girl he can use as bait, so he gets what he wants, a girl he can mold from a sweet innocent girl to his little minion, just like the rest of them."

"Why are you telling me this?"  Ally asked quietly.

"Because, I used to be very close friends with Namjoon.  I've seen him at his best and at his worse.  Over time he started to find new people to hang around with, he started Bangtan and he wanted me to join him, but the things they were doing...I couldn't bring myself to be the person he wanted me to be."  Jackson spoke honestly as he had joined the pair in the corridor, the three of them now standing in a triangle position as Ally listened to Jackson tell his story, Jinyoung watched on moving his hands into his pockets.  "I had to be betray him, he was crazy...that was when I joined GOT7."  Jackson's eyes watered as he remembered the good times he had with Namjoon before circumstances had forced the two friends to go seperate ways, to fight either side of battlefield.  Ally couldn't help but feel sympathetic towards Jackson, the way he spoke about his once dear old friend made her heart hurt for him.  She reached out and touched his arm.  

"I'm really sorry Jackson".  She told him sincerly.  

--

Later that night GOT7 had brought Ally down to the assembly hall of the school, there was a rusty apparatus set that was against one wall, stacks of chairs piled up high against the walls that looked like they had seen better days and the legs were beginning to rust.  An old run down piano that Youngjae naturally walked over and played music, if not slightly out of tune due to the amount of dust and disrepair from the piano, despite that it was very melodic and calming to Ally's ears.  

They sall sat around on the old stage next to where the piano was.  Somewhere lying down, others sitting, BamBam and Yugyeom messing around with each other, reminding her somewhat of the antics that Jimin and Taehyung would get up to and she wasn't lying to herself when she thought she missed them, a small chuckled escaped Ally's lips as Jinyoung tried to control the younger two boys.  Ally sat with her legs crossed and played idly with ghe edge of her top and she tried to relay the story for them all about what happened.  The boys listened intently, they didn't interupt her, but just listened.  It felt like the fear and anxiety of it all was relieved as she told these boys who were practically strangers what had happened to her as the tears threatened to come out who it all just spewed out like word vomit.  (Conveniently she left out the part where both Hoseok and Jungkook kissed her).  "Then he made he fight with a knife and I was really scared that it was going to end badly..."

"I'm going to stop you there"  JB told her silently.  "It's obvious it's hurting you to remember it so we'll just forget about it okay?  We'll not dwell on the sad stuff but we'll make this a positive experience for you.  Once we can definitely confirm that you are safe, we'll help you get home to resume your normal life with your family".  JB promised taking her small hand in his large one and giving it a squeeze.  Ally nodded at his encouraging words, almost thinking they were too good to be true, but her heart soared at the thought of going home, however what was normal anymore?"  

There was silence in those few minites, it was nice, relaxing and comforting to Ally as she closed her eyes, just the lovely soft music that floated from the piano as Youngjae allowed his fingers to move graciously over the black and white keys.  But the silence was soon broken, for in the silence far off fown the many corridors of the school, the sound of breaking glass could be heard which made them all stop whatever they were doing, the music stopping abruptly with a duff chord that did not sound natural then the room was thrown into a tense silence and everyone began to look at each other before flinching wildly at the lound series of gunshots that just followed.  The once contented look on Ally's face was now replaced with a look of fear as she glanced around the room trying to calm her now wildly racing heart that felt like it was going to explode out of her chest.

"What the hell are they doing here?  How the hell did they find us?!"  Yugyeom shouted as they all stood up stared at each other.  Mark looked quickly down at Ally on the floor, he grabbed her hand and pulled her up off the floor.  He looked at her quizically before guding his hands along her arms, in the cuffs of her sleeves, up the long sleeve, around the back of her neck and in her hair, gently tilting her head to get a better look.  She could have died at the awkwardness as he gently guided his hands down her neck to the back of the collar on her top and gently felt a small bump in the back of the neckline of the top and pulled out a small electronic device, no bigger than a penny coin, he held it up to the others.

"They put a bloody tracker on her.  They've been watching us the whole time."

[thechangestartswithmeandyou-blog]

13,000 Cases of Injustice

There are more than 13,000 immigrant children being held in detention centers as of 2018. Let’s talk. The way of life for immigrants is unfair and has only been getting worse over the years. Coming to America has never been easy, and lately the policies that have been proposed are inhumane. There is a misconception that coming to America as an unauthorized immigrant was encouraged before Trump took office, but there was still a problem with the way immigrants were treated under Obama, and their situation has only gotten worse.

One of the main reasons why there has been an increase of undocumented immigrants is because of the current citizenship process that is in effect in America. To even be considered eligible to gain citizenship, there is a list of things that a person must prove to the government: residency of at least five years in the United States, a good moral character, ability to pass an English test, and ability to pass a test on American history and government. If a an immigrant does meet these requirements, then they have to fill out a N-400 form , which on it’s own cost $640 -- a substantial amount of money for somebody who is trying to come to America to make a better life for themselves. If the form is approved, then the government will run an extensive background check, and from there the individual will have an interview with USCIS where they will be tested on their english and knowledge of America. Even if a person does have the financial resources to pay for the N-400 form, it can still take years  to finally get their citizenship. Why are some people born into a life of privilege, and others are barred from even trying to better their lives? This process alone is one reason that the number of unauthorized immigrants have been at a constant increase.

There are several things in regards to immigration that have stayed the same from the transition of Obama to Trump, and conditions of detention centers is one of them. Detention centers are easily compared to prison cells --they both share the misfortune of suffering from a sexual assault and physical abuse problem. According to the Freedom For Immigrants advocacy group, only .07% of reported abuse in adult detention centers actually gets investigated. This issue has not changed in the past 2 years under Trump. In fact, there are more incidents that occur because of the increase of people being held. Separating families at the border is not a new thing that our federal government has done, it happened under Obama. The family separation was mostly kept out of the news because it was used a punishment for families, not a policy as we see now.

There are quite a few changes that have plagued America over the past several years under Trump, as Immigration was the basis of his presidential campaign. This year Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a Zero Tolerance Policy; this policy makes it mandatory for all individuals who illegally crossed the border to be prosecuted. The new prosecution process was accompanied with the grievous decision to separate families. This new process claims that children cannot be with their parents if they are under custody of the U.S. Marshall, so parents and children go to seperate holding centers -- parents may not even know where their child ends up . Before this policy change, families were held together or released to ensure that events like these did not happen.

Immigration is the obvious focus of the Trump administration, which became painstakingly clear when he moved 10 million dollars from FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) to give to ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). Money that could have helped those who suffered hits from hurricane Florence instead went to force children into cages in detention centers. Because there has been a narrow focus on immigration, more undocumented immigrants are being sent to detention centers, which have less than ideal conditions, but there is an overflow within the detention centers. Immigrants are now being forced to live in “Tent Cities,” which are nothing more than temporary housing centers. In shelters from all over the country, immigrant children are being rallied together and bussed off to Texas to be held in a tent city -- a direct cause of overcrowding. Usually children are housed in foster homes and have mandatory schooling, but in these shanty tent cities, children are just handed a textbook and that is the extent of their education. It has become unmanageable for the government to take on 13,000 plus kids, given this time last year there were only 2,000.

The expediential growth of immigrant children in detention centers brings me to my main focus, which is keeping families together. Separating families is inhumane and contributes to the need of these poorly built tent cities. Family separation is a sad reality that a lot of undocumented immigrants face when they come to America to try and have a better life. Nazario, a farmer and father to a 5 year old girl named Filomena, traveled from Guatemala, through Mexico to come to the United States. Nazario saw fleeing to America as his only option to save himself and his daughter from a local gang that was threatening to kill him. When they reached California, two Border Patrol Agents grabbed Filomena from his arms to put her in a detention center while he would be prosecuted for committing a misdemeanor. After months of this family being seperated, of Nazario wondering where his daughter was, if she was okay, they were finally reunited. This doesn’t have to be the case.

There are ways to ensure that families remain together without ‘easing up’ on immigration. One of the main reason that immigrants, at least adults, are held in detention centers is to make sure that they don’t try to escape and get out of the system. To me, it would make more sense to use some sort of GPS tracking device to ensure that you know where a certain person is at all times without having to physically babysit them. This would also put less strain on the federal government because they would no longer have to pay for food or to educate the children if they life with their families. Pairing the GPS system with at home visits from the government will allow families to live in the same space, and allow people who work for the government to keep their jobs. I hope that the current administration takes this proposal into consideration in order to see that immigrants are treated humanely.

America has always had an anti-immigration sentiment, and it has only gotten stronger since the 1890’s. There has been steps to overcome this, such as the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965, which abolished quotas by origin and recruited immigrant families and skilled workers. Since 1965, there has seldom been pushes to encourage immigrants to come to the United States. Immigration is a topic that is finally getting the attention that it deserves, and 54% of the American public believe that the immigration system needs to be addressed and reformed. Over half of the population believes that this topic needs to be addressed, but it feels like when we talk to our politicians we are not heard. There are alternatives to the current system in place, we just need people to listen.

[tranthuyduong]

Okay here comes the truth. 

Gần đây, mình đọc một nghiên cứu về cuộc sống unhealthy của những người cô độc khi không có ai / không có nhiều người ở xung quanh để nhắc nhở họ giữ sức khỏe và đưa ra lựa chọn sáng suốt. Thêm việc xem how i met your mother, the intervention, back ground rules, reminding each other to keep boundaries... mình nhận ra nhiều điều về cuộc sống của mình.

Bắt đầu từ trí. Thực ra không khó để mình “can thiệp” vào cuộc sống trí theo hướng tích cực, ít nhất ở những mặt liên quan trực tiếp đến mình và ngôi nhà 2 ce đang sinh hoạt. Mình thậm chí đã chứng kiến tận mắt chị ngọc, người hoàn toàn xa lạ (trong đánh giá về độ thân thiết với trí), chuẩn bị bữa ăn đơn giản thịnh soạn ấm áp, thành công kéo trí xuống nhà, ăn uống, kể chuyện, cười đùa. Không gượng gạo, không căng thẳng, không đề cập những chủ đề riêng tư khó xử... Ấy là bữa ăn vui vẻ, sáng sủa, đầy đủ nhất 2 đứa mình có với bạn bè. 

Một đứa không có chính kiến riêng, dễ bắt chước và học theo người khác như mình rất dễ để làm như chị ngọc và thay đổi cách ứng xử với Trí. Nhưng điều gì cản trở mình đến thế? Tại sao nhất quyết không làm hộ Trí điều gì, không rủ Trí ăn uống nếu Trí không dọn, không hỏi thăm xem trí đang thế nào? Ở cùng nhà nhưng mình have no clue việc trí ăn gì, ngủ mấy giờ, định làm gì với cuộc đời nó. Cảm giác như thể mình đang trừng phạt, thay vì thực sự cố giữ kỷ luật để giúp đỡ trí.

Một phần mình phải thừa nhận, mình còn chạnh lòng cho những tủi hờn mình chịu đựng hồi nhỏ. Ce sinh đôi, kết nối với nhau 1 cách đặc biệt, tới c2 vẫn quàng vai bá cổ, cọ má và gối lên đùi nhau... 2 đứa cùng trân trọng cái giá trị gia đình mà mẹ dạy, cho đến khi từng người lần lượt phá vỡ nó. 

Trí luôn là đứa trẻ được yêu mến hơn. Do 2 đứa luôn kể nhau nghe mọi chuyện nên mình vẫn cảm thấy được thuộc về và không thực sự có vấn đề gì với việc đấy. Nhưng mình nhớ như in hồi cấp 1, lần đầu mình cảm thấy bị bỏ rơi và phản bội. Hồi đó phổ biến trò vẽ bậy lên bảng phấn rồi nhanh chóng xóa dấu vết khi thầy cô vào. Mình thấy khoái chí và tham gia cùng đám bạn cùng lớp mà mình không thân thiết lắm. Thế rồi “còi báo động” vang, chúng nó lần lượt xóa đi và cùng nhau ra sức ngăn cản mình làm điều tương tự. Đứa trẻ như mình cảm thấy bất công, tuyệt vọng và end up khóc òa nức nở. Tụi nó quay lại xóa giùm và xin lỗi mình rồi chạy đi gọi trí tới dỗ. Và trí xuất hiện, thong dong ăn gói bim bim, nhìn thẳng vào mình bảo “kệ nó” rồi ngúng nguẩy bỏ đi cùng 2 bạn gái xinh đẹp. Lần đầu tiên mình hiểu, ai cũng có thể quay lưng lại với mình. 

Mình của ngày ấy vẫn cố ghi điểm với mẹ bằng cách sống theo kỳ vọng của mẹ aka nghe theo mọi lời khuyên răn. Yeah I was in charged for trying to live up to her expectations. Thế nên, mỗi khi trí gặp chuyện trên lớp, tụi nó auto gọi mình và mình luôn chạy ngay tới chăm sóc.

Tới c2, những trò đùa nghịch láo nháo của trí ngày càng nhiều và mình không còn tham gia cùng như 1 người đồng hành nữa. Những trò bẫy giáo viên bằng bom thối và trêu trọc làm khó họ.. mà mọi người thường tự hào mỗi khi kể lại, đối với mình của lúc ấy không khác gì những trò ích kỉ ngu ngốc vô kỉ luật mà mình không bao giờ muốn động vào. Thế là bắt đầu 2 cuộc sống riêng. Trí ở ngoài, khám phá thế giới thú vị và sinh động, also a little bit crazy của nó; mình thu lại trong thế giới nhỏ bé an toàn với những người bạn có kỷ luật, also a bit boring của mình. Ấy là khi mình nhận thấy, bạn mình tới nhà thì sẽ trêu đùa trò chuyện cùng Trí. Bạn trí tới nhà thì completely ignored mình và trí không mảy may quan tâm cuộc sống của mình. It has always been that way, he talks non-stop about his messy life and I’m all ears, listening. Never once he asked “how is thing going on in your life?”

C3 thì khác trường. Mình đậu trường điểm thăng long, trí vào nguyện vọng 2, hai bà trưng. Cuộc sống trí dần đi xuống, bắt đầu hút thuốc, đi đêm, uống rượu, nhiều khi về nhà say xỉn nôn ọe. Mình luôn là người dọn dẹp hậu trường. (Ùi không nhớ hồi đó mẹ làm thế nào, ko biết có bắt trí tự dọn; ko biết việc mình dọn có là cản trở mẹ kỷ luật trí giống như bố mẹ đang cản trở mình lúc này.) Tới lúc này mình vẫn tỏ ra chăm chút. Vẫn bỏ bạn lại ở rạp phim chiếu dở để phi về vì cuộc gọi cầu cứu mental breakdown của trí. 

Wow life is rough. I finally told him.

This is quite out of the blue but i have meant to say this for a long time so i just go ahead and send it to u. 

Growing up, I believe in sibling bonding, which mamma has taught us through her magnificent brotherhood stories. I tried to live up to that expectation, also trying to strengthen my own belief by forcing myself to be on your side no matter who u are or what you done. 

I'm in charged for trying to please you even if it means i have to put away my feelings. We all learn from mother's mistake, if you chose the unselfish love, you're always the one to blamed because you did it yourself. Means you can't blame the other for not taking you seriously and treat you the way you wanted. I have no right to blame you for my hurt. And i don't intend to. 

 Sure I did terrible things to you. I hope that i have said sorry sincerely and some how heal up the hurt i created. 

I just want you to know that after all these years, trying nonstop to live up to that belief, I'm pretty much dammaged and the scars don't fade out easily. And this is a kind of way to actually speaking about what i have gone through that involved you, in order to really open up and let it go for the good sake. 

I've never forgot that day in primary school. I was crying over a stupid event that i considerd as a discrimination from out classmates towards me. We were all drawing on the board and trying to clean it when the teacher was coming over. All of the sudden, they gathered together and prenvent me from doing it because i'm not one of the gang. I cried my eyes out feeling rejected, unfair and sad. Watching me burst into tears for a long time, they finally erase the board, told me to stop crying and reached you for help. You standing there, eating your snack, gave me one look and told them to "kệ nó". With 2 other girls, you leave me crying all by myself. You didn't cover me. 

When we got to the secondary school, thing wasn't quite good with me at first. I didn't make friends easily like the way you did. Then comes the time when the class decided to meet at a friend's house to make a present for our teacher. I was hoping to join them and make some friends so I asked if you know where the meeting was. You said no to me as it was a secret deal between the group and leave me hanging around alone at home. Sure it would be awkward for you to ask the gang to let me join but i believed that's what i would do as i had always invited you to those plans I had with my friends. 

And that time when our 2 best friend got together as a couple, while i had crush on one of them. The girl was with me the whole time, watching my feelings towards the boy raised up day by day and lied to me about her new boyfriend. Mostly because she didn't want to hurt me. Still, i was drowning in betrayed feeling and overeacting. You was the one who got on their boat and humiliated me. You guys asked me to come to the end of the lane, made me watch them kissing and laughed out loud when i left with tears filling my face. You turned your back on me. 

That whole 4 years, I had felt like i'm all alone fighting the socialize war because you were too busy having fun in your delightful world. 

Seperated in high school did make us a bit more muture. Although there were still bad mouthing, war fighting... we had treat each other with better intenttion. U were in a bad state of life with all the drinking outting night. There I was, cleaned up your messy vomitting and listened to you when you had a mental breakdown. 

Here we are, a few years in college, moved out and stay away from the tense of parent. Other might say you reachs the worst state in life. And I am, kind of still, trying to be on board with you. But there was one time when the truth finally hit me. I was always look down on myself, always let everything be easy on you. Too much to the point that you kind of take me for granted and treat me with not much respect and love as i think i deserve. I realize I'm the only one who will and ever will be in charged of protecting myself. And I started to make it a little less easier on you. Day by day it gets harder and harder. 

I can't help asking myself, why i'm i the only one who stay loyal with the brotherhood after all the back turning i got from you? Why am I the only one who ask and listen to your life while i'm rarely asked in returned? Why am I the only one try to keep u company whenever u want to go for food while mostly mine were turned down? Why should i trust u and treat u kindly as before after times i was left behind watching u choosing the outside world? (again, this is my emotions speaking. i hope u don't focus on its level of right) 

These resentments has dancing inside me for a long time. And i guess i simply got exhausted from trying to cover up my true feelings, which is silly. So here's my effort to tell u to that caring, loving, trusting, being ur company... is a selfmade choice. And it's not a right that u're born with. It's a privilege u have to earn. 

U've been better. U've treat me with more respect and i'm melt for that. But i'm sure there needs to be more effort from u if u want us to be that kind of good bro we used to be. I'm gonna take a rest for a while. Hopefully I can see some progress. Start by seeing u finish the chore on time. I'm out here trying to deal with my life problems. It would be nice if u can help me a little bit cos it's kind of a mental drowning going back to a dirty messy house. 

When things gets better, hopefully u still let me be a part of your life and help u out as u always do.

Again, i'm sorry for letting these resentments take over me and treat you unkind and roughly. From now on I'll try to fix it. Pls excuse me if time to time i still behave that way.