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my-tin-can-mans · 2 years

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Distractions and Comfort

Eddie Munson X Henderson! Reader

Notes: Oh boy. Enjoy this hurt comfort I whipped up because the guy I like and had been talking to for about a month decided to ghost me :).

Not Beta'd so if you see a mistake, no you didn't.

Warnings: None I don't think? A little angst but not the worst I've written lmao.

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“Eddie!’ Steve yelled coming up to him from the back door of the house that currently held the ongoing party. Eddie had been in his usual spot, out back where he could deal in private when his friends dragged him to the party. Or rather you dragged him.

Being Dustin’s older sister and also being unfortunate enough to also act as his chauffeur to and from hellfire club, you had gotten to know Eddie. Before that, your friend group consisted of Steve and Robin. Robin was your childhood friend and when you went to work with her at Scoops Ahoy you were first displeased by Steve “the king”’s presence but after enduring torture with him and Robin, you all were very close now. It took a while for the other two to allow Eddie into the friend group but you were anything if not stubborn.

You liked Eddie, maybe a little too much for a friend. But that was all you were, just friends. You could tell by the way he looked at other girls sometimes. The way he looked at Chrissy.

That's why for the past month you have been with someone else, trying to distract you from him. Robin had insisted that this was a bad idea, but then again all of Robins's ideas were bad so who was she to talk right?

Patrick and you had come to the party tonight together. He hadn't officially asked you to be his girlfriend yet which had honestly been a relief to you, but when you caught him kissing another girl from the cheer team it definitely stung a little. He had gone off to get the two of you drinks while you were sitting chatting with Robin, Steve was long gone trying to find a girl while Eddie had headed out back the second all of you had arrived. When you realized Patrick had been gone for longer than a few minutes you went to search for him, finding him in the dark hallway with her pressed against the wall.

“Hey Eddie man, have you seen Henderson?” Steve now stood directly in front of Eddie and the stranger who was shoving a bag in his pocket before standing up and scurrying away.

Eddie closed his small lunch box looking up at Steve, “No Steve I haven’t and if you don't mind I'm kinda in the middle of something now?” he gestured to his box.

Steve rolled his eyes crossing his arms, “she hasn’t been out here has she?” he questioned anyways.

“Have you met her? You know she doesn’t like this shit. No, she hasn’t been out here. And why are you so worried anyways, she's probably just in some room getting down with Patrick by now. Told me she was sure tonight he was gonna ask her to be his girlfriend.”

“Yeah, that's the point dipshit she's definitely not with Patrick. Just saw him with some other girl. Hoping I could catch her before she did but I can't find her so I think it's safe to assume she's already seen him too.”

“Shit shit shit!” Eddie popped up from his seat. Selling his lunch box contents would have to wait another night, “She definitely didn't leave yet Patrick drove her here, you checked the bathroom yet?”

“Yeah, the one on the first floor but I figured I come out here before going upstairs.”

Steve and Eddie bounded up the stairs of the house finding the door to the bathroom locked and knocked.

“Occupied,” your voice called out on the other end, small and broken. They shared a look with each other.

“Princess its us open up,” Eddie spoke up. Silence.

They looked at each other again worried for you, but Steve being impatient yelled out, “Alright look open the door, or I’m breaking it down and blaming it on you.”

The door opened to reveal you standing there head down trying to hide your puffy eyes and red nose. “Oh sweetheart,” Eddie said to you as they both pushed their way in closing the door behind them.

“I don’t understand,” you said back hitting the wall and sliding down, “What is it about me that men don’t want, am I really that unlovable?” you questioned.

Steve squatted down in front of you while Eddie pressed himself up against your side.

“No no, it's not that, you're great really. Patrick is just a dick Okay? He thinks he’s the shit because he's a basketball player and had some popularity, I should know I used to be one of those dicks.”

“Yeah, you were too good for him anyways.” Eddie added, “he wouldn’t know what to do with you if he tried.” he spoke, bringing his hand up to your face and wiping the tear rolling down your cheek.

“If im too good for him then why am I the one crying in a bathroom while he’s with some other girl.”

“Because he's a dumbass,” Steve blurted out.

“Yeah any guy would be lucky to call you theirs, your the most gorgeous girl in school, and im not just saying that, not only that but your smarter and funnier than all those other cheerleaders. Sweetheart have you seen the way guys look at you when we walk down the hallway, they practically gawk.”

“Well they're gawking at you, but it's also probably partly because you're with the school freak,” Steve spoke. Eddie flicked him, “sorry, just came out.”

You gave a half-hearted laugh at their banter. No matter how close they had become friends because of you, they still bickered.

“Come on sweetheart let's get you home okay?” Eddie said standing up, holding out a hand for you as well.

“I don’t want to go home, Dustin’s just gonna make fun of me all weekend for sulking.” you pouted on the floor.

“I’d invite you to mine but my dad's home and he's probably just as unpleasant as Dustin, no definitely more and that means a lot coming from me.”

“Mine it is then.” Eddie replied, “come on my uncle wont be home till the morning, plus he loves having you around anyways, says you’re a good influence.” he gave you a little smirk and picked you up off the ground.

As the three of you walked through the crowded house to the front entrance you happened to also catch Robin along the way, Eddie kept walking by your side while Steve hung back to fill Robin in on what happened. Once you were in Steve's car, you sat in the back with Eddie, Robin taking a front seat and filling the silence with whatever word vomit that came to her mind.

It was mostly about Patrick, telling you how one time she saw im pick his nose in class so he wasn't a suitable match anyways. You zoned everything out though, in favor of leaning your head against the window and watching the shadowed night pass through the trees.

A warm hand touching your thigh made you jump out of your trance, looking over to see Eddie already looking at you. He moved closer wrapping his arm around you while keeping his other hand rubbing small comforting circles on your lower thigh.

Eddie had always been a touchy person, it was just how your friendship was. So this wasn’t a new sight. In fact, it was very familiar and made you feel a little at peace with the ending of the night.

After a few minutes, Steve had pulled into the trailer park letting you and Eddie out. Before you could get too far though he rolled his window down, “Henderson!” he yelled causing you to whip your head around, “you sure you don't want us to stay too?”

“Nah that's alright Steve, besides, it might get a little stuffy in here with all of us,” you giggled.

Once inside the trailer, you and Eddie went straight to his room, borrowing an oversized shirt from him in favor of you dress you had worn to the party. It was a shame you thought, you and Robin had gone shopping specifically for this night when you saw that dress you instantly fell in love, and it looked good on you too. Patrick hadn't even told you that you looked good tonight when he picked you up. That should have been enough right there to know he didn’t really give a shit.

“Okay,” you said to Eddie after pulling his shirt over your head, “you can turn back around.”

When he turned around he smiled upon looking at you, it wasn’t uncommon for you to spend the night here, borrowing a shirt from him every once in a while when it was unexpected and you didn't have a change of clothes. You loved Dustin, but he was gone to his friends a lot and your mother and you didn’t get along well, Dustin was her golden child, you were just there most of the time.

“It’s shame, that dress you picked out did look good, had to waste your first time wearing it on the shitty Patrick.”

“You, Eddie Munson noticed a bought a new dress.” you scoffed in disbelief, Robin had to of told him your plan before the night.

“Of course I noticed, Jesus Henderson did you listen to what I said in the bathroom at all?” Eddie said flopping onto his bed, “I meant it you're gorgeous, and that dress certainly showed that off, although I will say ive always favored seeing you in my shirt.”

You scoffed at him again, heading towards his bed to lay down as well. Eddie always flirted with you a little bit, but he did the same with Robin, hell even sometimes Steve was on the receiving end of it. But this was different. His words had started to make you blush. Calling you gorgeous was never in his vocabulary before and it made your heart ache.

The whole reason you had got with Patrick was to distract you from your feelings for Eddie and it had been successful up until now.

Now you were alone with Eddie, definitely not with Patrick and he was now calling you gorgeous, saying he preferred you in his clothes. It made you realize the whole reason this whole night had gone down the gutters was that you wanted to get with someone so that when Eddie finally got the balls to ask Chrissy out, which you could tell he wanted to by the way he looked at her, you might not feel as bad.

“Bet you think Chrissy would look good in your clothes too yeah?” you mumbled, laying down facing away from him so he couldn’t see your hurt face.

“ ‘scuse me?” he asked. “Henderson what the hell are you talking about.”

“Oh come on, Munson,” you said, trying to turn your voice into a teasing tone when it felt like you were about to start crying all over again. “You look at her like she hung the moon and you haven’t even talked to her.”

“I do NOT look at her like that, are you out of your damn mind! She’s dating the enemy Henderson wake up!” he laughed and shook you, causing you to let out a small giggle. “I look at her like that because she used to be so nice, and now she's with Jason. That reminds me I never got to scold you for dating one of those jerks. What the hell were you thinking anyway?” he jokes at you.

“I don’t know what the hell I was thinking Eddie, guess I just needed a distraction.” you rolled onto your back, looking at him propped up on his elbow looking down at you with a confused expression on his face.

“Distraction, a distraction from what?” he questioned you.

You sighed. This was your chance, if he truly didn't have feelings for Chrissy you might as well confess yours, you’d already been hurt once tonight, why not go for another round, “a distraction from you, Eddie. I really like you, more than just friends, and it hurt me to think you might have had a thing for her instead.”

His eyebrows rose at your confession, you covered your face with your arms not being able to bare the silence of him.

“Henderson im gonna ask you this again, what the hell were you thinking,” he said, but this time it wasn't in a joking manner. His voice was softer than usual, quiet too. “I’ve had feelings for you ever since I saw you sitting on the hood of your car picking up that brat you call a brother for the first time.” while he spoke he also slowly started to lower to arms from your face, by the time he was finished you were both looking at each other.

Eddie leaned down hovering above you now. Lips almost brushing but not enough to feel anything. “Can I kiss you?” he asked.

“Please,” you whispered, closing the short distance.

Eddie’s lips moved against yours in a feverish manner, his hand coming up to cradle your cheek in the palm of his hand. Eddie deepened the kiss, slipping his tongue into your mouth, drawing out a moan from you. “Fuck” he breathed as he pulled away after a few moments. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that”

“I could say the same.”

He pressed his head in the crook of your neck, peppering it with little kisses, hand moving down to your waist to rub small little circles on top of his shirt.

“Come on sweetheart it's getting late,” he said coming up to face you again and giving you another small kiss, “wanna hold you for the night.”

Eddie moved to turn off his bedside lamp returning to his position on the bed and pulling you into his chest. You doze off into a peaceful sleep, although you weren't with whom you had planned laying next to tonight, you were much more satisfied.

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theageofsims · 29 days

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The Age of Sims 2.7 - Part 12- "Lost in the City" LANGUAGE WARNING

To be cold, hungry, and lost in the city was a trouble that William did not have. While he wasn't getting the home grown food he was used to, he was still able to get by with what was available to him -- and the cold was hardly an issue since he had felt numb when it came to his nephew since his disappearance.

No matter how many times he tried to make himself understand or the few times Gloria had reminded him -- he still blamed himself for the beaten path that Peter had found himself going down. He broke a promise that was worth breaking -- a promise he should have never made to him in the first place, and on one hand he was solid on his decision... until the guilt started to creep in and he flipped his approach on the subject.

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"You're lucky I answered."

"I thought I'd save you the trouble -- any luck?" "Don't you think if I had any I would have called?" His tone flat. "We can't trust that you would because you kept a secret from us once before."

"Alright -- wait a minute. I made a promise to someone who wouldn't even need to confide in me if his own father would have pulled his head out of his ass 28 years ago." He said angrily as the stress of the situation began to rile him up. "Do you think I expected him to come banging on my front door during a routine college break?"

"You know he always thought highly of you."

"Once upon a time when he was a little boy. Once he started growing up I was just his uncle who had a stick up his ass about everything--" He paused as he heard her laugh, "Yeah -- laugh it up, Kath."

"It's hard not to. I don't think any of us have ever seen you laid back... carefree... at peace." She trailed on, trying to find memories of their life together that could possibly prove what she was saying -- completely wrong, but she kept coming up empty handed. "It's just who you are."

"Yeah well, it's a damn good thing I am who I am -- at least I'm on top of things so the kid's got a fighting chance."

"Look William, I don't know how much you expect me to do when it comes to Peter. Unlike you, I haven't retired completely and neither has Nash. On top of that we've got two dogs and I ended up watching Noah for longer than originally planned because you can't seem to stop disrespecting his mother--"

"That woman has no idea how much more that kid needs. All she does is bounce around from here to there, living the glamour life in Del Sol Valley -- yet still can't make it beyond soap ads! We should NOT be raising HER child--"

"THEIR child." She corrected him, "And you need to cut her some slack--"

"No. I'm not cutting her anymore slack than I already have. When you're taking care of Noah it's just you and your husband. When I'm taking care of him, it's Bella and I -- you don't know how frustrating that woman is especially when she disappears or stays out later than planned."

"What are you saying, William?"

"That I'm doing the fucking best that I can. I haven't got a live-in partner that is willing to help me raise Noah half of the year. The best I can do is allow her to stay in my house -- which is where her and Noah are at this very moment." He inhaled sharply, suddenly bothered by that reality more than he probably ever realized before.

"I would think you'd appreciate having the company instead of being alone all the time--"

"I'm not alone!" He snapped, now so far deep in a bad mood.

"Well I just assumed--"

"Don't." He shot back.

"Well, I mean... I'm sure she would understand why you have Bella staying--"

"Of course she understands. She's a very understanding person!"

He heard his ex wife sigh over the phone. A sigh he had heard her make a million times during their decades long marriage.

"I don't know what you want me to say--"

"Don't say anything. We both have made adjustments to our lives because Peter can't get his shit together and his son would have suffered greatly if we hadn't stepped up to the plate -- but in the meantime the kid's mother should do what she signed herself up to be -- a mother, and more importantly -- that loud mouth in the background should have stepped up to be a fucking father to his son from day one!"

"William--"

"Do me a favor -- don't fucking call me while you've got that asshole there."

"Will--" She tried, but it was too late. He had already hung up.

#the age of sims #sims 4 #sims 4 story #ts4

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tartrazeen · 1 month

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You know what sucks?

DR2's case 3 gets so much guff from people for sucking (and it does lmao) when we were actually on the verge of an INCREDIBLE rebuttal from the killer:

Saying Hajime did it.

Let's go right up to the part where Mikan is about to slip up with that camera angle thing. But instead of saying that, she just breaks down into tears.

"You're a bully, Hajime," she sobs. "Worse than anyone I've ever met! Maybe Hiyoko was mean, maybe everyone I grew up with beat me up, but you! You're the one who turned the only friends I've ever had against me!

"And you were a bully from the very start. You never let me use any of my conversation starters. You used that embarrassing photo of me against Teruteru even when I begged you to forget about it. Now you have everyone convinced that I'm some sort of killer?!

"They all believe you, too. You're so nice, Hajime. Everyone likes having you around. They'll believe anything you say. I used to think you were nice too - that's why I felt safe enough to wake up with you in the morning. That's why I trusted you when you said I was your alibi!

"But I was wrong. We were all wrong. We should never have believed you. Not when you used that trust against me. That alibi was actually your plan to frame me, wasn't it? And you used that trust against everyone else, too.

"Tell me this, Ultimate Liar. Why were you the only one who saw this supposed video? Why should any of us believe it was even real?!"

Cut to Hajime trying to say that video was real, and Mikan demanding proof of it. The most he can say is that it's how he knew to go to the music venue.

The others try to ask why the conference room and music venue were made to look like each other.

"HA! Is that all you have to say? If you were the killer all along, of course you'd know to go to the music venue! The video simply gives you a convenient excuse."

"Isn't it obvious? That was his back-up plan. Just like Peko and her fake serial killer persona, Hajime had his fake suicide video! He set that up in advance knowing he could always blame the only other person who'd be in the hospital - me!

The others would start asking how Hajime would ever have the time or opportunity to set up such an elaborate alibi.

"In the end, I was once again the target of a big, mean, hateful bully!"

"You all think I had enough time, don't you? Weak, clumsy, dumb, pathetic Mikan, suddenly able to kill two people under all of your noses!

"Now it's too complicated?! Now it can't be Hajime?!

"I might be the Ultimate Nurse, but I had three patients to care for! Nobody else stayed to help me, and the hospital was empty! With Fuyuhiko back at his cottage and the others quarantined in the motel, why wouldn't Hajime have all the time he needs to dress up both rooms?

Assuming the class gets tangled up in this enough to realize Hajime has just as much opportunity as Mikan, right down to having the same alibi, it'd be up to Chiaki or Nagito (probably Chiaki) to mention Hiyoko's death. Even if Hajime knew Mikan was busy caring for three patients, and even if he volunteered just to watch how busy she was, and even if he used that information to plan a back-up alibi, there's no way Hajime would have been able to pull off the imitation murder. They've already discussed it: Hajime hadn't seen Monokuma's film until the investigation started, and it isn't like anyone told him what happened -

"And with Nagito in such critical condition, of course I couldn't leave his room! No one knew that better than Hajime, who volunteered to get in my way throughout the day!! Then spent the rest of the night framing me for a video that doesn't exist!!"

"Oh?! Oh oh oh oh oh? What's this I hear? More trust in Hajime, more doubt in Mikan?

Cue the surprise about that, and Hajime's immediate attempt to counter it by saying Ibuki couldn't have -

"'Nobody told him what happened' - is that all you have left? Empty guesses? Because I know someone who could have told Hajime everything about that film: Ibuki."

"Couldn't have told you? Oopsie, looks like someone forgot Monokuma's motive! Ibuki had the Gullible Disease, didn't she? That means you could have made her watch the film, then made her tell you what happened.

"When do you think that could have happened, Hajime? Right after you slashed Hiyoko's throat, but before you strangled Ibuki? Did you need one final alibi to clean up after your mess?"

The timing, as improbable as it is, still checks out. Hajime had all night to do this, according to Mikan. Who's to say he didn't stop in the middle of his murders to watch a horrible film for inspiration? After all, the real killer left Ibuki hanging there for who knew how long.

"The worst part is that you undid everything I tried to do to help. Ibuki was starting to recover, but you strangled her - and tried to blame me, with my weak little arms! You made the concert hall so hot that I couldn't perform a good enough autopsy! You told me to take a rest at the same time you conveniently saw this supposed video, and used that as proof that I had time to make it!"

Nobody else has their ticket (that's why Nagito told Hajime to keep his) and Monokuma isn't telling anyone who's seen anything. All Monokuma will say is that Hajime put on a biiiiig show of buying a sticker to not see a movie that he ended up watching anyway!

The doubt should really be falling onto Hajime as everyone starts to wonder if this is true. Mikan is just such a perfect victim, and with how busy she was caring for the others, could she have really had the time to set up anything so elaborate? It looks more and more like Hajime or Mikan could have equally been the killer, and it's all coming down to who they simply trust more.

This is when Nagito would actually step up. There'd be a long silence before he asks why Monokuma told them Hajime bought that sticker. Back at the movie theatre, Monokuma wouldn't tell Hajime or Nagito who bought that tote bag. That was because the killer bought it. Doesn't that mean Hajime isn't the killer?

Monokuma laments his big mouth, but says Nagito isn't going to deduce his way into another hint like he did with the body discovery announcement. The reason Monokuma told them who bought the sticker but not who bought the tote bag was obviously because the tote bag was more important to the killer's plan!

But from what Mikan is saying, the killer purposely attempting to prove they hadn't seen the film yet would have been a big part of the plan. Crucial, even, because up until then, everyone assumed Hajime had seen the movie! Who on earth would pay $1.5 million for such a cheap sticker to avoid it? And even if it hadn't been the killer's plan from the beginning, it would've certainly been at the core by the time of the trial. So why does telling them who bought the tote bag reveal the killer's identity, but not the sticker?

What I like about that is how it gives Monokuma more of a reason to stop the Monokuma Announcements in the next chapter. Right now, it's kind of arbitrary. But if he got 'tricked' into revealing even more hints because he kept blabbing during the trials and investigations - with even Monomi chiming in to say all his insults did this to himself - then I could easily see him being like, "You know what? Fine. For this Fun House, you're completely on your own. No hints, no announcements, nothing."

But I also like that it corners Monokuma into admitting that the sticker isn't important to the killer's plan in the same breath as affirming the tote bag is. So reasonably, you could write your way back to the same Panic Talk Action and keep "Theatre Bonus Prize" as the same answer. :)

Anyway, the real goal is to have a trial where you know you didn't do it, but it's genuinely your word over somebody else's. With a theme of this being that they don't 'really' know anything about each other, so they can't 'really' trust each other, it'd throw a lot of those character dynamics into the air. The very next chapter has Kazuichi believing Hajime's the traitor, and then Hajime finding out he doesn't actually have a talent while also holding back everything else Nagito learns about them. I wanted more stuff building towards that theme...

... and I wanted Mikan to use the rebuttal that was RIGHT!! THERE!!

She's taking care of three people and is super tired and the autopsy is ruined and she's so frazzled and no one else saw this video and Hajime had the same opportunities WHY DIDN'T SHE JUST ACCUSE HIM OF FRAMING HER?! He had nothing to defend himself with until she talked about the stupid camera angle! THAT'S SO LAME!!

#danganronpa #dangaronpa 2 #mikan tsumiki #dr2 #danganronpa 2 spoilers #my stuff #good job tartra

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gmanwhore · 10 months

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You are not immune to G-man being Benrey's dad propaganda. Anyways uh fic below

G-man looked around the party, but could not smile. He was so glad to make Tommy happy of course, but there were people who suffered because of it. There was someone still suffering. He looked out the window and saw the lone skeleton just standing there. G-man got up and walked towards the door, heading to the parking lot.

"Hello Benrey."

"Hey."

G-man took a step closer to the skeleton and waved his hand. The flesh returned to Benrey's bones. He knew Benrey could do that on his own but was just refusing to. Looking him in the eyes would be important here, and when he was a skeleton it was not the same.

"You were always invited. You don't need to stay outside."

Benrey rolled his eyes.

"They don't want me there. They killed me. I was always a nuisance, right?"

"Only Dr. Freeman thought that ever. Tommy misses you, he wants you there."

Benrey stared G-man down. He adjusted his tie against the discomfort of the glare.

"I know this will mean nothing to you, but I want you there. You are still my son and I love you."

"You're right, it means nothing to me. You…you never loved me. Did you?"

Benrey looked hurt but was trying so desperately to hide it. No emotion entered his voice like always, but it threatened to burst in.

"I did. I always have. And before you say I preferred Tommy I know why you think that but it was not true. I now realize that I am to blame for what happened here. I am to blame for how you see yourself. I also…never complimented how strong you are. You were so hungry and angry, you could have killed me so easily yet you distracted yourself and I had the gall to try to push you away."

Benrey looked almost shocked.

"You're admitting it? The whole thing?"

G-man nodded. He watched Benrey go through his emotions, trying to figure out what he was feeling and for just a second there G-man saw something he hadn't seen for years, one that sent him back to a day on a planet for away when he found a small child alone and scared and he did something he would be called insane over.

"I made you feel like a monster. I feared you and you knew I was scared and that is no way to raise a child. I am so sorry Benrey."

Benrey looked up at him.

"You could've left me when I was a kid."

"Would…would you have preferred that?"

Benrey thought hard. G-man was scared of the answer but prepared for anything.

"The city was destroyed by another…Bright, that's what my species is called right?"

"That's correct. It appeared you budded off of it as it was feeding."

"So that was like the only person there right? So it would've found me. You know more about Brights than me, what…what would have happened?"

G-man now had to think hard, recalling everything he had heard and learned.

"Well, considering that it was destroying an entire city, I would say it was not likely to be the kind to raise a child. It probably would have eaten you. I assumed that when I found you, which influenced my decision, among other factors."

Benrey shrugged.

"Then I'm glad you found me. Yeah, you were a shit dad at times but at least I'm alive."

"I am sorry. You deserved so much better."

Benrey sighed.

"Ok but like…I think about you watching me and being all scared, right? Then I remember when you would do something cool like just float through space with Tommy and I on your lap or when I hurt my knee and you looked really worried that I got hurt and you picked me up and made my favorite food that night so like I can't hate you! And I really want to hate you! But I can't because you're cool sometimes but you also try to just push me away and it's not fair! I can't hate you and I can't like you and if you were fully a shit dad I wouldn't feel so bad!"

The two stood there in silence.

"I don't forgive you but I also don't not forgive you. I wanna have cake. Let's go."

G-man nods and holds the door for Benrey as they both enter. Almost as soon as Benrey went in, Tommy ran up to him and gave him the tightest hug.

"Benrey! I knew you'd come back!"

Benrey hugged him back tight.

"I always do."

The two went over and got some cake. G-man just watched from the sidelines, able to smile now.

#hlvrai #half life but the ai is self aware #benrey #gman coolatta #hlvrai gman #hlvrai benrey

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hollythehills · 1 year

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Chapter One: Running On Carbs

First Fanfic guysss <3

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It was quiet. As usual.

You mean. You would hope so, right? It is a library after all. But there weren't many people there and although you enjoyed sharing your love of literature with other people you had to admit you liked it like this. There were no children running amuck, parents leaving them here in hopes that some poor librarian will feel bad enough to watch over them, or maybe even hoping that the child will sit down and read a book. There were a couple of teenagers out and about but they were always quiet, too afraid of drawing any attention to themselves. You tried your best to make sure they especially felt at home here, because this was your safe space when you were their age. Probably why you work here now.

But you're not complaining. After all, you were getting paid to read a majority of your day now that you mostly work front desk. Sure you have to deal with the occasional missing book or library card, or angry parent (always for the worst reasons, one time a lady came in demanding why you kept a copy of Catcher in the Rye, as if you specifically had any say in what the library did and did not carry), but all in all it was a nice gig. At that moment you were reading some fantasy trilogy that was just another euphemism for racism without actually including racism, a hierarchy within a hierarchy. But the writing style was easy to follow and refreshing so are you really to blame for becoming so immersed in your novel?

Unfortunately yes. The cough in front of you seems incredibly adamant on getting your attention. You look up from your book ready to help and are met with the gaze of...

Well actually it took you a second to realize you were actually meeting the gaze of anything. Instead of eyes you were met with eyesockets which would be surprising if not for the skeleton they were attached to.

Your eyes widened trying to take in the sight. The skeleton was incredibly tall and wore a beanie. He had on a sweater and some type of gardening pants. He kind of loomed over you in a way, he didn't seem to be trying to intimidate you, but he was absolutely having the affect.

You rose your chin and put on your best customer-service smile, "Hello, sir. How may I help you?", your voice carried to the skeleton clearly, without a hint of a waver.

Wordlessly, the skeleton placed a book on the counter and nodded to it. You caught the cover and it seemed to be a cookbook. You cocked your head, waiting for some kind of clarification. You hadn't ever seen this skeleton here but you assumed he had been here before with how confidently he walked to the counter. Perhaps he was mute, you thought.

You asked carefully, "Do you have a library card, sir?"

There was a pause before he cocked his head. Almost like a puppy. You were about to ask again before he finally spoke, "no."

There was another pause where you waited a moment for him to say more, but he didn't. He had an incredibly deep voice that reverberated through the small corner counter that you sat at and although it puzzled you that someone who probably didn't have vocal cords was talking you nodded and pulled out the forms from the shelf next to you.

"I can get a card set up for you. I'll just need your name and email."

The skeleton stared again, looking down at you from his spot in front of the counter. He seemed confused again so you explained, "The name is for our system, just so we have a clue about what person has what book." You looked up from the form, "If you want I can use a nickname, it doesn't really have to be your 'legal name'," you used air quotes, "and I promise I'm not a snitch." Your lips curled into a natural smile and the skeleton seemed to relax a bit, though he still seemed on edge. His hands were in the pockets of his rough pants, which made him seem even bigger than he was, almost puffed up in a way. Finally after a moment he said quietly, "don't have an email."

Oh.

"Oh." You said, very intelligently, "That's no problem, if you'd like I can put a phone number in the system too. Or we can set up an email now if I could help with that."

He nodded gruffly, muttering a thanks while you waved him into a room behind the counter. The room was open to the rest of the library, but it was a little more private and you figured the skeleton would like that better than the open counter. He followed and watched as you got up from your chair. He eyelights followed you to the doorway and he trailed behind you, careful to keep a bit of a distance.

"Alright," you sat down with a huff and a flinch at the dull sting in your lower back, it was sore from your mattress (which was beginning to show springs on the outside instead of the inside), you needed to get it replaced but you didn't have the funds for that right now. He seemed to notice with how he eyed you warily, and you quickly tried to wave his concern away, "Oh don't worry about me. Bad back."

He nodded, seeming to understand. It surprised you that he didn't ask any questions, though it shouldn't have considering he's said less than ten words the entire conversation. Maybe it was only because you were so used to the looks and the questions. It was probably a human thing, the nosiness. Heh. Nose. Skeleton.

"Alright," you repeated, shaking that line of thought away. "Do you have a phone with you?"

He raised his brow bone but nodded, "yeah."

"Cool, so open an internet browser and go to..."

The whole ordeal took about fifteen minutes, only because the skeleton, who you knew was named Oak now, didn't seem to completely grasp the whole technology thing. But you get it, technology on the surface is pretty different than the underground so you didn't make a big deal about it.

You led him to the desk to finally check out the books and after you do he stops for a moment.

"hey, uh. I just." He looks at the books and nods, "thanks. for all the help." He looks like he wants to say more, but he doesn't and you smile.

"'Course, hon. Glad to help."

That was the first time you saw him.

But it was not the first time he saw you.

He had been watching from afar. At first it wasn't on purpose. He saw you on the other end of the bread isle at the grocers that he frequented. That became his favorite grocers, because it seemed to be yours. He didn't know what it was about you. At first. He just assumed that he liked you physically. The way your arms looked like they knew how to kneed bread (something he had been doing a lot of lately, since he finally had the time), the way your nose was just a little too big to support those glasses you always wore so that they sat on the very edge. Your legs were big, strong. But they still had a jiggle to them. He knew you really liked bread, he saw you in a bakery once and he thinks he actually saw your eyes sparkle staring at all of the baked goods. He tried it the same day, a couple hours after you left. It wasn't creepy, he said to himself. It was just curiosity. The sour dough there was fine. He knew he could do better.

He found himself constantly thinking about you. Not in an obsessive way, it was very casual. When he was baking he wondered if you would enjoy the cupcakes or the macaroons or the banana bread he was making. During game night he thought about whether you were competitive or not. He hoped you were. Because he wasn't and playing was only fun if someone playing the game was actually trying to win.

When he was out with his brother he spotted you in a cafe. You were in a booth that would've perfectly fit him and his brother too. He convinced Poplar to come into the cafe with him, even though it was a little too crowded for his taste. There weren't a lot of people, but humans tended to stare at him and his brother, maybe because they looked a little menacing, o maybe just because they were monsters he could never really tell. He knew he and his brother were definitely tall, compared to humans. So that could be the reason. But to believe that it were the only reason is naive, he told himself. And he was anything but that.

He ordered a red eye, he didn't know what that was but...c'mon. It's pretty funny. The kid taking his order smiled when he said it, he was glad someone appreciated the joke because his brother surely didn't.

"Sans Please, We Are In Public." His brother huffed but there was a hint of a grin on his skull that Oak saw clearly. He chuckled gruffly and went to sit at a table that had a good view of you. You were cuddled into your booth, a book in one hand with your fingers wrapped around a mug in the other. The drink seemed to be very light in color and the empty sugar packets on the table told him that you liked your coffee sweet. He laughed a bit in his head, how funny is it that he baked all of these sweet things and doesn't like sweets. And here you are. A solution to that problem. It was funny, but just a thought, he told himself. You were just a little crush. He had heard people call it a 'hallway crush', when you see someone around you think is really attractive. And then you keep seeing them around, and now you know all of this stuff about them and you can't really do anything with it but you really want to get to know them better but you cant really work up the courage to just go up to them and say hi so. Yeah. A predicament.

Poplar nudged him. He sat across him in the booth, but because the booth is against the opposite wall from where you were sitting they both have full sight of you. Which means Poplar definitely saw his staring at you.

"She's Cute." He grinned at Oak, his eye-lights twinkling behind his thick glasses. Now that he was looking, Oak saw that his brothers glasses were really similar to yours, though yours were thinner than Poplar's. Oak's face dusted in a light blush, the color a rusty red. He nodded and hoped his brother would come off the topic.

He did not. "We Should Go Talk To Her."

Oak's face snapped up to meet his brother's face. That... didn't seem like a good idea. He knew that you were pretty nice for a human, but he had never seen you interact with a monster before and he did not want to run the risk of you somehow being a monster hater. What if you were a complete bigot? He had no way of knowing. All he knew was that you liked coffee and bread. He was sure bigots also like coffee and bread. Who didn't like coffee and bread? He eyed the book you were reading. Tales from the Cafe. Okay that wasn't a book that bigots usually read, but it wasn't unheard of. "uh. i don't know about that, bro."

Poplar did not look shocked. And that is because he wasn't. Oak was a homebody, it was very rare that he ever found interest in another person that did not live in their house. He did not have friends, and although he claimed that it didn't bother him, Poplar had the suspicion that he was a little lonelier than he led on. "Why Not? I'm Sure She'd Love Someone To Talk To Right Now." That was a lie. Poplar was almost certain that if someone had interrupted him while he was reading at a coffee shop alone, sitting a booth in a coffee shop alone, and sipping coffee alone and someone interrupted him he would be many things among perplexed. And he knew that his brother knew that. But he couldn't squander this moment of interest that he saw in him What if his brother had found a datemate? And Poplar did have to admit, you were quite attractive. He wouldn't mind seeing you around the house everyday.

Oak shook his head a little. "naw, you've got the wrong idea." His brother squinted his eyes at him. He looked away, "I mean. not completely wrong. i just recognized her from that bakery we started going to."

Poplar looked even more delighted, which Oak thought wasn't possible. He practically vibrated in his seat when he said, "Perfect! You Two Have Something In Common."

"i don't think bread is something really significant to bond over, paps."

Poplar lifted his brow bone, "Now We Both Know That Is Completely Untrue. You And Red Ended An Argument With A Focaccia."

"that was different."

Poplar looked smug, but didn't push it any further. His brother was a procrastinator, but he knew that if he really cared about something he would do it. Poplar cringed inwardly at the choice of words in his inner monologue, but he knew what he meant.

The coffee and treats arrived (coffee for Oak, treats for Poplar) and it turns out that a 'Red Eye' is just a black coffee with two shots of espresso. It was very good, Oak finished it all and hoped he wouldn't be too jittery later. His caffeine tolerance was pretty high but his anxiety was higher. He watched his brother eat the chocolate chip biscuits they bought. They looked pretty good, enough fluff and the layers looked decent. Poplar ripped off a small piece and handed it to Oak. He ate it, chewing thoughtfully. It was definitely shipped frozen, but otherwise it was fine. He nodded and Poplar smiled. Oak glanced at you. Still wrapped up in your book, but one of the baristas must have brought you some food while he was talking to Poplar because he saw a plate of three biscuits at you table. Chocolate chip.

They left before you did. You didn't see them, but they saw you.

And then Oak saw you at the library. He was only trying to find some books for his brother. It was his week to cook dinner and he wanted something different. Oak didn't see you until he was done looking through the library. You were just there. He wasn't even looking for you. But there you were, and he guessed now he knew one more thing about you. Where you worked.

You asked him for a library card. He definitely had his brother's card in his pocket. He wasn't a serious reader. But he guessed it was never too late to start.

You helped him get everything he needed, an email (which he definitely had, but now he had one especially for your place of work. you know. just in case), and he has his own library card now. He found out a couple of things that day.

One: You are definitely not a monster hater.

Two: He already kind of knew this from the cafe experience, but when you're reading you have no sense of your surroundings.

and

Three: He really liked you. And he didn't think it was just a little crush anymore.

#undertale #fanfic #fan fiction #reader insert #x Reader #sans x Reader #horrortale #ht!sans #ht!papyrus #reverse harem #undertail

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friendrat · 2 years

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Theory time!

So we don't talk about Bruno, right? But do we *really* not talk about Bruno? Here's my take:

We tend to think that this whole "We don't talk about Bruno" thing was started by Alma as a means of writing him out of the family, and most people use it as evidence of her driving him away. Here's the thing though... I don't think Alma started the phrase.

Let's look at who says it during the film:

The villagers

Pepa

Felix

Dolores

Camilo

Now let's look at who *doesn't* say the phrase (* next to those who actually do talk about Bruno):

Alma*

Julieta*

Augustin

Isabella*

Luisa*

Mirabel*

Antonio

Do you see the pattern here?

So to break this down a bit more starting with the villagers because they are mostly irrelevant to the conversation.

The villagers provide us with our first time hearing the expression during the song The Family Madrigal, and they later repeat the sentiment during We Don't Talk About Bruno. They seem to have had a general bad impression of him to begin with, blaming many things on him which were probably offhand comments rather than actual prophecies. But even with all that, I don't think they started it.

Alma never once condemns talking about Bruno. When he's brought up during her confrontation with Mirabel at the end, she doesn't shut down the conversation, she angrily says "Bruno didn't care about this family!"

Julieta also never says the phrase, and unlike Alma actually brings Bruno up first in conversation, saying sadly that "my brother Bruno lost his way in this family". It's clear that Julieta misses him, but doesn't have an issue with talking about him.

Isabella has a part in the song We Don't Talk About Bruno, but unlike everyone else, her verse doesn't include the phrase. She just repeats what his prophecy regarding her was.

Luisa mentions Bruno and his visions right after her song, when Mirabel asks her what she thinks is hurting the magic. "I don't know, but I heard the adults talking about it once. Before Tío Bruno left, he had some sort of terrible vision about it." She says this easily, with no hesitation. She also doesn't blame Bruno for whatever is going wrong, for whatever his vision showed, unlike the people who repeat the phrase.

Mirabel, our hero! She is shown talking about Bruno multiple times. Some of the things she says are simply factual statements, or questions about him. She was only around 5 when he left, so I would assume she probably has vague memories of him, but not a lot of clear ones. Mirabel's first mention of Bruno is in the song The Family Madrigal, where she is cut off by the villagers. Mirabel, however, continues to talk about him as if they hadn't said anything. This is our first glimpse of the fact that she sees no issues with talking about Bruno. And why should she, really? As previously stated, her mother and sisters seem to have no issues talking about Bruno.

Augustin is just not in any of the scenes where Bruno is brought up.

Antonio is also not really in any scenes where Bruno is brought up, but given his age he was born after Bruno left, and has no recollection of him. I don't really think Antonio has much of an opinion on Bruno before meeting him.

And now we get to the fun part, the family members who use the phrase:

Dolores is interesting as far as Bruno is concerned. She says "we don't talk about Bruno" in the song, but she doesn't really have anything bad to say about him. Her first verse seems kinda sympathetic to him. This actually makes sense, since we know she can hear him in the walls. This does raise the question why she never told anyone, but I will get to that. Even in her second verse, where she shares her (really sucky) prophecy, she doesn't feel the need to blame Bruno for it (ie, she realizes that he is just the messenger). I think it's important to remember also that she and Isa are the oldest, and would have the clearest memories of Bruno before he left. But before I leave Dolores, the song is arguably not the first mention of Bruno. Earlier in the movie she refers to the rats talking in the walls, and we later realize she was referring to Bruno. Why not mention him by name? Because Dolores isn't allowed to talk about Bruno. But I get ahead of myself.

Camilo is such a fun character! He is so overly dramatic! I feel like if he had grown up around Bruno they would have been really close because they both have similar fun personalities. Camilo would have also been 5 when Bruno left, and so would have the same type of vague memories of him as Mirabel. I think this is shown in his verse of the song, because all he's got are kinda vague and exaggerated descriptions (delivered brilliantly because of his dramatic personality, of course!). But I really feel like he is pulling from what vague memories he has, combined with little details and negative opinions he picked up over the last 10 years.

Felix doesn't seem to be as opposed to talking about Bruno as a lot of people. He *wants* to tell Mirabel what is up, help her understand. But honestly this feels mostly like his reluctance to talk about Bruno is more in support of Pepa.

And so we are finally here. Pepa. By this point it should be obvious that the only people who use the phrase within the family are on Pepa's side of the family. Unlike all the rest, Pepa repeats "we don't talk about Bruno" like a mantra. Very much the same as her "clear skies" mantra. She is *insistent* that they don't talk about Bruno. Why? Why is Pepa so insistent? I have a theory. We know Pepa has trouble controlling her emotions and losing a sibling, a triplet especially, is a really hard thing to experience. Pepa has a lot of pressure on her to, ya know, *not* wreck the whole Encanto with some freak storm because she's upset. I think that when she lost Bruno, she didn't feel like she was able to grieve the loss. I think it was easier to find something to be angry about then allow herself to actually feel that loss (ie blaming Bruno for ruining her wedding, even though she deep down knows it was her powers that were responsible not his, and she could tell the difference between a joke and an actual prophecy).

So there you go. I think the phrase originated with Pepa as a mantra to stop herself from grieving for fear of flooding the whole Encanto. And I think the reason Dolores never told anyone about Bruno being there was because she wasn't allowed to talk about him, and was shut down immediately with a "we don't talk about Bruno!" So eventually she stopped trying.

I used to not like Pepa. Not to say I completely disliked her as a character, I just felt like she wasn't written like someone who had lost a triplet, but after a few times watching it and coming to the conclusion that she is masking her grief with anger, she grew on me.

#encanto #bruno madrigal #pepa madrigal #dolores madrigal #mirabel madrigal #alma madrigal #isabela madrigal #luisa magridal #julieta madrigal #the family madrigal #encanto theory #camilo madrigal

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ventiskies · 3 years

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When he rejects you | Chongyun, Scaramouche, Albedo

a/n: hello friends!! i apologize for my somewhat disappearance TwT im currently having exam season but i couldnt help but write something for my favorite three (and yes, scara is there... and honestly, I don't know when I started simping for him either but you can now call me a future scaramouche haver >:)) so not a request, but do enjoy !! <3 (apologies if there are any errors!!)

pairing: chongyun x gn! reader, scaramouche x gn! reader, albedo x gn! reader (platonic)

Chongyun

★ Chongyun, Xingqiu and you had been best friends since you were kids. And although you were a trio, you and Chongyun had always known each other much longer.

★ If your life were a book, it would be a sweet childhood best friends growing up together genre, something that often piqued Xingqiu’s interests when he drags the two of you to Wanwen bookhouse

★ The books you had borrowed from Xingqiu about them all ended with the same thing; that they end up becoming a couple and growing up together. Reminiscing about their childhood youth when they were old.

★ You knew not to trust the books or use them as a guide, but just like the books, you had grown to fall in love with the icy-haired boy.

★ Chongyun was like a breath of fresh air. His determination in exorcising ‘evil spirits' to the point that he blindly falls for Xingqiu and your pranks were the things that you loved about him. He was filled with enthusiasm and positivity (literally).

★ You grew into enjoying his positive attitude, you couldn't imagine a day going by without Chongyun telling you and Xingqiu about a so called 'haunted' place he had found, and forcing the two of you to come with him. and even if it had ended without meeting a single spirit, he would still be in high spirits.

★ you loved it, seeing the rush of thrill he feels whenever he senses a spirit nearby, hoping the spirit was able to withstand his excessive yang energy. the repeating days without one successful exorcism, only to end up getting treated to a meal by Xingqiu, and the parting that always ends with a promise to see each other the day after. Chongyun speaks his emotions, and you were in love with that.

★ and him, just in general.

★ And one day, you had decided to tell him just that

★ You were both on the hunt for Jueyun chilies for Xiangling, a small commission that you had decided to take on while waiting for Xingqiu to finish his work at the guild. The sun had set, and you had returned from Qingce village with a bucket full of the chilies and had decided to rest on top of the mountain where you had both Waypointed to just to admire the sunset.

★ In the heat of the moment, you had spoken.

“I like you, Chongyun,” you had said, looking at him with a smile.

★ You would have accepted a silence. You had expected it to be like the books; he would gently laugh and look at you, admitting that he had been waiting for you to say the exact words, lean in to kiss you. It would be awkward at first, but it’ll also be something to look back to in the future when kissing becomes something you do every day. You’d return back to Liyue Harbor hand in hand, and be able to tell Xingqiu and Xiangling that he was your boyfriend now, and admit to the former that maybe his books were right.

★ But instead, you were met with Chongyun’s wide eyes staring at you. His cheeks flushed red with what you had tried hard to hope was shyness, but had appealed more like panic. He had stood up and cleared his throat

“We- we should get back,” he says, too quickly for someone as calm as he is. And you knew it was a wrong step, “I’m-,” he clears his throat, “I’m going to go ahead first. I'm sorry,”

★ You didn’t know if he was apologizing for leaving early, or for not being able to accept your feelings, but when you hadn't seen him the following day, you could only assume.

Scaramouche

★ Honestly, you had it coming for you.

★ Scaramouche is someone whose life is their job. There was nothing that could distract him from working for the Tsaritsa

★ You had (been self-entitled) as his best friend. And honestly, if Scaramouche knew of it, he doesn't blame you. Everyone in the Fatui and who worked under the Fatui knew how close you were. Which was odd because, for one, you were absolutely nothing like him. Although you weren't exactly liked by everyone, you weren't loathed by everyone like the sixth harbinger was.

★ Scaramouche was feared by anyone who hears his name or walks a foot away from him, while you carried a calmer aura. Without glancing, Scaramouche could bring his subordinates trembling, while they would greet you when you pass by them.

★ You were polar opposites, and yet, everyone has seen the two of you together so much that when he wasn't with you or the other way around, people would assume you were on a solo mission or just leaving the other’s quarters

★ Of course, being his best friend, you weren’t spared of his usual harsh words. As a matter of fact, you probably had it much worse than anyone else. It had almost seemed as if every time he spoke, he spoke like he was trying to get rid of you.

★ But if that really were the case, then he hasn’t been trying his best. You had stayed with him since you had become an ally to the Fatui, and ever since then had stayed by his side. When others shake in fear, you shake your head with a laugh and a retort.

★ It had even come as a surprise to you when you had realized you had fallen for the harbinger. You would think that spending time with such a foul-mouthed person who would murder someone in the blink of an eye with no hesitation would make you dislike him. But that didn’t happen.

★ In fact, it was quite the opposite. You had fallen in love with him.

★ It wasn’t obvious to anyone, and even you had to take the time to squint to look for it. But Scaramouche did care for you in his own way. Whether it be toning down the harsh words when he sees your mood dampen after a mission, or beating the shit out of a person who had attacked you ruthlessly, not stopping even after his hands were covered in crimson liquid and the person almost certainly died. Even if he calls you a hindrance afterward for dirtying his hands, he definitely thought of you the same as you thought of him.

★ A friend.

★ Or, you had hoped, something more.

★ It was a mistake to take his slight kindness as a sign of him liking you, it truly was.

★ During your journey to Inazuma for a mission, you had decided to confess to him out of the blue. You knew he was someone who could predict the outcome of something even before you said anything, so a slow confession when the sun was setting in a field of flowers would just be a waste of time. if there was something you learned, it's to cut to the chase with him.

“Hey Scara,” you had said quietly. He had replied with a low hum, not turning back to look at you, “I like you.”

★ Without a second thought, Scaramouche had taken you by surprise as well.

★ He had not stopped in his tracks, instead, his shoulders shook in laugher. His laugh wasn't the same laugh you hear whenever you make a stupid mishap or get slightly injured during a simple mission- no, those laughs were warmer. Although laced with unkindness, they were more familiar.

★ This one was condescending. As if you were a new recruit again, having to work under him. As if all those years as friends had just gone down the drain.

“Stupid. What a fool of me to assume you were different.” he says, voice clear as a bell in the night, “don’t be an inconvenience. I don't have time for people like you.”

Albedo

★ Ever since working under Albedo with Sucrose, your life had been nothing but full of wonder. Although some were dangerous, Albedo and you bonded easily as if you had worked together in a past life.

★ Albedo was a genius. He was someone you looked up to, and sometime during your investigations, he had become a friend. You didn't know when it started. When it had gone from two alchemists staying the night in Dragonspine to observe the different stages of new plant growth, to- with the permission of the acting grandmaster - just two people, two friends, going out to explore the seven nations.

★ Sucrose and Timaeus had stayed back in Mondstadt to finish experiments that you both had decided to put on hold for your trip, and with nothing to worry about, the two of you had gone out with nothing but the protection of each other (and your visions, of course), and a few packed meals from Good Hunter.

★ Albedo had a side that no one saw unless they spent nights camping with him in the middle of nowhere. You were one of the lucky people who were able to see that side of his during your trips around the seven.

★ The alchemist wasn't just curious about the way the world works, he had also been curious with, well, you.

★ Some nights when he couldn't go to sleep (which was often. You’d be surprised to see how messed up his sleep schedule was), he would sit in front of the fire you had both worked hard to make, and simply talk.

★ sometimes, it would be short conversations. but more than often, you find yourself talking about everything and nothing until the sun rose above the mountains, and you would have to continue your journey until one of you (usually being you,) were too tired to continue.

★ Albedo talks with passion, no matter what the topic is. He could be talking about what you were going to be having for dinner for the next night before you reach the first region in your trip, and he would already have you captivated.

★ Albedo also talks with gentleness. And this was the said side not a lot of people would be able to see from the chief alchemist. Whenever the tent was filled with comforting silence, you would be able to hear Albedo asking you questions about yourself. They weren’t your standard, what was your dream growing up? Kind of questions, but they were more specific. More… personal.

★ Is it not funny, how life works? What if a single moment had changed in the past, I and you wouldn't have met. He would question, eyes trained to the flames burning in front of him. It sounded rhetorical, but his tone was laced with wonder. He sounds as if he was expecting an answer, but he doesn't urge you for one. And every time he does, you merely hum.

★ Albedo was gentle in everything he did. Almost all the time you were with him, he had never acted brashly. He was patient, kind.

★ and that was most likely what had prompted your crush on the alchemist

★ crushing on Albedo was like looking up at the stars. he was someone who shined brightly, but you knew he was too far to reach, yet despite that, you had still attempted to.

★ you had decided to finally let it all out on him the night of your final stay before you reached your final region, which was Inazuma.

★ and that, you had realized a little too late, had been the icing on top of a really terrible cake.

"Albedo," you had stared, and the alchemist immediately turned towards you. that was something you had grown fond of. you knew Albedo was a man married to his work, so when he turns to you in the midst of it, you felt your stomach churn in delight, "I have to tell you something,"

“Hm?” he hums, setting his notepad down to give you his full attention, “what is it, y/n?”

★ You took a deep breath, and the moment you had opened your mouth to tell him, you had a sinking feeling you had made a huge mistake.

“I like you, a lot,” you muttered, “not just platonically, Albedo. I… I think you're really interesting. and if you'd like, I would love to be with you. ”

★ Albedo’s face had fallen, and although it had been the slightest, you had still noticed it. He looked at you as if the cogs were turning in his brain, and finally, he looks down

“I must apologize,” he starts, and you feel your stomach drop, “but I’m not interested in you that way, y/n. If it makes you feel better, I see you as a very dear friend,”

★ You nod, apologizing to Albedo before he offers a small smile before continuing his research

★ You both did not speak of it, but there was a very thick air of silence hangs over the two of you afterward, that didn't dissipate even after you both left the camp.

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nakachuchu · 3 years

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10:36 PM | Okkotsu Yuuta

SYNOPSIS: Modern AU - You and a hot stranger get trapped in an elevator.

READER: female

WORDS: 1170

WRITTEN: 05/24/2021

NOTES: Thank you for requesting from my time event!

You had just gotten off of work and you were exhausted. It was 10:36 PM—way too late for you to be arriving at your apartment.

You blamed your tyrant of a boss. He left everything to you, often overworking you. Tonight was one of those nights.

All you wanted was to go back to your apartment, take a shower, and sleep. You were hungry, but you didn't even have the energy to eat.

But of course, the elevator just had to get stuck tonight. You would have preferred it to get stuck after you got a good night's sleep.

You groaned. "This is bullshit."

The man next to you chuckled nervously. "Has this happened before?"

You looked at him and noticed you had never seen him in the apartment complex before. He was attractive and had an awkward, boyish smile on his face.

"Are you new?" you asked.

He nodded. "Is it that easy to tell?"

"I know just about everyone," you said. "I've lived here for a while. No, this has never happened before."

You pressed the emergency button, calling out for the night guard on duty. There was static, making you stress a bit.

"Itadori, can you send help?" you called out.

There was no answer, so you let go of the button and sighed. The stranger looked around the dim elevator and cleared his throat.

"I'm Okkotsu Yuuta."

"L/N F/N. You can just call me Y/N. Sorry, I look like this," you said, gesturing to your ruffled outfit.

You were a bit disheveled. As soon as you got off from work, you undid the first few buttons to your blouse and unbuttoned the outer layer of your jacket.

You cleared your throat after realizing Okkotsu was able to see your cleavage. He quickly looked away after seeing where you were looking.

"Sorry," he said. "I wasn't looking or anything. Well, I was, but it was an accident—I swear."

The corner of your lips twitched into a lopsided smile. It was cute how innocent and bashful he seemed. Maybe there was a good thing about being trapped in an elevator. At least, you got to spend your time with an attractive man.

"At least, we're not alone. How horrible would it be if we got trapped alone?" you questioned.

"I'd probably sit in the corner."

"That's unsanitary, Okkotsu."

"I'm sorry."

You snorted. "There was no need to apologize."

There was a brief, awkward silence. You raked your head of things you could talk about. You didn't know, but he was doing the same.

"How was work?" he asked, mentally kicking himself in the ass.

"Horrible," you muttered. "Sorry, I don't want to rant and have you listen to all of it. You were just being polite."

"No, I want to hear about your day. I don't work in an office, so it sounds interesting to hear about. You work in an office, right? I assumed from your briefcase..."

"I do, and I gotta tell you; don't do it. Well, you're a man so maybe if you decide to work in an office setting, you'll be better off than me," you said.

He cringed. "That bad?"

You nodded. "That bad. How old are you?"

"Twenty-four!" he exclaimed with a twinkle in his eyes. "I just celebrated my birthday last week with my friends. I hadn't seen them in a while so it was nice to see them again."

"Oh, to be young again," you said with a sigh.

"How old are you?"

"Twenty-five," you said. "The office life is bad on my skin, so I'm sure I look older than I really am."

"N-No, you look really young," he replied. "I was a bit shocked when you walked into the elevator."

He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. He didn't think he would be admitting this to you, but you seemed like a fairly open and understanding person.

"Thank you. You look really young too. You look like you could be a high schooler."

"I still get carded at clubs and bars," he revealed. "But that's okay because I usually prefer staying at home with my cat, Rika."

"I like staying home too, especially with a good meal and a movie."

As soon as you said that, your stomach rumbled. You looked down and hugged yourself around the stomach in embarrassment.

"Uh—I hope—I hope this isn't too forward but, when we get out of here, do you wanna come over for dinner sometime? We could watch a movie too?" he suggested.

You looked at him and blinked. You didn't think someone as attractive as him would ask you out, especially while the two of you were trapped in an elevator with dim lighting.

"Y-Yeah, I'd love to."

You hadn't been on a date since college. The date never even went anywhere. It ended with that first date and you didn't go out of your way to date anyone anymore.

Okkotsu was similar. He had gotten love letters in high school and college, but he never reciprocated those feelings. He didn't want to date someone he didn't like, so he never had a girlfriend before.

His best friend, Inumaki, was the one who had many girlfriends in his lifetime. The two of them were the heartthrobs of the school, but Inumaki was the only one who gave the girls a chance.

"First thing would be getting out of here though," you retorted.

"The fire station is probably on their way already."

You sighed. "How long will it take though?"

Okkotsu reached into his jacket's pocket and took out a granola bar. He held it out for you and you blinked down at it.

"Why do you have a granola bar?"

"I get hungry," he defended. "Here. Take it."

"Are you sure? Aren't you hungry?" you asked.

He shook his head. "You need it more than me. I heard the way your stomach rumbled."

You narrowed your eyes at him. "And here I thought you just didn't hear it."

He chuckled. "It was very noticeable. Take it."

You took the granola bar from his hand and unraveled it to take a bite from it. You sighed peacefully through your nose.

"You're a lifesaver," you mumbled.

"No problem. I'll make sure to cook a lot for our date."

The way he said it made you tingle. He didn't mean for it to sound so cocky and straightforward, but he meant what he said. He wanted to cook you a nice, homemade dinner.

"I'd like that," you responded with a soft smile.

He smiled back at you and opened his mouth to say something when a sudden clank surprised the two of you.

"Hello?" someone called out. "We're from the fire department and we're going to get you out, all right?"

"Yes, thank you!" you exclaimed.

"Looks like we're finally getting out of here," Okkotsu said.

You nodded and smiled at him as the elevator doors opened. "I'm in apartment 120. Knock when you're ready for that date."

#jujutsu kaisen x reader #Okkotsu yuuta x reader

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ceescedasticity · 2 years

Text

notes on the aftermath, vii

(you might want to check out the other parts first)

(and/or read what’s on AO3)

Málawen Calariel:

After the funerals I didn't want to talk to — anyone, actually, so I went back to the city recovery crews, finding bodies in odd places and moving them out into the street where, hopefully, their kin or friends would come and claim them. We didn't have any kind of system to facilitate that, but I hadn't come up with any good ideas for one.

A while after that, Atta called me back to the mansions for a council. I assumed at first it would be about funeral scheduling and how to distribute that information, or maybe someone even figured out how to improve body claiming, but it wasn't.

It was in the Purple Room on the third floor, the same as the last family council, if you ignored how there were half the number of people there should have been. (That one had been just after the death of the Trees. I hadn't said a word the whole time, just sat and wondered if I was doing any good being there.) Duimiwen carried Atta and his chair in.

Grandfather Olwë wasn't there, oddly. Grandmother Nénwen explained that Eärwen had an… update, from Arafinwë, which we needed to talk about.

(Yes, she was very angry with him for not turning back earlier, and wouldn't see him in person for a hundred years. Yes, they were still in frequent communication by ósanwë despite this, for all that time. No, none of the family blamed her for this. If nothing else, we were hardly going to say no to someone keeping us updated on what the Noldor were doing!)

Aunt Eärwen told us all that Arafinwë had turned back, and a lot of his people, but none of her children. She told us about the Doom, word-for-word.

There was a long silence. And then we had a debate.

Duimiwen Elulindiel:

Of course we couldn't get to the important point immediately. First Luinél had to ask if Lord Mandos really hadn't mentioned the swan-ships at all, even as a lower priority. Then Grandmother said the deaths hadn't been highest priority either, apparently, that had been Fëanáro's Oath — what was in that Oath? Aunt Eärwen didn't know, hadn't been there for it — it named the One; it was about the Silmarils; her children had agreed it couldn't possibly be literal because Fëanáro was too clever/selfish/both to be so self-destructive; the literal meaning had been dire enough her children had just talked around it; she guessed the Valar thought/knew it was literal?

Then for some reason Nettë went back to the matter of the ships, asking if fencing Valinor meant that if the Noldor tried to return the ships when they were done with them they wouldn't be able to. No one knew. It seemed so unlikely to come up I don't think anyone cared, either, except probably Luinél.

Then Calarue finally brought up the real question: What exactly had Lord Mandos meant by 'unrighteously'?

That is, were any of us potentially on the hook for unrighteous slaying?

The discussion went on for a while, touching on the definition of self-defense, and the armor/drownings, and whether brutality or vengefulness was likely to be a consideration, and whether the Valar would care since we weren't rebelling, but they shouldn't care about the Noldor killing us only because the Noldor are rebelling, but this, but that, but blah blah blah.

Some of the others— Seriously, I can't—

Oh, no, Calarue stabbed the specific man who killed his wife in front of him, technically while still held prisoner. Horrifying.

Luinél drowned some people without even realizing it. Gasp.

And Nettë, oh, Nettë gave advice to people who would have been throwing things or shooting no matter what, and didn't stop people from making bad choices. Shocking. Unforgivable. Nettë could fuck off.

Come talk to me when a Vanya has looked at the bloody evidence of your work and declared it proof of the Noldor's corruption by Melkor.

#perspectives on 1st kinslaying #tolkien #reckless application of spackle

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mimisempai · 3 years

Text

Every time I look at you, I fall in love again

Summary:

As he gazes at his sleeping lover, Loki remembers the moments where he fell in love with Mobius.OrFive times when Loki's heart pounded in a special way and once when it pounded in a familiar way.

Notes:

Tumblr request : a 5+1 - it could be about moments in their relationship where Loki falls more in love w/ Mobius

https://archiveofourown.org/works/32821156

2084 words - Rating G

For once, Loki woke up this morning before Mobius.

Leaning on his hand, he took the opportunity to watch his beloved while he slept.

As he gazed at the sleeping features of his lover, he was once again taken aback by the strength of his feelings.

Loki had little or no experience with love, so he had nothing to compare to what he was experiencing with Mobius right now.

No one had made him feel the way the man made him feel.

It was as if Mobius had wrapped his roots around Loki's heart little by little but without imprisoning him.

Mobius' love had set him free.

In return, Loki's feelings had taken root in Mobius' constancy.

Sometimes Loki liked to think about how his feelings had developed, because it had all happened so quickly that he had never been able to enjoy those stolen first moments.

It would be hard for Loki to say exactly when he had begun to notice that his relationship with Mobius was different from any relationship he had had before, but what he was sure of was that no one had ever been able to see through him as quickly as Mobius.

"I don't like to talk."

"But you do like to lie, which you just did. Because we both know you love to talk. Talkie-talkie."

Honestly, at that moment, Loki thought fondly, if he hadn't been so angry at being found out, he would have laughed.

As a matter of fact, it had become a fond memory for them. Whenever Loki would go into one of his grandiloquent tirades, Mobius would simply make this little gesture with his hand and would mouth "Talkie Talkie"

" You don't know anything about me.

"Maybe I'd like to learn."

It was probably at that moment that Mobius had begun to touch something in Loki that no one had ever touched. The fact that anyone would even bother to genuinely learn about him was in itself new. Except for his mother and Thor, most people had always assumed the worst of him.

"Honestly, I'm actually a fan. Yeah. And I guess I'm wondering why does someone with so much range just wanna rule?

Mobius had been the first to make him question himself.

Of course, at the time, he was not at all receptive to what Mobius' words really meant.

It had taken him some time to admit the truth.

The moment he had admitted it, the naked truth, without any more artifice, he had been ready to receive the final blow, the ratification of his vileness, but no, nothing like that.

"Because it's part of the illusion. It's the cruel, elaborate trick conjured by the weak to inspire fear."

"'A desperate play for control.' You do know yourself."

"A villain."

"That's not how I see it."

That's not how I see it.

At that moment, Loki's heart had pounded for the first time.

The man in front of him had seen all the lowliness that Loki was capable of and yet he did not see him as a villain.

From the first hours of their meeting, he had made it impossible for Loki not to love him and from then on, his feelings had grown exponentially.

As he walked down the path of his memories, Loki continued to gaze at Mobius as he slept. A small miracle in itself for Loki.

Knowing who Loki was, Mobius slept in his presence. The perfect image of absolute trust.

Loki sometimes still had trouble feeling worthy of such trust.

Seeing him sleeping like that, he thought of the day when he himself had first fallen asleep in this way with Mobius.

The day he fell a little more in love with Mobius.

It started with Mobius taking the blame for the failure of their first mission together, when it was all Loki's fault. They could have just pruned him, but no, Mobius had pleaded his case to Ravonna.

Then Loki had presented his theory to Mobius, admittedly with a rather shaky metaphor, even ruining one of his lover's favorite dishes.

"Well, here's a fun theory. You lure me out into the field, and then you stab me in the back. And that's a theory I don't wanna test."

"I'd never stab anyone in the back. That's such a boring form of betrayal."

"Loki, I've studied almost every moment of your entire life. You've literally stabbed people in the back, like, 50 times."

"Well, I'd never do it again, because it got old."

Mobius laughed and chose to follow Loki's theory, even though Loki had given him no reason to believe in him until now. Even though his theory was based on almost nothing, Mobius had chosen to believe Loki.

Then they returned from Pompeii and something happened that had never happened to Loki, he had fallen asleep. Loki, who was distrustful of everything and nothing, had simply fallen asleep in the presence of someone he hardly knew. As if his heart had understood before his mind that he had nothing to fear from Mobius.

When Mobius had woken him up, Loki's heart had pounded for the second time, and it wasn't fright that had caused it, but the realization that Loki was falling in love and falling deeply.

As he looked up from his contemplation of Mobius, Loki's gaze fell on the photo that lay on his nightstand. A memory of their first vacations, when Mobius had finally realized his dream. In the middle of the paradisiacal decor of an island in Midgard, Loki had taken this photo of Mobius piloting -at last- a jetski. So much joy on his face.

Another thing that made Loki fall in love a little more: the passion of his lover for some small insignificant things.

Josta, salad, jet-ski...

"You know, some things... Actually, most things in history are kinda dumb, and everything gets ruined eventually. But in the early 1990s, for a brief, shining moment, there was a beautiful union of form and function, which we call the jet ski, and a reasonable man cannot differ."

"You ever been on one?"

"No... No. I think a TVA agent showing up on a jet ski on the Sacred Timeline, that would create a branch for sure."

"Oh it'd be fun, though."

"Yeah, it'd be really fun."

"So, why read about them?"

"It just helps remind me of what we're fighting for."

The expression Mobius had had at that moment, when he had said something like that with such candor had made Loki fall even more.

And his heart had pounded for the third time.

While he had sensed that what would happen next would destroy what Mobius believed in, Loki had not been able to stop himself from wanting to protect him and his happiness, and to hope that one day he would be able to realize his dream.

With his eyes on the photo commemorating a very real memory, he felt a sense of satisfaction, because his lover had been able to realize this dream and Loki had been there to witness it.

"Loki... Don't go..."

Loki's eyes returned from the picture to his lover, whose features were now tense, probably from a nightmare.

"I'm here love, I'm not leaving. I'm staying with you."

Saying this, Loki gently strokes Mobius' cheek and his expression immediately relaxes. After a few seconds,he was sleeping peacefully again.

Loki didn't need to read Mobius' mind to know what he had dreamed.

He had known that he had taken a huge risk when he had decided to follow Sylvie and he had known that the reunion with Mobius would not be easy.

After all, he had betrayed him. But of all the acts of betrayal that Loki had been guilty of, this was the one that had cost him the most. Because of the feelings he was beginning to have for Mobius.

But what he hadn't imagined was that Mobius would almost turn into a jealous lover, even though at that point they didn't have that kind of relationship at all.

Loki had been incredibly surprised that it wasn't Loki's betrayal that had hurt Mobius the most, but the fact that he had made a connection with Sylvie.

"Come on. Look at your eyes. You like her."

"You like her. Does she like you?"

"Both of you were just swooning over each other."

"It's breaking my reality right now. What an incredible seismic narcissist. You fell for yourself."

"I'm supposed to believe your terrorist girlfriend"

"What, your female self that you have some demented crush on…"

Loki's heart had pounded for the fourth time when he realized what it could mean. He had fallen a little more at the thought of Mobius, at the thought that the man might be jealous, at the thought of what it might mean about Mobius' feelings for him.

Then there had been that moment of grace, the exact moment when Loki had known that he was definitely in love with Mobius.

For the first time, when everything was against him, someone had chosen to believe in him. That someone was Mobius.

Even though he was clearly angry with Loki, he still listened to him and chose to believe him.

Despite Loki's attempts at manipulation, betrayals, and mistakes, Mobius renewed his faith in him and spoke those words that were imprinted in Loki's head.

"You could be whoever, whatever you wanna be, even someone good. I mean, just in case anyone ever told you different."

Loki's throat tightened as he was overwhelmed by the emotion of the memory.

Mobius had no idea how many wounds he had healed in Loki at that moment.

After what Loki had done, where Odin and Thor had not forgiven him, not only had Mobius forgiven him but even more amazingly, he had shown that he believed that Loki was capable of being good, of doing good.

At that moment, Loki's heart did not pound once, but thousands of times, at full speed. Because of the joy and love that filled it.

The sudden disappearance of Mobius just afterwards had been all the more cruel. Because at that moment, they didn't know about the Void and Loki had thought Mobius was lost forever. He had been devastated.

He couldn't help but touch Mobius' face, gently so as not to wake him, then he whispered softly, "You too Mobius, do not ever leave me."

They had found each other again.

When he first saw Mobius after he thought he had lost him, it only confirmed Loki's feelings for Mobius.

The way his heart had pounded at the sight of the one he loved was impossible to ignore.

So when they had to part once again, Loki had not been able to resist the pull of his heart, and instead of grabbing Mobius' hand, he had taken the man in his arms.

Loki had held Mobius in his arms many times since that moment, but he would never forget the feeling of that first hug. The feeling that the universe was in place. That he was where he belonged, that he was home. He had expressed without words all that he felt and Mobius had answered him in the same way. They had to part again, but this time the bond between them was undeniable and unbreakable.

They had to go through a lot to finally enjoy their love, without the sword of Damocles, without the threat of the end of the world, or of a multiversal war over their heads, but they had made it. They were here now.

With each passing day, Loki fell a little more in love.

The Midgardian saying, I love you more than yesterday and less than tomorrow, had become his.

Because every time he looked at Mobius and realized the love they shared, he felt like it was stronger.

Mobius moved in his sleep, making the sheet slide off his shoulder.

Loki could not resist and leaned over to kiss the bare shoulder. Mobius woke up and turned to face Loki with a sleepy smile on his lips.

"Hey there handsome," Mobius whispered to Loki, gently kissing Loki's cheek. Loki's heart fluttered in a familiar way now, at such gentleness and at the adoration he read in his lover's eyes.

"Hey love," whispered Loki.

Mobius kissed him, his lips pressing lazily against Loki's. Loki smiled and kissed him back, happy.

Together they enjoyed the delights of a perfect, quiet morning.

_________

All other one-shots of this series here : X

As always, bear with me as it is not beta'd I hope you enjoyed it 🥰

#Lokius #loki series #loki #mobius m. mobius #lokius fic #moki #wowki #time husbands #time frost #established relationship #memories #5+1 things #lazy morning

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ginjointsintheworld · 2 years

Note

Seeing how Leyla discovered the secret and Floyd being all casual about it. I think Casey's reaction was a little overboard and a bit self-righteous.

Giving donations to secure a spot is certainly a common thing in NA, so it was not that big of a deal.

We can argue that it was selfish and she should have told Leyla, but Casey calling it immoral and saying he's lost all respect for her was over the top.

That scene could have been better written. How did he even know that Leyla was the fifth resident? Is there a way to know that?

How did Floyd know someone paid for her spot? I think maybe the list of matched residents is usually posted on the hospital website or noticeboards.

There are so many plot holes.

anon 2:

I'm having a bit of a late realization. After floyd told leyla about the fifth spot I assumed he also knew who did it. but maybe he doesn't? Do you think he knows it's Lauren? Maybe not but then how did he make sense of it though?

anon 3:

I never even considered that Floyd would be the mole and I hope Lauren doesn’t take her anger out on him. I can see her blaming him as a way not to confront her own guilt and with Casey gone, that’s too much isolation. Also, I thought it was a small donation but if the other doctor’s parents donated a building then it’s at least six figures. Imagining Leyla bringing that up and asking Lauren what she thinks she’s worth is something I hope never happens. I want them to fight but so many things they could say would just be salt on the wound. And a teary, silent fight won’t do either because they’re both so good at looking wounded, it’ll be worse. I’m not ready for episode 10 at all!

anon 4:

little anon from europe here so i’ve only watched the new episode now. something i don’t understand is how did floyd know about the fifth spot? i mean if he knows, it means that probably everyone knows in the hospital no? bc we know lauren didn’t tell him and it didn’t sound like he thought he was telling leyla something secret or confidential. it sounded like he assumed leyla knew, and so i’m guessing everyone in the hospital knows or has heard of the rumor? which sounds odd bc casey didn’t know at all. i mean, if it was a rumor or something that traveled around in the hospital/different departments and wards then the ed staff would have heard too no? i don’t know if i’m making any sense haha it just seems odd how casually floyd told leyla

hope you guys don't mind me consolidating these on one ask. y'all all had the same galaxy brain moment fksjdlfds.

first things first, i think floyd knows that leyla was the 5th resident instead of one of the first 4 selected because.... the plot says so fjskfs. i genuinely don't think the writers thought that one through. tbh doctors in other departments probably don't care much about the business or staff count outside of their own world. that doesn't mean someone can't notice and word meanders around but it seems like one of those things that you just kind of raise an eyebrow at then shrug it off and forget by lunch time.

case and point, in casey's first conversation with lauren in 4x08 he did say it was odd that they have 5 residents even though that's never happened before but obviously hadn't put much thought into it until lauren snapped and got defensive which gave him pause. if you had asked casey the order of acceptance into the residency program before 4x08, i don't think he'd rank leyla last. the reason he made the assumption that she's the 5th resident is because of how twitchy lauren got and of course with leyla having a personal connection to her, it's not a far jump to make.

in casey's defense too, he knows a vital piece of information that i really don't think floyd does, which is that lauren made a donation for that 5th spot. floyd is a pretty positive person so i could see him just reasoning that leyla had such a strong and impressive application that the residency director created a 5th spot for her because who would pass up an applicant like that? even despite the last case he's heard of was nottingham's family paying for it because... well that's a lot of money and just because that's how it happened once doesn't mean it's a standard. which btw, i don’t think lauren will be angry at floyd for his comment. he meant no harm when he said it and didn’t even know about lauren’s involvement. plus, she knows she’s the one at fault for doing it in the first place. meanwhile casey knows it wasn't morally sound AND that /leyla/ doesn't know lauren did it. i assume even nottingham knew what his family did (i think... i vaguely remember this storyline from s1 but not enough to recall details). so i get casey's disappointment. i do however still have gripes with him going as far as to say it was immoral and that when the staff finds out they'll lose all respect for her. that felt particularly harsh given that he didn’t even try to hear her out.

as for how much the donation was... i figured it was in the 6 figures and leyla’s ‘jfc that’s a lot of money’ reaction to lauren saying fuentes cut $250k from the ED budget lowkey indicated to me in that horrible, horrible, foreshadowing way that the donation was north of that amount. in terms of peak dramatic and angsty blow out i could see leyla demanding to know how much lauren donated not because of the dollar value of the money itself but that lauren could make such a large financial decision that impacted leyla without telling her about it. ugh. there’s inevitably going to be salt on the wound no matter what and i’m not prepared for the heartbreak that’s going to be painted on their faces.

#anon #asks

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allegra-writes · 4 years

Text

"TKN"

Peter Parker x Anti-hero!Reader

General audiences

Warnings: None

Part XIII of the "Mercy" Series

SERIES MASTERLIST | MY MASTERLIST

"Secrets only to those you can trust.

You better not break the Omerta..."

TKN - Rosalia f. Travis Scott

72 hours. That's how long you and Peter had been on the run. And in those 72 hours, Peter had gone through more new experiences than in a whole year as an avenger: He had joined the mile high club, only to five minutes later jump from said plane at cruise speed. He had illegally entered a country, broke into a department store and even shaved his whole head to completely change his appearance. He had celebrated his and yours new freedom with sangria, and more lovemaking at the beach under the stars...

But this? Being held at gunpoint by a tiny girl with murder in her eyes and superhuman reflexes? That was, sadly, nothing new.

It was like watching a dance, the way your high kick sent the gun in her left hand flying, as the blonde rolled out of your reach too fast for you to get a hold of the other gun on her right. You avoided a punch to your midriff, as she jumped away from your knife. And your boyfriend saw, helpless, as it was shot out of your hand by a bullet fired with millimetric precision to its blade. But he had been instructed under no uncertain terms to stay out of the confrontation, and by now he knew better than to disobey you.

"Don't you know what they say about bringing a knife to a gunfight?" The girl quipped, heavy ucranian accent lacing her words.

You smirked,

"They only say that cause a knife is only as good as the one who wields it, тетя Lena… Are you sure you're better with a gun than I am with a knife?"

She rolled her eyes at your cockiness, knowing full well you had several more sharp weapons hidden in your body.

"Ты менг раздржаешь... So," Lena inquired, eyeing Peter up and down, "Who's the boy toy?"

Your smirk intensified, a barely there twitch, an almost imperceptible movement of your fingers, was all the signal your boyfriend needed,

"His name is Peter," A web shooter went off, and Lena found herself suddenly unarmed "and he's not a boy toy"

"No, he's an avenger" She spat the word like an insult, "You know the rules, Likho. We don't fuck with strangers"

"And we only share secrets with those we can trust" You finished for her, "I trust him, Lena"

She huffed, still sizing him up, but you could see a new glint of curiosity, if not respect, in her emerald eyes.

After a minute, she finally relaxed, dropping her defensive stance. Without another word, she turned away from you, opening a cabinet, taking out three glasses and a bottle of vodka.

"What's the story, then?" She began pouring the drinks, "I assume there is a story there, last time I saw you, you wanted to kill the avengers. Now here you are, with one as a pet…"

"I'm not- I'm not a…" Peter stammered his protest, "I'm not a pet"

"Then why are you trailing after her like a lost puppy?"

"Lena," Your tone was warning, as you grabbed your glass "play nice"

She rolled her eyes again,

"You sound just like your mother. The blonde widow made a face, downing her drink in one gulp, only to immediately refill it, "I miss her"

"Yeah" you sighed, "me too…"

Peter fidgeted uncomfortably next to you.

"Everything ok, Peter?"

Your boyfriend hesitated: His spider sense was still on high alert, but he couldn't really tell if it was because of the assassin, or another threat you were unaware of.

He decided to play it down for the moment.

"Yeah just… don't want to be rude or anything but I'm not really the vodka type"

"I guessed that already, Spider-Boy. Is why I didn't pour you one…"

"Then who's that one for?" He questioned pointing at the third one.

"That would be for me"

You looked up, your face breaking into the biggest grin Peter had ever seen on you at the sound of the new voice.

"Alex!"

A pang of jealousy hit him, as he watched you throw yourself into the arms of the tall, handsome stranger.

Because this Alex guy was handsome, there was no denying that: Bright hazel eyes on top of the sharpest cheekbones Peter had ever seen, pale face framed by dark, shiny long tresses almost to his shoulders.

"Nice hair" You teased, running your fingers through his luscious locks and Peter had the sudden impulse to stick bubble gum to them like Flash had done to him once, back in junior year. He self consciously rubbed his own head, too aware of his buzzcut.

"Nice bangs," the Alex guy shot back, messing your hair like one would to a little child, "you look like a schoolgirl"

That earned him a rather painful looking punch to his shoulder.

"Punch like a girl too"

"Train a little harder and you will too" You winked. Peter cleared his throat. "Right, of course. Alex, this is Peter. Peter, this is Alex"

They shook hands, Peter impulsively squeezing a little too hard for a human. But the skinnier boy simply smiled a wolfish grin, all sharp white teeth, returning the grip with just as much strength.

"Welcome to the spiders' den, Peter"

…

An hour later found the four of you satiated and relaxed, amongst empty pizza boxes and beer bottles.

"... So, there we were, completely surrounded by both Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, that were actually also Hydra agents, outnumbered and without any exit points in sight" Lena was retelling, Alex nodding enthusiastically beside her as he chew yet another slice of pepperoni, "So I reach inside my boot for my hidden glock, smirky hydra son of a bitch goes 'You looking for this, blondie?' Shaking my knife in front of my face…"

You fidget uncomfortably next to Peter, his eyes going from your beet red face to an Alex that seemed to be choking.

"And that little brat" she pointed at you, "Barbie pajamas, ice cream cone in one hand, my fucking gun in the other goes 'No, fart knocker, she was looking for this'"

Alex finally snorted, little crumbs escaping his mouth and hitting you in the face as he started coughing. You wiped your face with as much dignity as you could muster.

"You're just salty because a nine year old saved your ass"

"A sick nine year old" Alex managed to get out between barks, "With pink eye, she could only see with one eye. And using just one hand. Is why we call her Likho ever since"

"Wait, you still had your ice cream?"

"She never let go of that ice cream" Lena replied to the question Peter had directed at you, and you felt the temperature of your cheeks rise even more.

"Literally single handedly took out 7 agents" Alex added, "and then demanded another scoop"

All three of your companions dissolved in laughter, as you felt your stomach churn. Alex wouldn't look back on that particular memory with such fond eyes if he knew what that little incident had initiated, how it had snowballed until the consequences had reached a girl on the other side of the world, another red room experiment, just like you.

They said a butterfly flapping its wings here can cause a typhoon in China. Well, your hurricane had levelled Ava Orlova's life.

You weren't one for guilt. Guilt had no place in survival. You did what had to be done in order to preserve yourself and your freedom. Just like your mother had taught you. Just like she had done. But being with Peter, loving Peter… well, that was having unforeseen consequences too, as you were coming to realize.

Because now you understood. Now you understood Alex and Ava's bond, because Alex had felt for Ava the same way you did for Peter. Probably still did, since it was with trepidation that you realized his death probably wouldn't change your feelings for peter.

After all, your own hadn't.

"What about you, spider-boy? Any embarrassing stories to share?"

Peter smiled, for a minute forgetting where he was or why he was there,

"Actually, I do. It involves a barn, an overly friendly goat and hay in places hay should never…" He trailed off, his smile falling when he saw the look on your face.

"No! Why did you stop? That sounds like a great story!"

"Yeah, you got me at 'overly friendly goat'!"

Peter simply interlocked his fingers with yours, silently offering his support. It was time. You took a deep breath

"Because it wouldn't be fair to tell you a story that I don't remember"

Silence fell over the small kitchen, as Lena and Alex processed your words, the later being the first to break it,

"S.H.I.E.L.D?"

"The T.A.H.I.T.I. protocol" you confirmed. He leaned back on his chair, chuckling, but there was no humor behind it.

"Well, well, well… ain't karma a bitch"

"Alexei," Lena's tone was warning, "that was the Blank Slate project. You can't blame Likho for what Natasha did"

"Can't I? Really? Cause in over twenty years, our sister never cared about my 'trauma', but we find out about her" He pointed, accusingly, "and suddenly she is all about giving us a normal life. As if we could ever be normal. As if new memories could erase the Red Room from our bones"

"Alex…" You tried, weakly, but you didn't know what to say. Not when everything he was saying was true.

"And now what? You want me to help you break through it? Now you need us to get back the memories they took from you, just like your mother stole memories from us?"

"Alexei!"

"NO, YELENA!" Three figures automatically jumped into a fighting stance when his fist met the table. Alex closed his eyes, attempting to get his breathing, and his emotions, back under control.

"If you want to help these Avengers, go ahead" He finally said, eyes fixed on his sister's, "but don't expect me to be a part of this."

Without another word, he got up and left the room, leaving Yelena to pick the pieces of the broken bottle that had rolled off the table. And you, to pick up the pieces of your broken heart.

"Shhh, it's ok, y/n" Peter, sweet, loyal Peter, tried to envelope you in his arms when he heard the first sob leave your throat, even if he didn't quite understand why it had hurt you so much to be called an Avenger. But Lena was there in a heartbeat, throwing him a dirty look, and taking your face in her hands to force you to look at her instead.

"Don't listen to him, Likho. You're not an Avenger, you are a widow. You will always be a widow, and always will be a part of this family. Just like your mother."

You nodded, buring your face on your aunt's shoulder.

"I'll help you, both of you" Yelena declared, eyes meeting Peter's, "Us spiders ought to take care of each other"

To be continued…

#peter parker #peter parker x reader #peter parker imagine #peter parker fanfiction #peter parker x reader smut #peter parker x villain!reader #yelena belova #alexei romanov #black widow #mercy series #mercy masterlist #tom holland #tom holland x reader #tom holland imagine

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themysteriousauthor18 · 4 years

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So I saw this post, and I thought the idea was really cool. Truth be told I am a wee bit uncomfortable with seeing Alastor being sexual, but that's just because I'm somewhere on the asexual spectrum. But that's just my personal opinion, but I do like the idea of regular Angel dropping into an AU were Alastor is a pimp.

I think it be cute and funny to see Angel’s reaction to this version of Alastor.

So being somewhat of a writer I couldn't help myself but try to write a one-shot of this. Hope you'll enjoy it. I don't really know anything else of how Angel got there or what the rest of the word is like in terms of the hotel or anything so, I'm just relying on my own head cannons for that and going off the artwork.

Artist of work above:

@staticapplesin

Normally waking up, for Angel Dust, would always involve something that was the cause of disturbing his sleep in the first place. In the past, it had been his regular johns that left or the pain they inflicted on the night prior. But recently it was either Vaggie yelling in the lobby or the princess of hell herself knocking on his door. And sometimes if he was unlucky, it would be Valentino calling.

Those were the wost.

But this morning, when Angel awoke, he heard something he thought he'd never hear.

Silence.

It had taken him a few moments to register that it was in fact quiet in his room. And he assumed that perhaps he'd woken up in the night again and that was the reasoning. But the small bit of hells light peaking through his blinds and into his room suggested otherwise. It was always a little brighter out when it was daylight out in Hell.

His room was still a little dark though because of the blinds. And as Angel sat up he couldn't help but notice another thing.

It smelled weird.

Not weird in the sense that the room was old, hadn't been tended two in who knows how long. Or even that mild odor that always lingered. That would always make Angel's nose scrunch up.

No, it smelled....sweet? Almost like strawberries.

Unable to lay there a minute longer Angel pushed himself up in his bed. Finding that it was more comfortable than usual. Something didn't feel right..something felt, off.

He pressed the ball of his palm to his forehead as he squeezed his eyes shut. Realizing his head did hurt just enough to call it a headache. Was he hungover? A fever dream maybe?

Angel pushed the thought aside, he was too tired for this shit. He needed food at the very least. And if the hotel was quiet? Well, it just meant he could ease this headache away until Vaggie woke up trying to chew his head off.

Pushing off the bed, Angel's feet stepped over anything that could be cluttering the floors per usual. Although nothing did. As he opened the door to his bedroom, allowing the hallway light to fill his room he briefly caught his pig sleeping in his bed in front of his own.

When had he'd bought nuggets that?

Another stray thought to be pushed aside.

With his head hurting too much and his eyes heavy with the aftermath of sleep, he failed to notice the decor and layout of the building he was in. Heading down the hall to the left, he did not come to stairs but just into a decently sized living room.

As he rubbed his eyes, taking in the room he realized this wasn't the hotel.

"Musta ended up at someone's house.." He reasoned himself with. But that didn't explain fat nuggets being in that room. Or the lack therefor of a random john.

He didn't care right now. At the very least he needed coffee. His feet managed to carry him over to the kitchen separated only by the counters. Something that actually looked better than it sounded.

Tired mismatched eyes looked around for the coffee machine. As they landed on the pink and white-colored machine there was a small sticky note attached to the front of it. He leaned in, his squinting at the note to read it.

'Hey, Angie I know you'll be a little tired after last night. Shit was wild! I gotta head out because some of us have boring jobs. But I prepped the coffee just press the button. See you later, have fun. Good luck ;) '

Angel knit his brows at the note. So he was at Cherri's house? That explained things a little better. But he didn't see how her job was boring. The headache was probably due to last night. Whatever had happened.

He looked over the six buttons on the top of the coffee machine. Finally, pressing the 'begin brewing' button, he sighed in relief.

As he leaned against the opposite counter of the coffee machine he crossed his arms. He glanced down at himself briefly, noting he was still in his usual suit. One of which was a little torn in some places. None of them looked to be claw marks though, rather...burn marks.

The spider settled for holding off any questions until he got his caffeine. He closed his eyes once again, ignoring the mild pounding of his head. So much so that he was practically deaf to the footsteps coming near him.

And with the beeping of the coffee machine Angel's eyes jolted open once again. But as his gaze wandered, in the corner of his eye something caught his attention. He turned his head in that direction and immediately stumbled back, falling into the floor.

Out of everything that could ever happen in his afterlife. Seeing the radio demon, standing in front of him in only his boxers was certainly not something he expected.

His face burned with the color red. Okay, this had to be a fever dream now. There was no way Alastor would even come close enough to allowing something like this.

Angel remained on the floor, staring at the redhead. The demon in question only remained leaning his arm on the wall as he looked at Angel as if he were the crazy one.

"I'm surprised to see you up," the demon paused. His eyes tracing up and down Angel's body for a moment. "And fully dressed at that."

His voice...what happened to his voice?! There was no radio filter on it at all. He just sounded, normal. But to Angel, it sounded weird.

A million thoughts raced through Angel's head as he continued to stare at the redhead. The deer demon rolled his eyes pushing off the wall, and as he approached his hand moved prompting Angel to immediately cover his face.

He waited for something, anything. To be punished for whatever he'd done yesterday because dammit he couldn't remember!

But none of that happened.

"Angel darling, what are you doing?" Came Alastor's confused voice. And with the lack of a radio filter, he could actually hear the confusion in it.

Slowly Angel opened an eye, still finding that confused smile. At least he was still smiling, otherwise, he may have lost his sanity entirely. "Come on now, you can’t stay there all day." A laugh escaped him although it hardly sounded like Alastor's laugh. "Unless you'd rather go again?"

Go again? What?

Angel took Alastor's hand, assuming that this was Alastor and Angel hadn't finally gone insane.

With ease, the redhead pulled Angel up. It seemed his physical strength was still there. He watched the redheads eyes scan his body again. When had he ever looked anywhere but his face?

"What are you wearing?" He heard the man ask. Angel wasn't looking at him. He couldn't. "This certainly isn't one of my works. Well, so long as you change once we head to work."

We?

‘My works’?

"I can't have my darling wearing something as hideous as that." Angel huffed, he actually liked his suit. It was one of the first things he'd gotten from Valentino once arriving in hell. Back when the man wasn't using him as a punching bag.

Angel finally chanced a glance at Alastor who was pouring the coffee. The longer Angel stared, the redder his face got. The colors going even as far as the pink on his chest.

He's shirtless. He's pants-less! He's almost fucking naked!

His thoughts ran wild, and when Alastor looked over his shoulder he couldn't help the blood suddenly leaking from his nose. (He has a nose it's just very very tiny and hidden.) He turned away, trying to cover it.

All the while the redhead looked at him, confused but amused all the same.

"You are acting very strange today. I don’t think I’ve seen you that red since our first meeting." He said as he added some milk into Angel's coffee before handing it to the spider.

Still holding his hand over his bleeding nose, Angel took the cup but refused to look anymore at Alastor. He heard the redhead humming in front of him.

"Sorry to leave the bed this morning but you usually take very long to wake up." A low chuckle. "Not that I blame you."

Angel choked on his coffee. His heart was racing in his chest and ears. This wasn't real right? And if it was, what the fuck happened.

"I have to say though--" he heard Alastor beside him suddenly and the soft clank of a coffee cup being placed down. Before he knew it a claw was guiding his chin over to the redheads gaze. The look in his eyes, was that..lust?

"--While waking up to you in clothes is certainly a surprise." He pulled the spiders face closer. "I like you better without them."

Without much of a warning, the deer's lips were pressed hard against his. Angel's eyes grew wide as the gears tried to process it. But when the demon's tongue slipped into his mouth the gears broke.

Angel was stiff against the kiss as Alastor pulled back leaving a red-faced spider. His eyes curiously searched Angel's as he wiped a strain of saliva from Angel's agape mouth.

"Strange, that little trick usually has you back in bed with me for at least another hour." Before Angel could question anything the redhead's hand pulled away, claw lingered there teasingly.

"Well, if you wish to head to work earlier today than that is fine. I do have a few things I need to get done at the studio. Unfortunately, the day after New Year doesn't grant us the day off."

Alastor called, as he walked off towards the room Angel had woken up in. As he nonchalantly disappeared into that room Angel just stared.

He stared as his head pounded in pain at trying to process everything that had just happened.

"What the fuck.."

I think I'm going to end it there. I honestly don't know what to think when writing pimp Alastor. Also with the morning scene I wasn’t implying that Angel is dating Alastor but rather (since Alastor is in Valentino’s place) that Alastor fools around with whoever he pleases. This includes Angel Dust. And safe to say it isn't the first time Alastor’s slept with Angel dust in that Au (Again just my personal head cannon.)

There were a few things I had to just guess on, since he's filling in the spot for Valentino I wasn't sure if he had his radio voice anymore. Or his shadows? I knew for a fact that he probably didn't care about walking around in his boxers but I wasn't sure if he had some humility of walking around just newd. Also, I wasn't sure my mild asexual heart could write that and not die with Angel.

Thanks for reading!

#radiodust #angel dust #alastor #au #pimp alastor #oneshots #fanfiction

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notes-from-sarah · 3 years

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Damaged Mirrors

Link on Archive of Our Own

Link on Fanfiction.net

Rating: G/K

Summary: While making his report about what happened on Umbara to Anakin, Rex has questions about his identity as a clone, his role as a soldier and his place in the galaxy. Set during Star Wars: The Clone Wars. One-shot. Canon compliant.

A/N: Set after Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Season 4, Episode 10 “The Carnage of Krell”

*****

Rex stood silently after making a full report of the events on Umbara to Anakin Skywalker. He knew the general pretty well and he could see that the Jedi was furious. Soldiers weren't supposed to be angry, but in all honesty, he felt the same way. So did all his men. He waited for his general to speak.

"That," Anakin struggled to find the right words, "that," his voice shook almost uncontrollably, "that monster intentionally tried to get clones killed on the battlefield?"

Rex tried to keep his voice at the even tone of any good soldier as he answered. "Yes sir, he confessed to it while many of us were present." Rex could hardly forget those words, they'd haunted him in the following days. The feeling of betrayal mixed with the absolute condescension from Krell sickened him. He focused on Anakin, he couldn't let himself dwell on what happened. A good soldier had to take the horrors of war in stride.

"And you had to execute him because you were afraid he would escape and join the Separatists?" Anakin clenched his fist, his eyes hard.

"We did, sir." Rex dropped his voice a little, it was only the two of them in this briefing room on Resolute and Rex wasn't sure how much longer he could talk about what happened in a crisp military manner.

"Good." Anakin's brow was furrowed, fury in every line of his face. Rex knew he meant it. Of all the people Rex had ever encountered in his short life, Anakin Skywalker was one of the most honest.

"Sir," Rex was anxious about what would happen next, everything he'd done, everything he'd ordered, was unprecedented. He couldn't shake the feeling that he'd committed treason on Umbara. Nothing they'd ever learnt in training had prepared him for this. "If I may ask, what will become of us, specifically Dogma? He may have pulled the trigger, but executing Krell was my order."

Anakin crossed his arms over his chest, his hands still clenched into fists. "I won't let Dogma face punishment for saving his fellow troopers from the enemy. And I won't let you or any of the 501st face disciplinary action because of Krell. He was a traitor and the Jedi council will understand that. If I would have been there I would have killed him myself."

Rex didn't doubt it. Unfortunately, Anakin hadn't been there. It was just the clones versus the Jedi. The whole ordeal had left him shaken in a way he couldn't have anticipated. The Jedi didn't seem as safe as they once did. The Jedi were supposed to fight side by side with the clones, not against them. He couldn't fathom how someone who was supernaturally connected to all life could so callously throw it away. Did the clones really mean that little to the Jedi? To others? He tried not to think about it.

Anakin came over to Rex and looked him square in the eye. "Tell me truthfully, Rex, are you okay?"

Rex looked up at Anakin. A good soldier was only ever supposed to have one answer. "I wasn't injured during the conflict, sir."

"That's not what I asked." Anakin's eyes narrowed. "Krell betrayed the Republic, betrayed the Jedi and most of all betrayed you clones. I should have been there, I should have stopped him. Now you've had to suffer because I wasn't there."

Rex swallowed. He didn't feel okay. He heard in Anakin's words the same refrain of self blame that had come to mark this particular Jedi's musings on the war. The general hadn't been built for war, it was hard on him and he seemed to think that he should be able to single-handedly change the tides of battle just by being present. Whenever he failed he buried himself with guilt over the matter.

Rex, on the other hand, had been built for war, it was all he'd known his entire life. He knew better than to let emotions come into play. It clouded your judgment and primed you to make big mistakes. He knew better than to feel guilty about doing his duty or for others doing theirs. Rex felt guilty now. He'd sent his men into certain danger because he unwittingly followed orders he knew were bad. He had turned against a Jedi, the command structure of the whole army, and had ordered that the besalisk be executed. He had failed to be a good soldier.

Rex tried to steel himself. He didn't want to show the general that he was weak. "I'll be fine, sir. You don't have to worry about me."

Anakin stared into his eyes with an almost frightening intensity. "Yes, I do."

A chill raced down Rex's spine. The general wasn't going to let him get away with evasive answers. "Honestly, sir," Rex paused for a long moment, "this whole ordeal has been," Rex's eyes darted away from Anakin's, he was ashamed to even admit it, good soldiers weren't weak. "It's been upsetting." Upsetting was just the tip of the iceberg, but he didn't know how to be more open.

"Rex, you did everything you could. You did everything right." Anakin's voice was hard as he tried to reassure his captain.

"Sir, if did everything right, why did so many end up dead?" Rex glanced back at Anakin. He was standing firmly on his emotions but he couldn't fully prevent them from leaking though all the same.

Anakin dropped his gaze. "I don't know. I don't know why it is that sometimes even when you do everything right it still all goes wrong."

Rex could clearly hear the emotion in the Jedi's voice. Emotion that he wished he could show himself. Good soldiers didn't break down in front of their generals. Good soldiers stayed strong. The Jedi had the luxury of being men and women first, then Jedi, and finally generals. The clones? They were first and foremost soldiers, tools, war machines. Sometimes Rex wondered if anyone realized they were flesh and blood.

Anakin turned away from Rex and looked out of the transparisteel window at the hyperspace sky. Hands behind his back he assumed the position he took when he was thinking deeply on some matter. "Rex," he said at last, "what do you think about what happened?"

"I gave you my report, sir." Rex wasn't sure what else the general wanted from him.

Anakin glanced over his shoulder at Rex. "And I heard the facts of the mission as you reported them. What do you think about what happened?"

Rex tightened his grip on the helmet that was tucked under his arm. He wasn't accustomed to giving out his unfiltered thoughts to non-clones. "I think that I should have broken protocol earlier." If he'd done what his gut told him a lot of lives could have been saved. "If I'd been more decisive I could have spared a lot of good men death and injury from a being," he put as much venom into the word being as he dared, "who saw us as disposable tools, no better than some flesh covered clankers."

Anakin closed his eyes at the comment. "Don't blame yourself, Rex, that's an order."

Rex guessed he must have been a bit too self-pitying in this conversation so far. He'd be mindful not to show such partiality again. Good soldiers were neutral.

Anakin opened his eyes again. "Blame Krell." Anakin's voice was hard as iron. "Krell is the only one at fault here. He tricked and manipulated you. He betrayed you. Don't hate yourself, hate him."

"Sir, my men are my responsibility. I didn't stop him." Rex knew he probably shouldn't be arguing with the general, but all the same he felt his failed duty very keenly.

"You and the 501st are good men, all of you brave and true. Krell tried to corrupt you, to poison you but he failed." Anakin gripped his hands behind his back. "I am lucky to fight by your side, Rex, you are one of the best men I've ever known. Don't let Krell win, don't blame yourself for what he did."

Rex ran his thumb over his helmet feeling the familiar ridges. "Do you really think that, sir?" It had been bugging him since Krell had gone on his tirade about the clones. "Do you really think of me, of us, as men?"

Anakin turned to face Rex fully, an expression of slight surprise on his face. "Of course I do. You're one of the bravest, smartest people I know. How could I think of you as anything else?"

Rex looked down at the floor. "Me and the others, we feel like we're men, feel like that means something. That we're more than just androids programmed for destruction. That's what we were taught on Kamino and that's how we live our lives every day, but out here," Rex gestured broadly to the room at large and metaphorically to the galaxy at large, "it seems that most beings don't think of us that way. I always thought the Jedi were different. It always seemed like they were until, well," Rex didn't finish his thought, he didn't have to. In the silence that followed he rubbed his other hand over his helmet feeling the various pits and dings.

Anakin stepped closer to Rex putting a firm hand on his shoulder. "The Jedi see your humanity, Rex. They see how the clones get up every day and fight this war with no relief. They see how you lay down your lives in pursuit of peace in the galaxy with no thought of your own reward. Out of all the people in the galaxy I think the clones and the Jedi are the most alike. Krell fooled us all, I should have seen his treachery before things ever got this far." Anakin shook his head. "But know this: Krell was not a Jedi. A real Jedi would never have done what he did. A real Jedi would never have betrayed the Council and the Republic and most of all his clones." Anakin gripped Rex's shoulder tighter and gave him a small, emphatic, shake. "We couldn't win this without you, Rex."

Rex couldn't help but feel moved by Anakin's words. Even after all the betrayal he'd faced at the hands of Krell, Anakin had his trust full and complete. He'd follow the general to hell and back if that's what he ordered. Maybe the Jedi and the clones did have a special sort of connection, maybe that's what made them such a good team on the battlefield. But what about off the battlefield? What about all those people in the galaxy who weren't Jedi? Would they ever be able to see beyond the face of a clone and realize it was the face of a man? When the war was over, what would happen to him?

"Sir," Rex hesitated, a good soldier shouldn't be asking questions like this, "do you think there's a future for us after the war?"

A long moment of silence stretched between them, Anakin seemingly lost in his thoughts. At last he shook himself slightly and seemed to come back to the present. His voice was low and uncertain as he said, "I hope so."

#Anakin Skywalker #Captain Rex #501st #Fanfic #Fanfiction #Star Wars #Star Wars: The Clone Wars #Angst #Friendship #2k words #image from cap-that.com

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aot-snk-4238 · 3 years

Text

SNK Meta Part 2: Ymir

In my previous post, I talked about my feelings regarding Historia's character this final arc. Now I'm going to talk about Ymir, her relationship with Historia, and my feelings about her send-off.

Was Ymir a good character?

In my eyes, yes. When she was first introduced, it was clear that she had feelings for Historia, making her one of the only canon queer characters in the series (assuming Historia reciprocated those feelings, which I'm pretty sure she did). She also appeared very snarky and cynical, but us readers came to learn later on that there was a much softer, sensitive side to her deep down that Historia would be the first to witness. These revelations, including her backstory, helped flesh out her character in a way that made her very interesting and mysterious for me. I especially loved how sharp and intuitive she was. I'm going to quote the wiki on this part, because I think it does a great job explaining her impressive observant abilities. "Ymir was extremely perceptive and could discern the nature of the people around her with alarming accuracy, such as Historia's martyrdom mentality, Reiner's split personality disorder, and Sasha Blouse's desire to look good in front of her peers by hiding her native accent and developing an extremely formal way of speaking. Due to her experiences and belief in self-pride, she tended to rudely criticize people for being untrue to themselves. Furthermore, Ymir was very reasonable, as she knew what to do during her kidnapping situation and reconsidered her options to accomplish her goals." I also enjoyed her interactions with other characters besides Historia. Take Connie, for example. When he lamented over the possibility of his mother being stuck as a mindless titan, Ymir tried to distract him, albeit not in the most appropriate way (ch. 38).

Connie complained about this behavior later on, but Historia defended her, explaining that she was only trying to stray his thoughts from that traumatic discovery. There were a few more moments between these two that were fun to see as well.

😂😂😂. Ymir's looking at him like, "You ruined it, Connie..."

I love the way she pats him on the head. Knowing how much taller Connie's gotten I don't think she'd be able to do that anymore.

This becomes one of the many times that Connie calls her "ugly" when she's in her titan form. Too bad she couldn't talk very well as a titan or else she probably would have had a smartass remark to throw back at him. It's looking back on scenes like this where I wish we could have gotten more out of these two. You can tell she cared for Connie and I know he also cared in his own way.

We only saw her together with Eren once when Reiner and Bertholdt captured them, but it was very interesting to see their perceptions of each other.

Eren found Ymir to be mysterious and wasn't sure if he could trust her, which isn't surprising considering this was the only time they ever spoke to each other. One detail that he couldn't miss, however, was Ymir's undying determination to protect Historia, a goal they would both come to share later on. Meanwhile, Ymir couldn't trust Eren because she found him to be too reckless and hot-headed.

These were my favorite qualities from Ymir, although to this day I still question the rationality of leaving Historia behind considering the situation she's currently in. Historia herself called her an idiot after reading her goodbye letter. Now that I've covered my reasons for liking Ymir as a character, let's move on to her relationship with Historia.

Ymir and Historia

I've loved these two together since the beginning for their complex and amusing dynamic. On the surface, you had the selfish, confrontational tomboy and the girly, kind and beautiful goddess. But underneath were two young women who were dealt a dirty hand early in their life and lead empty lives as a result until they found each other. Their story arcs throughout the Clash of the Titans arc were beautiful and complimentary, and it's part of the reason why it's actually my favorite story arc in the series. Everything from Ymir seeing through Historia's charade and urging her to live her life with pride to Historia telling Ymir her real name and the two of them fighting side by side in chapter 49 was some of the most empowering moments for me and I will forever cherish those parts of the story.

Ymir's departure

And now the part I've been most excited to talk about! Ymir's glorious, memorable and emotional departure.

Her ending...was not what I expected it to be. She left Historia at the very last second and gave herself away to the enemy because she felt guilty for something that was not her fault. Now as we know, Ymir is selfless at heart and she felt indebted to Reiner and Bertholdt for inadvertently helping her return to her human form after 60 years of wandering the earth as a mindless titan. She also decided that Historia might be safe after all after learning that Eren possessed the coordinate. I understand all of that, but what I don't understand is...well...everything else.

This was Ymir's last real appearance. We see that Ymir has willingly chosen to accompany Reiner and Bertholdt back to Marley to give up her titan powers at the cost of her life. Many people weren't so sure if that was truly the last of her though, because her death was not explicitly confirmed for a long time. We spend the next 33 chapters hoping to get something more, and then this happens...

A glimmer of hope. Finally there's a real chance we'll hear from her again, and it's got a lot of people buzzing with excitement. Sure enough, we finally get to see what's in that letter a few chapters later and are given Ymir's backstory. Here's where the disappointing part comes, though. Ymir makes it clear at the beginning of her letter that she will be dead by the time Historia receives it, meaning that this is the only goodbye they're gonna get. The last time they saw each other, Ymir wasn't even in human form. Instead of a proper goodbye, all we get is a short letter. The anime even tried to fix this by giving us Ymir's backstory earlier, but by doing that, her letter was cut short by a lot. All that was really left was, "Hi babe, sorry I left you like that. Oh well, I'm about to die anyway. Sorry we couldn't get married." And then this happened:

Historia touches Ymir's letter and is suddenly bombarded with visions of Ymir's past, including her chained up and about to be eaten. That is definitely not what happened in the manga and its honestly very confusing to me. How was she able to see all of that just by touching the letter? I get that she has royal blood and was able to access memories when she touched Eren, but Eren is a human who just so happens to possess the founding titan. The letter is just a piece of paper. Also, I'm guessing the last thing Historia saw was Ymir chained up so that there will be no need to bring her up again like Reiner and Porco did in chapter 93. I don't blame the anime team for making that change because I'll be honest, when we saw that one panel of her in her death chamber it felt very out of nowhere and I had a hard time concentrating on the rest of the chapter after that. So here are my main problems with her death:

1. It was off-screen

If I recall correctly, Ymir is the only major character in the series whose death was off-screen. All we got were her final moments, and there wasn't even any dialogue. That part especially bothered me because you can see that Ymir and Porco are looking at each other and Ymir's mouth is slightly open, implying that she's speaking. But what was she saying? You seriously don't mean to tell me that they both just sat there and stared at each other the whole time. She must have had some last words, but for some reason we never got to know what they were. At one point I even thought that Historia and Porco might cross paths at some point and he would be able to give her closure that way but no. No closure, just a last minute goodbye letter and a glimpse of her final moments that I now consider completely useless and unnecessary because we never got more out of it. I mean really, we even got closure and an on-screen death for Marco for crying out loud. Why give him that kind of attention and not Ymir? Not to mention one of the more recent guidebooks. Her character has the diceased sticker and it talks about how she went back to Marley with Reiner and Bert, but that's it. Not even the guidebook makes it clear what happened next. Yeah she died, but did anything else happen before then? That's what I wish we could have gotten more details on like, I don't know....her final words???

2. It was anticlimactic

We didn't get enough focus on Ymir's point of view after leaving Paradis in order for her death to have any kind of lasting emotional impact. As I mentioned above, it just felt out of place and messy. There was nothing memorable about her death either. It was quite simple and boring.

3. It contributed to an ongoing literary issue that has anti-LGBTQ roots

Yep. I'm talking about the infamous Bury Your Gays trope. Now before I go any further, I am not accusing Isayama of being anti-LGBTQ, I'm just shedding some light on something that's been continuously repeated in countless forms of media, not just anime and manga. Truthfully, I hadn't heard about this trope before reading Attack on Titan, but when I did hear about it, it only made Ymir's death even worse for me. I'm not surprised that it exists and I realize that this is a manga where death is inevitable, but keeping both women alive in the end would have certainly been very refreshing. At this point, all I could ask for is that Ymir and Historia get to see each other one last time. Obviously since Ymir is dead it will have to be through other means and I don't care how it's done. It can be in a dream, a vision or through Paths (which I think would work best). Seriously, there's nothing I've been more curious about than how Ymir would react to Hisu's current predicament and what she would say to her. It would just be great for them to have one last conversation face to face because for me, the letter just wasn't enough. Of course I'm hoping for too much, though. We've only got 1-2% of the story remaining, leaving no room for further closure. It's disappointing and frustrating, but no story is perfect. I'm grateful for the content that we did get, but I hope one day I can find a story like this one where the queer characters get to live for once. I'm aware of other shows like Steven Universe, Adventure Time and Yuri on Ice that give them good endings, but those shows are much friendlier towards younger audiences and aren't nearly as dark and grim.

Conclusion

Ymir was a very intriguing character while we had her, but her death was unsatisfactory and only left us with more questions. I am not going to trash Isayama for it, but I will leave this critique here so I can unload all my thoughts for others to read if they wish, or possibly share their own thoughts. We are coming close to the end of the manga, so now would be a great time to reflect on what we read and enjoy what's left of it.

#snk #ymir #snk meta #snk spoilers #snk character analysis #snk manga #snk thoughts

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