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bronx-bomber87 · 1 year

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I have decided to rewatch the entire series over the hiatus with reviews. Whether anyone reads these will come with time haha but either way I’m doing it cause I think it’ll be fun with having s5 done and going back I’ll see things with totally different POV. Will credit all gifs I use to their original owners at the end of my reviews. All the gif makers in this fandom are the real MVPs ❤️ These reviews will mainly center around Chenford and development of Tim and Lucy through out the series , but I will throw in bits about the show as a whole too. Because I do love it as a whole as well. These may be long cause I have a lot to say haha anyway whoever sticks around and reads it I love you haha feel free to comment on these posts as well. Would love that. Alright here we go. Let us start where it all began the Pilot.

Some backstory like to add here for me. I’ve been with this show since it got green lit by ABC. I was a huge Nathan Fillion fan and wanted to follow him to his next show. Also I loved Eric from my teenage years. So my sisters were obsessed with Days of Our lives as teens. I had no interest in it till Eric entered the arena. I thought he was (and still is BTW) one of the most beautiful men I had ever seen. I was very interested in watching DOOL after that LOL if you didn’t know that tid bit about him before now you know. His name was Rex and he was shirtless quite a lot and had my rapt attention as a 14 year old girl. Lmao

Anyways Nathan and Eric were the reasons I started this show. I was excited Nathan had a new show and Eric was a bonus for me. I was so excited I remember watching the pilot on my phone during my lunch in the pool room of my job at the time. The pilot had me captivated and I knew this was going to be a great show.

First off like to start with I miss Nathan with some meat on his bones. I know he has to be in wicked good shape for this role. I just miss his ‘Castle’ form from s1.

Second like to talk about my girl Lucy Chen. Her characters entrance into the show is my fav of the pilot. Lucy has such BAMF intro. The ‘hot shot’ right off the bat. I will always love her opening appearance. That confident bad ass is what Tim sees in her day one. Why he’s so damn hard on her. She just doesn’t see that in herself it just yet. But hell of a start for her.

Then we have our first glimpse into Chenford. To that lightning in a bottle chemistry. Doing that thing Eric and Melissa do so damn well. Their silent communication with just their eyes and expressions. Saw this look between them and I was a goner.

‘Officer Bradford gets our hot shot ‘ He most definitely did in more ways than one. Has no idea how his entire world is about to shift with her in his life. I think he was very impressed with her. Thought she was a ‘hotshot’ because of the arrest that morning. But he couldn’t let her know or see that. Especially not on her first day with him and at this point in time ever.

Ah Tim s1- so very guarded his walls so high the Great Wall of China is put to shame. To me s1 Tim is a man in pain and its exuding out of him with every action he makes. He has no emotional support or outlet and it shows. It’s why Lucy entering his life was the best thing for him. Shook him out of his walking pain/anger. We get to see the first glimpse of the ‘Tim Tests’ Lucy is to endure.

She’s not even two seconds into her time with him before this occurs. He’s grilling her already. So hard on her right out the gate. Because he saw something in her. He was testing her in the harshest way. Being so hard because he was hurting not that a first time viewer would know that. Re-watching s1 Tim the man truly is hurting and lashing out with everything he does. He so damn gruff , angry and guarded, that he comes off like a tool cause well he was at this point.

You aren’t supposed to like him right now IMO. You only see him as this insensitive jerk. You have no more information at this point than this current impression . When you know his whole story rewatching him like this. All I see is a radioactively angry and hurt man. You’re not supposed to like him right here and now. He’s coming off as unreasonable grump of a man. Especially so when Lucy fails his first Tim Test. Which leads us to the gas station scene.

The ‘punishment’ he gives her just another test. To him it’s his way of proving to himself he’s right about her. He already knows she can take care of herself. He wanted to see it in action and Lucy delivers in spades. The pride is written all over his handsome face when she wins her fight. Then Isabel shows up…

Eric KILLS me in this scene. The way his eyes tear up. His whole body is trembling. You can hear his bated breath as he speaks to her. He goes from gruff T.O. to concerned husband in a flash. We get our first look into him as a character. That he’s more than just this hard ass T.O giving Lucy a hard time. That there is something going on behind the scenes for him and it’s deep.

I applaud Eric for this scene we get to see him become human and vulnerable for the first time. Not only that but be those things around Lucy for the first time. She’s already soft for him when she gets the glimpse into him as a person. Says she promises she won’t tell anyone. He quickly resolves it with his sharp reply to her saying ‘ Damn right you won’t’. He’s mad at himself for letting Lucy see even a glimmer of vulnerability. Can’t show her one damn crack in his rough T.O. exterior. (yet…). Pilot does such a good job setting up their dynamic, of everyone’s really but theirs is my focus of course in these reviews.

Lucy probably thinks he’s out to make her life hell. When really he’s seeing potential in her. As seen in the previous scene at the gas station. He’s hurting so naturally he’s going to throw himself into work. Not let Lucy waste this potential he sees in her. Because work and training her is something he can absolutely control unlike the situation with Isabel. We get to see Lucy apply one her lessons in their next scene together.

Tim kicking her out of the car earlier (Which at the time I’m sure she loathed )him doing so save ultimately ends up saving his life. When he gets shot and she’s able to relay where they are and get him to safety. Also how she defends them both until backup arrives. Reinforcing what he sees in her in the first place. She protects herself and Tim like a pro.

Some side notes I’ll probably make each ep. Probably non Chenford related. I always forget how much I loved Captain Zoe Anderson- she was only in the show for a short time but made a massive impact. She was such a fierce leader putting Grey in his place and her POV on Nolan.

Also Lucy being with Nolan in beginning. Even when first started watching. I was like nope. Don’t like this. They just didn’t work. I hate it every time I re-watch it I hate it LOL but it does show her pattern of things before Tim. Such as taking on relationships she knows will never work out. I.e. Nolan. Because she isn’t ready for such commitment or projects like Chris. Well that’s all she wrote for the pilot. Was fun to write this up. Will continue to do so through out the hiatus. 😊

Gif credit to tim-lucy

Burning Blake

The rookie central

Hamburger heroes

Chenford source

Thesweetnessandthesarcasm

rookielucychen

#Caitlin rewatches The Rookie.#chenford #chenford hiatus #Tim x Lucy #the rookie #s1 #1x01 pilot #tim bradford #lucy chen #lucy x tim #Eric winter #melissa o’neil #otp: doing my job

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jawabear · 2 years

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Okay, hear he out! Stephen brings home America to ready, and reader absolutely falls in love with her (mom/dad kinda way) and Stephen adores it and just fluff??

Here's to new beginnings (Dr Stephen Strange x Reader)

Not my GIF (but its cute)

A/N: thank you for the request Anon!! I hope this is okay for you! i think i may have put a little too much angst in it? not like a lot but apparently i cant write a fic without it so... But i hope you enjoy it! Sorry for any mistakes. Stay Safe.

Genre: Fluff

Warnings: fem!reader (she/her), slight MoM spoilers, not much else

Summary: Stephen is sure of it, but America is apprehensive

America stopped at the bottom of the steps leading up to his home that he shared with his newly wedded wife. “Stephen?” She said quietly as she wrung her hands together nervously. Stephen tilted his head in concern about her sudden shift in demeanour. “Are…Are you sure this is okay? That…she’ll…like me?”

Stephen fully tuned his body and walked over to her placing his hands on her shoulders causing her to look up at him “I’m sure” he nodded. He said nothing more but the look in his eyes was enough to subside her nerves for the time being. She drew in a breath and stood up straight before nodded at him and following him up the steps to the front door.

“(Y/N)?” Stephen called out as he walked through the door to the house. “(Y/N)?” He called again after getting no response. But this time he heard the quick pace of footsteps getting closer and closer before she appeared at the top of the stairs with a hopeful expression on her face.

“Stephen!” She cried out as she practically jumped down the length of the stairs and flew into his open arms. He wrapped them around her tightly, holding her impossibly close to him. “Thank god you’re okay…” she whispered into his chest before lifting her head to kiss him.

America was surprised to see what she looked like. (Y/N) wasn’t what she imagined. In all fairness, she didn’t know what to expect. She just assumed that it would be someone more similar in looks to Christine. Or maybe some crazy fangirl of his, or some impossibly pretty model that was three feet taller than him.

But (Y/N) wasn’t any of that. She looked…lovely. She immediately made all the nerves within America disappear simply by showing up in the room. She had a warmth about her that reminded her of the mothers.

America stiffened when (Y/N) looked over to her and gently pushed Stephen away from her “you must be America” she gave her soft smile and her voice matched it perfectly. (Y/N) took cautious steps towards the girl noticing her unsteady body language. “Stephen told me you’d be coming with him. I’ve been excited to meet you. And to thank you for looking after him. I know how difficult he can be. I wouldn’t blame you if you’ve contemplated killing him a few times. We’ve all been there”

“I’m literally behind you” Stephen huffed as he came and stood next to (Y/N) and wrapped his arm around her waist. They were both now looking at America with fond smiles. America’s heart warmed and she couldn’t help but burst into tears before flinging herself to them both who were taken back by her suddenness.

“Thank you” she whispered.

“What for?” Stephen asked.

America pulled away and wiped her eyes “I uh…I don’t know really. Sorry I just…” (Y/N) pulled her into her arms and gave her a tight squeeze. She said nothing but said everything at the same time. How was it possible that this woman America had just met made her feel so loved? America didn’t know the answer to that but she didn’t particularly care about the why or the how. She only care that the feeling was there.

(Y/N) pulled away from her, still smiling and then looked to Stephen “you really are insufferable on missions”

“Seriously? You’re one to talk”

“Excuse me? I’ll have you know that everyone preferred to work with me than you. Even Wong. So take that”

“That traitor” he muttered to himself.

“You both must be starving!” (Y/N) said suddenly. She looked back to America “how does pizza sound?”

“Uh..perfect. That’s my favourite!”

“Great! I’ll go order”

As the credits rolled Stephen looked over to (Y/N) who was carefully wrapping a blanket around a sleeping America laying on her shoulder. “You know” he began in a low voice as to not wake her “you haven’t stopped smiling since we got back”

“sorry…” she whispered sheepishly.

“It’s nothing to apologise for. It’s nice. I haven’t seen you smile so much since before-“

“Don’t” she cut him off with a sharp whisper “I don’t want you to say it”

“Okay. I won’t” those five years were not good for anyone, (Y/N) included. Five years apart from Stephen was more that torture for her. She had change so much in that time that when they saw each other again on the battle field against Thanos he barely recognised her. She seemed to have a dark cloud thundering above her head. It was the darkest most horrible time in her life and she didn’t want to ever think about it again.

“I love this” he said with a faint smile.

“Love what?”

“This” he pointed at the scene before him “seeing you like this, with the kid”

“Yeah?” She smiled.

“Yeah”

“She seems like a good kid” (Y/N) said as she brushed a piece of America’s hair out of her face “you did the right thing Stephen. Bringing her back her. Not just for her, but for you as well”

“Yeah…maybe” he looked away, his cheeks now dusted red.

“I can only say that I like this” she said “I don’t love it at the moment. But I know what would make me love it”

“What’s that?”

She flipped the blanket up and patted the empty space on the sofa next to her “if I had the man I love to cuddle with”

He let out a weak laugh and shook his head before standing and sitting next to her and pulled the blanket over him. (Y/N) rested her head on his shoulder and he wrapped his arm around her. “I knew you always had a soft spot for kids”

“Shut up”

“For the record, I think you would make an amazing dad”

“Only because you would make an amazing mum. I wouldn’t be able to do it on my own…” he paused mid-thought “I can’t do this on my own..”

“You don’t have to. I won’t leave you…neither of us will”

“You can’t know that she won’t”

“America…wasn’t who I was talking about” (Y/N) lifted her head and looked at him with worried eyes.

“You…” he breathed before looking down at her belly “really?”

(Y/N) nodded “yeah…I was…going to tell you sooner but…you left so I…couldn’t…” she thought about her next words. It was a simple enough question but one that could make or break the situation they found themselves in. “Are…are you happy?”

Those words echoed in his ears in a few different voices. “You know, I’ve been asked that question a few times recently. I lied every time I answered. But now I can truthfully say yes. I am happy. I’m happy with you. I’m happy with our life. I’m happy with…our new beginning”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. I’m absolutely sure”

“So…from now on…it will be the four of us?”

“The four of us” he nodded “I like the sound of that”

(Y/N) laid her head back on his shoulder and he pressed a kiss to her head as he smiled and sighed in content. (Y/N) smile too.

So did America. She was going to have family again. And she wouldn’t lose this one. She was sure of it.

17/06/22

#stephen strange #stephen strange x reader #stephen strange fanfic #dr strange #dr strange x reader #dr strange fanfic #marvel #fluff #fanfic

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thefandomwarriorlexy · 1 year

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Why I Love Descendants

It’s such an amazing franchise. The world is so interesting and expansive. Conflicts are deep and intense. It isn’t all black and white. The characters are so three-dimensional and have personalities, dreams, and destinies all their own. The friendship between them all is so palpable, I can feel the love. The themes explored are rich and give powerful messages. At its heart, this story is about four kids who come from a broken place, are broken themselves, and learn to be better and rise up to the point they’re able to help other kids like them. That is such a beautiful and important message and I hope it’s analogous to my own life.

The ships are incredible and full of love. Jarlos is so sweet, they adore one another, and I love that the two shy, mousy characters found comfort in each other. Devie is amazing, Doug loves Evie so much and will follow her wherever she goes. Evie loves him in return and will stay by his side, no matter what. And Bal is so, so extraordinary. Such a different pair, but they are perfect for each other. They’ve had ups and downs but they made it through, and now they’ll live happily together, forever.

I love the Core Four for their chosen family (what I call found family, seems like a more accurate term), their friendships, and their development. They’re all so amazing in their own ways, and even better togethier.

(Including Ben cause I want to) Ben growing into such a wonderful king, even if he struggles sometimes. He’s so kind to everyone and wants everyone to be the best they can be. He found is own way to balance being king and being himself. I think we should all strive to be more like him.

Jay was a thief who only cared about himself and what he could get. He learned how a team worked and became someone who is very thoughtful of his friends.

Carlos was constantly bullied and was his mother’s slave. He grew more confident, and learned to stand up for himself. He knows who his friends are and will stand by them through anything.

Evie was taught to only care about her appearance, that that was the only part of her that had value. But she learned the things she did mattered more and she doesn’t need a prince to make her happy. She has her friends, her work, her boyfriend, her wonderful home, and helping the Isle kids. She’s so compassionate, and is on her way to big things and I hope she gets there.

And Mal. The one who was supposed to be the evilest of them all, but ended up finding love and not wanting to let go. Having wrapped her whole identity around being bad, she definitely struggled to figure out how to be good. But with Ben and her friends’s help, she was able to learn and allow herself what she wanted. I love that she became queen through good instead of evil, and did it for love, not power. I know she’s going to do great things, and I love her.

Descendants is my favorite franchise. It’s the first one I’ve really fallen in love with. I kinda just wanted to write a little thing attempting to express my feelings and how I see (some of) the characters (and let me add that I don’t hate/dislike any of the characters). Descendants is super important to me and I hope I love it like this for a long time 💜

#Disney descendants #lexy’s thoughts #mal bertha #evie grimhilde #carlos de vil #Jay descendants #ben florian #bal #Ben X Mal #devie #doug X evie #jarlos #jane X carlos #analysis #descendants analysis #if you can’t tell Mal is my favorite 😌

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psychewritesbs · 1 year

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When Opposites Attract, part 1... maybe perhaps

The devil finds work for idle hands... and what with only having one client at the moment and finally reaching Gundam Seed’s episode 23, what is it with episode 23 being my fave in JJK and GS? well...

It’s time to brainrot about one of my favorite relational dynamics in animanga...

So.... basically don’t mind me while I ramble about asucaga... one of my og OTPs.

Also, if anybody does read this and is wondering...

Yes, I did watch episode 23 three times... and counting. I had to do research and take screencaps ok?!

Yes, I squealed internally several times... probably still am.

Yes, we’re going to ignore the extensive amounts of plot armor that is just as thick as Gundanium Alloy.

And yes, I loved every. single. fucking. minute of Athrun and Cagalli’s interaction.

This isn’t mental gymnastics... this is nit picking... obsessing about what it means for two characters to come together and how that changes them.

In the end, shipping is at its core about seeing a relational dynamic (ship) in fiction and being inspired by it. And one of my favorite things about Gundam Seed was seeing how two separate wholes came together in the way that Athrun and Cagalli came together.

Athrun as Yin--the passive principle

Athrun, is both “not just another Quiet and Aloof Deuteragonist-kun”, and at the same time “your typical expression of his trope”.

Dark hair, green eyes, introverted, kind, superior intelligence... the whole 9 yards.

Athrun is his trope to a T. And yet, there’s also something ethereal and dreamy about him.

In melodrama, characters are typically clichéd stereotypes. But I have to say that the characters in Gundam Seed are fleshed out beyond their character trope.

What makes the characters in Gundam Seed unique are the details in the way their individual personalities are expressed.

For Athrun, he looks to me like he’s very much written as an expression of water sign traits--he is a Scorpio by birth after all. He is ethereal, dreamy, mysterious, highly emotional and yet simultaneously emotionally closed off to most people or aloof.

And yet, despite his Introverted and introspective personality as defined by his water sign, Athrun navigates his world with cold logic. To me, his ease and interest in mechanical objects like the Haros and Torii speak to his mastery of logic and mechanics.

Athrun is also a kid whose mother’s death scarred him and who has let his father control his fate. From what I remember, he’s also been a soldier most of his life. So at the core of his character arc there is a need to tap into his (most irrational) emotions, and to learn to think for himself in a way that takes into consideration not just logic, but also what his heart wants.

Another aspect that defines Athrun is how his personality has also been shaped by the war because of what he has seen and the horrors he has probably lived through. Something that is hinted at in episode 23.

Finally, Athrun is an elite soldier and he knows that about himself. Up to episode 23 in Gundam Seed, he had used his genetically engineered superior abilities to fight for Zaft’s sake.

Zaft no Tameni.

But that’s only because he had not stopped to think like the opposing camp.

Cagalli as Yang--the active principle

And then there’s Cagalli.

Oh God. Where do I even start with Cagalli?

Stereotypically, Cagalli is first and foremost a tomboy. She is rough around the edges, strong-willed and edgy. Unlike the other females in the series, Cagalli is perfectly happy as someone who prefers guns over make up.

She also appears to be more outgoing, boisterous and extroverted than Athrun.

But I think that one of the things that define Cagalli even more than the “tomboy” trope is the fact that she is, literally, a Princess. However, Cagalli is not your average Disney Princess waiting to be rescued. Instead she uses her power, privilege and influence for the benefit of causes she believes in, hence earning herself the title “Goddess of Victory”.

As a Princess, however, she’s also entitled, bossy, and unaware of her privilege to a certain extent.

Like this little girl basically forced herself onto a military ship even though the captain was totally against it. Total #Gundanium Alloy moment.

One of the things I love about Cagalli is that she has this overconfidence about herself that is also very Princess-like. How to explain... I headcanon Cagalli probably lived a very sheltered life as a Princess, and so she doesn’t truly understand the despair of a war-thorn world and how that shapes people. This only makes her choice to fight for those in less privileged positions than hers all the more impressive.

But unlike Athrun and real soldiers who have seen the horrors of war, even if Cagalli has seen terrible things, Cagalli has a body guard with her at all times whose job is to risk his life to protect her. She is sheltered.

Also, as a side note, he doesn’t do a very good job of it lol. I would fire him if I was Cagalli’s dad. But I get the sense the bodyguard guy kind of gave up on trying to convince Cagalli not to get into crazy situations because Cagalli is going to do what Cagalli wants to do because she’s a fucking Princess.

Other than that, I think it’s very important to Cagalli’s character that she’s free to be herself and choose her own destiny. In the end, Cagalli chooses to fight for what she thinks is right and chooses what causes she espouses.

And I think this is where Cagalli and Athrun meet in the middle--fighting for what they believe is right.

Fighting for what is right--two opposing perspectives

One of the things that I loved about episode 23 the most is that this is when the idea “that conflict is the result of a lack of communication” gets presented--this is when the two opposing sides finally decide to sit down and talk.

These two kids met each other under #Gundam Alloy type circumstances that plot armor is thick but wtv because I love asucaga and I am glad they met and kept blaming each other until they both came to the realization that this blaming game was taking them nowhere.

Just back and forth...

Well I did this because you did that.

Well I did that because you did this.

Two opposing perspectives at war with each other.

Theirs is a conversation about opposing versions of the “truth” and how when the two opposites come together a new truth can be unveiled if both parties are able and willing to meet in the middle.

Literally. Athrun and Cagalli introduce into GS the idea that senseless war is simply the result of two opposing sides unwilling to listen to the other and meet in the middle.

Athrun and Cagalli represent the movement in this new direction for the plot where characters start to question more openly what it is they fight for.

But before Athrun and Cagalli get to this point where they get to explore their opposing perspectives, chemistry had already worked its magic. Without this chemistry, there would be no impetus that would bind two opposites together.

Let’s ship it!

Mwahaha. Ok, time to ship it.

When Athrun and Cagalli first encounter each other its under the threat of attack. Cagalli is pointing a gun at him and all he has is a knife.

The moment that changes everything is when Athrun turns the tables on her and discovers that Cagalli is a girl.

I think in this scene there is a combination of Athrun’s reluctance to get a civilian involved in a war conflict and his own humanity taking precedence over how she is physically weak compared to him, not just for being a woman, but also because she’s a Natural.

In the end, Athrun is shown to be a very kind and considerate person time and time again and this is an example of it.

Also Cagalli getting annoyed because she gets confused for a boy is so funny.

It is after this moment when the walls start come down for both of them.

On the one hand, I imagine Athrun realized just how defenseless Cagalli is despite her bravado, hardly a threat; while on the other hand, Cagalli realized this Zaft soldier is just as human as she is.

And I just adore this moment so much because despite the large amounts of Gundanium Alloy present in Gundam Seed, this moment and the way Athrun and Cagalli relate to one another is so... real?

Athrun telling Cagalli to tone it down with her Princess attitude is so... amazing? Up until now no one has really stood up to her and she typically gets what she wants--again, as an example, she boarded the Archangel against the Captain’s wishes.

And then... the crabs happen.

With crab #1 we have a moment of comic relief that invited them to relax, to lay down their defenses once and for all so that they could see the human in front of them more clearly.

It’s really lovely to be able to see how they are both more at ease around each other because of this seemingly insignificant moment.

I have to wonder what is going through Athrun’s mind as he sees Cagalli continue to do as she pleases, completely at ease with herself even though they are “enemies” and she should be weary of him.

This is one of those moments where the writers showed both Athrun’s and Cagalli’s personalities beautifully.

On the one hand you have Athrun as he looks on from a distance in typical Scorpio fashion. His introspective nature speaking a thousand words without saying a single one of them. What we do know is that he is so moved by what he sees to the point that he removes the ties around her hands and feet--a completely irrational choice.

Symbolically, Athrun gives Cagalli back her freedom because even if she’s tied down, Cagalli’s will is untamable, something Athrun notices about her.

As for Cagalli, she is just enjoying herself. She too is at ease with Athrun around and is able to be her usual carefree self. Another thing about Cagalli I didn’t mention earlier is that she’s a Taurus. So there’s a sense of her sensuality being expressed in this moment as she enjoys the feeling of rain washing over her.

Then, with crab #2 we have a glimpse at a couple more details.

For one, I think its easy to think of Athrun as Quiet and Aloof Deuteragonist-kun, but his mischievous and playful side shines through in this brief interaction when he teases Cagalli (thanks to this article for pointing out this fun detail).

As for Cagalli, it shows how care free and oblivious she is about the feminine beauty and sensuality that lies beneath the surface--which Athrun clearly very much liked.

Even though I feel like it’s more realistic for a teenager to continue to stare, I like what this scene says about Athrun being a respectful young man.

Then, when they move into the cave the issue of “ease” comes up. Cagalli taunts Athrun, telling him that she could take his gun from him and that he should be warier of her and take her more seriously.

Athrun, however, is highly aware that he’s an elite soldier with superior physical abilities and is completely unphased by her threat.

I think, if anything, Athrun is also aware that he’d be saddened if the situation escalated in such a way to where he would have to hurt her.

Athrun then falls asleep, showing once again how at ease he feels around her.

But this is Cagalli we’re talking about and if she had another middle name it would be “impulsive”. So she goes for the gun and then after an emotional exchange throws it on the ground in a bit of a temper tantrum.

And of course, because of the Gundanium Alloy, the gun fires when it hits the ground and the bullet barely hurts Athrun. The writers just really wanted a shirtless Athrun.

I love Athrun’s reaction in all of this because he’s not afraid to tell Cagalli to drop the Princess attitude. Seriously, who throws a loaded gun like that?

But... the best part in all of this is that Cagalli wants to meets him in the middle.

And despite his reluctance, for the first time the audience gets to see Athrun take his armor completely off and open up. Both in the figurative way and in the fanservicey way.

This isn’t just physical proximity, but rather Athrun allowing someone else to not only meet him in the middle in his pain, but also to tend to that pain.

And as they say their respective goodbyes and exchange names, so do they acknowledge each other’s humanity despite being in opposite camps.

I love them your honor...

#the soulmates trope series #gundam seed #athrun zala #asucaga #cagalli yula athha #gundam seed is like a bad Mexican novela #here goes another shippy masterpiece bahaha

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oathofpromises · 9 months

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anger has its place. anger has fire, and fire moves things. // g'raha @ stella c :

Stella grimaced as she did her best to bandage her knuckle wounds. So much blood was shed, and she was always the one who had to direct their rage at their foes. When will it all end? Sometimes she was even surprised by how much anger ran through her blood. Most people only saw the lovely Warrior of Light. The individual who would put others' needs before her own, thereby sacrificing her own.

The Au Ra sighed, knowing that the wounds on her arms would remain for some time despite the healing magic she was applying. Though it's also possible that she was feeling guilty about having to kill so many people, She closed her eyes as the burden of her obligations grew heavier in her heart. Before the tears that had been threatening to run down her face all day could, someone knocked on her door. It was late, and she assumed that the rest of the scions were already in bed. Stella quickly collected herself after taking a breath before moving toward the door. She was getting ready for whoever was waiting behind the door and for whatever job they might need her to help with at this late hour.

"G'raha, I wasn't sure who was knocking. Come in." She said this, stepping aside to enable the red-haired Miqo'te to enter her chambers. It wouldn't be the first time he had dropped by to see how she was doing. She was accustomed to him keeping a careful watch on her wellbeing, which did matter a lot. Nobody seemed to recognize how much she had been struggling lately. She couldn't grumble, though, because too many people had high expectations for the Warrior of Light.

"I apologize for the bloody mess. It took some effort on my part to help certain wounds heal while I was trying to tend to them."

Avoiding G’raha's gaze was difficult. The woman had returned from missions before, always covered in blood and wounds. It was the sacrifice she had to make in order to fulfill her job as the Warrior of Light. The wounds would heal, at least physically. Inside the Au Ra chest, there was so much rage. She even once questioned why she was chosen to be the Warrior of Light. There are undoubtedly many more people who would be more suitable for the job.

Despite all efforts to maintain the Warrior of Light's serenity and composure, G'raha's worried expression could not be avoided as the two sat on the side of the bed. He appeared both concerned and eager to speak his mind. Since she got back, Au Ra has avoided eye contact and gone straight to her room. Normally, she would spend some time updating everyone on her most recent escapade, but she was visibly fuming with rage.

"I…can't run from this forever, but my heart is filled with grief and hatred. I've tried to act as if everything were fine, but the deaths I've caused to protect the safety of so many others are too much to bear. This makes me wonder if they picked the appropriate individual to be the Warrior of Light."

Stella found it difficult to conceal the fact that she was struggling to cope with so much from those she cared about. Anyone who genuinely paid attention to the woman could tell how heavy the burdens she carried were. The way it was gradually robbing her of everything she had If she was meant to be a hero, why did she have so much anger? She abruptly perceived G'raha speaking. His voice was as calm and unjudgmental as it always was.

'Stella, anger has its place. Anger has fire, and fire moves things.'

Pink hues widened at his comment; he was attempting to encourage her. Let her know that it was all right for her to feel angry. Everything was moved by the fire. Which some people have already likened her to. Then she felt her chest begin to ache. An image from the day her parents perished in the fire appears. She felt tears beginning to fall. As a matter of fact, Stella felt as though she were sinking farther and further into that abyss of nothingness.

"My apologies. I have no right to be sobbing right now. You are correct in saying that fire can move things, yet this rage has destroyed so much. I just don't think I have the right to be the Warrior of Light anymore," Stella murmured as she attempted to calm herself down, but it was too late. Her suppressed anguish and wrath were slowly rising to the surface. This wasn’t fair to G’raha, he had merely only come to talk to her. Crying was the last thing she wanted to do, yet the Au Ra had denied herself that for so long.

#— ❛❛ //Final Fantasy XIV¦I will tell you a tale. A tale of a world on the brink.・「 Main Verse」#— ❛❛ //G'RAHA TIA¦・Across Time and Space You have always had my back 「 heavnsblade」#— ❛❛ // STELLA CAELUM ¦ our hearts endure and remain forever strong ・「 Threads」#ooc: Thank you for sending this in! I hope this is okay starter

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casspurrjoybell-23 · 9 months

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The Raven - Chapter 18

*Warning Adult Content*

Princess Elaina.

The name has been repeating in Caleb's mind ever since Henry first mentioned her.

While Caleb dreams of a future with his handsome prince, he cannot help but be flooded with unwanted emotions at the very thought of the princess.

Now that he is alone, his mind circles the idea that perhaps Henry will be forced to marry her or any princess, for that matter.

It is what is traditionally done within their kingdom and if the queen is so insistent that it continues, how can Caleb wholeheartedly believe that things will somehow suddenly change?

And besides that, this kingdom has also never had a same-sex couple as its rulers before.

Although he wholly believes that everyone should be free to love who they love, Caleb is certain that not everyone within their borders will agree with that sentiment.

He has read countless stories of people being shunned for their sexual orientation.

What if his joining with Prince Henry in such a way brings forth an unexpected uprising among the citizens?

Caleb's heart cracks at the thought.

He could not possibly withstand seeing Henry cast out by his people simply for being with him; the sight would undoubtedly shatter him, as well.

If only he could use his magic to change their minds.

No, he would not be able to bring himself to do such a thing, he cares far too much for the well-being of others to manipulate their minds.

He would have to find some other, less exploiting way to show them that a person's gender or orientation does not define him or her.

With heaviness in his chest, the raven takes a deep breath in hopes of calming the raging storm inside him.

Certainly, he has felt jealousy and unsureness before but never to this extent.

It feels as if the queen is taking his heart directly from his chest and serving it to Princess Elaina on a silver platter without caring or regard for him in the slightest.

With the understanding that the queen could not possibly know of Caleb's fondness for her son and therefore is entirely unaware of how her actions so profoundly affect him, the raven realizes that his overwhelming feeling of betrayal is altogether unprecedented.

He only wishes that the painful sensations within him could dull at least a little.

What Caleb would give to be a princess instead of the disgusting creation that he is.

That would likely solve all of the problems currently imposing upon him.

Quickly shifting into his raven form, he perches himself on the windowsill, his glowing red eyes peering out into the familiar yet still unknown garden.

Even his favorite view is not enough to tame the wild thoughts running rampant in his mind, the desperate need for even a short reprieve gnawing at his insides in the most anxious and despairing way.

Perhaps practicing his magic would relieve some of the emotional distress he is currently suffering.

The transition from raven to shadow comes far easier and more quickly than Caleb had expected, the shift is flawless and sends a rush of excitement through the ruby-eyed boy.

Raven effortlessly shifts from his shadow to a plume of black smoke that looms in the air in his dark, lonely tower room with increased confidence in both himself and his magic.

A loud slam echoes through the room, followed by his mother's shrieking voice.

"Raven," she screeches.

The woman's sudden appearance startles Caleb into another shift and causes his human body to fall to the floor with a thud.

"Good Heavens, you scared me," his mother exclaims, her hand tightly grasping her chest as she heaves loudly in an attempt to calm herself.

If Caleb was not already preoccupied with the pain radiating through him from the sudden fall, he might find her horrified expression and slightly disheveled appearance to be amusing.

Caleb groans before staggering to his feet, swaying on his unsteady legs as they shake beneath him.

He rubs his hands soothingly over his bottom, which is now sore from the hard landing, before raising his gaze to meet his mother's.

"I apologize, Mother," he says out of habit, his voice tinged with the pain shooting through his backside. "I was practicing my magic and had not anticipated your arrival."

"And?" she asks impatiently, her foot tapping on the concrete floor. "Have you improved? Show me," she prompts, crossing her arms over her chest and staring at the raven with an expression of doubt about his abilities.

The look she gives him is not a foreign one to Caleb, he has never given her a reason to believe he might be exceptional at what he does.

He has been keeping a lid on the true extent of his skills, hiding them from her until he knows whether or not he can trust her.

Taking a deep breath, Caleb repeats the process from human to raven, to shadow, to smoke, then gracefully transitions back to a human once more, this time, he avoids falling to the unforgiving floor.

His mother stands in shock for a moment as she watches him transform effortlessly and with haste that she has never before seen in his magic.

She stares at him with wide eyes and a gaping mouth, her brain lagging as it processes the sight before her.

Nodding her head once, she commands...

"Again."

Again and again, Caleb performs his shifts for his mother, waiting for her to voice her approval.

Over and over, he transforms into different versions of himself.

He continues until his body and mind are exhausted and his mother seems satisfied.

Collapsing to the floor, the raven's chest heaves as he tries desperately to calm his racing heart.

Now that the adrenaline is wearing off, the overly tired boy feels sleep trying to overtake him.

"You have done well," the raven's mother says. "Rest for tonight, Raven. You can continue practicing come morning. Now that you have seemingly mastered the shifts themselves, I believe you need to work on controlling your movements in those forms. You have evidently excelled with your raven but your shadow and smoke will likely need a significant amount of work."

She shuts off the light as she exits the room, locking the door behind her and leaving no room for argument.

Not that Caleb would argue.

He is far too wiped out to even bother speaking at this moment.

And besides that, he would never dare to talk back to his mother; it has been a while since his last lashing but he certainly does not want to repeat it any time soon.

Too tired to lift himself from his place on the floor, the raven allows sleep to wash over him, bringing dreams of a blond-haired prince along with it.

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toytoriyadorm · 1 year

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I JUST NOTICED YOU REBLOGGED THE FANDORM ASK WHEN I WANTED TO ASK " ⛺ how our dorms would get along" FOR TOYTORIYA'S OPINION OF HEXEONS

HIII SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG DHFHDJ. there was a lot of writing.

Uwah, Hexeons is the terrible witch dorm! Students from Toytoriya are initially afraid of their supposedly hostile classmates, but will still try to befriend them nonetheless! After all, everyone can be a friend, no matter how mean, right?

🧸.

Lotsie finds Winona to be delightful (at times). Sharing a love for sewing and family communities, he sees the two of them as similar. Lotsie will admit, however, that she can be quite… distasteful. While he’d usually correct that behavior through punishment in his dorm, he knows that he can’t do that with the other houses. For now, he treats her with the all-encompassing politeness Lotsie has for all his colleagues.

Malvina's supposed chill personality might be hard for Lotsie to adjust to, so he’d initially avoid her. They both have a tendency to bottle up their emotions, so I can see their conversations being awkward at best, weird at worst. Lotsie would enjoy her cooking, though, even if it comes alive sometimes.

The sister Lotsie likes the most, Sabrina would be his best friend if he didn’t already have one! This cuddly dorm leader wouldn’t mind the hugs or kisses Sabrina tends to give everyone. He finds her destruction upon others to be inspiring for the play scripts. Thankfully, none of Sabrina’s little acts of arson have been instigated upon his little heaven of Toytoriya after Lotsie (forced) asked Winston to negate them.

⛏️.

Winona is a good choice for a leader, for the “messed-up” Hexeons, that is.He thinks Winona especially has a terrible temperament. It’s no wonder his underclassmen come crying to him about the scary leader of witches! However, Pat does believe it's good to have a devoted drive like hers. That, and an appreciation for a fancy lifestyle.

Malvina and Pat could be acquaintances one day, and enemies the next. Pat’s terrible evaluation style along with Mal’s hatred for unfair critics could surely cause an explosion in NRC if pushed too far. Overall, they shouldn’t be left in a room together, or else all of the school might be brought into their argument!

Pat isn’t fond of Sabrina whatsoever, for both her failure to charm him and the devastating messes she makes. Anytime he sees her, Pat tends to turn the other way, even if the place he’s going to is right behind her! He has no clue how Lotsie ended up making a new friend out of her.

Overall, Sabrina is considered the most immature girl Pat has met, and he’s in the dorm known for its childishness!

🚀.

I can actually see Saturn and Winona having some kind of friendship! Saturn probably introduced WInona to the fireworks he’s made, and thinks that her necromancy magic is pretty sick! He can understand her love for family too, knowing that kind of bond is truly irreplaceable! He probably sees his upperclassman as a little weird sometimes, but that won’t deter him too much (unlike Malvina).

After glimpsing at the sight of Malvina’s scary expression, Saturn won’t even talk to her, much less be near her! She’d likely find it odd that this punk of a second year avoids her but not her sisters. In his nightmares, Malvina’s expression might appear with all the dolls Saturn hates. Other than that, he does think her cooking tastes good.

Sabrina and Saturn would be good buddies if not for her love of fire! After he caught her trying to fire his unfinished pyrotechnics at some innocent students, he has found her more of a nuisance than anything. Anytime Sabrina happens to be nearby, Saturn puts extra effort in hiding any of his fireworks.

🤠.

Winona might be the only person Winston likes out of Hexeons’ entire dorm, and that’s only because of her leadership style! They’re both quite courteous with each other, and Winston always asks about what it's like to be a dorm leader. Winona herself might find Winston to be a little annoying, though, considering he’s the pinnacle of Toytoriya’s childish trait.

Winston doesn’t know too much about Malvina, but what he’s heard about her from Saturn and Pat makes him a little unnerved. Deathly expressions and monsters coming out of food…all these rumors sound almost untrue. He’d have to see it for himself though.

Winston initially found Sabrina to be quite cute, but that all ended when Lotsie decided to make him a “living target” to deter her from touching Toytoriya’s realm. Any day Hexeons visits is a day of dread for this poor cowboy. He’d ask to have a break from needing to distract that “terrorizing witch” all day, but his hero complex always stops Winston from doing so.

🔋.

Zackery doesn’t think Winona or his sisters are evil. Well, not as “evil" as him anyways. However, he does still hold a respect for her, like he has for all dorm leaders! Ironically, I can see him managing to convince Winona that he really is a truly evil overlord (thanks to his roleplaying skills and the power of stage effects). Overall, he sees her as pretty cool!

From what he’s seen of Malvina, Zackery likely believes she’s some kind of master beast summoner. While anyone can summon animals in NRC, what Zackery thought was a ritual was likely just Malvina’s cooking at work! That won’t stop him from practically running up to her and asking how exactly she created such a demonic monster, and now he can do it himself. Such a question about her cooking might offend Malvina, though…

Anyone who steals from his henchmen might as well be stealing from Zackery himself! This overlord initially found Sabrina to be hilarious when Winston was tasked with making sure doesn’t do any damage to their house’s realm. But after Saturn mentioned how she tried using his fireworks, she’s become banned from ever entering his (workshop) lair. No one is allowed to mess with anything his dorm works on, not even a super magic witch!

#just like all my asks #please tell me if I got anything wrong!#twisted wonderland oc #twst oc #twisted wonderland fandorm #ask game!#toytoriya #william lotsie huggins #pat peterson #saturn torpeo #winston herdsmen #zackery heidrich iii

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myheadsgonenumb · 10 months

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Padfoot - A Grim Tale

Spectral black dogs are a common part of folklore all over Britain, but with a particular concentration in the North of England. A "Padfoot" is one such faery dog which is specific to West Yorkshire, and centred around Leeds and its environs. It is so called because of the "pit pat" of its paws which is often the first (and sometimes only) sign it has joined you. Like a Grim, in HP, a Padfoot will appear before death, prowling outside the home of a mortally ill person and waylaying those about to go inside. The sight of a Padfoot has been known to cause such alarm as to frighten people to death, though, so perhaps Hermione was correct when she said the Grim was Ron's Uncle Billius's cause of death and not an omen of it. A Padfoot is only encountered at night, and one late Victorian writer blamed the invention of the street light for banishing the Padfoot from its traditional haunts.

As a massive Sirius fan and a native of Leeds, I love that the name "Padfoot" comes from my own local folk legends. In celebration of the man himself I once wrote the whole of "Prisoner of Azkaban" from Sirius's perspective in a story called "A Grim Tale". Here's a little snippet of him almost getting caught by Arabella Figg, just after Harry leaves Privet Drive:

‘Mr. Tibbles says there’s something off about you. Unnatural. Not a real dog at all. In disguise - he says…’

Sirius growled again. He should have eaten Mr. Tibbles while he had the chance.

‘And you can understand what I’m saying - just as clear as the cats can. So, what are you, I wonder?’

Inside the living room, the blown up woman was now normal size (which was still very large) and was bellowing just as loudly as Moustache Man (and was just as red in the face - perhaps she was his sister?) ‘I demand to know the meaning of this … Will be writing to my MP… Who the blazes are you? …I’ll set Ripper on you…’

Bowler Hat was being every bit as ineffectual at shutting her up as he had been at stopping Harry’s uncle from throwing things.

Mrs. Figg barely spared them all a second glance. ‘So what is it then? What is it about you? An unnatural big, black dog creeping through a place like Little Whinging…There’s some kind of magic about you. Mr. Tibbles is never wrong.’

(Inside the house there came the combined cry of five wizards shouting ‘obliviate!’ . The woman stopped bellowing and her large, purplish face took on a blank and dreamy expression.)

‘And why are you so interested in this house?’ Mrs. Figg’s voice was sharp (which seemed completely at odds with her carpet slippers and curlers).’This is young Harry Potter’s home - what interest have you got in him, to be creeping around in disguise? - You big, black bru…’ She cut herself off. Her eyes grew wide: ‘black,’ she repeated. ‘...Black.’ (He could practically hear the capitalisation as realisation struck.) ‘Black - Black - Sirius Black! Merlin! Help! Help!’ she began to scream.

The whole fic is a canon compliant retelling of what is, imo, the best HP book there is, and - at 90 000 words - is a really in depth character study of everyone's favourite canine animagus. Funnily enough - despite all the extra details we do learn about Sirius, the story doesn't go into how he got his nickname. But thanks to this tumblr post - you already know that : )

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skye-huntress · 2 years

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RWBY Ice Queendom Reaction

Episode 6 “Do you have a Plan?”

The RT app must have recently updated and it caused me quite a number of headaches so I had to use the website.

Okay, I have to start with this because even Ruby seems to be obsessing over it, Weiss called Ruby “precious”. And we’re talking about Negative Weiss here, and she said the quiet part out loud. As a White Rose shipper, I love it.

Splitting up makes sense, Negative Weiss seems particularly obsessed with Blake which makes sense, especially with what Sun says later in the episode. Dream Blake’s role appears to be to constantly infiltrate Weiss’ city, to be forced out, only to keep coming back. Before Beacon, Weiss has always kept Faunus at a distance, not letting them get close to her so they can’t hurt her. Then there was one who slipped through the cracks without her even noticing and by the time she found out, it was too late, Weiss had already come to like having Blake around, which left her conflicted. That conflict is still represented in the dream.

I was actually starting to wonder recently if we would see Negative Weiss summon. In the dream, she has made herself powerful so she would be worthy of being the true Heiress to Nicholas Schnee’s legacy, and that would include mastering her Semblance. As for why Ursa, I guess just because Weiss thinks they are powerful and intimidating, not because she could actually summon one in real life. It does make me wonder if the Arma Gigas will make its appearance. Weiss’ battle with it had to have made enough of an impression on her for a number of reasons, so I guess it might be Negative Weiss’ trump card for when things really start to heat up.

Also, infinite dust? I’m calling hacks.

Wow, Weiss really did give Ruby the key to her heart… er, THE heart of her dream, I guess. Same difference, really.

By the Gods, Ruby and Yang just “killed” Grumpy Klein! How dare they?!

Random thought though, I wonder what would happen if Klein entered the Dream. Probably a moot point, since he’s not a fighter. But Winter though, she’s a licensed Huntress and were she around she probably would have been considered the ideal candidate. But she only exists as an image in a book, likely because she is never around. She left Weiss alone and all she has left is her “judgments”. I suppose if Winter were actually around she’d have a real presence in the dream, but she hasn’t been in Weiss’ life much for a long time. Honestly, it’d be her own fault if she tried to go into Weiss’ dream and turned into a book. I have gone way off track with this, back to the show!

Don’t touch the thorns, huh? Hearing that reminds me of another ominous warning I’ve heard before.

So they’ve found the Grimm in a theatre on the stage, and we see an outfit like the one we’ve seen Weiss perform in. When Weiss entered the dream it did seem like she was on a stage, so I suppose it all makes sense. Weiss puts her heart and her true feelings into her songs. When she sings she bares her heart, it’s her greatest method of expressing herself. It’s rather fitting when I think about it. It does remind me though, we know at least Jaune has heard her sing somewhere, but we don’t know if her teammates have or what they think of it. I want to know if Weiss has ever sung for them personally.

They really should have seen this coming, Negative Weiss is rather fast getting around. I wonder, her perception of everything is twisted so I wonder if she even sees the Grimm or can even acknowledge it for what it is. Perhaps it is not the Grimm itself she is protecting but that piece of herself. We’re talking about something deeply personal and precious to Weiss, something that has already been twisted and corrupted for profit by her father. I doubt Weiss is ready to be that open with her team yet and is driving them back on instinct to protect herself.

I kind of figured this part, Negative Weiss believes Ruby is childish, naive and spoiled and sees Yang as the one at fault for this. Weiss wouldn’t know anything about their parents or how they were raised so this is likely her comparing the sisters’ relationship to her own with Winter. And I think I’ve said it before, but Winter hasn’t been the best sister or role model to Weiss. I’m sure she thought she was doing what she thought was best for Weiss and maybe it was when Weiss was still living with her father. Still, Weiss’ iciness can largely be attributed to Winter’s influence, she’s basically the OG Ice Queen.

I’ve said this last reaction, but Negative Weiss is too OP to fight head on. And the Relic got destroyed in the fight. I don’t think it will be replaced, they’ll probably need its pair. I’m assuming the one in the… thing I don’t want to name anymore. Reaching it might be a problem.

After getting so close they’ve lost all the ground they’ve made, and they’ll only get one more shot at it. I suppose I should have guessed this would happen, so much time was spent trying to get as deep into the dream as possible as quickly as possible without really doing much with the things we saw along the way. Now the team has to think about all the different things they’ve seen and come up with an actual strategy.

So now we see their other friends contribute their thoughts. JNPR helps Ruby understand that in locking her friends up Weiss is actually trying to keep them safe within the dream. Sun helps Blake understand that as much as Weiss is pushing her away out of habit, she actually does want Blake to keep coming back.

Then there’s Penny. I feel like the writers were basing her more on her Chibi version than her Beacon arc version because I’m pretty sure Penny did try to hide the fact she was a robot. That aside, her analogy of dreams as a form of maintenance makes some sense, I think. I don’t really remember anything about my dreams if I dream at all, but I know that when we have a problem, even when we’re not actively thinking about it, our subconscious is still working through it, something I have experienced while awake.

So Yang’s idea is pretty much to help Weiss sort through her internal conflicts by making changes within the dream that Weiss will hopefully recognise as positive. There are a few possibilities of what I think they intend to do.

The first most obvious one will probably be to do something about the White Fang ambushing trains.

They also have to find a way to make Weiss properly welcome Blake into her heart as she is. Instead of her sneaking in as usual and catching Weiss off-guard, I think they actually need to convince Weiss to invite her inside.

Something will likely have to be done about the All-Seeing Jacques, Batley, and that bloody book.

On to Ruby’s idea though. I’m not to sure how I feel about Jaune entering Weiss’ dream, but it makes sense that he can pass as infected. I suppose it will be his role to infiltrate further into the dream and find a way to help RBY get in. He still won’t be much of fighter, yet, and even if he was he can’t get close to the Grimm anyway so he really will be just there as support while the girls do all the hard work, as usual.

These past two episodes seem to have been to establish the layout of the dream and Weiss’ state of mind

#RWBY #RWBY IQ #RWBY IQ spoilers

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yrrebulb · 1 year

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honesty & vulnerability — the night before 3BH anniversary

Sitting on the balcony of her apartment, Blu shivered in the breeze. The incoming winter has darkened the skies and brought back eerie feelings of the past. Starring off at the light-laced view of the city, she couldn’t let go of the soul-swallowing feeling in her chest. Her eyes drifted closed in the quiet of her own mind. In the black window of each blink, she can’t shake the gleaming smile she’s fallen in love with. The way it lit up in the presence of small animals and the heart start way it was always followed by a laugh. Scuffing at the pain each memory caused, she shifted in her seat.

“Grow up,” she mumbled to herself. A miserable laugh left her lips as she folded over from the pressure. Like a balloon, the guilt and fear filled her slowly but steadily. Slowly but steadily, she suffocated on feelings that were far too familiar to ignore. Feelings she pined to get rid of. Getting lost in thought, she completely tunes out her ringing phone. The melody of its tone hummed along with her empty stare. Just as the temperature began to dip, even more, she brushed her bare feet on the cold wood vinyl of the deck.

The splintering cold didn’t shake her chilled-to-the-bone body as she walked into the warmth of her apartment. Locking the patio door behind her, she was greeted by her kittens. Picking them up, she stretched her neck as she walked deep into the apartment. Passing her phone, the flashing screen and stream of notifications failed to catch her attention. Crossing the threshold of her room was like stepping into a different world. The modern decor of the living and dining room was nothing compared to the draft paper-covered black walls and the oddities that decorated shelves within her bedroom.

Plopping the little ones on her bed, she pulled her large-hole knit sweater off and traded it for an old hoodie. Slipping out of her jeans and into fleece shorts, her silent trudge through the motions was met with the chiming of her door. Making sure to close her room door behind her, she begrudgingly went to the door. Turning her phone over without looking, she unlocked the heavy security door to meet a pair of anxious eyes.

Pushing the door open and pulling her in close, Kei’s warmth steamed onto her skin. Thrown off, she couldn’t figure out if to hug back or to check if he was real. “Kei?” She questioned as he pulled away. Her eyes widened as he came into focus.

“Wha- what are you doing here?” She inquired, looking behind him before looking at him full-on. The grown man’s heavy breathing matched his rushed appearance. Tote bag on his shoulder, his bundled-up attire was in shambles as it slipped off. Grabbing the sides of his coat and pulling them tight around him, Blu panicked. Checking his temperature and cupping the sides of his face. Her worried expression must have been funny to him. He let out a relieved chuckle, his chilled hands pulling her close.

“For someone so good at worrying people, you look so cute when you’re worried,” he kissed her forehead. In awe of his ability to be so relaxed so quickly, she couldn’t help but stare. The scarf tucked into his coat collar hid the small smile he held as he stared back.

“What are you doing here? How did you know-“. Her questions evaporated along with her temporary state of distraction. Pulling away from him, she turned to grab her phone from the breakfast counter only a few paces away. Catching Blu’s hand Kei’s worried look came back.

“I tried calling you, but you never answered,” he began. Her thumb rubbed the soft grip he had on her fingers, slipping out of his grasp.

“Let me change. I can walk you home,” she offered, rushing away. Catching her arm this time, he pulled her to his chest.

“We need to talk. Now,” he demanded. His voice barely raised past a speaking tone, but for some reason the sternness made her lungs malfunction.

“Okay. Outside,” she nodded, placing her hands on his chest. As if to push him out the door, she ushered for him to not go any further into the apartment. Unfortunately, he had other plans. Grabbing hold of the sides of her arms, Kei stared down into Blu’s eyes. His burning gaze silenced her arguments.

“Here. Right now,” he ordered. Taking her hands in his, he walked her over to her couch. He sat her down, taking the time to take his coat off and put his bag down. This was the first time he’d been in her apartment, let alone this deep into it. The spacious luxury flat was well decorated with photos and art. The nurtural tones were warm and inviting as if she intended to use the space to entertain.

“I’ve gotten to see the inside of your place before,” he began. His sweet tone was like oil in water. Her heart anticipated for it to catch fire at any moment. For it to boil and reveal his true feelings at any time.

“I know you don’t like talking about yourself, but I can’t help but feel like you’re trying to keep a distance between us”. His words wrapped themselves around her throat as he spoke.

“I didn’t want to push you into talking to me, but there’s so much I don’t know,” he spoke honestly. The candor alone was enough to shatter the glass ceiling holding back the crushing burden she strived to avoid.

“Talk to me, B. Please”. Kei’s lips wavered as he spoke. The mere foot and some between them felt like an ocean for them both. Strangled by the churning conflict in her chest, Blu couldn’t find the words to explain. She couldn’t break the stone wall in her mind that locked away her darkest fears.

“Do you like me? Honestly, do you feel anything?”

“Of course I do,” her soft voice cracked.

“Then why are you afraid? What have done to make you so scared?” He asked. The pain in his heart seemed into his voice as leaned onto his knees. The well-dressed student’s long black hair draped into his face from its not-so-neat clip. The clip Blu bought for him and Atsushi to match with her. The same clip she wore at that moment.

“It’s not you. I promise, it’s not,” she muffled her words in the sleeves of her hoodie.

“What is it then? I can’t help if I don’t know”. His slender fingers were clamped together, the force between them enough to break glass.

“I just,” Blu tried.

“It’s not anything,” her words got lost in the distance between her tongue and her teeth. Her bottom lip quivered as she fought to keep what was left of herself together. She couldn’t figure out why it hurts so much to have him there. In that room. In these four walls that held her memories, hopes, and dreams.

“Does Akashi have anything to do with it?” That name. A name she never thought she’d hear come of his mouth. Gasping, Blu’d hand instinctively clutched the collar of her hoodie.

“How do you-“ she questioned, joint separating anxiety filling her being.

“Atsushi told me. He said that he was your last serious relationship,” Kei’s tone became softer as he spoke. The pain he was feeling reflected more in his body than in his words.

“Then you know?” She huffed in a pained laugh.

“I want you to tell me. I want to know how to help you feel better when it gets bad,” He pled. Keisuke held his hand out to her. His pale palms were red from how tight he was holding his own fist.

“I stabbed him,” Blu trembled. “We were sitting right here when he started yelling at me. Saying that I wasn’t happy and that I should’ve never stayed with him for so long”. Her eyes watered as she recalled the events of that night. As she detailed the screaming fit they were in and how he got aggressive when she said she was leaving.

Kei’s muscles strained under the restraint he showed. Listening to how he chased her around the apartment trying to force her to stay, Keisuke couldn’t help but pull Blu into his lap. Holding her close to him protectively.

“I know you’re not him but I’m so scared of you hating me one day. Of one day you getting so angry that you look at me with disgust in your eyes,” Blu cried. Pushing against him, she sank into a suffocating spiral.

“Hit me. Scream at me. I don’t care”. Grabbing her face, Kei made Blu’s sloppy tear-filled eyes meet his. “I would never hurt you. Ever”. Cupping his face, she couldn’t resist the care that oozed from his warm body. Lifting her up, Kei made sure to turn the lights off as he carried her into her bedroom. The one room he’d never gotten a glimpse of.

The black and baby blue room was decorated with polaroid photos and paintings. Stacks of artwork covered a corner of the room while a desk piled high with drafting papers decorated the wall across. It truly was a place of safety. Though small, it looked just as her mind did, full of fondness and cluttered with projects she’d never ask for help with.

Laying her down into bed, Kei laid next to her. Wiping her eyes, the pain he felt before washed away. The fear she showed answered more questions than he could’ve asked.

“Sleep tight, mamas,” he kissed her forehead. “I hope you trust me more and more. I want to know everything about you,” he allowed a small smile to skate across his face. Blu fell asleep nuzzled into his arms, sleeping well in her own home for the first time in years.

#🦋 read it and weep #this went through like 4 different openings before I got to one I liked

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legolasbadass · 2 years

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Office Hours, Part 8

Summary: Lorelei Browning has just secured a job as an assistant professor at Exeter College in Oxford. Naturally, she is eager to prove herself and meet every challenge sent her way, but what she does not expect is the tall, handsome stranger who will quickly become much more than a colleague…

Relationship: Richard Armitage x OC (Professor AU)

Word Count: 2.7K

Rating: E (Oral sex, M/F protected intercourse)

A/N: Thank you all so much for your lovely comments and messages on this fic, it means so much to me that you are all enjoying this incredibly self-indulgent fic. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Previous parts can be found here: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | ...

Read on AO3

The next morning, I wake up to the sound of a robin’s gentle tune floating from outside. Only a thin stream of light sneaks in through the closed curtains, travelling across the unmade bed. I smile contentedly as I recall last night’s events and the passion which caused the bed to become so disordered. Richard lies behind me, the length of his body flush against mine and one of his arms wrapped around my waist, holding me close. His face is buried in my hair, and every time he exhales, his breath is warm against my neck. I try to wriggle around to face him, but his arm tightens its hold on me, the gesture making my heart tingle. Then, when I finally manage to turn my body slightly to catch a glimpse of his face, the tingles in my heart melt into a gentle warmth that spreads through my limbs. How anyone can look so handsome in the morning, I have no idea.

His hair is more tangled than ever before, but I know better than to be surprised by how irresistible it makes him appear. The lines of his face are softer when he sleeps, and to see him so utterly at ease in my arms is comforting beyond words. My eyes drift from the tips of his hairs, which are pale in the warm morning light, then to his long lashes resting atop his cheeks. Then there are those wrinkles at the corner of his eyes—an overwhelming urge to press a soft kiss onto them surprises me, but then he moves. His arm tightens around my waist, and a moment later, I’m gazing back into his deep blue eyes.

“Good morning.” Sleep thickens his voice, making it even deeper and more sensual than it already is.

“Good morning’” I reply with a soft smile.

“You have a look on your face,” he says as he loosens his hold on my waist, allowing me to turn and face him. “What are you thinking about?”

Damn my expressive features. “Just how much I love sleeping in your arms.”

It’s true; I can’t remember the last time I slept so well. Then again, we were both exhausted by the time we went to bed last night.

Richard offers me a soft, tired smile. “Hm, I’m glad you feel the same.”

Before I know it, he leans in toward me, his nose rubbing against my own ever so gently as he kisses me. His lips are soft as the morning sun against mine, and in an instant, they turn the tingles in my heart to a low, incessant humming in my blood. Showing once again that he can read my thoughts as easily as poetry, Richard moves to lie above me, his growing hardness coming to rest against my thighs. I break the kiss to gasp, then smirk against his lips.

“Ah, you enjoyed sleeping next to me this much, did you?”

We are still giggling softly when he starts to kiss me again, urging me to part my lips with a slow caress of his tongue. Desire stirs deep within me with each tug of his tongue against mine, and when he carefully, almost lazily rocks his hips against me, a wave of heat pools between my thighs, the sweet pleasure of it so tempting I can’t help but wrap my legs around his waist to pull him closer toward me.

Richard chuckles against my lips, then pulls away just enough to whisper, “Impatient, are we?”

I pull back another inch and raise my eyebrows. “Look who’s talking; I do remember you begging quite a lot last night,” I say teasingly as I tangle my fingers in the waves of his hair.

In response, he rocks his hips once more, and a desperate whimper falls from my swollen lips.

“Oh, Lorelei…” he breathes out as he buries a hand in my tangled hair, then leans in to rest his forehead against mine, his eyes softening.

“Yes?” I manage to say despite the overwhelming intimacy of the moment.

“You have no idea … I dreamed of this moment so many times; waking up next to you, making love to you….” With each of his words, my heartbeat accelerates and my desire intensifies, depriving me of the ability to speak, so instead, I simply gaze back at him and hope that he can read the growing feelings in my eyes as easily as he can read the signs of arousal on my body.

His other hand traces the curve of my waist, then my belly, approaching but never reaching the place where I need him the most. This time, when I lift my hips toward him, he does not tease me, but he does not give in, either. To my surprise and frustration, he pulls away, holding himself up on his knees, beyond my reach.

“Richard—”

My protest fades to silence as he offers me a smirk, then lowers himself between my thighs, and I shiver in anticipation.

Slowly, and with a level of tenderness that makes my head spin, Richard begins to caress my thighs with his large hands, moving up to squeeze my hips. Then with his thumb, he brushes my folds with the lightest of touches, and when I see him looking up at me, his blue eyes darkened with desire, a low moan escapes me. No one has ever made me feel the way Richard does, and he does it without even trying; he barely touches me, and my skin is on fire, my whole body aching for him, and if the satisfied smirk on his face is anything to go by, he knows exactly what effect he has on me.

“Richard….” I whimper when his finger moves to slide over my clit in a slow circle.

Needing more of the fiery pleasure he sparks through me, I move against his finger. But Richard has other plans. With his free hand, which has been tenderly grazing my thigh, he holds me down onto the mattress, blocking my movements. My whimper of protest dies on my lips and turns into a low, desperate moan at the first stroke of his tongue against my core that sends fire ravaging through me. He teasingly caresses my folds, spreading my arousal around, and after what seems like an eternity, he closes in on my clit to give a gentle pull.

“Oh, yes—right there.” My moan is airy and breathless as knots twist deep inside me, the pleasure of it so sweet I can’t help but buck against him and lower a hand to hold onto his hair.

Richard hums in response, sending vibrations through me that turn the heat in my core to molten lava. Breathy moans follow each flick of his tongue, growing stronger with every pass, the roughness of his beard against my sensitive skin only accentuating my pleasure. I can feel my orgasm just beyond reach, and I am sure he can, too, but he continues to feast on me with maddening slowness so that the tightening tingles inside me grow almost painful, keeping me suspended on the edge of my release. Then, at last, with one more flick of his tongue against my clit, he shatters me.

Richard doesn’t let up for even a second as my orgasm consumes me and fills my whole body with burning ecstasy. My hips roll against him of their own accord, chasing those last fiery tingles, and then he chuckles against the most sensitive part of my body, though I’m barely aware of it.

When the storm of my passion subsides, my limbs limp and my mind fuzzy, Richard crawls back up, though not without scattering kisses all over my burning skin, lingering on my sensitive breasts. Then, his lips meet mine in a slow, tender kiss, the familiar coarseness of his beard dampened by my slick arousal. After a long moment, he pulls back and watches my face, his deep blue eyes even more tender than before.

The look in his eyes, mingled with the lingering effects of my orgasm, steals the breath from my lungs, but somehow, I manage to say, “You are so good at that….”

Richard’s responding smile warms my heart, and he sighs as I swipe my thumb on the side of his mouth to try and clean up the mess I made. Still smiling, Richard takes the hand that is now resting against his bearded cheek and brings it to his lips to cover in a myriad of kisses. Then, as he moves to reconnect our lips, he tentatively rocks his hips against me, and that alone is enough to make me moan.

“I want you,” he murmurs against my lips as he rocks his hips another time.

Sighing, I caress his sides with my nails, delighting in his responding groan, before whispering, “Make love to me.”

Richard kisses me once more before pulling back to reach for his nightstand. The sight of him ripping open the packet and unrolling the condom over himself sends a wave of heat down to my core, but then as he settles himself between my legs, he gazes deep into my eyes and brushes away the hair from my face, and I melt. Sparks erupt along my spine as he slides through my folds, and I can’t help but lift my hips to pull him inside me faster.

“So impatient,” Richard says in a chuckle that turns into a groan as my muscles contract around him.

“Sorry, but you feel so good,” I reply breathlessly. I know it’s cliché, but he feels so good.

He begins to move, slowly, but purposefully inside me, leaving me too full one moment and too empty the next. Knots twist deep in my core, my pleasure steadily increasing, and as I wrap my legs around him, we both moan as one. No words in any language could ever express what it feels like to make love with Richard. It all feels so right, and despite our relationship being relatively new, he knows just how and where to touch me, as though he has studied my reactions his whole life. And I, too, find myself knowing exactly how to bring him that edge, and I can feel his pleasure almost as though it is my own. Right now, I feel how close he is to his release; his mouth hangs half-open, his breathing uneven, his hands tighten in my hair, and he tenses inside me. And as my name falls from his lips in a hoarse moan, both of us succumb to the hot bliss coursing through our veins, clinging desperately to each other as we share our breath in a languid kiss.

After a moment, Richard sinks against me, his heart beating out of control and his chest heaving in tandem with mine, and when I caress his hair, he actually shivers against me, causing me to chuckle. “Oh, I love waking up next to you.”

He pulls back just enough to meet my gaze and offers me a tender smile. “And it’s about to get even better. I did promise you breakfast in bed,” he says with a wink.

“You did,” I concur, smiling back at him, “But I didn’t think you’d actually do it—I mean, we’d just had sex for the first time, and you were still pretty high on your orgasm.”

Richard’s laugh fills my heart with a tingling warmth, then he says, “Oh, I definitely was—but still, I’m not one to go back on my word.” He tries to pull away, but I squeeze my thighs, holding him to me. “Sweetheart,” he laughs, “I have to be able to leave the bed.”

With a sigh, I loosen my hold on him and groan, “Fine.”

Richard chuckles. “It’ll be worth it, you’ll see—I make the best scrambled eggs.”

“Then I look forward to it,” I reply, then whimper as he pulls out of me and sends soft tremors buzzing in my core.

Richard rises from the bed and walks to the loo gloriously naked while I pull the covers back up to my shoulders and let out a content sigh. A moment later, he walks back into the bedroom to pull on his sweatpants and a white t-shirt under my admiring gaze, the muscles of his back flexing beneath his smooth skin as he moves. When he catches me watching him, he bends down to pick up my discarded t-shirt and throws it at me with a teasing, “Caught you,” before walking down the stairs to the kitchen.

My heart flutters at his playfulness, and I smile, feeling utterly content. Ever since we first met at the college in September, Richard and I got along extremely well, but in the week since we started dating, the bond between us has bloomed into something more than I ever could have imagined, something more than I have ever experienced. I’ve never been so comfortable with anyone, which is all the more surprising since we haven’t known each other that long, but it’s a welcomed feeling, to say the least. The contrast with my previous relationships is staggering, and though I can’t pretend I was entirely blameless in the past, Richard is so much more attentive and loving than any of my exes; I’ve never had anyone dote upon me the way he does, and it makes me feel … well, special.

The smell of eggs and toast floats into the bedroom from the kitchen downstairs as I retrieve my discarded clothes and slip back into my knickers and Richard’s t-shirt. After a few more minutes, he climbs up the stairs and walks into the bedroom with a tray in his hands, his hair still bearing the evidence of my fingers running through them. When he sees his t-shirt on me, he grins.

“Have I told you how much I love seeing you in my clothes?”

I smile back at him as he lowers the tray onto the bed and bends to press a soft kiss onto my lips before sitting next to me. “Thanks for breakfast,” I say, then moan at the first taste of the scrambled eggs. “Well, you do make good eggs.”

I don’t miss the way his eyes darken at my sound of satisfaction, but he quickly says, “What, were you doubting my word?” he asks, causing me to chuckle and shake my head as I take a sip of coffee. “So, what are you up to today?”

“Well, I need to continue working on my manuscript because I was so rudely interrupted yesterday,” I say with a teasing smirk.

Richard raises his eyebrows and tilts his head. “Yeah, you really did seem to mind the interruption yesterday—and again this morning.” Heat rises to my cheeks, and I playfully slap his arm. “So you really can’t stay?”

A pleasant heat spreads through me at the tenderness in his voice. “Will you actually let me work or are you going to distract me again?” I ask, biting my lower lip.

“I’ve got some work to do as well, so I’ll let you work today and then I can distract you some more tonight?”

“You’ve got yourself a deal,” I reply, leaning toward him to meet his lips in a slow, lingering kiss. “I just need to go to my flat quickly to get some things.”

“I’ll drive you.”

Once there’s nothing left but crumbs on our plates, he puts away the tray and turns to me with a mischievous smirk. “Want to take a shower first?”

The low rumble of his voice and the smouldering heat behind his eyes is enough to make me wet again.

Sending him what I hope is a seductive look, I smirk and rush past him to the loo. “Oh, absolutely.”

I giggle as I hear him run after me before he wraps his arms around my waist from behind and sweeps me off my feet, pressing a lingering kiss in the crook of my neck.

God, this is a perfect morning.

—

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#richard armitage #richard armitage x oc #richard armitage x reader #richard armitage x you #richard armitage fanfic #office hours

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bigskydreaming · 3 years

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Okay, so you know “Justice League meets Batman’s kids, who they’d previously been unaware existed” AUs?

So picture that.....but this time, instead of them just having no knowledge of any of these other Gotham vigilantes at all....the Batkids all migrate to various cities as they get older and become known as their protectors - Dick in Bludhaven, Tim in San Francisco, Cass in Hong Kong, etc....

Meaning they’re all established figures, the Justice League are aware of them as solo local heroes who stick to their cities and so they just don’t interact with them much if at all, or else some are members of team lineups but are particularly vague about their histories or life outside of the team’s adventures....

So the big reveal isn’t that they become aware of all these other Gotham vigilantes all at once....its that some big conflict or whatever requires a huge team up of all available heroes, and in the aftermath, they figure out that like.....despite being known as solo heroes who work alone or loners outside of their team settings, 80% of these heroes all not only seem to already know each other, they seem to be related.

And so naturally they all turn to Batman, who has profiles on every known hero and they thus figure had researched these individuals too and just never mentioned this little detail, and they’re like, “Did you know about this?”

And then Nightwing turns to him too, arms crossed and is like, “Yeah Dad, did you know about this?”

And the infamous Red Hood is all: “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I have never met any of these people before in my life. Lives? Whatever.”

And then Red Robin moodily grates out “I have no siblings.” Since he’s nursing a grudge since Dick and Jason broke into his apartment the night before and replaced all his custom Red Robin gear with Darkwing Duck merchandise and his vengeance will be swift and also totally disproportionate because things escalate quickly in this family, that’s true in every universe.

Cass meanwhile has deftly skewered Jason’s lie by walking over to him and brazenly patting down the man with many many guns with no fear whatsoever. He squawks and futilely attempts to bat her hands away as she riffles through his many pockets, but he doesn’t seem shocked, just annoyed. Eventually, she pulls away and triumphantly reveals a box of Hello Kitty themed band-aids.

“So these are yours then? Just for you?” Black Bat asks smugly. Red Hood squints at the box.

“What the fuck? How long have those been in my jacket? Why are those in my jacket? Did you freaking plant them in my jacket just on the offchance you could at some point in the distant future use them at my expense?”

Black Bat frowns, puzzled. “Yes?”

“Oh come on, Dead Hood,” Spoiler says with an exaggerated toss of her head meant to convey she’s rolling her eyes beneath her own mask. She skips her way across the room to Black Bat and then drapes herself languidly all over the smaller woman. Who in turn doesn’t so much as twitch beneath the sudden added mass as Spoiler holds out her hand towards the box of band-aids.

“One please. I have a boo-boo,” she says with easy familiarity straight into the intimidating cowl of Black Bat. Only then does she deign to finish her train of thought with Red Hood.

“I mean seriously, are you saying you don’t have potential blackmail set-ups, pre-rigged releases of incriminating material, and a random assortment of traps, pratfalls and mortifying scenarios in place for the express purpose of being able to humiliate any and all of your siblings at any given moment, without any need for additional prep time?”

“Is this true, Little Wing?” Nightwing whirls on the larger Red Hood with a faux-scandalized gasp. The founder and leader of the Titans, formerly the Teen Titans, renowned for his stratagems and calm competence when directing squads of supers in the heat of battle while he keeps pace with nothing more than naturally acquired acrobatics and a utility belt that apparently uses the same technology as Wonder Woman’s invisible jet....now appears to be....staggering with the back of his hand pressed to his forehead, moaning about how he felt....faint?

What is happening right now, several dozen superheroes want to know. Is this a drill? Are they supposed to be checking for signs of a mental ambush from undetected psychic saboteurs? Did they all hit their heads at the exact same time and are now experiencing some kind of shared mass concussion?

Look, that wouldn’t be the weirdest thing to ever happen on the Watchtower.

“Have I failed you so utterly?” The veteran child hero bemoans with a dramatic twirl - that when contrasted with his stern demeanor of a mere ten minutes ago - makes the fears of telepathic infiltration seem less paranoia and more....concerningly probable. “Did you learn nothing from me? Did you learn nothing from B?”

He stops and jabs a finger up at the sky. “Quick, everyone! What is the very first rule of Living While Batty?”

As if by rote, over a half a dozen voices chime in from all over the room, causing various heroes to jump. Spooked by yet more and more vigilantes joining in some kind of mass recitation like they and they alone have some kind of clue what the hell is going on and everyone else just hadn’t been invited to the party. Which is just rude, honestly. Nobody likes feeling like they weren’t invited to the party. Not even superheroes.

“If you’re not going to bother preparing for every possible contingency and at least six impossible ones, you might as well just stay in bed.”

Even the Red Hood joins in the Illuminati chant or Cub Scout pledge or demonic ritual or whatever the fuck that just was, though his slumped and exasperated posture gives away every hint of sulkiness his headgear otherwise would have kept safely hidden. He’s surprisingly more...expressive, than most who’d only known of him by reputation had expected him to be. The day continues to yield surprises.

“Of fucking course I do,” he growls out, snatching the box from Black Bat. She doesn’t even fight to hold onto it, just lets it go with a knowing smirk. “I wasn’t surprised by the idea of it, I was just surprised she bothered with such a weak effort. Like yeah whatever, actually those could be mine. I use those all the time at home. So what?”

He aggressively yanks one of the band-aids out of the box, fumbles with the peel-off strips with one hand and he roughly rolls up the sleeve of his jacket with the other. Then just slaps it on his forearm and raises said appendage high, showing it off this way and that. “See?”

“Oh yeah, for sure,” Signal drawls from the other side of the room, nodding his head approvingly. “Totally convincing. Nice job walking that one back, you really showed them.”

Red Hood’s head snaps in his direction with ominous intent. “Watch it, Day-Glo.”

Signal just snorts.

“Yeah, like I’m gonna take constructive criticism on my name and costume from a dude who’s spent the last several years calling himself Red HOOD while running around in a freaking HELMET.”

“Its not meant to be literal, you fucking pedant.”

“So wait, its not literally a helmet? Huh, does it at least protect your head literally, or just like...symbolically? Like if Bane were to clock you across the head, would your concussion just be a metaphor? What’s the treatment protocol for a metaphorical concussion? Fluids, bedrest and a philosophical prescription of two chapters of Chicken Soup for the Soul as needed?”

“Laugh it up, KC and the Sunshine Band,” Red Hood bats back. “You just got yourself disinvited from Thursday night’s poker game.”

Signal just grins and folds his arms over his chest cockily. “Please. You’ve been looking for an excuse to ban me for weeks, cuz you know until you can prove I’m using my ghost vision to cheat, you can’t actually bring suit against me for it in Family Court.”

“That, and also Family Court isn’t a real thing, you toddler. Stop validating Wing-a-ding-ding’s obsession with Shitty TV Nostalgia and just call it that thing where Oracle traps us all in a room until we settle our latest fight without anyone getting stabbed.”

“Yeah, but like, say that five times fast,” Spoiler pipes up. “Its just not practical. Family Court’s way easier.”

“Says the one who’s not even in our fucking family.”

“And yet I grace you all with my sublime presence anyway,” she blows a kiss at him, beatifically unbothered. “You’re welcome.”

The Red Hood scoffs and rounds on his heel, zeroing in on Batwoman in the far corner.

“Hey Auntie B, my siblings are all dead to me and I just helped stop an alien invasion so I deserve nice things like a fun Saturday night. Can you get me into Dad’s fundraiser so I can crash it? He won’t put me back on the list until I promise not to bring any C-4 with me and I won’t promise not to bring any C-4 because he should just trust me that I won’t when I say I’m not gonna and he won’t trust me that I won’t until I admit I shouldn’t have brought any to that sting last month where three tiny little yachts blew up through barely any fault of my own, and I’m just not gonna do that ever because I have convictions and I feel I shouldn’t have to be punished for that. Y’know?”

Batwoman blinks at him. “Kid, I’m not gonna lie to you. You’re my nephew and I love you, but I stopped listening three seconds into all that.”

“Ugh, fine. Can you help me crash Dad’s event tonight so I can teach him a lesson about why he should just trust me not to make a scene so I don’t have to always make a scene to make a point.”

“Tempting as you make that sound,” she says wryly, “I have a strict policy for dealing with you lot and your......everything. I only worry about tolerating one of you at a time, and there’s seven of you, and seven days in the week. You each get your own. You know perfectly well its Robin’s day today. You get me on Tuesday, just like always.”

“Auntie B, we’re not like other families, are we?” Red Robin’s delivery is sarcastically childish and his question clearly rhetorical. Most of his attention is fixated on whatever it is he’s doing with his wrist-mounted computer.

“No sweetie, we’re all severely fucked in the head and a little bit too comfortable with that.”

“Just checking. Oh hey, Hood, I just emailed you a patch for the hole in your firewall I exploited when replacing all my shit using your accounts just now.”

“You did what?”

“Used your accounts to pay to replace all my stuff that you fucked with last night?” Red Robin says slowly. “Did you not realize that I’ve been sticking within ten feet of you for the past five minutes just so I could clone your devices and do all that while BB and Spoiler kept you distracted? I gotta say, bro, I feel like that’s on you then.”

Red Hood swivels his helmeted head in the direction of the aforementioned two. Black Bat waves. Spoiler shoots him an utterly unrepentant thumbs up.

“You’d side with your ex over me? That’s what its come to?”

“My only allegiance is to chaos,” Spoiler says brightly. Black Bat shrugs.

“Plus he bribes better.”

“Hateful,” Red Hood points at Black Bat, moving on to level the same finger at Spoiler, who curtsies in acknowledgment: “Hateful-er.”

Then the finger rounds the bases to aim judgmentally at Red Robin. “Hateful-est. And that was all Nightwing’s idea anyway, not mine.”

“Oh, I assumed as much,” he says casually. “Your idea of a prank tends to have more of a Carrie vibe. Or be a literal literary reenactment.”

“Its called an homage, 4chan.”

“Whatever, plagiarist. And anyway, I couldn’t go after ‘Wing for payback on this one. He used an Immunity card. If you didn’t want me getting back at you, you should have used one too."

Red Hood looms aggressively. Red Robin ignores willfully. Round and round they go. Superheroes who can survive excessive G-Forces are getting dizzy just watching them have a largely motionless stand-off. That shouldn’t be how that works, but whatever. All the most infamously reclusive and isolated heroes in all hero-dom are apparently part of the same one big reclusive and isolated family of fucked up weirdos and they’re all officially bonkers. Nothing makes sense anymore. Reality broke. Try another stall.

“Okay, but see, in order to have an Immunity card, I would have to participate in one of you losers’ stupid Immunity challenges,” the Red Hood drags out with exaggerated patience. “And I’m just not going to do that, on account of those all being fucking stupid. You see the problem there?”

Red Robin just shrugs. “I don’t know what to tell you, bro. You can have principles or you can have an Immunity card. You can’t have both.”

Meanwhile, on another side of....the same room.....look, its like, an octagonal room, probably. It has a lot of sides. Robin fends off questions from an aggrieved looking Superboy.

“You never told me you had a bajillion brothers and sisters!”

“Yes but I never said I didn’t either.”

Superboy rolls his eyes. “Oh yeah, so I should just assume everyone I meet has a bajillion secret brothers and sisters?”

“Well clearly it would have worked out in your favor in this instance if you had, now wouldn’t it?”

“Assuming of course that you can trust what has been said or implied here today and I am actually related to any of those numbskulls. Which I am not actually admitting to,” Robin tacks on hastily.

Superboy eyes him dubiously. “You joined in the same creepy chant all the others did and then got super self-conscious and looked around to see if anyone had noticed. Which uh. I did.”

“First off, your interpretation of body language is abyssmal. I do not get self-conscious,” Robin says with a delivery that probably could have benefited from being a little less self-conscious. “And second....that proves nothing. I guessed what they were going to say.”

“Word for word,” Superboy says super-skeptically.

“I’m very good at guessing things. You know this.”

“Okay. Guess how much I believe you right now then.”

Robin glares and folds his arms grumpily across his chest.

“And what was that anyway? Was that like....you guys’ family motto or something like that?”

“Oh no,” Spoiler pipes up. “That’s much shorter.”

Superboy balks at that. “Wait, you guys actually have one of those for real?”

“Yup,” Steph says, counting out the words with her fingers. “He who laughs last....probably works for the Joker. So tranq him just to be safe. See? Only sixteen words. The first rule of Living While Batty is way longer, and what we said was just the abridged version. You should hear the original, before Black Bat put her foot down and refused to memorize it unless sizable edits were made.”

Superboy hovers between her and Robin now, both in mid-air and on the verge of taking Spoiler’s words as an invitation to hear just that. A low growl arises from Robin’s direction.

“Must you?” He asks the older vigilante, with a most put upon expression.

She looks at him pityingly. “Do you actually need me to answer that? Like, we’ve met, right? Hi, I’m Spoiler.”

“Wait, so Robin said that I just never specifically asked him if he had a bajillion brothers and sisters, and that’s why he didn’t tell me, so that means he wouldn’t have just lied and there’s not some code of secrecy that flat out forbids telling other people stuff, right?” Superboy realizes excitedly.

“Yes, excellent direction. Go on,” Spoiler says, steepling her fingers. Robin buries his face in the palm of one hand.

“Soooo, what other stuff could you tell me about Robin’s super top secret family that I wouldn’t think to ask about but that he would tell me about if I knew what questions to ask?”

She claps once, lightly but with emphasis. “Well done. You’ve passed the first barrier. Untold secrets await you behind just a few more.”

“I’ll get you for this,” Robin vows calmly. She waves a hand at him.

“Yeah, yeah. Just make sure you do it before January 1st, remember? You’ve promised retribution like ten times already this year and those don’t roll over, y’know. Rules are rules.”

“Enough!” Thunders a voice then, from the front of the room. Well one of the fronts anyway. Like sides, it has a lot of them, but this is the one where Batman’s standing. All eyes snap to him. Which is kinda just what eyes do when Batman says stuff like that. Its like his superpower, except he doesn’t actually have superpowers, which is what makes it scary. But where the snapping of the eyes (directional) is usually followed by Batman saying something else besides just “hey look at me,” here he pauses in the wake of his own call to attention’s waning reverberations. Uncharacteristically silent.

Not that, y’know, he’s normally Mr. Talkity Talk, but usually his silences feel like he has the words to fill them, he’s just withholding them. This though, this feels more like he doesn’t have any words at all. And he’s as confused by it as any of them, and most everyone else is confused by Batman being confused, and its this whole trickle down economy of confusion and its wrecking havoc on the value of the golden silence standard.

Of course, not everyone present is rendered spellbound with confusion.

“C’mon B,” Nightwing cajoles, leaning forward and practically radiating delight. “I think you know what you have to do now. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Its not likely to come around again.”

Red Hood snickers beneath his helmet and chimes in. “Yeah Pops, go ahead. You do this and you’ll actually have my respect for a whole twenty four hours. No, wait. Sixteen. No! Eight. Yeah, eight. Still a good deal.”

“Carpe diem, B,” Red Robin grins, leaning back as if to enjoy the show.

“Hey! Infringe on my trademark one more time, dude,” Signal throws a faux-glare at the former. Red Robin just quirks an eyebrow.

“And what, you’ll start saying Yum every time you eat a burger? Oh no. I’m hoist by my own petard.”

Signal flips him off with a grin and then redirects his attention back to Batman. “Yeah seriously though B, you kinda gotta do it now. Because if you don’t do it, then you’ll forever be the guy who didn’t do it, and you don’t want to be that guy, do you?”

“Yeah you really don’t want to be that guy,” Spoiler shouts out. “Nobody likes that guy. He’s the worst.”

“Do it, do it,” Black Bat starts chanting beside her, steadily picking up speed and volume. Several others start joining in. Even Robin appears to be slightly anticipatory, albeit trying very hard to hide it.

Batman sighs, and somehow everyone manages to hear it. Stills. Waits for....something? Nobody but them seems to have any clue what, but the air is thick and heavy with portentiousness. Something is about to happen, and all most of the heroes present could say for sure is it was something they never would have in a million years seen coming.

Finally, Batman straightens with the resigned air of a man about to have oh so many regrets. He crosses his arms, shakes his head, and in an absolute deadpan monotone, says:

“You are awful children. You know you’re killing me. You’re killing your father.”

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lily-drake · 3 years

Text

Fantasy/Twin AU

Sorry for being late and not posting for a bit. Was a bit burnt out and had writer block. I will go back to write the other days soon though. Also, sorry, I suck at writing wing aus, this is my first time doing it.

Earth J-236, an earth full of mystical life. An earth where everyone is born with wings. Your wings represented who you are; well not really, but that’s what people believed. If your wings were bright and colorful then you were obviously an amazing person, but if your wings were darker or had little color, then you have great evil in your soul. Marinette was born seconds after her twin, Damian. It takes a few years before your wings fully grow in, usually to about 6. But with the accelerated growth serums used in their artificial wombs, it took them till they were three for their feathers to sprout. Damian’s were black like their father’s with subtle hints of red like their mothers. Marinette’s were pure black, devoid of any color, and her mother was so proud of that. She was the League’s charm, for it’s believed that anyone with pure black wings was pure evil. Her only purpose being to protect her brother, nothing else was more important than her brother’s safety. She would die for him, because if he died she might as well have died as well as her only purpose for living would be gone.

Damian glared at his sister, his wings ruffling in annoyance. She was hovering close to him again, and she never said anything to him ever unless she was completely sure they were alone. He did not believe that his sister was or could ever be, “pure evil” just because of her wings. In fact, her mannerisms are the exact opposite of what people believed. She, in her own ways, is caring, sweet, and protective. He had seen, and helped, her nurse a baby bird that had fallen from its nest back to health. She would often place little things around the base for only him to find such as some extra baklava, a throwing knife, a drawing of someone, beads, or other random objects. Grandfather had always been extra hard on her, making sure she wouldn’t betray them, she wouldn’t become “evil enough to lose herself”. Sometimes she would sneak into his room at night, and it tore him apart to see silent tears run down his little sister's face as small black raven feathers fell onto the floor from her days worth of training. He had been learning how to fly, her wings had been clipped every two or three months so she could not leave the base. She had learned long ago to control her facial and wing expressions, but he could always see the droop in them and the sad shine in her eyes as she stood on the ground while he was in the air.

________

Marinette looked up and watched as the fiery Phoenix flew through the air setting Nada Parabat aflame. She didn’t feel much as she watched her grandfather get blown up. She only felt great anxiety and fear as she could not find her brother. She loved her brother, and if her job was to cause chaos, she would make sure she could prevent it from hurting him. Grandfather had told her about how cursed she was, it’s why they had to be extra tough on her, and she understood that. They couldn’t have her hurting anyone they needed, only the people they wanted gone. She was angry at grandfather yesterday for taking some of her feathers for failing a task, this must have been her fault. She didn’t want to hurt her brother, her wings had only proven nothing but destruction. She had to leave now, then she could go where no one else was, and she wouldn’t have to hurt anyone else. So like a coward, like the disgrace she was, she ran. She kept her wings tight against her back making sure that no one could grab them as she ran. An arrow hit one of them, but she didn’t have time to think about the burning pain as she ran and ran and ran farther and farther and farther away. Tears ran down her cheeks as she silently prayed that her brother would be okay.

She didn’t know how long she ran, but she knew it must have been a really long time as she had just collapsed from exhaustion in the woods. She looked back at her wings and slowly and carefully spread them out and hissed in pain from where the arrow had pierced her left wing. Drops of red slowly dripped down her feathers and dropped on the ground. She quickly closed them and made sure they were as small and put away as possible. She looked up at the trees made of brass with different colored jade leaves. Pearl-like apples growing on a few. She watched a baby griffon follow it’s mother in the distance, turtle ducks waddling to a pond somewhere nearby, deer nibbling on plants, she could hear the rustling of leaves and branches from unseen creatures and everything was getting more blurry and dark. She was cold, it felt very cold. She slowly unwound her wings from around herself and closed them tightly around her, but that didn’t stop the chill that went deep down to her bones. She was a failure, a mistake, she would only cause harm. Here she wouldn’t be able to do that, and if she died here, then no one would be hurt by her again, and wasn’t that such a nice thought.

________

Tom and Sabine had finally been able to hire some trusted employees and explore places in Tibet. They had made lots of money over the years with their successful bakery, and they thought now was a better time than ever to go on a real honeymoon as they hadn’t been able to afford it before when the bakery had first started. It was during one of these forest explorations when they saw a trail of little drops of blood and felt they needed to follow it. What they discovered broke their hearts. There lying on the cold forest floor was what appeared to be a child hugging their very black wings around them. They knew of the rumors and myths of black winged people, but they did not care. They believed that their wings were not what made them evil, but rather situations put into their lives. Sabine quickly checked for a pulse, and though it was slow she sighed in relief when she felt it. She quickly handed the small unconscious girl to Tom and they both quickly went to the nearest hospital. How could someone leave such a small child all alone to die like that? It looked as if she had been injured if the dried blood on the small fragile wings said anything. And worst of all, upon closer examination, they had been clipped, recently too.

As soon as they arrived they carried the small girl to the front and demanded that they take her in. They waited until the doctors were done and gave them permission to visit claiming to be the girl’s adopted parents. It wasn’t technically a lie, they would be soon even if Sabine had to force it to happen.

When Marinette woke up she knew something was off. She was under a blanket, she’s never been given a blanket before. The sent of bleach and chemicals were everywhere and it hurt her nose. There was a beeping noise next to her that was giving her a headache. She didn’t know where she was, and that was bad. She opened her eyes a small fraction so nobody could see she was awake and looked around as much as she could. The entire room was white and there were bright lights. There were two strange people waiting in chairs near where she was laying. She wondered if they were the ones who brought her here. Slowly she opened them up all the way and silently sat up. It’s best to make no noise, then she wouldn’t disturb anyone.

“Oh sweety, I’m so glad you’re awake.”

The woman said in a cheery and relieved manner, but she just continued to watch and study them silently. Her wings felt stiff against her back, though she made sure they didn’t move or give anything away.

“How are you feeling dear?”

Silence greeted them, and her face remained as impassive as ever. They wanted something, why else would they save a freak like her? What were they aiming for here?

“Did your parents hurt you? If so, we can take you away from them.”

Marinette’s eyes widened only a fraction. These were randoms, innocents if you will. They obviously had no idea who she was, and they seemed unafraid of her and her wings. Did they not know how dangerous she was, didn’t they know that black wings meant she was cursed? The man and the woman looked at eachother and spread their wings. Marinette was shocked, but she wouldn’t show it.

The large man had light brown eagle wings while the small woman had white and black woodpecker wings. She wanted to reach out and touch the feathers, but then something bad would happen to them, so she held her hands together.

“We don’t care what your wing color is. Your wings don’t define who you are, it’s what you do with your life that does. Can we please help you?”

The woman said sincerely as she gripped the man’s hand in hers. She felt a pull to them, something telling her to accept. She didn’t want to hurt them though. But maybe she could protect them? Maybe she could find a way around her curse and make sure they don’t get hurt? Slowly she nodded and they both looked so happy when she did. She hoped that she wouldn’t hurt them, they didn’t deserve to be cursed. Maybe if she didn’t touch them things would be ok. If she didn’t let them touch her then it wouldn’t spread. She could do this!

________

Apparently she couldn’t do it because this is a very affectionate family, and the first thing that happened before they let her sleep on their —super fluffy, pure Heaven— bed was give her a hug. She had made sure that her wings were tucked under her clothes and tight against her back the entire time though. So they didn’t touch her wings, so maybe that meant they wouldn’t be cursed.

It was strange, because the next morning they went to a courthouse, and she was adopted. She hadn’t said anything throughout the entire event, she just watched and observed what people did. They stayed in Tibet for another few days before they flew to Paris, France. This was supposed to be her new home. The city of light and love. Maybe here, it would stop her curse. It was so bright that it had to block out her darkness. She still always carried one of her knives with her, she felt naked without one. Tom and Sabine seemed to understand somehow, and said that it was her business and that was enough for them till she was ready to talk about it. It was strange not to be interrogated for now wanting to tell someone something.

Marinette had lived with the Dupain-Chengs for about a year now. It was strange really, they were honest business people and their joy was always sincere. They didn’t question much of what she did even though it was probably weird to them. They didn’t punish her for messing up like the league did, and they never went near her wings without permission. They never plucked her feathers, and they would often ask if they could preen her wings. She would refuse every time, but she would often wonder what it would be like to have someone else touch them. Think of what it would be like if she weren’t cursed. When it was time for school she would always wrap them around herself then tape them so no one would see or be able to touch them. Things were finally going well, she couldn’t risk it now!

There was a blonde brat that liked to act like she was above her, and because her wings were always hidden with no explanation she made sure everyone knew that she was “wingless”. She didn’t care though, being wingless was better than being evil winged. She never really said anything in class or to other students, she never gave much reaction keeping her stoic face up. The brat left her alone soon after for being a, “ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous freak.” And nobody was the wiser.

Being Lady Chaos was….the best thing that ever happened to her if she was being honest. Even with pure black wings, people still thought she was a hero. She never flew, she was scared she’d fall and die. She was never allowed to fly before, and even if she technically can do so now, it’s not worth the risk. Her partner though, Mr. Bug has gold, red, and black wings. He can fly through the air with ease she wished she desperately had. Sometimes after patrol she would go to the very top of the Eiffel Tower and just stretch her wings out as far out as she could. She would close her eyes as the wind blew past her and ruffled her feathers and pretend that she was soaring through the air.

________

Year three of living with Tom and Sabine she was comfortable talking to them more, and with Plagg there to control her chaos she finally let them touch her wings. It was strange really, she never took care of her wings, never cared enough to. When she first felt the hands on her feathers she had to will herself not to draw them back for fear of them plucking or ripped out. But Sabine’s hands were so gentle and smooth that they seemed to move on their own and go closer to her touch. Sabine would smile and hum as she gently preened the dark raven feathers that were soft and smooth. Maybe she could finally tell the class that she wasn’t wingless soon, and maybe they would be okay with it.

No, they would not as she learned from listening to her classmates talk to the new student, Lila Rossi. To them Lady Chaos was the only good black winged person because she was chasing after Mr. Bug to earn his affections. Lady Chaos was obviously evil before she met Mr. Bug and she would always be evil no matter what she did. Marinette felt nauseous that she ever thought about telling them the truth. She had never felt more betrayed than she felt now, because she had given them her trust, and they broke it without even knowing it. After that day, she made extra sure that her wings were hidden and wore a bit thicker clothing just in case. Tom and Sabine are a little worried about it, but she calmed them pretty quickly. She was fine, it wasn’t like they were all great friends to begin with. That’s probably why everyone sides with Lila and decides that she’s a terrible person.

She had tried leaving her past behind, pretending that she didn’t hurt and kill people. Pretend that she wasn’t a weapon. She tried to push it far away, but it wasn’t enough. It was never enough. She had abandoned her brother. She betrayed the league. She did unspeakable things to please someone who would never care about her, just her use. The city of lights seems duller than usual, it was probably her fault Hawkmoth came to be in the first place, afterall she was cursed to bring ruin everywhere she went.

________

Lila and Chloe thought it would be a great idea to bring everybody to the Crime Capital of the World for their senior trip. Probably to watch people flounder and worry when things go wrong, which they definitely would. She had stopped Hawkmoth a month before the trip, but Mr. Bug took all the credit for it. The arrogant self centered bas*. Adrien kept giving her side glances that always made her feel uncomfortable and slightly disgusted. During school he would try to touch her with every chance he’d get. He almost discovered her wings at one point. She couldn’t do anything about it before because of the stupid your-rich-so-do-whatever-the-heck-you-want treatment. Now that Adrien’s family fortune is gone, and people don’t trust him because of what his dad did, so he has to be more careful. He now kept some distance, which she was extremely grateful for.

She would have broken his hand, she had imagined it plus other things more than once. But then Tom and Sabine would get in trouble by Gabriel for her actions. They didn’t deserve that, they had been nothing but good to her since they found her abandoned in that forest.

She would be fine though, as long as Lila had a grip on his arm and she was in the back, away from him. She listened to their tour guide, Richard Grayson, talk about the history and importance of WE. The architecture was brilliant really, and you couldn’t blame her for having to draw and sketch it. She often thought of Damian when she sketched. She used to leave drawings for him around the base, little things that expressed her adoration for him without getting too close. She wondered if he was still with the league, had he escaped, did he die? She hoped that wasn’t the case, she hoped that he would be alive and well. Bright orange and white wings nearly slapped her in the face if she hadn’t stopped right before the movement had occurred.

“Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry Marinette! Sometimes my wings just spasm out of control like that! I didn’t hurt you did I?”

Marinette just silently rolled her eyes and took a few steps backward and watched the class glare at her waiting for her to comfort the liar. She would never lower herself to do that. She was still an Al Ghul afterall, even if she did leave it behind when she fled. She was thankful when lunch came, she waited far away from the line and watched silently from a dark corner to make sure no one would hurt her. Then she felt it, a hand touching her back feeling for something. She quickly and instinctively grabbed the arm and twisted it behind them pinning it behind their back at a painful angle.

“Ukhti, let go.”

Marinette knew that voice. She remembered that name and she could feel her heart stop. The lunchroom was silent as they watched the small bluenette silently and quickly release the “Ice Prince”. Everyone watched with bated breaths to see what would happen next. The boy’s wings were ruffled in agitation and fear.

“Where are they?”

He demanded. Marinette knew what he was talking about, she simply wrapped her arms around herself and turned her head away definitely.

“Why are you hiding them, Malak? Please.”

Marinette could feel her wings moving in defiance to what her brain was saying. They wanted to be shown, they wanted to be touched by her brother again. She looked down and slowly uncrossed her arms from her body. Damian gently took her hands in his and looked directly into her eyes.

“Everything will be ok, Taw'ami.”

She slowly nodded and with shaky fingers reached under her hoodie and began to slowly unwrap the tape that kept her wings confined. When all the tape was in her hands she hesitantly removed her hoodie and let her wings unfold from around herself and into the open. She had made shirts that let her wings slip through slits in the back that were tailored to her wings specifically and were most comfortable. Damian marveled at how big her raven wings had grown and how shiny they were. He reached out a hand slowly and gently ran his fingers down the inky black that was her wings.

Shouts of fear and accusations were thrown at her, mostly from her class. She didn’t listen though, she just observed. The tour guide was coming over now, probably to kick her out. He had such lovely wings though, they were a deep navy blue that looked similar to black with dark red and light blue running through them. They looked so well kept and soft.

“Damian, what’s happening? Who is this?”

“Grayson, meet my twin sister, Marinette.”

“You have a twin?!”

Richard exclaimed loudly, drawing even more attention. The insults and jeers stopped after that. She looked over at the class and smirked when she saw their shock and confusion.

“Yes, keep up.”

Damian said brusquely. They must know each other well then.

“Come, we must take her away from these imbeciles and take her to father.”

Damian grabbed her wrist and tugged, her quickly falling into line like she used to when he did this.

“Now tell me Ukhti, have you been taking care of yourself?”

She nodded as they came to an elevator and walked into it with Richard right behind them. Marinette felt her feathers fluff up nervously. She wasn’t in control of them right now, and she wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. Damian ran a hand gently down her right wing trying to smooth it down.

“Things will be fine Marinette. Just watch, father will be glad to meet you.”

She looked him in the eyes and squeezed her hands together.

“No, I have not told him about you. Things will be fine though.”

He seemed to understand her weird way of communicating, she still didn’t understand how he did. Richard cleared his throat and both turned to look at him.

“Sorry to interrupt, but um…I’m Dick, I’m Damian’s, and yours I guess, oldest brother. It’s nice to meet you.”

He spread his wings in a welcoming way that meant and showed safety and peace. Her wings involuntarily rose up as well to reciprocate his greeting. When the door to the elevator opened again she quickly forced her wings to hide on her back trying desperately to keep them from sight. Damian didn’t seem to like it, but he just grabbed her wrist and dragged her to a large office room. The plaque on the door read “CEO Bruce Wayne”. Their father was Bruce Wayne?! She couldn’t go in there, she couldn’t curse him and ruin his life. No, she had already messed up at the league, and she was just barely not messing up with Tom and Sabine, she would definitely ruin Bruce Wayne’s life, and she would not allow that to happen. She tugged at his grip desperately trying to get away.

“Marinette, stop. Your wings are not cursed, that was a lie.”

Marinette shook her head and kept trying to escape the iron-like grip.

“Do you not trust me anymore?”

She froze at that and quickly shook her head. Of course she trusted him, it was her that shouldn’t be trusted.

“Good, because we’re going in now.”

And that was that, because the door was now open and she was being dragged into the office room where their father and another boy with large bags under his eyes stared at them. Damian puffed up his chest and feathers letting his strong, big, and brilliant wings rise into the air.

“Father, this is your daughter, my twin, Marinette Erebus Al Ghul-Wayne.”

They both stared at her in shock and Marinette slowly and cautiously raised her despicable black wings into the air. Both stared at them in awe before looking back at her, but she didn’t meet their eyes. She didn’t want to see the disgust and hatred in their eyes.

After a few moments she looked up and saw their wings greeting hers like Dick’s had. Their father’s wings were a mix of black and dark grey alternating the color in each row of feathers. The other boy’s were black at the top and slowly turned to red at the bottom. But they were welcoming her openly, so that must mean something! Well, it was time to get to know her father, she guessed.

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xo-cuteplosion-xo · 3 years

Note

hello its me atsushi can i please request chuuya, dazai and yosano separately with a gn s/o who like flinches whenever someone raises their hand im sorry if this is like too much but its a t hing i do bc trauma ig? im sorry am i doing this right- ALSO if you cant thats fine just make sure you take care of yourself bc you deserve the world 💜💜💜 -atsushi

Hope you don’t mind that I’ve put this into HC/drabble form! (I did try to write in one-shot form, but that was not going to work. So please excuse the lack of detail into the reason and things being slightly brushed off and undetailed)

Falls into comfort.

Words: 999

Enjoy!

Comfort for a reader who flinches whenever someone raises their hand| |Chuuya/Dazai/Yosano x Reader|

~Chuuya~ (319 words)

Chuuya had always been loud, his natural deflect for his height. He’d been with them, his s/o for a few years now. He’s always been careful with them. It was an instinct to handle the things he cared for delicately. It didn’t matter how strong they were, he just felt the need to be careful. It was out of character for his temper to control him around his s/o. He’d noticed tiny flinches when he reached over them, but he’d never thought much of it. People often retracted from him. He didn’t mind, but he’d never seen the fear so bad in a flinch before.

It had been a rough week, with so much going wrong Chuuya was past his limit.

He always kept the reins tightly held around you, but tonight he didn’t realize you were off-set, different, less approachable.

He’d summed it up to caution or your own stress.

He’d never thought it would be a trauma reaction.

It’s common for people who’ve gone through such things to go into a cautious state they don’t notice.

The tightness of your movements, the somewhat distant look.

He’d only reached out to you.

Yes, his expression was slightly aggressive, more than usual when he’s around you.

Yet he hadn’t expected you to flinch back so much.

He’d instantly retracted his hand and stared at you before his pride tried to wiggle around.

He wanted to shout but instead took the time to shove away his temper.

“Y/n, are you afraid of me?”

An honest question.

If you shake your head he stands there for a while until he makes the connection and balls his hands into fists.

“Who?”

A one-word question that asked many more questions.

There was always a reason, and he’d get that reason.

If you tell him it’s nothing he’ll let it go for the moment.

He’ll then offer you sweets and cuddles.

~Dazai~ (338 words)

Dazai would watch them from far off. There were few moments in time when his eyes were not on Y/n. They were his world, his only reason to keep going. Of course, there were certain things he’d love to do with them. Such as a double suicide. He, however, knew he wanted to see them live, and if that meant he had to go on so be it. Yet, he also hated seeing them in constant suffering, or at least, to him it appeared like that. Even if others didn’t notice the small jerks their body made he did. It drove him insane not understanding why. It was clearly trauma-related. That was the only conclusion his mind would come to. Today he sat with them at the table after a rough day.

You looked tired like you hadn’t slept well in a while.

“Something bothering you?”

Dazai was always pestering you with questions. Trying to get you to open up.

When you insist you’re alright he pecks your cheek and stands.

A little while later when he returns with a glass of water he sets it down and reaches.

The second your body moves away he drops his hand.

“You’re afraid.'' He knew it didn’t mean you were necessarily afraid of him.

Yet, it still hurt because you knew just how shitty a person he had been.

He says nothing after that. He’s waiting for you.

When you do reach for him he wraps his arms around you. He’s slow as to not startle you.

He runs his hands through your hair and snuggles his head into the crook of your neck.

On a reflex, he began telling you how much he loves you. He tells you, you're safe. He keeps you in his arms until you’re completely relaxed.

Even then he does not break away from you. His fingers trace along your back as he carries you to the bedroom for cuddles.

He’s not letting you go until he’s forced to work by Kunikida’s obnoxious calls.

~Yosano~ (342 words)

Yosano would observe her s/o for a while. When they flinch she’d make a mental note. When they reserve themselves to privacy, she notes it. She’s always been like this. She was worried from two perspectives, as a doctor, and as their s/o. She knew the signs of what she was seeing. She knew what it was that she was seeing. She knew how to deal with physical injuries, but dealing with mental injuries was a whole other league. Eventually, she decided to help and offer comfort.

She waited for you, a glass of champagne open.

She sipped on it as she read over her notes.

When you walked through the door she waved you over.

Sliding you a glass she started a light chatter.

She waited until you were relaxed to ask if you were doing alright.

She didn't exactly know where to start this conversation.

She’d ask if there was anything you wanted to tell her.

If you tell her there isn’t anything she may sigh and take a few more sips of her drink before tapping her pen on the counter.

“Dearest, I’ve noticed a few things lately. I just want to make sure that you’re doing alright.”

If you still don’t open up she’ll accept defeat and offer you a small kiss before she goes to shower and get ready for the night.

If one night she makes the small mistake of raising her hand towards you she’ll instantly back up and curse herself.

Her first instinct is to give you space.

If you hardly noticed your own reaction, because it’s almost normal to you now, she’s confused.

If you reach for her she’ll offer her body to be used for comfort.

Whether it’s clinging to her, hugging each other, or walking off to snuggle in each other's company, she’s ready to listen.

If you decide to explain she’s quick to hide her displeasure in what caused this.

If you don’t want to tell her she offers comfort with words, whispering how you’re safe with her.

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