#also it was going to be in shadow so would that be implied or on-screen... I do not know

[ask-the-totally-real-peppino]

That cannibalism tag feels like it's getting really close to being used. The real question is: Is it going to be on screen or implied?

(Surprise, we're using it now!!! (silly!!!)

Silly aside: I don't know if we're getting close to that just yet! But I will give out a warning if and/or when we do!)

#ooc post #originally I did have an implied moment in the script but I decided against it last moment #so a little behind the scenes for ya #also it was going to be in shadow so would that be implied or on-screen... I do not know #idk if I will use that scene so we may never know #but there are some asks with more opportunities so we'll see #I feel like I am saying 'we'll see' a lot but it is true

[zanarkandskylines]

Hiii omg I love your writings so much!!

May i request texting katsuki while reader is drunk in a bar (maybe bc reader just broke up with her previous boyfriend or sth. It’s up to you but please make it spicy 🔥) (also 18+ please 🥹)

ohhhh the things swirling in my head about this!!! thank you for the request nonnie & hope it delivers! 💜

on the rocks

『 ♡ 』  k.bakugo x fem!reader ꒰ pro-hero au | age 24 | friends to fwb ꒱ ⇢ your week couldn’t get any worse. between a screw up at work and getting dumped out of the blue, you needed to desperately let off some steam. thank goodness the girls were more than happy to take you out for the night in the city and spoil you with a good time. everything’s fine until you receive a text that spirals into an unpredicted hookup.

꒰ tags & warnings ꒱ 18+ MDNI mentions of alcohol, mild/implied smut, suggestive texting, friends to friends with benefits, heavy flirting, sexually comfortable reader, reader went through a break-up, soft bakugo, fluffy ꒰ cross posted to ao3 | wc; ~2.6k ꒱ -`✧ katsuki bakugo masterlist

The bartender hands you the drink you ordered, nodding a thanks when you smile at her. You’re not drunk, per se, but you’re definitely buzzed - that warm and fuzzy feeling dancing through your veins, letting you relax for the first time all week. Tonight's goal was to think about absolutely nothing, to let go of all the shit weighing on your shoulders. Even if it's just for one night, anything to shake away the pain you've been carrying.

But the alcohol seems to be betraying you, forcibly shoving those thoughts to the forefront of your mind instead of burying them.

Memories of your ex begin to haunt you as your mind wanders aimlessly, the dam bursting that was keeping it all at bay. You try and shake your head to rid yourself of the feelings, but they just wouldn’t go away.

God, fuck him and every false promise he made to you.

Some people would consider three months a short amount of time, but to you, it felt like an eternity. He seemed so sweet, caring and kind when you first met, but once he forcibly ripped off your rose-colored glasses? He was nothing but a walking pile of shit.

Suddenly, your phone dings on the bar, lighting up to show a text message notification.

'Who the fuck is texting me so late?'

You blink a few times, re-reading the contact name before it registers: Katsuki Bakugo.

That's rather...odd. He's notorious for going to bed by 9pm - it’s almost midnight. You two were friends, sure, but never the 'text you in the middle of the night' type of friends. Curious to know what he wanted, you open the text to reveal nothing but a picture. When you squint through your hazy vision, you realize just what you're looking at.

It's a picture of Bakugo from the neck down, laying on his bed in nothing but grey sweats that are tugged down and nestled at the bottom of his hip bones. The pose accentuates the delicious deep V below his abs and shows the blonde trail disappearing underneath the hem of his sweatpants. The shadows trace each well-earned muscle, perfectly outlining them in the dim light of his bedroom.

Was this meant for you? Did he send it to you by accident? Your mind goes blank, stopping your previous train of thought about your stupid ex.

…did he send it to you on purpose? Your core pulses at the thought, causing you to cross your legs defensively.

Right on queue, another text pops up, your phone vibrating in your hands.

[katsuki] fuck, sorry. that was an accident

That was a bold face fucking lie, and you knew it. Bakugo's not that stupid to send the wrong text by mistake, especially a selfie. There's no way in hell he would even take a picture like that for someone unless he wanted it to be seen.

Liquid courage does you a favor when you reply, loosely teasing him about it.

[you] damn, katsuki. who's the lucky girl?

You don't notice Mina approaching you with how intently you're staring at your phone screen, startling you when she taps your shoulder.

"What are ya doing over here?! Come dance with us!" she pleads, pulling on your arm. She notices how you're clutching your phone like a lifeline and the coral tint on your cheeks. She quirks an eyebrow at you. "Who are you texting?"

Oh god, find a lie - fast! She'll see right through your facade if you don't.

"No one, just a spam text."

Mina stares at you - shit, she knows you're lying.

"You're a shit liar, babe. Who is it?"

"I got a random text from Katsuki," you admit, the flush in your cheeks deepening at his name. Are you into him, or is it the alcohol in your system? It's no secret that he's attractive, he's always been effortlessly handsome. You'd be lying if you said you hadn't checked him out a few times, but never acted on it. The two of you were friends and you’d assumed he didn't think much else of you.

Mina grabs the phone from your hands, entering in your passcode (how did she know it?!) and reading the texts. Her eyes blow open, pinching the screen to zoom in on the photo. You scramble to grab the phone back to quit her oogling as she's squealing with glee.

"Holy shit!" she yells. "Accident my ass, Blasty. Damn, that's hot."

"Mina! Keep your voice down," you beg, locking the screen to prevent anyone else from seeing.

"No one is listening over this music," she squawks, punching you lightly in the arm. "Come back to us soon you minx!"

And with that, she leaves you at the bar, returning to the dance circle with the rest of your girlfriends. Your phone vibrates a few more times in your hand and recaptures your attention.

[katsuki] thought you'd like a distraction [katsuki] shit, if this is weird, just tell me and i'll fuck off [katsuki] i should've just asked instead

So it was on purpose. You swallow hard as you shakily type out your reply, trying to keep your cool.

[you] it's not weird, what made you think of me? [katsuki] mina wouldn't shut the fuck up about you earlier. sent me pictures of you in the dress you have on, couldn't get it outta my head

When the fuck did Mina do that?! You had thought she was taking pictures of herself earlier at your apartment. That sneaky bitch!

[you] goddammit mina, i'm sorry about her. why would she send them to you?

You see the typing indicator pop up and disappear a few times before his response arrives.

[katsuki] you know how she is, playing matchmaker and shit with everybody [katsuki] honestly? i'm not mad about it [you] oh? [you] so that's why you sent it to me. hell of a pickup line kats [katsuki] fuck off [katsuki] i can't deny that you're gorgeous [you] yeah? feelings mutual

Your face is burning hot, sitting at the bar in disbelief that Bakugo's flirting with you. And it was all because he was infatuated with what you're wearing? He couldn't get it out of his head?

You're still debating on whether you want to yell at or thank Mina for igniting this fire. [katsuki] where are you right now? [you] sitting at the bar, some club in the city

Another picture is delivered to you on screen and has your jaw dropping to the floor.

The picture is closer to his face this time, cut off at his cheekbones and barely illuminated as Bakugo's fingers are parted over his mouth. His tongue is lazily hanging above his bottom lip with a string of salvia attached to one of his fingers.

Your legs twitch as you bite your lip, imagining his face slotted between your thighs.

[you] holy shit, katsuki...fuck [katsuki] find a bathroom or some dark corner [katsuki] there's more where that came from. just say the word, princess

The pet name is doing things to you that you didn't think was possible. Your overloaded with a sudden rush of arousal, heat twisting in your belly at his promise. Grabbing your bag from the chair, you bolt to the nearest bathroom and lock the door behind you. Luckily, this club's on the nicer side, the bathroom not being as scummy as you thought it would be. You set your things on the counter and grab your phone, turning the camera on and pointing it in the mirror.

If that's how he wanted to play? You could play right back.

[you] that deserves a reward

The photo attached shows your breast pushed closed together, daring to spill out of the top of your dress and wearing the poutiest lip you could muster.

Bakugo’s response is immediate.

[katsuki] goddamn, your tits look amazing in that dress [you] would you believe me if i said they look better out of it?

You turn the camera back on and click the record button, sensually slipping the top of your dress down and letting your breasts loosely lay over the bust. Your nipples are pebbled from the rousing desire flowing through you, making them standing perfectly at attention. You give the camera a wink and squeeze one of your breasts playfully. Once you're happy with the video, you send it with no hesitation and readjust your dress. [katsuki] holy fuck [katsuki] you alone? That's not the response you expected, but you roll with it. [you] yeah, one person bathroom

- Incoming Call: Katsuki Bakugo -

You stare at the contact screen for a few seconds before picking up.

"Hey Kat," you greet, nervousness wracking your body, the thrill of the situation making your heart flutter.

"I wanted 'ta hear your voice instead," Bakugo groans, heavy breaths following his words. "I never thought you'd...want to do this with me."

You can't help but laugh under your breath. "Never thought you wanted to, either."

You're thankful that your not drunk off your ass after all - you want to remember this. You're tipsy, but coherent.

And turned on to high heaven.

Bakugo breaks the silence before you cut him off. "I know you're fresh outta-"

"Katsuki, he's not worth mentioning. I'm focused on you right now."

"Yeah? Tell me more."

"I'd love to see what you're hiding under those sweats, Dynamight. I'm practically a puddle just thinking about it. How do you think my lips would look wrapped around you?"

You can hear Bakugo exhale into the phone and groan. He tries to hide it, but fails miserably.

"Cat got your tongue, huh? Too forward?"

"N-no. It's fuckin' hot. Shit," he whispers with baited breath. "God, what club are you at again?"

"The one near Shibuya station. Crystal Crown, I think. Why?"

There's a pause before you hear various clicks and a beep or two from his side before he answers.

"Changed my mind, this ain't happenin' over the phone the first time. You're 15 minutes from my place, I'm comin' to get ya."

You can feel your panties soak from your excitement, clenching at the thought of him just ravaging you in his car and not being able to make it back to his apartment before touching you like a man starved.

"Coming to sweep me off my feet or to fuck my brains out?" The words spill from your lips before you can stop them, but you don’t regret it when you hear Bakugo moan in response - loudly.

"Fuckin’ - have you been stockpilin’ this shit ‘ta say to me?" He laughs. “You’re gonna kill me before I leave the damn apartment.”

“Didn’t think you’d be so easy to play with,” you joke playfully, twirling a piece of your hair in your fingers. “Better get here before I change my mind, find some other rebound in this stupid club.”

“I’ll be your fuckin’ rebound any day of the week, sweetheart. Ain’t no guy in that building better than me.”

His confidence makes it difficult to bite back the moan in your throat.

“Guess you need to prove it. Get your ass over here, I’ll be out front. You better be wearing those sweats.”

You’re about to hang up when you hear Bakugo say something quietly, too muted for you to make out right away.

“Kats?”

He clears his throat before repeating himself, his voice soft and low. “You sure y’want this? I don’t wanna fuck anythin’ up or whatever.”

“You won’t fuck anything up, nothing wrong with friends fucking with no strings attached. I already flashed my tits at you, no turning back now.”

You subtly hear him let go of the breath he was holding and a hollow chuckle, sounding relieved at your answer.

“Good. See ya soon.”

The line ends with a click, leaving you with your thoughts while staring in the bathroom mirror. You didn’t realize how badly you’ve been shaking until you attempt to walk, unexpectedly stumbling like a baby deer on your heels. Once you gather yourself, you exit the bathroom and hurry over to the dance floor. Mina spots you, rolling her eyes and placing her hands on her hips when you approach the group.

“Where the hell have you been?!” She shouts over the music. “I was starting to think you died in there.”

“I’m heading home,” you say while waving your hand, brushing away her worries.

“Oh…oh my god. Is Bakugo coming to get you?!”

“Mina!”

Jiro and Uraraka turn in your direction, yelling in unison. “Bakugo?!?!”

You palm your face, desperately attempting to hide your flared cheeks as the girls squeal and cheer for you.

“Stop it! We’re still just friends!”

Mina clicks her tongue. “Uh-huh. That’s what I said about Kiri a year ago, and now look at us!”

“You gotta let us know how it goes,” Uraraka winks, elbowing you in the rib. "Rumor has it he lives up to his hero name in bed."

Before the interrogation continues, you back away from the group with a smile and turn for the entrance. You slide through the doors and slip out onto the sidewalk and see Bakugo parked out front, smiling as his eyes spot you on the busy street.

Has he ever smiled at you like that before?

He gets out of the car and walks around to greet you.

“Hey Katsu-”

Before you can process what’s happening, Bakugo’s got one hand on your waist and the other on the back of your neck. He gently leans you against the car as he swoops down to place a featherlight kiss to your lips. You squeak before melting into him, wrapping your arms around his neck. Sparks are flying through your whole body - a sensation you haven’t felt for a long time. When the two of you part, his eyes are half-lidded, cheeks flushed and lips parted with shallow breaths.

“Ready to go?” He asks, removing the hand from your neck and stroking your cheek with his thumb. Your heart is in your throat, strangling any words you try to say, so instead, you just nod ‘yes.’ Bakugo walks you to the passenger side and opens the door for you, just like any other time you’ve hung out. When he shuts the door and goes to walk to the drivers side, you finally notice he’s wearing the damn grey sweatpants.

The entire drive back to his place, Bakugo’s hand doesn’t leave your thigh. His fingers danced over your skin, playing with the hem of your dress and gingerly squeezing the plush surface every so often. You return the favor, walking your fingers up the inside of his thigh a few times, stopping short of the growing tent in his sweats. Pulling up to his apartment complex seems to take the breath out of both of you. He turns the car off and you sit idly in silence, it's only a minute or two, but feels like a lifetime.

Bakugo gets out first, jogging over to your side to open your door. He takes your hand as you stand, closing the door behind you and swiftly sweeping you off your feet into his arms, bridal style.

"Wow, do all the girls you bring home get this treatment?" you tease, planting a kiss on his warm cheek.

"Never had the pleasure of bringin' a princess home, so no."

That shuts you up and makes you quiver in his hold.

"I'm honored, sir Dynamight. Take me to your castle!" You swoon, dramatically leaning back with a hand over your head.

Bakugo shakes his head and grins, starting to jog through the parking lot and up the stairs with you. You hold onto his shoulders while giggling uncontrollably, ecstatic to see where the night takes you.

One things for certain - you haven't thought about your ex once. And you look forward to keeping it that way.

tags; @slayfics @maddietries

#bakugo x reader #katsuki bakugo x reader #bakugo x y/n #bakugo smut #bakugo fluff #katsuki bakugo #bakugou x y/n #bakugou x reader #katsuki bakugou #bnha bakugo #katsuki bakugou x reader #my hero academia smut #☆.rei writes #☆.from the stars

[yawarakaizai]

Yan!dazai mindbreaking angel!reader ooo

ⵌ WATCH HER BREAK JUST LIKE A DOLL

SENDER Angel!Reader (Fem) RECIPITENT Yandere!Dazai (BSD) CONTENTS NSFW DARK CONTENT 16+ , obsession/possession, drugging, mind-breaking, reader is a hostage?, unhealthy relationship, dubcon/nc??, abuse (physical implied + mental), slight somnophilia, lowkey angsty, dazai is an asshole!, smut part isn't really detailed (WARNING; This relationship is unhealthy and should not be used as an example. Reader here does not hold Dazai accountable. If you are in an abusive relationship, please seek help from someone you trust or a professional! This fanfic does not idolise nor condone abuse within relationships) NOTE All these years of feeling inadequate and dumb. You were proud to have grown accustomed to Dazai's routine, even if he had promised you months ago he had changed. COMPANY Dolly

A/N combined 2 asks I ACCIDENTALLY DELETED THE ASK BUT IT WAS A YANDERE DAZAI NSFW IDEA im so sorryy ... also any other yan dazai req ! !! srry for the long wait ;; !! reader is an angel !! she was kind of created ,,? kinda like sigma !! the og req had an idea abt aphrodisiacs but ... not sure if i want to write about them just yet :( so sorry!!

Dutiful and pristine, you were a model wife.

Delicate and gorgeous. Just how he liked you to be.

You were brought her to serve as his prize. His reward for years of watching you from afar, stalking you like a lions meal. And you, pure and kind-hearted, not once ever suspected a thing.

Dazai was your co-worker after all. A smart, handsome man with a positive future.

Back before this all, you were nothing but a mere fascination to not only him, but your peers as well. You were never offended or hesitant to answer questions others would have about you. How you came to be, whether you remember anything, and if those feathers of yours regrow.

You coped with everything by dissociating as much as possible. If you could believe hard enough - Dazai was still the Dazai you knew before. The man next to you who'd pout when ordered to finish his report, the one who would turn to you and try to flirt or make you giggle, knowing Kunikida would never dare give out to you.

How could anyone, after all? You only manifested a few years ago. What was it, eleven, or twelve. You can't remember. There was little you remember anyway.

The first few months with Dazai were a blur. You'd have blacked out for the majority of the day until he'd wake you up and force you to eat. If you'd refuse, he'd starve you until you'd beg.

You had tried to protest by going days without food or water but he always got his way in the end. You had to give in at some point.

The biggest obstacle was finding the guts to hate Dazai.

You were afraid to hate him. You were afraid to hate.

He'd treat you so gently and with love. Funnily enough, you blamed yourself for it all. You didn't know why or how, but you felt like if you had done things different, none of this would have happened.

Osamu was sweet. He always did what was right. You respected Kunikida and Fukuzawa immensely. If they trust Dazai, then so did you.

If you knew that you were a lamb handed to a wolf, maybe you would have ran much earlier.

Dazai did not show himself upfront. No. First, it was the mind games. The ghastly figures that would appear outside of your window in the form of blackened shadows, doors you remember closing being wide open when you return home, bangs and creaks around your home when you lived alone, your items disappearing from their usual spot, laundry vanishing completely, and countless mysterious messages from anonymous.

Second, it was you asking for help. You turned to who you admired best. The Armed Detective Agency. Ranpo scanned your phone. He read each message out loud before looking at you, then back down at your screen. He slid it back towards you. " There's nothing suspicious. It's just a prank. "

You felt relief. Ranpo had his ability, after all. The ability to figure out any mystery. He could not be wrong.

How dumb of you to think Ranpo would not be the first person Dazai would go to for his sick joke.

Third was the fever. It hit you like a brick. It was the first time you had been infected with a human illness. Dazai kindly offered to tend to you in his free-time, as everyone else was too busy. You were grateful that Dazai, an important member of the ADA, was sacrificing his time in helping you. He'd stop by almost every day and night to feed you and make sure you're alright. The more you drank that chalky water he'd give you daily before bed, the more you lost your ability to walk.

Fourth, was the inevitable. You waking up in a bed that was harder than yours. Upon observing around you, you realised you weren't in your house. And you don't recall ever sleeping next to Dazai. Naturally, you were afraid. You were in hysterics while he tried to calm you down, telling you stories on how it's safer for you to be here, and that you were an ungrateful bitch for not being grateful enough to him.

You didn't want to hear any of it. So? You were kept in his lovely basement.

There, you were badly treated. Sleeping on cold concrete and eating what scraps he'd leave on the floor for you like some animal - any form of resistance was met with harsh punishment.

You lacked survival instincts. You not once ever felt the need to. Working in the ADA, you were nothing but an accountant. You'd hear about the missions they'd go on, but to you it all seemed like the things you'd see in action films.

But this was real. The way your heart pounded in your ears every time you'd hear steps coming down and the way he'd tug your hair 'till your scalp would burn is something that the actors would never be able to portray properly.

It took you a while to realise you weren't going to make any progress by doing the opposite of what he wanted.

Though, you were admittedly conflicted.

You provided Dazai something interesting. If you let him use you, to spare yourself of his harsh punishments, would he get bored of you? Would he rid of you completely? Would he treat you more terribly to purposely make you act out just so he'd have a reason to strike you?

These were questions that would keep you up.

You couldn't be strong-willed for long. Hope that Kunikida or anyone else would come looking for you dwindled as the days went by and none would come but Dazai.

At some point, you had lost your voice for a while. In that period, Dazai took complete advantage of the fact. When you could do nothing but thrash and cry until you submit underneath him.

He'd pull out, collapse next to you and hold you close to his bandaged chest and apologise until he fell asleep with your hot breath against his skin.

Dazai had been your first time. He took an angel's virginity. You were frozen for the rest of the night. You were almost neutral to what had happened. You even wiped his tears away with your thumb. He apologised. He must surely be remorseful. He promised he wouldn't do it again.

You lost your halo that day.

'' Fetch me some water, I'm thirsty. "

His hand came off your head where it had been caressing.

You looked up at him through long lashes, slowly nodding your head and raising to unstable feet.

Ever since you were allowed to stay out of the basement, he's been helping you regain your ability to walk after the drugs had left your knees shaky.

Your movement was slow but gradual, at least.

If you wished to remain with Dazai, you'd have to obey him. And obey you did.

You fetched him his requested glass of water albeit spilling a tad bit on your way back, you presented him with it.

He peered in, then slouched back into the couch, gaze returning to the television screen. " I said orange juice. "

You were sure he said water.

" But you said water. " Your voice was meek compared to his.

" Are you saying I am lying? "

That shut you up.

You apologised, and travelled back to the kitchen to throw away the water and replace it with orange juice.

You'd bring it back, and he'd look at you with disappointment. " Why are you bringing me orange juice when I asked for apple juice? "

He sounded so convincing that you thought maybe you were mishearing. You held the orange juice in your hand tightly, apologised, and left to get the apple juice.

By the time you returned, you were shaking. The apple juice was dripping from the overfilled glass and onto the floor. You were trembling. " It's- It's apple juice. Because y-ou said.. "

Your gaze was so distant. You were so far away. You were no longer on this Earth. Dazai had to keep you grounded.

" You must be taking me for a fucking idiot. "

He slapped the glass right from your hand, your whole body jolted in shock when the glass shattered against the floor.

You two had just been cuddling on the couch, watching a noir movie like a happy couple would.

Dazai had to keep you grounded. He had to keep you on a leash lest you wander.

" Get over here. " He sighed out after a long pause. Instinctively, you answered, " No. "

It's been so long since you were punished. You didn't want to go back to them.

" I didn't do anything wrong ", your voice croaked out to reason. You should have figured at some point Dazai would get bored of a normal life style.

" I said get over here, Y/N, my patience is already running low. I'm not going to hit you. "

And no matter what you've been through, you'd wake up praying Dazai was kinder. He had overheard your nightly prayers one day and in an act of irony or sympathy - hung a cross over your bed.

You fiddled with the hem of your skirt before waddling to between his spread thighs. Hand reaching for your hip and guiding you down to sit on his lap, you avoided eye contact.

You were clearly afraid of being punished for something that was not your fault. You couldn't tell Dazai it wasn't your fault. That would be calling Dazai a liar. And that would get you hit. Good wives don't get hit.

True to his word, he did not raise his hand to you at all.

Once he opened his mouth to speak, you attentively turned to him. His training worked wonders on you. He made himself your God in a matter of months. You no longer worried your pretty little head on whether Kunikida would save you. All you had to do was clean around the house and prepare Dazai's meal - living to serve your husband.

" You've been such a good girl, don't ruin it with this, 'kay? " He didn't sound mad anymore, but you could still pick up on the fact he was not exactly happy with you either.

" Yes, 'samu. " You nod, toying with your fingers nervously.

" You're such a sweet wife. So dumb. So cute. Love seeing you panic. "

You bit your bottom lip at that, chewing on skin.

'' D'ya think It's about time we started our own family? "

You thought at first you didn't hear him properly. You knew you were trying to convince yourself so.

" Ahah.. " You were hesitant. He picked up on it. His dark brown eyes felt like lasers. " I don't think I can. I'd love to, 'samu, but I can't. "

He let go of his soft grasp on your hip to allow you to stand up.

It was 9pm. You should head to bed.

His silence and poker face felt foreboding.

" Goodnight, love. " You tried to remain cheerful.

You went to bed earlier than Dazai. You climbed into your shared bed after having taken your nightly medication.

You fluffed out your wings - once white, now grey - then tossed and turned until you slept.

" Hah.. hah.. "

The burning heat is what hit you first.

Confusion was second.

" Wakin' up, pretty baby? "

Your mouth opened by itself before your eyes did, and when you tried to speak, to ask what is going on, you let out a soft moan.

You feel something sink in deeper in your pussy, the wooden bed frame hitting against a wall. Oh.

" 'Samu! " Your eyes shot open upon realising what was happening. Dazai had not done this for a while. The room was dark. Judging by how dry your mouth was, you had been fast asleep for a while.

Dazai was propped on his knees between your thighs, naked from what you could make out.

You looked further down to realise that he had shoved his dick in you while you were asleep. Your nightgown was pulled up over your stomach and his hands were holding on loosely to your hips.

Your hand reached out to grip onto his wrist, your legs unable to close. " No, you said you were gonna be better, you said no more of this. " Oh, you sweet poor child.

" It's alright. " He responded casually, pulling out just to slam back in. Although your vision was limited, you could feel his piercing stare studying your contorting features. " Just this once, yeah? "

You remembered your conversation with Dazai earlier. The sudden question about having a child.

When you tightened around the base of his shaft, he knew what you were thinking.

" Don't get all scared, baby. You'd make an amazing mom. " He would bend down, his mouth next to your ear as he'd begin thrusting.

You lay unresponsive and silent, staring at the ceiling - your only solace.

His huffs, groans and sighs muffle themselves on your pillow, your body would temporarily jolt in spasms with each orgasm.

Dazai continued for hours.

At some point, your hands were tangled in messy brown hair, your mouth hung and your voice would plead for 'more', 'there', 'deeper'.

Your sweet husband never pulled you back when you drifted off to space with your longing gaze.

He barely even met you in the eye.

Dazai finished his rounds before you noticed. It was a period of him not touching you that made you turn your head sideways to meet him laying next to you, his chest still raising and falling as he'd regain his breath.

You hadn't moved your body.

Adjusted to the dark, you couldn't help but stare at the pitiful man who spoke nothing to you.

An emptiness weighed your heart down and the liquid love he had planted in you seeped - unwelcomed.

You still felt bad for him. Surely, definitely, this was not his fault.

" I'd like a girl. "

Your lips trembled, you smiled to hide it.

" Two.. daughters. "

The corners of your lips quivered with your fake expression. He could see your eyes gloss and your shivering body, blinking rapidly until your tears slid down.

You never did want children. Not with Dazai, at least. Not for another few years. Not here, not now, not with him. Not this Dazai.

He left you waiting for a while, until he rolled onto his back and looked up at the ceiling that enamoured you with amazement when he had made love to you.

" Yeah. "

He sounded uncertain, before continuing his response. You had expected it. All these years of feeling inadequate and dumb. You were proud to have grown accustomed to Dazai's routine, even if he had promised you months ago he had changed.

" 'm sorry. "

" I know. "

©yawarakaizai 2023 ﹒﹒ reblogs appreciated! requests open :3

#dazai x reader #yandere dazai #bsd x reader #yandere dazai x reader #dazai osamu x reader

[blackstarchanx3new]

FSR rambles 17 ways Dark can insult you

It's been aWHILE.

Not Green practically begging this man to stop abusing Dark Link.

Shadow being insanely bitter at Green's position as the "Leader" of the group isn't well hidden here. When Shadow was in charge of things, he has shown to be very...Abusive. Like there's not a lot of ways around that lmfao. He was seemingly way less abusive to the Hinox's than the rock monster but like, we barely saw them interact.

Green appealing to Dark's emotions by stating "Shadow's kinds scary" is hilarious to me. Throw the shade Green Shadow deserves it a little at this point.

Green's got the right idea that introductions this late is probably a very bad idea given EVERYTHING going on.

I personally just love Dark chewing on Green's fingers it's cute. It's the kind of thing a cat would do lmfao. Green doesn't seem to mind it since he lets him do it till the next panel lmfao.

"Vaati's such a prick!" Shadow says. As if Vaati chose to make the curse sentient...And it wasn't like. A mistake. Quite the assumption there pal.

Ya think it would have assumed a physical form 7 years ago when he was created if that was the case but ehhhh-

As soon as Green falls into his anxieties Dark laughs like a crazy person. Because this dude feeds on emotions and that power is rated E for everyone, he doesn't discriminate against good or bad emotions.

Yeah well for laughing like a loon Daddy Shadow's gonna abuse him some more. You're a terrible dad Shadow Link.

Poor Green is concerned about Dark's wellbeing.

The fucking face Green makes after Dark is yanked is based on this meme:

Because it's funny as hell to me.

Also Shadow wrongly assumes what Dark's powers are:

I mean it's TRUE that he does feed off negativity. But the same is true for positive emotions too. Dark Link actually outright admits to preferring them on a few occasions. Dark Link is bad at being a parasitic curse.

Shadow dramatically stuffing Dark back into his hat is one of my favorite panels of this sequence. It's so dramatic and silly.

CALL. HIM. OUT. SIS.

Shadow needs to know when he's being an ass.

Green will give credit when it's due but Shadow was AWFUL TO THEM.

Some stuff to note:

Green doesn't actually answer the question on if he forgives Shadow or not. Haaaah.

That sure won't be relevant later, but it's pretty heavily implied he hasn't fully forgiven Shadow but IS willing to make an effort to accept him anyway.

Green being a bro here is smth I liked writing.

Green's hard to characterized so I ended up taking him in a different but SIMILAR direction to his cannon manga counterpart.

Like...Green didn't have a lot of his own traits vs the OG Link. He mainly just existed to be the voice of reason. Which is fine. But giving him depression means he can be a bit more interesting in my eyes than just "Diet Link" XDDDD

Green reminding us that him and Link had full conversations with each other at various points.

Which is. Interesting. I can't remember how much I dived into the concept of that in fsr rambles. But that is weird.

It suggests a level of detachment Link has from the four of them to the point he is able to have his own opinions/thoughts/and is able to do actions completely dethatched from all four.

Link is destinctly his own entity compared to the four of them...If that's the case. Where did that consciousness GO.

Perhaps a question to look into at a later date.

For now Green's giving some good ol hugs and thoughts to his pal Shadow Link.

Hah I'm sure you were glad Shadow.

And this page makes me laugh like hell at the implications in the 2nd to past panel.

I'm flabbergasted yall didn't catch that on release of these pages.

Like.

C'mon now.

They're blushing and touching each other.

Next panel they're missing articles of clothes (Their tunics specifically.) and have distinctly embarrassed looks on their faces, Green is hiding his neck for some reason and Blue's dialogue eludes to a substantial amount of time passing.

They did smth sus off screen and yall just, missed that.

I'm very disapointed nobody caught that till I pointed it out. I thought I was being too obvious with that shit.

Green hasn't exactly been hiding the fact he's been very eager for physical contact is all I'm saying.

LMFAO. Okay funny thing:

Shadow didn't have a bed. Because: Why the fuck would you give a shadow a bed.

Shadow also couldn't FEEL things in his weird limbo shadow state. Because he has been IN Link's bed before. Just couldn't actually feel it being comfortable.

No wonder dude has been touch starved to hell.

Idk what it is about the second to last page but I like Green and Shadow interacting and Shadow being a happy little camper.

Even though he's a dick he deserves to be happy with his family. (Smth I dislike strongly is how that dude got relegated to being Link's damn shadow at the end of the manga like...Noooooooo)

Green's had time to think about the things necessary for them all to live together which is sweet.

Link didn't do this before to have less suspicion he was actually gonna draw the sword.

Adding rooms to the house when he lives alone would have been SO SUS.

Green's excited at the prospect of their new life. Even if it'll be hard.

I did an oopsie in this page and didn't color shadow's glove and I'm not fixing it lmfao. Pretend it's there, this is a free comic on the internet. 😭

Blue yeeting a pillow at Green is funny since this is the second time this night the dude has told Green to get some damn sleep.

Greeeen can't sleep though.

I get it pal. I'm an insomniac too. 😞

Vaati's back.

And he cut his hair.

Dark's a silly goofy guy and noticed that because he's a creep.

There's just a whole other level of rude here because like:

Dark it's cut already wtf is he meant to do? X'D

Visually: it's worth noting they're in the temple Shadow dragged vio to at the beginning of the story.

Vaati has seemingly made that place his new home.

Dark's bluntness in the first panel just gets a kick out of me. He really thinks Vaati is dumb as hell and it shows.

Just to make it more obvious:

Dark wasn't ever referring to Vaati with the term "Master" in reference to he himself being Vaati's worker. He was referencing it in terms of Vaati being his teacher.

Which is like rubbing salt in a giant stab wound considering Vaati's former Master Ezlo and him weren't on good terms.

A fun thing to note: After Dark asks up front what he SHOULD call Vaati. Vaati responds with "Get off my bed" and didn't verbally protest to just "Vaati".

You'll notice Dark calls Vaati just "Vaati" from here on out I believe exclusively.

Which is pretty funny to think about because if Vaati had pulled his head out of his ass for a second and just told Dark what he preferred to be called, Dark probably would have actually listened in this moment since it was a genuine question.

Dark Link is only an annoyance if you fall into his traps. or have a bloated as hell ego like Vaati.

Vaati holding Dark Link like a spider by the leg here is so damn funny to me while Dark just, openly shows he would start touching this man the second he got to close if given the opportunity.

He did kiss Vaati without warning a few chapters ago so, don't really blame Vaati for wanting to avoid that. X'D

This entire sequence is just funny to me. But what's new.

Dark's being an oversharing weirdo and Vaati can't handle affection.

Smth I'm sure yall have noticed: Dark's expressions started off as creepy and disturbing and now have evolved into being goofy as fuck.

Dark can't emote properly. So the idea his face is just, all kinds of messed up expression wise has just as much comedic value as creep value. It can either be uncanny or silly.

The more frequently Dark makes "Disturbing expressions" the audience will get numb to it. As Dark becomes a character the audience outwardly is meant to like, smth disturbing about him becoming smth funny is a way of shifting perspective on a lot of aspects of him.

Smth I particularly like about the last panel is how Vaati visually cannot see dark but just knows he's there. XD

The fun thing about this scene is how you could really see it from both their perspectives here.

Vaati is very cynical. He's been hurt a lot (His own fault but still) he doesn't trust people and feels very alone. He misses the one time he connected with someone (Link from Minish cap).

But he's hesitant to make connections due to his attempt at redemption falling flat.

And then There's Dark Link:

Dark Link, is delusional to a degree but also painfully aware of other things.

His delusion is that he's a hero. Vaati's specifically which is why he compared Vaati to Zelda when he spoke to Shadow Link.

Vaati is the one he's protecting and keeping safe, Vaati is someone he cares about deeply even if Vaati, in every way: Sucks majorly.

But unlike Minish cap Link he doesn't try to get Vaati to change who he is.

He likes Vaati for who he is. Even if he thinks he's literally the worst.

At the end of the day: Dark isn't protecting Vaati because he was MADE too. He protects him because he wants too. And that's smth Vaati takes majorly for granted which we'll see down the line...

Dark's offering him unconditional love and Vaati can't understand that shit. Dark's loyalty confuses and just kinda frustrates him.

Since it's not logical. It's purely emotional.

Oh so much to say.

It's so hard to put into words what I think about their dynamic and why I love them. They're very messy but on equal footing. Vaati could push Shadow around and disrespect him in FSR I took the route Shadow and Vaati have an abusive parent and child relationship. But with Dark, that shit just doesn't work on Dark (at least for now) because the man is delusional as hell.

He truly believes he is not only smarter than Vaati but that he is THE ONLY THING protecting him and in a lot of ways: That's outright true.

A LOT of Dark Link's delusions have roots in reality. (Shadow saying they were "Family" so he wrongly associates Shadow as his "father" the only family Link had for instance.)

Vaati has to be kinda stupid from a writing standpoint (Cannon manga or not) because he needs to be defeat-able. His flaws boil down to making stupid as hell choices because he's narcisistic to a fault.

He can't think of shit outside of purely benefiting himself which...In the long run fucks himself over.

Dark is the kind of person you cannot argue with. Because he's insane.

Dark's not afraid of death, or pain...So it leads you to wonder what his weakness is. (And oh boy I hope that pays off haha.)

You throw something at Dark, he will spit it right back in your face 10 fold and he will be MEAN about it. Dark will low blow you into oblivion because it works.

Dark's morals are ALL OVER THE PLACE because he simultaneously thinks he is a curse made to destroy people emotionally and also thinks he's a hero.

In this case, Vaati's ego is Dark's ego.

At this point: Dark hasn't failed. He's done exactly as he's been asked in a round about way/depending on how you look at it.

I ain't even gonna pretend this scene wasn't meant to be sus.

Dark's very "Words are important" kind of guy for someone who sucks at communication haha.

Smth to note dialogue wise:

Dark's insult in the 2nd to last panel was him calling Vaati a baby effectively lmfao.

Since Picori are like mice/rats him calling Vaati a "Pup" was meant to insinuate Vaati is acting an infant Picori which just adds to the insult imo. Like instead of JUST calling Vaati a child he used language that was more suited to Vaati's upbringing.

That just cracks me up.

He went the extra mile to effectivly say "you're a poopy diaper baby huh?"

The last panel is just such: You have to get the last word huh? moment for Dark hahaha. X'D

1st panel:

Dark insinuates he is something OTHER than a curse which is odd. Though you can assume he just means he's a hero. But then again: Why does he think he's a hero exactly.

And the further conversation leads to a very odd revelation.

Vaati, by being in the four sword connected to Link, was cursed.

Which explains why Dark Link can see his memories when Vaati earlier in the comic referenced that he SHOULDN'T.

Woops.

This also explains why it works on Shadow Link. Because Shadow was magically attached to Link at the time of being cursed, Dark affects the three who were influenced by the sword and it's wielder at the time.

Dark's dialogue is further confusing/has weird implications when he asks Vaati:

"Perhaps you forgot what you WANTED, and where you WERE when you created me?"

Dark on multiple occasions has outright referenced the idea he was made to protect Vaati.

Which is weird if you think about it.

Dark wasn't made to just hurt people, but to protect something. Specifically VAATI, but this behavioral aspect makes a lot of sense when you consider he was created for.

Smth a bit morbid:

Dark Link outright states here he believes Link/his colors will kill him. And doesn't seem to care in the slightest.

Well Dark seems fine with his mortality as long as he gets to use it to protect Vaati.

2nd panel insult had me rolling it's so mean and out of pocket but what's new for Dark.

He brushes off Vaati's threats of curse breaking because: Well he's right about Vaati needing him at least for now.

We end on a very goofy note of Dark begging for more kisses if he does a good job. Which shows dude has optimism pouring out of his ass rn.

#fsr rambles #fsr #four swords adventures #four swords returns #four swords manga #four swords #four swords returns au #loz fsr au #loz #shadow link #dark link

[batrogers]

Linked Universe Time with PTSD

My friends have gotten the brunt of me going on these rambles at them directly, so I decided I’d make this everyone else’s problem as well. Especially after the recent update and the somewhat... questionable words exchanged between him and Twilight, I figured this could be a salve for people like me and a few friends going “What the fuck” about how out of the blue it feels.

A comment on my approach to canon: I am aware there are things shared in the Discord that are creator content, and on the Patreon to which not everyone has equal access or can even manage to relocate again with any ease. As such, like I do with most fandoms, I will be discounting those as “extra-canon” only referenced to augment the “core materials” which I am treating as the Tumblr account archive, because that is available to everyone, without an account and without paying.

I am, of course, including all base canon of the games in this analysis as well, which is to say all the canon directly included in the games and not including the Ocarina of Time or Twilight Princess comics. Interviews and so on are considered "extra-canon" here as well.

(Also I am in the Patreon and at the moment none of the “bonus” content is relevant to this anyways, for the curious. I am not, and have never been, in the Discord.)

Approx 1500 words.

IIII

I’m going to start from the comment everyone is making about this update: that Malon must be pregnant. Obviously nothing can prove or disprove that in and of itself, but I would argue that’s both not a necessary read of this and the mere question is actually part of my analysis: Link and Malon are, by word of god and how they’re drawn, in their thirties. They’ve been a couple since they were late teens to early twenties, and they very clearly want to have children from how they react to Twilight!

So why don’t they?

Infertility is suspected after two years of a (presumably) reproductive capable couple having unprotected sex without a pregnancy. If Time and Malon have been trying for ten to twenty years to have children (assuming their relationship started between 15-20, and currently are 30-35), they are incredibly infertile. It’s not out of the question, and a wild stroke of luck could still occur (my own cousin conceived unexpectedly after ten years of trying) but it does serve to investigate other reasons: maybe they had some reason they weren’t trying, either on purpose or because something was keeping them apart.

Something, perhaps, like a war.

The base game of Ocarina of Time does not leave Hyrule in a good state. We are told, in-game, that Hyrule was in a civil war when Link was a baby. His mother died getting him into the Lost Woods, where he was raised as an orphan. The Shadow Temple explicitly states it was used to imprison (and, strongly implied, torture) the enemies of the Hylian royal family. Ocarina of Time is the only game to use its unique script for Hylian, which suggests it wasn’t the original language and did not last into Twilight Princess later on.

Lon Lon Ranch itself is both very protected by location (very close to the Castle, close enough it supplies it with food and other supplies) and by a twelve foot log palisade. The castle grounds themselves have two guarded gates between it and Castletown (do they not trust their own populace?) and a vast number of guards on the hills around it. Kakariko also has guarded, gated entrances.

(This all has a game mechanics explanation, of course. Closing off each section with “gates” and high walls permits loading screens to feel justified and more immersive, and saves game data and space. It creates clearly defined, restricted areas for the console capabilities at the time. But they can still be interpreted this way, because that is ultimately still the world they built in the end.)

In addition to that base of implied precarious stability at home, we have the question of how the matter of Ganondorf was resolved. Time very briefly references pointing the finger at him and causing something to happen, but ultimately there is no result that would not have made the situation politically volatile for some time after. Even if they executed Ganondorf immediately, the bad blood between Hyrule and the Gerudo would’ve festered under Koume and Kotake as potential leaders. If they didn’t, and simply threw him out or banished him, the same would apply this time with Ganondorf still alive... and, if we assume that the Twilight Princess Ganondorf and this one are the same, he looks much older in-model than he does in Ocarian of Time which suggests this interpretation holds more weight.

It’s not really a question of “if” things devolved again after these events, but when and how badly. Remember, again, my comment that the script of Ocarina of Time is gone by the time of Twilight Princess. In addition, I've done an analysis of Twilight Princess game implications that do not imply Child Timeline has been peaceful, either.

But, of course, the question of what the games themselves leave us with doesn’t answer if Jojo went with this position within the canon of the comics. There is of course the potential to disregard this if someone doesn’t want to go the route of war post-game for Ocarina of Time. Many people just don’t want to write it, and that’s valid! I honestly don’t think Jojo really considered it.

But, there is evidence that could support it if you wanted to go there.

First of all, we have Time’s platemail. This is based off of the Hero’s Shade platemail in Twilight Princess. Disregarding all other factors, platemail directly implies a few things about Time’s social position at the start of Linked Universe: he has enough money, influence, and reason to have suffered the cost and length of time required to make what is extremely high-level, personalized (in size and design) armour. This means several things:

Time has social status. That armour is meant to be seen and noticed; it’s something that either was made for show (a “jewel of the crown” level of regard), or because he wanted people to notice it personally. He has money, or political favour: that shit’s expensive. He either paid for it himself, or someone paid for it for him. And he has cause to want the level of defense offered by platemail over chainmail or hardened leather. Platemail is uncomfortable. It's heavy, and reduces agility. You wear plate because you expect to get hit, and hit hard by something that could surpass chainmail or hardened leather. Something like a moblin... or an iron knuckle.

Malon directly references this in their visit to see her: “You’re in danger if you took your best gear.”

Time chose to wear his platemail to go after Dink, but this is armour he already owns before Dink ever entered the picture. In that same chapter, Malon directly states “all the times you’ve come home beaten and bleeding.” While they also joke that Talon doesn’t believe him, remember that Lon Lon Ranch is in a very protected place within Hyrule. A war that takes out the castle and central city is a war that’s very nearly lost. (Hyrule Warriors losing Zelda AND the castle was a devastating, near-lose condition and his Hyrule is probably in severe condition.) Talon can afford to consider the affairs Time gets up to none of his business.

But that doesn’t make them perfectly safe. Malon can fight, she’s been drawn with bow and arrow before. Lon Lon Ranch, as noted, is behind a tall palisade and there’s the implications that Talon’s deceased wife might’ve been a Gerudo. He’s also old enough that he was a young adult at least during the Civil War that killed Link’s mother.

And, somewhere between that picture of Time at sixteen or seventeen, when Malon promised she wanted to know what had happened to him, and the start of Linked Universe (a gap that directly implies that this was not the result of Majora’s Mask!) Link lost an eye and gained the markings of the Fierce Deity mask. And, with it, he gained what we’re told by Jojo (in a VERY old ask) is a terror of using it again.

I’m not going to presume to say what exactly his trauma might or might not look like. PTSD and similar things manifest differently for a lot of people. But it could make Time react badly to the visceral reminder of going back into serious combat. A reminder like, say, a long wait for someone to recover from a nearly-fatal injury. Add in that on long campaigns, letters from Malon may have been his only piece of home, letters that likely carry her terror for his safety with them nevermind the specific news they contain and...

He might not be in a good state of mind when setting out once more with one of the young men he’s pulled into this fight with him. He might struggle to think clearly, when he feels so responsible for their safety and remembers how Malon reacted to Twilight, all because of what he told her.

He might say things in a poor way, with fear weighing more heavily on his mind than reason.

#Linked Universe #LInked Universe Meta #LU Time Meta #long post #my writing #heavily influences my read on him in fanfic #LU Time #cw infertility #cw war #Like I'm not for or against pregnant Malon #I just have a knee-jerk reaction to it as a default expectation #And have been considering posting this for a while

[butterflydm]

pulling out bits from recent cast interviews re: s3

Several sets of interviews came out today! wotseries.com has six (!); looper.com, decider.com, & collider.com all have one each.

(speculation and spoilers for s3 and for the books through TFoH)

In Ceara's wotseries interview, we get this little hint:

WotSeries: How far along in the books are you? Ceara: I wouldn’t want to say because I read up to where we are in the scripts, and I think that would give away too much.

This implies to me that s3 is going to go a bit beyond The Shadow Rising, at least in places, because it's no secret that TSR is going to be the spine of the season.

We get more from Daniel:

WotSeries: How about any movement towards developing the relationship between Lan and Nynaeve in season three? Daniel: Season three, yes, it’s more of a build season for those two. There are some really great scenes, some stuff we’re really happy with. We do get to see some intimate stuff, not sexual stuff necessarily. So, some moments with them. But with Lan and Nynaeve, it’s this working toward what the book readers know it’s going to be. It all depends on how much time we get, how many seasons we get to do this thing. That’s a relationship that I’m really excited about and I love working with Zoë.

So, again, yeah, that really does make me feel like we're going to get one or two episodes at the start of the season where the whole crew is together and bonding. In the books, Lan and Nynaeve basically don't see each other at all between splitting up at the beginning of TSR and then eight million years later in ACoS. I do think that we might also get a reunion of at least some of the characters at the end of s3, though.

In Donal's interview:

Dónal: Well, I have big faith in Mat. I’m pretty confident in him. Regarding chatting to women.

This makes me wonder if we're getting Melindhra introduced next season. Because, uh, Mat has not really had a lot of success so far. I mean, apart from the very first episode.

Dónal: Well, there’s loads that you can look forward to in season 3. I mean, we’ve got much of it. I feel like I’ve filmed a good stretch of it, and I’ve really enjoyed the material and the new arc. This arc that I go on this season. And I think you can just expect things to be… there’s more moments with the characters to kind of learn about them in more quiet, subtle ways, more revealing ways. And I think it’s probably common knowledge that Mat does change his clothes between 2 and 3. You know, like really, we would have to ask questions and get concerned if he didn’t. I feel like I could tell you that. And I’m excited, man. I’m very happy to be wearing what I’m wearing.

Not that this should be shocking to anyone, lol, but Mat will have an arc next season! Dónal does a good job of not saying anything here though, lol. We WOULD have to be concerned if he hadn't changed clothes, yes, lol. I am excited to hear that Mat is getting some good character moments next season.

Ceara also shared this with us in the collider interview:

My script is always annotated with little quotes from the books, which I really love.

That's amazing! I think this is the first time anyone has mentioned it? That's a really neat way of giving the actors context for their lines.

We all knew that Elayne & Nynaeve would get a big story together in s3 but we get that confirmed:

We see Elayne bump into certain characters this season, but obviously, this cast is huge and growing all the time. I'm sure you cannot go into too many spoilers about Season 3, but for Ceara the actor, which characters are you really excited for Elayne to get to have more screen time with? COVENEY: I'm really excited to continue the journey that Zoë and I have started with Nynaeve and Elayne. I'm really excited to see where that goes because they've had such a rough start and were thrown into such extreme situations. So yeah, if the fans lovingly call it the Detective Agency, I'm excited to see if the business is thriving.

Natasha had two interviews that I've seen, one with decider and one with looper.

There's nothing for s3 in the decider interview that I could see, but from looper we get:

But it's not just about the evil deeds; it's also about the politics. When you come into Season 3 — without giving anything away — it opens up the mind to this more vulnerable side of Lanfear and where she's coming from. The relationship with Rand — there are scenes in Series 2 [where] you get little glimpses and nuggets of that, that there is a vulnerability there, or more reasons rather than just being dark and evil. Circling back to a previous comment, you said Lanfear knows what she wants. As Natasha, what do you think Lanfear wants? The goal in the whole realm of the world is, if I put it like … Beyoncé and Jay-Z. She wants to be the king and queen. What she wants is the Dragon and her to be together, have their kingdom, make some good choices. That's her main goal, and to shoo away anybody else that gets in the way of that.

So it sounds like we might be getting Lanfear's Big Offer (we could challenge the Creator) to Rand in s3, which would make sense.

#wot s3 speculation #wot speculation #wot #wheel of time #wot on prime #wot s2 spoilers #wot 2x8 spoilers #wot book spoilers #the fires of heaven

[kakujis]

ghost in the machine;

ft: bonten!mikey. pt 2 of this post.

warnings: afab!reader, pet names (baby, good girl), praise, reader is terrified of mikey LOL but warms up pretty fast, minor angst, pining, not implied kaku x reader, hes just mentioned cus i love him. 

wc: 2.2k

a/n:i couldn’t get this song out of my head after i heard it and i thought it fit bonten!mikey so well. he’s so sad. TnT. i really wanted to write pt 2 of mikey’s part also, so this is purrfect!! may be a bit ooc, but idc. soft bonten!mikey ftw!!! this almost stayed sfw but i am nothing but a wh*re. a one track mind. anyways. soft… this is so soft. please love hims. ):

mikey has seen it all before, how could he not, when he holds the world in his hands? when one single command could ruin someone’s life, could set destruction wherever he wanted. each day comes and goes, routine settling deep in his bones. there’s no spark behind his eyes, hollow and empty. but he’s pretty like a seashell, fragility hiding behind the dark shadow of himself. 

mikey didn’t think much when you were hired, wasn’t sure why he hired you anyway. but takeomi had insisted, have a pretty girl to take some of the burden off. but you ended up becoming less of his secretary and more of bonten’s secretary. and he found himself getting attached watching you flit around the headquarters like some maid. “ran, do you need help with that?” or “i’ll take the paperwork, don’t worry, kokonoi!” or “could someone please bring a warm tea up to mochi’s office?” 

you maneuvered your way into all of them, gentle touches and even gentler wordings ringing in their ears like a song. you were available, physically and maybe sometimes emotionally, but you stayed at arm’s length and mikey knew why. simply put, you were afraid. afraid of getting too close, afraid that you were disposable like the random grunts who pissed haru off. but you were especially afraid of mikey, all of them would kill or order someone to be killed without a single hesitation, but who did they bow down to? their king, who they all followed dutifully. high above the king reigned supreme, and who were you but a simple pawn? 

so you decided to drown in the work mikey gave you, heart hammering whenever he came too close. you needed this job, you needed to sustain yourself, you didn’t want to run back home, no you couldn’t run back home. even if you wanted to, you couldn’t put anyone you cared about in danger, not your parents nor your friends, knowing you stayed just a few feet away from the most dangerous men in Japan.

you had finished your work for today, finally done going through hours of mind-numbing paperwork. mikey had asked you to stay in late tonight and you had done just that, scrolling mindlessly on your phone waiting for your boss to come back. a means to distract yourself, since you loathed when it was just the two of you. that’s why you ran around the building like mad for other members that didn’t ignite your fight or flight. you hated the way your hands trembled when the door opened, automatically opening your texts with kakucho, not like he would come to your aid if you asked, never one to disobey his boss.

with the click of a lock, your stomach was flipping in waves, little alarm bells ringing through your brain and the grip on your phone became a little bit tighter. you could see him in your peripheral, the same expression as always, soulless, desolate, empty. sighing, he walked over to your desk, white locks falling by his eyes. there’s something on his mind as he reaches your desk, picking up some of your things, little trinkets you had gotten one day when ran mentioned how empty your desk was. he turns them in his hand, one by one, looking them over before setting them down. 

“s-so,” you start, cutting through the silence, voice already shaky. “what’d you need from me, boss?” your hands start to move, one smoothing over your thigh, the other clicking the lock screen button on your phone repeatedly. 

he doesn’t respond, instead sauntering to the couch and plopping down. he motions you over, two fingers up curled on his right hand, and you obey, slowly and shakily moving over. you sit opposite of him, trying to keep a good distance. if he’s upset by it, you can’t tell, dark eyes staring at you. 

“i’m lonely.” he states, eyes trailing over you. your heart pounds at what he could be inferring, there’s no way, right? he’s never made a move on you before, it’s always been strictly business, besides he’s had you make dozens of calls to satisfy his urges before. 

“oh! do you want me to make a call? i think, um, i think one of your girls should be free tonight, no?” you open your phone, contact: kakucho still visible on the top of your screen. are you alright? it reads, not realizing you had sent a text earlier, i’m scared. 

he’s fast, snatching the device from your hands and throwing it to the floor, theres a few clacks as it bounces away. “i don’t want em.” you’re trembling, chest heaving, as he’s the closest he’s ever been, leaning into you as you try to back away. your body reacts on its own, shrinking down into the plush cushions. you brace yourself, waiting for him to start grasping at your clothes, but he doesn’t. 

instead, one hand wraps around your wrist and gently tugs, “could.. you pretend you’re not scared of me? just for tonight?” his voice is so soft, whispery, and the hand around your wrist shakes lightly, like he’s the one who’s cornered.

you blink at him, there’s something in his eyes. something desperate and lonely, something that begs you to say yes. it melts away at your shaky core. just for tonight. you nod before adding, “i’ll try.” 

he moves closer still and you steady yourself, deep breaths to make sure you don’t flinch. “just pretend i’m kakucho or somethin’,” he mumbles, sinking his face into the crook of your neck. you blush, it’s not like you were into kakucho, he just made you feel comfortable. 

you’re still unsure what tonight will actually lead to, but you find yourself relaxing slightly in his arms. maybe it’s because you don’t have to do anything but stay there, in the embrace of a broken king.

“can i kiss you?” he asks, lips grazing your neck. 

“where?” you gulp, a hint of that cruddy feeling in your stomach, clammy hands fiddling with the fabric of his shirt. 

“here,” he breathes, pausing at your pulse-point. 

you mull it over, but just for a moment, before you mumble out a shaky, “okay.” 

he presses down and the kiss is soft, slow, and sweet. each time you anticipate that there will be something more, something harsh or heavy, there never is. every time he moves he asks again, “is it okay here?” and you say yes, over and over, as many times as he wants. 

eventually, your hands stop trembling with fear, but want. each time his lips hover over a new spot you find yourself breathing out a yes before he even asks. one of your absent minded hands card through the tresses of his hair, as he moves a hand to the top button of your dress shirt. 

“can i?” he asks, glancing up at you, a red tint on his cheeks. when you nod he seems to relax a bit as he slowly unbuttons your top revealing your bra underneath.

his hands ghost your exposed skin and you blush under his burning gaze. “you’re so beautiful.” his hands continue trailing, stopping at your waistband. “can-“ 

“yes,” you breathe, “you can.” it comes with an air of finality, the essence of letting go of your fear in return for what you desire. behind those cold, coal eyes, you think you see a spark, a dimly lit fire in the darkness of his soul. 

he’s a little bit faster, only slightly, wanting to relish in the way you’re under him as he slips the rest of your clothing off, slick cunt on display. you react to every touch, a whimper escaping your lips when he flits his fingers over your clit. 

he leans down, pressing his lips to yours. it’s tender, deep, and needy. he keeps kissing you as he slips one finger in, the gasp from your mouth allowing him to slip his tongue in. he inserts another, loving the way you arch up into him, messy tongues sliding over each other. he groans into you, feeling the way your needy cunt is already twitching on him, scissoring you open for later. 

“mikey..” you sigh in between kisses, drool running down the side of your mouth, “please,” grinding your hips into his hand. he pulls his hand out to undress himself and you whine, trying to find something to grind onto. he thinks you’re a greedy little thing, but it’s better than when you shy away from him, much better in fact. 

when he’s done, he hooks your legs up around his waist, giving his leaky cock a few pumps. he scans your face one more time as he lines up with your entrance, waiting to see if you’d tell him to stop. he would if you wanted him to, but you give no indication, instead watching his cock with pretty, wanting eyes. 

like before, he’s slow as he pushes in, the tightness of your pussy around his cock has his mind spinning. for you, it’s a little uncomfortable, the stretch being something you never get used to no matter who it is, but the gentleness and earlier prep has you melting into him. as he bottoms out, hips flush with yours, he presses his forehead to yours before leaning in for another kiss. 

he stills for a bit, eyes shut, savoring the feel of your wet, tight cunt. how long has he wanted you? if he thinks about it, probably since the day he met you. 

“mikey?” you ask, and he snaps his eyes open. you’re so pretty, he thinks, as even prettier words leave your mouth. “p-please fuck me already.” 

you mewl into him as he starts to move, steady rolls of his hips into yours sending jolts of pleasure throughout your body. he pants as he glances down, watching your greedy hole suck him in. 

“you feel so good,” he groans, “like you were fucking made for me.” using a particular harsh slam to punctuate his sentence.

your toes curl as the wet slap of skin reverberates throughout the room, before you’re putting your arms around him to tug him close, nails digging into his back. 

“you close, baby? gonna cum for me?” he murmurs into your ear, feeling you clench down on him. “you like that? you wanna be mine? want me to fill you up everyday, so everyone knows whose pussy this belongs to?”  he’s rambling now, eyes squeezed shut as your tight cunt continues to twitch on his cock. 

“yeah,” you babble back, his cock hitting your sweet spot over and over, “‘m wanna be yours, want you to fuck me everyday,” he’s so deep and fills you up so well, you can’t help but want this. “f-fuck, mikey, i’m cumming!” you gasp, clamping down and creaming all over him, body shaking as you whimper into his neck to ride out your high. 

“good girl,” he groans, “such a good job, baby.” it’s sort of dream-like for him, the way you moan and whine as he fucks you makes him want to keep going. but the continuous twitch of your walls has his hips stuttering out as he fills you up, hot white ropes of seed washing over your walls. he collapses on you, head buried in your neck, wrapping his arms snugly around you. 

its quiet as the two of you bask in the afterglow, save for the ring of your phone. you peek over and squeak, trying to move mikey off of you, “ah, it’s kakucho, he’s-“ 

mikey places a finger on your lips, brows knit with a pout on his face as he presses hard down on you to keep you in place. it’s foreign to see your boss look so childlike, but it’s pretty cute, your heart fluttering at the sight. “you didn’t pretend earlier, so you’re not allowed to mention him now.” he grumbles, and you tilt your head to the side wondering what he’s talking about. 

“just pretend i’m kakucho or somethin’”. 

“o-oh,” you stammer when the realization hits. “right.” you stare at the ceiling, wondering how you ended up in such a predicament, not too long ago you couldn’t even be within the same room as him without panicking. now, you’re in his arms, skin to skin with his seed inside you, your cheek resting on his head. you don’t notice the absentminded stroke of your hand on the small of his back. 

but mikey does and is once again struck by how someone as gentle as you wormed their way into the worst crime syndicate. he’s not sure if it’s love, but it’s probably something close. he’s like putty in your arms, unwilling and unable to pull out, even as you shift your legs to find a comfier position. 

“let me stay here,” he mumbles, drowsiness taking over his limbs. “just for tonight, you can hate me again tomorrow.” but you know it’s not just for tonight anymore. there will be tomorrow night or maybe it’ll be next week, but you know you’ll find yourself in his arms again.

“i never…” you mumble, frowning, you want to say you’ve never hated him. you were just afraid, but the words don’t come out stuck on your tongue. 

“don’t worry about it.” he yawns and you nod, it’s so different right now. you’re afraid to say anymore and ruin the atmosphere. 

mikey has seen it all, but he thinks that the view of you is the best he's seen. it’s quiet again and he stays on you, in you, as the gentle rise of your chest lulls him to sleep. 

#tokyo revengers #tokyo revengers smut #tokyo revengers x you #manjiro sano #manjiro sano x y/n #manjiro sano smut #mikey sano #bonten #bonten mikey #pibby writing #ok bai im gonna play league all day #god i love not proofreading #tokyo revengers x reader #manjiro sano x reader

[blurredcolour]

If You'll Be My Bodyguard | Part Four

If You'll Be My Bodyguard, I Can Be Your Long Lost Pal Masterlist

Summary: Halfway through awards season and tensions are running high – for Austin and his girlfriend privately, and for you professionally.

Pairing: Austin Butler x Female Bodyguard Reader

Warnings: Language, Vague References to Spiritualism/Afterlife, Reader Anxiety, Attack on Vehicle with Bricks, Reader Injury with Bricks, Reader Injury with Broken Glass, Blood, Bruises, Verbal Assault, Argument, Relationship Breakdown, Tears, Emotional Conversations, Emotional Vulnerability, Rating – T. 

Word Count: 4100

The pair of shadows cast upon the olive-green curtains on either side of Austin were rather striking, you had to admit. You flipped back and forth between the images Maddie had sent you, focusing on Elvis’s silhouette and the shadow to Austin’s right as you stood beneath the shade of the porch, waiting to head out to the Oscar Nominee’s Luncheon at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. You were so focused on zooming in that you missed the scuff of Austin’s boots behind you, once again only becoming aware of his presence when the weight of his chin came to rest on your shoulder.

“Whatcha got there, Betty?” He asked curiously, voice still a little raspy from sleep as he had only been awake for forty-five minutes.

“Just some stuff from Maddie, Mr. Butler, how’re you this morning?” You tried to brush it off as nothing, tried to turn to face him, intending to also put some distance between the skin of your neck and the minty, warmth of his breath.

His arms reached out on either side of you, caging you in, as his hands laid over yours to tilt the phone screen at a better angle for him to see the image you were looking at.

“I recognize that curtain…” He murmured thoughtfully.

He zoomed out before swiping between the photos, tensing behind you. You held your breath, deeply uncertain what his reaction to this might be, and stayed perfectly still until he decided to reveal his thinking.

“Well I’ll be…Isn’t that a comforting thought…” He chuckled warmly before straightening and laying a hand on your shoulder. You could feel the warmth of his skin through the fabric of your jacket. “Would you send me those?”

“I…absolutely Mr. Butler…” You nodded with a quick smile. “Are you ready to head out?” You asked, implying that it was time to go without strictly saying so.

“I’d better be, or Kate might kill us all.” He grinned and squeezed your shoulder before heading over to the car where Ari was waiting patiently.

While the cocktail hour and luncheon itself seemed quite lovely, you did not envy the brutal press circuit by the pool afterward. It was nearly dark by the time you were home and settled in for the evening. As the next day was Valentine’s Day, Austin’s girlfriend had expressly forbidden anyone from entering the main house for the entire day. You took advantage of the free time to catch up on laundry and some errands to prepare for the trip back to London on Friday.

You also took some time to mentally prepare yourself for Wednesday – Austin’s girlfriend would be joining him for the Santa Barbara Film Festival Virtuoso Award ceremony. Which would entail at least three hours round trip with her in the car. As they emerged Wednesday afternoon, all smiles, looking perfectly matched and glamourous, you hoped that your dread had been all for naught. Perhaps the day alone had done them a world of good. You viciously stamped down the twinge of jealously that plucked at your heartstrings at that thought as you climbed into the front seat, once again happy to let Ari take full responsibility inside the vehicle.

Once past Ventura, the drive actually became quite beautiful with stunning views out over the ocean as the car neared Santa Barbara. Kate seemed only mildly annoyed at your arrival time as you pulled up to the red carpet and happily led Austin through his press duties as you followed along behind the cameras, as usual. You could not help but note that she truly loved her job, and you took a moment to recognize how grateful you were for the opportunity fate had afforded you to work with her – brevity and unfortunate circumstances aside.

While the festival had blocked off a few streets around The Arlington Theatre, there was so much humanity milling about that departure was a painstaking process. Austin stood cradling his award proudly, chatting with Ke Huy Quan who was also waiting for his car to wend its way to the back door of the theatre. Austin’s girlfriend was off to the side taking selfies with some friends she’d run into. There was nothing remarkable about the scene before you whatsoever. And yet you felt utterly ill at ease.

The sight of Ari pulling up to the curb had relief washing over you and you might have been a little bit insistent that the passengers get into the car, but their only comment was a raised eyebrow from Austin and some severe side-eye from the girlfriend. With one final scan of the area, you climbed into the front seat beside Ari and took a slow breath.

“Betty, could you put this in the cup holder for me? I’m worried I might poke my eye out with it.” Austin passed you his award between the seats and you set it carefully out of the way as the car slowly crept forward.

Your legs ached with the urge to bounce, and you pressed your palms down firmly onto your knees to try and suppress the need to release your nervous energy, focusing instead on scanning through the crowds of people waving and cheering. The flash of paparazzi cameras. The sea of humanity that was somewhat corralled but still hindering the progress of the car.

At last, Ari was able to turn onto the street, pointed towards the freeway back to Los Angeles, but then again so were most of the other vehicles. Over the din of the crowd, dampened by the frame of the car, you heard something. Someone calling out Austin’s name in pure hatred. Your head snapped back over your right shoulder, and you squinted into the dim light of the street, into the sea of faces. Your eyes shot wide as they found him. Watched him reach into a bag at his hip and procure a brick in his meaty hand, winding up for a throw.

“Get down! Cover your heads!” You barked out sharply, punching the release on your seatbelt and scrambling over the console to try and get between the projectile and Austin.

“What the fuck are you…” Austin’s girlfriend snapped at you, sneering as you were suddenly coming towards her.

The impact of the brick against the trunk of the car had her screaming and complying. You were briefly pleased to see Austin was already folded as far forward as your recently vacated seat would allow, his hands over his head. You crawled over him, arms braced on the seats in front and behind him to hold your weight while you covered his body with yours. The window beside him exploded in a shower of tinkling glass as another brick finally found its target. You felt it clip the back of your shoulder before rolling to land on your legs where they rested on the seat between Austin and his shrieking girlfriend.

You barely had time to formulate a plan before another brick came sailing through the back window in another spray of glass shards, slamming into your side.

“Ari, get us out of here now!” You shouted, certain that both of them were here again. The man and that woman who had refused to show her face. There was no way one person could throw this many bricks this quickly.

“Hold on tight.” He replied as another brick caught you squarely in the back, knocking the wind out of you.

“Betty, Betty are you ok?!” You could hear Austin’s muffled voice below you, somewhat drowned out by the screaming, but you did not have time to reply as Ari threw the car into reverse and pulled out into the other lane, driving the correct direction, just facing the wrong way.

There was one final, parting shot the shattered the window beside your empty front seat and then you were finally out of range.

“Turning around.” Ari warned you shortly before expertly throwing the car into a controlled 180 spin, the car now pointing the right way. “We’re halfway to the police station, we’ll be there in two minutes.”

“Ok…” You took a shaky breath and swallowed. “Are you ok, Mr. Butler?” You asked, trying to direct the sound into his ear as there was still a cacophony erupting from the seat behind you.

“Yeah, I’m fine but are you ok? You got hit; I know you did…”

“I’m just fine Mr. Butler.” It wasn’t entirely a lie; the adrenaline was keeping the pain at bay for now. “I’m sure this is terribly uncomfortable, but there’s a lot of broken glass, can you stay like this for a bit longer until we can climb out somewhere safe?”

“Of course,” He said you name…your real name…gently. “Of course.”

You felt your throat clench tightly and swallowed roughly as one of his hands carefully, blindly, sought yours and squeezed softly. You looked up as Ari came to a stop and felt relieved to see a police officer stand up from behind their duty desk inside the station and hustle out to meet you.

“Jesus fucking Christ, I hate this!” Came an exasperated cry from behind you and you heard Austin’s girlfriend fly out of the car and storm off, heels clicking into the distance.

You reached down carefully to open Austin’s door, sliding off him onto the ground in a sort of dive roll before turning to help him out. Looking over him rapidly, you were pleased to see no obvious cuts or marks. You swallowed as you sensed him doing to the same to you.

“You should go find your girlfriend, the police will want to question you. We’ll find a car home as quickly as possible.”

He frowned softly, hesitating…fingers reach out to gather tiny drops of blood beading from a nick on your cheek.

“I’m fine, Mr. Butler, I assure you.” You nodded with a soft smile and he nodded reluctantly before going to find out where his girlfriend had stormed off to.

You pulled out your phone and started snapping photos, sending them to Scott before calling him as Ari was already deeply in conversation with a gathering contingent of police officers. Scott was climbing into his car, coming to deliver his vehicle to the four of you and speak to the police. He had just ended the call when Austin’s girlfriend came running over at you from the direction of the street.

“You fucking dumb bitch, I coulda died because of you!” She howled inches from your face, her own obviously tear stained. Austin was nowhere to be found. “Why the fuck didn’t you shoot at them?! What the fuck is the point of you, Betty,” She snarled acidy, “if bad shit just keeps happening anyway?!”

You dodged quickly as she took a swipe at you with her wickedly long nails, the impact points on your body beginning to ache, completely beyond the ability to respond and evade her. It would have been easy to neutralize her, but she was your client’s girlfriend – even if she was trying to claw you like a wildcat.

Austin came running from the opposite direction, having obviously never located this distraught woman, and grabbed her by the elbows, hauling her back.

“That is enough. Stop that.” He said firmly. “There’s no way she could have fired into that crowd of people, not over bricks, babe.” He stood there, holding her tightly against him until she calmed down.

Eventually the police officers decided to do their job and led the four of you into interview rooms to provide your statements while the car was impounded as evidence. You took some over the counter painkillers while you waited, quite certain you were in for a very sore couple of days. The entire questioning process took a little over an hour, and Scott was arriving just as you were walking out. You stopped to talk to him but trailed off as you watched two officers leading a man…the man…into the building handcuffed. They headed towards the interview rooms, and you gave Scott one firm nod in confirmation.

“Ari, here’s my car keys. I’ll come by tomorrow with an SUV tomorrow to replace the sedan. The four of you try and get some rest.”

“Thanks boss.” Ari nodded and headed out to get things ready.

You heard Austin and his girlfriend coming down the hall before you saw them – Austin’s girlfriend dealing verbal blow after blow, Austin begging with her to be reasonable. She refused. The fight persisted the entire drive back to Los Feliz, all the way up the driveway and into the house.

“Well, no one ever threw fucking bricks at me until I dated you!” You were grateful as the door closed behind them after that particular salvo, though you felt guilty that Austin was facing that alone.

Trey grabbed your elbow and pulled you into the guesthouse, helping you out of your blazer and unzipping the back of your dress to look over your injuries.

“Well, I don’t have x-ray vision, but I don’t think you’ve broken anything. It’s your call if you want to sleep on it and see where you’re at in the morning or call Scott’s doctor again…”

You made a face and shook your head.

“If anything broke it’s the ribs and there’s nothing for that but time and sucking it up…”

He nodded thoughtfully before his face lit up. “I did make you something though, when Scott called us with the news” He went into the freezer and pulled out a homemade icepack that would cover the majority of your back and your eyes widened.

“Thank you so much…” You smiled, feeling suddenly tearful and he squeezed your hand affectionately.

“I think it would be best to sleep in here tonight…”

“Oh yes, I am not going anywhere near that combat zone. I am definitely persona non grata…Good luck out there tonight.” You patted his shoulder and stiffly got ready for bed, fighting feebly with Ari before surrendering and accepting the real bed.

You had just settled in on your stomach, a pillow beneath your hips to support your lower back, when there was a knock on your bedroom door followed by a mournful awoooo.

“Come in!” You called, looking back confused as Trey opened the door with a distraught Biscuit tucked under one of his arms looking not unlike a football.

“She was also not welcome, apparently. Can she sleep we you?” He asked softly and you nodded quickly.

“Of course!” You held up an arm and he set her on the bed at your side where she nestled in tightly and you pulled her close.

Trey set the ice pack on the back before tucking you in.

“Call me if you need anything.” He nodded before stepping out, shutting the door behind him.

Gradually, Biscuit stopped trembling and finally sank into a restful sleep beside you. You enjoyed the ice pack as long as you dared before sliding it off your body onto the floor, not wanting to add frostbite to the list of injuries. In the still, quiet of the room, the cruel words of Austin’s girlfriend echoed through your mind, bringing a flood of hot, stinging tears to your eyes.

What was the point of you, if bad shit just kept happening anyway?

You sniffled in the dark sanctuary of the bedroom, trying to stem the tide of tears, but feeling the wave of emotion only cresting higher. It was difficult to remind yourself that the pain you were enduring now meant your protectee was physically unscathed. Particularly when you knew the woman he loved was inside their home tearing him to shreds emotionally. It was also nigh impossible to not hold yourself accountable for the lack of resolution in the case…yes, a glimmer of hope lay with the image of the man being led into the back of the station for questioning, but they were most certainly a duo, and the woman was nowhere to be found.

Right now, everything felt like your fault, and you felt like a hopeless failure. Your breath began to shatter into sobs until a warm, wet tongue licked a stripe up your cheek, choking off your descent into self-loathing and despair in one fell swoop. You huffed out a startled laugh as Biscuit lapped up the tears from your other cheek before nuzzling in tightly and you smiled tremulously.

“Thanks, sweet girl…” You whispered softly, soothing both of you simultaneously by running your fingers through her soft, luxurious fur until sleep, thankfully, took you.

Morning was not nearly so kind. Everything hurt, with much greater acuity than the night before. And Biscuit was whining with the need to go outside. You wrapped yourself in a blanket before taking her out to take care of her business, squinting at the brilliant sunshine. The day seem callously cheerful for all that your group had endured.

Marwan came over to you as you watched the dog chase after a random bug, and he yawned dramatically.

“Girlfriend left with several bags around four…schedule’s empty right?” He asked quietly and you nodded with a deep frown.

“Until Friday, yeah…”

Once Biscuit was taken care of, you tucked her back into bed with Ari before taking a careful shower, looking at the marks on your back in the bathroom mirror with a frown. You were definitely going to bruise.

The most you could tolerate was a racerback workout shirt with a built-in shelf bra – anything with more structure than that was absolutely out of the question. Driven by a need to do something nice, and to distract yourself from how pitiful you felt, you very quietly made a batch of homemade biscuits. There were more that enough the feed the five of you and Ari was more than happy to eat several while wrapped in his blankets on the sofa bed.

Eventually you knew you had to enter the main house; Biscuit needed her breakfast and judging from the way she was eyeing Ari’s food, she would not tolerate any further delay. You slid on a zip-up hoodie and plated some of the biscuits, leading the dog of the same name into the silent house. You moved quietly, dishing out her raw food and watching as she practically inhaled it before she lurched her way upstairs, one step at a time.

Her little legs were adorable but somewhat of a disadvantage when it came to stairs.

Thinking back to the past few weeks you’d spent with Austin, you remembered his love of PB&J sandwiches and were in the process of setting up a breakfast station for him when his long arms wrapped around you from behind. On a normal day, the way his cologne flooded your senses would have made your head swim. The muscular planes of his torso would have made your heart trip over itself as it sped up beneath your ribs. The warmth of his body would have flush through you and set your skin aflame.

Not today. Today, the pressure of him against the injuries on your back wrenched an involuntary wail from you and your fingertips dug into the unyielding surface of the marble countertop as you tried to pull away from the source of pain. Your response was primal and reactionary and had him jumping back as though you had scorched him with naked flame.

“I knew it! I knew you were hurt, why would you lie to me…” His voice broke and weakened halfway through his statement and you turned to see his red-rimmed eyes, abused by crying and lack of sleep, shining once again with tears.

“I’m so sorry, Mr. Butler, I didn’t want to worry you and I’m more ok than last time I…I’m sorry I shouted it just…It does hurt.” You admitted reluctantly, looking down.

Your eyes landed on the food, and you quickly looked back to him.

“But I made biscuits, you must be hungry?” You tried to distract him.

“Can I see?” He asked softly and you swallowed tightly, mind racing with pros and cons before slowly nodding.

You pulled down the zipper on your hoodie and shrugged it off your shoulders to rest at your elbows before turning around. Two of the three marks were easily visible – the shoulder hit and the mid-back hit.

“There’s another down here…” You gestured to your right side and heard him sigh your real name shakily. You swallowed tightly. “I’m sorry…”

“Wait…what? Why are you apologizing?” You felt the current of air before he came to stand in front of you. “Thank you. Thank you for protecting me I…I mean last night was awful on many levels but…you still kept me safe…and I want to hug you but it’s going to hurt you.” He whispered the last sadly and you felt your lip tremble.

You shrugged back into your hoodie and leaned forward, pressing your cheek against his chest and wrapping your arms around his waist. He paused a moment before putting his hands on your hips, a safe spot, and squeezing tightly.

“Thank you.” He whispered again and you nodded against him.

After a few moments you both pulled back, sniffling and wiping at your eyes.

“Biscuits?” You offered and the canine of the same name barked in response. “Not you sweetheart, you’re not breakfast.” You crouched down to grab one of her nearby toys, tossing it down the hall, sending her skittering after it as Austin went about making himself a few sandwiches.

“Have you seen a doctor?” He asked, sucking some peanut butter off his thumb and you shook your head distractedly.

“Not necessary at this point, they’re behaving as expected…as long as they transition through the rainbow I’ll be fine…Just ice and rest…”

He nodded and pulled out of a few ice packs from his freezer.

“Come watch a movie with me?” He asked, plate now loaded with the sandwiches.

Unable to resist the promise of cooling relief on the angry heat of your impact wounds, you nodded quietly and took the icepacks, following him to the living room. He insisted you take the lounge seat on the sectional and lay the icepacks on your back once you were laying down. You pressed your cheek into the cushion, feet hooked on the top of the couch, watching him practically inhale the biscuits with a soft smile as he set up the movie Heat.

Somewhere between waking and sleeping, you were startled when he spoke about midway through the film.

“I hate your job…”

You tensed and lifted your head to look at him properly, bearing your weight on your forearms. The icepacks slid down to the small of your back, making you shiver. You’d let them rest on your bruises too long, but it had felt too good.

“I’m sorry Mr. Butler, I’ll talk to Scott about finding a replacement right away.” You wished you sounded more professional, but there was a notable tremor to your voice.

“No!” His head snapped toward you, and he shook it violently. “No…I hate that you get hurt for me…I hate that anyone has to…” He sighed deeply and slumped back into the sofa. “I really…I just don’t get why they hate me so much I…I really just worked my butt off, there was no black magic or anything…” He sounded so tired and deflated that you pushed up fully, moving to sit beside him careful of the sleeping Biscuit.

“No one believes otherwise…its just one or two very unbalanced individuals and I’m so sorry they’re wreaking such havoc on your life…I’m sorry I can’t do more…”

He looked up at you sadly and shook his head, pulling the boneless dog into his lap before folding himself into your arms quietly. You held him gently, blinking back tears of sympathy, the movie playing unwatched on the television.

“Please sleep in here tonight? This house is too quiet…” He whispered eventually and you nodded quickly.

“Of course, I absolutely will.”

“Hey I’m…I’m really sorry about the stuff she said to you, that was really uncalled for and I really value everything you and the guys do for me and I…”

“You don’t owe me any sort of apology, on yours or anyone else’s behalf.” You cut him off gently.

“She’s not coming back.” He murmured softly and you clenched your eyes shut, flooded with grief for him.

“I’m so sorry, Austin…” You said in outright violation of your professionalism because the last thing this man needed right now was an employee.

He sighed heavily and nodded against your collarbone.

“Me too…”

Read Part Five

If You'll Be My Bodyguard, I Can Be Your Long Lost Pal Masterlist

Tag List: @littlewhiterose, @austinsvlrslut, @emrysdreams, @slowsweetlove, @xstrengthxinxtragedyx, @shelbygeek, @kingdomforapony, @artlover8992, @eliseinmemphis, @haydensith, @breadsquash, @chimchimjiminie16, @qxiva

#austin butler x reader #austin butler #austin butler x you #austin butler x y/n #austin butler x fem!reader #austin butler fic #austin butler imagine #blurredcolour

[denimbex1986]

'Andrew Scott has said he “enjoys being gay so much, on so many levels”, and says he feels “lucky” to have been born that way.

Speaking to Attitude about his upcoming film, All of Us Strangers, the Irish actor said it was an “extraordinary privilege” to play the character of Adam in Andrew Haigh’s acclaimed drama.

Scott stars alongside Paul Mescal in the film, which follows screenwriter Adam as he is drawn back to his family home, where he connects with the ghosts of his parents, who died in an accident thirty years earlier.

Based on Taichi Yamada’s 1987 novel, Strangers, the movie explores themes around grief, coming out and loneliness, as Adam and his neighbour Harry (Mescal) find solace in each other.

“I wanted to bring as much of myself as I could, because I feel that’s what the audience is going to relate to the most,” Scott said, adding playing the role had been “cathartic”.

Another of the themes of All of Us Strangers is that his character would have grown up in “the shadow of Aids”, while Harry is younger, meaning the way they relate to their sexuality is vastly different.

I certainly know that the shadow of Aids was looming when I was growing up in the nineties,” Scott went on. “And, of course, that’s going to affect the way we think about sexuality, in the sense that [we felt we were being] punished for being physical or for expressing love.”

The emancipation from that feeling of shame after the crisis is “one of the wonderful things” about being gay, the Fleabag star said.

“I enjoy being gay on so many levels, it’s such a wonderful thing to me. It’s an extraordinary gift and just to be able to see the real beauty in being gay is completely wonderful.

“The older I get, the more I feel lucky to have been born gay, and that pervades my life in the sense of all my friendships. I have so many amazing queer friends [who] I just adore.”

And when he sees same-sex couples holding hands on the street, “I’m like a little weirdo. I’m smiling at them. They’re like: ‘What’s that dude smiling at us for?’ Because I just think it’s so wonderful.”

All of Us Strangers representation of LGBTQ+ romance is critical, Scott continued.

“When we read positive things or see representation on screen, when we see ourselves, we think: ‘Oh, well, we can forge a way in the world’. That’s why a movie like this is so important, because it’s incredibly compassionate and tender, but it also doesn’t erase the fact that it’s painful and it can be lonely being gay.

“There’s a certain thorny path that we all have to go to in order to find love, not just in another person, but in ourselves.”

Scott also believes the phrase “openly gay” should be retired for good, and replaced with the word “out”, with the former phrase making him “uneasy about what it implies”.

He explained: “I do understand that historically we need a word to recognise the fact that there are sometimes people who are gay, but, for whatever reason, aren’t able to be open about it. I totally get that. And so, I just feel the word ‘out’ does that. It’s simpler. It does the job, with less implications.”'

#Andrew Scott #All of Us Strangers #Paul Mescal #Andrew Haigh #Fleabag #Strangers #Taichi Yamada #LGBTQ+

[vgfm]

Deltarune’s Future “Important Character”

This is a topic I hardly see discussed, but two years ago on the official Deltarune website, Toby teased a future “Important Character” who would appear in one of the game’s future chapters after Chapter 2. To wit:

[Image transcript: A Progress list from the Deltarune website. The title at the top says “Progress Chapters 3+”. At the bottom there’s an item that says “Important Character, Bosses (First-pass) 100%”. End image transcript]

At the bottom, you can see “Important Character” listed with 100% first-pass progress. This was part of Toby’s 2020 Deltarune progress update released on Undertale’s 5th anniversary, meaning that this “Important Character” has likely had much of their design completed by now.

So the big question is: Who is this important character?

We can make a number of assumptions based on this limited information:

This character is not fully implemented in Chapters 1 or 2 (hence the need for development in Ch 3+)

This character is “important” to the story and/or the overall gameplay experience

This character is likely conceptually complex or resource-intensive in some way (hence their own separate entry on the progress list)

This character may or may not be counted among the game’s bosses, given they’re listed on the same line

I don’t have any solid idea of who this character could be since our information is so limited, but I have a few theories:

The Vessel

We see a glimpse of the Vessel at the beginning of Chapter 1 before it’s “discarded.” However, the customization options that we input are still saved in the game’s data. Given that the Thrash Machine returned in Chapter 2, I’m inclined to believe the Vessel will return in a future chapter.

Although the Vessel has technically been designed already, I could see Toby’s team going the extra mile and ensuring that the Vessel maintains whatever customization we initially gave them. This would necessitate several sprite variants and some extra programming to ensure that the custom head, body, and leg pieces fit together seamlessly while in motion.

It’s possible that the Vessel could also receive a dark world form and/or dialogue portraits—these would also likely correspond to our customization choices and make the Vessel several times more complex to design than an ordinary character.

Gaster

It wouldn’t be a theory post without Gaster somewhere, right? If Mysteryman is Gaster then technically he’s already designed, but this wouldn’t account for alternate forms, portraits, or a unique manner of speech.

In particular, I suspect that Gaster may have some voice-acted lines if he makes a proper appearance in future chapters. Although Entry No. 17 implies that Gaster has a (slightly atypical) typer sound like many characters, we have seen the Shadow Crystal holders Jevil and Spamton (who are likely connected to Gaster) make use of voice lines in their battles or theme music.

There’s also the fact that the Deltarune title screen features a voice saying “Deltarune,” mirroring how the entity who took over the Undertale Twitter ended their initial announcement by shouting “DELTARUNE!” 

[Image transcript: A series of tweets from the Undertale Twitter account, but the name and profile picture are blacked out. The tweets say “I look forward to creating a new future with you. Now! Show yourself! Deltarune!”. End image transcript]

It’s also possible that the old “abc_123” sound file from Undertale that warned about not spoiling the game’s secrets could have been connected to Gaster, given that it makes use of text-to-speech voices (which are seemingly sampled in the Entry 17 “Gaster” typer sounds).

If Gaster does have voice acting then not only would that require recording/generating various voice lines but also making sure they play in sync with whatever dialogue or character interactions that Gaster could conceivably have in a cutscene, which would make such scenes more difficult to plan out. 

The “Important Character” line could also be a subtle reference to the Egg’s flavor text that refers to it as “not too important, not too unimportant.”

[Image transcript: The Key Item menu with the Egg highlighted. The flavor text says “Not too important, not too unimportant.” End image transcript]

However, if Gaster does show up then I think it’s likely he’d be a late-game reveal or a secret boss, so it’s possible he may not even appear in Chapters 3-5. Even if he did show up, I think it’d be out of the question that we’d get a Gaster boss fight anywhere other than during an endgame scenario, so it’s questionable how many development resources would be spent on an early-bird Gaster appearance.

An “Omega Flowey”-esque Endgame Boss

This is a catch-all category for any genre-shifting spectacle boss that would close out Chapter 5. Flowey’s boss fight was Undertale’s biggest visual spectacle and it’s likely we might see another fight of its caliber in Deltarune. Flowey’s boss form was designed and animated by Everdraed, who has continued to work with Toby throughout Deltarune’s development.

[Image transcript: A list of credits for Deltarune Chapter 2 that includes Everdraed credited for “Trailers & All Video Editing”. End image transcript]

But why would a boss fight like this would happen in Chapter 5 instead of Chapter 7? Well, Flowey’s fight wasn’t the final event in Undertale’s True Pacifist route, and with Deltarune’s expanded team and development time it’s possible we may get more than one endgame fight with a similar level of polish.

I also have a sneaking suspicion that Chapters 3-5 are going to provide some form of closure, equivalent to Undertale’s neutral route/ending, with subsequent Chapters serving as an analogue to the True Pacifist ending. That’s just a hunch, though.

As for who this boss could be, it’s anyone’s guess. Three candidates that jump out to me are the Roaring Knight, the Titans, or the Angel.

None of them have any more supporting evidence than the others--each are likely be late-game bosses and possibly the final boss. It all depends on what direction the story will go. One could debate whether the Titans or even the Angel qualify as “characters,” or conversely debate whether the Roaring Knight would require many development resources if they’re just a lightner we’ve likely already met. 

Kris

I figured I’d end this list on a bit of a curveball. Kris seems like the last person who’d be “in development,” given they’ve been the protagonist for the whole game. However, I’m referring to Kris’ true self—without the Soul influencing their actions.

We’ve caught glimpses of the true Kris, but never for any extended interaction. Do they have a dialogue portrait? What would a human’s portrait look like? Some early concept art subtly implies Kris could have a portrait.

Does “true” Kris have a unique typer sound? A voice, perhaps? And let’s not forget that, despite having the same “design,” true Kris has completely different movement sprites from Kris when the Soul is in control.

Things get more interesting when we consider the dark world. We’ve never seen true Kris in the dark world. They’d likely move differently and perhaps even carry a different weapon, which would require most of their sprites to be redone. There’s also the possibility that Kris’ true form could become a battle mechanic (assuming some future reconciliation between Kris and the Soul). Maybe “True Kris” would function as some kind of devil trigger/limit break transformation that places the battle on auto-pilot or does more damage? Just a thought.

Chapter 3 seems geared to be a Kris-focused chapter, given that we’ll be exploring a dark world of their own creation. It also feels like Kris has been exerting greater influence than in Chapter 1, given that they can affect the way certain dialogue choices are delivered.

[Image transcript: Susie saying to Kris: “What!? Why are you saying it so confused?” End image transcript]

Kris also seemingly gains greater ability to railroad the Soul’s choices at the end of Chapter 2, depending on how one interprets the narration. 

[Image transcript: Narration stating “It’s a sink. You could wash your hands here... but, isn’t the sink in the bathroom better?” End image transcript]

If this trend continues then I think we’ll be having a “heart to heart” with Kris sooner rather than later.

#Deltarune #Deltarune theory #Gaster #Kris #Flowey

[bluebear-d]

Five act structure: reason to hope

I don't usually make posts on Tumblr, but i think after st4 maybe i should.

I agree with a lot of criticism for s4 and share everyone's pain. Hope all of you are well or at least getting there.

But here's something I've been thinking, so read on if you want to get another perspective or a little bit of hope in the magic of storytelling.

If the Duffers knew for awhile that they would have 5 seasons, they might have planned s4-5 together, a two-parter of sorts. So the reason s4 feels incomplete is because it is! And the reason it doesn't offer all the things the marketing implied is because those were meant for s5.

I think the Duffers are playing the long game using the 5 act structure. You can read about it on the internet, for example here is a good general article which i'm gonna quote a little.

I want to talk specifically about the final suspense, which is an important narrative tool occurring in act 4.

In 5 act structure, the forth act is where everything that can go wrong, does. It's the darkest before the dawn part, the part where we, along with the characters, lose all hope for things to end well.

It's like Sam's speech in The two towers: "how could the end be happy. How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad happened. But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer."

I think there's reason to assume this is the structure the Duffers are planning.

First of all, the show is 5 seasons long. What better way to structure it than with five acts?

Secondly, other seasons seem to fall neatly into this structure.

For example, s3:

If we go by this structure and try to imagine what s5 might look like, it also fits perfectly:

Sound familiar? After the brutal and incomplete s4?

So if we assume Stranger Things is supposed to have this structure (which i think is reasonable and highly probable), then s4 is exactly the season where everything is so wrong it seems to never be right again.

But a new dawn is just around the corner.

A new hope if you will.

So take heart.

p.s. I know we've waited three years for this and didn't get much of anything resolved. I know we're all having trust issues right now irt the Duffers' plan and writing, but i'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. We've loved this show for so long, it gave us a lot, we put so much passion, effort, skill and love into it that i think it's not entirely fair to anyone to just abandon all hope and judge an unfinished show.

We're all hurt and frustrated right now, and afraid to be hurt again in two years. But hope is hardly a bad thing. Remember: the story is not over yet, and some wonderful storytelling just might be still happening.

p.p.s. With byler and Robin x Vicky and Will's potential coming out it's also possible that it's just not allowed to make any of that explicit until well into s5. It can be part of the deal with netflix or something, for fear that anything more than "up to interpretation" will cost the platform a chunk of its viewership.

It's a sad possiblity to consider, but I'm speaking from experiences with other shows and fandoms.

Just as an example: the creators of Steven Universe faught tooth and nail for a lesbian wedding and a kiss on screen, WON THIS, but immediately got cancelled and faught some more for additional several episodes to conclude the series.

Obviously, they aren't the same shows, I'm not saying it's the same situation.

But stuff like this still happens, unfortunately.

#byler #stranger things 4 #stranger things

[gunsli-01]

We should unpack the impact the person Kazui actually liked still being implied to be alive is having on his verdict taking his previous written interrogation trial questions into consideration. Especially when it comes to him being guilty.

Answer referring to his childhood friend.

Q.02 Who do you look up to?

Kazui: You won’t know them even if I say, but I have a childhood friend I really respect. Sorry for just answering someone from my personal life.

Q.17 If the world was going to end tomorrow, what would you do?

Kazui: Relax and go trawling. The childhood friend I mentioned before has a boat.

Answers referring to an unknow third party.

Q.13 Who do you want to see right now?

Kazui: They won’t see me anymore.

Answers regarding Kazui's feelings.

Q.03 If you were able to get away with anything, what would you want to do?

Kazui: I’d like to try living honestly.

Q.07 Do you like yourself?

Kazui: Well, not especially I suppose.

Answers regarding Kazui's daily life.

Q.14 Do you listen to music?

Kazui: I guess I do from time to time. It’s all super old music though, so I don’t think you’ll know it.

Q.15 What time do you go to sleep and wake up?

Kazui: Since I’m not working I’m able to do whatever I feel like.

I just sleep when I feel tired, and I usually wake up in the morning sometime.

Over the course of Milgram, it's been established that the person Kazui likes is still alive. Unlike with Shidou, whose wife and children have died. Something that made Shidou come off as more sympathetic to most of the audience. Simply because he had lost everything. Kazui, despite having lost two people he cares about, has not actually lost everything.

Only one of those losses is permanent. He states in his written interrogation that there's someone who won't see him anymore at this moment, but that could change. He continually brings up a childhood friend who is implied to still be spending time with him when possible as well. All this may cause people to feel less sympathetic in Kazui's case.

Because unlike the others, he doesn't particularly seem to be suffering. That and he has things to fall back on if he is released from Milgram. Even if his family and this one other person won't see him anymore. This mixed with the implication that the person he does like is very much alive and well even if his wife is not could cause some people to be envious of Kazui.

Despite his situation still being far from ideal. He has the opportunity to have or make a better life if given the chance to something a lot of people may hate. Having someone that he is still canonically interested in also makes him more difficult for people in fandom spaces to sexualize. Especially with other characters or even his wife as his feelings towards her are incredibly complicated.

He's still very much not over the person he did like and his second song just further reiterates that. Then we don't even know that much about who he did like. Their appearance has been obscured multiple ways, either having no face, being a shadow, or being made out of words. Causing it to be even more difficult for people to relate to Kazui's situation as they still don't have a clear idea of what this individual looks like, how they act, or even confirmation on who they are.

All these things, in my opinion, make it easier for people to emotionally distance themselves from Kazui's situation and relate more heavily with the only other person given a face on screen in Cat, his wife. However, that's just my opinion on that.

#milgram #kazui mukuhara

[coraniaid]

Doug Petrie and Jane Espenson both joined the Buffy writing team in Season 3 and they each wrote three episodes that season.

Across the three Doug Petrie written episodes -- Revelations, Bad Girls and Enemies -- Faith has more speaking time than any other character except for Buffy (about 50% more speaking time than Angel, the character with the third most speaking time in that block of episodes).  In Enemies, she has more speaking time than Buffy herself.  

Furthermore, in all three of these episodes Faith is a central character to the plot: one whose actions and decisions and mistakes drive the story in fundamental ways. From being fooled by Gwendolyn Post into fighting Angel and Buffy, or accidentally killing Allan Finch, or willingly working with the Mayor to betray and abduct her fellow Slayer.  

Throughout these episodes Faith has a clear character arc in terms of her conflicted relationship with parental figures (compare “I just have this problem with authority figures: they end up kind of dead” to “We’re Slayers [...] why should we let [Watchers] take all the fun out of it?” or to “You get the Watcher, you get the Mom [...] what do I get?”) and of course her relationship with Buffy herself (Revelations opens with Buffy insisting that “really, we’re just good friends” after teasing the idea of going out with Faith on something that isn’t quite a date; Enemies ends with Faith warning Buffy that “kill me, you become me: you’re not ready for that” before kissing her on the forehead).

If you only watched the three episodes of Season 3 that Doug Petrie wrote, you'd probably assume that Faith was a major character of the whole show, as important as almost any other member of the core cast.

And you would, of course, be completely right.

On the other hand, across the three Jane Espenson written episodes -- Band Candy, Gingerbread and Earshot -- Faith does not speak one word of dialogue.  She does not appear on screen in any of these episodes, with her absence going entirely unexplained in two of them (even though they all take place after she arrives in town and Giles has been assigned by the Council to take care of her).  Only Earshot explicitly acknowledges the fact that she even exists (although something Joyce says in Gingerbread does, arguably, at least imply that there are Slayers other than Buffy).  

These three episodes instead give much more time to characters like Joyce and Giles and Cordelia Chase -- key characters since Season 1 who have a greatly reduced presence in the three Douglas Petrie episodes.  (Funnily enough, Angel himself and this season's big bad Mayor Wilkins also have rather less presence in these episodes than they do in the first three.)

If you only watched the three episodes of Season 3 that Jane Espenson wrote, you'd probably conclude that Faith is only a fleeting presence in the show.  A shadow who can only affect the world through Buffy Summers; an unseen ghost whose influence is reflected through Buffy's worsening relationship with her mother ("This is not a good town [...] it belongs to monsters [...] and the Slayers") or through her troubled relationship with her soon-to-be ex-boyfriend ("I’ve been with dozens of girls like her" is perhaps not the most tactful thing Angel ever says).  

You might even decide that Faith is not quite a character in her own right at all: she's more of an absence, a possibility, or an idea that Buffy has dreamt up.  Someone who Buffy enjoys spending time with ("not that she was so bad to have around" she tells Angel), someone who Buffy sympathizes with ("she was hurting a lot, and [...] protective-type people might be drawn to that”), possibly even someone who she's attracted to ("to the naked eye, [kissing Faith] looked fun" she tells Willow at one point; “she has the whole, you know, bad girl thing working for her” she tells Angel later).  Based on these three episodes, you’d likely think Faith only exists in the show at all in relation to Buffy.

And you'd be completely right about that too.

#btvs

[neonacity]

ARCANE | CH.9 | NCT DREAM X READER

Summary: When you decided to apply for a researcher post in an elusive institute, you already had the feeling that you’ll be getting yourself knee-deep into something out of the ordinary. But desperate needs require desperate measures, and so you embraced the invite, despite all the alarm signals urging you to run away. What you found out was nothing you’d ever expected.

Seven boys.

Seven human deviants granted with abilities tied to the legendary Arcana Cards.

Welcome to Project Dream.

Pairing: Various Dream Members x Reader

Trigger Warnings/Themes: violence, torture, trauma, very slight yandere themes, poly dynamics, suggestive themes, language, psychological, mystery, sci-fi. Romance will take a little bit of a backseat on this one since this is more of a suspense-driven plot, but it will still be threaded in the overall story. The concept of the tarot or Arcana cards will be loosely used throughout the series. Note that I am not a trained doctor so there may be some slips here and there about medical things. Again, this is a work of fiction and I am not implying any likeness between the characterization here of the boys to their real life counterparts. I also reserve the rights to all my work—I do not post anywhere else other than tumblr. Minors DNI.

> CH. 1 | CH. 2 | CH.3 | CH.4 | CH.5 | CH.6 | CH.7 | CH.8

Chapter Song:

Mad Hatter > Melanie Martinez | Middle Finger > Bohnes

The glow of your phone screen threw harsh shadows against the walls of your room. You’ve been sitting on your bed in the dark for god knows how long now, still wearing the same outdoor clothes and muddy boots from your trek to Rosewood. You barely have any idea what happened in the space of time after you've discovered the framed pictures in the strange room, but somehow, you've managed to haul yourself back home in one piece.

Well, maybe 'managed' is too far reaching for a word to use.

Ten and Kun have kept quiet for most of the ride, but you know both boys were able to catch onto something from the way your phone was blowing up at the moment from texts from both of them. You ignored everything, not only because you have questions you can’t answer yourself, but because you don’t think you have it in you anymore to convince them that you’ve only seen one lead during your search—the shot of the seven boys that proves they were indeed occupants of Rosewood. You just felt drained. Maybe even numb, except for that one seedling of emotion that has been slowly weighing down your chest every passing second.

You took a second to put a name on it, turning it in your head despite your focus trying to shut down on you.

It wasn’t surprise.

Not even desperation.

It was way worse.

It was betrayal.

The call tone of your phone fell on deaf ears as your hands tightened around your blankets. Your chest was hurting and the back of your eyes felt hot even though they remained dry. Before you even realized what you were doing, you hurled yourself up from your bed and grabbed your phone. Kun's name was flashing on it, but you quickly swiped the ignore button as you hurried to the door, hands grabbing your car keys and nothing else.

*******

Cypher looked even more ominous at night. With the lights dimmed down and the hallways almost empty, your hurried steps sounded louder and foreboding as they bounced against the pristine white walls of the Institute. While you would have come in here with a little bit more caution before, your eyes stared ahead now, your jaw set as you went down the corridor you’ve walked so many times in the past few months since you signed up to this mess. For some reason, you just know where to go, despite not even having the confirmation that you’ll find what you were looking for. Briefly, your conversation with Renjun back at the greenhouse flashed through your mind again as you made a turn at the corner.

“She knew what she was doing when she put you there as bait.”

“And I don’t understand why. Why me?”

“Maybe because we’re interested in you.”

“None of you even know me.”

“That’s debatable.”

You gritted your teeth now as the words echoed in your head. They didn’t make sense before, but they do now, like a sick punchline to a joke you were too late to realize was about you.

They know.

They’ve always known.

You stopped on your tracks at the far door at the end of hallway, the same one where you’ve first met them from behind the camera lens. Without wasting another second, you swiped your ID pass on it before pushing it open.

Seven pairs of eyes swiveled towards you in unison, their owners seemingly caught in the middle of conversation. Haechan and Mark were in the middle of a game of pool when they looked up while Jisung and Chenle were on the sidelines, fixing the billiard balls. Renjun was sitting with Jaemin on the bubble seats close to the pool table and next to them was Jeno who was leaning against the wall. Your eyes briefly went over each of their faces, your chest constricting as you took all of them in. Chenle, who was closest to where you are, gave you his usual beaming smile while the others looked on with the same pleasant surprise at your sudden barging.

“Noona. Why are you here? It’s the weekend—”

“Who are you. All of you.”

Your voice sounded hard and on edge when you cut him off. You didn’t even realize how your shoulders started to slightly shake, your hands balling on your sides as you tried to steady yourself. It didn’t even take them two seconds to get what you were talking about, the air in the room shifting as their smiles slowly bled from their faces.

You thought you heard your heart break in the silence that followed.

“Princess…”

“Don’t fucking call me that!” you finally snapped as you turned towards Haechan. The boy immediately stopped, but the look he gave you didn’t calm any of the emotions now threatening to pull you under. Instead, you turned towards Mark who you noticed just stepped a little closer to where you are. He kept his distance, but the way he held himself somehow told you he wanted to make another move. You shook your head at him.

“Why do you know my father?”

The moment you said that, you saw a look of guilt flash in his eyes. His jaw locked, as if he was looking for the right words to answer you with.

“You went to Rosewood…” Renjun filled up the momentary silence as he picked himself up from his seat. His gaze was full of understanding, and for a brief second you wondered if he was getting inside your head again. This time, however, you didn’t care. If anything, you wanted him to do it, just so he can spare you from trying to sift through all the questions that were almost making you feel numb.

“Yes. Like you planned to,” you said, your voice shaking. You reached out for your phone and showed it to them, the screen frozen on the photo you took of them with the man. All of their expressions changed—some with pain, others with guilt. “How do you know him?”

Mark finally decided to break the silence.

“He’s… the Headmaster of our school.”

His reply made you frown.

“Since when? Did you know him for a long time?”

He exchanged glances with Renjun before nodding.

“He was there… before we were even sent to the orphanage. He helped raise us. We knew him since we were kids.”

It felt like every fiber in your body lost its sense of feeling. You looked at him defeated, an expression he reflected back at you with the same look of guilt everyone else was wearing. It was the answer you were expecting, but also the one you were praying not to hear because it only proves one thing. All those nights he left you. All the days you grew up wanting nothing more but a parent…

He was being a father to them instead.

You’ve never hated the man. Even with all the holidays spent alone, the closed doors, and the story books never read, you never hated him, mostly because he wasn’t even there that much in your life for your relationship to breed such an intense emotion. At one point, you’ve trained yourself to live with the fact that your father has dedicated himself to his work. You didn’t exactly know what it is that he was doing, but you were able to convince yourself that he has submitted himself to a grand purpose. Maybe he was trying to save the world. Maybe what he was doing can change the lives of many for the better. Because what else can be more important than those kinds of lofty, heroic goals that can push someone to always put their own daughter—their only remaining family—in the back burner?

As it turns out, seven boys is all it takes. Them and probably others who have gotten the same care and attention from him that you haven’t had a taste of yourself.

“Did you know… that I am his daughter all along?”  

The air in the room has gotten so heavy that you could swear you were almost choking on it. Jaemin answered, his voice low and calm.

“Yes… We figured it out.”

“Where is he now? Do you know why he left?”

This time, nobody dared give you a reply. Nobody even looked up to meet your eyes. It was too much for you that after a while you actually crossed the room and reached out to Mark.

“Please. You don’t understand. He’s the only family I have. Give him back to me.”

Any other time and you would have flinched at the way your voice broke. After all, you’ve worked so hard to never to let anyone see inside of the walls you’ve painstakingly worked to build around yourself. But you couldn’t care this time, not even when the look Mark gave you told you that you wouldn’t like his answer. You could see it—how he was being torn from the inside too.

“I wish we could, but we don’t know where he is. He—your father… tried to protect us. Cypher was after him first because he knew everything about the Arcana holders. He went away to take them far away from us, and we haven’t seen him since.”

Your were convinced your heart had stopped beating for a moment as his words sunk in. You stared at him, hoping you could see any trace of lies in his face, only for you to be let down again. Nobody dared move or say anything in the room. You didn’t exactly know how long you just stood there, immobile, until you slowly took a step back.

“So he left… for all of you. Again.”

The corner of your lips tugged as you gave a nod. You didn’t even have the energy to look at them. Finally, you turned and started making your way out the door. You’ve only gone a few steps when you felt a gentle hand reach out for your arm. Blindingly, you turned around to come face to face with Jeno. For the first time since you met him, he looked at you without the unreadable mask he always keeps on whenever you got too close.

For the first time, he actually looked like he cares. 

“I told you… You’re only going to get hurt.”

You felt too numb to even react. You simply shook his hand off of you before you left the room in dead silence.

*******

Apparently, five days is the longest length of peace you can have until something blows up in your face again and pile over the things you've already been trying to avoid.

Granted, you cheated on having it by taking a sudden work leave, but for once, you felt liberated over breaking the rules. Since that night of confrontation back at Cypher, you filed for an indefinite absence and have turned off all possible channels you can be contacted on so you can focus on other things. You can't really say you're doing a great job at it though, not when you've been spending the last half hour staring at your screen trying to finish a page in your thesis. Sure, the last five days have been quiet, but as expected, silence doesn't necessarily equate to making your problems magically go away. 

You groaned softly now and removed your glasses to pinch the bridge of your nose. Maybe you shouldn't have turned down Mijeong's invitation for you to go party with her tonight, but of course you had to regret your decision too late. Mulling over it a bit, your eyes finally landed on your phone lying face down and looking very much abandoned on your desk. It was half-covered by your study notes now since you haven't touched it for days, but it still took you a good half minute to finally reach out for it. With a slight sigh, you finally turned it on, your eyes squinting a little bit at the glow of its screen.

It didn't even take ten seconds before the ringing sound of notifications assaulted your ears. You winced. Just as expected, you got dozens and dozens of messages and emails, some for work and the others mostly from Ten and Kun. You bit the inside of your cheek now in guilt. You haven't really reached out to them since you disappeared, which, now that you think of it, was a very asshole move. Before all the message alerts came in, you already opened Kun's contact so you can send him a message of apology.

You've barely even typed your first word in when the last of the texts finally registered on your screen. You froze when your gaze locked on the last one. You haven't even gone through the messages before it, but the one sentence alone resting on the foot of the chat window made your heart drop to your stomach. It was just eight words, but they were enough to make your blood run cold.

'You have to come. They are hurting them.'

*******

The sound of your sneakers thundered down the long hallways as you ran. You were heaving, but you didn't stop as you tried to call Kun for the hundredth time since you saw his message. He just sent it today, about an hour and a half ago, but that was still long enough for things to have gone south. You cursed under your breath. You didn't know where you were going, but when the line dropped again, you went to the first place that you knew he could have left a trace. You almost stumbled in front of the entrance of your office, fingers almost slipping on the knob as you hurriedly opened it.

Kun was not there, as you already expected, but a wave of relief went over you as you saw the light of the wall of monitors in the center of the room. He left every single one of them open to give you the clue you needed to trace the boys. A splitting pain was making your side hurt, but you ignored it, your eyes set instead on scanning every single screen in front of you.

You finally found it on the middle row, though the live feedback on the screen momentarily made you hold your breath. It was a view of an unknown room showing a top view of the boys staring off at something on the other side. You can't hear what any of them were saying, but you didn't have to…

Not when the look of horror and anger on their faces told you everything you needed to know.

Your eyes quickly scanned them, and then a second realization finally made you hit the ground running again.

Everyone was there.

Except for Renjun.

*******

It barely took you another minute to find the lab room, but it still felt like forever before you skidded to a halt before its doors. Your palms have gone sweaty by now that you had to try and steady your hand as you tried to scan your access card while fighting to catch your breath. At one point, you felt almost hopeless thinking you are not allowed access to the room, but then a small green light beeped to life before the mechanical doors started hissing as they parted. They have barely opened halfway when you slipped inside, your eyes wild as they went through the room.

The first thing that registered to you was the half glass wall that separated the space into two sections. It was unlike any that you’ve visited within the Institute before, this one looking more like the interrogation rooms one would see on police stations where people can observe from the other side. Your eyes landed on the six pale faces looking at you now with the same expression of urgency, but your attention was soon enough torn from the boys when you heard a muffled scream from beyond the glass wall before you.

It felt like all the blood in your body was drained when you realized what you were looking at.

The other side of the room was brighter than the section where you and the rest of the boys were standing, the harsh fluorescent lights only putting more emphasis on the sparse set-up that was laid out before your eyes. There was an odd-looking machine similar to an encephalogram unit on the side of the room, currently being manned by a gaunt looking woman in a blue lab coat. It has the same sigil that you have on your work uniform, though you knew you’ve never seen the lady before in the months that you’ve worked here. Briefly, you remembered what Kun said a long time ago about Cypher having its own circle of private doctors and researchers—a unit that was entirely separated from the regular research team of each project of the Institute. Back in a control panel before her, wires stuck from the machine down to the middle of the room...

Where Renjun was strapped on a seat, looking barely half-conscious.

“Oh my god.”

“Noona, please help him.”

You didn’t have to turn around to recognize Jisung’s voice. Instead, you quickly jumped to action, running close to the glass wall instead and looking for any slot you can use to pry it open. You knew the only way to reach the other side was through here because you didn’t see any other door before you came in. Your hands ran through the wall, but your palms were only met with the feel of the smooth, icy glass.

“There’s no entrance here. We tried. It must be a secret door on the other side,” Jaemin spoke this time, his voice sounding the most stressed than you’ve ever heard him before. “It’s bulletproof glass, too.”

His words made you curse under your breath. You turned to them abruptly, and for the first time, you realized some of them were also injured.

“Are you—Are you okay? What’s happening?”

“We were all picked up today and was put on different stress tests. They were—they wanted us to project our full abilities,” Mark answered. The look on your face must have been so severe because he immediately tried to follow-through before you can even utter another word. “We’re fine. But Renjun, he can’t take it. His body resistance is weaker than ours. We have to get him out of there.”

“How long has he been there?”

“Maybe fifteen minutes,” Chenle answered. There was a small cut under his eye that was already starting to swell. Jeno, who was beside him, closed his hands into fists.

“Long enough.”

Your knees felt weak as you turned towards the window again. Just as you did, a flash of bright light went off in the room beyond that made you flinch. It looked like a spark of electricity, and it was soon followed by Renjun’s anguished scream from the other side. His slumped body straightened like a rod from the shock before he curled in again on himself. The wires taped on his temples moved as his head hung low after the shock.

They’re… electrocuting him.

“Hey! Stop! Open the door! I’m his doctor! You’re hurting him!”

You screamed at the top of your lungs as your fists started banging on the glass in front of you. The lady turned to look at you briefly, her beady eyes seemingly checking for your identity. When she seemed to have confirmed that you weren’t part of whatever division she came from, she simply turned back to the machine again and pressed a button there.

This time, Renjun barely moved. He flinched, but other than his neck rolling back to rest against the chair, he seemed to have lost consciousness already. A small trail of blood trickled from his nose. Your arms stopped banging against the partition, your expression shell-shocked as you stared at him.

No…

“I’m going to fucking kill you.”

Whatever shock has frozen you in place snapped as you heard a low voice from the other side of the room. In the chaos that happened earlier, you barely even noticed Haechan who had said nothing since you came into the room, until now. One look at him sent a whole different kind of chill to spread over your body. He was so still, but the way he was standing told you that he was on the verge of snapping. Gone was the usual carefree air that he always seemed to carry before. Instead, he was almost expressionless… except for the rage burning in his eyes now staring at the woman.

“Haechan…” your voice sounded shaky when you called out to him. You took a furtive step towards him, but it didn’t seem like he heard you at all.

“...Touch him again and I’m going to rip her head off.”

You looked around in fear at the lady at the other side of the room. She was typing a set of commands on the small keyboard next to her machine, and you saw a small rounded countdown window show up on the monitor before her. She was powering it up. Gearing up for another round of shocks.

“Haechan, control yourself,” Mark’s voice made you turn back to the group. He is also looking at Haechan now, one of his palms held up in a placating manner. He was taking careful steps towards the boy and it took you a few seconds to realize why. The room was dim that you didn’t see it at first, but then you squinted and you noticed the way the air seemed to ripple around the other. It shifted and broke apart, similar to how broken pixels would look like. You stopped.

It wasn’t his illusions.

He was shifting the very dimension he was standing on instead.

“Haechan, don’t—!”

A soft buzzing sound started to come from the other side of the room. You didn’t have the heart to look at it, your wide eyes set on the boy before you, but it started picking up until it almost drowned the room with noise. You turned just in time to see the woman lift her hand, her finger moving towards the same button she had been pressing again and again. Lips parting, you started running towards Haechan, barely even noticing the huge black gaping void that burst behind him, its jaws open like a hungry monster. Mark shouted from somewhere you couldn’t really see and you thought you felt someone tried to pull you back as fingers grazed your arm. You slipped past them though, your hand closing around Haechan’s sleeve before they could even get a hold of you.

It happened all at once. The moment you touched him, there was a deafening shrill that pressed against your ears painfully as you seemed to have been lifted off the ground. It only lasted for seconds, but the next time you opened your eyes again, you were in an entirely different place.

You stumbled back a little and fell to the ground on your knees as your eyes tried to focus on what you were seeing. It was similar to the dark void that you were plunged in back at the arena, except this time, everything seemed to have been dissolved in darkness. No walls, no ground to stand on, even Mark and the others were gone, all except for you, Haechan, and an unconscious Renjun lying on the ground. A little ways from him, looking just as disoriented was the lady in the blue lab coat.

"Renjun!" You scrambled to your feet and ran towards the boy the second you were finally able to recover. Kneeling, you tried to cradle his head gently on your lap as you felt for a pulse. He has it, albeit weak, and you gently tilted his head back to keep his airways open.

"Where are we? What did you do?"

For the first time ever, you heard the scratchy voice of the woman who was pulled into this nether dimension with you. She sounded scared, and for good reason, as you saw Haechan step slowly towards her in your peripheral vision. Once again, a chill struck deep in your gut when you focused on his face. A small smile has pulled the corners of his lips again, but it wasn't anything like the playful ones he used to have before. Instead, he sized her up slowly, calculatingly, like a predator stalking his prey.

"Make a guess. You don't seem so mean now that your stupid machine is gone, huh?" He sneered. The woman tried to scuttle away backwards in her hands and feet, pale as a ghost.

"We asked you so many times to stop. Nicely too, but you didn't listen. Look what you've done to him, you stupid crone."

"Haechan… stop… We can go. Renjun is breathing," you tried to stay lowly, your voice barely above a whisper as you watched the boy continue to advance. He didn't even look at you, his lips pulling up instead in anger.

"Barely breathing. These stupid humans think they have control over us, when they’re not even worth dirt," he whispered, and you swear you haven't felt real fear until this moment. Everything about him screamed danger, a time bomb just in the fringes of blowing up everything in his way. Around him, the void started taking shapes, moving like bodiless shadows. They thrummed from barely held back energy, waiting for the command of their sorcerer.

"Keep away from me! You monster!"

The high-pitched scream of the woman only made Haechan give a breathy laugh. The temperature in the room had dropped so much that his breath even turned to vapor as he snickered. You unconsciously held on to Renjun, half of your body crouched over him as you watched the scene, terrified. You couldn't look away, not even with every fiber in your body telling you to run.

"Monster, hmm? I like the sound of that. Pretty big words to say so yourself after what you've done, but I'll take it," he shrugged as he finally stopped before her. The look he gave her was so withering that it actually made the woman give a soft whimper of fear. He smiled.

"Wanna guess what monsters do…?"

"They eat up weak people like you."

A shout of surprise was torn from you as a loud blasting noise split the air. The ground opened up, void-like branches springing from out of it to wrap around the woman's shaking form. They circled her arms, legs, and neck like vines before she was lifted into the air. She gave an ear-splitting scream before her own voice was choked off as the grip around her neck tightened.

"Haechan! Stop!"

The boy didn't even look your way, but a coughing, hacking noise came from the lady high up in the air as she was allowed to briefly breathe again. Haechan leaned his head a little bit to the side, as if deep in thought.

"Oh? Are you already giving up? Come on, you can't lose consciousness now. It wouldn't be half as fun if you can't feel what I'm about to do to you."

"No, no. You’re going to kill her—"

“That's the plan.”

"Not… real.”

Another scream sliced the air as the ropes of shadows that hoisted the lady up suddenly disappeared in thin air. She plunged back into the ground, her voice cut off at the sound of something cracking. The next few seconds that followed were silent, with you looking on with fear at the immobile form in front of you. Haechan remained still on his spot too, waiting for any sign of movement. His eyes had gone cold, emotionless.

Lost.

"Stand up. You can take more than that. I need to see what I can break next. Should I take your arms? Or maybe I can gauge your eyes out."

"Hmm? What's that?"

"This is not real. Illusions… you're just playing with my head."

For a moment, it seemed like time stopped as the weak gasping words of the woman hung in the air. Haechan simply stared at her, an unreadable expression in his face. The temperature around you shifted again, this time the cold completely taken over by heat. The air had gotten so thick, you could barely breathe.

And then he broke the silence again.

By throwing his head back and laughing.

"Ah, gosh. You really still think that I can only do illusions? I overestimated you ma'm. You're just not stupid. You're straight out dumb."

Your lips parted as you tried to wrap your head around what was happening. Haechan had started slowly moving again, this time with deadly intent in his gait. Things were starting to click in your head, as pinpricks started to climb your spine.

"Why do you think you're no longer behind the protection of that glass wall in your room, hmm?” he asked as light danced in his eyes. “It's because you're not even in that plane anymore… but in my world."

"Yes, mine. That means in here, I have my own rules. I can do anything. Which, again, only means one thing… Do you wanna guess what that is?"

Haechan smiled, and it was the most terrifyingly haunting thing you've seen. The realization hit you the same time his lips quirked into a smirk. He was never just a mage of illusions. He could shape dimensions, rip them apart and create new ones. 

He... is chaos himself.

"I can break you. No matter how many times I want to."

You moved before you even realized what you were doing. Scrambling from your spot where you were covering Renjun, you ran towards the woman just as the ropes of shadows sprang from nowhere again. This time though, they were shaped like spears, their ends pointed as they aimed for flesh. You managed to pull the lady by the arm to throw her to the other side of the room, but your limbs tangled together and made you trip. The last thing you could remember was a searing pain at your shoulder blade and the spears of darkness suddenly moving around to soften your fall as you toppled back.

And then everything went black.

*******

It felt like you were swimming back to the surface. Everything was so quiet and still that for a minute, you wished you could stay under the waves forever. You were floating idly in silence, body feeling weightless as your consciousness stayed in the middle of dreams and reality.

It didn't last long though. Just as you were about to drift into deep sleep again, a dull tint of orange started blooming behind your lids. The color started growing stronger and stronger until it finally made you frown and roll away. You wanted nothing more than for it to go but it persisted, like a small fire burning beyond your closed eyes. 

"I see you're still very responsive. Good girl."

The honey voice that sounded somewhere from your side made you open your eyes in a jolt. All of a sudden, the warm cocoon of sleep was torn away from you as you were finally pulled to the surface. You were still disoriented when you caught what looked like an IV line by your side but you managed to swivel your head towards the source of the voice. You locked eyes with its owner...

And found yourself freezing again.

Dr. Lee smiled at you, her perfect red lips tipped by the corners. They didn't quite match her stare, which was now trained at you with a mixture of barely concealed amusement and something much more… sinister.

"How are you feeling, darling?"

You couldn't quite wrap your head around what's happening at first. You could see and hear her… but none of the signals she was giving were still making sense in your head. You were trying… but before you could do anything, a throbbing pain by your right shoulder made you gasp. You almost sat up in shock at the feeling, but you were gently eased back into what you can assume is your hospital bed by her hands on your chest. You groaned.

"What happened?"

"There is a hole in your shoulder is the quickest way to explain it. I wouldn't recommend for you to move too much anytime soon."

That was all it took for you to go still again. As if a switch has been turned on, the last memories you had came flooding back to you in waves. You immediately turned your head towards the woman beside you who was now looking at you with an unreadable expression.

"Haechan and Renjun—"

"01 and 02 are being kept in a different facility. If you're wondering how they are, they're still alive. 02 sustained more… let's say, internal damage, but he is alive. 01 is unscathed, though he seems to need more treatment for mental distress after he hurt his favorite doctor."

The lilt in her voice made your stomach turn. The way he talked about the boys confirmed your suspicions as you read between the lines of her words and their undertones. You looked on to her, speechless at first. You felt hot and cold at the same time. Angry, but also terrified.

"You… were the one who ordered to give them the tests," you whispered. Her smile returned slowly as if she was relishing each word you said.

"I did, indeed. I had to make a couple of adjustments, but I believe I finally got to the sweet spot now… all thanks to you, honey."

You frowned in confusion. She crossed her legs in front of her and rested her manicured nails on her knee.

"You see, we have tried so many approaches just to tease those abilities out of those kids. At first there was the recommendation to use positive reinforcement on them so we could study their potential, but it became obvious after some time that it’s impossible to get their full trust. Sure, several of them did work with us but seriously… did they really think we believe that is all they can do?"

You stared at her in silent horror as you slowly processed her words. It was a good thing that you were lying down, because your head was already starting to swim. Whether she noticed your internal dilemma or not, you have no idea, because she simply went on with that same idle, satisfied smile on her lips.

"And then… you came and some of them actually started cooperating more. That's when we knew a different approach was needed. Maybe positive bribes aren't what's needed to crack them open, but another kind of motivation instead. After all, what pushes another person at their limit… than human emotions foolishly fixated on others?"

You wanted to retch. The random invite for the competitive drill back at the arena. The display of Renjun's torture in front of all of them. She had it all planned. All of it.

"You're hurting them…" you said in a tone that almost broke. Her smile widened and she leaned forward to run a finger down your cold cheek. The sharp edge of her nail barely grazed your skin, but it was enough to make your skin crawl.

"Well, yes. I needed to. I have to say… patience really isn't my strongest suit but I'm not going to break them entirely since I need them alive after all. Until they really show us what they can do though, we'll just have to do the same thing over and over again. Don't worry, their memories of the stress tests get erased when the mental trauma gets too much. We have the High Priestess to take care of that for us. We can't afford broken boys now, do we?"

Your breath hitched. Renjun can tap memories… which also means he can erase them too. Was that the reason why he was always sick? Because Cypher was using his Arcana on the others? Ten said that when the other boys started needing medical help, they couldn't even remember what happened to them. Their memories... were they being manipulated against their wills? 

"I decided to keep the Magician's memories of what he did to you though, just in case you want to know," your blood ran cold as you realized what she was talking about. "I think I like him better when he is a little… deranged. I've always thought that boy is special. Who would have even thought he was so so much more," she trained her brown eyes on you and you saw the way they sparkled with glee. "Chaos Magic. Disrupting dimensions… maybe even manipulating the very fabric of existence itself. With the right push, he can be more than what he can do right now."

"What do you want from them…" you managed to voice out despite the thundering sound of your heartbeat now pressing against your ears. At this point, you knew it was impossible to have a harmless reason behind the lengths she was pulling. Dr. Lee stopped as if she was mulling over your question.

"Have you ever wondered how it feels like to have the power to shape the world whichever way you wanted to? Not in the way money and influence can, no. But something greater than that."

Slowly, your eyes widened as you realized what she was trying to say. Your hands started feeling numb, the feeling starting to climb to your arms like frostbite.

"Jisung can power a whole country if he wanted to. Maybe even a nuclear project all on his own. Jaemin and Renjun are perfect for Intelligence use—no man can ever hide anything, nor say no to them. Chenle… Chenle can keep armies from collapsing, if he uses his ability to transform broken bodies back into their old selves. Haechan can turn everything to his favor if he wanted and Mark can be the perfect killing machine. Jeno has yet to show us what he can do, but I doubt it will take long for him to crack now."

You were speechless. You expected the worst, but not to this extent. You almost wanted to throw up seeing the look on her face. There was nothing on it but madness.

"You're going to weaponize them…" you choked out. Your words seemed to have triggered something in her, because she gave you her widest, wildest smile yet. Her hand hovered over your face again and it took you all you had not to flinch as she tucked a loose tendril of your hair behind your ear.

"Come on now, don't make it sound too bad. Maybe you're still too young to understand, but you'll get it soon," she locked gazes with you and your stomach turned at the chaos you could see in her eyes.

"After all, why be a savior if you can play god?"

*******

CHAPTER 10

A/N: Latest chapter is finally in after so long! Thank you so much for everyone who has tuned in to Arcane until now. I know the plot is really complicated so I appreciate all of you! As usual, enjoy! <3

PS. Let's all wish for Jeno and Chenle's speedy recovery from covid. 🥺

Taglist [OPEN]:  @negincho, @jhornytrash, @aaasteroidsky, @huangberryyy, @marijmin, @ashkuuuu, @reluctantserpent-101, @huskyhunny, @domojoo, @anaveragefangirl, @lostlovesoul11, @dreamisfelix, @lomlwoo, @coconuttiez8d, @jaehyunenthusiastsworld, @shininginthemoonlight, @bettyschwallocksyee, @w3bqrl, @smolpeyy, @chenlejjang, @kunssouschef, @thesunsfullmoon, @kpopstanforlifeuwu, @chokopocky, @azzygongez​, @tito-the-mermaid​, @jakeshuneybby​, @yutacchin​, @baehaechannie, @thefoxsleeps​

#mark nct fic #mark nct x reader #jeno x reader #haechan x reader #renjun x reader #jaemin x reader #nct dream imagines #nct dream #nct dream au #nct dream superhuman au #jeno fic #renjun fic #haechan fic #jaemin fic #chenle fic #jisung fic #kun wayv fic #nct dream suspense au #nct dream fic #nct dream yandere fic

[skaruresonic]

About Sonic 3, I feel the only reason the fandom (and what I assume is non-fandom becayse most of their exposure to Maria as a character amounts to "she dies lmao") wants to see her death on-screen so much is because it'll be a "funni maymay" like "this kid-friendly movie has a freaking child get shot on-screen, funniest shit I've ever seen".

Like, remember the very first trailer for the first movie? Did you know that a good number of recent comments under it are actually sad that the movie didn't turn out as bad as it could have been and wasn't a "giant memefest" that people could "enjoy" in an ironic sense? It's just the lowest hanging fruit for those who just want to meme on the movie.

Tangent, but I'm actually interested to see how much this crowd overlaps with the crowd which swears up and down that Mr. Principles is Quintessential Sonic, and if you don't agree, something must be wrong with you on a moral and psychological level. Folks who cry the moral high ground the hardest tend to make for the biggest hypocrites lol.

Dead Maria jokes are nothing new. Fandom's cracked them since time immemorial. The thing is, though, I would think that 23 years since SA2's release, people would be past that and maybe try to follow in ST's stead of giving her life more importance than her death. Because there is absolutely merit to the idea that she only died to give the men around her something to angst about... But the solution to that isn't to voyeuristically focus on her demise to the point of making it a meme?

---

Like, remember the very first trailer for the first movie? Did you know that a good number of recent comments under it are actually sad that the movie didn't turn out as bad as it could have been and wasn't a "giant memefest" that people could "enjoy" in an ironic sense?

(and what I assume is non-fandom because most of their exposure to Maria as a character amounts to "she dies lmao")

Well, considering nonfans seldom respect Sonic as a franchise because of muh inconsistency, I'm inclined to not give their opinion any merit. They can come back when they've played the games. Not holding my breath for that one lol.

I'm just baffled that fans are also clamoring to see Maria get shot onscreen because it's like, et tu, Brutus? You should be past this kind of childishness by now. Much like how Shadow's backstory cannot retroactively become any Deeper by cramming in more pointless angst, seeing her die for the hundredth time will make her death seem more overplayed than poignant. At this point, asking to see her die is just a voyeuristic desire to see suffering for suffering's sake.

Also, if you think about it, neither X nor ShTH showed her explicitly getting shot. They just heavily implied it, to varying degrees of tastefulness (including the sound of the gunshot was... not ShTH's best decision, to put it extremely lightly, but at the very least the game didn't show the bullet going into her body).

I really don't mean to be the "don't have fun" guy. However, seeing everything about Maria online get boiled down to her death, her memory being dangled like a carrot to get a Pavlovian reaction out of Shadow, or her being dismissed entirely as a "generic" character really bugs me as a fan of the character. I'll be the first to admit her handling has flaws and maybe isn't the most fleshed-out portrayal around, but I also feel fandom exacerbates these problems by further objectifying her in this manner. Again, nobody's out here cracking Tikal stampede jokes every time her name crops up.

The whole point of Maria's character is that she's a normal girl, and it is a tragedy that her life was senselessly cut short. She isn't some great scientist like her cousin and grandfather, nor does she need to be. She represents humanity's capacity for goodness in spite of the horrors it inflicts.

Can you imagine the strength of character it must take not to hate the people who hunted you down and shot you, and instead retain your hopes for mankind's happiness? Where do you think Shadow gets it from? Gerald didn't give him a soul identical to hers for no reason.

but nah let's pop a cap in her ass so Shadow can do a cri

#asks

[butterflydm]

polycule concerns & thoughts for s2 & s3

spoilers for what we know about the s2 of the show but also book spoilers through roughly The Fires of Heaven

If you've been following me for a while, you might know that my One Fear (TM) re: the WoT show is that the polycule will be split up into two monogamous couples.

We've gotten some hints and indications that the plan is to go with the polycule but I will probably not fully relax about it until we have something concrete on-screen.

So this post is essentially me thinking through the elements that would be helpful to have in season two that would pave the way for us getting the polycule on-screen and accepted by viewers.

Starting with what we already have:

behind the scenes, Rafe said that he's more interested in polyamory than polygamy and that the situation isn't going to be "one guy dates three girls" but something more equitable while also saying that removing the polycule would be "gutting" the story. So all of that is a good sign that Rafe is more interested in improving the polycule than ditching it. *fingers crossed*

we've introduced the concept of polyamory into the series already with Alanna, Ihvon, & Maksim, and shown that it is accepted among Aes Sedai & Warders (especially Green Ajah)

Min's mention of seeing "three beautiful women" in Rand's future.

It also seems like, in story terms, Falme is going to somewhat take the place of Tear, in terms of being where people launch into the story of The Shadow Rising, as S3 is meant to fairly closely align with that book. But, in terms of creating the polycule, having that happen in this version of Falme has the advantage of all four prospective polycule members being present (in the books, Aviendha is not present at Falme & Min is not present in Tear), so there can be some tentative vibes/conversations.

Realistically, I feel like season two isn't going to be able to give us too much polycule content, simply because people are going to be fairly scattered for most of the season, but we can still get some valuable set-up for the future.

So these would be the emotional beats that I would hope we get in season two:

Elayne and Rand getting a meet-cute, as they got in the books (losing Randlayne's meet-cute is the one thing that I really do miss about losing Caemlyn from S1)

We learn that Aiel culture is polyamory-friendly.

Min recognizes Elayne and/or Aviendha before being introduced to them (implying that she has already seen them in a viewing).

This sets us up going into S3 with all three of the female characters already coming from a base of understanding that polyamorous relationships are a thing that can happen: Aviendha through her culture; Elayne through knowing people in the Green Ajah; Min through her viewings.

@markantonys suggested that Aviendha x Rand might be the first full-fledged romantic relationship inside the polycule, since we already know that S3 will be a closer working of The Shadow Rising and then we'll likely feed into The Fires of Heaven for S4 (potentially mixed with the Tear arc from The Dragon Reborn), which would be a great way to build out a sustainable and consensual polyamorous relationship that isn't dependent on Elayne writing confusing letters that make Rand believe that she's essentially broken up with him. Because Rand and Aviendha would be working from within the cultural basis of the Aiel, which allows for polyamorous relationships, there would be no need for the narrative to trick Rand in order to begin the next stage of the romantic relationships. And because Avirand is the most slow-burn out of the romances, it's also a good one to be the first romance Rand gets into after the ending of the more serious Rand & Egwene relationship that we had in the show.

Using that as an idea, the sort of shape we could potentially have would be some sparks of mutual attraction in early S3, before everyone splits up (I am really hoping that everyone doesn't split up at the end of S2!), then Rand x Aviendha would be the focus in S3/early S4. Elayne & Nynaeve go to Tear instead of Tanchico (per another great suggestion from markantonys) and then Rand & the Aiel also end up going to Tear at the end of S4 when the Shaido leave the Waste (breaking to the south instead of the north), and we end up with Rand x Aviendha x Elayne at the Stone of Tear at the end of S4.

That's kinda as far as my thoughts have gone at this point in time, lol. Min is the toughest for me to figure out because the way Jordan approaches her relationship with Rand in the books is... not my thing, so I kinda want to just see how the show handles her and hope that I'll like it better.

#minrandavilayne #randland polycule #wot #wheel of time #wot on prime #wot speculation #wot season 2 spoilers #wot on prime spoilers #wot book spoilers #wot spoilers #the fires of heaven